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December 2002 This month I'd like to discuss two ideas for presenters and one for designers. As always, there's a monthly challenge at the end. FOR PRESENTERS: STEP 9: RECOMMEND NEXT STEPS As you listen to a presentation, ask yourself, “What is this presenter asking me to do? Take action? Listen and remember the information? Buy something? Recommend the ideas to someone else?” Do you know what the presenter is asking you to do? Unfortunately, many times the presenter isn’t directly giving you ideas on what to do. Product presentations sometimes do not end with a call to action. Management updates don’t tell upper management what to consider in the months ahead. Effective presentations must include recommended next steps. This is the punch line of your presentation. Don’t talk so long that people can’t wait to get out of the room. You must take the time to discuss your suggestions and the benefits for the audience in carrying them out. By the end of a talk you too may be tired, especially if you have been answering questions throughout. Be careful how you end. When learning tennis, the instructor emphasizes the importance of following through after hitting the ball. This ability to follow through on a tennis stroke separates the novice form the expert. The follow-through in a presentation is the discussion of next steps. If you use any hesitant words, such as “maybe” or “sort of,” your listeners will not be inclined to take your proposed actions. What will convince them is your confidence in the actions you are recommending. Be sure to state your points with enthusiasm and strength. FOR PRESENTERS: Recently someone told me that she was very surprised with presentations today. No feedback loops are built in. What did she mean? A feedback loop means that there is constant dialogue between the presenter and the audience. Here’s how most presentations look today. A sales person comes in and opens up his laptop, brings up a presentation, and then talks for 50 minutes. Maybe he asks a couple of questions. For that 50 minutes, he is receiving no feedback on what the audience thinks of his talk, whether they agree or disagree. If it’s a polite audience, they may be nodding and smiling. That nodding may or may not be an indication of what they really think. What would work better? How about a conversation at the beginning of the presentation finding out why these people are in the room and what they want to learn? Then, how about actually tailoring the talk to what they say? Don’t just write down the topics the audience is interested in and then do what you have already decided to do. That reminds me of a masseuse I once went to. I told her, when she asked, that I had a problem with my knees. She worked on my knees for five minutes during the hour-long massage. I left frustrated and thinking, “why did she bother to ask me?” She had her plan and it didn’t matter what I, the client, said. That’s how many audiences feel. Also check what the audience thinks about your ideas as you talk. Do they agree? Do they have other ideas? Is this the solution to their problems they had in mind? Third, find out if your audience really wants to listen to all this information. Have you ever asked? Certainly, once in a while you are doing a performance talk, especially to a large audience, where dialogue is limited. For all those other talks, however, keep asking your audience for their ideas, thoughts, and views on the information you are sharing with them. Audiences are very tired of being talked TO. Talk WITH your audience from now on. Make them a part of your time together. FOR DESIGNERS: Don’t do all that creative work and then put it on standard copy paper. Here are the results of an interesting study. Sixty people shopping in a high-traffic office superstore were shown proposals or resumes with comparable content, one on standard copy paper and one on fine Southworth paper. While participants unanimously agreed that content is the primary factor in decision making, Southworth’s fine paper led to more positive impressions and more favorable business decision outcomes 63% of the time. Among the attributions participants mentioned without solicitation:
When, later in the interview, respondents were asked specifically about fine paper usage, they reiterated that content was of primary importance. Nonetheless, they commented that fine paper “shows an attention to detail.” and “adds credibility and underscores the importance of a document.” This survey makes you think about the paper you use. Make sure your wonderfully designed document is printed for an important client/prospect on something besides plain white paper. MONTHLY CHALLENGE: PRESENTERS Make sure you suggest next steps to your audience. DESIGNERS Make sure the paper that’s used makes an impression. FASCINATING COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS Mary Lou Andre of www.dressingwell.com sends out a Tip of the Week. To subscribe go to www.dressingwell.com/subscribe . Here’s what Mary Lou says about dressing for the media, television appearances, and video talks. This applies as well for those satellite web appearances. Consider the light-with-dark and dark-with-light technique that is used to determine which blouses, shirts and other tops to wear with different colored suiting to best enhance your on-air presence and credibility with viewers. This technique is a great dressing strategy that anyone who wears suits can implement easily in their own wardrobes. Technique 1: Light with Dark The reason why a classic navy or black suit works well with a cream or white blouse on television is that the blouse helps frame the face and allows viewers to easily concentrate on what is being reported. This combination paired with a pearl necklace and earrings is an easy choice. We also love introducing interesting, non-traditional color combinations with dark suiting to give them some extra pizzazz. For instance, a chocolate brown suit with a lilac turtleneck or a navy blue suit with a soft green blouse can enhance communication as well as the client's personal style. Follow the link below to see this rule of thumb: Organization By Design Fashion, Inc. Consultant June Tarter at http://www.dressingwell.com/june.htm Technique 2: Dark with Light In the cooler months, wearing a light suit with a dark top can be more sophisticated than pairing a light-colored suit with a light-colored top. Case in point -- one of our television clients recently bought a camel-colored, light wool pantsuit to wear on TV. Since it fit her beautifully, the only thing we needed to do to make it "sing" on television was to help her select the correct top and accessories. We chose a black turtleneck knit top (i.e. made of cotton, silk and a small percentage of Lycra) for her to wear with it. We also had the buttons on the suit changed from gold to black to build more depth into her overall appearance and to help all the elements of the outfit connect nicely with each other. We suggested gold "button-style" earrings as opposed to silver-based earrings to complement the gold undertones of the camel-colored suiting. Button-style earrings (the size of a quarter) also show up well on television while balancing well with the weight of turtlenecks and wool suiting. Although a necklace would have looked okay with this outfit, we suggested wearing the outfit without this accessory so that the outfit would not appear too cluttered on television. The result was excellent. Viewing her in this outfit last week was a treat. Since light coloring is a "maximizer" and dark coloring is a "minimizer," the black turtleneck drew the eye in and framed her face the same way the above-detailed combination worked with the dark suiting. Ties instantly enhance a man's communication style. Women, however, have to work a little harder to frame their faces in a way that eliminates distractions and enhances their credibility. We study folks on television all the time as a way to perfect our craft. By watching television with an eye for these details yourself, you can further train your own eye to recognize these simple style elements that go a long way in enhancing credibility and communication. POINT, CLICK & WOW! BOOK EXCERPT Read excerpts on line from my book Point, Click & Wow! A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations. Chapter 1: http://www.presentationmaster.com/2002/09_sep/features/cw_pcw_chap1.htm Chapter 2: http://www.presentationmaster.com/2002/09_sep/features/cw_pcw_chap2.htm Chapter 3: http://www.presentationmaster.com/2002/10_oct/features/cw_pcw_chap3.htm Chapter 4: http://www.presentationmaster.com/2002/11_nov/tutorials/cw_pcw_chap4.htm Palm UpdateThanks to those of you who offered advice on PDAs. I ended up buying a Palm. Why? Major reason: my sister got me a great discount! Second reason: many of my colleagues have one, so I can get instant ideas on how to use it. 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 post Presentation Points on your company's Intranet. To subscribe to Presentation Points or visit my home page, go to www.wilderpresentations.com. To subscribe to Presentation Points or visit my home page, go to www.wilderpresentations.com. Copyright 2002, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved. |
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