|
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:
When
talking to others, remember to talk from your body, not just your
head.
Designers: Check
out SNAGIT
BE
IN YOUR BODY
Recently I
was watching a woman in my class present, a very accomplished
professional in her field. Although she was quite articulate,
explaining the information clearly and maintaining fairly good
eye contact, there was something missing. As she talked, I thought
about the book I was reading, A New Earth, Awakening to Your
Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle.
Tolle discusses
how to be in your energy body. He asks his readers to perform
an exercise, paying attention to their hands and feeling the "subtle
energy of aliveness inside of them." The next step is to
expand that awareness to your feet, then to the rest of your body.
I realized what the presenter was missing: living in her energy
body of awareness. She was speaking almost exclusively from her
head, with very little body awareness.
According
to Tolle, "Body awareness not only anchors you in the present
moment, it is a doorway out of the prison of the ego." I
highly recommend this book for many reasons, and if you present,
for this idea in particular. Next time before you get up to talk,
do the hand awareness exercise. You will be amazed at how calm
you become and how much better you will speak, connect to your
audience, and listen to them as they ask questions.
PERSUADE
A FOLLOWER
Let's continue
our discussion of 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 followers.
A colleague
of mine is very creative. She has put together some innovative
programs, but she'll have a tough time convincing a follower to
let her train his employees. Followers account for more than one-third
of all executives. They stick to what's been done before and don't
want to be the first to try something new. They are very empathic,
so when you talk to one, you may "feel" that he is agreeing
with you, but that doesn't mean he going to say yes to your idea.
Followers can seem to be skeptics or thinkers by the questions
they ask. But when you hear phrases like, "This sounds like
what we have been doing…." or "Where has this been
proven successful?" you'll know you're dealing with a follower.
Presentation
format: Followers want to know if, and where, your idea has
actually been implemented and worked. In your presentation you
need to give examples of how your proposal has been carried out
in some manner before.
Executive
summary: On this one-slide summary, include primary sources
of information and a list of places your proposal has been successful.
Interaction:
Followers ask many questions. You may feel the person is interrogating
you, but she is only attempting to discover how your strategy
has played itself out before. The interrogation, or just the ongoing
questions about facts, figures, and past experience is the follower's
way of finding out what happened when someone else implemented
this strategy.
How to
fail: You'll fail to persuade a follower if you don't:
- Present
information without saying how it is has been successful before.
- Put together
a solid idea with all the facts and figures. Don't present a
partially thought-out idea!
Slides
designed for followers:
- Follow
a logical, systematic thought process in your slides.
- Show where
the successes have occurred and what results were obtained.
- Avoid busy,
"avant garde" backgrounds. They will not give the
impression of solidity to a follower who wants to keep on the
path of what's been done.
Key
Facts About Proposal
You may need several slides for this information. Be sure you
don't present only concepts - you must have facts. List the costs
and, if possible, show the costs for several options.
Past History
Unless you can list how your idea, process, or strategy was successful
elsewhere, you might as well not present. This slide will be crucial
in alleviating the fears of the follower.
USE
THE FORMAT PAINTER
How do you
change the colors on a flow chart? When you have to change the
text size on many slides or on a diagram, how do you go about
that?
Use the format
painter. It's the paintbrush icon on your toolbar, in both Microsoft
Word and PowerPoint. For boxes in a flow chart, select a color
for one box, double-click the format painter icon, and click on
all the other boxes to automatically select the same color. If
you click format painter only once, then it changes only the next
object you click on.
You can select
text and make it the size you desire, then double-click on the
format painter and click on all other text you want to change.
This is a
very quick way to make changes. Once you discover the format painter,
you won't know how you lived without it.
A SMART POWERPOINT USER
I am not sure
I should consider a smart PowerPoint user a product, but you will
save days of your life if there is someone you can call or e-mail
when you get stuck doing something in PowerPoint. Also, you may
want to spend a couple hours just watching that person work in
PowerPoint. You will see all kinds of tricks that will save you
time and make your slides more professional.
THE
"ALL OVER THE PLACE" PRESENTATION
Problem:
Karl put together his presentation over the course of a week.
He just sat down and made slides. Then he wanted someone to fix
them up and make them look professional.
Real problem:
The designer wanted to improve Karl's slides, but as she went
over them, she saw the same points articulated differently on
many slides. So when she got an idea on how to organize a certain
area of content, she didn't know what to do when she saw that
same area of content on another slide later in the presentation.
She was also concerned about presenting 40 slides in a 15-minute
time span.
Content/slide
changes:
- Karl has
to select three to four key messages and organize the talk's
content under those messages
- He has
to decide the purpose of his talk, and then make sure he succeeds
in achieving that purpose with his slides.
- He must
leave out irrelevant content. Karl should ask himself, "Will
this statistic, example, extra information help me explain one
of my key messages?" If the answer is no, then he has to
take it out.
Designer's
task: First the designer has to explain to Karl how difficult
it will be to cover 40 slides in 15 minutes.
- Then, since
Karl is very close to the material, the designer can look over
the content and take a stab at organizing it. The designer knows
that Karl works best when given something to react to, rather
than just talking about what to change.
Result:
Karl gave a totally different presentation than the one he started
with. His final presentation was organized around key messages,
with plenty of time to cover all his points without hurrying.
He got excellent feedback from his audience.
SnagIt
For those
of you who capture many images on the web, this is an excellent
tool. Plus, you can edit the image and add effects. SnagIt is
the only such product to receive a five-star rating in PC Magazine's
Incredibly Useful Utilities category.
Look at SnagIt's
on-line demonstration at www.techsmith.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.
This seminar is open to those who both create and deliver presentations,
or just to those who create. There is no delivery practice in
this class. Here is what you take away from this one day:
- Learn how
to create PowerPoint slides that enhance 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: Success Story
I coached a man who was recently promoted and had to give his
first talk to upper management. I reviewed his slides before we
met; then we spent four hours together. We began by reorganizing
the content of his presentation. I redid his slides to show his
key points and made them look professional. He practiced before
the video camera. I suggested how he dress for the session. He
spent the next two days practicing with friends and colleagues.
His presentation was a success: his boss told him his content
was excellent and his delivery clear and to the point.
Visual
Makeovers
Do you want your slides to be more professional looking? Do you
want your slides to convey the key messages of your talk? Learn
how to create slides that enhance your ability to present with
confidence and enthusiasm.
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.
|
