My name is Stephanie Evergreen and I am AEA’s eLearning Initiative Director and lead of the Potent Presentations Initiative. I’m sitting in for Susan Kistler this Saturday and boy do I have something awesome to share with you.
As part of the Potent Presentations Initiative, we identified the top dozen AEA presenters (that is, based on the audience evaluation scores from preconference and Summer Institute workshops and Coffee Break webinars). Then Anjanette Raber interviewed each of them to find out how they getting their presentation motor running.
Here are the Dynamic Dozen, in alphabetical order, with links to their sessions at the upcoming annual conference: Gail Barrington, Tom Chapel, Phaedra Corso, David Devlin-Foltz, David Fetterman, Robert Kahle, Jean King, Susan Kistler, Michael Quinn Patton, Patricia Rogers, Jeff Wasbes, and Rebecca Woodland
Rad Resource: Their insights and recommendations are broken out into three short reports posted on the p2i website: Message, Design, and Delivery.
Hot Tip: One of the Dynamic Dozen said, “I think what causes people problems is they are trying to figure out what they want to say as they are creating the presentation. You have to first create the key points and then figure out what you want to say.” The Message report identifies how to go about this process and what to consider when developing a presentation so that it stays on message.
Hot Tip: Their advice reaches across all types of talks, from short Ignite sessions to full-day workshops. While slideshows were a common part of most presentations, other situations like roundtables may warrant no technology at all. After “looking at what else the audience had been subjected to” over the course of the day, one of the Dynamic Dozen will sometimes make the decision to present technology-free. Instead, role-play or flip chart drawings are used to communicate with the audience. Read more in the Design report.
Hot Tip: One of the Dynamic Dozen said that, when practicing, one should only focused on memorizing “the first five minutes and the last five minutes” because the most likely time to panic is at the beginning or end of a presentation. Getting those anchors down pat can provide the foundation for a smooth delivery. The Delivery report is rich with lessons from the pros.
Thanks so much to Anjie Raber and each of the Dynamic Dozen for producing such helpful resources for AEA!
The study methodology will also be posted soon, in case you’re into that sort of thing (it’s with the graphic designer now). But we just couldn’t wait another day to share the findings with you!