The Perfect Presentation...

In my opinion, Bryan Stevenson (pictured above) gave THE best Ted talk ever. His talk was called; ‘We need to talk about Injustice’ and talk he certainly did! Weaving personal stories in and around the theme of identity and the grave racial injustices that have been and are still prevalent in American society, Stevenson gave a speech that was completely compelling.

 Stevenson is a civil rights attorney and the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit group that provides legal representation to poor defendants who have been denied fair treatment in the criminal justice system.

 In September 2011, the Roosevelt Institute awarded Stevenson a Freedom Medal for his work in the areas of social justice.  A representative from TED was in the audience and he asked him if he would give a TED talk. Stevenson didn’t know much about TED at the time and was inclined to turn the invitation down because he had a huge amount of work on. His staff went ‘ballistic’ and told Stevenson that he had to talk at TED. I would imagine that Stevenson is now glad that he listened to his colleague’s advice as the TED audience was so inspired by Stevenson’s presentation they donated $1 million to his charity, despite the fact he never once mentioned money and he also received the longest standing ovation in TED history. 

Looking at presentations like Stevenson’s and drawing on my own experience of working in the Charity Sector as a communicator and story-teller for the last 14 years, my next speaker training course (which will take place in January 2018)  will look – in detail – at the components that make up the perfect presentation.

If you have to speak on behalf of a charity, a business or even within a church, this course is for you!

On Saturday 13^th January (10am – 1pm) we will begin to discover some of the key features of  a presentation that will inspire your listeners to step into the story of the organisation that you might be representing or the sermon that you are preaching.

We will open up the fact that authenticity and vulnerability are key traits of the effective communicator and we will look at what it means in practice to present yourself effectively and honestly in order to engage your audience.

We will spend some time focusing on the personal stories we carry that will be important to hold in focus when we present a talk to others.

We will learn that the word ‘WHY’ is actually the starting place when we want to motivate others support  and engagement. A good communicator never manipulates, focusing on ‘WHY’ helps us to inspire. The missing factor in most ineffective communication is humanity.

The use of story will be a dominant theme throughout the day. We will discover that story is the medium that our brains respond to. If we want people to listen to us – to really hear – we need to understand the importance of story.

On Saturday 20^th January , (10am – 1pm), we will look at the fact that a good story holds key components. We will unlock what they are and consider how we can learn to tell good stories that help to develop our presentations key messages.

We will learn how to create a story based talk – a presentation that will keep an audience engaged from beginning to end.

And finally, for those who work for charities we will spend some time looking at how to invite our listeners to ‘step into the story’ we have been presenting. How to ‘ask’ them to be involved in the organisation we represent.

 On Saturday 27^th January, (10am – 4pm) each participant, taking on board the previous Saturday’s training, will present a 15 minute talk that represents the charity, organisation or church that they work or volunteer for. The aim of this day is to leave with a finely - honed presentation that will be a good template for future talks. You will also leave with the confidence that you know how to speak so that others will listen!

I have 10 spaces available for this training. The cost for the whole course is £275. If you are a volunteer speaker for an organisation and funding the training yourself I would be happy to offer a discount of £50. Also, if you are a student I would be delighted to offer a further discount and if you are unwaged seeking employment, I can offer at least one free space per course.

If you would like to take part, please e-mail me at jenny@jennifercornfield.com. If for any reasons you cannot make one of the dates above an alternative day could be provided in the week. Also, if weekends are a problem I can organise mid-week training sessions or sessions that are bespoke to your team or staff group.

(Description of Bryan Stevenson taken from Talk like Ted by Carmine Gallo)