by Al Golzari
Sometimes it makes sense to quote, verbatim, either
a statement or numbers, etc., straight from a press
release. In cases like that, providing you don’t need
to show the rest of the press release, avoid simply
highlighting the portions you want to stress because
it’s too hard to read. For example, instead of this:
July3,2018Mercedes-BenzPressRelease:
“Mercedes-BenzUSA(MBUSA)todayreportedJunesalesof26,191
Mercedes-Benzmodels,adecreaseof9.7%fromthebest-everJunesales reportedduringthesametimeperiodlastyearat28,994vehiclessold.
Mercedes-BenzVansreportedJunesalesof2,808unitsandsmartreported 126units,bringingMBUSAtoagrandtotalof29,125vehiclesforthemonth.
Onayear- to-datebasis,Mercedes-Benzrecordedsalesof158,848,adding 16,910unitsforVansand650vehiclesforsmart,MBUSA'syear-to-datesales volumetotaled176,408,adecreaseof1.9%fromlastyear.
Mercedes-BenzvolumeleadersinJuneincludedtheGLC,C-ClassandE-Class modellines. TheGLCcontinuestobuildsalesmomentummonth-over-monthcominginat6,608,fol owedbyC-Classsalesof5,742.TheE-Class roundedoutthetopthreewith3,435unitssold.
Mercedes-AMGhigh-performancemodelssold2,366unitsinJune,witha totalof15,320unitssoldyear-to-date. ”
You may want to instead try this:
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FromJuly3,2018Mercedes-BenzPressRelease:
“…TheGLCcontinuestobuildsalesmomentum
month-over-monthcominginat6,608…”
“…Mercedes-AMGhigh-performancemodelssold
2,366unitsinJune,withatotalof15,320units
soldyear-to-date…”
In this case, you don’t have any unnecessary text and
you’re focusing on only what is relevant. No need to
highlight anything here, either. Don’t worry, your
audience, col eagues, etc., wil believe the
authenticity of the info and won’t think that you’ve
plagiarized info., “doctored” it, etc. I know I’m
probably breaking so many grammar rules, but these
excerpts don’t have to grammatically perfect. Also,
notice that in the slide header I added “From” to
make it more consistent with excerpts instead of ful
text.
1D. TIMELINES IN VISUAL FORM
Timelines are a great way to express historically rich
information in an aesthetic and linear way. You see
this often in magazines and other publications. Be
sure to make them simple and large enough to read.
For example, instead of this:
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InternetFirsts
1971– thefirstemail
1985– thefirstdomain
1991– thefirstwebpage
1995– thefirstAmazonorder
2003– thefirstSkypemessage
2004– thefirstFacebookprofile
2005– thefirstYouTubevideo
2006– thefirstTweet
2010– thefirstInstagrampost
*You may want to try something like this:
InternetFirsts
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
In the example here, notice that I created a timeline
from 1965 to 2015 with increments of 5 years. This
timeline is not precise, but it doesn’t matter.
Depending on the point you’re making, it doesn’t
have to be.
Also, take note that I purposely set this up so that,
visually, your audience can tel that nothing exciting
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really happened from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. I’m making a subtle point by way of a visual.
Also, notice that things began to really pick up in the
early 2000s, hence why the graph looks pretty
crowded post 2000.
*Amazon, Skype, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and
Instagram are trademarks of their respective owners.
1E. USING UP SLIDES WITH ONLY “THANK YOU” OR
“ANY QUESTIONS?”
I’m not trying to be a jerk but when you do a slide
like this:
THANKYOU!
ANYQUESTIONS?
You’re not adding much of anything. Sure, adding a
slide at the end of your PowerPoint doesn’t cost you
anything (although it can if you print 50 copies of the
presentation), but it just seems unnecessary. I think
you can say “thank you” without the aid of a slide.
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Instead, why not use imagery that aligns with your overall theme and supports your conclusion?
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APPENDIX B | FAMOUS
SPEECHES
I thought it might be helpful to share a list of famous
speeches that may inspire you. These days, you can
find almost anything on YouTube and the internet in
general. Since links change over time, I’l just share
the speech names and you can find them on your
own. Most of these speeches are historical events
and some are from famous movies. Inspiration can
be drawn from either famous speeches or movies, so
don’t count out the movies.
Note, the list here is not exhaustive. There are so
many more that deserve to be on this list, but I chose
speeches that have at least an original audio
component or video; reading a famous speech may
not be as valuable as “witnessing” it either through
audio or video.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s D-Day speech
Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
Nelson Mandela speeches (various)
Winston Churchil ’s “Now We Are Masters of Our
Fate” speech
Bil Clinton’s 1992 Presidential victory speech
Ronald Reagan’s speech when the Challenger space
shuttle exploded in 1986
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Ronald Reagan’s “Remarks at the Brandenburg
Gate”/“Tear Down This Wall”
John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration speech
Malala Yousafzai’s acceptance speech as the
youngest Nobel Laureate
Lou Gehrig’s “Goodbye” speech at Yankee Stadium,
July 4, 1939
Al Pacino’s “locker room” in Any Given Sunday and
“courtroom” in Scent of a Woman speeches
Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford University commencement
address
Maya Angelou’s 1992 Spelman Col ege
commencement speech
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
This bibliography is by no means comprehensive. It’s
designed to be selective, and hopeful y provide
credit where its due. Much of this guide comes from
my scratch notes and not formal research. Since the
flavor of this guide has always been casual, the
bibliography is also reflective of that.
Chibana, Nayomi. 12 Presentation Hooks Used by the
Best TED Presenters. Retrieved from
http://blog.visme.co/how-to-start-a-presentation
Mercedes-Benz USA. (2018, July 3). Mercedes-Benz
USA reports June sales of 29,125 units [Press
Release]. Retrieved from
https://www.media.mbusa.com/releases/mercedes-
benz-usa-reports-june-sales-of-29125-
units?firs
tResultIndex=0&sortOrder=PublishedDesce
nding
Munter, Mary, and Lynn Hamilton. Guide to
Managerial Communication: Effective Business
Writing and Speaking. New Jersey: Pearson, 2013
Rose, Charlie. (2000). George Carlin Interview.
Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJpyJeynU_E
TED. (2014, December 4). Matt Abrahams: Think
Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques [Video
file]. Retrieved from
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAnw168huqA
&t=11s
TED. (2013, June 25). Patrick Munoz: What is
Upspeak? [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RjPOUZkLfU
Wikiquote contributors, "George
Carlin," Wikiquote, https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index
.php?title=George_Carlin&oldid=2465378 (accessed
August 17, 2018).
Wikipedia contributors, "Injection
molding," Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Injection_moulding&oldid=900147114
(accessed August 19, 2018).
Wikipedia contributors, "Internal combustion
engine," Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Internal_combustion_engine&oldid=857304606
(accessed June 26, 2018).
Wilson, Karen; Korn, James H. (5 June 2007).
"Attention During Lectures: Beyond Ten
Minutes". Teaching of Psychology. 34 (2): 85–89.
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Al Golzari is a senior-level consumer product professional with 15+ years’ experience in product
development, innovation, sourcing, and vendor
management along with 10+ years of adjunct
teaching experience at all levels, including executive
MBA. He has worked at various companies including
LBrands, Target, and Macy’s, along with consulting
work.
A native of northern New Jersey, he currently resides
in New York City.
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Document Outline
INTRODUCTION
WHOM THIS GUIDEBOOK IS FOR
CHAPTER ONE | THE THREE C’S
CHAPTER TWO | ORGANIZATION AND PREPARATION
CHAPTER THREE | LEARNING FROM COMEDIANS
CHAPTER FOUR | AUDIENCE AND SELF-AWARENESS
CHAPTER FIVE | OBJECTIVE
CHAPTER SIX | OWNING YOUR CONTENT
CHAPTER SEVEN | YOUR STYLE
CHAPTER EIGHT | STORYTELLING, AUTHENTICITY, AND BEING CONVERSATIONAL
CHAPTER NINE | AGENDAS AND TRANSITIONS
CHAPTER TEN | PRESENTATION INTRODUCTIONS
CHAPTER ELEVEN | SLIDES
CHAPTER TWELVE | DECIDING WHEN TO DO A PRESENTATION WITHOUT SLIDES
CHAPTER THIRTEEN | HANDLING QUESTIONS
CHAPTER FOURTEEN | PRESENTATION CONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX A | SLIDE EXAMPLES
APPENDIX B | FAMOUS SPEECHES
