FREE! E-Newsletter Presentations Points is a free short monthly bulletin sent out by Claudyne Wilder. Every bulletin discusses two ideas for presenters and one for designers. There's also a monthly challenge for presenters and designers. Subscribe Now July 2003 Your Presentation Success Is Our Passion Present It Right...The First Time! WINNING PRESENTATIONS PUBLIC SEMINARS Goal: Learn how to develop, design, and deliver a persuasive, results-oriented presentation. In the last public seminar, three people created real-work presentations the first day, and presented with their slides the second day. This is a real opportunity to take your presentations to the next level of professionalism! Dates: August 5 and 6, 2003, and September 24 and 25, 2003 Location: Boston area Time: 9 to 5 Cost: $650, with a money-back guarantee For a seminar outline click here or e-mail me at claudyne@wilderpresentations.com When you refer someone who comes to my seminar, you'll receive a free book or CD. If you already have those, I'll give you some slide design ideas you can use. FOR PRESENTERS: STEP 10: TAKE THE LEAP DRESS THE PART With the advent of business casual, people have been wondering how to dress, especially for a presentation. Here are some points to consider. Really business casual: In Research and Development companies, people are in labs all day. They don't dress up. They wear lab coats and shoes that won't get wrecked when they spill something on them. So what to wear the day of a talk? If you dress too formally then people will notice and, in some companies, make fun of you. Here's one way to add some authority to your talk, without standing out. This tip is especially true for women. Buy yourself a casual jacket. Make it something you can wear over jeans-but it should be a jacket, not a sweater. Wear it during your talk. A jacket will give you more authority. Mixed business casual and suit environment: You work in a company where you don't wear a suit everyday. What do you do the day of a talk when you know half your audience will be dressed in suits? You wear a suit. If that feels too overdressed, then wear a nice pair of pants or, for women, a skirt and a jacket. The jacket doesn't have to be tailored and fitted, but it has to be a jacket. Think about what color you want to wear. As a woman you are better wearing a dark color or something bright in the reddish, deep blue, or purple colors. Don't wear pink or yellow if you want to project authority. Suit environment: You dress up everyday, but today you want to be especially well dressed for your presentation. Make sure you have worn the outfit and know it stays on, stays zipped, and makes you feel great. Make sure it looks good after hours of wear and doesn't wrinkle. Use this dress checklist: Women: Is my suit tailored so it fits? Can I easily sit in the skirt? Do my shoes match the outfit and the season? Do my stockings match the outfit? Does my jewelry go with the outfit? Are the earrings small so they don't move around as I talk? Do my bracelets make noise? Men: Do my trousers fit? Are the trousers too tight and might come unzipped? Does my shirt and tie go well with the suit? Are my shoes polished? Although presentations are supposed to be about content, they are also about how well you look and present yourself. When people above you in the organization are there, they are looking at you as someone who might move up in the organization. Make sure you look and act the part of your next career move. When you are presenting in many different companies, find out what you need to wear. Business casual means many different things, so ask questions: Do people wear shorts and will I fit in if I wear khakis? Should I wear a tie? Is a dress appropriate? Can I wear a pantsuit? Don't assume you know what to wear. You want to feel comfortable with your audience. FOR PRESENTERS: WORK UPDATE You have to present what you've been doing the last two weeks. To give a work update: Tasks accomplished. Tasks still to do. Improvements with changes made. New plan going forward. Issues to discuss. HERE'S AN EXAMPLE Tasks accomplished: Finished the Quark document page edits. Put in all the new addresses and phone numbers. Helped pack and move the office. Tasks still to do from last meeting: Put in the titles in the document guidebook. Make the calls to new customers. Improvements with changes made: All the necessary fonts have been installed so that it will be easy to create new documents without worrying about the correct fonts. This will save time and aggravation. New plans going forward: Find free survey tool on the Internet. Call 20 potential customers. Issues to discuss: How much to spend if we can't find free survey tool. Are you satisfied with the fonts now on the system? BRANDING AND GIVEAWAYS I asked Marty Kenney of Martin Stevens Consulting Group (www.martin-stevens.com) to talk about what to leave with your audience. Here are his comments: You are your own personal brand. That concept may seem a little far-fetched, but it is a strategy that can make a difference in the way your message is received. Everything about you from your appearance, your delivery, and your sense of humor all contribute to how your audience perceives you. Among the ways to leave an impact with your audience after your presentation has ended is to leave them with a giveaway that promotes YOUR brand. With nearly 500,000 imprintable items to choose from, you can put your brand on anything from Address Books to Zipper Pulls. You'll need to speak with a promotional product expert who can locate the right product for you through one of the industry databases. Select an item that relates to you and your presentation. Make sure the quality reflects the image you want to project to your audience. It is not necessary to spend a fortune, but never go "cheap," or that will be reflected on your brand. One presenter I know wanted to give pens to attendees at his seminar. I told him that this had to be a pen to remember. He informed me the timing of this opportunity made this idea particularly "hot." He decided on a well made, beautifully imprinted, smooth writing pen in the shape of a chili pepper. His audience will remember his presentation and the "hot" topic. Promotional products may not be for everyone; but if you give them out, do it with style and imagination to get the best results. DESIGNERS: REALLY USEFUL SHAPES FROM CRYSTAL GRAPHICS Crystal Graphics sells SuperShapes PowerPoint Plug Ins. They are excellent for adding shapes to your slides, and are particularly useful for discussing processes and timelines. In less than 30 seconds, you can have a great-looking shape on your slide: three arrows in a circle, one arrow pointing up and around, etc. They also have Animated SuperShapes that add variety and can emphasize a key message. Here's the SuperShapes page: http://www.crystalgraphics.com/presentations/supershapes.main.asp MONTHLY CHALLENGE PRESENTERS: Make sure your clothing gives the impression you desire to your audience. DESIGNERS: Save time by using SuperShapes. NEW SERVICES: CRISP AND FOCUSED SLIDES WITH IMPACT! Captivate your audience! Whether your presentation slides need critique, design, or a makeover, Wilder Presentations can now offer you all these services. To see our new services click here. BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLES from my interactive CD-ROM "SLIDES THAT WIN!" 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.