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Fred Miller
Dec 10, 20173 min read

MIND MAP Your Presentation!


Mind Mapping is the ultimate tool for:

Developing – Practicing – Delivering a Great Presentation

FREE Mind Map of a Speaker’s Template HERE

Let’s look at each of those activities.

Developing a Presentation

Have you ever had these challenges when commencing work on a new presentation.

  1. Lots of ideas spinning in your head and not knowing where to begin.

  2. Outlining (diagraming) your talk and suddenly realizing item III C should be II B?

  3. That activity forces you to prioritize your thoughts as you are developing them. Our brains don’t work that way!

  4. Having the sinking feeling, as you’re outlining, something important is being left out of the speech?

Practicing a Presentation

Is using notes, on index cards or paper, and no matter how large the font, a challenge?

  1. You know a speech should be delivered in a conversational manner, and realize the notes are making you seem like you’re reading a speech, and not doing a good!

Delivering a Presentation

If you tried to memorize your talk, it’s likely not going well.

  1. Memorizing a speech is tough, really tough.

  2. And what if you forget something! Where do you go to ‘remember?’

  3. If using notes, your talk is challenging, also.

  4. You may not sound ‘natural’ and non-verbal communication; gestures, facial expressions, and body movements, may seem stiff and unnatural.

The Answer to these challenges is MIND MAPPING!

Mind Mapping is a non-linear, visual, brain storming tool. It can be used for a variety of brain related activities including: Developing, Practicing, and Delivering a Presentation.

Reading black text on a white background doesn’t stimulate our minds as quickly as looking at images. This is one reason a Mind Map is the perfect tool for working on that great speech!

Mind Maps can be customized to meet your specific needs. They generally use pictures, symbols and colors that trigger associations in our brain so we can ‘tell’ our speech rather than ‘read’ it. This makes for a better, more natural presentation.

Instead of having a stack of index cards or several sheets of paper to look at, you can have one Mind Map. Literally and figuratively, your entire presentation can be in front of you on one page.

Some Mind Map on paper and use a variety of colored pens and pencils. I use Mind Mapping software for this task. Doing it on the computer offers many advantages, but it’s up to the individual to decide what works best for them.

I set the page in landscape mode and have an image representing my main topic in the center. Starting at 12:00, using an image that represents my opening, I go clockwise. I’ll add images representing the other components of a presentation. Coming off those images, will be additional pictures and symbols that ‘clue me into’ the content of that part of the presentation.

An example of a Mind Map on Nuggets to Lessen the Fear of Public Speaking is HERE.

Each section can be color-coded thus making groups easier to see.

Lines and words closer to the center of the Mind Map are made larger to emphasize their importance.

One great advantage of doing this on a computer is the ease of revising your talk. Making changes on paper can be challenging and time consuming.

The Mind Map can be saved as a Template, and modified for future presentations without having to redo the entire talk.

Here is a video explaining why Mind Mapping might help you develop, practice, and deliver presentations.

One of the cool things about Mind Mapping is that there is no right or wrong. It’s what works for you and I encourage you to try some of the software available for this task.

A FREE Speaker’s Template Mind Map is HERE

Use Mind Mapping to develop, practice, and deliver your presentations and they will be absolutely, positively – NO SWEAT!

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About the Author

Fred E. Miller is a speaker, an international coach, and the author of the books, “NO SWEAT Public Speaking!” and “NO SWEAT Elevator Speech!”

Businesses, Individuals, and Organizations hire him because they want to improve their Networking, Public Speaking, and Presentation Skills.

They do this because they know: Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.

They also know: We perceive really great speakers to be Experts, and we like to work with Experts.

He shows them how to: Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with – NO SWEAT!

Services:

  1. Keynote Speaker

  2. Workshop Facilitator

  3. Breakout Sessions

  4. Personal and Group Public Speaking and Presentation Coaching

Topics:

  1. Lessening The Fear of Public Speaking with – NO SWEAT!

  2. Crafting Your Elevator Speech, Floor by Floor with – NO SWEAT!

  3. Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.

  4. We are All Self-Employed!

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