For those of you that have enjoyed my 10 tips on getting the best from Powerpoint, I do a spoof presentation to illustrate the worst ways to use it with some discussion and examples of good practice. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like me to come along and present to your team or group.
Tag Archives: purchasing
Are your best friends your PC and your mobile phone?
In these days of texting, mobile phones and social networking is virtual commuication becoming too dominant? Yes it is (fairly) instant and keeps people in touch, but what effect is it having on the art of conversation and social skills?
I use business networking groups as a way of keeping human contact up – what about you?
Filed under business life
2010 BIFM Annual Conference, London
One of the premier global events for Facilities Managers. I’ll be going, and look forward to meeting old friends and making new ones.
When: 13th-14th April
Where: Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel
Theme: FM in a changing world
Chair: Sarah Montague, presenter of the Today programme
What else is there? Fantastic keynote speakers, an exhibition, an entertainment-filled gala dinner, and plenary, parallel and fringe sessions covering a range of relevant and exciting topics.
Tickets are available to book via the website link: www.bifmconference.com
Filed under about me, business life, Press Cuttings
Getting the Best from Powerpoint
Used well it’s a great tool, so why do so many people use it so badly?
Those of us that have to sit through presentations as part of our job know how soul destroying it can be to have half a dozen dud presentations over the course of a day.
Just ask and I’ll be happy to come along to your team, event or meeting and give you my light hearted Death by Powerpoint presentation with some helpful hints on doing it well. Takes about half an hour.
For now, here are my top ten tips:
1 Think about your audience. Even if you have been asked to do a standard talk, how you deliver it can make a big difference, and so can the size of the audience. If your talk is specific, say a sales pitch, then you should be gearing it solely to what the audience have asked for.
2 Your slides are there to help the presentation: You are the focal point not them. Just a few words on each slide, or a picture, that you can talk around is all you need. Try not to use more that 15 words per slide. And never read from the slide.
3 Use a clear font and one with strong contrast to the background. Not all venues have decent light management and you want people to be able to see what you have got. Don’t use fancy fonts either. Anything that detracts from the message is a waste of time.
4 “I’m afraid this slide is a bit busy” and “I’m not sure of you can see all the detail here” are two phrases you don’t want to use. If you can’t get the information on the slide so that people at the back can read it then use a different format. Graphs can be simplified to just show a trend for example and you can put the detail in the handout.
5 Animation is good, but only in limited amounts: You’re not Pixar Studios. A couple of animations to show a trend or similar is good. Leave it at that.
6 A slide should last you through 2 to 3 minutes of talk at least. Use the slides to build your message to a natural conclusion, and keep a regular pace. Try not to have too many messages either, in a 30 to 40 minute talk you only need around 3 at most.
7 Never walk in front of the slides. If you absolutely have to wander around in front of the screen at some point, say at the end when you are taking questions, either turn the projector off or put something in front of the lens to break the beam.
8 Rehearse your timing and make adjustments. Have some notes on a printed set of the slides so that you always know what’s coming next (we all have those moments when our mind goes blank). You want to use your time in front of these people to get your points over. With, say, 3 key messages over 30 minutes a quick intro and a summing up will take about 6 minutes leaving you 8 minutes for each message.
9 Be prepared to share your slides with a set of notes that covers the key messages that you have spoken over them. Have your contact details on them and tell the audience that they are welcome to contact you.
10 Keep to your allotted time. It looks professional and your audience will be more receptive. If you’ve rehearsed properly you should have no problems.
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Filed under business life
2010 BIFM Conference – London
I’m thrilled to be speaking in one of the parallel sessions at the BIFM conference on its return to London this April. This is a truly global event and showcases the best that Facilities Management can offer.
If you’re interested in attending, here’s a link to the web site:
http://www.bifmconference2010.com/
Maybe see you there?
Filed under about me, business life, Press Cuttings
at last an F1 offer?
In my younger days I fancied myself as a racing driver and did do a bit of wheel twirling and marshalling before women entered my life and took all my time and money.
So the call to go to the HQ of Williams GP down the road at Grove came as a pleasant surprise. It’s a business trip though; too old, too tall, too wide and not to mention too slow to pedal the new FW32 for them, and anyway they’ve got the barrow boy and the incredible hulk bloke signed up to drive this season.
Oh well, maybe I’ll get to see some of the cars.
Did I mention that I’d seen FW in his F3 driving days?
Filed under about me, business life
working from home
I first began to work from home in the early 1980s when I was in IT and the equipment supplier for the project I was working on was based nearby and their project manager lived round the corner from me. I could save the 3 hour commute to my London office and back and be more productive against the tight deadline we had.
That worked well, but it was almost 20 years before I did it again, this time pretty much for good. In the time between I had risen up the ladder gaining my own little box office, then a bigger one, then one with a 4 peg coatstand and bookcase (a big ego step!), then a bigger one still only accessible via the office of the secretary that I shared with a fellow director. After a spell at that level I had got the open plan bug, had all the walls taken down and moved through having a desk the same size as everyone else to just hot desking. Then came the moment to move to truly LIW (Location Independant Working) and I’d hot desk (or scrounge one) whenever I was at an office, but worked from the couch, the dining table, hotel lobbies, coffe bars, supermarket cafeterias, airport lounges, on trains – you know the routine.
Over the years I’ve been through most of the stages; delighted, euphpric, bored, depressed, enthused, galvanised, gone native and more, not in any particular order.
Over on my business blog my next Monday Musing, published early on 1 February, will cover my top 10 tips for making working from home work.
Check out the link on the right for Thatconsultantbloke’s Blog. Tell me (or him) what you think.
Filed under business life
some days are just like that
It’s just gone four in the afternoon. I’ve had six enquires about renting the villa, one of which was a follow up and has turned into a booking. The conference I had agreed to speak at in London have rung to ask if I’ll do both days and I’ve just been commissioned to work with two other people on producing 24 professional examination marking frames and assessments at QCF levels 5 and 6 by the end of next month.
Oh, and one of the work opportunities that I have under discussion has started to show signs it might be bubbling.
Not all days are like this, but it makes all those days when you’re casting bread on the waters worthwhile.
Filed under about me, business life
book launch in March
I was honoured to be invited to contribute 2 chapters to the latest edition of The Principles of Warehouse Design and am pleased to confirm that the launch has been announced for 10 March 2010. More news will be on the web site of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) and I’ll update this blog and my own web sites as the timing and venue are confirmed.
Congratulations to Peter and his team for their efforts in pulling the project together.
Filed under Books & Reading
The Voice of the Bloke at the Back 