Course Descriptions
 


Transforming Technical Presentations

Through this foundational course, participants will learn best practices for giving dynamic and audience-focused technical presentations. Through a blend of lecture, discussion, analysis, and exercises, participants will walk away with immediately applicable strategies for content organization, slide design and delivery. These strategies, backed by extensive cognitive science research, will transform how individuals think about their work and the message they share.

Agenda Topics:

  1. Analyze Audience: size up your audience, adapt to the level of detail needed, and create a strong opening to hook them right from the start

  2. Organize Content: apply principles to maximize audiences’ retention, and unlock the power of storytelling

  3. Transform Slides: explore the problem with traditional PowerPoints, and lend clarity to technical information with assertion-evidence slide design and other visual strategies

  4. Identify Noise: create meaningful visual companions to important data, and learn which data and content to omit

  5. Deliver Confidently: develop a powerful delivery style by, think on your feet, and reflect on your vocal variety and body language through videotaped exercises


Formats Offered:

On Site   Multi-Day   |  Max. 20 Participants
7.5 HOUR WORKSHOP + 2 HOUR GROUP COACHING SESSIONS

On Site   One-Day   |  MAX. 35 Participants 
6 - 7 HOUR WORKSHOP

On Site   half-day   |  MAX. 50 Participants
3 - 4 HOUR WORKSHOP


Transforming Virtual Presentations 

Since virtual communication has become our new normal, many of us struggle to apply the strategies we know work for in-person presentations to a remote platform. In Transforming Virtual Presentations - the online version of Transforming Technical Presentations - we will quickly learn and utilize the skills necessary to connect with a remote audience. With a focus slides, strategies to maximize engagement, and set-up, this highly interactive course allows participants to learn, practice, and utilize presentation skills on a virtual platform. 

Agenda Topics:

  1. Transform Slides: explore the problem with traditional PowerPoints, and lend clarity to technical information with assertion-evidence slide design

  2. Focus Visuals: create meaningful visuals for your virtual presentation that will deepen audience understanding

  3. Maximize Engagement: learn important strategies to help you connect with your audience from the very beginning of your talk 

  4. Deliver Confidently: create a virtual set-up and delivery style that maximizes your presence on screen

  5. Revise Presentation: deliver the first 5 to 7 minutes of a virtual presentation and receive individualized feedback and coaching from the instructor
     

Formats Offered:

VIRTUAL  Multi Day  |  MAX 12 PARTICIPANTS
1 HOUR PREPARATION CALL + 3 HOUR WORKSHOP + 2 HOUR GROUP COACHING SESSIONS



Transforming Presentation Slides

If you’re at a loss when it comes to designing slides, you’re not alone. Most presenters aren’t sure how to visually support their spoken content when they present. So, they default to the ineffective style we see everywhere – a bullet point filled slide that the presenter reads to a bored and confused audience. But there’s a better way. In this course, you’ll learn a method for designing visual slides in business or technical presentations called assertion-evidence (or message-visual). This method will increase audience engagement, deepen understanding of your topic, and boost your confidence when presenting.

Agenda Topics:

  1. Challenge Status Quo: Explore commonly held beliefs for traditional PowerPoints 

  2. Transform Slides: Discuss strategies for designing slides that brings clarity to complex information and revise a slide using these best practices

  3. Craft Messaging: Develop concise messages to support the main point on each slide

  4. Focus Visuals: Reduce the clutter on the slide to direct the audience’s attention to meaning in data and other visuals
     

Formats Offered:

On Site   3.5 HOUR WORKSHOP | Max. 12 PARTICIPANTS

VIRTUAL  2 HOUR WORKSHOP + 30-MINUTE 1:1 COACHING
Max. 12 participants
HELD ON ZOOM



The Business of Storytelling

Storytelling is the most powerful form of communication. Stories motivate, earn trust, illustrate concepts, reveal vulnerabilities, and most importantly, tap into the emotional part of the brain that is essential for persuasion. This workshop enables participants to become better communicators in business by learning the foundations of effective storytelling and developing their storytelling skills. Participants will receive feedback on their story during small group breakouts.

Agenda Topics:

  1. Learn the elements of any great story

  2. Watch strong storytellers in action and dissect what makes them great

  3. Get personalized feedback on your story
     

Formats Offered:

On Site   2 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS

VIRTUAL  2 HOUR WORKSHOP   |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS
*Option to add on 1:1 Coaching
HELD ON ZOOM



The Art of the Elevator Pitch

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to tell a compelling story about your work or professional background in 60-seconds. By reviewing example elevator pitches and analyzing successful strategies, workshop attendees will craft their own pitches. Through practice and peer feedback, participants will walk away with an effective pitch that can be tailored for different audiences.

Agenda Topics:

  1. Learn the Elevator Pitch Structure

  2. Watch examples of Elevator Pitches and  dissect what makes them great

  3. Get personalized feedback on your pitch
     

Formats Offered:

On Site   2 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS

VIRTUAL  2 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS
*Option to add on 1:1 Coaching
HELD ON ZOOM



Fundamentally Inclusive 

Our communication impacts those around us. While we want our actions and interactions to connect us with others, we can unknowingly create distance instead. When we use inclusive communication, we create stronger bonds with others and improve our ability to connect, persuade and lead. Not only that, but we invite fresh perspectives and experiences that benefit our work and our organization. This workshop is designed to help you be more inclusive in your communication. 

Agenda Topics:

  1. Consider inclusion through identities of gender, age, race, physical ability, mental ability, size, class, first generation status, and more

  2. Learn how words can help people feel acknowledged, important, and included 

  3. Study how images can help individuals see themselves, role models, and their future

  4. Consider how our body and vocal delivery give cues to our emotions, and how these influence a positive and inclusive experience
     

Formats Offered:

On Site   3 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  TBD

VIRTUAL  3 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  TBD
HELD ON ZOOM



Communicating with Confidence

Most people would like to appear more confident in their communication - but how do we actually accomplish this? Confidence is a slippery concept and hard to define. In this workshop, we will break down the techniques that yield more confident delivery. We see how small adjustments to your delivery style can boost credibility and confidence, and we discuss strategies to reduce nervousness in a variety of public speaking situations.

Agenda Topics:

  1. Learn strategies for appearing more confident using your voice and body

  2. Study best practices for interacting with and delivering slides

  3. Examine the causes of nervousness and discuss strategies for managing nerves
     

Formats Offered:

On Site   2 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS

VIRTUAL  2 HOUR WORKSHOP  |  10 - 50 PARTICIPANTS
*Option to add on 1:1 Coaching
HELD ON ZOOM