Your Presentation Best

You Stole Two Hours of My Life! I Hate You! What do you want out of a presentation when you are in the audience? It's a good question to ask yourself the next time your preapring your presentaiton. Think about what you hate when watching others present. Then do the opposite. Maybe it's endless PowerPoint slides filled with lots of text that the presenter is reading to you,  a presentation that bores you to death because there is nothing in for you, or any number of other things  that drive you crazy, put you to sleep, or make you pray that it would just end. If you hate wasting your valuable time at a presentation that sucks,  make sure you aren't making the same mistakes.

Is it easy to understand this message? What about this one? Great visuals in presentation have several things in common: They give the viewer a quick and clear message. They could be used to initiate a story. They grab the audience's attention. In a word, they are effective.   They're effective because they help the presenter make a point. They help the audience remember the point. Think about your slides. Is their message easy to understand?  Easy to remember?

The Story Formula Communication experts all agree that the best way to transfer information is in story form.  There's something about the classic formula of Good vs. Evil that makes stories effective.   You can use the example below to develop the story line for your  next presentation. In Steve Jobs's iPhone presentation, he uses the Nokia, Palm and Blackberry as the villians.  The problems are the difficult to use keyboards, the overall difficulty of use, and the not-so-good software. The victim, of course, is the user:  you and me. The good guy then comes riding to the rescue:   iPhone solves all these problems and so much more. It's a simple but very compelling story arc. The Bad Guy Who’s the villain? The Problem What problem(s) does it represent? The Victim Who is affected? How are they affected? What are the tragic results? The Good Guy Who is the hero? What will the hero do? What are the concrete resu

MY Life Just Got Sooooo Much Better! This kid is thinking about all the cool stuff he's gonna make with all those chmicals. Remember, whenever you're presenting, your selling something. Don't sell a product, service or idea.   Sell a better life. What exactly are you offering to improve the life of your audience? Take a look at these two examples: "Our company is a premier developer of intelligent semiconductor intellectual property solutions software that dramatically accelerate complex system-on-a-chip designs while minimizing risk.” “Our company creates software that is used to build the chips inside many of the smart phones in your pockets.  As those chips get smaller and cheaper, your phones will get smaller, last longer on a single charge, and play your favorite music and videos, all thanks to our technology working behind the scenes.” They both talk about the same thing: software. The difference?  The first tries to sell a sophisticat

"This is how we save the economy!" Her'es another quick test:  Can you say the main take-away of your last presentation in one sentence? If you can, then you have a pretty good idea of the value you're giving your audience. If you can't, you have to wonder if your audience got your message. Remember:  Time is Money.  And most people don't  have enough of either. Make sure you're giving your audience something of value. And make sure you clearly understand what that something is.

Frame It, Baby! What's Your Frame? How you frame something in your presentation can make all the difference in the world. Frame it in a powerful WIIFY way and you will connect with your audience. Frame it in the normal, boring way and you will lose your audience quickly. (And once you've lost them, they are difficult to get back) Take an example from American politics:  How do you successfully frame a higher gasoline tax? Normally, it's political suicide in the U.S. to propose this, as version one illustrates.   But if you frame it in a patriotic WIIFY way: Version One: Q:  Do you favor a gasoline tax? A:  85% No  /   12% Yes Version Two: Q: Do you favor a gasoline tax if it reduced dependence on foreign oil? A:  55% Yes  /  37% No What a difference!   So find the right WIFFY frame and it becomes much easier to sell even difficult issues.

Are You Creating More PowerPoint Zombies? A common question I get during my presentation workshops, is:  How do I get and keep my audiences attention?  How do I keep them from turning into PowerPoint Zombies? I think the best answer has always been:  Give them a reason to listen!  This usually means addressing their priorities, needs and/or problems in some concrete way. I would add to this a truly radical idea in the corporate world:  give your presentation WITHOUT PowerPoint.  That's right, no PowerPoint.  You will totally capture them right from the start because presenting without PowerPoint rarely happens.  You will be a freak, and freaks always get people's attention. They'll listen to you just to see "What the hell is this guy/lady doing?!" They'll stay tuned in becase you will be so much better able to plug into them (and they to you) if you don't have to compete with your slides. If you have done you homework and are presenting a mess

To all my readers:  Have an awesome Summer Holiday time! See you in Mid-September... Cheers! Dan

    What if Jesus had used PowerPoint? What about Gandhi? Martin Luther King Jr.? In my workshops, I like to point out the titanic impact these three great presenters had on the world. They were all great presenters. None of them needed PowerPoint. They brought their presentations to life by telling the human stories behind their message. Sometimes they talked about salvation, sometimes freedom, but always about the drama of real life. They also told about the impact--results--people could realise if they acted on their message. The takeaway?  Learn from the greats.  Make sure you are bringing your message to life by personalising it with relevant stories from real life as well as the impact your ideas have had or will have.

Are You Ready to Sell? "You can be the smartest person in the world, you can have the best ideas,   but if you can't sell them, you're not going to succeed." = Hank Paulson, former CEO, Goldman Sachs, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Remember, every time you present, you are selling.  Ideas, concepts, numbers, even "just information" requires that the audience buys into your message. The best presenters give their audience a clear reason to buy. What's your reason?

 Using LEGO to Talk Finance?  Hell Yeah! Back to using unconventional visuals.   They can be fun, funky, or anything else, as long as it talks directly to your message.  Take a look at global banking giant J.P Morgan's slide to explain  the European debt crisis: The presenter's job is to tell the story on the slide and connect it to the serious content. Who said finance can't be fun?

Grab 'Em With Your Cover Slide! Don't be afraid to let your cover slide have impact.  Use it to grab their attention and help sell your Teaser ( the first 30 seconds to two minutes).  Start with a bang and then use that momentum to capture your audience's interest. The above slide was used to talk about isolating and attacking a virus. Just like when Hollywood launches a new movie, your Teaser and cover slide give your audience a taste of what's coming and makes them hungry for more. Too often, cover slides are boring Corporate Identity templates with very dry, unimaginative titles. If you want to turn off your audience immediately, use those. If you want to grab 'em immediately, be creative and bold. The only requirement is that you can concretely connect it to your message. Have fun, go crazy.

Dare to Stand Out.  Be a Black Sheep Presenter One of the most challenging aspects of corporate presentations  is to stand out from the crowd. Corporate identity templates, managers trying to control their teams content so it conforms to the no-risk-because-it-looks-like-everyone-else's-slides, and just the overuse of "standard" PowerPoint slides  makes it almost impossible to tell one slide deck from another. If you want your message lost in the crowd, do what everyone else is doing.  Be a white sheep. If you want to stand out, be creative and innovative with your slides and story telling. The only requirement is that both are concretely linked to your message and your audience's needs. Dare to stand out.  Be a Black Sheep Presenter .

Splashdown.  Mission Accomplished.  Welcome Home. A picture is worth a thousand words.  Use visual slides to help you tell your story.   The above slide was used to illustrate success based on teamwork. Try this visual exercise:  for each main point your presentation has, find an image which can bring it to life.   Illustrating your points makes them more powerful and memorable. Don't be afraid to be creative and innovative with your visuals. The take-away:  be creative, innovative and visual with your slides. The only requirement is that you concretely connect the visual with your message. If you do that, you and your message will stand out and be remembred.

Al Gore Captures The World's Imagination...A 90-Minute Presentation Can you imagine a 90-minute presentation that keeps you engaged from start to finish?  If you're like most people in the corporate world, your answer is probably: " Uh...no." Al Gore's Academy Award-winning presentation, "An Inconvenient Truth", actually manages to do this.   By framing global warming, an otherwise dry and very technical issue, as a life and death drama, Gore grabs his audience and shakes them.   He brings it to life with human stories and illustrates these stories with fantastic visuals. What is so very striking, is that his visuals are just that: VISUAL.  He uses minimal text. He tells the story.  The visuals simply help him to tell a more effective, powerful story. When Gore was a politician, he was famous for being a boring expert on many issues. Often times, his audience would tune out because he gave them technical details that even other experts didn

I'll Give You A Stinkin' Reason to Listen! I'ts Revolution Time! And here's what you get if you join me.... One of the most common questions I get in my presentation workshops is this:   How do I get and keep my audiences attention? Essentially, it's hard to do unless you give them a very good reason to be interested. Almost aways, this means giving them something that is in their own self interest. What are you giving them that makes their lives better? What are you offering that they can apply and get results from? Why would you listen if you were in their shoes? If you can't answer these questions, you can't blame them for tuning you out. Everybody has a million things on their minds competeing for thier attention. If you bring no concrete value; if they don't clearly see the benefit; it's  Game Over. The take-Away is this:  make sure your presentation is a conversation about them. Understand their priorities, needs, and proble

What Message Are They Sending with Their Body Language?     Humans are visual animals.   Every presenter is, therefore, judged first on their body language. Body language speaks loudly, does not lie, and always registers (consciously or unconsciously) so it sets the tone for whatever follows. Once that tone is set, it can be difficult to change. If you are confident about what you are presenting, your body language will show it. If you believe in what you are presenting, your body language will show it. If you are so comfortable with your message and content that you could do it anywhere, at any time, your body language will show it. If you are not, your body language will show that, too. Either way, your audience will know.   And they react to you and your message accordingly. So, remember:  the first thing people hear is your body language.

Seeing is Believing I've always been a believer in learning from the best. Steve Jobs is my favorite corporate presenter, but there are some wonderful examples from other areas too. Check out the presentations at TED  www.ted.com What can we learn?  Lots.  From great story telling to how excellent presenters deliver a compelling presentation without PowerPoint.   And sooo much more.   This is really Black Sheep presenting worth learning from.

3 Classic Questions What is your presentation message? Why is it good for your audience? Why should they care? If you can't answer these questions, you aren't ready to present.

How to Get Someone's Attention Have you ever seen a presentation that really caught your attention and kept it? Can you still remember the presenter and the message? If your like most people, this doesn't happen often. Think about all the presentations you've seen in the last year. How many were great and how many sucked? How many were a waste of your time? What's the single most important element in any great presentation? It gives your audience something of value. They leave your presentaiton knowing it was good for them. The take-away:  always make sure you are providing value to your audience. Make it about them. Give them a reason to remember you and your message.

                           The Best Presentations are like a delicious three-course dinner. Appetizer:  Makes them hungry for more.  (Hooks the audience.) Main Course:  Satisfies their hunger.  (Proves the presenter's case.) Dessert:  Gives them sweet dreams.  (Sends them out motivated to act.) What is you Presentation Menu serving?

Bored To Death Are you boring your audience to death? Do you give them a reason to listen? Would you want to listen to you?

Granny Gets It! A wise manager once said:   "If your Grandmama can't understand your slides, then they're not good slides." Remember, good PowerPoint slides are easy to understand, easy to remember,  and easy to explain.  They are also much easier to present. One message per slide.  Something Grandmama would be proud of. Your Presentation Best will be on holiday til April 16. Happy Easter!

Top 10 "What I hate in a presentation" List   (audience perspective) 10.   Dark or dim room 9.  Too many filler words / "um" "uh" "er" 8.  Too much jargon / mysterious abbreviations & acronyms 7.  Too many details 6.  Presenter showing back / low eye contact 5.  Too many slides 4.  Monotone / boring voice 3.  Too much info on slides 2.  Too long 1. No Benefit / No Reason to Listen for ME       List based on input from approx. 225 persons in several different companies/industries Do the Right Thing.  Do the Opposite.

Bring Your T-Shirt Sales to Life Help your audience visualise your KPIs.   How much is 1.2 million T-shirts? Imagine the Allianz Arena filled more than 18 times...That's a  lot of T-shirts! A gentleman I worked with at a leading sports brand wanted to highlight the number of graphic T-shirts  his business unit was selling.   Rather than do the usual boring PowerPoint sales chart, he used powerful imagery of the Allianz Arena to bring the sales figure, one of his KPIs, to life.   By placing this imagery at the beginning of his presentation, he captured the audiences imagination and was able to make a much more interesting and memorable KPI report. He follwed with the "standard" PowerPoint KPI charts, but the Allianz Arena slides gave the audience a great and unconventional way to put thsoe numbers in context. Don't be afraid to be creative.  Don't be afraid to be different. The only rule is that you must clearly link your im

The Godfather of Great Presentation Steve Jobs makes a great point.  Any presenter who truly knows their message needs to be able to bring it to life without outside media.  It's called painting a KISSS picture with your words. Last time we looked at the PowerPoint slide from Hell and how slide complexity can be a killer. (Death By PowerPoint should be criminalized.) If you do use outside visual media, it should also be KISSS. (Keep It Short Sweet and Sexy). Particularly with slides, make sure they are clean and user-friendly.  People can "get" a great slide right away. Then the presenter can verbalise any further details.  (the presenter is the key audience contact point, NOT the slides.) If there is more data you need to put on your slide, no worries.  Just do what Steve Jobs typically does:     Start with a KISSS slide...and build it up as you go, piece by piece: Jobs is in complete control of what his audience sees and when

The PowerPoint Slide from Hell Wanna Kill Your Audience?  Make Your Slides Complex Almost every time I do a presentation workshop or one-to-one coaching, I am amazed how stressed-out presenting complex and/or very detailed PowerPoint slides make my clients. Actually, I'm not really amazed, because complex and/or very detailed slides would make just about any presenter stressed-out.  What amazes me is how often presenters use PowerPoint in a way that makes it basically impossible to use in an easy, comfortable way--for themselves and the audience. The more stuff you have on your slides, the more difficult and stressful it is to present.   The less stuff on your slide, the easier and less stressful. It's that simple. So, the take-away is:  if you want to lower your presentation stress, make sure your slides are as simple as possible.  Use visually oriented slides and minimal text.   A headline is often enough. Your job as the presenter is to then tell the story  

Why Do Most Presentations SUCK?! Think about what you hate when you watch presentations at work. Then ask yourself:  "Is that Me?"

The All Blacks get ready for action. Prepare, Practice, Ritual:  How to Manage Presentation Stress and Nervousness, Part III And now let's take a look at Ritual.  As anyone who's had to perform knows, there's always nervous energy before the big show. It doesn't matter if it's an athlete, a rock star, an experienced actor, or a presenter. The human body is hard-wired to automatically go into fight or flight mode at the first sign of danger. Now, genrally speaking, performing isn't dangerous, but the feelings we get before we perform send the same signals to the brain.   That means that no matter how prepared and practiced you are (and the more, the better), the brain will still swtich to fight or flight mode.  The question is not do you have some nervous energy, the question is what do you do woth it? Do you let it rule you as fear or do you channel it into a productive way? A personal Ritual before you perform can help you to focus that ne

   Bull's Eye!  When Practice Pays Off Prepare, Practice, Ritual:  How to Manage Presentation Stress and Nervousness, Part II Today we continue our presentation stress management series.  In Part I we looked at Preparation. Now let's look at Practice. Once you've done your Preparation,  you are ready to get good and better. The basic concept is this:  the more you practice, the better you get. You get better because you get more and more familiar with your message and  your content.   This raises your self-confidence.   It helps you to own it, to make it yours, and to feel good with it. Perfection is NOT the goal. Memorising is NOT the goal. The goal is to get so comfortable with it, that you could do it anywhere, anytime, and ultimately to anybody.  You want to be so comfortable with you presentation that you can have a passionate conversation about it. Take a good look at the gentlemen above.  His kick is right on target.  It is a