December 2000

Hello! In this month’s free e-news from Wilder Presentations, I’d like to discuss two ideas for presenters and one for designers. As always, there’s a monthly challenge at the end.

First, I wish all of you a peaceful and joyful experience this time of the year.

I know. You didn’t receive a November bulletin. I had my third hard disk crash and that consumed much time. Most of my information was all backed up, but it took a while to put programs back in etc. etc. More importantly, Jennifer Rotondo and I are almost finished with a CD titled Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success.

FOR PRESENTERS:
CREATE AND USE VISUALS
We’ve reached the fourth step of Giving Successful Presentations, “Creating and Using Visuals.” Over the next four months we’ll discuss:
Hints for laptop presenting
Six questions to use when analyzing your total presentation
Five questions to use when creating an effective slide
The “test your visual expertise quiz.” 

Since many of you are presenting with a laptop, let’s start with that. Here are five important tips:

Have a backup plan. Sometimes I bring two laptops just to be sure I can continue if one laptop crashes. But here’s a story I’ve never heard. A client told me he took two laptops and had two LCD projectors available. He tested everything the night before. But the presentation room’s electrical system was so poor that the LCD projector went out. And he didn’t have overheads as two systems seemed good enough as backup.

Begin and end without a slide on the screen. Before you begin speaking, you may have a slide on the screen with the name of your presentation and an agenda. But when you start to talk, blank out the screen and begin speaking without a slide. You will demonstrate to your audience that you can speak without a visual crutch. Also, you will be able to establish rapport with your audience before you start showing the slides. Do the same for your conclusion blank out the screen and conclude your talk without props.

Use the “B” key. When your slides are showing on the screen in slide show mode, you may wish to blank out the screen. Push the “b” key and the screen will go blank. To bring the screen back, push the “b” key again. Do this when you share an example that doesn’t need a visual or when, during your talk, the audience members have a long discussion amongst themselves.

Use a remote mouse. You cannot do animations if you have to stand by your laptop and press the keys. Look professional by using a remote mouse. I prefer one that is not infrared so I don’t have to remember to point the mouse in a certain direction.

Pay attention to your equipment list: Depending on where you present and the nature of your talks, you will need an equipment list. Go over it before you leave your office.

FOR PRESENTERS:
AUTHENTICITY: FIND IT IN YOURSELF
In this election year the papers are full of comments about the candidates and their authenticity. Every day you read articles discussing who are they and what they really stand for. Those of you who give presentations know when you’ve been yourself and when you’ve been your “act.” Here’s a poem that expresses this idea. Although it was written for women, it applies to everyone in our business:

As a woman presenter, give your
listeners a sense of perspective,
a sense of a woman, a person,
who is imperfect but competent;
one who is imperfectable, knows it,
and can laugh at it. Be a woman.
Be a real person.”

From Woman to Woman by Helen Exley

How do you live your authenticity when speaking?

Know yourself versus your act. You must know the difference between being “you” and just doing your “act”“Joe the jokester” or “Mary the nice person.” When you stop long enough to reflect, you’ll begin to understand the difference. With politicians it is easy to see. When asked a question, they don’t answer it. Instead, they do “act number 20 on education.”

Take inventory. Sit down and make a two-column list. Title the first one, “Times when I’ve been myself.” And the second column, “Times when I do my act.” There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with doing your act, but it may limit your ability to be spontaneous, connect with your audience, and discover new parts of yourself.

Take a risk. In the next month do something that takes you out of your element. You’ll be less able to fall into old behavior patterns. For example, when I take a private Argentine Tango lesson, I discover the “myself” of that day. Tango has a way of mirroring my real state of body and mind. 

The true joy of life lies in rediscovering over and over again the delight of living in the moment. That only happens when you let go of trying to “be, do, and act” a certain way.

FOR DESIGNERS:
CHECK OUT 3D TITLES
Along with Jennifer Rotondo, I am creating a CD on visual design called Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success. As part of it we are demonstrating some of the PowerPlugs product features. I really like PowerPlugs’ 3D Titles. They are an excellent way to add variety to your talk. Go to www.crystalgraphics.com and see them for yourself.

BACKGROUND THIS MONTH
Every month I am sending you a background, press the shift key and click the link to download the background file in zip format. (Unzip the file using WinZip, available for free download). Jennifer Rotondo of Creative Minds did this background. Jennifer specializes in designing and creating multimedia presentations and is a Certified Microsoft PowerPoint Expert.  She gives it to me and I send it to you. So don’t email her. Email me if you didn’t get the background this month. See Jennifer’s other backgrounds and her services at www.creativemindsinc.com.

ARTICLE TO READ
Go read Jennifer’s and my article on Roger Parker’s New Entrepreneur site. It is called 5 Common Presentation Design Mistakes and How to Cure Them. Roger wrote a book all of you should read. It’s called Relationship Marketing on the Internet. Create One on One Bonds with Prospects and Customers and Keep Them Forever. He’s the best selling author of Microsoft Office for Windows for Dummies. www.newentrepreneur.com/Premium/Open/open.html

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:
Presenters
Take a risk and give up your “act.”

DESIGNERS 
Add one new feature to a presentation this month.

READER’S IDEAS:
Craig Joyce has some additional ideas on taking care of logistics, a topic we discussed last month. He says:

Our training classes are between 10-12 hours. A long time to keep people interested. Taking care of logistics is critical.

· Never assume the room is the way you asked it to be.
· Windows are critical ask for them.
· Pack your car 24 hours prior so you have time to get things you thought were there and are not. (Claudyne adds, I put everything at my door. I live in the city so wouldn’t actually put my materials in my car overnight).
· Always arrive at least one hour prior to the start time.
· Unload your car without help. Nothing will be dropped or misplaced.
· Have everything set up prior to the first person arriving. As they arrive greet them to begin the bonding process. You can’t do this if you are still setting up.
· Obviously dry run any electronics.
· Don’t dress in a suit if your audience will be in blue jeans.
· Get people up and moving or do any hands-on activities after lunch to avoid that post-lunch crash.

As far as eye contact, I establish that first thing. I have a two-hour monologue on “cabling” that does not require notes (even though I have them just in case). This allows me to move around the room and keep my eyes moving from person to person, bringing each one closer. I call this “making the room smaller.” I think it’s critical for the bonding process

BLATANT ADVERTISING
In January Jennifer Rotondo and I will be unveiling our fantastic new product called Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success. This product is for all of you who have wondered how to create presentation slides that enhance your delivery. There is nothing like this on the market. You’ll see the difference between effective and ineffective slides. Because it’s done in PowerPoint you’ll be able to modify and use the examples! Plus, you get a PowerPlugs file showing you some fantastic PowerPlugs product examples.  I’ll let you know when there is a preview on my Web site.

Presentation Points, written by Claudyne Wilder, comes out the first business week of each month. For more information, call 617-524-7172, e-mail claudyne@quik.com, or visit my Web site, www.wilderpresentations.com.

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. It’s also perfectly acceptable to me to post Presentation Points on your company Intranet.

Copyright 2000, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved.