It is amazing how much good advice for presenters you can get on the internet. Last time we did a Google search we got about 122 million hits for the key words “presentation tips”. That is a lot. You might think bad presenters should be an endangered species by now. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case. How little has changed over the last 90 years becomes obvious when you read the following two pieces by German journalist, satirist and writer Kurt Tucholsky, publicized 1930 under the pseudonym Peter Panter. You get the feeling they could have been written yesterday. Continue reading...

Kurt Tucholsky, Complexity, Peter Panter, Storytelling

The ever increasing speed of change and its totality that we are facing today leaves us in need of explanations — more than ever before. In order to keep pace we have to make sense of it all. We have to understand the own position in relation to the processes of globalization, climate change, and conflicts. It might well be a matter of survival — not only on an individual level and not only for people outside the western industrialized nations. Devdutt Pattanaik explains the basic differences between East and West by telling wonderful stories about mythical figures from both worlds. Continue reading...

Devdutt Pattanaik, Intercultural Communication, Slide design, Storytelling, TED

Back in February 2006, Sir Ken Robinson mesmerized the audience at the TED conference with his speech, Do schools kill creativity? The video has been viewed over 20 million times on Youtube so far. It was a defining moment for TED, making Ken Robinson somewhat of a figurehead for TED Talks. In his latest book, The Element — How finding your passion changes everything, he gives another inspiring insight into the field of human creativity and its limitless opportunities. He urges us to search for our very own Element, the point where natural talent meets personal passion. Continue reading...

Ken Robinson, Creativity, Education, TED, Storytelling

What if somebody approached you with the task to hold a meaningful presentation about a topic of your choice in order to motivate a crowd of complete strangers? And if that wasn’t enough to scare the living daylight out of you, the timeframe given lies somewhere between two and five minutes. How would you approach this task? What topic would you choose? What stories would you tell and how would you tell them? Here is your chance to learn from a master. Enjoy these presentations by musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers. Continue reading...

Derek Sivers, TED, Intercultural Communication, Storytelling