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

Talk to your audience [more]

Persuade a skeptic [more]

Know the slide color scheme [more]

White paper and a printer [more]

Going too fast = audience irritatio [more]

Cutting-Edge PowerPoint for Dummies by Geetesh Bajaj [more]

Presenters: I dare you to have someone watch your eye contact during a presentation.

Designers: Print your presentation in black and white and look at it.

TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE

It is a very strange habit that many people have - that of not talking to people in the audience. The presenter rarely looks at anyone for longer than one second, instead spending most of the time looking at the slide and talking to it. This is especially true when there are many diagrams and charts to explain. Rather than point to the information and look at the audience, the presenter points at the information on the screen and looks at it while talking.

I guarantee you that when you look at each person in the audience for the count of 3, you will look twice as confident. You'll actually appear to know your subject and want to share it with your audience. This is one of the most important skills of professional presenters. You may think you already do this, but I doubt it.

How do you find out whether you maintain eye contact? The next time you give a talk, ask a colleague in the audience to time how long you look at a person. The colleague counts 1-2-3 and observes whether you look at any one person for the count of 3. Then your colleague gives you the feedback after the session.

To be a successful presenter, you must actually talk to a person, not just speak. You can train yourself by practicing with two colleagues. Talk to each one. He or she will give you a nod when you have talked for the count of 1-2-3 while really looking....for the whole time. Darting eyes back and forth do not count! You will improve your poise and presence in front of an audience 100% when you start to speak to each person. With a large audience of 80 or more, it is the same. Pick one person to speak to. All the people around that person will experience you speaking to them.

PERSUADE A SKEPTIC

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 skeptics.

Recently, I was talking to someone on the phone about slides I had created. Before I even got started, she asked, "But how do you know they are effective?" Several days before that, I was coaching a Vice-President on his slides and he said to me, "How did you decide on this font size? I like mine better." Then there was the day I was telling my friend about foods that were important to eat. Her first question was, "Where did you read that?" Followed by, "Who is this person who wrote that?" All of these people were showing the skeptical side of their decision-making. They wanted to know where I got my credibility to tell them what to do.

Presentation format: Skeptics are interested in where you got your information, ideas, and recommendations. Your format has to document your information. Present your suggestions, but make footnotes or otherwise present the sources of your data.

Executive summary: On this one slide summary include primary sources of information, people who agree with the idea, and data.

Interaction: Be prepared to be questioned and interrogated. For those of you who have been to court or had to give a deposition, remember the grueling questions you were asked to lead you down a path where you didn't want to go? Or the questions in which you almost lost your emotional balance? Watch yourself! Although the skeptic is really not, at one level, attacking you, you will probably feel that way.

How to fail: You'll fail to persuade a skeptic if you:

• Present information without backing up its validity.
• Don't present why, logically and factually, your ideas make sense.
• Lose your emotional balance and begin to get defensive.
• Try to put the skeptics in the corner and show them how they are wrong.
• Take credit for all the ideas discussed and don't give the skeptic any credit.
• Start to believe the skeptic is questioning your identity as a competent professional; make your identity more important in the debate than your data.
• Try to get through your PowerPoint slides without stopping and seriously discussing the questions you are asked.

Slides designed for skeptics:

• Show more than one option, with the reasons for or against after each option.
• Follow a logical, systematic thought process in your slides.
• List information sources on each slide. Look at the slide and be sure
  you can answer, "What makes this information credible?" (this is a
  combination of two of the points)
  

Start with an executive summary and be sure you list your credible sources
on this slide.

It is the text that is in bullet form, but in a different order.

KNOW THE SLIDE COLOR SCHEME

Can you answer these questions?

1. I know how to find the slide color scheme.
2. I know what each of the slide color scheme colors relates to.
3. The Fill color is a certain color in my Custom Edit Color Schemes, but when I create an AutoShape it is a different color! No problem - I know what to do.

Answers at the end of this bulletin.

WHITE PAPER AND A PRINTER

I am assuming you can find the white paper, but if you are traveling the printer could be an issue, although most hotels have business centers-in some parts of the world. So why am I calling this a product you need?

Because almost none of my clients have ever created a presentation, then printed all the slides in black and white and looked at them. When they do, they notice whether

• They have formatted all their slides with the same title look.
• They have included some different slide looks, so some slides have a different format.
• They have created content that flows.
• They have put the same content in two places.

A printed-out presentation can be your best friend. It will show you how to tighten up your talk, change the look of certain slides, or even cut out some slides. I always print out all my own talks as well as those of my clients. We cut down on hours of editing time when we look at all the slides all at one time in hard copy. You can do the same.

(PS: No need to print in color.)

GOING TOO FAST=AUDIENCE IRRITATION

Problem: Jane knows her material better than almost anyone in the industry. She is the expert's expert. But her presentation had the wrong impact on her audience: irritation rather than engagement.

Real problem: Jane presents her information as if the audience has been studying it for years, just as she has. Audience members are irritated because they want more time to digest what she is saying before she goes on.

Content/slide changes:

• Jane must decide what information she has to present more slowly and in greater detail. She has to stop simply putting up a chart and assuming the audience gets it. She has to put the major point of the chart under the title.
• So her audience can follow her content, she has to use better transitions, including transition slides.
• She has to talk a lot slower.
• She can put questions on a slide. Then at the end of the talk go
  back and answer them.
  
• Finally, Jane has to take out jargon words that only a few people in the audience will understand.

Presenter practice: Jane makes the point of each slide clearer. She hires a professional to make the slides easier to look at and understand. She practices, taping herself to really hear how fast she is talking. Jane gets someone who does not know her area to listen, indicating every time the information is not clear.

Major learning: Jane had to realize that her all-consuming interest in the topic was not shared by her audience. While they were interested, they had not spent as much time she had on the subject. She has to decide whether she wants to engage audiences or just data "talk" to them. Once Jane realized that it was in her interest to get them excited, and that too much information all at once would not accomplish her objective, her presentation style improved immeasurably.

Book: Cutting-Edge PowerPoint for Dummies by Geetesh Bajaj
Geetesh's web site, www.indezine.com, has all kinds of PowerPoint ideas and products. He has now written a book on PowerPoint which is equally good. A great bonus with his book is the CD with over 800 seamless textures in 16 colors that you can use in your projects - this entire texture collection normally retails for $40 at Ppted.com! You get it free with the book! Take a look and see what you think: http://www.cuttingedgeppt.com

Winning Presentations Seminar. Public offering: November 7-8, 2006
Bring a presentation, redo it during class, learn to deliver it with confidence, and convince your audience that you know the subject inside out.

Creating PowerPoint Presentations That Get Your Point Across
One day seminar in companies. There is no delivery practice in this class. It is open to those who create and deliver presentations or just to those who create presentations. Here is what you take away from this one day class.

• Learn how to create PowerPoint slides that enhance, not take away from your presentation's objective.
• Redo the structure of a presentation using a format.
• Use the "Total" Visual Checklist and the "Single" Visual Checklist to improve presentation slides and content.
• Analyze slide examples and understand the rationale for using and not using certain PowerPoint features, such as animations and builds.
• Change the pace of the presentation using images, graphical shapes, and appropriate animations.
• Learn specific PowerPoint features that create powerful visuals.
• Redo three slides following the suggested conventions and standards.
• Leave with a redone presentation, backgrounds, formats, company template, and company color scheme.

Individual Coaching: Recently coached a man who was promoted and had to give his first talk to upper management. I spent the night before looking at his slides. We spent 6 hours together. We reorganized the content. I created the slides as he did not know how to do that. He spent the next two days practicing with friends and colleagues using the points I suggested. He was a success. His boss told him his content was excellent and his delivery was clear and to the point.

Visual Makeovers: Redid several slides for a client who was not pleased with them. Corporate Consulting: Presentation Performance Process for Your Company or Division. Save days of time creating a presentation. 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, 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.

Know the slide color scheme answer key