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 September 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. Testimonials from the last seminar: "Claudyne customized her recommendations for each individual." "This is the best, absolute best training I have attended." Dates: September 24 and 25, 2003, and November 4 and 5, 2003 Location: Boston by the Fleet Center Time: 9 to 5 Cost: $650, with a refund if you are not happy 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. PRESENTERS THE IMPORTANCE OF EYE CONTACT For the next few months I am going to discuss misconceptions people have about how to behave in front of an audience. Eye contact is so important. Many people say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Your looking at people tells them you want to connect, to engage, to share yourself with them for this time. When a presenter starts to talk to each person, the audience sits up, pays attention, and "feels" that they are important. Eye contact will calm you down as you notice that people are paying attention, nodding and smiling. You appear truthful, sincere, genuine, and honest when you really look at people. Misconception 1: Not looking: If I don't really look at the audience, they may not look at me. I can just pretend no one is there. Reality: People are looking at you. They came to hear your talk. You need to look back to acknowledge their presence and respect their time and intention of sitting through your talk. Misconception 2: Scanning: Scanning the audience is the best way to keep everyone in my line of vision. Reality: When you scan an audience and look over their heads, you aren't really paying attention to anyone. You really need to look at each person for the count of two to three. You are talking to real people who want to "feel" that you are interested in speaking to them. That is why they came. Misconception 3: Ending on notes: I can't end my sentences looking at someone. I have to see what is next on my slide or in my notes. Reality: When you end your sentences looking at someone, the person "feels" that you are confident, taking your time and enjoying the talk. If you don't maintain eye contact at the end of each sentence, you appear harried, anxious to get out of the room, and unsure of your material. A final tip: Say "you" like you mean it: We've all been to presentations where the executive speaking reads the opening, "So happy to see you all today" without looking up from the notes. In certain parts of a speech, if the speaker does not look at the audience, delivery appears forced and fails to engage the audience. Always look at someone when saying "you." That is the least you can do. CONVINCE PEOPLE OF A PROBLEM 1. The situation 2. Problems with the situation 3. Areas affected by the situation 4. The underlying problem 5. Potential solutions 6. Next steps HERE'S A POWERPOINT EXAMPLE (a situation I often see) 1. The situation Everyone does their own slides, and many don't use the slide master. People who create the company slide design looks have not seen enough presentations to realize that their designs usually do not work. 2. Problems with the situation People waste hours of their and their company's time. By not using the slide master, every slide is a new creation - now there's a real time waster! And, despite hours of time, the slides do not look professional. Colors are done so that text is not readable. Animations get in the way of the message. 3. Areas affected by the situation People's productivity is down because they spend time needlessly creating slides. The message of the presentation is sacrificed because the focus was on design rather than on communication. Without a slide master, slides cannot easily be shared. People have no time to practice out loud before a presentation. 4. The underlying problem People know how to use some of the PowerPoint features, but many do not use the slide master. They need to learn how to create effective slides. Because the company has not given its people formats for organizing content or different slide design looks, everyone is reinventing the wheel. 5. Potential solutions Create formats for organizing different kinds of presentations. Provide good slide designs. Teach a course on Creating Persuasive Presentations Using PowerPoint. 6. Next steps Find out how much time people think they are wasting as they create their slides. Ask audiences what they really think of the slides. DESIGNERS THE BACKGROUND OF A SLIDE I was recently telling a client about my views on slide backgrounds and thought I'd share them with you. Here are some points to consider as you decide what you want for a background. The background must... Enhance your company's image. Make sure your company is portrayed in a positive, upbeat manner. Ask: "Does this slide give a good feeling about our company?" If you are a financial company, for example, you don't want to use red as a background color. If you are selling your competence and organizational skills, you want a clear, crisp look. Capture the brand you are portraying. Help the presenter present. If the background is too busy, the presenter (to say nothing of the audience!) doesn't know where to look. If it's boring, presenters will lose interest in their own presentation. They won't even want to look at the slides. Entice the audience to look. Some slides are so distracting, with awful color combinations, that the audience prefers to look away. MONTHLY CHALLENGE PRESENTERS: Really look at your audience as soon as you start. The same idea applies when you are in a meeting. Look at the people attending when you are talking. DESIGNERS: Make sure your background enhances your company's or department's image. 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 SLIDE EXAMPLE HOW TO PRESENT A NEW SERVICE 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.