The 4 P’s of Ignite Phoenix
As we build towards the excitement of Ignite Phoenix 6 http://www.ignitephoenix.com/, I had to share what helped me most during Ignite Phoenix 5.
First, being apart of Ignite, was one of the best things I did in 2009. If you are even considering submitting for 6, I encourage you, please do, it will be an experience that will open your mind, your experiences and is tons of fun!
In reflecting on what made Ignite great, for me there are, 4 P’s!
Passion, Proactive, Practice and Perform!
Passion, you have to have it! Don’t submit on a topic that you aren’t crazy about in some form or fashion!
Proactive, do the Ignite volunteers (who are spectacular by the way) a favor, and be on it, be proactive, meet their deadlines, you will only be helping yourself in the end if you do! I have been doing presentations for years, and one of the best things about Ignite was I learned a new way to present. Historically, I think in PowerPoint and make my presentations from a visual perspective, that is why I was drawn to Ignite in the first place. I quickly learned that starting with pictures for a five minute presentation was the wrong path. Start with your content, write it, read it and then speak it, speak it many times. Once you are satisfied with your content then look for photos.
Practice, and when you think you can’t practice any more, practice anyway. The one thing about Ignite, it is far better to be overprepared than not. I practiced stading at the island in our kitchen, staring at my laptop reciting over and over again my five minutes of fame! I put a digital clock next to my lap top so I could get used to the twenty second flip and better hone my message to meet the time frame. Once I felt I had the right words in the right time, I recorded myself on my phone and would listen to the playback. This really helped me work out the bugs.
Perform, lastly, if you have done the first 3 P’s, your performance is icing on the cake and enjoy the evening. The volunteers, the audience, the environment, soak it all up and have a blast! And don’t miss the afterparty!
I was so inspired by Ignite that I asked my Masters students in a Human Capital Managment course at University of Phoenix to do their presentations with pictures only. I showed them Ingite videos and given the content we had to cover, they got away with more than five minutes, but the response from the students was amazing. They were far more engaged in their presentations, the audience was focused on hearing the content instead of reading the slides, everyone was more present and therefore retained the information. It was fun! It made me realize the power of speaking to pictures and the whole reason why the messages at Ignite are so powerful.
So whether you speak at Ignite Phoenix 6 or not, try doing your presentations in a new format, follow the 4 P’s and you will always have a great presentation!
Lastly, I have to give a big thanks to all of the Ignite Phoenix Volunteers and Crew, specifically, @bpcarson and @jmoriarty for their support and encouragement.
You can see my five minutes of fame http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf8mByPU0BU! Enjoy!
Your performance was proof that if you’re proactive and practice your passionate presentation, presto- perfection! See you March 30th Ignite Phoenix #6.
Thanks so much and thanks to all your good help, let me know if there is anything I can do to help with IP6! Best to you!
Thank you for the 4P’s.
I needed the Practice P: when you think you can’t practice any more, practice anyway. My girlfriend and I saw a preview of a new Anthony Hopkins movie. She said he practices each line 200 times. No wonder no one can forget fa-va (sp?) beans and chianti and that sound that’s probably going through your head right now.
I’ve been wanting to submit a Grand Canyon comparison topic for Ingite Phoenix and I’m ready to get started. I know my perspective and have the passion! I hike it at least once a year. It’s so close, I don’t know why I don’t go more often… 3 1/2 hours from Phoenix.
I look forward to watching your video!
Thanks so much for this post. I’m saving it.
RoseannHiggins
You rocked your talk precisely because you worked at it! It’s harder than people realize, and there is usually somebody who doesn’t do the proper pre-work. That’s gotten a lot better with the great training material and sessions, but still ultimately up to the speaker.
And I’ve also fallen in love with the Ignite image slide format. It really does make people more engaged, and I think also drives extra thought into the narrative up front as you pick your pictures.
Thanks for sharing this, Anita!
Hi! Thanks for reading my post. You should definitly submit your topic, it sounds really interesting. I have wanted to hike the canyon, what an adventure! I’d love to hear about your experiences.