Day long conferences are fertile grounds for presentation led boredom. When bored, people check their email or take a quick nap. The extra cool air conditioning makes matters worse and induces sleep. The time that is most vulnerable to a sleepy audience is the post-lunch session. After a good meal in a 5 star hotel, people cannot be blamed for sleeping unless the next presenter is Steve Jobs or Sachin Tendulkar. I attended the Nielsen Consumer 360 conference in Gurgaon, India sometime back and what they did was noteworthy. Just after lunch, when the audience was susceptible to falling asleep, they brought in... Watch the pictures and continue reading... Photos: Nielsen India's FB page It was remarkable. Not a single person in the audience could sleep. Moreover it was a pleasant surprise. The performer made everyone dance, sing and what not. He played drums, his team danced and the audience was given simple instructions and people moved their hands, moved...

PhotoFunia is an app which does some cool stuff. Have a look at some of these pics. It is almost like you getting stuff done on Adobe Photoshop without using the software. The resolution of most images is good enough for PowerPoint.  I came across this app on Google Play Store. You can also download it if you are using Chrome Browser on your computer. It is also available on iOS and other operating systems. You can use it sparingly in your presentation to make an impact. How you use it depends on you. Use it well and people will have a smile on their faces. This app will help you stand out because it allows you to customize your images. All the images you buy online are standardized and not customized to your presentation. This is your chance. Try something new. Yes, there is a risk. But then, no risk, no return. The app has hundreds of such effects and you are only limited by your imagination. Check it out right away.

You must be knowing about TED talks . Amazing people from all walks of life come and share their dream/vision. The talks are inspiring, fascinating, informative or simply entertaining. While TED has global speakers, INK talks is the Indian TED. INK talks has more Indian speakers and hence will appeal more to Indians. I also noticed that INK talks are shorter in duration. Here are two talks which are a must watch. As usual, the first one is motivating and the second one is fascinating. A must watch.

I am happy today. All About Presentations completes 5 years today. On the festival of Pongal (Makar Sankranti) I had started the blog in 2009. It has been quite a ride, these 5 years. Thanks to you for reading and being part of the journey. Image courtesy of tiverylucky /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the last post we discussed the process involved in making a television advertisement. In this post, we will compare making presentations to making TV ads to see what presenters can learn from the process of ad making. Here are the 14 steps in making of a TV ad: Defining the advertising objective Understanding the consumer Developing rough one-sentence/paragraph stories (concepts) Client choosing one concept Conducting consumer research to check appeal and effectiveness of the story Fine tuning the chosen concept Selecting the director Incorporating director's feedback Making of the storyboard (each shot decided and sketches made) Pre-production meeting to discuss every aspect of the ad shooting Actual shooting Editing and post-production First cut for client approval Final ad is ready Here are 5   lessons all presenters can learn from advertising: #1 Clearly define your presentation's objective Advertising always starts with the brand objective and...

I have been part of 6 television advertisements for my brand so far and  honestly, ad making is a very interesting process. A lot of effort goes into it and the stakes are really high.  Advertising agencies are experts in making ads. The process has been refined over  time and there is a standard way of making ads. We can really improve as a presenter if we understand how an ad is made. But before we understand what presenters should learn  from the process of making an ad, let me share the process itself. Step 1: Client's Brief: The Objective The advertising process starts with what is called an 'advertising brief'. In this document, the brand team shares their  objective of making the ad. The target consumer, timing of the ad, language of the ad and a lot of other things are decided  at this phase. The more detailed the brief, the easier it is for the agency. However the most crucial thing in this brief is the advertising  objective. What ...

Imagine you have a topic that is boring to most people. Imagine you have talk for 18 minutes on this topic. Think of a boring topic. How about education? That's pretty boring.  If you spoke about education and your audience did not doze off, you would consider it a success. Let me ask you a question. Do you know which is the most watched TED talk ever? Ignore the speaker. Can you guess the topic? Science? Technology? Sports? Movies? Here is the surprise: Sir Ken Robinson delivered a talk in 2006. This video today has more than 20 million views on TED. It is the most watched TED talk ever. And Sir Ken Robinson talked about Education. So how did he do that? I am surprised and I started dissecting his talk to find out the reason. One reason was obvious; his amazing sense of humor. The other was less obvious; his prolific use of stories. There's more so read on... Let us look at the breakup of his 19 minute talk. But before that, if you have not heard him speak, com...

We make presentations to influence our audience. The salesman wants the buyer to say yes. The trainer wants the new employee to understand. The manager wants the CEO to agree with her strategy. We are in the business of influencing others and these 4 tips will help you do that better. These strategies are part of the best-selling book 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' by Dr. Robert B Cialdini . These 4 tips will make you a much better influencer in life. 1. Power of written commitments: Making people write down makes them more committed to the cause. If you want your audience to commit to something, do not just make them say it loud. Make them write it down. They are more likely to fulfill it now. There is something magical about writing. 2. Be likable: People do business with people they like. You buy from the salesman you like. This is a fact. As a presenter, when you are selling your ideas, you need to start by becoming more likable. Does ...

Have a rocking new year. Take care of your health and remember to have fun every day every minute.