Creative Presentation Skills

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A Creative Momentum Workshop — Cockpit Arts, Holborn, London

Stage spotlightsPhoto by givepeasachance

Give presentations that express your creativity and wow your audience.

  • Approach your presentations with enthusiasm (not dread)
  • Make presenting an expression of your creativity
  • Create beautiful, memorable slides
  • Present with confidence and presence
  • Be a speaker people remember — for all the right reasons
  • Learn to love the limelight!

There comes a point in everyone’s career when you have to stand up in front of an audience and give a formal presentation. Whether it’s for your colleagues, customers, potential clients or the public, there’s usually a need to persuade the audience or to sell a product, service or idea. So you need to be at your most persuasive — and creative.

Many people (audiences included) dread presentations. Public speaking is one of our biggest fears, and ‘death by PowerPoint’ is so common it’s become a cliche.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. By taking a creative approach to designing and delivering your presentations, you can boost your confidence and actually enjoy the whole process. You’ll also stand out from the crowd and be a refreshing — and memorable — change for your audience.

When the spotlight is on you, it’s easy to forget the purpose of a live presentation and hide behind your material, churning out slides full of bullet points that overwhelm the audience with information. But with a little creative preparation you can design and deliver a truly original presentation. The kind that lingers in people’s minds long after the event and gets them talking. The kind that changes minds and inspires action.

You don’t need to speak like a trained actor or design slides to the standard of a professional graphic designer. You don’t need to deliver the whole thing word perfect. You don’t even need to know everything there is to know about your chosen topic. You just need to connect with your passion for the subject and the audience’s needs — and inject a little creativity into your preparation.

This practical workshop will teach you simple principles of presentation design and delivery, unlocking your creativity and releasing your natural speaking voice.

Topics covered include:

  • The problem with ‘PowerPoint presentations’
  • Taking a creative approach to presentation design
  • Storytelling skills to bring your subject to life
  • Structuring your presentation for maximum impact
  • Unlocking the creative potential of PowerPoint (yes, really)
  • Creative slide design (even for non-designers)
  • The secret of presenting with confidence

During the workshop you will design and deliver a short presentation about a subject that matters to you — ideally one that you will have the chance to deliver as part of your work. So please have a think beforehand about a topic you’d like to talk about. N.b. you don’t need to prepare a presentation beforehand — just decide on your topic. Any questions about this, zip me an e-mail.

How the Workshop Works

Numbers will be limited to 15 places.

1. Tell me what you want to learn
Once you’ve booked your place, I’ll e-mail you some questions about your current challenges and what you want to learn. Based on this feedback, I’ll tailor each workshop to address the challenges that are most relevant to the group.

2. The workshop features:

  • Practical skills you can start to use immediately
  • Stories and real-life examples
  • Activities to help you apply the ideas to your own work
  • Questions and discussions – ask me what you want to learn!
  • Networking and learning from other interesting creative people

3. After the workshop
I’ll send you articles and links to help you digest the material and apply it to your work.

Who for?

This workshop is for creative people of all kinds — artists, creatives, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who takes their creativity seriously.

Who with?

Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — I’m a poet who earns my living as a coach and trainer for creative professionals. I’ve been coaching and training creative people for over a decade, and have worked with organisations including the BBC, Channel 4, Arts & Business and Cockpit Arts. I write two popular blogs about creativity and business: Wishful Thinking and Lateral Action.

Where and When?

Cockpit Arts in Holborn, London. Click here to download directions to Cockpit Arts.

Wednesday 9 September 2009, 6.30 – 8.30pm