Captions are really good at making your videos more accessible. And handy for people who want to follow what you’re saying without having the volume turned up (even if it’s just in case the boss is listening). But it’s really annoying when those captions aren’t in the right place. The audience want to see your mouth. And your eyes. So here’s a bit of fun advice about positioning those captions so they help rather than hinder the whole business of communication. Yes! It’s the latest episode in the Z to A of Presenting.
Category: Presentation
The Z to A of Presenting: T is for Tone
In this five minute video ACM Training’s communication coach, Richard Uridge, talks about striking the right tone in presentations – in particular in the current climate with all that is happening in Ukraine.
G is for Gimmick
Using cheap tricks or stunts to grab an audience’s attention is the presentational equivalent of click bait. So here ACM Training’s communication coach, Richard Uridge, explains (with just a hint of festive irony) the difference between gimmicks and legitimate devices to hook people into your presentation. And, yes, you really won’t believe what he looks like today!
How a treasury tag might have saved the Prime Minister’s bacon
Every failure is an opportunity to learn and grow – even when you’re the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. And it’s to him that we dedicate this episode of the Z to A of Presenting: T is for Treasury Tag. Watch to find out how the PM could have saved himself a whole heap of grief in that lemon-chewingly embarrassing speech to the CBI with one of those little bits of string with a tiny metal bar at either end that are buried at the back of stationary cupboards everywhere. It could just save your next presentation from a #peppapig moment too!
PS Buy shares in treasury tags!
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Things you can do with Zoom and never realised
We’re often asked how our Zoom and Teams meetings and training sessions here at ACM are funkier than most. So here’s the answer! Our chief geek (and media and communication coach) Richard Uridge runs through the kit we’ve put together to make our online courses visually stimulating.
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The Z to A of Presenting: Z is for Zoom
The first in the “Z to A of Presenting” (because why start at A when everyone does)? In this Halloween-themed episode Richard Uridge explains how a simple sticky can help you keep your audience engaged. Watch to the very end if you want the full, scary surprise.
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Wheely armed webinars? I hate them!
A lot of presentation skills trainers are saying we need to be much more animated presenting online via Zoom and MSTeams than was the case when working face-to-face. In this short clip I argue against such an approach. I reckon the skills of an online presenter are more like those of a screen actor than a stage actor. Smaller, more suble movements and facial expressions are the key. Not grand gestures for the people in the cheap seats at the back of a theatre auditorium. Why? Because you are in their face. Or certainly no further than an arm’s length away.
Don’t start with content when planning a presentation. It ain’t the first step!
Step away from the PowerPoint. Close the Keynote. When you’re preparing a presentation – online or face-to-face – resist the urge to start creating content too soon. It’s a receipe for failure. And a mistake too many of us make.
Unputdownable books and unlookawayable from presentations
Here I am murdering the English language and inventing at least two new words in my mission to help us all become better presenters. We should think of ourselves as storytellers and structure our presentations in the same way as a writer constructs and unputdownable book.
Why you should never ignore your audience
“If your presentation doesn’t work for your audience it won’t work for you.”
Richard Uridge, ACM Training