Presentation Skills Training




When you want a presentation skills coach or trainer - look for a presentation skills trainer who has suffered. You will learn more from a presentation skills trainer who struggled to be the expert than you would from one was born to speak.


Superman can't teach you how to be super. He was born that way. He is from the planet Kypton.


Batman can teach you alot. He's human. He has no super powers. He learned how and trained to be in the same league as Superman.


George Torok wasn't a natural born speaker. He is an introvert by nature. He was a shy person in high school. He wanted to be high school president but was too afraid to be deliver a presentation to the high school assembly. So he never became high school president. Yet three decades later he is a professional speaker, radio show host and executive speech coach. He got there not because of talent - but because of learned skills.


That's why he is such a good presentation skills trainer and coach.




Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

George W Bush

George W Bush is a funny speaker


W is an effective public speaker. There are two reasons. His speech writers write good speeches. They are simple. They use simple words that people understand and they use short sentences. That's the secret to great speech writing. The second part to success is delivery. George W Bush delivers the speeches magnificently. His greatest presentation strength is his pacing. And that pacing is demonstrated very well in this video of George W Bush delivering a funny presentation that approaches the success of a stand up comic.

Humor is dependant on pacing. Notice how well George W uses his pacing to make people laugh. I think this is the best of George W.





What was the purpose of this presentation? To show the media that George W is human. He delivers 5 minutes of funny followed by 2 minutes of warmth.

Well done. Perhaps the media audience went away thinking - nice guy.

I suggest that you watch this video a few times. It is a good presentation.


George Torok
Business Speech Coach
Presentations Skills Training
Motivational Speaker



Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

PowerPoint Presentation Self-Sabotage

PowerPoint Presentation Self-Sabotage

The marketing director of a well known Internet company presented us with fascinating stats about Internet use and users.

I was captivated by the numbers and percentages until he reached the graph slide in his PowerPoint presentation.

One of my colleagues raised his hand to ask a question. The presenter innocently paused to take the question and was blindsided by what happened next.

My colleague boldly announced that the graph slide was wrong. The data clusters clearly could not be true for the axis defined in the example. When this was pointed out I could see his point. The graph was bogus. The marketing director tried to recover by accepting that the “data” illustrated on the slide was indeed bogus but that it was only for illustration purposes. My colleague continued to point out that because the data represented was bogus therefore anything else the marketing director said was thus suspect.

The marketing director attempted to skate by the flaw and continue to use the questionable slide for his example. My colleague persisted to the point of sounding angry. The marketing director finally conceded and moved on to the next slide and announced that the bogus slide would not be used again.

My Observations
I was intrigued by the exchange and the impact on the room. Most of the audience knew of my colleague’s expertise and most likely “sided” with him on the point of credibility. The dispute ruined the flow of the presentation and hurt the presenter’s credibility. The presenter first attempted to continue what was clearly a flawed example. He attempted to belittle the flaw.

Most importantly the presenter failed to do three things:

He did not thank my colleague for being so astute.

He did not apologize for the error, (attempted deception).

And because of that he failed to clarify what I suspect was an important point.


You can take a few presentation learning points from this incident.

Don’t use PowerPoint slides prepared by someone else until you understand them fully. And remove any slides that you are not clear on or comfortable with.

When you use a PowerPoint presentation prepared by someone else – the audience will hold you accountable for errors.

Don't use an illustration in your presentation that is not representative of reality.

Not everyone raising their hand is asking a friendly question. Be prepared for the unexpected attack during your presentation.

When you are clearly wrong – apologize to the audience and thank the person who pointed out your error.


George Torok
Public Speaking Pro
Presentation Skills Success
Canadian Motivational Speaker
Toronto Speech Coach

Power Presentations Tip 02

Power Presentations Tip 02: Begin with the end in mind

Stephen Covey offers this advice in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The book is written to develop personal leadership.

You can apply this habit to your presentations in three ways.


1. Develop your presentation with the end in mind.

The first thing that you should do is to write a short simple statement that clarifies your purpose. Then you will develop your presentation faster and it will be better focused.


2. Give your audience a roadmap.

Tell your audience, early in your presentation, where you are going. Don't make them guess - because you might lose, confuse or annoy them.

For example:
"By the end of this presentation you will have a better understanding and appreciation of the safety measures that we have put into place for you."


3. Deliver your presentation with the end in mind.

The only reason you are speaking is to achieve your goal. Stay focused on your goal during your presentation so you don't get thrown by diversions or drawn off on tangents. And if you reach your goal early - they agreed to the deal - then finish your presentation early and sign the contract.


When you begin with the end in mind you will waste less time and be more effective.

George Torok

Speech Coach for Executives
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This tip is from the Power Presentations Tips. Get your Power Presentation Tips every two weeks free. Register below.





Presentations: Hostile Audience

Presentation to hostile audience
The best example of taming a hostile audience is Marc Antony’s eulogy for Julius Caesar after his assassination. Following is Marc Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Enjoy this analysis of that speech.

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ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

He addresses the listeners as equals just as many US presidents start their speeches with “fellow Americans.” And he puts them at ease by offering only to bury Caesar not praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.

He starts to play with their minds by suggesting that it is easy to forget about the good deeds and only remember the bad. This plants some doubt in the minds of the listeners, maybe even some guilt for already forgetting of the good deeds. He reminds them that the greatest crime according to the murderer of Caesar was that he was ambitions. Then he points out that Caesar has paid the price for that crime.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men-

He speaks well of the murderers. He casts no stones.

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me;

He talks about his friend. An emotional appeal.


But Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honorable man.

Notice how he repeats this refrain. It is effective because it anchors the crime of which Caesar was accused and executed for. And the message about Brutus being a honorable man starts to rub listeners as untrue.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honorable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And sure he is an honorable man.

Reminder of the good things that Caesar did while reminding them of the now weak crime of ambition.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

In fact he does. The use of the word, “but” in the next line is a clear indicator of disagreement.

But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause;
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

An emotional tug at their guilt and the setup for a pause on his part to allow the listeners to think and speak amongst themselves.

FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Caesar has had great wrong.
THIRD CITIZEN. Has he, masters?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
FOURTH CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown;
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.
FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.
FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.

It worked. The audience is now listening more intently to Marc Antony and they are rethinking their original position about the validity of killing Caesar. Marc Antony has turned the audience. He did it by leading them, pushing some emotional buttons and then pausing to let them think. He never confronted them because that would only lead to resistance. Now they are ready for his next push.
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George Torok

Presentation Skills Training

Presentation Skills Coaching

Presentations Skills Success