presentation skills

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Ponchik

Ponchik

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Electronologist
I am an instructor at a local CC. I am interested in taking classes that will teach me on presentation skills. I am thinking about joining Toast Masters and searched on line and found 1 & 3 day seminars, but like to get your input.

do you guys know of any program that you have used and are satisfied?
Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for your replies.
 
edward said:
I am an instructor at a local CC. I am interested in taking classes that will teach me on presentation skills. I am thinking about joining Toast Masters and searched on line and found 1 & 3 day seminars, but like to get your input.

do you guys know of any program that you have used and are satisfied?
Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for your replies.
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Last month I wrote a class for my company on Presentation Skills for Journeymen - want it - PM me... I'll tell you right now that I learned it from being in the Marine Corps as a Training NCO, and I ripped of their format directly - and you'll find the same type of format in every single sales pitch on earth.

Ironically - I'm watching that "Pitchmen" program on Discovery right now in the corner of my screen....
 
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edward said:
I am an instructor at a local CC. I am interested in taking classes that will teach me on presentation skills. I am thinking about joining Toast Masters and searched on line and found 1 & 3 day seminars, but like to get your input.

do you guys know of any program that you have used and are satisfied?
Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for your replies.
Click to expand...

Hey Edward!:smile:Welcome to the forum!

I too am an instructor (for an training center associated with a CC). How long have you been instructing?

I have never taken any seminars or classes specifically for presentation, but have observed them being helpful to some and useless to others.

Is there anything in particular that you think you would like to sharpen, or are you looking for something for overall performance techniques?
 
I personally have not been involved with Toastmasters, but personally know people who have and they loved it. Again........there is a variable that make your experience different, whoever is involved or puts on the the seminar could make it better/worse, you just never know.

Like Forest said- "box o chocolates and all!"
 
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The simple way is to look for a class from Fred Pryor, similar to Train the Trainer. The American Society for Training and Developement (ASTD-google them) has many training delivery programs. The more podium time the better, so get as much practice as you can.
The best for you would be to attend the Mike Holt Instructor Conference
http://www.mikeholt.com/itrainseminar.php
Orlando July 29-30 2009, $375.00. I've been and if you are new, it will be great start.

I have a BS education degree in workforce education, but it didn't deal much with the classroom management part, but still I use a lot of what I learned from it for developing classes.
 
Thank you for all of your replies.

Tom, I have been to Mike's seminar (train the trainer). It was a good class and i would like to continue the course. I looked into the Fred Pryor site. Thank you for that information.
 
See if your local community college has a class or classes on power point. There are good and bad presentations done in power point.
To be a good technical instructor, you must have a mastery of the trade and be as experienced as an instructor.
 
A few people asked about that class I gave last month at the company I work for some reason you can't send doc's in PM????

Anyway, some others might also be interesting how the Marine Corps does training:

They have a format that gets followed, and not so much a WRITE it - READ it format. More so a list of talking points in order:

  • introduction
  • attention gainer
  • overview
  • objectives
  • transitions
  • then some body to the actual class.....
  • more transitions
  • questions
  • and a summary
The idea is to get you out there and follow the format as you build confidence speaking to crowds of people. But after you've done that for a while you start recognizing this format everywhere. In loud flamboyant methods of the Oxyclean guy (Billy Mays?) - to the nightly news. The reason I put this together is often some JW or Foreman gets sucked into a meeting with a client, and has to explain WHY the client needs something - like a larger service. Sure they could rattle off the technical part - but have no clue as to how to present information.

Anyway - I attached my little class.... And an example of one from the Marine Corps that I used in my class.
 
ibew441dc said:
Hey Edward!:smile:Welcome to the forum!

I too am an instructor (for an training center associated with a CC). How long have you been instructing?

I have never taken any seminars or classes specifically for presentation, but have observed them being helpful to some and useless to others.

Is there anything in particular that you think you would like to sharpen, or are you looking for something for overall performance techniques?
Click to expand...

Danny,
I just finished my 3rd semester teaching, it is fun i really enjoy it. I need to improve my self on the presentation side. keep the class exciting, keep them motivated, keep them asking questions and most important make it fun. I will be taking some magic classes on "how to do basic magical acts"so i can add that to my presentation.

on a second note, i am from southern California my self but I have enjoyed Bay area for the last 10 years.

Mark,
Thank you very much for sending me that information.
 
edward said:
Danny,
I just finished my 3rd semester teaching, it is fun i really enjoy it. I need to improve my self on the presentation side. keep the class exciting, keep them motivated, keep them asking questions and most important make it fun. I will be taking some magic classes on "how to do basic magical acts"so i can add that to my presentation.
Click to expand...

We are neck and neck as far as classroom teaching experience goes...I've been doing it now for a little over a year and a half. A few things that I think are important and have helped me are (these were not taken from a seminar/class)

1)Teach others as you would wish to be taught. (be energetic, motivational,thorough, fact based)

2) Maintain the position of a student. (don't create a ceiling for yourself, stay teachable)

3) Know your boundaries. (utilize your strengths and do not pretend to know something you don't....stay humble)

4) Keep moving forward ( a guy like me has to constantly sharpen up, or I am sure to fall behind )

5) Don't be afraid to take a risk at the expense of embarrassment ( own up to getting caught with egg on your face, guys/gals will respect that)

6) Keep it simple. ( do not complicate things with unnecessary information)

7) Realize you are a work in progress (pretty straight forward)

8) Define your agenda. (what are you trying to accomplish with each class)

9) ..........??? (I'm sure theres something else;))

10) Do not limit yourself to any one persons source of guidance. (stay open minded)

edward said:
on a second note, i am from southern California my self but I have enjoyed Bay area for the last 10 years.
Click to expand...

The Bay area is cool. I considered moving there a while back for an employment opportunity that came up.....P.S. My favorite football team is the 49er's (NEXT YEARS SUPERBOWL CHAMPS:grin:...)
 
I did training nearly every day for 15 years, from small hands on classes to seminars to audeniences of 300+.

I have attaned some similar courses and learned little that has not already been pointed out in this (excellent) thread. One thing about all of this, some people can never be a good trainer or presenter, no matter how much they try. It is a trait, not a learned skill, it can be refined but not taught. I have struggled with this hiring (and firing) many instructors over the years.

Anyways, thats my 2 cents, very good thread by the way, good info given. The military stuff is good stuff, they have spent millions researching training effectiveness and no one does it better. I was a navy certified Master Training Specialist and the programs they sent me through were better than anything out there commercially.
 
Toastmasters as I recall is about public speaking!

An audiable voice, poise, & pro's or con's of the material presented, is what TM's goes after,
yes, presentation is fine tuned, but not in the same sense as the opening thread seemed to imply, again JMO ...

Toast masters will make you think alot about your over-all presentation! Yes

Knowning and clearly presenting material is what they make one think about, before "the" pitch!

Making one understand, the what, the audio, what one presents as to think about, via ones speech is what TM makes one think about!

:smile:
 
I was a master instructor and training advisor in the Air Force and used that training in civilian life for years.
pick your subject and develop a list of the tasks needed to complete the task. Then develop a lesson for each part of the task list. You must also figure how well you need too train the students. my experience with the trade was. I was exposed to installing outlets, later I installed outlets under instruction. later as i became more qualified i trained others to install outlets. "TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL THEM , TELL THEM, TELL THEM WHAT YOU TOLD THEM
 
If I may offer 3 suggestions:

1 - video yourself training a class. You'll be surprised at what you do or how you present yourself
2 - Whenever you are in a class or listening to someone speak, in person or on tv, take mental notes on what the good ones do right and what the bad ones do wrong
3 - keep your forearms @ 90 angles to your upper arms
 
I have been a Toastmasters member for 2 years. You cannot stop learning things there, so I would not call it a quick learning seminar.

One thing I would give you is that if you make a conclusion or a summary, if you can make whatever words you want to use follow "Here's my point," then you'll have a better summary (one with a point) than a rehash of what you already said.

But that's for a speech.

For training, I am an advocate of TWI (Training Within Industry), and you can find plenty about it on the web. We won WWII with it, and after that we gave it to the Japanese, while we threw it in the garbage can. Now, we're trying to "relearn" it ....

Good luck.
 
All I can say is what others have said..Practice and know your material. Study the style you are going to use and repeat it until it flows like water. Never let the presentation lead you, you lead the presentation material and use it as a tool and not the director. Understand that day 1's seminar will be nothing like day 10th's seminar as you learn the flow and raise your comfort level over time.

Develope your own style, never simply read from a book and pick a style that makes it comfortable for you while still fostering a open learning environment. Never let anyone lead the class and learn how to take control of the conversation and you will develop your style accordingly.....most importantly have fun. I can say it is the most rewarding thing I do when giving seminars around the country and seeing the "light bulb" turn on in a student is a feeling that is hard to put into words.

But as brian said.....Practice, Learn and REPEAT !
 
JeffD said:
If I may offer 3 suggestions:

1 - video yourself training a class. You'll be surprised at what you do or how you present yourself
2 - Whenever you are in a class or listening to someone speak, in person or on tv, take mental notes on what the good ones do right and what the bad ones do wrong
3 - keep your forearms @ 90 angles to your upper arms
Click to expand...

Great advice, especially the video one. As a part time actor I can say watching yourself on video will give you a new perspective on your "Stage Presence"

One of the best places to get ideas on how to improve your stage presence is by watching the infomercial greats like Billy Mays, The energy and excitement he shows is what keeps the audience attention.
 
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