Archive for August, 2009

In part one of this two-part post, we talked about the seven sins of PowerPoint. If you missed it, you can read it here.

So now that you know what not to do when preparing your slide deck, here are the seven virtues of what you should do to create informative, entertaining and memorable slides that will motivate your audience to action

The public speaking community has lost a true orator today with the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy. Much will be written and spoken about this great statesman who spent his life as a public servant. As the remaining heart and soul of the rich Kennedy legacy he was indeed a champion of justice, fairness and compassion. Like his brothers before him, he believed that everyone was entitled to participate in the great American opportunity.

During the last month I have seen some seriously challenged PowerPoint Slide decks. For a while there things were looking up in Silicon Valley; people were using more pictures, less text, more color, and congruent graphs. But I’ve recently noticed there are still pockets of stubborn “old school” PowerPoint users who simply refuse to change. I feel for their audiences who are craning their brains to stay tuned and awake.

I recently worked with a writer who was preparing to interview a well-known artist at a retrospective honoring his decades-long contribution to the world of crafts. The interview was set up much like Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton, where the interviewer and interviewee are on a large stage. The audience was made up [...]

In my last blog post I made a reference to the phrase, “right on” as having appeared in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I’ve received dozens of inquires from interested readers who want to know who spoke this phrase, so here it is:

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair celebrates its 40th anniversary on August 15th, 2009. The “flower-power” generation was partly-fueled by the message of limitless self-expression, creativity and freedom. Speech has always been a principle medium for younger generations to define and differentiate themselves, and Woodstock not only created timeless music and art, but it also [...]

Crafting a great speech is like making music. In music, rhyme, rhythm, timing, pacing, and melodic repetition are essential for listeners to retain your message and sing or hum certain passages over and over again. In speeches, the same elements ensure that key phrases linger in people’s minds and act to inspire, delight, and move [...]

DeFinis Communications is proud to announce our Fall 2009 Public Seminar schedule.
Building Professional Presence is our new, one-day program designed to give a general audience exposure to the best practices of creating and delivering powerful presentations. During this lively and educational session for up to twenty-five participants, individuals engage in activities and exercises designed to [...]