Christee Gabour Atwood - Presentation Skills Training

2017 ASTD DBA Association for Talent Development (ATD)
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please go to www.copyright.com, or contact Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 (telephone: 978.750.8400; fax: 978.646.8600).

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Ordering information for print edition: Books published by ATD Press can be purchased by visiting ATDs website at td.org/books or by calling 800.628.2783 or 703.683.8100.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016963397 (print edition only)

ISBN-10: 1-56286-583-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-56286-583-2
e-ISBN: 978-1-56286-584-9

ATD Press Editorial Staff:
Director: Kristine Luecker
Manager: Christian Green
Community of Practice Manager, Learning & Development: Amanda Smith

Trainers Publishing House (TPH) Staff:
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Whether you are a professional trainer who needs to pull together a new training program next week, or someone who does a bit of training as a part of your job, youll find the ATD Workshop Series is a timesaver.

Topics deliver key learning on todays most pressing business needs, including training for change management, coaching, communication skills, customer service, emotional intelligence, facilitation, leadership, new employee orientation, new supervisors, presentation skills, project management, and time management. The series is designed for busy training and HR professionals, consultants, and managers who need to deliver training quickly to optimize performance now.

Each ATD Workshop book provides all the content and trainers tools you need to create and deliver compelling training guaranteed to

enhance learner engagement

deepen learner understanding

increase learning application.

Each book in the series offers innovative and engaging programs designed by leading experts and grounded in design and delivery best practices and theory. It is like having an expert trainer helping you with each step in the workshop process. The straightforward, practical instructions help you prepare and deliver the workshops quickly and effectively. Flexible timing options allow you to choose from half-day, one-day, and two-day workshop formats, or to create your own, using the tips and strategies presented for customizing the workshops to fit your unique business environment. Each ATD Workshop book also comes with guidance on leveraging learning technologies to maximize workshop design and delivery efficiency and access to all the training materials you will need, including activities, handouts, tools, assessments, and presentation slides.

In 2002, we launched the ASTD Trainers WorkShop Seriesa collection of books authored by practitioners that focused on the design and delivery of training on popular soft-skills topics. The creation of this series was a departure for us. These workshops-in-a-book were created to help internal trainers expedite their program delivery by using appropriate and exceptionally designed content that could be adapted and repurposed.

These topics, dealing with issues ranging from customer service to leadership to manager skills, continue to be important training programs offered in companies and organizations of all sizes and across the globe. The ASTD Trainers WorkShop Series has helped more than 60,000 trainers and occasional trainers deliver top-notch programs that meet business needs and help drive performance.

And while many things about the delivery of soft skills training have not changed in the last decade, there have been advances in technology and its use in training. So, when we began talking about how to refresh this popular series, we knew we needed to incorporate technology and new topics. We also wanted to make sure that the new series was cohesively designed and had input from author-practitioners who are, after all, the heart and soul of this series.

Inside Presentation Skills Training by Christee Gabour Atwood, and each of the titles in the series, youll find innovative content and fresh program agendas to simplify your delivery of key training topics. Youll also find consistency among titles, with each presented in a contemporary manner, designed by peers, and reflecting the preferences of training professionals who conduct workshops.

We hope that you find tremendous value in the ATD Workshop Series.

Tony Bingham
President & CEO
Association for Talent Development (ATD)
January 2017

I have a passion for facilitating training sessions. I love watching people be surprised that they can have a good time while learning. In fact, my mission in life is linking laughter and learning.

I get excited when I see a persons eyes during an aha moment. And I live for the challenge of the person who comes in as an angry hostage and leaves as a surprised and happy learner.

I experienced that feeling a few weeks ago when I taught a presentation skills workshop. In the session, I had a majority of hostages and a handful of truly fearful speakers. Two of them explained that they actually felt physically ill when they had to give presentations.

Seven hours later, those same individuals stood in front of the group. One shook a bit. One admitted she was nauseous. One said he didnt know if he could make it through that talk. Each of these individuals gave a presentation. And the ones who had been the most scared to present received standing ovations from the group who saw the transformation that had occurred as a result of the days activities.

That is why I do this. To watch someone walk out of a room with a greater sense of security, a feeling of accomplishment, and the belief that he or she will be able to apply what he or she learned is the ultimate feeling of achievement.

But one of the things that worries me when I see a participant leave on this high is the possibility that the newfound confidence will slip away from them if the skill is not used again soon. And that is why I draw on the principles of blended learning and follow-up activities to keep those newly emerging skills growing beyond a single training experience.

With this book, in as little as a half day, participants will gain tools to create a presentation, develop practical delivery skills, and practice giving a short presentation theyve created. The one-day or two-day sessions will enable them to develop and practice their presentation skills in greater depth. And regardless of which workshop format you choose, you will discover what to do after a training session to ensure that the skills theyve developed dont slip away.