Podium Notes
The Speaker's Resource

Volume I, Issue 1, May 3, 2005

  Making Good Use of your Resources

  You've been asked to deliver the keynote address at a conference. Where do you start? Obviously,   you want to make sure that your speech will tie into what the conference is all about. How long do   you have to speak? Are there any issues that they want you to cover? You will want to start with an   outline and purpose (yes this is much like writing a school paper). You need a beginning, middle and   end. You are now ready to start writing.

  The very beginning of your speech is the most important. You want to say something that grabs their   attention and gets their interest. Once you have their attention, you can move on to the meat of   what you want to say. You can start with a quote or anecdote from our website.

  The middle part of your speech should contain your thoughts, questions and ideas. You will want to   make sure that you spell out the various points that you are trying to make and also make sure that   what you say ties back in to the beginning part of your speech.

  Just like the opening, you want to make sure your closing is strong and to the point. Summarize what   you have talked about. Leave your audience with a thought that they can take with them.

  Tip of the Month

  Here are some brief tips to help you when making up PowerPoint Slides:

  •  Do not use the same word twice on a slide.
  •  Do not put sentences on the slide.
  •  Tables can be very useful. They are great for showing data, organizing and comparing information.
  •  Watch the fonts and colors that you use. Red for example is a hard color for some people to read.       Use fonts that are easy to see from a distance and in a larger format.
  •  Try not to use clip art since many times it does not look professional enough.