Winning an audience’s trust is a tricky thing. As one of our new contributors, Greg Owen-Boger, points out this month, words won’t accomplish it, and saying “trust me” is an invitation for an audience not to. Being genuine and providing solid, independently-sourced data also will help your cause.
But as Owen-Boger so aptly points out, you arrive with trust, so it’s yours to lose. Audiences are there because they already trust you on some level. So rather than thinking about ways to build trust, it pays to think of ways to maintain the built-in trust you already have with listeners.
How to Remove Backgrounds in PowerPoint 2010 By Geetesh Bajaj
Among PowerPoint 2010’s newest and most magical abilities is the Remove Background option that lets you remove the background from an inserted picture. This can be a great feature if you want to remove a sky, a wall, a backdrop of something else in a photograph so that the slide background shows through within the removed parts of a picture. Learn More
Audience Trust: It’s Yours to Lose By Greg Owen-Boger
Recently I was coaching a senior executive on a very high-stakes presentation. He told me he wanted to be perceived as trustworthy. Setting trustworthiness as a goal is common among our clients, so there was nothing new about it in this situation. But as the discussion went on, he asked me what he could do to ensure that his audience saw him as worthy of its trust. Learn More
Telling Presentation Tales: It’s About the Story, Not the Storyteller By Jim Endicott
Wedged in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern half of Tennessee is the two-century-old town of Jonesborough. As small towns go, this one is relatively rich in history but its greatest claim to fame isn’t its strategic significance in the Civil War or a famous resident. Jonesborough has distinguished itself as the epicenter of a worldwide revival in storytelling and the National Storytelling Center. Learn More
Need to Write Your Own Speech? Use These Tips From the Pros By Dave Zielinski
Just as actors are only as good as the quality of their scripts, speakers can only sway audiences if the words they write prove compelling and credible when spoken. The ability to write persuasively for the ear is the essence of good speechmaking. Yet given how PowerPoint’s bulleted text blurbs have grown to dominate organizational presentations, it’s also something of a dying art. Learn More
In the Spotlight: Dry-Erase Wall Covering
Walltalkers is a product line that provides dry erase and projection capabilities in a wallcovering form. Product features include a projection screen that doubles as a dry erase writing surface, magnetic capability, printed grid lines and an array of decorative colors.
The Model JR48/JR60 Just-Rite dry erase wallcover, pictured at right, is available in 48" or 60" width with
woven backing and a white, moderate-surface gloss.
