Successful Meetings - December 2008 - (Page 22)

Planner’s Workshop Tools of the Trade BY VINCENT ALONZO STRETCH YOUR WINE DIME Bin Ends wine is a fine-wine retailer out of the Boston area and nationally online at www.binendswine.com. Their pricing structure uses auto-markdowns, similar to the strategy of off-price retailers, and offers potential savings of up to 45 percent. Every > On Site Retire Those Tired PowerPoint Slides By Nancy Duarte Inform. Inspire. Persuade. That’s the essence of a good presentation, but many of the best-intentioned presenters turn into robots when trying to communicate their vision via slides and text. So many of us—students, teachers, business professionals, church leaders, members of clubs and organizations—are asked to share ideas via visual presentations, but unlike verbal communication, thinking visually isn’t easy, natural, or commonly taught in schools or business training programs. What makes a great slideshow is determined by the type of interaction a presenter has with his or her slides. If the presenter is addicted to reading bullet points, then everyone in the room suffers. It is easy to keep blaming software for the stale output, but in reality, the presenter needs to take responsibility. As communicators, learning to create visual stories that connect with audiences is becoming imperative—especially in light of global competitive pressure. Before reaching for that mouse, you should spend some time getting your story straight. After all, presentations are basically stories, and great presentations always come from great stories. Start with the audience. Take a moment to think about their fears, how they might resist your message, and successfulmeetings.com what their life looks like. Then, after you’ve pulled together your content structure, overlay stories that will meet your audience’s needs and inspire them to feel or act differently. Good stories create much more meaningful and actionable presentations. three weeks, anything still in stock gets marked down. The Reserve Bid Option allows customers to place an “option” to purchase a product at a specified future price, based on availability. Orders over six bottles are shipped for 99 cents per bottle, and orders over $500 are shipped free of charge. GET TO THE HEART OF THE STORY Try some good old-fashioned brainstorming with trusted colleagues or peers. Keep passing the story around the room and talking about it. Write down everything that comes out of your mouths. Get yourself a stack of index cards and a few Sharpie markers. Use one index card per slide and use the Sharpie to add the main idea for each slide. You can write or sketch, whatever works for you. Think through all the things you want to share with your audience and convert them all to index cards. Try out new material on an unsuspecting audience. This is you telling the story you want to eventually tell with your presentation. This is you stumbling through it, repeating yourself, making mistakes, saying “um” and “like” and “sooooo…” And this is you feeling uncomfortable and freaking out a little. Do it anyway. Every single time you try to tell that story, you’ll get to know it a little better. SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS PURGE PILLOW POLLUTANTS Did you know that most airlines do not change their pillowcases between flights? Who knows what kind of dirt, germs, stray hairs, and bacteria might be lurking! But here’s a simple solution to avoid the uncertainty on your next adventure. JetHeads provides comfort and cleanliness to passengers with a line of disposable airline pillowcases. Just slip one over the existing pillowcase provided and avoid any unwanted hassles. With JetHeads, a soft, white pillowcase made out of disposable fabric, travelers can rest their heads comfortably. Visit www.travel-with-me.com 22 DECEMBER 2008 http://www.binendswine.com http://www.binendswine.com http://www.travel-with-me.com http://www.travel-with-me.com http://www.successfulmeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - December 2008

Successful Meetings - December 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
Corporate Events
On the Record
Calendar
Research
Planner Spotlight
Personal Success
Technology Talk
Food & Beverage
Professional Development
Quick Tip
Tools of the Trade
On Site: Retire Those Tired Power-Point Slides
On Site: 12 Tips for Thriving on a South African Safari
Deep Impact
Recession-Friendly Speakers
Showing Off
Hawaii Insert
Places & Spaces
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Fort Worth
South Florida
Beijing
Gurus

Successful Meetings - December 2008