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Storytelling
AMA Panel Discussion: Failure Is the Gift of New Information
Introduction: Meet The Panel An Ask Me Anything session with Florian Mueck, Margareet Jacobs, Cynthia Zhai and Cliff Kennedy. Moderated by Minna Taylor — Present to Succeed Conference. You've all just delivered full sessions. Now the audience gets to ask the questions nobody asked during the day. Where do you want to start? Mina: One thread that ran through today was the relationship between failure and preparation. So let's pull on that. Q: How do you actually prepare w
4 min read
Sex Up Your Data: 3 Tools to Make Any Presentation Unforgettable
Introduction: 3,013 Days of PowerPoint Before Florian Mueck became one of Europe's leading public speaking coaches, he spent 3,013 days — he counted — working at a Big Four consultancy in Munich, Amsterdam, and Barcelona, communicating almost exclusively in PowerPoints stuffed with bullet points and phrases like leveraging efficiencies for sustainable growth. His verdict? It was a slow death by data. In his Present to Succeed session, Florian shares everything he learned from
3 min read
Big Ideas, Small Stories: How to Make Any Complex Subject Land
Introduction: When Your Best Ideas Go Nowhere You know your subject. You've done the research. You've built the slides. And yet, somewhere between your mouth and your audience's brain, the message gets lost. Sales don't close. People don't engage. Nothing changes. In his Present to Succeed session, Francisco Mahfuz — storytelling coach and communication consultant — argues that this isn't a knowledge problem. It's a storytelling problem. And it's entirely fixable. Why Compl
4 min read
The Hidden Structure of Inspiration: How to Move Any Audience
Introduction: What Does It Really Mean to Be Inspirational? Most speakers aim to inform. Fewer aim to inspire. But what separates the two? In his Present to Succeed session, Alexei Kapterev — author, presentation designer, and researcher — argues that inspiration isn't a personality trait or a stroke of luck. It's a structure. And once you understand it, you can build it deliberately. Why the Best Decisions — and the Best Presentations — Are Neither Rational Nor Emotional Ale
3 min read
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Design
AMA Panel Discussion: 4 Presentation Experts on AI, Trends and Finding the Time
Introduction: Meet The Panel A panel conversation with Lucy Wyatt (Bright Carbon), Damon Nofar (Slides Agency), Jason Paul (Slido) and Olena Zubova (Represent). Moderated by Ash Pemberton — Present to Succeed Conference. After watching a live Copilot demo turn a Word document into a 12-slide presentation in under a minute, the audience had one question: should we be worried? Robin: You can either get scared or you can embrace it. AI won't replace humans — but humans with AI
3 min read
Craft Better Charts & Graphs - The Presentation Skill That Changes Minds
Introduction: When a Map Ended an Epidemic In 1854, London was in the grip of a cholera outbreak. The scientific consensus said it spread through the air. One doctor disagreed — and instead of arguing in words, he argued in data. John Snow plotted every death on a map, traced the pattern to a single water pump, and convinced the government to act. The epidemic ended almost immediately. That's how Olena Zubova opens her Present to Succeed session — not with a slide tip, but wi
2 min read
Typography & Your Slides: The Invisible Force Behind Presentations
Introduction: The Font Nobody Noticed — Until It Wasn't Right Picture the safety card in a plane. Clear, organised, quietly reassuring. Now put a chaotic, unprofessional font on it. Suddenly it doesn't feel safe anymore. That's how Ihor Hulyahrodskyy opens his Present to Succeed session — and the point is immediate. Typography isn't decoration. It's communication. And in most business presentations, it's almost entirely ignored. Fonts Have Personality. Use It. Typography gi
2 min read
Do You Even Know What Conversational Presenting Is?
Introduction: The Presentation We Imagine vs. the One We Actually Give When most people picture a presentation, they picture a big stage. But the reality is, most presentations in working life happen in small rooms — a pitch to your manager, a client meeting, a hybrid call with a handful of people. And most people walk into those situations with a big-stage mindset. They've built a deck designed for broadcasting, not connecting. In her Present to Succeed session, Frauke Havin
3 min read
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Public Speaking
AMA Panel Discussion: Failure Is the Gift of New Information
Introduction: Meet The Panel An Ask Me Anything session with Florian Mueck, Margareet Jacobs, Cynthia Zhai and Cliff Kennedy. Moderated by Minna Taylor — Present to Succeed Conference. You've all just delivered full sessions. Now the audience gets to ask the questions nobody asked during the day. Where do you want to start? Mina: One thread that ran through today was the relationship between failure and preparation. So let's pull on that. Q: How do you actually prepare w
4 min read
3 Vocal Techniques That Will Transform How You Inspire Any Audience
Introduction: It's Not What You Say — It's How Your Voice Delivers It Most presenters spend their preparation time on content. What they rarely think about is the instrument doing the delivering. In her Present to Succeed session, Cynthia Zhai — voice coach and author of Influence Through Voice — makes the case that your voice isn't just a delivery mechanism. It's a tool for connection, persuasion, and inspiration. And she has three specific techniques to prove it. Start He
2 min read
The Nervous and the Liars: John Zimmer's 10 Tips for Managing Presentation Nerves
Introduction: You're Supposed to Be Nervous Mark Twain once said there are only two kinds of speakers: the nervous and the liars. In his Present to Succeed closing keynote, John Zimmer — international public speaking coach, former UN lawyer, and co-founder of Manner of Speaking — takes that as his starting point. Nerves aren't a sign that something is wrong with you. They're a sign that you're human. The question isn't how to eliminate them. It's how to use them. Why We Get
4 min read
Opportunity Meets Responsibility: 5 Rules for Hybrid Presenting
Introduction: Hybrid Has Always Been Here — Now It Matters Conference calls in a box. Satellite events across multiple locations. PictureTel. WebEx. In many ways, hybrid isn't new. What's new is that the technology finally works, corporations are building for it, and the stakes are higher than ever. In his Present to Succeed session, Cliff Kennedy — former creative director of Fortune 100 corporate events, now a presentation coach — offers a reframe that cuts through the nois
3 min read
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Tools
AMA Panel Discussion: 4 Presentation Experts on AI, Trends and Finding the Time
Introduction: Meet The Panel A panel conversation with Lucy Wyatt (Bright Carbon), Damon Nofar (Slides Agency), Jason Paul (Slido) and Olena Zubova (Represent). Moderated by Ash Pemberton — Present to Succeed Conference. After watching a live Copilot demo turn a Word document into a 12-slide presentation in under a minute, the audience had one question: should we be worried? Robin: You can either get scared or you can embrace it. AI won't replace humans — but humans with AI
3 min read
LEGO SERIOUS PLAY: The Most Unexpected Tool in Your Presentation Arsenal
Introduction: The Meeting Nobody Wanted to Leave Picture a workshop in a church in southern Italy on a warm summer evening. The participants range in age from 18 to 70-plus. Most of them have never picked up a LEGO brick as an adult. The topic? The creation of the world. The method? LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. Within minutes, people who had never met — and who would never normally collaborate — were building, laughing, and telling stories with genuine depth and imagination. That's n
3 min read
How to Run Hybrid Meetings That Actually Work for Everyone
Introduction: Two Audiences, One Meeting, Zero Level Playing Field About 50% of meetings are now hybrid. Most of them aren't working — at least not for the people joining remotely. Around 43% of remote participants report not feeling included in hybrid meetings, and only 27% of companies have introduced any new hybrid meeting etiquette to address it. That gap between the problem and the response is exactly why this conversation matters. Jason Paul opens his Present to Succeed
3 min read
Copilot in PowerPoint: Microsoft's Transformation From Document To Slides
Introduction: The Goal Was Never More Slides If you asked someone on the PowerPoint team what success looks like, they wouldn't say longer presentations, more slides, or users spending more time in the app. The answer is simpler than that: make people successful. Whatever the goal — informing a board, pitching investors, persuading a room, or just entertaining the family — PowerPoint exists to help you achieve it. That framing matters as AI enters the picture, because it shap
3 min read
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