simondelliott

The 5 core presentation skills

An important aspect part of an architect, business person or innovators role is convincing other people that your ideas or your teams ideas are worth investing in.  So in good technical fashion ive been breaking down what makes a good presentation into its 5 elemental components.

copyrighting
This is the art of writing good strap lines, titles and points. You can learn this from advertisers and poets. Think about simplicity, delete pointless words.

typography
How you place words, emphasize them and where you place them in relation to other objects is important. The basics of graphic design can be self taught from the many books on the subject. I found that the story behind the helvetica font was an interesting starting place.

performance
This is showmanship – at the end of the day you have to present, if you are nervous, mumbling and faltering it will detract from the content that you are trying to present.  Actors and presenters have techniques to help you concor these

composition
This is basic artistic composition, look at how the diagrams you use flow. Imagine yourself looking at the diagram or graphic as an audience member. What does it mean to you? Art history is a good way to learn about composition, and you get to spend some times looking at some really good pictures.

collaboration
Ideas are fragile they need support, the best way to get this is to collaborate with others. Know your collaboration tools well  (wiki, svn, google doc) and use them to get the most out of your friends enthusiasm.

It is important to know these skills well. How can you inspire someone else if you have not been inspired yourself.

Check out my christmass themed graphic !