These assessment tools were peer-reviewed and recently published, supplementing the efforts of the original research.

In January 2010, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) accepted our Presentation Skills Assessment Tools for online publication on the MedEdPORTAL site, a peer-reviewed publication service and repository for medical and oral health teaching materials, assessment tools, and faculty development resources.

The MedEdPORTAL site is NOT restricted to medical institutions. Therefore, any individual or organization can register (create an account) and have access to the educational materials. Many of these resources are not specific to medicine, such as our Skills Assessment tools, which are designed measure the level of effectiveness of a presenter (who may be a teacher, trainer, speaker, etc.).

Measurements are audience-specific. For example, attendees at a seminar or conference have different preferences from those involved in a training session or a university lecture.

Therefore, certain sets of skills are more effective with different audiences.

To test the validity of the instrument, 120 individuals across several professions volunteered to be surveyed using the same study criteria as in the original research, and the results were consistent with the published findings. To further explore the usability and applicability of the tools across an even wider spectrum, the assessment was offered and used with 1,280 individuals in diverse fields internationally, in over 15 different countries. As a result, further refinements of the assessment tools were made to reflect global preferences.

Applications

Organizations continually seek quantifiable, objective measurements to evaluate skills. These peer-reviewed, published assessment tools provide instantaneous feedback and numerical scores as a method of self and peer evaluation. The utility and design of the forms allow anyone to self-evaluate or evaluate someone else, in order to improve presentation skills. To experience an analysis, a free Skills Assessment is offered. 

To account for a variety of presentation situations, there are THREE versions of the skills assessment:
STANDARD - for lectures, presentations, or seminars, where the presenter is seen and has accompanying slides.
SPEECH-ONLY - for lectures, speeches, or broadcasts, where the presenter is seen but does not have accompanying slides.
WEBINAR - for online presentations, or podcasts, where the presenter cannot be seen (only heard), and has accompanying slides.

These interactive assessment tools are designed to be user friendly, non-labor intensive, while providing immediate feedback and a measurable pathway to self improvement, regardless of profession. Typically used to complement other evaluation methods, the feedback from these assessments can improve general presentation/teaching/training skills, and provide input regarding online presentations and public speaking.

From a professional perspective, MediaNet uses these evaluation tools in coaching workshops and in Digital Coaching sessions to identify specific challenges and opportunities, while offering constructive advice for self-improvement.

Read the whole story: All the Right Moves: Use Body Actions to Capture Interest

In essence, any graphic element that takes up visual real estate ideally should add value to the content in some way. In that respect, the logo is usually self-serving, offering less utility and sometimes added distraction.

However, the logo serves a greater purpose regarding identity of ownership, which is necessary if the media is tangible property that can be shared or used by others.

The rule is simple. If the public can physically touch it, take it, move it, copy it, or reproduce it in some other form, then you should label it.

One approach to this rule is to decide if your visual content is “hard” (overheads, print materials, flip charts) or “soft” (electronic images, videotapes, software applications). If it’s “hard”, put the logo on each component that can be separated from another component, such as each page of a multi-page handout. If the content is “soft” then the logo makes sense on the first visual or at the very beginning of the electronic event.

Thus, in a PowerPoint presentation (electronic images) there is no need to identify every slide with a logo since the images themselves are not tangible, making the media a “soft” format. The audience cannot extract or take the slides, unless they are provided in some other format (hard copy) or made available electronically. So, if you plan to upload your PowerPoint presentation to the web, you should put the logo on every slide, since each screen can be captured (taken) and therefore, reproduced.

Thus, “soft” formats can be repurposed. For example, a TV show is a “soft” format that bears the identifying logo of the broadcasting network because TV signals can be copied or reproduced, making the visual content “hard”. YouTube is a perfect example of video content that is labeled with a YouTube logo, displayed in what seems to be a non-tangible format, but able to be copied, downloaded, shared or reproduced.

Of course, if you still insist on using a logo on every slide during a live presentation, then don’t stop there. Be consistent. Why not wear the logo on your clothing and verbally say the logo every so often as you speak? After all, your body and voice are part of the presentation, just as visibly as the content. 

In fact, based on the commercialization of our society, perhaps it won’t be long before we present dressed like race car drivers, sporting huge logo patches while narrating commercial messages in-between our changing slides!

The very thought borders on the ridiculous!

And now — a word from our sponsor…

Click on the image to navigate to the video clip.

Read the whole story: Keep multimedia from morphing into multi-mania

If you want your message to have the most impact on the greatest number of people then you must match your message to what is most basic to your audience. One way to achieve this is through the use of CONFLICT, because people have some type of “conflict” in everyday life.

There are three “dramatic perspectives” or types of conflict — global (man against nature), local (man against man) or inner (man against himself). There is only ONE type of conflict used in any given story.

If you identify the overall message or theme, you should dominate your stories with the type of conflict that matches the theme or the objective behind the message.

For example, a message targeting an “industry” practice is an example of global conflict. A message focusing on abuse in the workplace can be inner conflict (to the organization itself) or it can be shaped as local conflict between people (superior/subordinate). An introduction of a new software program to increase group efficiency is an example of an inner conflict, as each person identifies with the need to self-improve by learning the new process.

Know the message and you will be able to build stories using the type of conflict that matches the message.

Once upon a time… a speaker claimed it was difficult to get an audience excited about information simply because the content was so boring. Content is never boring — people are boring. A boring presenter delivers boring details. While there are a number of ways to bring content to life, the most obvious method is to smile. You can choose from any of the three kinds of smiles: outside, inside, and in-depth.

The OUTSIDE SMILE is with your TEETH, and is “reactionary” to either your own words or to the words of others, expressing happiness, indicating joy, and obvious to everyone.

The INSIDE SMILE is with your HEART, revealing your personal stories and heartfelt experiences that somehow relate to the given discussion, linking emotion to content.

The IN-DEPTH SMILE is with your EYES, a window to your soul that engages people in a willing belief of your own beliefs. Some call this credibility, others call it charisma, you can just call it convincing.

Use the outside smile, and the boredom will disappear. Use both the outside and inside smiles, the engagement level rises. Use all three and you will have the audience “in the palm of your hand.”

If you can use one or more of these smiles, periodically during your talk, you will be more effective.

Looking your best on camera

Using our research-based assessment tools, which measure the effectiveness of presenters, there appears to be a significant drop in quality when even highly rated “live” speakers deliver online content, specifically webinars, where the venue is limited to voice-over driven content.

Two reasons for this appear to be physical. The online presenter is likely sitting when delivering the content and likely looking at the PC screen (content) while speaking. Both of these actions are not typical of effective speakers when engaging a live audience, where the presenter is standing and making eye contact with people.

However, if a person is able to stand (or at least sit up straight) while delivering online content, then the body is less restricted and the vocal tones resonate with proper “swells” (highs and lows) to create “visual interest” in the ear. In other words, there is more energy in the voice.

If a person places photographs of people (loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc.) in the work area while delivering the online session, a momentary glance to a familiar face creates an “inside smile” and the voice expresses a kind of joy that mimics the eye contact of a live audience (to some degree). Telemarketers often surround themselves with photos of familiar people to mask the initial discomfort that sometimes arises from talking with strangers.

So, to be more effective when delivering online content, consider elongating the upper body (standing is better) and having pictures of familiar people to glance at periodically as you speak.

The best way to teach this skill is through a card trick. Of course, after you read this you will try this trick on someone within minutes.

If you have a deck of cards, just remove one card, look at it, then place it face down on table, away from the deck. 

If you don’t have a deck of cards, you can still do the trick by writing down the name of any card on a piece of paper and putting the paper face down.

For this example, we will use the FIVE of DIAMONDS to simulate the game of forced choice.

FIRST CHOICE
You ask the person to pick a RANGE of cards from these TWO groupings (choices): either the range of ACE through SEVEN; or, the range of EIGHT through KING. Keep in mind, the target is always the 5 of Diamonds. If they say, “Ace through 7,” then you ACCEPT the choice because that range includes the 5. Then, continue with the next step. But, if they choose the range ”8 through KING”, you DISCARD their choice and respond with “Okay, then that leaves the range of ACE through 7″. You have forced the first choice because you already know that the goal is to get the person to select the 5 of Diamonds.

SECOND CHOICE
You then ask “From the range of ACE through 7, select four cards. If “5″ is mentioned as one of the four choices, you ACCEPT the group and keep narrowing down the choices. If 5 is not mentioned you DISCARD the group of four, and work only from the remaining cards, of which 5 is included. So, let’s play a sample scenario where they do not pick the ”5″ card as part of the four cards chosen. The person says, “ACE, 3, 4 and 7″.  You discard this group and respond, “Okay, then that leaves 2, 5 and 6″. 

THIRD CHOICE
Continue to narrow down, saying, “From 2, 5 and 6, pick two cards”. Let’s say the person says “2 and 6″. You discard these choices and say “Okay, then that leaves 5.” If they had picked ” 2 and 5″, you would have accepted the choices and then asked again for a selection, until you narrowed down the choice to the 5.

FOURTH CHOICE
Now simply ask the person to select two suits from the possible four suits of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. If Diamonds is one of the choices, you accept, if not, you discard. For example, if they pick, “Hearts and Spades” you would discard that group and respond with, “that leaves Diamonds and Clubs”.  Then, narrow down the next choice to Diamonds.

SUMMARIZE
Conclude the trick by summarizing with this statement, “Out of 52 possible cards, you have chosen the 5 of Diamonds”. Then, turn over the card (or the piece of paper) to reveal what you originally put aside — the FIVE of DIAMONDS!. The person will surely be amazed!

PRACTICAL APPLICATION
From the trick, you learned to develop a TARGET to which you then focus a line of questions that continually lead to that target. In a presentation, you can interact with a group and ask the types of questions that will inevitably lead to the points you are trying to make. 

The advantage of this process is that you can get audience members to state the points you would have made anyway, but your credibility rises when someone in the group makes a statement that supports your position, before you do. This is similar to the strategy of triggers and handles where a response (triggger) dictates your line of logic (handle), except that in this case, you are forcing the logic to flow in a controlled direction.

Therefore, if there are multiple ways of handling a situation, and you favor a particular choice, you can narrow down audience responses to the one you prefer. For example, if you ask the group for “ways to increase productivity” and you know you want to focus on “developinng time sheets”, you can ask for comments until you get something close to “time sheets” and then make that your discussion point.

WHAT IF THEY DON’T BITE?
Our card trick had limited choices, but your open-ended request from a group may NOT lead to the choice you are targeting. In that case, you have the advantage of using an “imaginary” — another audience from another presentation who once made the suggestion you expect. If you use the phrase, “I had a group last week and one of the responses involved the use of time sheets…”, you will reach your target by justufying a response from a similar group.

Audiences accept evidence from your prior experience, as long as that information is realistic and possible. If the comment is too “out of the ordinary” then people will be skeptical and begin to question your motives. Use an imaginary as a back-up or last resort.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Overall, the concept of forced choice in a presentation is all about knowing the target and then offering your audience a chance to hit that target. The more you practice this skill, the easier it will be to apply this type of planned selectivity to your next presentation! Either it will work or it won’t. If it works, then it proves the point of the whole exercise. But, if it doesn’t work, then you simply need more practice.

As you can see, you don’t really have much of a choice in the matter, now do you?