Overview

Polish Your Presentation and Spice Up Your Speeches

Where: Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center
1125 Boston Providence Turnpike
Norwood, Massachusetts 
Directions

Registration Fee:
NERCOMP Member: $130
Non-Member: $260

Event Overview

We have all seen bad presentations and remember them for all of the wrong reasons. We have all seen good presentations, but perhaps not frequently enough. How do you move your presentation into the good column and get people talking about your ideas?

Are you new to the world of giving presentations? Have you been giving presentations for years but feel the need to improve, or do you have a presentation that needs some new life breathed into it? This workshop will help you to polish your presentations.

We will begin with understanding why we freak when we speak or the discomfort most of us feel about speaking to a large group or audience. We will then look at how you can engage an audience to make your presentation more memorable and easier to digest. Next we’ll look at the fundamentals of slide creation and end with a makeover of real slide decks, single slides, and common problems found in presentations.

Each of these sections will have hands on sessions with you leaving the day with ideas, guides and designs for your next presentation or speech.

Registration Cancellation Policy:
By clicking on the "Order Now" button, you are indicating a commitment to attend and will be held responsible for the registration fee. Your fee can be refunded if you notify us of a cancellation at least 8 days prior to the event via email to nercomp@nercomp.org.

Event Disclaimer:
NERCOMP reserves the right to use any photographs or other mechanical recordings taken at NERCOMP events in promotional materials. No mechanical recordings of any kind may be used at NERCOMP events without the prior written consent of NERCOMP organizers and presenters. The views and opinions expressed at NERCOMP events do not necessarily reflect those of NERCOMP, nor does NERCOMP make any representation regarding the information presented at NERCOMP events.

Agenda

7:30am – 9:00am Registration and Coffee

9:00am – 9:15am Opening, agenda for the day and information about…
Deborah (Moschella) Saks, Director of ITS- User Services, Framingham State University
Maureen Scoones, Associate Director, IT Process Improvement & Education, Hamilton College

9:15am – 10:00am Fear to Fun: Why you freak when you speak in public, and how to calm your nerves and wow the crowd
Speaker: Andy Saks, owner, Spark Presentations and author, The Presentation Playbook

Public speaking is an invaluable skill for IT professionals in higher education. From staff meetings to tech training to budget requests, speaking with clarity, confidence and style can help you get noticed, get heard and get results.
Yet most people avoid public speaking at all costs, and anxiety is usually the reason. In fact, public speaking is the single most common fear among Americans, more than heights, animals, even death itself.

But what if you could conquer your fear of public speaking and love taking the stage? Where could your job, your department and your life go with this rare, coveted skill?

Take the first step toward finding out with this engaging, inspiring, interactive primer that tackles your fear of speaking head-on. You’ll discover:
• Where those butterflies and sweaty palms come from
• How worrying about your content and environment compounds your anxiety
• Fast, easy, free ways to calm your mind and body, so you can enjoy giving a great performance

10:00am - 10:30am Hands on activity for Fear to Fun led by Andy Saks

10:30aam – 10:45am Break

10:45am – 11:30am Ways to Engage the Audience and keep them with you
Speaker: Jim Helmer, Director, Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College

Swear off dull and confusing presentations! This session will teach you how to make your presentation clear and interesting through key strategies of structure, content, and delivery. In this session you'll learn how to:
• Get off to a strong start
• Make points your audience will remember
• Break the "um" habit
• Engage your audience by using the 3 Es of effective delivery

11:30am -12:00pm Hands on activity led by Jim Helmer

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm – 1:45pm Bulletproof slideshows: Creating clear, concise, compelling slides 
Speaker: Andy Saks, Owner, Spark Presentations and author, The Presentation Playbook

You've seen them countless times: slides cluttered with extraneous text, clashing colors and distracting graphics. These slides steal focus from the speaker, muddy their message, and leave audience members aching for visuals they can understand and relate to.

Make sure your next slide deck paints a clear, concise, compelling picture with this interactive primer. You'll discover:
• What slides do best, and shouldn't do at all
• A step-by-step approach to building slides you'll take pride in
• Practical pointers on using words, images, bullets, animations and transitions

1:45pm – 2:15pm Slide Makeovers
Speaker: Jim Helmer, Director, Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College

Think of this as “trash to treasure” for your slide decks. We’ll share before and after versions of real slide decks, giving participants practical tips and advice on how to makeover their own slides and avoid common problems found in presentations.

2:15pm – 2:45pm Open Session Q& A
Speakers: 
Jim Helmer, Director, Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College
Andy Saks, owner, Spark Presentations and author, The Presentation Playbook

2:45pm - 3:00pm Wrap up

3:00pm End 

Speakers

Speaker: Jim Helmer

Jim Helmer is the Director of the Oral Communication Center at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Jim teaches public speaking, provides course support for other professors, and trains and supervises a staff of peer tutors who provide speech coaching to their fellow students. Jim holds a Ph.D. in speech communication from the University of Illinois. He has taught communication classes at two high schools, five colleges, and one maximum security prison.
 

Speaker: Andy Saks

Andy Saks is the owner and lead trainer of Spark Presentations, and author of The Presentation Playbook series. For sixteen years, Spark has helped organizations make their critical messages more compelling and get them out to more people, by deliveringpresentation skills training programs for salespeople, marketers and technical staff, speech coaching programs for executives, trade show training for booth staffers, and providing top-notch event emcees, trade show presenters, auctioneers, on camera talent and voice talentwhen clients would rather use a ringer. Spark's client list proudly includes AMD, Atrion, Bradford Networks, Citrix, Dial-a-Mattress, Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, SpeechWorks, Upper Crust Pizza and dozens more.

.

Lodging

Hotel Information:
Rooms are available at the Sheraton Norwood, the conference location.
To make reservations contact the Sheraton Norwood at 781-769-7900 and request the "NERCOMP Room Block".

The room block for October 9, will be available until 5:00pm on September 7, 2013
Standard queen guest rooms are available for $135 per night, single occupancy.
King and double queen guest rooms are available for $155 per night, single occupancy.
Includes full buffet breakfast.

Slides & Handouts

1.  Fear to Fun-Andy Saks, Spark Presentations

2.  Ways to Engage the Audience-Jim Helmer, Hamilton College

3.  Bulletproof Slideshows-Andy Saks, Spark Presentations