Scott Schwertly
SlideShare
Nashville, TN, United States
Contact Scott
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Scott:
Enough With the Business Jargon! Here’s How to Make Your Presentation Understandable
Business jargon. It plagues a majority of presentations today. Think back to the last few sayings you have heard over the course of this year. You probably remember a few acronyms that you can’t exactly recite back at this request. If not acronyms, the presenter may have tried to woo you with their impressive vocabulary. Either way, both are poor ways to share information and serve only as a… → Read More
7 Steps to Outline Your Next Business Presentation
There are many different methods with which a presenter can mold his or her content. In fact, my team and I have several at our disposal that we deploy from project to project. I counted 26 different styles at one point. For example, we have different styles for teaching, selling, and pitching. But what’s the best approach? The answer is simple. Utilize a storytelling approach. Doing so… → Read More
5 Steps for Creating a Sales Deck that Sells
If you are looking for a compelling way to put together your next sales deck, I want to offer up a structure for you. It consists of 5 stages. Why should you approach your deck in stages? It’s mainly a guideline to help you compartmentalize your talk into smaller sections. For instance, in Stage 5, you know you have to allocate time and slides to build up to a call to action. Approaching your… → Read More
How to Be ‘Pitch Perfect': 5 Essential Elements for Your Pitch Deck
What’s the average amount of time an investor spends looking at a pitch deck? You read that right. This short attention span is clear proof that presenters need to hone the art of the (short) pitch. If you are looking for a starting point, here are 5 essential elements: 1. Optimize Your Design For starters, I hope we can all agree that a pitch deck is the main device to help you raise money.… → Read More
Inside the Mindset of a Stand-out Presenter
It’s an unfortunate fact but a reality: Most people don’t put enough blood, sweat and tears into their presentations. Don’t believe me? I encourage you to think about the last presentation you attended. You probably experienced one or all of the following: A message that was not easy to follow or retain…check. An over reliance on a PowerPoint template…check. A delivery style that was awkward and… → Read More
When Plan A Fails: The Surefire Way to Back-up Your Presentation
A few weeks ago we discussed back-up items and devices you’ll need when giving your next presentation. Those tools are easy to switch in and out in the event if it’s only one device that decides to fail on you. But, what about when two or all items decide to not work when you need them most? I can speak to this personally because it happened to me earlier this week. In these rare instances, I… → Read More
Want to Be a Better Presenter? Turn to These 5 Learning Resources
I don’t know about you, but I love taking advantage of the slowness at work during the summer months to learn new skill sets or polish up on existing talents. It’s a great time to experiment, catch-up on existing trends, and deep-dive into items I had been meaning to touch for several weeks. Long story short, I love the summer because it allows me grow. As a presenter, growth is essential. Your… → Read More
5 Essential Back-up Devices to Bring to Every Presentation
My position at Ethos3 requires that I travel a ton to give presentations all over the world. Given the constant change in environments and surroundings, I can always anticipate something not going quite as I had originally planned. I prepare for this by always packing my bag with not only back-up devices, but also back-ups for my back-ups. (This isn’t a joke!) Check out the 5 essential back-up… → Read More
Before & After: 4 Slide Makeover Tips
At Ethos3, we love presentations. So, we find it especially fun to experiment with new or existing content to see how much value we can add with a facelift. This past week we decided to grab a few decks and play. The end result: a series of four beautiful Before/After pieces with a few presentation tips all of us should keep in mind. Slide 1: Content Slide (Before) What you are seeing here is… → Read More
Mastering the Art of Enthusiasm on Stage
Back in 2004, I took a journey. It was a 159-mile run from Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Ocean, and I did this trek with four other individuals. It was long. It was brutal. But, it was definitely worth it. Thinking back to that moment, there is one quality that helped us make it through those long nights and days. When spirits were low, enthusiasm made us optimistic. When energy levels were… → Read More
How to Turn Your Bullet Points Into Visually-Engaging Elements
Professional designers will advise against ever using bullet points in a deck: Bullet points act like bullets — they kill your presentation. However, this mentality can change if you transform your bullet points into a visual component of your presentation. Below you will find 5 specific alternatives my team put together. Let’s dive in. Sample 1 (Before) Sample 1 (After) Lesson: In the case of… → Read More
Cinemagraphs: The Newest Presentation Feature to Make You Stand Out
I often get asked about the future of presentations. Making accurate predictions is tough, though, as they’re moving targets. This holds particularly true as creation tools such as FlowVella, ScrollMotion, and Prezi enter the workplace, and traditional software like PowerPoint and Keynote undergo their own transformations. Whether you prefer these new options or you like your standard approach,… → Read More
Best Alternatives to PowerPoint
Let’s face it: PowerPoint isn’t the easiest to learn and use, especially if you’re wanting to elevate your design beyond headers and bullet points. Thankfully there are other tools available today that allow you to easily create presentations — and have them look good, too. Here’s a look: Keynote is Apple’s version of PowerPoint. If you enjoy the UI of your iPhone or iPad then you will probably… → Read More
Visual Is Viral: 10 Facts You Need to Know
Newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane was quoted in 1911 for using the famous adage: "Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words." Why? Because visuals can easily make the complex look simple. Skeptical? I provide some evidence below. All of these facts come from Ekaterina Walter’s book, The Power of Vis → Read More