Powerful Presentations: Selling Your Story on Stage or in the Boardroom (Paperback)

In this introductory chapter, I talk about my personal journey with public speaking. I used to be terrified of speaking to an audience and I talk about how I overcame that fear. My intention is to show the reader that it is achievable. I also talk about the benefits of being able to speak in public in your career.

- The benefits of public speaking.

Chapter 2 ? Writing Engaging Presentations

In this chapter, I talk extensively about the presentation creation process. I discuss multiple styles such as highly visual presentations, data rich presentations, free flowing presentations, motivational presentations, and instruction (or tutorial led) presentations.

I also talk about research techniques, organizing your presentation round a 3-act structure, scripting, outlining, and cue cards and prompts. I then look in more depth about creating effective slides and the idea of less is more, to not draw the audience’s attention away from what you are trying to convey. I also talk about creating calls-to-action if you want the audience to do something after the talk.

- It should be centered on a problem

- Relevant to Your Audience

- It Should Engage the Audience

- It Should be Well Organized

- The Presentation Creation Process

- Choosing a Presentation Style

- Use an Organizational Took You Are Comfortable With

- Creating Effective Slides

- Summarizing Information

- Creating a Call to Action

Chapter 3 ? Writing a Synopsis to Draw in Your Audience

Writing an engaging presentation is only part of the puzzle with public speaking. If you intend to speak at meet-up groups or conferences, then you need to write an effective synopsis of the talk. The synopsis will be used for the call-for-papers process where you aim to get selected to speak at the event.

I also talk about using the synopsis as a sales pitch to encourage attendees to choose your talk over others. In this chapter, I walk through 4 pitches that I have used for my talks. These talks have all been selected at conferences all over the world and gained high speaker approval ratings. I teach the reader about the structure of a synopsis and talk through my examples.

- Talk 1: Fighting Back Against a Distracted World

- Talk 3: Protecting Encryption Keys with Azure Key Vault

- Talk 4: Hacking Humans ? Social Engineering Techniques and Hot to Protect Against Them

In this chapter, I discuss how to prepare to give a talk once it has been developed. I cover how to think about the physical delivery with gestures and facial expressions. I talk about pre-performance rituals for the day to help you reduce anxiety levels, and I discuss how to handle timings for your talk, so you do not run over or under. I also talk about using a practice audience to get feedback and how their questions can help you prepare for the Q&A section of your talk.

I also spend time talking about internet and Wi-Fi contingency planning. Conferences often have bad Wi-Fi, so if your talk, and demos, require a Wi-Fi connection, you can get stuck on stage. I walk through various techniques to help mitigate these worries, which will make you calmer on the day of the presentation.

- Physical Delivery -Gestures and Facial Expressions

- Creating Pre-Performance Rituals

- Be Aware of the Time You Have for Presenting

- Get You Practice Audience to Ask Questions

- Memorize the Introduction to Each Section of Your Talk

- Gathering Feedback and Improving Your Performance

- Internet/Wi-Fi Contingency Planning

Chapter 5 ? Delivering the Talk

In this final chapter, I talk about delivering the talk on the day. I cover what to do if anything goes wrong during the talk, projecting your voice and eye contact, dealing with disrupting attendees, and how to create a good first impression early in the talk.

I also talk about managing anxiety, including some breathing techniques designed to calm you down. I then discuss one of the most feared parts of any presentation, the questions, and answers section, at the end. I finish up the chapter by talking about presenting online talks as opposed to in-person presentations.

- Be Prepared

- Visualize Your Success

- People Want to See You Succeed

- Giving Your Talk

- In the Case of Technical Difficulties, Apologize and Move On

- Rehearse in the Event Venue At least Once If You Can

- On Stage

- Managing Anxiety

- Handling Questions

- Online Talks and Webinars

- Final Summary

Appendix A - Frequently Asked Questions

This appendix provides a frequently asked questions where I answer lots of questions, I have been asked in my many years of mentoring and coaching new speakers. 

Appendix B - Presentation Creation Resources

Here I list out lots of resources that are useful when building and delivering presentations.

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