Chapter Three - Celebrating Presenters

Being a presenter really means that you need to have good communication skills such as, speaking in public as well as making sure that your audience is interested and alert during your presentation. To be a great presenter, Burmark recommends to fine tune your attitude, your preparation, and most importantly, your delivery. (pg. 43)

                How many times have we sat through presentation after presentation only to have it drag on and on? Or at times a presentation that has been so interesting that it has kept us on the edge of our seats or completely entertained us to the point of not realizing that time has gone by so quickly. Burmark identifies four types of presenters such as the Lecturer, the Entertainer, the Motivational speaker, and finally the Educator. Throughout this chapter the reader looks into themselves to find just what type of presenter they are and steps on how to become a better presenter.

 The advice given by Steve Jobs (pg. 48) is something every teacher/presenter should keep in mind when preparing a presentation.  The advice is so simple and yet so powerful, once a presenter gets into the habit of taking these few steps.

A presenter must remember that it doesn’t matter who the audience is or what the topic may be, how it is presented is the key. A presenter needs to remember that if a presentation is not interesting to them, it surely will not be interesting to the audience. Another good idea that Burmark brings about is tapping into the multiple intelligence of the audience (pg. 55) At times, as a teacher, we don’t stop to think about the different types of learners that can be in our classroom when it comes to a simple presentation. This is where a presenter needs to be sure to meet all the learning styles when preparing a presentation for any audience.
                I really enjoyed reading this chapter and know that I will work at becoming a better presenter by building on the tips given in this chapter as well as sharing them with my students.

Burmark, L. (2011). They Snooze You Lose: The educator’s guide to successful presentations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass