Koegel - The exceptional presenter: a proven formula to open up! and own the room

He Has a Point. (A Damn Good One.)

While passing the time in the Atlanta airport, I picked up a book on making presentations, The Exceptional Presenter, by Timothy Koegel . My reasons for the purchase were selfish: I figure that the odds are high that Ill find at least one, small, operational piece of advice and indeed I did find a couple of new ideas and a ton of always useful reminders.

But there was one enormous point Koegel makes that is ever-so-obvious except that Ive never seen it made with such impact and clarity. Are you breathless with anticipation? Well, you should be. Here goes: Those who practice improve. Those who dont, dont.

Reprinted with permission of Tom Peters Company

Full original blog article available at www.tompeters.com

Our entire staff read The Exceptional Presenter as part of our corporate-wide training program. We are now much more comfortable and professional in presentations to groups of 2 or 200.

Julie Curtin, Partner, Development Counsellors International

In our experience, job candidates who embrace the techniques in Tims book are more successful when seeking new positions.

Tom Gilman, President and CEO, Baldwin Gilman, Recruiting and Search Professionals

The single best business investment I have ever made, bar none!

Richard Branning, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle

What a terrific resource!

Bill Frist, M.D., 23rd U.S. Senate Majority Leader

THE EXCEPTIONAL
PRESENTER

A PROVEN FORMULA TO OPEN UP! AND OWN THE ROOM

TIMOTHY J. KOEGEL

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
4425 S. Mo Pac Expy., Suite 600, Austin, TX 78735
www.theexceptionalpresenter.com

Copyright 2007 Timothy J. Koegel

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group LP

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group LP at S. Mo Pac Expy., Suite 600, Austin, TX 78735, (512) 891-6100

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LP
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LP

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Koegel, Timothy J.
The exceptional presenter : a proven formula to open up! and own the room / Timothy J. Koegel.

p. : ill. ; cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-929774-45-6
ISBN-10: 1-929774-44-3

1. Business presentations. 2. Public speaking. I. Title.

HF5718.22 .K64 2007
658.4/52 2007920959

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

07 08 09 10 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

To Amy, Kaitlyn and Marty with whom I am grateful and honored
to share lifes journey.

To Mom and Dad, for your love, support and encouragement.

Illustration by and in memory of Paul Koegel.

Thank you:

To Cheryl Drake: For your expertise in editing The Exceptional Presenter. Check out Cheryls services at www.editingplusmore.com.

To Amy Snyder: For your work on my dust jacket picture. You do great work! Sorry about the cracked lenses. See the range of Amys photographic ability at www.paintedzebraphotography.com.

To Rick Buehner, a true friend and marketing guru: Your advice kept me on course. Visit www.fourteen-14.com to review Ricks marketing and product development consulting services.

To Tom Holtkamp: Your illustrations clearly demonstrate the impact of non-verbal communication. For more of Toms work visit www.tomholtkamp.com.

The Exceptional Presenter provides the essential skills, techniques and strategies necessary for you to present yourself and your ideas at an exceptional level, to any audience, in any venue.

You can read it on a flight from D.C. to Dallas, on the treadmill or in small doses at night before bed. It reads more like a presentation than a textbook, including stories, examples, bullet points, exercises, performance tracking, note pages and practice charts.

Consistently exceeding an audiences expectations is a hallmark of all exceptional presenters. Therefore, use this book often, especially before major presentations, as a Coach/Mentor to inspire you to rise to the occasion.

The format of the book is concise, focusing only on the core information and allowing you to use it as a quick reference. Highlight it. Mark it up. Document your observations and communication experiences.

Make this book your personal presentation diary and carry it with you on your journey to becoming exceptional!

Tim Koegel

THE EXCEPTIONAL
PRESENTER

THE EXCEPTIONAL
PRESENTER

BECOMING AN EXCEPTIONAL PRESENTER seems to be a Herculean task. Theres a lot to remember. Say this. Move that. Speak up. Look at the audience. Dont fidget. You leave the meeting wondering, Did I connect? Was I clear? Was that guy sleeping, or was he praying for my presentation to end?

There are a lot of experts out there who will give you all the answers. Type into a leading Internet search engine the words public speaking, and youll get 84,300,000 listings. It can be overwhelming. After a while it all seems to sound the same.

The formula you are about to learn will take the mystery and the misery out of presenting. We will break down the art of presenting into a series of skills. Then you will learn a systematic approach to mastering each skill.

Some may argue that when it comes to presentation skills, You either have it or you dont. Based on my two decades as a presentation coach, I respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. Ive worked with far too many people who have dramatically improved their presentation effectiveness.

Can anyone become an exceptional presenter? My answer is Yes for the vast majority of people who have a desire to improve, a formula to guide their progress and a willingness to develop the skills that comprise the it in You either have it or you dont.

The objectives of this book are straightforward and achievable:

1. Provide a proven formula that will enable you to communicate at an exceptional level, in any venue, to any audience.
2. Share practice methods that help you develop skills that will not fail under pressure.
3. Serve as your personal diary to document your improvement.

Look up the word exceptional in a thesaurus. Synonyms include: superior, outstanding, excellent, extraordinary and wonderful. Antonyms include: average, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, commonplace and mundane.

Notice that the synonyms did not include: perfect, flawless, unblemished or error-free.

Have you attended any presentations lately? How many of those presentations would you describe as: superior, outstanding, excellent, extraordinary or wonderful? How many would you describe as: average, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, commonplace or mundane? What descriptive words do people use to describe your presentations?