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

Give your audience hints on how you want them to listen [more]

Slides that persuade a "thinker" [more]

Create different slide masters [more]

PowerPlugs Pictures [more]

Webinar do's and don'ts [more]

Track your presentation's progress with a PowerPoint Thermometer [more]

GIVE YOUR AUDIENCE HINTS ON HOW YOU WANT THEM TO LISTEN

Do you ever wish your audience would listen differently? How does one encourage an audience to listen in different ways: skeptical, curious, supportive, agreeing or disagreeing, pointing out inconsistencies or consistencies? Here are some ways to ask your audience to listen:

• "Today you are going to hear about my plans for this project. I would like to you listen for ways we can get this done faster. You are all very good at project planning, and your input can make a difference."

• "I am looking for you to point out two areas in my research. Where does it seem consistent with what you have discovered? Where does it seem inconsistent? Both of these areas are important for me to know. Due to time constraints, can we agree that you will focus your listening in this manner?"

• "I know you are the best group to see any problems with my project. At the same time, can you creatively think about how to solve a couple of problems I will present? I need your creativity as much as your judgments."

When you ask your audience to listen in a certain manner, you have a better chance of connecting with them in the manner you prefer. Too many people listen for what’s wrong, focus on that, and miss wonderful opportunities to add value to the talk. And many of us listen for what we agree with and ignore the rest. Listening is a skill, and sometimes we all need to be reminded how to exercise it. When you are presenting, ask yourself, "How can I graciously ask my audience to listen in a certain manner?" And next time you are in the audience, ask yourself, "How does this person want me to listen to this talk?"

SLIDES THAT PERSAUDE A "THINKER"

Last month I gave an overview of the book called The 5 Paths to Persuasion by Robert B. Miller and Gary A. Williams. I highly recommend this book for any of you who have to persuade others — in other words, almost all of us. The authors surveyed 1,700 executives and describe five decision-making styles:

1. Charismatics
2. Thinkers
3. Skeptics
4. Followers
5. Controllers

This month I am going to show you several PowerPoint slides that are created for thinkers.

Thinkers are careful and methodical. They like hard facts and research information – that’s what convinces them. Guarded and cautious, they explore every advantage and disadvantage. They are open to new ideas, but only when you have the facts backing up the idea. They are very rational and use numbers to make their decisions. This is why they might not have the best social skills, practically interrogating you about the information. At least you may experience it that way, but they aren’t interrogating. They’re just looking for more information. While they are proactive and do want to win, thinkers use logic and comprehensive analysis to make decisions. In Miller and Williams’ survey of executives, 11% were thinkers.

Format: Thinkers like specific outlines for the presentation of information. For example, a strategy recommendation outline can force you to logically present several strategies and, based on research, chose the most successful one. Thinkers would not be as happy if you presented just one strategy assuming they would understand that you did your research on other options.

Executive Summary: Provide a brief executive summary of your talk and then say, "Now let me take you through our analysis including some customer research, past production figures, and future predictions."

Interaction: Set up your slides to encourage interaction. When showing charts, be sure they are clear and focused. Put the summary point of the data on the slide, but be prepared for thinkers to want to discuss the numbers in the charts. Make sure the numbers are big enough for them to read. You can ask during your talk, "What other information do you know or want to know that will fill in any gaps you see?"

How to Fail: You’ll fail to persuade thinkers if you:

• Show them slides with unclear information.
• Don’t explain your transitions from one slide to the next so they hear and see your logic.
• Don’t send them any materials ahead of time and then surprise them with a presentation, pushing for an answer right away. Thinkers like time to make a decision so they can consider all the issues involved.
• Put wrong numbers on your slides or say something incorrect, then fail to correct it. Thinkers won’t make a decision on the spot but will spend time analyzing and processing the information you provided, so an incorrect data point or misstatement of fact can be fatal.
• Don’t really do your homework, instead laboring under the false idea or hope that your enthusiasm will convince them.

Slides designed for thinkers: Prepare clear slides with informative headings and systematically organized content. I suggest you don’t use a fancy background so the information really stands out. Limit yourself to an interesting title graphic at the top. Instead of impressing, fancy slides only annoy thinkers because they find the information harder to decipher.

Begin your presentation with a slide like this: state the present situation and the desired outcome. List the key analysis pieces you will show. Show a timeline if appropriate to help the thinker understand the events in an order. It may be best not to state your recommended solution at the beginning: a thinker wants to hear your logic and reasoning process, then your recommendation.

This slide shows some potential next steps. Thinkers do not want to see a slide with start dates. Instead, they want time to digest the information, consider what else is important, find holes in your process, and then decide on some next steps.

CREATE DIFFERENT SLIDE MASTERS

Here’s a case where a picture is worth all the paragraphs I could write, however eloquently! In PowerPoint 2002 and PowerPoint 2003, you can have more than one slide master look in a single presentation.

Here you see the screen: View>Master>Slide Master. On the left you see all the different slide master looks in this presentation. Why have different looks? First of all, it’s more interesting for the audience to look at a variety of designs, rather than a single background for hours. Second, some slides need to be different to show the information more clearly. If the presentation includes images in white boxes, use the slide with the white background (option 3). Use the black background (option 4) for images that will look better on a plain dark background. Despite different backgrounds, the presentation will be unified by the same title look on all slides.

How do you access these Slides Masters when you are on a slide in normal view?

To see the designs available to the presentation, click "Design" on the menu bar. I have underlined it on the above screen. You can choose to apply a slide design look to one or all the slides.

If you have a PowerPoint version that includes this feature, use it. You will vary the pace of your talk by varying your slide looks.

POWERPLUGS PICTURES

Are you looking for pictures? CrystalGraphics offers you a great deal on presentation-oriented photos. Their on-line PowerPlugs: Pictures database includes over 250,000 images, pictures, and photos to choose from. All images are supplied in a high-quality JPEG file format and are available at a wide range of resolutions.
Buy a PowerPlugs Pictures annual subscription and they'll immediately e-mail you an e-coupon that entitles you to select and download any 100 presentation/Web-quality pictures at any time(s) during the next 12 months. All pictures are licensed for Web and presentation applications only and are royalty free.  Go to :http://www.crystalgraphics.com/Photos/images.pictures.main.asp

WEBINAR DO'S AND DON'TS

• Problem: The people who tuned in to Bob’s Webinar never asked questions at the end of his talk. He hated the feeling. He didn’t even know if anyone was listening. He really disliked talking without a live audience, and you could hear it in his voice.

• Real problem: I listened to Bob’s talk. He never paused – I could barely sit though the 40 minutes listening to him go on and on. My mind was telling me, "Enough, just turn him off." And his slides were so full of sentences and a very blocky, busy background that made it difficult to clearly see the charts and their information.

• Delivery changes:
  First, Bob has to create presentation slides with key points, no sentences, and informative titles. He also had to simplify the busy background that made it difficult to read the information.
  Second, Bob has to pause between his major points. He can count to 2 to be sure he pauses.
  Third, Bob has to vary his pace, slowing down and speeding up when he talks. He must emphasize certain key words and speak slower as he does so.
  Fourth, Bob has to acknowledge the audience. He can say words like, "As you see on this chart…" "Now, you may wonder how we accomplished this task."
  Fifth, he has to get anonymous feedback from his audience, asking them what they wanted to hear more or less about, or whether the information was just right. He also needs to ask:

  • "Would it help you understand/assimilate information/follow my logic if I paused more?"
  • Would it help you not go do something else in your office while listening if I slowed down and speeded up my sentences, varying my pace and emphasizing my key points?
  • "Does my voice tone keep your awake or make you want to go to sleep?"
    
    
• Major learning:
  Giving a Webinar is in some ways harder than speaking to an audience in front of you. If you mumble or speak fast in front of a live audience, at least they see you, and you see their reaction. For a Webinar, you really have to practice your voice energy, pace, and word emphasis. Realistically, when giving a Webinar, you should stand up and stay energized. You’ll have a better chance projecting your voice to your unseen listeners. At the very least, sit up straight and pretend that 100 people are watching you. These same ideas apply when you put together an "on demand" presentation in which you post your slides and accompanying dialogue on the Internet. Brainshark (brainshark.com) is a company that offers web-based software that lets you upload your PowerPoint presentation for others to see.

TRACK YOUR PRESENTATION’S PROGRESS WITH A POWERPOINT THERMOMETER

Geetesh Baja and Steve Rindsberg created a Thermometer for PowerPoint, which is a free add-in that creates a thermometer-style bar in the bottom of the slide that shows how much of a presentation has progressed and how much more is remaining. For example, when you are half done with your presentation, the bar will be half way across the bottom of your PowerPoint slide. This interesting design aid on your slide will really keep you on track with your talk. It becomes your slide color scheme so it is not very noticeable. To see it, go to: http://www.indezine.com/addin/thermometer/index.html

Two Seminars You Need:

1. Two day Winning Presentations Seminar.
    Bring a presentation, redo it during class, learn to deliver it with confidence, and convince your audience that you know the subject inside out. After this seminar you will save hours of time putting together a presentation. You will leave with…
   • Confidence and enthusiasm in how to persuade your audience.
     
   • Action plan to use for future presentations.
     
   • Redone PowerPoint slides that look professional.
     
     
   Public Seminar dates for 2006: June 6-7, November 7-8.
   
   
2. Creating PowerPoint Presentations That Get Your Point Across Seminar.
   One day.
   This seminar is given in companies.

Individual Coaching: Personalized coaching for executives and managers who want to become better at presenting with confidence and persuading 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.

Presentation Points may be forwarded via e-mail, printed for circulation, and quoted free of charge. No permission is required, but please mention where you got this information.  Also, it's perfectly acceptable to post Presentation Points on your company's intranet. To subscribe to Presentation Points or visit my website, go to www.wilderpresentations.com.