Tag Archives: Presentations

01May 2013

Don’t Do The Information Dump

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When doing a presentation, more is not necessarily better. Many people mistakenly believe that the more information they can cram in, the more valuable their presentation will be to the audience. Unfortunately the effect is often the opposite, and the audience ends up bored, distracted, or just plain confused.

So how do you know what to include in your presentation?

There’s one thing you have to know before you start, and that is – the end. What is that one key thing you want your audience to leave with? It might be an action you want them to do, or a thought they should have.

Once you know that, the essential information you need to achieve that purpose should become clear. That table of data might be related to the general subject, but if it doesn’t contribute to your actual objective, leave it out.

 

 

 

23Jan 2013

Impact Your Audience: No PowerPoint Required

Why can you easily recall details from a movie you saw, or a book you read months or even years ago, yet you can’t remember a thing about that presentation you saw last week?

Simple. Because our brains remember stories which tend to flow seamlessly through from beginning to end – particularly stories with emotional appeal.

On the other hand , when someone puts their entire presentation on PowerPoint, what usually happens is that they just keep adding chunks of data until they either think they’ve included everything there is to know about the subject (information overload) or they’ve filled the time allotted (otherwise known as ‘I just want to get through this’).

Computers like their information in neat chunks of data. Humans on the other hand just get bored.

In the previous post I covered how to use Powerpoint the right way, but what are some alternatives to PowerPoint for adding impact to your presentation?

It depends largely on your subject and situation as to what will be appropriate. Honestly, sometimes well thought out slides will be your best option. However, here are some other choices you might want to consider.

WARNING: Most of these were around and working well before technology started taking us down another path. They aren’t as ‘sexy’, but they are effective.

Props

Instead of describing that new product on a slide, physically bring it in and pass it around. Let people see and feel it first hand.

Flip Chart

Old fashioned yes, but even if you are bad at drawing there is something about visuals being created as you speak, flowing directly from your brain down your arm and out of a magic marker, that is far more engaging than something that has been pre-prepared on a slide.

One of the most popular TED Talks is “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” by Simon Sinek where he uses nothing but a good old flip chart to illustrate his ideas. This presentation wasn’t even done at one of the main TED events, it was at a small TEDx in Washington State. Despite being at a small event and just using a flip chart for visuals, the popularity and impact of this presentation is massive.

Audience Involvement

Instead of letting them be observers, get the audience to participate. Ask them questions, get them to share their examples, get them to do quick exercises and activities. Trainers and teachers do it constantly and there’s no reason why the same techniques can’t be applied to other presentations as well.

Stories and analogies

A lot of the time a quick example that demonstrates our point and explains it in a way people can relate to, will do the job perfectly. Another popular speech is Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. On this particular day he mainly read his speech from notes; there was nothing remarkable about his delivery at all. But the powerful stories he used that day have resulted in millions of people viewing videos of the speech on YouTube.

I hope that you have enjoyed this series of posts on PowerPoint and it’s cousins and they have given you something to think about when approaching your presentations.

Here’s the catch…

In some business environments it will take courage to do something different from the norm and actually have an impact – especially considering it will take some practise to get it right. That’s why most people take the safe path and just do what’s expected, get through it, and everyone moves on with what they were doing without having changed anything. But at least they feel like they did something.

It’s up to you but I will finish with this:

If you have an important message to share, then you owe it to your audience to get this right and connect with them rather than just blend into the noise.

 

About the Author

David Wise is a communication coach and professional MC based in Queensland, Australia. www.dwise.com.au

17Jan 2013

The Right Way To Use PowerPoint

Anyone who has been following my blog for a while will know that I’m not a great fan of PowerPoint or any of its cousins. Not because they aren’t useful tools, they absolutely can be, but because of the way they are misused by so many speakers.

There is good news though. Slides when done well can add impact to your presentation rather than causing your audience to zone out which happens more often than not.

So what is the right way to use PowerPoint?

Short answer: the way the designers of the software intended. That’s why they put “Notes” in it, so the audience wouldn’t have to see the lists of points you are using as a guide for your presentation.

Longer answer:

Leading U.S communications expert Dr Nick Morgan often draws an analogy between presentations and stage musicals. When more than mere words are needed in a musical, a character will break into song. The songs mark the high points of the story and the same principle should apply to images used in presentations.

So if you are talking about a person, place or a product, a good image can bring them into the room. Even better is a powerful video rather than static images. The late Steve Jobs used to do this well when doing a presentation to launch his latest creation.

If you are talking about a subject that involves emotion, an appropriate image displayed at the right time will really help you hit the mark. I once saw a speech by a lady campaigning against the testing of cosmetics on animals. The presenter did a PowerPoint presentation loaded with bullet points of facts and figures and there was absolutely no emotional response from the audience. Would the outcome have been different had she used some dramatic images of affected animals? Almost definitely.

For those more practical occasions when you have to illustrate data, of course a graph or chart can demonstrate a relationship between figures more readily than words alone. However most people fall into the trap of putting all their data on the screen. A good graphic only shows what is important – not the entire data set just because you have it.

As a speaker it’s your job to tell a convincing story and slides are one tool that you can use to do that; but don’t use them as agenda place holders, notes, or exhaustive lists of things you couldn’t be bothered to narrow down to the most important. Don’t make the audience work hard by drowning them in data, bullet points, and other information.

Keep that in mind next time you sit down to prepare a presentation. Next week I will do a post on other ways you can add impact without even going near a data projector.

17Dec 2012

Why Most Business Presentations Are Dead Boring (You Know It’s True).

Because most are doomed from the second the presenter turns on their computer and starts writing their presentation directly onto PowerPoint slides (Keynote if you are an Apple person) without ever questioning what they are doing or whether their slides even serve a purpose.

Why do they do it?

There are three main reasons:

1. Everyone else does it.

PowerPoint is now so overused that it has become embedded in the culture of business that if you want to be taken seriously you have to use PowerPoint. The real question should be:

“Do I want to conform or do I actually want people to listen to me?”

2. They use the slides as a guide for their presentation.

Stacks of bullet points or text on a slide serve only one person…the presenter. Everyone else will read the slide then have a snooze or check their emails, Facebook etc. while the speaker catches up…often while reading straight from their slides instead of speaking to the audience.

So at this stage you have a speaker directing their presentation to the back wall while the audience is busy with anything else they can find to occupy their mind. Going well isn’t it?

3. They think it makes their presentation more engaging.

Maybe. Done properly any visual aid can add impact to a presentation. But most users tend to fill their slides with text and/or waaaaay too much data, thus confusing their audience who again choose to nod off rather than try to understand.

Film makers get it. A lot of business presenters don’t. You don’t see directors shooting a movie at the same time as the script writers are writing the script. First comes the story and then the visual and sound elements are added later to bring the story to life.

So write your presentation first and ensure that it has a sound structure, then start thinking about what visual elements you need to add impact. Maybe you don’t need PowerPoint at all. Maybe some other prop or an anecdote will serve the purpose a lot better.

Just don’t assume you have to do what everyone else does.

Added Benefit – No Technology Fails

Once you learn to communicate effectively without PowerPoint, you also save yourself from embarrassment when you inevitably discover that what worked at the office or at home,  now wants to cause havoc at the venue.

If you still insist you must use PowerPoint, then make sure you test all the equipment well beforehand at the venue and have it ready to go. Once introduced you don’t have long to win the audience over. Few things ruin that opportunity and make you look like a tool more than being introduced then proceeding to stuff around with your laptop for five minutes. Get it right or get rid of it.

 

David Wise is a professional MC, speaker, freelance writer and communication coach from Queensland, Australia. 
www.dwise.com.au
www.davidwisecommunications.com

24Nov 2011

What Was He Thinking?

Have you ever known someone who just seemed to have no idea how to act in certain situations? It can certainly be very uncomfortable and embarassing if you happen to be their friend or colleague. If they are someone you’ve just met or you are an impartial observer, you might  find their behaviour either offensive or hilarious.

Likewise, good public speaking involves being aware of the audience and the circumstances, and managing your performance accordingly. I think most people understand this but now and then you still encounter a speech that is totally inappropriate for the audience and circumstances.

If you haven’t seen the Phil Davison video yet, it is below for your enjoyment. Watch what happens when someone shows just a little bit too much passion in relation to the circumstances (among other issues). Enjoy and have great weekend.

 

 

 

David Wise is a professional MC, speaker and communication specialist from Bargara near Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia.