Why I Stopped Using Slides 10 Years Ago
Ten years ago I stopped using PowerPoint, and I have not looked back. Here are the three reasons why, plus the case that you may be able to never make a slide again, no matter what your context is. Ten years ago, the month before my son was born, I was on about 22 flights, […]
How to Make a Presentation Interactive With the Audience
If you are searching for how to make a presentation interactive, here is one really awesome strategy that uses only a highlighter and that you can do very quickly. It also works as a test of whether people are going to sleep through your presentation or be really actively engaged, and maybe even invite you […]
How to Make a Great Presentation
Today I’m going to show you how I actually design a really phenomenal presentation. Over the past 15 years, I have presented to many hundreds of thousands of people. Just last month I taught 150 leaders at IKEA this exact method. Designing a Presentation for Any Audience Stephen, who’s behind the camera, doesn’t know what’s […]
1 Question vs 1,000 Hours of Team Building
The title isn’t clickbait. There is one question that I would argue is better than a thousand hours of team building. If you lead a team, a group, or any community, and you would love for them to be more cohesive, this could save you a whole heap of headache, effort, and wasted time at […]
A Zero-Prep Way to Know Your Audience
Here’s why it’s important to know your audience when you’re presenting: expertise without empathy is just noise. Wise words from Matt Church. In this post, I’m going to share a zero-prep way to know your audience. No needs assessment required, no surveys, no focus groups, no effort. What I Learned from 10 Years of Presenting […]
Nobody Is Hiring Speakers or Facilitators
I have noticed with the AI-ificiation of everything, there’s actually a really lovely re-emphasis on live events. And despite the mildly clickbaity title, I’ve received three speaking requests in the last week. In this post, I’m going to share three ways that you can better position your work to actually get hired as a speaker […]
Facilitator thoughts on AI in 2026
This one is more of an uncut journal, maybe an archive in history of my thoughts on AI in 2026. Things are moving so fast that I want to look back on this as a time capsule. Why I Recorded This at the Lake I brought you here to the lake, Lake Erie, near my […]
How to Make Virtual Events More Engaging
Most virtual conferences are built to keep you watching, not participating. After years of hosting remote gatherings, I’ve learned that engagement doesn’t come from better tech or flashier slides. It comes from one shift: designing for (meaningful) contribution instead of consumption. Here’s exactly how to do that. Start by designing for differently Here’s the thing […]
5 Tiny Edits to Turn Your Presentation Into an Experience
Most talks, trainings, and meetings get something fundamentally wrong: they design for consumption, not contribution. Here are 5 tiny edits that will flip your next session from a monologue into something people can’t forget. 1. Kickoff with an unofficial start I learned this one from a brilliant facilitator named Mark Collard, founder of playmeo. We […]
Our Best Abandon Cart Email Ever
[SEO suggestions for Yoast — paste manually] Page Title: Best Abandon Cart Email Ever: A Playful Approach | Meta Description: A 60-second look at the most fun abandon cart email ever, the starter kit behind it, and why making the mundane more playful matters. | Focus Keyword: team building activities for work