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PRESENTATION POINTS

October 2001

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.

FOR PRESENTERS:

Step 6: USE ALL MODALITIES: VISUAL, AUDITORY, KINESTHETIC

People receive and process information differently. Some people need to see the information. Some people need to hear it. Some people have to do something in order to really grasp the concept. In the next three months we are going to talk about each of these modalities and how important it is for you to include them in your presentations.

This month, let's talk about the visual types. For audience members whose primary way of receiving and processing information is visual, they need to see pictures, view videos, and be able to create an image in their mind. They need a broad overview of the talk before hearing the details.

Here are some quotes to help you understand visual types:

"The mind is more slowly stirred by the ear than by the eye." Homer

"The meaning of a word-to me-is not as exact as the meaning of a color." Georgia O'Keeffe

So how can you include the visual modality in your presentation? Bullet phrases on your slides? Think again! Visual people look at the phrases and try to create pictures to process the information. Help them out by showing product photos, diagrams that illustrate how the information fits together, and clear and relevant charts. Include stories to help visual listeners create a picture in their mind. They also like props and real products they can examine.

Show an agenda before the presentation starts. And finally, handing out an outline of your talk helps the visual person follow along and see where you are in the agenda at every point in the talk.

Now that you know how to treat your audience, think about how YOU like to receive and process information. If you are visually oriented, you probably create your presentations to satisfy your visual need. You have a neat office with perhaps a whiteboard on your wall, pens and paper handy to write down words and images. Visual types, be careful that you don't create your whole presentation with photos and images! Don't neglect content organization and leave out slides focused on your presentation's objective and story line.

FOR PRESENTERS:

PERSUASIVE TIPS FROM TRAIL LAWYERS

The National Law Journal (www.NLJ.com) issued a special section on trial lawyers. Here are a few of their ideas that I believe presenters could use:

¨ Develop the other side's best case first. Talk about your competition as well as you talk about your own product. Be prepared to discuss all the objections someone may raise about your ideas better than the person raising them.

¨ Find an emotional hook. To win a case, many lawyers find an emotional issue to present to the jury. The case can't be just about facts.

¨ Be gentle with the witnesses. When someone disagrees with you, don't box that person into a corner and make him or her feel stupid. Even if you plan to show that the person is wrong, do it gently. Everyone will see through what the person is saying if you present a convincing case.

¨ Excise all jargon from testimony. Jargon mostly confuses people. Unless your audience all knows the terms, don't use them. Also, if someone in the audience starts talking in jargon, try to get the person to talk in ordinary language so everyone can understand.

More tips next month.

FOR DESIGNERS:

THE OPENING SLIDE

A good opening slide can make or break a presentation. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to entice the audience to know more. Putting a photo on the first slide is a frequent strategy, but often they just sit squarely on the slide. That's boring-it won't entice your audience. How do you make a photo look interesting? And how do you do that when you have very little time?

Go to www.crystalgraphics.com to examine their products called PowerPlugs: PhotoActive FXI and PowerPlugs: PhotoActive FXII. See their examples of still and animated photo effects. I've found that some of the effects make a product shot look much more interesting.

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:

Presenters

Put something in your presentations for visual types.

Designers

Make your photos more interesting.

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS:

FEEDING YOUR AUDIENCE-AND YOURSELF

Craig Joyce writes:

Food and water are VERY important to a good presentation. At our cabling classes we supply food and refreshments, including homemade breads and muffins. Rarely do I indulge since I exist on a vegetable, nuts, and protein diet exclusively before and during my presentations. Also, I believe coffee and soda are a no-no. They, like improper eating, can make you anxious and run on at the mouth. Water and only water is the best.

You may want to try another trick I use: organic raw almond butter at the breaks. It is easy to eat and is packed with good fat and protein. You could almost get through the entire day on it.

WEB SITE

Look at The Ten Steps quiz on your presentation abilities. Go to my site and then click on 10 Steps to Success on the left hand menu, then Rate Yourself or Rate Employees.

resentation 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.

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Enjoy!

Copyright 2001, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved.