Wired Presentations

2009 is about to be history! Thank goodness, it’s been a rough year for many people. On the other hand, It has been a great year for presentations. Here is the best communicator of 2009!

My Favorite Communicator or 2009 … Sir Ken Robinson

Hands down Sir Ken Robinson is the best communicator of 2009.

I first became aware of Sir Ken years ago. I was in San Francisco to do some performance tuning on a SAS environment for a bank. In fact, I had just arrived. I turned on the TV after settling into my hotel room. As I placed my clothes in the closet I heard this mesmerizing English accent. It just so happened that the TV was on a PBS station that was playing a speech by Sir Ken Robinson. I quickly made note of his name name in my notebook and then sat down to listen as he discussed creativity and how our schools kill it.

Take a few minutes and view Sir Ken discuss this very topic at a TED Conference.

What makes Sir Ken so good?

• He is engaging – he brings you into his idea and makes you part of the story. Most of us have been to school so we can identify with many of the points he brings up.
• He is likeable – Sir Ken is a guy who you would love to run into at a dinner party. Yes, even though he is an educator (watch the TED video to hear the joke). Which brings us to …
• He is a great story teller - his presentations are filled with great stories and they are very well told. They enhance his presentations by bringing his ideas to life. You won’t find a better example of story use anywhere else.
• He is very, VERY, funny – his presentations are full of humor. Jokes. Funny stories. Humorous asides. They are all in there.
• He knows when to use visuals - in this case he doesn’t use PowerPoint. You won’t find any Zen-style get-a-photo-and-stick-a-quote-on-it slides in here. During his TED talk he does use a visual but it is subtle. He is the visual. He is speaking about a ballerina and them draws attention to his body. He is a polio survivor and ballett is not something you will see him do.

You get the picture. Sir Ken Robinson is the perfect role model for the modern presentation. Check-out his Web site for more videos.

I recently asked Sir Ken which of his many books is the best one to read first. He said, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. I am going to order it for my Kindle and in hardcopy just as soon as I finish this post.

Dr. Walter E. Willams

My runner-up for the Best Communicator of 2009 is Dr. Walter E. Williams. Dr. Williams is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. In addition, Dr. Williams is a staunch libertarian and often speaks on the topic of personal freedom.

Dr. Williams is a guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. He can explain complex economic topics and make them understandable. Plus, he is funny! When I think back to my Economics professors I feel cheated. Here is an example of his work.

One of the ways that you can improve your presentation skills is to study the work of others. You can find examples of great, and not so great, presentations on the Internet. I like looking at great examples.

It helps if the presenters are good — very good. You want to find people who are passionate and know a lot about their topic. They should also care deeply about their subject. You are looking for people who look natural, not actors. In short, you want them to be genuine.

Dave Ramsey falls into that category. Dave’s mission in life is to bring “financial peace” to the world.

As you watch the video answer these questions:

How does Dave connect with the audience?

How does he use humor during the presentation?

What do you think of the television monitors at the edge of the stage? Does he appear to use them?

What techniques or skills can you learn from Dave that will make you a better presenter?

Watch Dave Ramsey present

Monica

Monica is a fiery Italian woman who speaks English, Italian and German. She is a master of presentation who just happens to be a tour guide. She used to be a banker but tired of it and traded it in for a life of presenting Italy, specifically Milano, to tourists. She doesn’t use PowerPoint or Keynote but she does use visuals. For crying out loud she gets to use Leonardo Divinci’s “The Last Supper” as a visual. How Zen is that?

The visuals I am going to show you have nothing to do with art or architecture. Monica is the visual. She uses her beautiful and expressive face and body language to tell stories and get her message across. She is mesmerizing.

Enough talk… see for yourself.

[Jeff Note: I wrote this a while ago. It, too, is about James Nachtwey.]

The TED conference is a big deal. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. The conference prides itself on the quality of its speakers. Your typical TED speaker is dynamic, famous, and perhaps a little over-hyped.

James Nachtwey doesn’t fit that typical stereotype. He read his presentation — a TED no-no. His voice conveys a lack of emotion that runs counter the the images displayed on the screen. There is a disconnect. You see, Mr. Nachthwey is a famous war photographer. The images displayed during his presentation are searing; they can literally make you cry.

The first thing that James Nachtwey shows it that it is possible to be a very mediocre presenter and still deliver a well received presentation. The comments regarding his presentation are very positive. In fairness, it would be very politically incorrect to criticize the presentation. Not many people would do it. If he were to work ever so slightly on his presentation skills he would be an incredible presence. It would be amazing.

The second thing that he shows is that strong content can overcome ALMOST ANY weakness in presentation skills. An horrendous number of ums and ahs may be the exception. When your content and visuals are this good your presentation skills don’t need to be great. It would be nice if they were great, but they simply don’t have to be.

Make sure you read the comments (This link will also start the video).

Make sure you read the comments (This link will also start the video).

I had my Twitter stream running on my computer at work today. Periodically I would glance up and look. It just so happened that I caught a tweet from one of my favorite public speaking authors: Nick Morgan.

Here is what Nick said in the Tweet said: Can a weak speaker with a great message hold an audience? And how to improve?

There was a shortened link pointing to his page. I replaced that with a full link — I just have to show Dr Morgan some “Link Love.”

The question he poses is important but the answer is obvious. If your content is good enough then people will give delivery a pass. Don’t believe me: some of the most famous names in speaking aren’t technically that good.

Here is a presentation from Ted that proves my point.

Just in case that wasn’t enough, here is another one.

Back to the original question…

Can a weak speaker with a great message hold an audience?

I think that the answer is “YES!” Hold and mezmerize and haunt …

The best presentations are delivered by people who don’t spend all their time studying PowerPoint or presentation delivery. In fact, there are times that I think that many of us who obsess over PowerPoint or delivery are wasting our time. Wouldn’t focusing on doing be better? And besides, isn’t it much more fun to talk about something that you are really passionate about?

I understand that there are many people who are passionate about presentation delivery. I believe they are similar to people who are passionate about cameras but don’t use them to express themselves by taking beautiful pictures (Leica collectors).

Rick Bayless is a chef who is 100% in love with Mexico. This passion started when he was a mere 14 years old and currently drives his professional life. You can read about how he fell in love with Mexico on his Web site.

Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Rick is passionate about bringing the joy he has found in Mexican cooking to the masses. Whether is it a book, a trip to one of his restaurants, Frontera salsa from the grocery store or his TV show, he is passionate and wants his customers to have a great experience. In short, he wants to create raving fans.

Rick’s television show, Mexico One Plate at a Time, is where he really shines on the presentation front. On the show Rick uses visuals and his very effective voice to entice the viewers to come along on a journey through Mexico. Then he encourages us bring the excitement into their own kitchens. He has a knack for making the complicated seem doable: This skill has gotten me to try some of his recipes myself. Order his books or watch his TV show and you will want try them too.

Rick has something that all presenters need: He has the heart of a teacher!

Don’t take my word for it, look at some videos featuring Rick.

Rick discusses his restaurant Topolobampo in this video. Granted, he has lots of television experience but these videos are just great. You can really sense his personality in them. You don’t hear this said much but that is the holy grail of public speaking. When you can project your personality you are doing great work. Caveat: If your personality sucks you will want to hide it;)

In this video talks about his philosophy on food. He even discusses that his customers are constantly pushing him to seek the edge and go past it. Personally, I love that philosophy.  In this video Rick displays the communication skills that make him so dog gone effective. In fact, he is more effective impromptu than most people are with rehearsed presentations.

If you are a fan of the Obamas you will enjoy this video where Rick discusses having them in his restaurant, Topolobampo. It is not political and is very interesting. There are even some funny pictures of President Obama eating.

I hope that you enjoy learning about Rick. He is a very interesting guy. I am going to write another post about him soon. Yes, he is that interesting!