A/E/C professionals must often present, whether it is presenting a design concept to a department manager or project team, presenting at a company meeting, participating in a sales call or formal project interview, or speaking at a professional association, client organization, and community group meeting. Few of us have the luxury of avoiding presentations, whether we’re on the giving or receiving end! But how many people took speech communications courses in college or attended any type of presentation training? Far too few – which explains the sorry state of presentations in our industry. Behind the Curtain: Presentation Skills for A/E/C Professionals will demystify presenting, beginning with why it is important to present. It will feature content about presentation planning and preparation, pointers and best practices, tips on presentation design (but this is not a presentation about using PowerPoint or Prezi), and a sample workflow for presentation development. Whether you are the speaker or the presentation designer, it is important to elevate your skills.
Learning Objectives:
- Attendees recognize how to develop and deliver an effective presentation.
- Attendees will avoid presentation pitfalls to create meaningful, captivating presentations instead of boring ones.
- Attendees will utilize proven best practices in presentation design.
- Attendees will feel more comfortable presenting in front of an audience, no matter how large or small.
Over the past decade, Scott has given close to 250 “formal” presentations, not including client meetings and interviews, company meetings, or board of directors / committee presentations. And if he’s not getting ready for his next presentation, he’s helping someone else prepare for one. From short TED Talk-style presentations to keynotes to lectures to interactive workshops, Scott has seen it all! And his presentation portfolio isn’t all business – he regularly speaks to professional associations, client organizations, service clubs, and community groups, with topics ranging from professional services marketing to architecture to photography to local history – and even ghost stories! He’s also led numerous walking tours in his community as fundraisers for nonprofit organizations – you haven’t presented until you spend 90 minutes walking through a rainstorm, telling stories to dozens of attendees!
