PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

The Orderly Conversation: Conversation with Dale Ludwig

  Dale Ludwig is President & Founder of Turpin Communication. He has a Ph.D. in Communication and, prior to Turpin, taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He founded Turpin Communication in 1992. Since then he has worked to keep Turpin focused on providing the best presentation and facilitation skills training available. He spends most of his time delivering live workshops and writing. He also appears in Turpin’s online courses.

In this conversation, he discusses his book, The Orderly Conversation that he co-authored with Greg Owen-Boger.

Geetesh: Compared to other presenters’ books, The Orderly Conversation is a book that’s not so much about a sequential series of improvement steps one needs to take. Rather, your book is filled with your personal experiences. These experiences are valuable since they help others overcome so many problems. Can you share some thoughts about this observation?

Dale: You’re right, The Orderly Conversation grew out of our experience working with many different presenters with many different challenges. Over the years, we realized that there is no single path for improvement appropriate for everyone. “Rules” of delivery, for example, only work when the right “rule” is used to fill a very personal need. And everyone’s “rules” are slightly different. We work hard to find the root cause of a particular challenge a presenter faces. Once we understand that, we can help people develop the skills required to overcome the challenge. It is our hope that readers will recognize themselves in the business presenters we write about. Basically, we’re asking our readers to:

1. Take a step back and think about how presentations help get business done, and
2. Dive into the details of what individual improvement looks like.

Geetesh: How did this book evolve, and what roles did you and your co-author Greg Owen-Boger play in its creation?

Dale: When I started writing, I was going to be the sole author. After I had written a few chapters, I showed them to Greg. (He and I have been delivering workshop together for about 20 years.) Greg’s response to the chapters was that they were theoretically sound, but did not focus enough on the practical application of the theory. To solve that problem, we decided we would share the writing responsibilities in a unique way. Greg would write about a fictional group of business presenters going through one of our workshops (people with very typical problems and strengths). He would focus on the individual coaching process they would go through. In that way, I was free to write in a broader way because he was focusing on the nuance, of how individuals improve in different ways.

See Also: The Orderly Conversation: Conversation with Greg Owen-Boger

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Books, Dale Ludwig, Greg Owen Boger, Interviews, PowerPoint, Presentation Skills

PowerPoint and Presenting News: October 13, 2015

After quite a while, we are bringing to you one of our most detailed and easy-to-use graphic effects — the effect of Hole in the Paper! We then feature Mike Parkinson, who discuss his recently concluded webinar.

We continue our tutorial series about the Info pane of Backstage view in PowerPoint 2013 — in this series we explore “Marking as Final”, password protection and digital certificates. Finally, don’t miss the new discussions and templates of this week!

Read Indezine’s PowerPoint and Presenting News.

Filed Under: Ezine
Tagged as: Ezine, Indezine, News, PowerPoint

Customize Quick Access Toolbar in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

The Quick Access Toolbar or QAT is the only toolbar available in PowerPoint. This toolbar can be customized and can contain your most-used commands so that they are accessible to you with just a single click. There are two ways in which you can add your favorite commands to the QAT. The easier way is to right-click any button on the Ribbon tabs and choose the Add to Quick Access Toolbar option.

Learn how to customize the Quick Access Toolbar in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

You May Also Like: Add and Rename Ribbon Tabs in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows | Reordering and Removing Ribbon Tabs in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows | Working with Custom Groups in Ribbon Tabs in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Interface, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, QAT, Quick Access Toolbar, Tutorials

Outstanding Presentations 2015: Conversation with Matt Gambino

Matt Gambino helps people make presentations that grow business. Early in his career in EdTech software sales, Matt faced a challenge that is shared by countless salespeople today: how to cut to the chase and present complex technical offerings clearly—without all the jargon—so that people get it, see the value, and want to buy. Through his unique blend of practical experience as a sales and marketing leader, college educator, and product champion—it is true, he once held the title of “champion!”—Matt has cracked the code for making presentations that inform, inspire, and best of all—sell.

In this conversation, Matt discusses his upcoming webinar tomorrow, which he will present as part of the Outstanding Presentations 2015 series.

Geetesh: Tell us more about what you do — and also about how can audience attention be retained while presenting?

Matt: It is a common tendency to deliver presentations—especially technical presentations—in a sequential manner. Unfortunately, audiences have far exceeded their tolerance level to this tired and traditional approach. In the course of my work, I teach presenters how to share problem-solving, aspiration-building VISION right up front with the audience. That vision looks so good, participants just have to stick around to see how easy it is to achieve it. Think of it like a cooking show on television. The smart host shows us the finished dish—with all the trimmings and a glass of wine—right up front.

Geetesh: What will you speak about in your session as part of the Outstanding Presentations series – and what would be the takeaway for attendees?

Matt: Poorly delivered technical presentations cost companies millions of dollars in time, travel expenses, and lost sales each year. The main reason? Presentations that convey technical information are notoriously long, awkward, convoluted, and boring. Throw in challenges like temperamental software, finicky web-based platforms, and unreliable network connections, and it is no wonder why tech presentations are often frustrating to audiences.

But solving this problem is easier than you might think. In my session, you will learn a predictable and repeatable process for delivering technical presentations that are relevant, crisp, and even exciting. You will see how to identify the most compelling output of what your technology produces and how to place that output in the first few minutes of the presentation. Along the way, you will discover surprisingly easy ways to stay on task, deal with difficult questions, and avoid technical snafus.