Getting Your Point Across
I’ve been working with a couple of clients on marketing messages and effective presentation of those messages. Not only are the clients very different, so are their potential audiences. And, those audiences vary further depending on the type of meeting (example: Albuquerque Rotarians versus Silcon Valley VCs) and purpose of presentation (educate, inspire, get dollars, sell, etc.) Those differences bring me to my points re your point:
1. Your presentation isn’t supposed to be designed for your comfort. It’s supposed to be designed for your audience’s interest. I once worked with a colleague who had to put tons of data on her slides otherwise, “I won’t be comfortable presenting the material.” Well, after a few times of watching the audience sink into glazed overload - she agreed with me that it wasn’t about her. Ta-Da!
2. Less is More. Out here in blogville, many of us assume that “everybody” has read Guy Kawasaki and visited Presentation Zen. Of course, in the real world, it’s “Guy who?” and “Presentation huh?” So, if you haven’t visited them, pop on over (and do it before you get up in front of another group. Guy talks about all kinds of things, not just presentations, but he has a search function, so you can easily find everything he says about them.) Both espouse getting to the essence for effective presenting. But, you have to get very, very comfortable with both yourself and your materials. If you can’t make your points and make them well WITHOUT any presentation material whatsoever (yeah, scary, ain’t it?), keep working. And, if you don’t believe what you’re saying, it’ll come through every time.
3. Less is More Except When it’s Not. Here’s where I make you crazy. Guy K. promotes the 10/20/30 rule (10 slides, 20 minutes, nothing less than 30 point font.) Then you visit Tom Peters and see he has packages of hundreds, even thousands, of slides. But, here’s the big difference - Mr. P isn’t using the slides as THE presentation - he’s using them as mix n’ match customized background reinforcers for his energetic missionary work. If you view the slides by themselves, they don’t make much sense (although they’ve got a lot of really cool stuff you can - um - borrow for your presentations - quotes, statistics, etc.)
And
4. The “Nit-Picky” Stuff. (Yeah, I forget this on my own stuff all the time - easy to do when you’re in “da zone.”) Name, date and title of presentation, web site, phone should be on every single slide so if the presentation gets passed around (your fervent hope) - people will know the what and when as well as how to find you, no matter if they got the whole thing or just one page.
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November 9th, 2006 at 10:45 am
You are singing my song Mary - great post full of reminders for me and wisdom for the rest of the blogosphere.
Your #3 is right on! …and it only makes people crazy if they live in a “one right answer” world.
You still have to put your authentic fingerprints on the use of PPT, vocabulary and expression. And that takes being “alright” with the face in the mirror.
Thanks for saying it the “Mary’s Blog” way!
November 10th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Excellent post on PowerPoint. I agree with both the Guy (less is more) and Tom (more is more). If you’re standing and delivering, less is definitely more. You want your audience to focus on what you’re saying, not on what’s in the slide (unless it’s some type of graphic that supports the message). The worst thing in the world is someone READING off of the slides. Presenters need to internalize the message, not parrot it back.
When slides are a leave-behind, more is often better, letting someone who missed the presentation read through and see the whole story. (Sometimes I’ve used the small set for the presentation, and kept the denser material in an appendix.)
In general, I advise anyone who’s relying on ppt’s during a sales call that, by slide 3, the customer should be doing as much talking as you are.
November 10th, 2006 at 7:25 am
Absolutely re the customer talking! Unfortunately, some presenters get so focused on “presenting” they forget about having a conversation. And, sometimes knowing when to shut up is the most valuable sales skill one can have.
For a handout, I’ll print the presentation in “note” form and have additional points, key points to remember and references for more info in the notes section. Or, use it as a workbook for them (5 things for you to think about in your buisness; “What are your three xxxx” etc.) With a little extra effort - good paper, some color, a nice notebook, it becomes something they’ll (I hope) keep and use.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Great reminders! I agree with Maureen– communicating & conversing are the key to great presentations. Moreover, if you are not convicted or passionate about what you’re saying– your audience will not get interested.
Creating handbooks, like Mary suggested, has worked great for me in the past.