Beyond Bullet Points 101 Online Course: Conversation with Cliff Atkinson

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    Cliff Atkinson is an acclaimed writer, popular keynote speaker, and an independent consultant to leading attorneys and Fortune 500 companies. He designed the presentations that helped persuade a jury to award a $253 million verdict to the plaintiff in the nation’s first Vioxx trial in 2005, which Fortune magazine called “frighteningly powerful.” Cliff’s bestselling book Beyond Bullet Points, now in its 3rd edition was named a Best Book of 2007 by the editors of Amazon, and it expands on a communications approach he has taught at many of the country’s top law firms, government agencies, business schools and corporations.

In this interview, Cliff discusses the Beyond Bullet Points 101 Online Course (link no longer exists), a natural evolution to the book.

Geetesh: Tell us about your Beyond Bullet Points 101 online course, and how this builds upon your successful Beyond Bullet Points book?

Cliff: Over the years I’ve heard from readers that it can be challenging to learn from a book alone, so the new Beyond Bullet Points 101 online course to make it fun, easy and engaging to learn how to make your presentations better. This course takes you step-by-step through the process of creating an example presentation beyond bullet points — and helps you to build your own personal presentation along the way. It assumes you already have some technical skill with PowerPoint, and that now you’re looking for new and effective ways to tell a story, get to the point, and keep things simple.

Geetesh: What are the resources in terms of time and content that one needs to complete this online course, and what do you believe that a participant will derive from this course?

Cliff: The six modules of the course are packed with narrated and illustrated explanations, examples, downloads, and interactive quizzes to test your knowledge — a total of 3.5 hours of multimedia running time. As you complete the course, you learn how to structure a story, distill your story to its essence, and then delivery it with confidence. The titles give a good sense of what each module of the course teaches:

1. Previewing the Route You’ll Take with BBP
2. Module 1: Comparing Two PowerPoint Routes, and Two Outcomes
3. Module 2: Igniting Your Ideas by Sparking Emotion
4. Module 3: Revving Your Intellectual Engine by Prioritizing Your Ideas
5. Module 4: Shifting from Words to Pictures by Setting Up your Storyboard
6. Module 5: Stepping on the Gas by Quickly Adding Graphics
7. Module 6: Crossing the Finish Line with Engaging Delivery

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