How to Run Seminars & Workshops: Presentation Skills for ... (ISBN 0471715875)

Practical Advice, delivered with wit and insight:
Robert Jolles has written a very readable and practical book on the ins and outs, the do's and don'ts of running seminars. He knows of what he speaks, as he has substantial scar tissue as a trainer for Xerox and as a self-employed training consultant. He has directed numerous "train the trainer" courses. Jolles has wit and insight and can help you avoid some common mistakes. Much of the book, particularly toward the end, deals with the unique setting of corporate trainers and those who train other trainers. Personally, I found this less useful. Those looking for business advice on how to run and market seminars may also be disappointed, since that is not a focus of Jolle's book. Worth perhaps the price of the book alone is Jolle's advice on how to go about writing a book. One of his early central ideas is that becoming an author of the book is nearly essential for establishing credibility for running your own seminars, workshops, and some of our business. He offers practical and excellent tips that have worked for him in being able to write a book and establish solid credibility. If you are involved in delivering training programs, either in-house in a corporate setting or as an individual entrepreneur, this book is essential reading!

How to control any confab:
Developing the skill to conduct workshops and seminars requires a lot of time and effort, but it can lead to an exciting professional life and eventually pay huge dividends. Learning to gain an audience's rapt attention takes dedication and practice, but giving a seminar or workshop is a very effective way to sell your product, service or expertise. Robert L. Jolles offers tips for translating your special knowledge into a seminar or workshop presentation, from organizing your material to getting the right coaching to handling challenging characters from the audience. getAbstract recommends this useful guide; it's a quick course in Professional Skills 101.

to-the-point and well structured:
The book is practical, clear and well written. The writer is clearly very experienced in the field. I like his matter of fact approach with a dry sense of humour.

A must read for training and presentations!:
Robert Jolles describes all of the steps in running your own workshops and seminars or working in the training department. Writing your own book. Developing a process of training that helps the trainer and the audience. Visual aid management. Trainee evaluation. All of the steps are in a simple, easy to read book. There are also parts of the book that will help develop and improve skills for sales professionals.

Good Book for Designing Seminars:
I am a former full-time trainer for JD Edwards (a big software company) and thought I knew everything about running seminars. But after I read Robert Jolles' book, I realized that there is a lot more to it than just standing in front of a group of people with a Powerpoint presentation and flipchart and talking about a subject. This book offers the reader valuable tips on preparing for and delivering great seminars. Delivery is the key. Audiences are more demanding than ever and their time is valuable. One goal of a seminar leader is to entertain, not just teach. Jolles makes the point in his book that conducting successful seminars is not just about transferring knowledge. It is about setting a pace, capturing the attention of an audience, and finishing with a positive end result. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about doing seminars or workshops. Mitch Paioff, Author, Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant