Recording equipment for presenters

I am now in the market for new audio recording equipment for my next series of CD products. This week I researched microphones, digital recorders and audio editing software packages.

The variety of microphones, software packages and recording equipment available is eye-opening to a neophyte sound engineer. Hundreds of microphones, dynamic type, condensor type, cardiod patterns, with shock mounts, and stabilizer bars. Oh wait - that's for my trailer. Never mind :)

In my research I realized that my trusty Sony digital recorder is outdated as well. I purchased the ICD-P320 in August 2006 and have recorded over 150 speeches with it. The downside for me has always been that it is monoaural and I would have liked stereo recordings.

While browsing in Best Buy on Friday I realized with a shock that new portable digital recorders have stereo capability and was instantly dissatisfied with my ICD-P320. A new stereo digital recorder is on the cards for me now.

I advise you to also take a fresh look at your equipment. Technology advances so quickly, that if your laptop, projector and recorder are more than 2 years old, you should be thinking of upgrading again. For those of us who have been through the upgrade cycle a few times, it is still hard to realize your equipment is obsolete. But you have to agree with me that your time is too valuable to be struggling with far outdated equipment. Make the investment and purchase good recording equipment and a new portable audio recorder. You never know when you will be speaking to the right audience and get a "magical" moment that you can use in future presentations.

What I would do with 5 Million Dollars

This was the first week for students back at Ben Bronz Academy aka BBA. My wife and I enjoyed the annual pot luck dinner on Thursday evening. BBA is the school of choice for many children with Learning Disabilities in Connecticut, and is home to the smartest educators I have met in America.

As veteran parents of this revolutionary Academy, it was our pleasure to reach out and welcome first-time parents. New parents shared their war stories. We encouraged each other on the emotional and financially draining journey up the educational path that leads to BBA.

I am saddened to confirm that the sorry state of public education has still not improved over the past three years. School districts are still allowing the following to take place in schools every day:

1. Verbal abuse in the classroom of children who don't fit into the teacher's perception of "normal".
2. Punishment for inappropriate home work assignments.
3. Unwillingness to accept reports from private specialists and insisting on never-ending examinations and tests while the clock ticks and students are denied Free and Appropriate Education during the exasperating delays.
4. Preference for engaging in legal battles instead of using tax dollars to serve the community and educate children.

New parents asked "Is this situation the same in your school district". The answer is "Yes. It is the same in all districts. The level of aggravation, deceitfulness and stupidity is comparable. The only differences are the names and places involved."

This is a case of the "open door, closed mind" syndrome. Public school teachers can learn to teach children with LD, if anyone is willing to ask. (Kudos to the teachers who transfer from public systems to BBA.) The answer is available to educators all over the world to help astoundingly smart children with Learning Disabilities, if Public School educators were just willing to learn the proven teaching methods. But there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. I am not going to attempt to change the thinking of public school teachers, but wish that I could do more for the children that don't have access to the appropriate education that they deserve and are entitled to.

BBA is the best academic institution on the face of this earth, but obviously twenty or so staff members can only do so much and are only able to help a finite number of children each year.

If I had five million Dollars, I would create a foundation to spread the word on BBA. I would create a chain of BBA's across the nation, where children who need an education, and are entitled to Free and Appropriate Education under Federal Law, have access to open-minded and educated educators.

If you have 5 Million Dollars earmarked for a good cause, then consider working with me to create a foundation and expand the BBA reach.

P.S. On a side note - My message to all new parents of BBA "Welcome - This will be the best year of your family's life".

Two mice and a handgun

After years of service my computer's mouse needed replacement. At the Best store to Buy electronics I inspected umpteen varieties of wireless, wired, optical, roller, trackball, 3, 4 and 5 button mice. Many have rubber grips - when last did you need to move the mouse so fast that you lost your grip? Perhaps you need rubber grips for those white knuckle Internet browsing experiences?

My conclusion is that I am the only person on the planet who has human-like hands. The mice I tested are all uncomfortable to work with, and even the least uncomfortable wireless Razor Fish mouse that I chose has buttons on the side which activate desktop functions every time I reach over for it. The wireless Razor Fish uses blue tooth, which in theory increases the reception area. In practice, the blue tooth reception only makes for jerky movements.

When I needed to replace the mouse on my other PC, I opted for a GE wired mouse, with a roller ball. For under $10 I now have a reliable mouse that works, every time, unlike the 5 button whiz-wonder, rubber grip, countered Razor Fish model.

This is a breakthrough. Why on earth do mouse designers think that a mouse needs to be any thing other than a pointing device?

Oh yeah - and who in their right mind makes a wireless mouse that needs to be in a 24 inch reception area of the USB receiver?

"Boring reliable" is the way that a gun reviewer once described the Browning Hi-Power Semi-Auto pistol. This classic 9MM P pistol has been a simple workhorse pistol for militia, police forces and sportsmen since 1935. My first pistol was a Browning Hi-Power Mark III and it set the standard by which I judge all pistols. "Boringly reliable" are the words I want to see on computers, mice and my telephone system. There is no need to integrate a coffee maker or throw in the kitchen sink with office systems. Just make them "Boringly reliable" and eliminate the hassle factor.

Why can engineers develop a no-frills tool in a Browning Hi-Power but cannot produce easy to use wireless mice? Come on guys, please make mice that are "Boringly Reliable".

P.S. What mice do mouse designers use to design new models? How about an International law that a mouse designer uses his own mouse for one year after designing it?

But I'm not funny !!

Do you enjoy humor in presentations? Do you know how to create humor in your presentations? Why should you even bother? Why not just find a joke on the Internet for your next presentation?

For the answers come with me on a deep dive into humor in the September 2008 Pow'Rful Presentations Newsletter, by clicking here.

The Good Ship Asterix

Yesterday I went out with good friends on the Long Island Sound. We sailed over to Fisher's Island for lunch. This is a 15 minute trip with the motor, but as my Captain says "You throw away your watch when you pull up the sail, because nature has no time pieces". Our trip took a few hours as we enjoyed each other's company, the fresh air and a touch of sun under a gentle 10 knots per hour wind.

We saw many sailboats on the Long Island Sound, but speedboats are few and far between thanks to the price of gas. Fisher's Island is serene and I could live on the Island should the opportunity arise.

The top photo shows a "Class Race". This is a race with the same boats which levels the playing field and the only way to win is by applying superior skill.

Applying Project Management Principles to Presentations

The essence of Project Management is "Plan the work, and then work the plan". The end result of a project does not happen by accident. Neither a successful nor failed project happen by accident. Actions taken during the project deliver a result.

How does this essence help presenters? Well, successful presentations don't just happen by accident either. Your memorable presentation is a result of actions that you have taken at appropriate times. In order to deliver a powerful presentation, you must have decided on the content for your presentation, created PowerPoint slides that fit your message and rehearsed your presentation. You probably confirmed the date and time of the presentation and tested your equipment before the audience walked into the room.

How do you keep track of everything? How do you remember to send your introduction a week before the presentation? Do you even know who to send it to? The easiest way to deliver powerful presentations every time, is by creating a simple project plan of the work to be done, and then working your plan.

In this podcast, you can learn "How to use Project Management Principles to plan your next presentation".

In short, here are the steps to take:
1. Put the date of your presentation at the bottom of a new Excel spreadsheet.
2. Working up the page, and back from your presentation, create interim target dates. For example, make a note of the date that you must send your introduction, and the date that you must deliver your PowerPoint slides to the meeting planner.
3. Add to your plan, as you uncover more work that needs to be done.
4. Keep your plan for your next presentation , and improve on it as you move forward.

Visualization for presenters

Coincidentally, (or not coincidentally according to your belief), a fellow Toastmaster gave a touching speech this week explaining how the Law of Attraction has worked in her life. This is in the same week that I received my copy of "Living the Law of Attraction". (Coincidence? Who knows?)

Which reminded me to again discuss the benefits of using the Law of Attraction and visualization for your presentations. You definitely get better results when you do one or more of the following:

1. Visualize your meeting room. Visualize your audience. Now visualize, with strong positive emotions, your audience hanging on your every word and paying attention to your presentation. What does the room smell like? What is the temperature? How is the lighting? Then also visualize a successful presentation - depending on your definition of a successful presentation. If it is a business presentation, you can visualize closing the deal. If it is a wedding speech, you can visualize everyone laughing at your jokes. For maximum benefit, visualize every morning and evening in the days leading up to your presentation.

2. Write out affirmations by hand. Affirmations such as "I see the crowd going wild". "Everyone came up to me afterwards and shook my hand".

3. Put up pictures of a successful speaker on your vision board and imagine that you are that speaker.

4. Use positive self-talk in the time leading up to the presentation. Consciously say to yourself things like "I feel comfortable speaking to these people". "This audience came a long way to hear my message today".

Now, before you think that visualization is the only key to being the best speaker in the history of the world, I need to make sure you also take tangible steps in the right direction. Remember that actions determine results.

Larry Winget says it best in this quote: "What you think about, talk about, and get off your ass and do something about comes about".

After you have completed the important steps of visualization, you need to craft your presentation and then rehearse it. Rehearse it out loud, and time your presentation so that you know how long it is.

This is the Law of Attraction in Action for presenters.
Step 1. Visualize.
Step 2. Take appropriate actions.
Step 3. Enjoy the results of your labor with a memorable presentation.

The Elements of Style for Presenters

You may have heard of the "The elements of Style" by Strunk and White. I first read about it while reading a book on Freelance Writing success by Bob Bly, and snapped up a copy at Barnes and Noble last week.

This morning I was in a doctor's waiting room and read my new copy of "The elements of style". I have never read it before and like the concepts. The foreword introduces us to Professor William Strunk, the passionate English Professor who self-published the first version of his little book on English usage that was the precursor to "The elements of style".

"The elements of style" requires concentrated reading. It is hard to determine what the rule is, the example, and the annotation. This is not a book to skim through, rather one to study. I found the book to be fun, once I focused all my attention on the message and the book does not take long to read through the first time. I will mark it up with my highlighter for future reference.

Rule 14 is particularly relevant to all presenters: "Use the active voice" For example, "I shall always remember my first trip to Dallas" is much better than "My first trip to Dallas will always be remembered by me".

As presenters, using the active voice to speak is even more important than when we write. Listening to a speaker in passive voice is very tiring. For example, when you follow the line above with "The burgers at McDonalds were enjoyed by the family" and continue in this vein, then I am likely to completely lose interest in the speech.

Therefore, always use the active voice in your presentations. You can google for sites that offer more examples of active and passive voice. Also, purchase a copy of "The Elements of Style". My copy was around $10 and is a fabulous investment to improve my writing.

We communicate with our language, and consequently we must always be improving our communication tools.

Personal Photos for Slides

I just enjoyed a car show close to home in South Windsor, Connecticut. Photos of old cars can be used to connect with seniors in my audiences, and the exquisite paint jobs on the hot rods will connect with hot rod enthusiasts.

These photos do not do justice the to paint jobs. The paint work on these hot rods left my drool marks on the tarmac.

What about you? Do you collect personal photos to use in your presentations? Just as you should keep on collecting stories for your story file, you need to also collect personal photos for your presentations. You never know when you will be able to connect with your audience through a personal photo. As Darren would say "Photo time, photo time, photo time".

Tips to Live the Law of Attraction

Here I am holding the newly published book. Here are some tips to help you manifest your dreams, starting today.

1. Put up a vision board and pin photos or pictures of your dream on the vision board. When you see your vision board imagine that you already posses the object you desire. How will you feel when you possess that object? Will you be happy? Use your emotion to strengthen your desire by feeling the happiness every time you look at the photos on your vision board.

2. Create a "Dream book". Write down the accomplishments that you want to achieve, even if you have no way of reaching them currently. Write your desires in your dream book and keep it on your bookshelf to review from time to time.

3. Use affirmations each morning when you wake up. Write down ten to twenty desires that you would like to achieve, one desire on each 3 x 5 index card. Each morning you read the card, visualize the desire for 30 seconds, and then read the next card.

4. Be open to new opportunities in your life. The Law of Attraction may manifest your desire through new experiences. Be willing to undertake new adventures and go where you have not gone before.

5. Do your part. If you want to manifest a promotion, then you also have to do your part and apply for open positions. You may attract the open position, but it will pass if you don't apply for the position and visualize acing the interview.

Living the Law of Attraction

My copy of "Living the Law of Attraction: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness" arrived in the mail today". Disclaimer up front - I don't make any money on this book. Rich German and Robin Hoch have done a nice job of gathering stories and publishing this compilation. You should have a copy for your bookshelf if you want to improve any area of your life and you can purchase your copy here.

I immediately turned to page 145 and read what I had written. That's right. I contributed my story of how I manifested our immigration to the USA using the Law of Attraction. My hope is that readers around the world will vicariously experience our success by Living the Law of Attraction in their lives. Seeing your words in a printed book is an ego enhancing event, no matter how small your contribution. To be honest, I contributed my story to stroke my ego and to give others the opportunity to learn from my experience (in that order).

Now that I have read the final version of my contribution, I will read the other fabulous stories in this book to learn how others benefit from Living the Law of Attraction. I bet each contributing author is feeling good about themselves right about now.

Fly me to the moon - in 3D

I just enjoyed "Fly me to the moon" in 3 D. The movie was released today and we thoroughly loved the experienced. If you get the chance, and your kids are over 8 years old, then go and enjoy "Fly me to the moon" with your children.

This was my first 3D movie and "Fly me to the moon" in 3D is the first animated movie shot in 3D, so it was an evening of firsts. The story line was OK, the 3D experience was magnificent and the images were educational. I am sure that all the early teenagers in the movie theater today know more about the moon landing than their public school teachers.

We put on the 3D glasses for the movie. Afterwards, we brought the glasses home. I now need to find a way to dispose of them safely. I am too scared to put them on again. If 3D glasses make a movie scene come to life, what happens if you wear 3D glasses in real life? Do you see life in 6D? The thought will give me nightmares until I dispose of the glasses, safely.

I recall studying math in college. In one course we learned how to calculate the area and circumference of a sphere in the 5th and 6th dimension. I enjoyed the class and found it fascinating, and consequently did well. So well in fact, that I was able to always get the correct answer to calculate the area and circumference in n dimensions. That's right. Even in the 21st or 35th dimension, which is mind boggling. And the cool thing is that no-one can prove you wrong. How can anyone prove anything in the 35th dimension, as you can't even imagine 35 dimensions. That was twenty years ago and I still have not found a need to got beyond 3 dimensions.

Anyway, this is a fabulous movie. Enjoy it in 3D. And dispose of the glasses safely afterwards :)

P.S. I wonder how we can get PowerPoint slides in 3D? Wouldn't it be so cool to hand out 3D glasses to your audience for a PowerPoint experience instead of the boring text-laden slides we are exposed to? Let your imagination run wild and envision 3D PowerPoints. Maybe we will be lucky enough to experience this one day?

Social What?

I have updated my profile on Linked in, and invite you to join my network. Social Networking could be the start of the next evolution of electronic relationships. Join my network and we will see in a few years what the benefits are to each of us.

Preparing to speak

I am often asked - "Can you give me a few tips for a presentation that I have to make?"

Here are Wayne Botha's six top speaking tips.
1. Drink half a gallon of water each day in the three days leading up to your presentation. (Yes - drink water, not soda, tea nor Triple Caramel Vente decaf with extra milk). You can take water on stage with you, but it is the water in the days leading up to the presentation that lubricates your vocal cords.

2. Start your preparation early. Don't wait until the week before the presentation. Preparation takes longer than you think. Start to prepare as soon as you know you are going to speak. Preparing the night before you speak will show up the minute you realize your PowerPoint slides are on your other computer at home.

3. Rehearse your presentation, out loud, at least once before you go live. Use a stopwatch or clock to verify how much time your presentation will take. It may be way over time, way under time, or just on time. This knowledge is essential for you to know if you can expand on points while you are presenting.

4. Get exercise before your presentation. Either take a walk on the night before your presentation, or take a walk before you go on stage. Get oxygen into your system and take the time to clear your mind from irrelevant distractions.

5. Speak hungry. Do not start your presentation with a full bladder or full stomach. Either skip your meal, or eat light before you present. You cannot perform well on a full stomach. You can pig out after you wow the audience.

6. Get there early. If you have PowerPoint slides (Do I need to remind you that Murphy's law will be lurking?) test your equipment before you present because something will not work. The power cord is too short, the remote presenter batteries just died, the Mac's cable doesn't fit the projector cable. Who knows what else will go wrong. Get there early.

There you have it. Wayne Botha's six top tips to prepare for your next speech or presentation. Use these tips to have your audience beg for more.

Ignite Presentation Method

Today I came across a new method of presentation. Fast paced which keeps the audience and presenter moving along, without time for distraction.

The only comment for improvement on this presentation, is to not finish with bullet points as a recap. A photo of Rob happily driving away in the new car would be a stronger closing.

Linking In

I recently updated my Linked In profile and invested time renewing old connections. I am not sure what to do with all the linked in connections yet, but it is fun to contact people that I have not seen in the past few years.

I even Linked in to Barack Obama, probably with a gazillion other people :)

Feel free to join my Linked In network here.

Do you really speak like that?

In the audience at church today, we again were on the receiving end of a speech that is being read, instead of being spoken.

Our preacher read large portions of her sermon, and once again highlighted why presenters are more effective when speaking from the heart, and notes, but not reading a speech.

Firstly, the written word is more pure than the spoken word. We do not speak as clearly as we write. I am constantly shocked when I have a speech transcribed through iDictate.com, and I realize that some words are inaudible, I use so many filler words including the all-time USA favorite of "so". For example, "So here we were... " and "So therefore we deduce....".

We all know that we speak less formally than we write and your audience knows it too. Don't write a formal speech and then read it. Make your notes, and then present your points from your notes, in your normal manner of speaking.

You do not really speak in sentences such as "Despite the thoroughness of the preparation, the drought brought significant hardship for generations such that ... "

Secondly, the written word allows for more complex structures, has longer sentences and allows the reader to go back and reread pieces. Not so in a speech. The audience hears what the presenter says. If the presenter lists ten points in as many minutes, then the audience does not have the opportunity to go back and review point #2. For this reason, present with your normal sentence structure and speak from your notes, in your normal manner of speaking. Also recap your main points at the end of the speech.

Thirdly, and this one should be obvious. You lose eye-contact when you read your speech. Your audience knows that you are reading a prepared speech and they have no presenter to make eye-contact with, so (see, even I am now using this USA speaking style - hehehe), your audiences eyes and minds wander around the room looking for something to connect with.

There you have just three reasons to not read a speech to your audience. Rather keep your speeches simple so that you can work from short notes and tell stories from your heart.

Your audience does not want to be impressed by your writing. They want to see you present your true thoughts and opinions, in your words.

The Winning Speech - Friday humor

Here is the speech that won my Toastmasters club contest. Now the race is on to improve my humor for the Area B2 Contest.

I am competing in the Humorous contest to learn how to improve my humor, because humor is the key ingredient in making any presentation enjoyable. In fact, I believe that you don't need humor in your speech, unless you want to be invited to present again.

Please post comments, if you have encountered stupid questions that I could possibly use in my speech. Some friends have already helped me with suggestions, and I need a lot more stupid questions for a winning speech.

A friend shared this stupid question which I will try to work into a future version:

My all time favorite stupid question was when I was a nanny for triplets. On many occasions I was questioned about them being triplets. The onlooker would say "triplets, how neat, how old are they?" I responded with "Seven years old". The next question was usually "All of them?"


Here is a one liner that I like : If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless, or naked?

Humorously speaking

Most presentations benefit when you include humor. But not telling the "joke of the day" off the Internet,. which just leave the audience feeling uncomfortable on your behalf. Instead, you need to study humor and use your own humor in your presentations.

If you did not know, you can make a study of humor. Until two years ago, I did not know that anyone could study humor as a subject. You can study stand-up comedy when you purchase one of Judy Carter's books. You can study humor with products and bootcamps from Darren La Croix.

My humor in presentations has improved since I began to study humor. In fact, I won my District 53 Toastmasters club contest today with my humorous speech.

I recommend that all presenters make a point to study humor as you get a chance. Humor makes the difference between your current presentation and the memorable presentation that your audience wants to enjoy.

Go ahead and develop your humorous stories. Your audience will thank you while you will distinguish yourself from peers who believe that anything less than 35 bullets on a PowerPoint slide is wasted space.

YOU'RE BROKE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE

My copy of "YOU'RE BROKE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE" by Larry Winget arrived on Friday and I read it cover to cover over the weekend. Larry sure gets in your face. If you are interested in getting ahead financially then this book deserves to be on your desk.

No, let me correct that. You and your family deserve to have this book on your desk. Not on your bookshelf where you will forget it. Put it on your desk so that Larry will be looking at you every time you sit down to work. Believe me, his face doesn't get any prettier if you look at the book on your desk every day. But he does continue to be in your face and motivate you to keep focusing on GETTING AHEAD by becoming amazing at what you do and working hard. His website and videos are referenced in the book support his message and make it real to his readers.

Also, don't do what most of us want to do. Even I was tempted to "do it later". Don't skip the exercises in the book. I found the final exercise on page 198 to be the most powerful. I have not done this exercise before, and encourage you to complete this exercise.

Update - Living the Law of Attraction

I just received notice that "Living the Law of Attraction" is now available for purchase. I contributed my story of how I used the Law of Attraction to fill my dream and bring my family out of South Africa to the outstanding life we now enjoy in Connecticut, USA. The first 100 copies are being printed as I type this posting and I can't wait to see how the book has turned out.

I don't make any money from this book. My intention is for readers to benefit from my story and implement the Law of Attraction to reach personal goals and manifest some dreams.

Estimating the prep time

Too frequently I see presenters make the mistake of not setting enough time aside to create and rehearse presentations. It seems to be human nature to think that we can prepare a presentation the night before we go before an audience.

It takes a lot of time to create powerful slides and the last constraint that you want to impose on yourself is too little time. How much time does it take to prepare a presentation?

This week I discussed the time investment for speeches with three past winners of Toastmasters speech contests. All three agreed that you must be willing to put in a lot of time to craft, rehearse, adjust and get feedback on your speech. A conservative estimate is 7 hours per minute that you are on stage.

That's 50 hours of rehearsal (sometimes alone, and sometimes driving to an audience for feedback on live performances) in order to have a shot at winning the Toastmasters District Speech contest.

For a business presentation, I have found that 3 complete rehearsals is the bare minimum. If you are making a 20 minute presentation, then plan to rehearse 3 separate times and revise your speech in between your rehearsals.

This means that you should have your presentation ready to rehearse about one week in advance of your presentation date. This will give you enough time to rehearse, revise, rehearse, revise and get a good night's sleep before your presentation.