January 2001

Hello and Happy New Year! May this year be full of joy. May you achieve both your business and your personal goals. And may we all keep a perspective on what's truly important.

In this month's free e-news from Wilder Presentations, I'd like to discuss two ideas for presenters and one for designers. Look for the monthly challenge at the end.

FOR PRESENTERS:

CREATE AND USE VISUALS

We're now on the fourth step of Giving Successful Presentations: "Creating and Using Visuals." This month I'll cover six questions to ask when analyzing your total presentation. First, begin by printing out a hard copy of your presentation's slides. Lay them out on a table. Now look at the slides while answering these six questions:

Question 1: Do I have an agenda? You need an agenda that is short and concise, with no more than five items. No one wants to listen to a presentation with an agenda of ten items.

Question 2: Is the information logically sequenced? Look through the slides and make sure there is a logical flow to the content. Make sure all the content about one subject is in one place. And does the presentation end with some suggested next steps? Presentations are for a purpose-usually there's some type of ongoing actions to take.

Question 3: Are there informative headings? Make the headings interesting. Every slide needs to have a different heading that identifies the slide's main point.

Question 4: Is there a variety in the overall look of the slides? Don't have 20 slides of bullet points or charts. Use a variety of slide layouts.

Question 5: Is the presentation customized to the audience? That means more than just putting the prospect/client's logo on every slide. For example, list a prospect's needs and how your product or service responds to those specific needs. Are you providing the right amount of information-or too much? Most presentations include data that are unnecessary and boring to the audience.

Question 6: Do the color combinations look well together? Is all text readable? Is there enough color contrast? Is the same color palette used throughout so it really looks like one presentation, not a cut-and-paste job from several talks.

FOR PRESENTERS:

PRACTICE OUT LOUD

Do yourself a favor-practice out loud. I am constantly amazed at all the excuses people give for NOT taking the time to practice out loud. Here are some of them:

"We just finished the talk an hour before we went to the client's office."

"I was up all night preparing the slides. I don't need to practice."

"My team is so good we always present without practicing."

"We get most of the business, so why practice."

All I can say to those of you out there who don't practice: You will be so much better, and your team will exude a new confidence, if you spend time where it needs to be spent-doing a real rehearsal before the main event.

FOR DESIGNERS:

START CREATING A COMPANY IMAGERY LIBRARY

Slide animations are out of control. There is no reason to have bulleted phrases flying in from all corners of the screen. That motion is hard on the eyes and adds nothing to the presentation's persuasiveness. Review your presentation's animations and give them impact, not just motion.

For phrases: Use only the Wipe Right or Peek From Right. These simple animations are easy on the eyes.

For charts: Use Wipe Up for bar charts. Don't make the bars fly in-the motion doesn't fit the message.

For slide transitions: Don't use a clunky Cover Down transition for every slide. Who wants to sit through 30 slides of that? Try a slide transition such as Box Out or Zoom to introduce a key point or new agenda item.

THIS MONTH'S BACKGROUND

Every month I'll send you a background. Jennifer Rotondo of Creative Minds did this one. Jennifer, a certified Microsoft PowerPoint expert, specializes in designing and creating multimedia presentations. If you didn't get this month's background, please e-mail me, not Jennifer, and I'll send it to you. See Jennifer's other backgrounds and her services at www.creativemindsinc.com.

This blue background gives the sense of movement and action. It's a good one to use when showing plans for a new and exciting project.

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:

PRESENTERS

Practice out loud…and not in your car as you are driving to the talk!

DESIGNERS

Redo those animations to have them logically flow onto the screen.

READER COMMENTS:

DEALING WITH LARYNGITIS

Debora Bloom of Debora Bloom Associates (BloomAssoc@aol.com) writes: Now that flu and cold season is upon us, here are some tips for presenting with laryngitis that I have discovered over the years.

Number 1 rule for laryngitis: rest your throat and do not talk.

If you MUST make a presentation, take frequent sips of warm lemonade or warm grapefruit juice during your talk. Bring it with you in a thermos.

Add to your regular equipment list a small, portable P.A. system with a lapel radio mike. I got mine the day after I requested it from a company in Oregon called Office World.

If the laryngitis persists, see a doctor to make sure there are no growths or other damage on your vocal cords.

BLATANT ADVERTISING

In February 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 are wondering how to create slides that enhance your presentations. Because it's done in PowerPoint, you'll be able to modify and use the examples! There is nothing else like this on the market. You'll see the difference between effective and ineffective slides. Plus, you get a PowerPlugs file showing you some fantastic PowerPlugs product examples.

I'll let you know when a preview is available on my Web site.

Presentation Points, written by Claudyne Wilder, usually 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.