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| Duarte Design's Five Rules for Presentations |
This brief video sums up presentation expert Nancy Duarte's rules for creating great presentations. Duarte encourages a focus on the audience and a minimalist approach to slides similar to that espoused in Garr Reynold's book Presentation Zen. Application of this approach depends heavily on preparation and rehearsal but the reward is greater communication with the audience and a more effective presentation. |
The following are excerpts from my blog
Canton on Emergency Management. Please visit my blog to see the rest of my articles.
Misinformation can cause unnecessary anxiety, particularly when you confuse possibility with probability.
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What Is The Leadership Challenge?
 Is leadership a learned behavior or an innate personality trait? While there are certainly naturally charismatic individuals who are considered "born leaders", leadership is a measurable set of behaviors that can be learned and taught. This is the conclusion arrived at by researchers Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner after years of rigorous research. Starting in 1982, Kouzes and Posner set out to understand what happened when leaders performed at their personal best. They conducted hundreds of interviews and reviewed hundreds of cases studies and survey questionnaires. What emerged were five fundamental practices common to extraordinary leadership achievements:
- Model the Way
- Inspire a Shared Vision
- Challenge the Process
- Enable Others to Act
- Encourage the Heart
The Leadership Challenge begins with a 360-degree assessment of thirty leadership behaviors associated with the five practices, the Leadership Practices Inventory. The results are used to identify opportunities for improving as a leader by increasing the frequency of specific behaviors. Based on over thirty years of research, the Leadership Challenge is an effective and practical tool for leadership development.
To find out more about the
Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
, consider taking
The Leadership Challenge
. Just click on the icon below for more information:
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| Click here to take The Leadership Challenge |
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The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations
by James M. Kouzes & Barry Posner
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The Leadership Challenge is a registered trademark of John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
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Free Resource Guide for Solo Consultants
For solo consultants, true wealth is discretionary time. Don't waste yours on simple tasks that can be handled by technology. This free resource guide reveals the four essential online tools I use to manage my solo consulting practice and save hours of valuable time. And the best part is - they're free!
Interested in exploring the world of consulting? My membership site might be just the resource you need to get started. You'll have access to blogs designed to answer very specific questions, a resource library of templates and articles, the opportunity to network with peers, and discounts on coaching and training programs. Download the free guide or click on the logo above to go straight to the site.
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Welcome to the August edition of Emergency Management Solutions.
This edition is devoted to presentations. The ability to speak persuasively is one of the three core functions I think an emergency manager should master, the other two being effective writing and meeting facilitation. However, judging from a recent conference I attended, we still have a ways to go.
After so many years that I was beginning to consider myself the George R.R. Martin of emergency management, I am pleased to announce that the draft of the second edition of my book is finished and in the hands of my publisher. There's still a lot of work to be done - reviewing proofs, cover design, indexing, etc. - but the heavy lifting is done. I don't have a due date yet but I'll let you know as soon as I do.
Regards,
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Is PowerPoint Past Its Prime?
Maybe the problem is not with the program!
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I've just returned from a conference where I was once again appalled at how we manage to turn the most interesting subjects into a mind-numbing ordeal. We tend to refer to these bad presentations as "death by PowerPoint" and blame the program for killing our ability to communicate with an audience.
But the problem isn't with the program. I concur with presentations guru Garr Reynolds that the problem is how we use the program. Part of this is we aren't aware of the many tools built into the program or the resources available online to support the program. The real problem, however, is that we lose our focus by forgetting three basic facts about using PowerPoint
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If you are having trouble viewing my featured article, try clicking on the link at the top of the page. You can always find my articles in the white paper section of my blog site,
Canton on Emergency Management.
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Access to Evacuation Areas
One of the issues that always comes up after an evacuation is that of access to restricted areas. Evacuation areas frequently present a safety risk to the public and are often attractive areas to thieves and scavengers. Keeping people out poses a major problem for law enforcement.
The other side of the coin is that there are people that need access to restricted areas such as critical personnel or repair crews. Unfortunately many jurisdictions find themselves, of necessity, creating a system for access from scratch at the time of an event.
To overcome this, DHS has developed the
Crisis Event Response and Recovery Access (CERRA) Framework. The framework provides a standardized process that includes definitions, access levels, templates, and checklists. The intent is for the framework will serve as the basis for standardizing access procedures across the nation.
School Safety PrepTalks
FEMA has released two new PrepTalks focused on improving school safety:
Rethinking School Safety
relates Michele Gay's personal experience as the parent of a child killed in the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. She highlights some of the simple solutions that students and staff needed during the crisis at Sandy Hook, and presents Safe and Sound Schools' Framework for Comprehensive School Safety Planning and Development.
Safety is Personal: Lessons Learned as a Survivor of the Virginia Tech Tragedy
relates
Kristina Anderson's
experience in the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, when she was shot three times.
She translates her experience into a focus on the importance of threat assessments in schools to identify and mitigate potential threats.
Professional Development Opportunities
Oct 19 - 25
Grand Rapids MI
The goal of the IAEM Annual Conference is to improve knowledge, competency level and collaborative skills. IAEM accomplishes this by attracting relevant high-profile
speakers to address current topics and practical solutions.
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Variety
One of my favorite quotes is from the poet Rod Mckuen "Music like sex and breakfast must have variety."
This was certainly true in our house growing up. There were six of us in my family and we each liked a different type of music. My father like Mexican music one sister liked classical music, another liked current pop, my brother liked jazz. I had a rather eclectic taste that ranged from folk music to movie themes. You learned to appreciate all music forms out of self defense.
This appreciation for various types of music continues in my own household where you are as likely to hear Irish music as you are to hear classical, folk, or pop music. Country western slips in there every now and again. I'm still not to sure about jazz but my life got a whole lot better when I learned the difference between jazz and the blues.
The importance of variety applies to other aspects of my life as well. I read a lot and alternate between fiction and non-fiction. Even within those broad categories, I seek variety. While I tend to favor history in my non-fiction reading, it can range from medieval history to historical disasters to books on leadership and management.
Embracing variety opens us to new ideas and new perspectives. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and be doing the same thing over and over. We all have friends that have been doing the same job the same way for over thirty years and can't understand why nothing changes. This should be anathema to emergency managers who are dedicated to the cycle of continuous improvement that underlies a successful program. Do something different today; open yourself to something new.
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 Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (2nd Edition)
By Garr Reynolds
Garr Reynolds' classic book on how to improve the effectiveness of your presentations sparked a radical change to how effective speakers use PowerPoint. Reynolds spent some time in Japan and was influenced by the Japanese emphasis on simplicity. Reynolds applied this concept to presentations, encouraging a "less is more approach' to presentations.
Where other experts abhor the use of PowerPoint, Reynolds takes the view that the problem is not with the program but rather how we use it. He advocates replacing boring lists of text with images that conceptualize the key ideas we wish to communicate. He includes seven design concepts that help to declutter slides and increase the emphasis key ideas.
Reynolds' book not only contains information on design, reinforced by numerous illustrations and examples, it also offers ideas on how to best prepare and develop your presentation. If you want to rock your next presentation, I highly recommend this book.
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Emergency Management: Concepts and Strategies for Effective Programs
by Lucien G. Canton
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Need a speaker for your next conference? I offer keynotes, seminars and workshops.
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Three Reasons Why I'm the Right Speaker for Your Conference
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Speaking Engagements
It's the End of the World! What Do We Do Now?
Oct 24, 2018
Grand Rapids MI
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