June 2007

Chart your story [more]

Relax with the Freeze Frame technique [more]

"After six months of intense study, our team will share the six major issues facing our brand growth." Instead of "We've been looking into this situation for some time, and I've come to the conclusion that there are many issues here." [more]

Lots of information? Chunk your slide [more]

Developing and Delivering Great On Line Presentations:
Click here to see a web seminar I recently gave for Brainshark customers. It's about 40 minutes long.

Monthly Challenge: Just before you speak, practice the Freeze Frame technique.

CHART YOUR STORY

So you have a story to tell. Let's say, because we are discussing business, that your story is how your group solved a customer problem. Here's an example of charting your story.

RELAX WITH THE FREEZE FRAME TECHNIQUE

To be passionate and enthusiastic, you need to be relaxed. Here is one way to relax yourself before talking - and during the presentation, when you remember.

Freeze Frame is a one-minute technique to center your thoughts and reduce stress. Here are the steps:

1. Recognize the stressful feeling.
2. Shift your focus away from your racing mind or upset feelings to the physical area around your heart.
3. Remember a positive, fun feeling from an experience in your life. Attempt to re-experience it. Let your body relax into the experience you are imagining.
4. Now ask yourself, "What is a more efficient response to this situation I'm in?"
5. Listen to what your heart says.

Practice this technique and see the difference. As a presenter, you need a clear and simple strategy for becoming calm and positive before you stand up to talk. Freeze frame redirects your emotions and negative internal dialogue, putting your body, mind and emotions into a positive state.

I have successfully used this technique in some difficult situations. At the memorial service for a dear friend, I was about to stand up and read a poem my husband had written about our friend. I wondered if I had the internal strength to stand in front of 150 people and talk without sobbing. As I sat in the pew, I took some time to remember wonderful times with my friend and deeply feel my heart and my love. When I stood up, I felt such love that my talk was joyous to give.

Click here for more information about this technique, other products from the HeartMath.

Opening Phrase That Will Empower You and/or Your Audience

After six months of intense study, our team will share the six major issues facing our brand growth.

Instead of:

We've been looking into this situation for some time, and I've come to the conclusion that there are many issues here.

Start with a sentence that contains information. It will capture your audience more than a statement with no data - there's nothing to pay attention to. Better yet, open with a statistic almost no one knows. You could say, "Our study shows that 20% of our customers who like our product better than the competition's, choose the other brand because of its packaging." Or, "We are losing share not because of our product, but because of our packaging."

LOTS OF INFORMATION? CHUNK YOUR SLIDE

Look at the slide with information chunked using AutoShapes, different colors, and different font sizes. This information is much easier to read than in the before slide. You won't do all your slides this way, of course; but chunk some of them for variety, ease of reading, and the opportunity to animate the information as it comes on the slide. Also notice that the points are numbered, so you can mention several without discussing each one. Instead of bringing in each point on the slide, you can show all the points at once and then say, "Let's talk about numbers 3 and 5."

Books: 2007 PowerPoint
Here are two great books that just came out. I am familiar with both the authors. You just may want to get both of them to make it easy to learn this new version.

How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
by Ellen Finkelstein
This is a comprehensive guide to using the latest version of PowerPoint (you can buy earlier editions if you have PowerPoint 2002 or 2003.) It will help you create dynamic and professional-quality presentations. Get that extra edge with best-practice design, layout, and organizational techniques that will make your presentations leap off the screen. In addition to in-depth coverage of new features, including the redesigned user interface, SmartArt diagrams, new special effects, and custom layouts, this must-have resource delivers everything you need to get started, organize your content, and add those finishing touches for a top-notch presentation.

• Make your point with well-crafted, clear content
• Design and save custom themes and layouts
• Create perfectly formatted tables and charts
• Include special effects like animation, 3-D, reflections, and soft edges
• Add music, video clips, and narration
• Convert bulleted text to diagrams using SmartArt graphics
• Protect presentation files with new security tools
• Deliver with confidence using the new Presenter View

PowerPoint expert Ellen Finkelstein runs www.EllenFinkelstein.com, a Web site that offers free PowerPoint tips each month. I recommend her free PowerPoint Tips Newsletter that you can sign up for on her site. When you do, you'll get a bonus e-booklet, "5 Easy, Sure-Fire PowerPoint Backgrounds," which describes 5 background techniques that you can customize for your own presentations.

Cutting Edge PowerPoint 2007 For Dummies by Geetesh Baja

Get ready to add punch and pizzazz to your presentations and wow your audience using the latest PowerPoint techniques. This friendly book/CD-ROM combo covers all of the new features of Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, including interface changes, presentation themes, multimedia, the Slide Library, and more. The guide introduces you to the elements of PowerPoint: text; background, images, and info-graphics; shapes; fills, lines, and effects; sound and video; animations and transitions; and interactivity, flow, and navigation. Packed with numerous tips, shortcuts, workarounds, and timesaving techniques, it shows you step-by-step how to:

• Dress up your text by using fonts creatively and using WordArt to create artistic effects
• Work with masters and layouts, templates and themes, and fills, lines, and effects
• Maximize visual appeal by combining Photoshop with PowerPoint
• Add transitions, photos, motion, sound (narration and music), video, and animation
• Use SmartArt to create diagrams
• Create dynamic charts, equations, maps, and more
• Use PowerPoint's extensive clip art collection
• Test and set up your presentation
• Link to Flash, Acrobat, Word, and Excel
• Print presentation materials and create helpful handouts

The CD includes templates, textures, backgrounds, background music scores, images, alpha channel equipped graphics, maps, illustrations, and more, so this combo gives you the know-how and the tools. An 8-page color insert shows you how to use color effectively. With this friendly guide, you're ready to bring your presentation to life with PowerPoint 2007. Click here for more information.

Winning Presentations Public Seminar
October 16-17, Boston, MA

This seminar is open to those who both create and deliver presentations.

• Increase your presence in front of a group.
• Use opening, closings, and transitions focused on your audience's "need to know."
• Redo a presentation, including, if necessary, a new background and many slide design ideas.
• Learn how to create PowerPoint slides that enhance your presentation's objective.
• Leave with a personalized action plan and a video of the six presentations you gave during the seminar.
  

Corporate Consulting:
Presentation Performance Process for Your Company or Division
Save days of time creating a presentation. Put my process in place and save at least one-third of the time you used to spend putting together a talk. Guaranteed!

My clients include: The Gillette Company, Genzyme Corporation, CVS, Harvard Medical International, State Street Global Advisors, 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.