Those attending the March 26th MCAICT meeting at Tripeg Studios had an opportunity to sharpen their face-to-face presentation skills with the coaching of Gilda Bonanno. Gilda is a motivational speaker and trainer who specializes in helping individuals and companies break out of their comfort zones and become more successful.

Gilda used two interactive exercises to reinforce her points. One was called Half-Life Your Presentation. Here’s how Gilda describes it:

In this exercise, two people improvise a scene in 64 seconds, based on a suggestion of a location from the audience. Then the actors repeat the same scene in HALF the time (32 seconds) - rather than just talking faster, they have to cut out the extra material in the scene and focus on the essential elements. Then they do the same scene in 16 seconds and then in 8 seconds (and sometimes, if we're feeling lucky, in 4 seconds!). In addition to the great fun of seeing pairs of people performing 8-second scenes simultaneously throughout the room, this exercise helps people see how editing can cut out the extra material so they can focus on the message within the time limit.

Another exercise focused on body language and eye contact. Two people were matched up and given a scenario to act out. Gilda called out various emotions periodically during the interaction and the two people had to express the given emotion with their body language.

Here are a few networking tips Gilda offered:

Smile, make eye contact and share your message.
Listen.
Be friendly, easy to approach and sincere.
Networking is a process:  plan it, do it, follow-up.
Nurture your networking relationships.
Remember, be your best self!

Gilda can be reached at 203-979-5117 or visit her Web site at: www.gildabonanno.com.

Thanks to Tripeg Studios for hosting the March meeting.  Visit Tripeg online at: www.tripegstudios.com or call them at 203-603-9386.