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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
Presenters:
Make up two presentation outfits that fit perfectly and in which
you feel fabulous.
Designers: Download
and try out the product discussed:
http://www.crystalgraphics.com/presentations/photoactivefx.main.asp
WEAR
THE RIGHT CLOTHES
Ginger
Burr, president of Total Image Consultants, is a professional
speaker, consultant, and author in the field of fashion and style.
Here are some of her tips for looking professional when speaking.
See Ginger's website at www.totalimageconsultants.com.
Use
your "visual presentation" of yourself to boost your
confidence and support your message.
| 1. |
Keep
the focus on your face.
Women: Color is powerful and can draw attention to
your face and make your eyes sparkle. If you wear makeup,
accentuate your eyes with eyeliner and a lipstick color that
makes your eyes shine, but keep it simple - nothing flashy
or overdone.
Men: If you don't have to wear white, wear a shirt
color that looks good on you. |
| 2. |
Keep
the noise down - visual noise, that is.
For example, avoid wearing jingling bracelets, loud prints,
or colorful shoes that draw the eye away from your face. |
| 3. |
Wear
comfortable clothes.
If you keep adjusting your collar or pulling your pants up
because they are too big or your skirt down because it is
too short, choose another outfit. Don't wear pants so tight
that you have trouble zipping them. Or you may have your zipper
break during your talk. This happened to one of my colleagues
and he didn't move at all the rest of his talk. Your audience
will pick up on your comfort level, so it works to your advantage
to feel good in what you are wearing. |
| 4. |
Be
prepared.
Women: Wear a fabric that doesn't wrinkle excessively.
Have a spare top handy in case of any spills (or wear a top
that you can turn around if you should accidentally spill
something).
Men: Beware of spilling food on your tie - bring
another one just in case. This is especially true if you won't
be wearing a jacket. |
| 5. |
Know
your requirements.
If you are speaking to a larger group, be sure to wear something
that has a lapel or place to connect your microphone. |
| 6. |
Beware
of being too casual.
One word of caution when it comes to speaking and casual dress
- especially for women - don't! While you do not want to appear
stuffy and unapproachable, you also want your message to be
taken seriously. Unless you are absolutely sure that casual
dress is the way to go, dress it up a notch.
Men: this goes for you as well. |
PERSUADE
A CHARISMATIC
For
the past couple of months, we've been discussing 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:
- Charismatics
- Thinkers
- Skeptics
- Followers
- Controllers
This
month I am going to show you several PowerPoint slides created
specifically for charismatics.
Charismatic
decision makers are open to new ideas and enthusiastic when you
present a new opportunity. Although they do not ask you for every
detail, they do expect someone else to go through your recommendations
to make sure all the data are logically organized and make sense.
They also need to feel comfortable that your ideas are built on
solid information, so don't be overly enthusiastic at the expense
of your due-diligence work.
Format: Charismatics want to know the end result
first. Make your presentation short and to the point. Plan for
time to interact, perhaps writing on a flipchart. You do need
an organized structure when talking, but only present the highest
level of your information. The more detailed levels and back-up
charts you will present to the managers who will follow up with
you and meticulously check all your facts and recommendations.
Executive
summary: Provide a brief executive summary of your talk
and then say, "How does this idea strike you?"
Interaction:
Don't use too many slides. Let them talk. But be sure, when you
are interacting, that you make your key points. Have those key
points on your slides, in your mind, or on a piece of paper. No
matter how enthusiastic the audience is, make all your points.
| How
to fail: You'll fail to persuade charismatics if
you: |
- Try
to tell the story from start to finish with lots of numbers
and industry jargon. They want to hear the bottom line
first.
- Present
a pre-planned talk that you have obviously given many
times before.
- Talk
without giving them an opportunity to interact with you.
- Don't
make your points even as they are discussing side issues
and other opportunities that come into their mind.
- Assume
that when your presentation is over, you don't have any
more work to do but wait to hear a decision.
|
| Slides
designed for charismatics: |
- Don't
use too many slides; decide on fewer slides and then maybe
cut that number in half.
- Set
up your slides to illustrate a vision. Offer opportunities
to imagine a better future and visually show results.
- Don't
present six slides of numbers in small type.
- Don't
just present "hype" about an idea, also explain
the risks or obstacles that might arise and suggestions
for handling them.
|
USE
THE "CUSTOM SHOW" FEATURE
How
many of you have made a copy of a presentation, renaming it for
another group? Then you used that same presentation, but perhaps
cut out slides for another group. Still later, you made a shorter
version of that talk for another situation. Pretty soon, you have
six different files of the same presentation with minor changes
in each version. At one point, you changed the numbers on one
of the slides in one of the files. Now you have to fix the numbers
in all the versions, but you can't remember which file
has the correct numbers. Or you remember, but now you have six
files to change because you might use them again.
Does
this scenario sound all too familiar? Avoid it by using the custom
show feature in PowerPoint. It allows you to make different versions
of one PowerPoint file. Edit your presentation once, and all the
custom shows in the file change. You'll save hours of time and
frustration.
To
use the custom show feature, go to Slide Show>Custom Shows.
To create a new show, select New, and add slides from the presentation
to the custom show.
And
what do you do when you prepare a 40-minute talk but are told
at the last minute that you only have 20 after all? This happened
to me when I was giving a talk at the Investor Relations conference
in Mexico. Although I planned for about 1 hour and 20 minutes,
I also made an hour-long custom show. Sure enough, a previous
speaker exceeded their time, leaving me with an hour. I wasn't
unnerved, as all I had to do was open my hour-long custom version
and use it to talk. Now that's a useful feature!
USE POWERPLUGS PHOTOACTIVE FX
Recently I
needed to put several photos on a page for a Webinar at Brainshark.
Given the situation I couldn't animate the pictures, but I didn't
want them to just sit there on the slide. So I opened my program
from Crystal Graphics and used PowerPlugs PhotoActive FX to put
one of the photos in a gold frame.
To view PhotoActive
FX effects, go to http://www.crystalgraphics.com/presentations/photoactivefx.main.asp
MAKE
A TECHNICAL PRESENTATION TO A NONTECHNICAL AUDIENCE
Problem:
Every few months Joe, the head of Business Analysis, presents
to key people in the company. He leaves feeling that something
just didn't go right.
Real problem: Joe is presenting detailed information
and analysis that is
-
Confusing to the audience
-
More detail that the audience needs or wants to know
-
Presented in a very monotone manner.
And
Joe is going overtime on his talks.
| Content/slide
changes: |
- Joe
must decide what information his audience needs to know
in order to add their input on key decisions.
- He
has to realize that all those sentences in 16-point font
he uses look more like a Word document than key points
for a talk. His audience is thinking that he should have
sent them the presentation to read.
- Joe
also fails to realize that when he shows his audience
sentences and complex diagrams, they are torn between
reading all the words and listening to him. His slides
compete with him. And to make matters worse, the size
of the text almost makes it impossible to read, especially
on the dark patterned background he uses.
- Finally,
Joe has to do some homework and ask his audience members
some questions before he starts his presentation:
- Based
on my last talk what do you suggest I continue, start,
or stop doing this time?
- Am
I giving you too much detail?
- And
if so, what details can I leave out?
|
| Presenter
practice: |
- Joe
puts together his talk and practices it alone, timing
it so that it is the right length.
- Joe
presents to a colleague he trusts will give him honest
feedback. He asks her what information he should cut back
on or expand upon.
|
Major
learning:
Joe
heard feedback from his colleagues that he is aggravating them
by presenting information they don't understand or even want to
know about. Now his presentations are much better because he discusses
less information and he shows less information on the screen.
Instead, he gives examples to make his points.
USE
THE DRAWING GUIDES IN POWER POINT
Did
you ever notice how some people's slides seem to have all the
pictures in the same place? When the slides switch the text and
titles stay put - they don't move around on the screen. It's easy
to do this. Make your slides look more professional by using drawing
guides to line up text, pictures, and diagrams on your slides.
- Turn
on and set up your guides: Select View>Grid
and Guides. Select 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 text placeholder
- 1.42
for a subheading placeholder
-
0 for center
-
3.33 for bottom
-
Set your guides horizontally:
-
4.50 for left side
-
0
-
4.50 for right side
As
much as possible, do not to put text or images outside the guides.
Use the guides to make sure all your titles are in the right place.
The intersection of the guides helps you line up pictures. Of
course, if you only use the slide looks from View>Insert slides,
then all your titles and text will be in the same place.
Two
Seminars You Need:
- 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: November 7-8
- 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
- One-hour
analysis of your slides with ideas for changes.
- 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.
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