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February 2002

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.

MORE IDEAS FOR YOU LAPTOP PRESENTERS

I am so excited. The revised and updated edition of my book Point, Click & Wow! A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations is now on the market. This version includes a CD-ROM of all the book's graphic images as well as some demos from CrystalGraphics. You can read about it on my Web site. If you order Point, Click & Wow! from me in February, I'll send you a FREE Ten Steps and Formats card from my other book, The Presentations Kit: 10 Steps for Selling Your Ideas.

FOR PRESENTERS: STEP 6: MOTIVATING YOUR LISTENERS

STOP THE DATA, TELL A STORY

Why is it that we think giving an audience every bit of information available will convince them? To motivate your audience and yourself, learn how to tell a story. Your story can be as short as one minute or as long as five. To be successful, your story needs to:

Describe a transformation. Transformations could be from failure to success; from confusion to clarity; or from incompetence to competence.

Present emotional tension and change. For example, someone starts out upset and irritated but, as a result of some event, that person is now excited.

Include at least one struggle before the transformation. By telling the story's struggle through images, dialogue, and details, the transformation is more powerful and captures the audience's attention. You need to build up tension before you take the audience through the transformation.

When you tell the story:

Make the most of your voice. Pause after an emotional sentence-most of us forget to do this. We need to stop and let the audience digest the scene they see, either on the screen or in their mind's eye. Breathe and relax. It will help you pause.

Gesture. A well-timed gesture can capture and engage your audience.

Create a tempo. A story needs a rhythm. There should be slow parts and fast parts, half notes and eighth notes. Don't be shy about changing the speed of your delivery and including well-timed silences.

FOR PRESENTERS:

CONNECT WITH YOUR TELECONFERENCE AUDIENCE

Many presenters are now doing teleconferences, which are ideal for training, educational, or selling purposes. For the next couple of months, I'll be giving you some tips for successful teleconferencing.

¨ When people call in before the conference starts, someone needs to be on the line to make them feel comfortable. Participants shouldn't be greeted by silence. This is especially true if the call is starting late. Make sure you inform listeners how late the start time will be.

¨ Always have everyone introduce themselves, explain who they are, and give other relevant information that would be helpful for the group. Introductions should take place after everyone is on the line. This is especially true for an in-company teleconference-people need to know who else is out there listening.

¨ If there are several people listening in the studio, they should introduce themselves as well. Some participants will be reticent to offer suggestions in a company teleconference if they don't know who is listening.

¨ Have people say their name before they talk. If only the same eight people will be on the line week after week, then after a couple of weeks everyone will know each other's voice. BUT when new people are involved, then names need to be said again.

¨ Finally, make sure the speaker is audible. Ask, "Does (name) need to talk louder?" Don't ask, "Can you hear (name)?" Maybe they can hear, but have to really strain to do so. That isn't a pleasant way to spend an hour.

FOR DESIGNERS:

I recently took a PhotoShop class as was amazed at how simple some of the functions are. (Not most, but some!) Here are just a couple of ways you can give your photos a professional touch:

¨ Add soft edges around the image using the feather tool under the Select Menu. This is a good effect for images that don't have to be crystal clear.

¨ Change the shading to make the photo clearer and more precise. Go to Image>Adjust> Threshold (Curves).

¨ Use the clone stamp tool to get rid of spots, product names, and images you don't want.

I asked Jennifer Rotondo of CreativeMinds Inc. www.creativemindsinc.com to give me some of her favorite ways of touching up a picture in PhotoShop. Here they are:

¨ Change the color of an image - Image>Adjust>Hue/Saturation

¨ Make images black and white - Image>Adjust>Desaturate

¨ Change some colors in the image - Image>Adjust>Color Balance

¨ Get rid of graininess - Filter>Noise>Despeckle or Dust & Scratches

¨ Emboss an image - Filter>Stylize>Emboss

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:

PRESENTERS

In your next presentation, tell a story. Be sure you take the audience from the problem through the transformation to the success. Be specific.

DESIGNERS

Play around with the best and most effective ways of touching up your photos in PhotoShop.

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS:

MORE ON MODALITIES

Steve Koch, who presents to engineers, sales people, and financial and accounting personnel, sent in this comment:

I enjoyed your discussions of the visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities. In addition to the books you listed, there's an excellent discussion in Influencing with Integrity: Management Skills for Communication and Negotiation by Genie Laborde.

Without generalizing or stereotyping, it would be extremely helpful to know whether people from particular occupations or professions tend toward a particular modality. Do you have any thoughts on this? It would also be interesting to see if there is any gender relationship to these modalities.

Also, people should be aware that these modalities are not absolute. In different environments and settings, people will operate from different modalities.

My answer to Steve:

In my work I do see that people in certain occupations seem to have a preference for one modality over another. For example, artists are more visual just due to the nature of their work. Technical people who spend their time at the computer seem to be more kinesthetic. They enjoy experimenting to find a solution or to fix a problem. I don't, however, know of any formal studies on this topic.

Here's the most important point: We need to use all modalities for effective decision making. I remember when I used to shop for my clothes kinesthetically. If the fabric felt good, I'd buy it. Now I make sure it's the right color, suited to my skin tone. And I use a checklist: What do I have that goes with this? Where would I wear it? I've saved lots of time and money by using all the modalities before I hand over my credit card.

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Copyright 2002, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved.