TomG: Master your craft Engage with other Fools Provide influence
Or the checking iPhone/Blackberry equivilant
Columbia shuttle damaged post-launch, slide presented to stakeholders determining next steps Technicians knew it was great risk Let PowerPoint do the talking PowerPoint wasn’t very articulate
Let’s break down each of these into more detail…
Level What kinds of decisions do they make? Do they need to be here? Locus Around what do those decisions revolve? Leanings What pre-conceptions will they bring?
About the background? Do they know the jargon/acronyms? Do they understand the concepts? About the topic? Is this coming as a surprise? Does it have “topical baggage?” About you? Do they trust you? Are they familiar with your style? Is there a comfort level among the group?
Affect them It matters to them personally Affect their department It matters to their co-workers/managers Affect their company It matters to their organization as a whole Affect you If you appear uninterested, you will pass that along
Take notes Ask yourself some questions What do you know? What do you want people to do? How do you get them there? Get some feedback Bounce your ideas off of someone you trust What is the appropriate format ? Do I even need Powerpoint? Most memorable/impactful oration did not need PowerPoint Imagine Dr MLK provides slides of his Dream Lincoln needing PowerPoint to give the Gettsburg Address… hmm
This is the very reason you are meeting Clear, concise, yet comprehensive Resist temptation to do a “reveal” of your idea Purpose of meeting is not solidified Tendency to “flip to the answer page”
Don’t Make Them Think Open to interpretation is for fiction: Does the top wobble or stop spinning? Was there really a tiger in the boat? - Do not expect your audience to make the right conclusion Write it down; make it clear Call to Action Best outcome: Firm decision with action steps to get there Next best: No decision with action steps to make decision: Least best (aka “Worst”): No decision and no action steps Accountability - 1) Follow up e-mail, 2) check in for progress, add’l needs & blockers, 3) just trusting people
Get Organized - Create an outline - Read the outline - Get a feel for the flow Write a Story - Make it punchy - Stick to the main points and emphasize them Don’t omit critical information - No bonus points for length There may be penalties Keep your backup info handy - Appendices are great for this
Keep it Short Stick to Universals - If there are no universals on which to base an introduction, you and your audience are not ready for this meeting Gauge your Audience - Use your audience reconnaissance (back to reading)
What could possibly go wrong? Put yourself back in your Audience’s shoes What questions might they have that you haven’t answered? What additional questions will your material raise? Does it flow? Does it tell your story? Does it tell it well?
It’s about elimination because PowerPoint is so easy to abuse.
We’ll spend a little extra time in this first section cause it’s kinda my wheelhouse.
Wow, that’s noisy, and look he even has an iMac on the slide.
Clean, elegant, simple, focused. Apple’s personality comes out in it’s presentations.
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was shown a PowerPoint slide in Kabul last summer that was meant to portray the complexity of American military strategy, but looked more like a bowl of spaghetti. “ When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war,” General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.
Not really sure what’s the backstory behind this slide, but it’s a perfect example of design distraction because.. Yes, the pot of gold, WTF? Now, if you’ve seen me present, I typically go away from the TMF template and I do use a lot of imagery, but here’s the difference.
This slide was part of a series recapping notes from a conference. This is my personal style of no more than one line of text and preferable a single simple image. In this case, the turtle (as a metaphor) gives context to how I’m going to answer this posed question. Yes, many times over yes, and then I’ll talk about YSlow and Image Sprites and CSS minimization and all sorts of tech jargon that may lose some people, but if so, they can focus back on this slide and get the main point, we’re slow.
Here’s another from the same conference notes. - The image seems to be a non-sequiter or a distraction, right? but I’m going somewhere with this. I’m relaying a story about people being remarkably bad at predicting their own behavior. I tell how a fast food survey went out asking people about milkshakes. They responded they loved milkshake with dinner, but then later when statistical analysis was available it proved preferred between 7 – 9 AM. They treat themselves on the way to work. - When I recall this from the conference speaker, I think of it as the milkshake story, I want my audience to be able to pull it up in their memory quickly as the milkshake story. So, I emphasize my story with a big ol’ picture of a milkshake.
Compelling Content (Reading) Clearly Organized (Writing) Well Delivered (Riveting)
![One Fool’s Survival Guide to Presentations ,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/presentationspublic-110125104427-phpapp02/85/Guide-to-Giving-Presentations-1-320.jpg)
![Why are we here? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)