Perfecting Impactful Presentations - ACE 2015
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Perfecting Impactful Presentations by Josh Paine and Cindy Allen, University of Georgia. Given at Association of Communication Excellence Conference in June 2015.
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Perfecting Impactful Presentations - ACE 2015
Editor's Notes
- Our goal today is to talk about ways to make your presentations better and what that involves. Focus on three areas: preparing the presentation, designing the presentation and delivering the presentation. Today we will spend more time on the preparation and design components. Folks are there to hear what you have to say -- not to read slides. With that in mind, we’re off…
- The boy scout motto, “Be prepared” can also be the overarching mantra for creating a good presentation. You’ve got to know where you are headed before you can get there. Like planning a vacation, need to prepare based on clear objectives. You wouldn’t go somewhere without any planning at all, so don’t start designing a presentation without planning. You’ve got to know where you’re going in order to pack the right stuff. In order to prepare, you need to be able to answer two questions….
- Who is your audience? Peers, students, clients, stakeholders. Ask yourself, “what does the audience need to get out of this?” If you’ve been asked to give a presentation to a group, ask your contact about the audience that will be in attendance.
- Why are you doing the presentation? To inspire, teach, inform, convince? May have more than one purpose. Our purpose is to share the basics of what to consider when making a presentation so that your audience will be happy they attended. Their time is valuable and it should be worthwhile – there should be a main takeaway or call to action with three key supporting points.
- Mastering the content is the essential when preparing for an effective presentation. You need solid content appropriate for your audience. Content determines what you communicate. I like the everything pizza metaphor to demonstrate how content can easily get out of hand. What if your audience is vegetarian? You’d leave the meat off. Generally when you’re presenting, you probably know much more about the subject than there is time to share. If you keep focused on who the audience is (beginner experts, some who has no knowledge of the subject,) and what they need, that will help you craft the “stuff” that goes on the pizza/in the presentation. Notion of “get the garbage out.” Get it all out there and be ruthless about what to needs to be included. No matter how great your delivery, or how professional and beautiful your supporting visuals, if your presentation is not based on solid content, you cannot succeed Try to make three main points just like there are three main pizza layers: dough, sauce and cheese. Other toppings are additional points, if there are too many, they get lost.
- Think about the order of the information presented. Organize it in a way that will make sense to the audience. Use note cards, sticky notes, word doc for outline, white board, whatever works for you. Think about one key point per slide.
- Slides aren’t your notes. Think of them as springboard for talking points and a visual cue/representation for the audience to help them remember what you’re saying. Limit bullet points, three is ideal. People should be listening to you, not reading text-heavy slides. If your presentation stands alone without your presence, what’s the point? If you have more to say than fits in the presentation, prepare a resource document for attendees that expands on content or resources. We will have one for you a the end of our presentation today.
- What is this elephant doing in the room? Moving on…
- Once you have honed your text and have it organized, flowing the way you think it should, then it is time to think about the design. Brainstorm, make word associations, “get the garbage out.” Take a walk, do something else and let your ideas marinate. There are three main things to address in the design phase: visuals, color and typography. The important thing to remember about each of these is that they support and enhance what you’re trying to communicate.
- First, let’s talk about visuals. Visuals include anything that help illustrate or show the audience (either conceptually or literally) the point you are making. I chose this image to represent the notion of visuals for four reasons: Visuals include photography and drawn art. This image is a photograph but it also contains drawn art (the tattoos). A nice way to show both. The image could be cropped so that the man’s eyes are covered by the word “visuals,” reinforcing the notion that visuals are to be looked at – and interpreted. The teacup is a conceptual representation of “nothing but the best,” like fine china. The image is memorable, perhaps even provocative. Can evoke an emotional response that engages the audience whether or not they like the image. “Nothing but the best” means using high-quality visuals. For photography that means good resolution and for graphics that means using eps files. I’ll explain each in the next few slides.
- Nothing but the best means… Use only high-resolution photographs. If all you have is a bad, low-quality image don’t use it. Think about other ways to represent your content. Think about cropping an image to make it more effective.
- This is a photo of Lake Lanier taken in 2008 when Georgia was in a terrible drought. It ran in the Washington Post and when I saw it, I knew I wanted to use it in a magazine story that I was doing on the drought. The reason: it make a strong VISUAL ARGUMENT. These are boat ramps no where near the water. Visual argument is the idea that images can make a case for something without words. The point is to be intentioned about choosing images. Use images that best support what you are trying to communicate.
- By “graphics,” I mean visuals that are not photographs. Also known as line art. Photographs are pixel-based, measured in dots per inch whereas graphic art is not. So, when using graphics, use the EPS file format. Because, infinitely scalable and transparent background. Explain.
- Charts can be seen as a subgroup of graphics. We want to emphasize that using the right type of chart is imperative for enhancing your message. It’s important to use the right tool for the right job. Talk about visual argument again. Let’s take a look at the different basic charts and what they should be used for.
- Use to show percentages. Limit number in the pie to five or six. Make an “other” category if needed to encompass additional piece. Think about the point you are trying to make and choose the appropriate chart.
- Use horizontal bar chart show changes in quantity. It’s easy to see from this cheese tray which one is most popular. Consider showing the unknowing your chart and see if they can tell you what it is showing. If folks can’t, then you may need a different type of chart. Or there may be a better way to make your point. Remember, visuals are there to support your content. Similarly, if a chart makes you look bad, don’t use it. Don’t use a chart simply to fill space.
- Use vertical bar charts to compare quantity. Some chocolates are also more popular than others. Again, think about what chart format best makes your point.
- Use line charts to show trends. Think stock charts. Stock charts whose lines go up are much better than those that go down. Make sure the news you share in a line chart is news you want to share. Okay, we’ve talked about visuals: photography and graphics. Let’s talk briefly about color…
- Color is complicated. Like your words and visuals, the color in your presentation should be intentioned. If possible, it should support your message. It should not distract from your message, by making things hard to read for example. Like words, less is more.
- Limit the palette. Two-three colors ideal. If using color photography and color, use colors that work with the images.
- Think contrast not color. Good contrast means readability. Good old UGA red and black. Two colors that do not contrast well with each other because their values are similar.
- Worried that you don’t have good contrast? Print in black and white and see if you can read/see it.
- Better!
- Yes! The last part of our design chat will be about typography.
- Type should be readable by the audience. So it needs to be big enough. Use one typeface.
- Two type styles. Pick one family and choose two readable members. One typeface can have many styles (members) Styles: bold, book, italic, bold italic, semibold, etc.
- Use a sans-serif typeface for readability. Explain: feet vs. no feet Arial, Gil Sans, Formata, Frutiger, Futura, Univers
- What is this elephant doing back in the room? Hmmm…
- Now that Cindy’s covered the design basics, let’s talk about the tools. We’ll hit the high points of the ones we use and are familiar with.
- Haiku deck was built around presentation tips recommended by experts. Keep it simple by limiting text and focusing on a single idea. Make it beautiful with impactful visuals and keeping format consistent. Most of all, have fun. Presentations should be fun to make and listen to. Haiku Deck was our choice for this presentation and was simple to use. Why? It’s free to create an account. You can make your presentations public, restricted (only people with link can see) or private (only you can see). 35 million High-quality image database available or easily import photos from social media/other places. Pre-set fonts/themes are available that look clean and modern. Simple charts/info-graphics. Can be seen online or exported into a PDF or PowerPoint It’s fun to use something different – gets you to think out of the box a little more.
- Pros: -Edit your photos in the app. -Equipped with presenter view and can be used on a single screen for 2013 version for practicing -Share and save to the cloud, can collaborate with others Powerpoint 2013 for PC: -More choices for getting started -smart guides help you align objects equally Powerpoint for Mac is still good, but doesn’t have the updated features like 2013.
- For Mac users, Keynote comes with the OSX Yosemite for free, $20 otherwise Pros: -You can work between Mac and iOS devices and collaborate with PowerPoint users. For devout Mac users, it’s a solid choice over PowerPoint. -More advanced transition and animation effects for advanced users -More than 30 new and updated themes -It’s a more streamlined user interface than PowerPoint
- It’s a wide-open canvas on which you can draw your ideas spatially, and then present them by zooming and panning all over the canvas. Used well, the end result feels cinematic and engaging in a way traditional presentations rarely are. If used poorly, it creates a motion sickness effect and distracts your audience from what you’re actually saying. Pros: -50 templates that make complex presentation simple -Easily insert YouTube videos Accounts: Public (free) 100 MB of cloud storage. They are searchable, accessible and reusable by anyone. EDU “Enjoy” (free) 4GB of cloud storage Click on “learn and support” for many tutorials and videos to help you make a great prezi. Just beware, what seems like a simple app may get you in deeper and more time consuming than you’re expecting.
- As you’re working with the design tools and layout of your presentation, fight the urge to use unnecessary and distracting things like bizarre/irrelevant transitions, animations, sounds, etc. Just because your presentation software lets you do something doesn’t mean you should. Everything about your presentation should have a purpose. Avoid the superfluous.
- Really? I guess we’ll have to address this guy soon.
- Remember, you’re the center of attention NOT your slides.
- The first two or three minutes of your presentation are really important. You’ll either have the audience with you or they’ll check out. It’s like a good book or TV show, once you’re hooked at the beginning you can’t stop paying attention. Engage them (poll, ask them to raise hand/move, close eyes and think…something active) Tell a story or ask a question and quickly relate it to your main idea. Treat everyone with respect.
- Always keep eye contact with individuals in the audience. It’s OK to use presenter view on a computer, but don’t turn your back to the audience and read your slides. Step away from the podium. Use a remote. Use a laser to point out salient material on slide. Do something that ‘wow’s your audience or makes them laugh. Think about props.
- Leave the audience wanting more from you – not wishing you were done. Leave them with something they can use. Useful handouts or takeaway.
- Did you guess it? Here’s one BIG takeaway. It takes TIME to prepare for your audience and purpose, TIME to design with the right tools and TIME to practice delivery for a successful presentation. Knowing these three things will lead you down the right path. The brain needs TIME to develop and hone ideas. The good news is, you’ll feel more prepared and relaxed. The stakes of the presentation should be relevant to the TIME needed to prepare it. Honesty time: When did everyone start working on their ACE presentation?