Consulting
I will work with individuals or teams on upcoming presentations to clarify the story and key messages, improve the slide design and fine tune delivery.
Workshops
Please note that all workshops can be customized to meet the needs of individual clients. Below are sample workshops used for existing clients. Click on the links below for details on each workshop.
Storytelling & Slide Design
Presenting Data
Delivery
Just Storytelling
Presentation WorkoutTM
Storytelling and Slide Design
Goals of the workshop
Provide participants with the skills needed to develop more engaging and useful content using storytelling principles, and to design slides in a way which will maximize clarity and retention.
The workshop is very interactive and includes time for participants to work on their own presentations if the client so chooses.
Outline
- From information to story: Moving presentations away from data/info dumps and toward memorable presentations using storytelling principles
- Storytelling exercises: Individual exercise with feedback using actual work-related presentations
- Slide design: Simplicity, clarity, meaning and consistency
- Slide makeovers: Either participants work on slides from their business presentations, or as a group we review existing presentations relevant to the group and work on improving slides
- Synthesis exercise: In small groups, using stories previously developed during the workshop, an actual presentation is drafted with pen and paper on flip charts, and then presented to the group followed by feedback.
Details
- Duration: From 2.5 hours for the basic workshop, to a full 5 hours for an in-depth training with more time to fix existing presentations and develop new content immediately relevant to the participants' work.
- Size: Ideally a minimum of 6 participants, and a maximum of 16. Can accommodate larger groups but less individual feedback will be possible.
Presenting Data
Goals of the workshop
Provide participants who are tasked with presenting data-heavy content with the skills needed to present data in a concise and helpful way, which doesn't overwhelm the audience and provides clear takeaways.
The workshop is very interactive and includes time for participants to work on their own presentations if the client so chooses.
Outline
- Storytelling principles as they apply to data content
- Addressing design challenges for data-heavy slides
- Using the right charts
- Tips and tricks to make data-focused presentations more engaging and memorable
- Applying story and design principles to Excel reports
- Slide makeovers: Either participants work on slides from their own business presentations, or on sample exercise slides
- Synthesis exercise: In small groups, using stories previously developed during the workshop, an actual presentation is drafted with pen and paper on flip charts, and then presented to the group.
Details
- Duration: From 2.5 hours for the basic workshop, to a full 5 hours for an in-depth training with more time to fix existing presentations and develop new content immediately relevant to the participants' work.
- Size: Ideally a minimum of 6 participants, and a maximum of 16. Can accommodate larger groups but less individual feedback will be possible.
Delivery
Goals of the workshop
Teach participants about delivery technique and provide them with opportunities to get up and present a number of times with immediate feedback.
Outline
For each technique, exercises will allow participants to get up and work on the technique.
- Warm up exercises
- Eye contact
- Vocal delivery
- Body language
- Passion, nerves and rehearsal
Details
- Duration: 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on client needs and number of participants
- Size: Minimum of 6 participants, and a maximum of 18
Just Storytelling
Goals of the workshop
Give participants a better understanding of storytelling techniques and the effectiveness of stories, as well as the opportunity to create stories, individually and in groups.
Outline
- The science behind storytelling: Why do stories work to convey information?
- Storytelling techniques and archetypes
- The importance of the storyteller
- Storytelling construct easily applicable to business
- What not to do when telling stories at work
- Various individual, paired and group exercises (e.g. improvise story as a group, create story with constraints, personal stories, stories related to the business)
Details
- Duration: 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on client needs and number of participants
- Size: Minimum of 6 participants, and a maximum of 20
Presentation WorkoutTM (8-10 hours)
The Presentation WorkoutTM is an extended version, and combination, of the Storytelling & Slide Design and Delivery workshops for a smaller group of participants (6 to 10) which culminates in a 5 to 7 minute presentation in front of an invited audience of colleagues and managers.
The smaller group allows more individual attention from the instructor and more opportunity for every participant to get up, present and work on the skills and techniques being taught. Each participant will get up and present between 8 and 10 times over the course of the workshop. At least one mini-presentation will be video recorded and played back during a feedback session.
The workshop can be run in a full day session (8 hours), but ideally should be split over 2 to 3 days to give participants time to work on their presentations outside of the workshop.
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