Remember what you’re going to say?

How do you remember what you’re going to say? If you’re giving a talk or a presentation, how do you remember what to say? Can you memorise a couple of hours worth of material, or do you have a clever way of reminding yourself what you need to cover? I usually start by writing out [...]

A different way to use PowerPoint

Used properly, PowerPoint can be a really effective way of enhancing presentations. Used badly, it can do harm to your reputation. I’d like to share some tips I received on a birthday card, for an alternative way to use PowerPoint.

How many marketing activities do you need?

In the last couple of weeks I’ve heard two different marketing presentations that give very different advice and I wanted to share them with you and let you decide which is right. More is less At the first presentation, we were shown the idea of a wheel with a number of spokes. The presenter said [...]

Can you sell from the stage?

Can you sell your products and services from the stage? I’m not talking about the theatrical stage or suggesting that you become an actor. This is about selling what you do from giving presentations. For many years I’ve given presentations at networking groups. At the end, people tell me how much they enjoyed my talk, [...]

Don’t use WordArt in your PowerPoint presentations

Quite a few years ago, when people discovered PowerPoint and how useful it was for creating presentations, there was a trend for throwing as much into a presentation as possible. In went the bullet points that whizzed in from left and right. In went the images that spiralled round until they settled in the right [...]

When you speak, does the room listen?

Do you go to networking meetings and leave not remembering what many of other people said they do? Do you go to presentations and stop listening after the first five minutes? If you answered yes to either of these questions, it’s because the people talking didn’t do enough for you to listen them. Does the [...]

Why I love PowerPoint – Part Two

If you read my blog post on Wedneseday (30 June) you’ll have seen that I’m a big fan of PowerPoint, when it’s used properly. If you’re not yet convinced, here are three more tips to help you create professional presentations to promote your business. When I arrived at the networking event where I’d been asked to [...]

Why I love PowerPoint – Part One

I often hear people saying they’ve been subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’ at some event or other. Lots of other people advise against using PowerPoint because it can be the death of a presentation. I’d like to stick up for PowerPoint and tell you why I think it’s a great tool and how to use [...]

Is your marketing joined up?

Last week I ran a couple of workshops at a business event and we talked about all sorts of different marketing activities. We talked about the fact that whatever marketing you do, it should all be joined up, planned and on going. By the time I got to my desk the following day, numerous people who attended the [...]

Can you use a book as a business card?

I’ve been thinking about writing a book for years. What’s stopped me so far have been the questions I asked myself, like “Why would anyone want to read what I write?” and”What can I say that hasn’t been said before?” Then I realised that I could write about my take on things – my opinions [...]