TED Talks have changed the way we receive information, and because of them we now recognize that people can say a great deal of information in a short period of time.

In a recent Forbes article, author and speaker Leila Gowland highlights former TED producer Tamsen Webster’s take on the new standard for public speakers: “The future of speaking is being able to know your idea well enough that I can say 'Tell it to me in 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or across 3 days,’ and you’ve got the flexibility to adjust or ‘accordion’ your idea. It only works if you’ve got that high level of clarity.”

In our workshops, we teach people how to create a 15-Second Soundbite—the ability to distill a big message down into a tight, comprehensive package. Once you know how to articulate your bottom-line idea in fifteen seconds or less, it’s easy to deliver your information “accordion-style” by adding or subtracting details according to time restrictions.

In the Harvard Business Review article, “How Venture Capitalists Really Assess a Pitch,” researcher Lakshmi Balachandr sheds light on why an individual’s presence matters even more than his or her business acumen. Balachandr offers four insights into what qualities and behaviors lead to statistically more successful presentations:

• Calm trumps passion: Competition judges and potential investors respond to presenters who project a calm demeanor; connected studies show that “people equate calmness with leadership strength.”
• Trustworthiness beats competency: An investor’s decision to fund the entrepreneur depends far more on the entrepreneur’s perceived level of trustworthiness than his/her level of competency.
• Coachability/active listening skills matter: Balachandr notes that many investors yearn to be seen as more than cash flow. They want to be seen as mentors who can offer advice and expertise. Therefore, investors evaluate entrepreneurs’ listening skills and determine whether or not they have the desire/ability to be coached.
• Authority outranks approachability: Balachandr’s work shows that although gender alone does not influence success, people with a high degree of stereotypically male behavior (such as forcefulness, dominance, aggressiveness, and assertiveness) are more likely to be successful than those with a high degree of stereotypically female behavior (such as warmth, sensitivity, expressiveness, and emotionality).

The article underlines what we at SpeechSkills hold to be true: It’s important to be informed, it’s crucial to be prepared, but the ability to get your message across and have others invest in your ideas requires strong communication skills above all else.

When it comes to setting aside practice time for an upcoming speaking engagement or presentation, most people tend to avoid or procrastinate. Even though they know that practice is beneficial and inevitably improves performance, people will come up with all sorts of excuses to ditch their practice plan.

In this VIDEO posted by NYTimes.com, students at American University’s Kogod School of Business learn to hone their public speaking skills, while putting in their practice time in front of nonjudgmental “audience dogs.”

Rehearsing in front of dogs will not only incentive you to practice (because of the inherent friendly environment they create), but it will also help you create a positive, light-hearted association with practice time, as opposed to a feeling of anxiety. So instead of dreading your upcoming presentation, schedule a practice session with your dog and bone up on your speech skills!

If you're looking for examples of how to give fascinating presentations, you'll find consistently rich material on Ted Talks. Experts from extremely diverse fields offer their best ideas in talks ranging from two to twenty minutes. Visit ted.com to take a look. One of our favorites is Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education. This is a truly inspiring presentation.

This month’s tip is a double bonus. Check out the link below for a wonderful presentation on how metaphor enriches and defines our thinking AND see a great example of how the new web-based service Prezi can help you deliver slides in a stunning new way. With Prezi, instead of a sequence of slides, you get a camera that pans across a sheet of images and text, zooming in and out as required. If you’d like to “shake things up” in your presentations, you’ll want to see this.

To hear James Geary discuss the power of metaphor, go to: James Geary on Ted Talks To learn more about Prezi here.

We highly recommend that you check out SlideShare's annual "World's Best Presentation" contest. Our friend Dan Roam won this year's top spot!

There are two common themes that you'll find with all the top winners. 1) They keep the text concise. We suggest that you follow the advice of Albert Einstein: "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." 2) They use images. More than 60% of your brain is used for visual processing. Images that support your message are retained. Take advantage of this fact.

For more info on how to use images, check out Dan Roam's book, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures.