I'm starting to think there should be a test you have to pass before you present at a national conference Or a course you have to attend, maybe run by @ffolliet.bsky.social

Your presentations don't work. If you knew and accepted this, you would change. Why haven't you?

Uh. Holy flip. 😳

The future of presentations is not about slides, it never was. The future of presenting is not about more tech, more ai, more polish, it is about clarity of message, audience engagement and ultimately, effective communication. It was never about… https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/29/never-about-slides/

New post: Never about slides https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/29/never-about-slides/

MEN - The season is almost upon us.

It might be a research funding panel, a conference plenary or your first research presentation but you want to get it right. It's too important. So you add more: more slides, more bulletpoints, more references because it's too important. This… https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/27/its-too-important/

Post Edited: It’s too important https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/27/its-too-important/

Post Edited: Being an expert https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/14/expert/

Expertise in a topic does not make you an expert in presentation. You may know more than anyone else in the room. That does not necessarily mean they will understand by reciting that. Nor does not mean they will remember. It does mean they will not act. This… https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/14/expert/

Kintsugi The way presentations are currently constructed, delivered and received is not the result of laziness on the part of presenter or audience. Presentations are built with effort, intention and time but with a concept that breaks the result. The Japanese art of kintsugi recognises the value…

New post: Kintsugi https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/07/kintsugi/ The way presentations are currently constructed, delivered and received is broken. kintsugi recognises the value of a broken piece repairing it with gold. Presentations can be improved to experiences of real value.

Useless Most presentation feedback is useless. "Thank you for your excellent presentation. I very much enjoyed it." This really is not the critical review you hoped it would be. Feedback needs to be actively sought, shared in the spirit of improvement and as part of a conversation. Vague, polite…

New post: Useless https://ffolliet.com/2025/08/05/useless/

Proximity Poor presentations break proximity with a message that simply lists data. Slides that are beautiful but unrelated separate understanding from meaning. A fluent spoken message from a speaker disconnected from the audience loses impact. Great presentations have proximity.

Poor presentations break proximity with a message that simply lists data. Slides that are beautiful but unrelated separate understanding from meaning. A fluent spoken message from a speaker disconnected from the audience loses impact. Great presentations have proximity.

To be or not to be Most of us have heard, even recited, the start of the soliloquy from Hamlet. "To be or not to be? That is the question." Few of us would consider that recitation had any impact. Anyone can download and read the piece. It isn't the same as being delivered by an actor, on stage,…

New post: To be or not to be https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/31/to-be-or-not-to-be/ Delivery of a presentation is more than just reading it out

I know In the Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, there is a dramatic and romantic moment where Princess Leia calls to Han Solo as he is about to be immersed in Carbonite. "I love you!" she calls. His response has become iconic. The slide below shows how most presentations would relate that…

New post: I know https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/29/i-know/

Change So now what should we do once we have recognised that there is glitch in The Matrix? Change. Having seen that we fall into the trap of using the slidewear to construct a powerpoint rather than a message, what should we do? Understanding the Presentation Paradox that we do what we hate in…

New post: Change https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/27/change/

Wallpaper Choosing wallpaper for a room involves decisions of colour, pattern, and density. Buying wallpaper before you have even bought the house it is going in makes no sense. But you probably decided on the template for your last presentation before you considered the content. Presentations are…

New post: Wallpaper https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/24/wallpaper/

Juggling Everyone can toss a ball up and catch it. Many people can do that with two balls. When there are three balls it is officially called juggling. Personally, I can juggle three balls with lots of patterns. The world record for "toss juggling" that is balls successfully in a pattern, caught…

New post: Juggling https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/22/juggling/

Blue wave The blue wave is everywhere you look, and it defines presentations. Not from a design perspective because it sucks but because it defines how you and the world have learned to give presentations, by copying. If presenting feels hard, it is not because something is wrong with you. It is…

New post: Blue wave https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/19/the-blue-wave/

In a mirror, darkly The phrase ‘in a mirror, darkly’ comes from the Bible. It describes a first-century mirror, not made of glass but of polished metal. What that showed was a poor, dark reflection, not a true one. Blurred. Distorted. Partial. As a presenter at a conference you will have rehearsed…

New post: In a mirror, darkly https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/16/in-a-mirror-darkly/

Thank you. "Thank you." That phrase you've been aiming to deliver for weeks now. You have finished your talk. There is polite applause, you smile gratefully, and maybe even someone congratulates you. You return to your seat feeling a deep relief, even pride. It worked. The slides were great, the…

Post Edited: Thank you. https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/14/thank-you-2/

You’re a better presenter You're a better presenter right now, simply because you are considering presentations more consciously. You're a better presenter because you want to stop the presentation paradox. You're a better presenter because you have visited this site, even if that is just with…

Post Edited: You’re a better presenter https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/12/youre-a-better-presenter/

Why do you have slides? Why do you have slides in your presentation? Whether this is an in-person or online presentation, the answer to this question is foundational to any changes one would consider in the construction of a presentation. Using slides as a script, as an aide memoire, as the…

New post: Why do you have slides? https://ffolliet.com/2025/07/09/why-do-you-have-slides/

Schrodinger's slides are both there and not there at the same time. Sadly, this analogy describes many presenters' approach to their supportive media; It is either there or not there. The decision rests however with the audience. https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/23/schrodingers-slides/

New post: Schrodinger’s slides https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/23/schrodingers-slides/

Your message should identify the objective of the presentation. It is from your message that the audience will reconstruct the details of the presentation and, having been lead through Bloom's Taxonomy towards higher order thinking on the topic, they may change their behaviour

New post: Your message https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/20/your-message/

Podium problems Many conference presentations are set up with a podium. Be aware that podium problems will affecting the p cubed value of your presentation.

New post: Podium problems https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/17/podium-problems/

The presentation paradox is ubiquitous. Audience members, if questioned, will list the nature, content and delivery of a presentation that they dislike/hate/ignore. When their turn comes to produce a presentation, these same individuals will… https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/15/presentation-paradox/

New post: Presentation paradox https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/15/presentation-paradox/

New post: Practise, practise, practise https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/12/practise-practise-practise/

Is there anybody out there? Sometimes, when you're all alone in the office, staring at the green dot, reciting meaningless text to an unresponsive void as an online presentation, you start to question your life choices. Is there anybody out there?

New post: Is there anybody out there? https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/09/is-there-anybody-out-there/

As a mobile device downloads information, it will not display the information until the whole data package is available. This is "buffering". The human brain is the same. Reduce this for effective communication https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/06/buffering/

New post: Buffering https://ffolliet.com/2025/06/06/buffering/

Too soon?