Making Presentations Better

Making Presentations Better
Helpful pieces I’ve learned over the years giving several hundred presentations to a wide variety of audiences.
http://bit.ly/randsprestips
By Rand Fishkin, September 2011

Getting Good at PresentationsTakes Serious Time
Rand really sucked when he started out.

I was at least this scared

Rule #1:No Bullet Point Slides!
Bullet
Points
Kill
Kittens

Look at this Lovely Slide. Amazing, right?
Do this one thing
Then do this other thing
Now do thing #3
And, finally, thing #4!
http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html
So painful! Why do you hate kittens?

Actually, you just pulled this trigger
You monster!

Next time, go with 4 separate slides
like these next 4:

Do This One Thing:
Screenshots of relevant tweets that illustrate your point are an easy way to add a visual

Then Do This Other Thing:
vs.
Comparing a “right” vs. “wrong” way on one slide (or two) is another great visual way to explain your points.

Now Do Thing #3
Long tail of video sites get 50% of all online video traffic/views!
Marketers love charts and graphs, particularly if you’ve made them personally but EVEN IF you just use something off the web! Screenshots of Google Analytics, for example 

And, finally, do thing #4
This Other Thing
This thing
A Third Thing
Using just the visuals of Powerpoint itself (boxes and arrows) still make for better, more informational slides than bullet points.

Rule #2:Make It Actionable!
Give me something I can do after seeing your slide that will improve my site/rankings/traffic/marketing

Who’s Mentioned You on Google+?
STEP 1: Click Notifications
STEP 2: Click Mentions
The action here is obvious – to find your mentions on Google+, you can follow the two arrows and get the list.

True Reach of RSS Content via Feedburner
On average, this many people actually read a post via feed
Again, an obvious action – use the “reach (on average)” number as a KPI for tracking your feed’s success (or lack thereof)

Rule #3:Make the Content Fit the Audience
When in doubt, always go for too advanced over too basic (but make sure to research attendees before you make your outline).

Beginner Audience? Walk Them Through Step by Step and Don’t Assume Knowledge:
Paid
Organic

Advanced Audience? Share Stuff They Haven’t Heard/Seen Before:
Many social marketers won’t yet have seen http://www.findpeopleonplus.com/

Rule #4:Craft a Narrative Arc
Loss -> Journey -> Test -> Return.
Just like middle school humanities class.

The Outline is the Place to Start
Inbound Marketing Outline
How Things Used to Be Sold
How Things are Sold Today
Marketers Have Been Left Behind
Why Inbound Rocks
Inbound Tactics
How to Measure
Story of Inbound Combining to Work
Loss
Journey
Test
Return
Another Narrative Embedded by Way of an Example Story
I like to make my outlines directly in Gmail, so I can access and edit anywhere.

Rule #5:Speak from the heart.
When you’re passionate about a topic, and have real emotion behind your data/tips, it shines through!

When you’re excited, they’re excited! (and no, you don’t need to wear a suit)

Rule #6:Making fun of the English = OK
Bollocks me MugglesHogswollop

Proper Tailoring
Sewn by Fashion Philistines
Necktie w/ Windsor Knot
Pasty white neck skin
Matching WaistCoat/Vest
Squishy Pinkness
Appropriate Sleeve Length
Coatsleeves that ends mid-forearm

My Personal Presentation Hacks
Warning: These may not work for everyone

Create Presentation Outline in Gmail:
I can now access my outline anywhere, even on my phone, and edit anytime I have a good idea for a topic or slide.

Build Empty Slides w/ Titles Only, Then Add Images, Screenshots or Text-Based Visuals
Empty just like this!
This gets the whole thing into Powerpoint, and then it’s merely a matter of finding the right images. Sometimes Geraldine even helps me find graphics!

My Slides Follow this Format:
Branding
Large Title
Visuals
Callouts w/ Arrows(omg, this is so meta!)
Roger’s words of wisdom (or a link)

Put My Slides on Slideshareand Tweet the Link Just Prior to Getting on Stage
Now, the retweet amplification from audience members can help to get the slide deck to go “hot” on Slideshare and make the homepage.

Create an easy-to-remember bit.ly link and put it on the front and last page of the slide deck.
Download this deck:
http://bit.ly/randsprestips
This way, the audience can easily get to the slide deck without having to search (and I have analytics about how many people clicked the link).

Re-use Presentation Content on the Blog
If it was good enough to present, it’s good enough to share. Plus, it keeps me disciplined to create useful, self-explanatory slides.

Never, Ever Practice
Via http://www.markstivers.com/wordpress/?p=291
This means my slides have to help carry me through the narrative arc and provide structure to the talk. It also eliminates any need for memorization.

Wait Until the Last Minute to Make the Deck
11:26pm last night 
Weird? Maybe, but if I leave myself 6 hours to create a slide deck, the maximum time it takes me is… 6 hours! If I start 3 weeks early, it might take dozens of hours.

Go Forth and Present!
And don’t worry if it takes you a few years to get good at this stuff.
Beep! 
Download: http://bit.ly/randsprestips

http://www.seomoz.org	17278
http://econsultancy.com	12226
http://www.distilled.net	7493
http://www.knoodle.com	4020
http://www.udemy.com	1692
http://www.simplyzesty.com	1682
http://www.presenterimpossible.com	1063
http://mollermarketing.com	815
http://www.strategyinternetmarketing.co.uk	739
http://paper.li	518
http://www.setalks.com	454
http://feeds.feedburner.com	428
http://www.reussirsespresentations.com	413
http://moz.com	334
http://slideshowclub.ru	315
http://www.socialtermite.com	236
http://www.corporateclassinc.com	194
http://stephenpratley.com	159
http://libguides.tts.edu.sg	100
http://192.168.15.50:8080	100
http://test.slideshowclub.ru	99
http://rodrigo.mantillan.es	99
http://localhost:8080	92
http://news.ms1.ru	83
http://www.business2community.com	75
http://staging.knoodle.com	71
http://apps.synaptive.net	53
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	51
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	48
http://192.168.15.50	35
http://www.mantillan.com	35
http://internetwebsitedesign.biz	31
http://77.103.132.143	30
http://www.boxado.com	28
http://twitter.com	26
http://bitly.com	23
http://durantbackpack.com	23
http://drupal.knoodle.com	22
http://blogging.collected.info	22
http://abtasty.com	21
http://trunk.ly	21
https://twitter.com	19
http://www.weebly.com	19
http://das.erfolgsebook.de	19
http://www.blablastuff.info	18
http://a0.twimg.com	18
http://stephenpratley.wordpress.com	17
http://ebcstg.edifixio.co.in	15
http://www.hanrss.com	15
http://seoreseller.collected.info	14
http://www.pcidsssecuritypolicy.co.uk	14

Making Presentations Better

by Rand Fishkin

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

158 Embeds 51,808

Statistics