Preface
In 451 BC, Confucius said, “What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; but what I do,
I understand.” This book, as is true of all the books we’ve written on presentations and
training, is based on the premise that the more we involve people in our presentations, the more they’ll remember and the more likely they will be to act on what they’ve seen, heard and experienced.
That’s the goal of this new volume—to provide you with powerful, easy-to-use templates
that you can drop your content into and create compelling involvement between your
audience and your content. This book can certainly be read cover to cover – and if you
choose that method then be sure to use a highlighter and some tape flags to mark
activities you can use now – and those that you readily see have future value.
Don’t be afraid, though, to use this as a cookbook. If you’re making an entrée, you don’t
read the entire cookbook – you simply go to the entree section. So if you’re looking for a
visual puzzler, check out the table of contents, and feel free to jump around.
Remember, too, that one of the most important points is that whatever you do, it must
relate to both your audience and your content. When everything you do is relevant, you’ll
get little or no push back about the audience being asked to participate. So press on, read on, and enjoy, but most importantly – use what you find on these pages.
Why do you need Openers, Puzzlers and Energizers?
Just because your audience is there physically does not mean they are there mentally. Give them a challenge, a puzzle and a message to discuss around your topic as a launching pad or anchor for your presentation or training session.
