Todd & Steve were proud to be the guest speakers at the May 2012 meeting of the NYC chapter of the ICF (International Coach Federation).

Held at the NYU midtown campus on W. 42^nd St., our presentation, entitled, “The Power of Visual Thinking: An Innovative Approach to More Effective Presenting & Coaching” was attended by a high-energy and highly-engaged group of approximately 50 members of the local coaching community.

We presented our, “Ten Top Tips for Designing & Delivering More Effective Presentations: A Wild 30-Minute Roller Coaster Ride,” followed by an interactive exploration of how to leverage the power of visual thinking and visual communication in a coaching context.

Among the various topics discussed were: what visual thinking is all about; napkin sketching; the use of visual language, metaphor, and storytelling; and how to create your own Visual Coaching Toolkit.

As promised, following are the answers to the top three questions we were asked:

[1] Can you post a copy of your “10 Top Tips”?

[2] Where can we find visual images to use in powerpoint presentations?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/ 

www.iStockphoto.com

http://www.photoxpress.com/

http://www.sxc.hu

http://www.everystockphoto.com/ 

http://compfight.com/ 

http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2006/01/where_can_you_f.html

http://www.rethinkpresentations.com/presentation-images/

[3] Can you post a copy of your presentation skills book recommendation list?    

The List:

1.  The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs – by Carmine Gallo

2.  Slideology – by Nancy Duarte 3.Resonate – by Nancy Duarte

4.  Presentation Zen – by Garr Reynolds

5.  The Naked Presenter – by Garr Reynolds

6.  Presenting to Win – by Jerry Weissman

7.  The Exceptional Presenter – by Timothy J. Koegel

8.  Beyond Bulletpoints – by Cliff Atkinson

9.  Power, Influence & Persuastion – by Harvard Business Essentials

10.  The Confident Speaker – by Monarth & Kase

11.  The Story Factor – by Anette Simmons

12.  How to Develop Self-Confidence & Influence – by Dale Carnegie

13.  The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking – by Dale Carnegie

14.  10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking – by Princeton Language

15.  Present Like a Pro – by Maxie & O’Connor 

For further questions, please contact us any time.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Like most businesspeople, you're probably spending more time in meetings than getting any actual work done.   

But does it have to be this way?

To find out how to make YOUR meetings more productive and succesful, check out this article in "Success Magazine" where you'll find BigBlueGumball's very own, Todd Cherches, featured. 

After all, wouldn't YOU like to be as joyful as the people in this stock photo of "young, good-looking business people high-fiving each other"?

At BigBlueGumball... we have a dream... that one day... everyone... will recognize the power of visual communication.

As communicators and presenters, we all recognize the power of words.  What is often overlooked though, is the added impact that visuals have on an audience.  The power of visuals not only comes from the things we see, but also from the things we hear.  When Martin Luther King, Jr. told us that he "has a dream," he painted his dream for us using vivid language, metaphor, and tone that automatically turned our minds into a canvas for our imagination.

Last week, Todd and I had the opportunity to be guest presenters for VizThink NYC.  Through a series of interactive exercises including VizProvization, VizBiz Pictionary, and sketch-noting, we explored the power of visual communication, and unleashed the power and creativity that existed in all who attended. 

VizThink events tend to attract incredibly creative, talented, insightful, and friendly people from around the globe, which always makes each event a fantastic experience.  Last week's event drew people from as far away as Sweden, California, Westchester, Long Island, and the Upper East Side...!

To more fully engage in the experience, please check out the following links:

VizThink.com (event write-up)
http://vizthink.com/blog/2011/04/02/the-power-of-visual-communication

Pictures on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/merrybrain/sets/72157626408290350

Visuals For Change (blog post with sketchnotes)
http://www.visualsforchange.com/blog/2011/03/31/vizthink-nyc-presents-the-power-of-visual-communication-with-bigbluegumball/

Present Your Story (blog post with sketchnotes)
http://www.presentyourstory.com/blog/2011/4/5/vizthink-nyc.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Special thanks to VizThink, MJ Broadbent, Ray DeLaPena, Amanda Lyons, Nolan Haims, and Liquidnet.