Your Presentation Success Is Our Passion
Present It Right...The First Time!

By the end of 2006 you will have learned:

• 12 habits of successful presenters
• 12 keys to compelling presentation content
• 12 ways to save hours creating PowerPoint presentations
• 12 products you need
• 12 case studies of companies or individuals and how they improved their presentations
• 12 design aids of the month

Listen to your voice tone and rhythm [more]

Storyboard your titles [more]

Set up PowerPoint to work the way you want it to [more]

Use NXPowerLite to reduce file size [more]

Conquer the "um" syndrome [more]

Try Perspector for easy 3D business graphics [more]

LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE TONE AND RHYTHM

Think about presenters you have enjoyed listening to and what made them special. Now remember someone who made you want to leave the room almost as soon as that person started talking. What makes the difference for you, and other people, in being open to listening?

Tape yourself and listen to your voice. How can you make it more engaging?

Your tone: First, you need to have a tone that is open and friendly. You don't want to sound like you know everything and that everyone listening is below you. That tone has a definite, very arrogant sound to it. The tone is usually more of a deep voice than a high soprano voice. There are no pauses between sentences, leaving no room for anything but the message from the speaker: "I am talking. You listen. I am right." A voice that is deep and sharp for the whole talk sends one message to your audience. A high-pitched soft voice sends a different message Change your voice tone.

Likewise, you also don't want to sound like you don't know what you are talking about. You sound tentative when your voice tone goes up at the end of a sentence, making every statement sound like a question. In English your voice tone needs to go down at the end of your sentence.

Your rhythm: You may have a nice rhythm to your voice, but if that rhythm never changes, your audience will be lulled into not paying attention. Also beware of speaking so fast that your audience stops listening. It is so much information that their brains don't have a moment to digest it. They pretend they are interested, but they have really tuned out.

You need to change the rhythm of your voice. Speed up and slow down. When you have a key point to make, make it and then be quiet for a moment. Too many times a speaker makes a key point while talking on and on, and no one notices - not even the presenter. As you listen to your tape, ask yourself, "Will the audience know by the tone of my voice that I just made one of three key points of my talk?"

Your rhythm should include pauses. Count to two or three, then start another sentence. Do not link all your sentences together, especially with "and" or "and, uh." End them. When you are telling a story, don't start every sentence with "and then..."

Be sure to follow these same principles in a meeting and on the phone - you're presenting then, too.

STORYBOARD YOUR TITLES

You have decided on your talk's objective. Now you have to create the headlines that go with it. The easiest way is to write the titles to each section or each slide before you put in the details. You now have the top-level overview. Put in only the information that fits with these titles and key points.

For example, here are six title slides from a 20-minute web presentation I gave for the National Investor Relations Institute:

Presentation title: Preparing and Delivering Tips
Subtitle: Convincing, Charismatic Investor Presentations
Slide titles:

1. Script/Slide Ideas to Save Time
2. Bring Out Your Passion
3. Prepare Your Group for Questions
4. Stop Talking When You Are Ahead
5. Breese Through Tough Questions
6. The TANGO of Investor Relations: Follow and lead in the "dance"

When you storyboard your titles before making the slides, it will be easier to decide which charts to include and which to leave out. Spend the time up front so you save time in actual slide creation.

SET UP YOUR POWERPOINT TO WORK THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO

Here are some guidelines for setting up PowerPoint from my seminar Creating PowerPoint Presentations That Get Your Point Across. These are PowerPoint problems that people often struggle with. You may have your own features you want to turn off or on.

Turn certain PowerPoint features off or on.

• Turn on:
  • View>Toolbars. Select Standard, Formatting, Drawing, Picture, Tables and Borders.
  • View>Ruler.
• Turn on and set up your guides: View>Grid and Guides>Display drawing guides on screen and Snap objects to grid. Duplicate a guide by clicking on it and holding down the CTRL key. Set your guides vertically from top to bottom:
  • 2.45 for title
  • 1.97 for placeholder
  • 1.42 for placeholder when there is a subheading on slide
  • 0 for center
  • 3.33 for bottom
• Set your guides horizontally:
  • 4.50 for left side
  • 0
  • 4.50 for right side
  • Try not to put text or images outside the guides on your slides.
• Turn off the autocorrect: Tools>AutoCorrect Options>AutoFormat as You Type. Uncheck AutoFit title text to placeholder, AutoFit body text to placeholder, and Automatic layout for inserted objects. Now, as you type, your text won't keep changing size in the placeholder. It can be annoying to keep seeing your text change sizes as you type and a waste of time to correct it.
• Turn off fast saves: Tools>Options>Save. Uncheck Allow fast saves. Save the presentation to a new name. This step alone will cut your presentation size by a good amount (usually 33-50%).
• Lower the number of Undo's: Tools>Options>Edit. For Maximum number of undos, enter 10.
• Tell PowerPoint where to save your file: Tools>Options>Save. Enter location under Default file location.
• See if this speeds up your printing: Tools>Options>Print>uncheck Background printing, check Print inserted objects at printer resolution.

USE NXPOWERLITE TO REDUCE FILE SIZE

So many people have file sizes that are so large. The first thing you can do to reduce file size is to compress images.

• Select an image. On the picture toolbar, click the Compress Pictures button. Choose Web/Screen, compress pictures and delete the cropped area of images. Click OK. Do not do this for full-screen pictures that need to be super-high quality.
• Save the presentation under a new name. Now it will get smaller.

But you may need more. NXPowerLite has a product that will reduce your file size and make it easier to send. I've used it successfully with many files. An upgraded 2.1 fully functional, trial version is available from www.nxpowerlite.com. Use the discount code WILDER1 for a 15% discount until the end of March.

CONQUER THE "UM" SYNDROME

• Problem: Craig created PowerPoint slides that were readable, with not that many words on them. But when he stood up to give it, he began every sentence with "um," and sometimes added two or more "um's" in the middle of the sentence. He was not even aware of his problem.
• Result: People had such a hard time listening to him that they stopped trying. It was too much work to separate the content from the "um's."
• Delivery task:
  • Now Craig starts every sentence after he looks at someone. He no longer talks to the floor, the ceiling, or the slide.
  • He also ends every sentence looking at someone.
  • He counts to two and pauses between sentences, taking a breath from his stomach.
  • As he talks, Craig forces himself to breathe and speak slowly.
• Presenter practice:
  1. Craig tapes his practice. Now that he hears how many "um's" he uses, he really makes an effort to stop.
  2. When he practices before someone, Craig asks that person to make a noise when he says "um." As a result, he is beginning to hear them himself just before he says them.
• Major learning:
  Craig realized he had to practice these skills in meetings, in hall conversations, and on the phone. He began to see how people paid attention to what he said. This was because he didn't give them a lot of meaningless "noise." When he needs to think about something, he now thinks without needing to say "um."

TRY PERSPECTOR FOR EASY 3D BUSINESS GRAPHICS

Can't afford to pay someone to design neat, professional-looking images for you or don't know how to do it yourself?

Take a look at Perspector instead. This product is simple to use and really can add interest and understanding to your talk. You can click a button, import the image onto your PowerPoint slide, change the color, and use it. You can also create your own images with 3D effects. Images come with the product. They also put up new images on their site that Perspector automatically downloads when you click one button. . These are free.

One feature I love is to have two slides on one slide. I have put one below so you can see. When you open Perspector, it has a 'Panel' that gives you hints about what to do next, so it is very easy to use. To view a six minute demo video, go to
www.perspector.com/tour.html. Then, to download a free trial copy, go to
www.perspector.com.
Let me know what you think.

Here you can see two slides on one. I can show a before and after on the same slide. There are many ways you can make your explanations clearer by having two of your slides for the audience to see at the same time.

Here you can see how the text curves in the objects.

Two Seminars You Need:

1. The Winning Presentations Seminar. Two days, offered publicly. There is also a version for salespeople. Bring a presentation, redo it during class, learn to deliver it with confidence, and convince your audience that you know the subject inside out.
• Public Seminar dates for 2006: June 6-7, November 7-8.
2. Creating PowerPoint Presentations That Get Your Point Across Seminar. One day.

Individual Coaching: I help executives and managers present with confidence and persuade their audience.

Visuals Makeovers

1. One-hour analysis of your slides with ideas for changes.
2. Total redo of your slides.

Corporate Consulting: Presentation Performance Process for Your Company or Division. Save days of time putting together a talk. Guarantee: put my process in place and save at least 1/3 of the time you used to spend putting together a talk.

My clients include: The Gillette Company, Genzyme Corporation, Mercury Computer Systems, Harvard Medical School, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Avid Technology.

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