So what’s the difference? Well, according to at least one online dictionary claptrap is ” Pretentious, insincere, or empty language” where as a Clap Trap is a trick used to generate applause: it’s an old theatrical gimmick… apparently now obsolete.
Except, of course, that we know it isn’t - because Clap Traps are still used [...]
….as at half-past three on a rainy Monday at least… Actually this post is based upon an on-the-spot interview I did for my local newspaper. I’ve edited here for sense but Andrew Mernon’s original is here if you’re intersted.
Tune your speeches into what the audience needs to know. The biggest [...]
Someone asked me recently for a simple formula for structuring their presentation.
Now, I’m always hesitant about giving out simple formulae - because they’re generally over-simple and don’t take into account the circumstances of the presentation etc.. This brings with it the risk of a presentation be totally in-appropriate and backfiring…… on the other [...]
Regular readers will know I’m not a fan of PowerPoint for two reasons.
It’s often badly used; and
It’s designed in a way to make it too easy to use it badly.
I know I’m not alone in this, and recently another voice has joined in - namely Prof John Sweller, from Australia. You can see a [...]
I’ve given a number of presentations and training events recently in brightly lit rooms. The upside of this is that it’s harder for the audience to fall asleep and harder for them to ignore me: it’s also easier for me to build a rapport with them and judge their mood (do I want [...]
I’m writing this while waiting to start work in a meeting room that’s cut in half by those concertina dividers so beloved of room managers. I can’t see what’s happening on the other side of them, but I can hear….. and frankly they’re going to have problems when I start work, because they’re [...]
She might be able to speak five languages and be the youngest ever candidate on “The Apprentice” but Ghazal can’t do the business presentation thing!
Ghazal dried in mid-presentation in the second week: freezing mid-presentation isn’t common but it’s not unknown either, sadly.
Usually people keep going and make a hash of it [...]
And all about presenting too! It’s from Gillian Kerr and I agree with her basic point - define your objectives, define your audience (and make sure you speak to both their surface objectives and the un-stated objectives).
Having said that, the slides are simply awful! Far, far, far too many words: she makes the [...]
Well, for me at least, the good is that they make you sound interesting (all other things being equal of course, which they never are!). I remember reading some research (which I can’t find to reference, sorry!) suggesting that call centres tended to employ people from certain places because they and “generally trusted” accents [...]