VC Pitches

Tech Presentations

Learn how to simplify complex ideas into messages that the audience will understand and carry with them. Through brainstorming of visuals, using stories, and seeing the audience’s perspective attendees will have the tools to create effective technical presentations.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply principles of audience analysis to technical presentation development.
• Curate presented information to further learning objectives.
• Utilize different tactics to clarify complex topics.

Better Slide Decks

Slideware can be a great tool to organize visual content but too often it is misused and that leads to audience boredom. The class will provide best design practices ranging from the overall organization down to choice of colors, font, and images. Attendees need not be identify as designers to design a great presentation. Your audience will thank you for attending this class.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the impact design choices have on the audience.
• Utilize best practices to create strong presentations from scratch.
• Be able to adjust existing presentations to improve their effectiveness.

Presentation Delivery Skills

Don’t let poor delivery ruin an otherwise strong presentation. Anyone can speak with power and confidence if they assess themselves and know the steps to improve their weaknesses. This class will give concrete examples of good and bad presentation skills plus provide tips to strengthen many aspects of their delivery.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the core skills which enhance communication during a presentation.
• Know strategies to address anxiety before and during a presentation.
• Apply solid preparation methods to enable effective delivery.

Storytelling for Business

Stories connect information and can drive people to action. Everyone has stories to tell but finding those and applying them in a useful way in the business environment can be challenging. In this class you will learn how to utilize storytelling in formal presentations, to enhance leadership, and find new opportunities to create impactful moments.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize common story archetypes around them.
• Create stories from everyday experiences.
• Be able to use stories in presentations.

Visual Data

Raw data is best saved for spreadsheets and journals, not for presentations. Translating data into meaningful content can be challenging. This class will show different methods to visualize the information so that is draws the audience in and communicates your point.

Learning Objectives:
Know the differences between various types of charts and graphs.
Create graphics that maximize communication and understanding.

Tech Communication Made Easy

If you are a developer, engineer, scientist, or other professional who works with complex topics but needs to be able to communicate to those outside your field you have an interesting challenge on your hands. The purpose of this class is to give you tools to better connect with your audience and help them see why your work is so important. Your presentation may be something linear like a conference lecture or VC pitch or something asynchronous like communicating through your website or other marketing materials. Different formats will mean different tools and tactics but the underlying principals remain the same.

Topics:  
Strategies to understand your audience  
Translating abstract ideas in to powerful visuals  
Using storytelling to engage the audience  
Creating demos and case studies  
Using data effectively

 Resources from the class

Comments about the class:

Dan gave a top-notch presentation, about presentations 🙂 I appreciated the insight into prioritizing certain aspects of a presentation, like understanding the audience. -Julian, Syracuse, NY

Engineer and Scientist Presentation Skills Training

Highly technical presentations offer unique challenges and those whose careers depend on the success of those presentations must find ways to engage their audience. During this workshop students will learn how to craft a more visual and effective presentation through emphasis on better planning and execution.

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Training Delivery Skills Course

Instructor Lead Training (ILT) can succeed or fail based on the skill of the trainer. This course teaches best practices, new training delivery techniques, sound course development principals, and ways to enhance an existing course to improve knowledge transfer. Those new to serving as trainers will develop a strong foundation and experienced trainers will see new approaches to build on their strengths. The program can be customized to an organization’s specific needs. 

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There’s more than PowerPoint! And more to PowerPoint!

PowerPoint is the most widely used presentation software, but it is certainly not the only one. There are different products which trainers should be aware of and may elect to use for their next presentation. Many of these products give trainers ways to create self-guided additions to their main presentation, integrate a variety of media sources, and other features they may find useful and engaging. If you are set on using PowerPoint there may be some new ways you can use it to make your next session more exciting. 

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Persuasive Communication: Presentations, Pitches, and Speeches

Pitching a product, introducing a new idea or technique, and delivering an elevator speech all share a common theme. You are trying to move people to take action based on your assertions. Fundamental principals of persuasive communication hold true across a variety of formats. We will discuss the underlying concepts and then use them in practical applications. Students will deliver brief presentations in class based on their content and some new approaches. If you have a speech or slide based presentation already made bring that for us to discuss. 

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Remove the Fear From Public Speaking

When children fear the dark, they are not afraid of the absence of light, but rather the things conjured by their imagination that are lurking in the darkness. As adults, we often fear public speaking for exactly the same reason. The stage or boardroom becomes our childhood bedroom, and the idea of the presentation (or rather the things we imagine it to be) become the monster in the corner. This class will turn on the lights and let us see the various things we imagine as monsters. Starting with a module on public speaking, we will learn some best practices and tricks to prepare ourselves to verbally communicate more effectively. We will then move onto ways to craft a compelling visual accompaniment for your verbal presentation and conclude with some of the available tools we may choose to use to create our visuals.

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Crafting a Better Slide Based Presentation

PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation software and a leading cause of severe boredom in classrooms and businesses. We will review a number of alternatives to PowerPoint, focusing on their strengths and weaknesses to help students pick the best one to help meet their objectives. We will learn about best practices of presentation design, which can be applied to PowerPoint or other software with a similar purpose. Given the versatility of PowerPoint and it’s prevalence, we will work with it to apply superior techniques to a pre-existing presentation or idea that students bring to class. The presentation brought to class can be something the student has already given or will be giving. If coming with an idea for a presentation, prior to class, define who your audience will be and what the purpose of giving the presentation is.

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