IN THIS ISSUE
- Time Management For Speakers
- Speaker's Corner
- Quotation Marks
- Art Of Presentation Gallery
- Training Calendar
With electoral disarray and disappointment in the Zimbabwe air it's topical to pick on a plea made in a Pretoria courtroom forty-four years ago.
The speaker was Nelson Mandela at his 1964 trial on charges of sabotage in Pretoria:
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the
African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have
fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a
democratic and free society in which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to
live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die."
The Nelson Mandela Foundation.
"Gambling promises the poor what property performs for the rich – something for nothing."
George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950.
This month we look at a painting of Charles James Fox by Karl Anton Hickel. The oil on canvas painting is housed in the National Portrait Gallery in London and shows the statesman in the dress of an American Revolutionary.
Charles James Fox was a founding figure of modern liberalism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. A close friend of the Prince of Wales he took the side of the American colonists against George lll and supported other causes including the French Revolution and religious liberty. His numerous speeches became the foundation for much of the Whig movement.
Charles James Fox chose his revolutionary attire to both upset the King and be distinctive. Our PresentPerfect training course contains useful pointers on dress sense for speakers.
The schedule for PresentPerfect training courses in May is now available.
PRESENTATION SKILLS
Welcome to Telling it Straight – the newsletter dedicated to presentation skills. In this edition we look at time management for presenters.
We also have our regular Speakers Corner, Quotation Marks and Art of Presentation Gallery sections.
As a speaker we are responsible for being at an event and making a presentation at the right time, on the right day and on the right subject. We have time to plan. Read more.
We also take responsibility for sound timekeeping. Whatever the presentation we owe it to the organisers and the audience to start and finish on time. We aim to plan to time and run to time. Read more.
Starting later than planned can be interesting. We have to know our options. Will lunch be delayed by 15 minutes if we stick to time? Should we run for 25 minutes and not the planned 40 minutes?
We should be prepared – this is planning quick time. Read more.
We must also consider the scenario where the organiser asks us to fill a conference agenda for longer than initially planned.
If our content is clearly working with
the audience we might go into more detail. This is the time that we feel can be given over to explore some content if we sense that the audience requires it. This is tangent time. Read more.
In summary our time issues are:
- Time to plan – planning what we will say.
- Plan to time – mapping our content and rehearsing against the time available.
- Run to time – meeting our time constraints during the presentation.
- Planning quick time – where we have to plan either a shortened or extended presentation against the clock.
- Tangent time – preparing to cover our content in more detail during and after the presentation.