"Where Do We Go From Here" in Presentations?

So today we come to our final post in this series about skilled presentations.And we want to address the question – “where do we go from here”?We have covered a lot of the essentials of good presentations, and we hope you have found them interesting. But how do we now follow through with this? It’s always good to get excited about new ideas and suggestions, but so easily that enthusiasm can be dented when you get in to the real world.It was John Maynard Keynes who said ““The difficulty lies, not in new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones”. In other words – you can see and ‘accept’ new ideas and new ways of working, but when it comes to ’the crunch’ it’s always easier to go back to the way we have always done it.50% of people who hear new ideas will adopt them; 50% will revert to their old ways.Which are you?What will you do about these ideas we have presented to you?Here’s some more statistics to think about:We remember:90 % of what learn when we use it immediately75% of what we learn when we practice what we learn50% of what we learn when we discuss it with othersSee the point? USE what you have learnt NOW! Try it and see how it works for you.Take time to practice.Then talk about it to others.I always recommend you form a little ‘presenters club’ within your company. Then whenever you have a new presentation coming up, you get your fellow ‘members’ together and say “Look, will you listen to my presentation and give me honest feedback? Then when you have a presentations I’ll do the same for you?” That can be most helpful.Also make it a continuous learning process. Don't just stop here. Do more research; read articles; subscribe to Google Alerts and use keywords such as “presentations” “PowerPoint” and so on so that you get links to all the latest information.When I first started making presentations we user transparent slides in cardboard frames on a floor-standing projector with a very noisy motor. Nowadays we use the computer and a beamer. But there are new developments coming up all the time. (Have you looked at Prezi for instance? http://prezi.com/). Keep up to date and use whatever aids that you feel will enhance the audience’s listening experience (but DON’T let them take over YOUR job!).I hope with all this advice you will never be in the situation a famous presenter was once when he was asked to do a presentation with 5 minutes notice.He got up and said to the audience:“Ladies and gentlemen – you and I have one thing in common – neither of us knows what on earth I am going to say next!”I know that this will never happen to you since you will be GREAT AND SKILLED PRESENTERS!

Posted on: 26 June 2012 | 10:37 am

Summary of the Skilled Presenter

We are now getting very near the end of our blog on the Skilful Presenter.Before we do let’s have a summary of what we have covered. See if we can highlight the main points.Do you remember these?GENERALLearning patterns:  Differentiate between 'left brain (intellectual) needs and `right' brain (creative) skills. Facts are not enough!Viewpoint: Always prepare and present from the audience's point of view — What's In it For ThemNervousnes:  Needed, but should be controlled. Be well prepared, rehearse well, have right mental attitude. Be physically at easeDELIVERYFirst impressions: Make early contact with audience. Take possession of room. Be friendly Eye contact; smileBody language: Ensure everyone is met with eye contact appropriate to cultureVoice quality: Essential for impact. Use descriptive and emphatic gestures to underline key pointsBe positive     Project voice. Use variety of Pitch, Pace, Power and Pausing to make it    interesting for listenersEnthusiasm shown in whole manner. Don't use negative phrases (appropriate to culture)PREPARATIONResearch audience: What is their level of knowledge/interest in subjectEstablish objective: What do you want to achieve? Inform, convince or motivate?Brainstorm main points: How do you reach your objective? Maximum 5 main pointsAnticipate objections Plan the timing: Establish length of each point including questions etc. Does it fit?Golden Rule: "Tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; tell them what you've told them"Introductions: Have something to grab attention — plan!Signposts: "That was my first point, now let me move on to my next"Conclusion: Conclude with call to action, or 'ask for order'. Have impactVisual aids: Decide at this point what visual aids (if any) are needed to support your argumentsUse of notes: Have key points on suitable cards to keep on trackRehearsal: Never present without rehearsal to fine tune MANAGEMENTTime and location: Check equipment, be early, check seatingVisual aids: Make sure you lead presentation, not overheads! Use good design skillsThe audience: Ignore latecomers (maybe short summary if decision maker); use silence to quieten whisperersQuestions: Use "reflect" and "deflect" techniques for difficult onesSo there we have it. There's just one question left - where do we go from here?Come back tomorrow and find out.

Posted on: 25 June 2012 | 10:46 am

Culture & Presentations - Part 2

Let’s continue our discussion about the effects of culture on presentations.Have a look at these two ads (very old style I must say).What do you notice about them? One is for the GERMAN national airline Lufthansa. And you will notice here there’s a lot of supporting text and specific numbers. Why? Because Germans are what are called “low risk takers” – in other words they need a lot of content and facts before making decision.On the other hand the ad for the FRENCH national airline, Air France, is just a picture and few words. Why? Because they are lower risk takers and love to romance ideas and concepts.Why do you need to know this as a presenter? Because when presenting to low risk-taker nations you need to provide a lot of supporting facts and statistics (that’s right, left brain stuff). For low risk takers, it’s the ideas and concepts that should take priority!So peruse that list from the last post and see what you can discover about the various nationalities you may need to present to. And look at the words that we have italicized. THEY are areas that you need to think about ahead of the upcoming presentation to people of that nationality group.One thing to bear in mind though – these are NATIONAL characteristics. That means to say that not every individual conforms to that ‘type-casting’ anymore that everyone of your own nationality is the same. These are underling characteristics but for all sort of reasons each individual can vary somewhat from the ‘norm’. So that undermines even further the earlier contention that you need to know you audience in advance.So let's say you have an upcoming presentation to a specific nationality group. You need to know more, but you don’t know how to get that information.For instance: is it OK to use first names on the first meeting? Should a woman wear trousers or a skirt? What about shaking hands etc etc. All important information that could make a difference to how the message is received.Well here are some web sites that may help you:http://www.worldbiz.comwww.executiveplanet.comwww.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.htmlThey will give you some background information that will make that cross-cultural presentation that much better.

Posted on: 22 June 2012 | 11:15 am

Culture & Presentations - Part 1

Today we are going to be talking about the effects of culture on our presentations.Now this is a very big subject, and not one that we can cover in detail here, but we will touch on why you need to take this into account when preparing a presentation.Culture is all pervasive and affects all that we do. Our decision making processes, how we interact with others, and how we communicate our message, are all deeply affected by culture.As a very simple example: I am British but lived 13 years of my life in Sweden, and now live in Ireland. It’s very easy to draw the conclusion that they are three cultures which are very close to each other, and therefore communications shouldn’t be a problem.Nothing could be further from the truth!For instance:  Swedes in business are very consensus-minded. In other words, everyone concerned is involved in the decision-making process. The Brits, although involved in the decision-making, have the final decision made by the boss.In Swedish there is no real word for “please” so in speaking English, if asked the question “would you like some of this?" will answer simply “yes”, instead on the British “yes please” and thus the Swede comes over as rude.In Ireland, time is not as important as human relationships. Therefore getting something done on time is not a priority as it is in many other countries, leading to all sorts of frustrations, as you could imagineSo these types of things need to be taken in to account if you are presenting across cultures.Take a look at the following document.Note in particular the bottom line “Attention span”. It is vital to know this because this is the length of time at which that culture (in general) begins to lose attention.Why should that be? Well some cultures (notably Latin-based) are multi-taskers – they can do a number of things at the same time, whereas others (Northern Europeans, North Americans) are single-taskers. As a result the multi-taskers have a shorter attention span.How does this affect our presentations? Simply that we need to make changes of pace or take breaks at more frequent intervals for some audiences than for others.This is represented here in this chart and the distance between the ‘low points’ is the attention span of your audience. Ignore this at your peril!In our next post we will develop this theme a bit more – please keep a copy of the list of countries (above) for the post.

Posted on: 21 June 2012 | 10:33 am

Managing Questions - Part 2

Today’s blog will probably be quite short but it covers a very important point which we raised yesterday.Here you are at question time, you now say “so are there any questions?” ... and you are greeted with silence!How embarrassing! So what can you do?Well firstly, we need to understand why there are no questions.Could it be because you’ve done such a good job in your presentation that you’ve covered everything? Great if you have – but very unlikely!The most likely reason is because very often everyone has questions but no-one wants to be the first to ask it. It’s some sort of ‘herd instinct’ in many cultures.So there are two ways of dealing with that.The first, if it is a big gathering, is to ‘plant’ a colleague in the audience and say to him/her: ’look, if no-one asks a question, would you mind asking this one?’. The beauty of that is that at least you know the answer to it! And once someone has asked a question, the rest are more likely to start raising questions too.The alternative way to handle it is this way: “So are there any questions ... (suitable pause) ... for instance you may be wondering ........” and you raise a hypothetic question which you proceed to answer (again you know the answer). You then say “now are there any more questions?” If there are – great. If there aren’t – still no embarrassment because you appear to have dealt with one.Easy!And don't t forget one last point (mentioned in an earlier blog) – don't finish with the end of question time – do have a ‘big finish’ or conclusion to finally bring the presentation to an end.There’s just one more topic we need to deal with before we finish this series of blog posts and that’s the effect of culture on presentations. Come back soon to find out all about that.

Posted on: 20 June 2012 | 10:08 am

Managing Questions - Part 1

In today’s blog we are going to be talking about Managing Questions.And in fact there are really only two types of questions:Questions you know the answers to; andQuestions you don't now the answers to!The first one is easy – answer them!The second is more difficult and that’s what we will be spending time on now.If the question is a genuine question but you don’t know the answer, the simple solution is to say “I don’t know the answer to that but I will find out and come back to you”Personally I also add another sentence to that “.. and if I forget, will you remind me?” So if I do forget and you forget too – who is to blame?(Mind you if you have a lot of questions that you can’t answer, it might be time to question whether or not it should be you who is doing this presentation!!)BUT there are other types of questions among those you don’t know the answer to. There’s the question where the questioner is just being awkward – wants to trip you up.Or the type where the questioner wants to show off how much they know themselves (and make you look bad into the bargain.)So I have developed a couple of useful techniques that might help you in this situation.I call them:REFLECT.  So it goes like this “Thank you very much for that question. Before i answer may I ask - what’s your own views about that?”. What that does is (a) allow the questioner to get things of his chest ad (b) gives you a few more seconds to think of an answer.DEFLECT. There are two versions of this  -the nice one and the nasty one.Nasty one first: “Thanks very much for your question. John, you’re the expert on that – what do you think?” Now if John is the expert, then all well and good; if he isn’t – you have probably made an enemy for life!Nice version now: “Thank you very much for that question – does anyone here have any views on that?” -  and see if the audience has any answers. If they don’t and you don’t – well that’s not so bad is it?One word of caution  with questions – do make sure you have understood the question correctly! You could spend 5 minutes developing an answer for the questioner then to say “well that's not exactly what I meant”. So with a long question it is best to say “so if I understand you correctly you are asking .....” and paraphrase what you think is the question  so that you can confirm you have understood correctly.Now what can sometimes happen is that you say “now are there any questions?” and you are met with a deafening silence. How do you deal with that?Come back tomorrow for the answer.

Posted on: 19 June 2012 | 10:15 am

Managing the Audience

We can now address the topic of “Managing the Audience”(As I always say – ‘wouldn’t presentations be much easier if we didn’t have an audience!’).And we will cover such things as: Dealing with latecomersDealing with talkers/whisperersManaging question timeDealing with latecomersThis can be particularly annoying when you are well in to your stride, and then people drift in to the presentation without a word of apology. And this can be particularly disturbing if the latecomer includes a decisions-maker whose attention you wanted to get.So how to deal with that?First and foremost – don’t lose control – and don't make them feel embarrassed.Saying something like: “glad you could make it” or “alarm clock didn’t go off?” will hardly endear you to the latecomer AND it will surely turn the rest of the audience on to their side since you have antagonised one of their members.So, if it’s at all possible, just ignore them. They should be embarrassed anyway (though likely not). If their finding a seat disturbs others, then just pause for a moment.However if they are decision makers you may have had some very telling points in your presentation before they arrived. What to do about that?May be try this ‘trick’: (without looking at them specifically) “so let’s summarize what we have covered so far” (as if this were for the whole audience, but in fact is for the benefit of the latecomers.). That can work well.Now what about talkers/whisperers? Annoying isn’t it!First of all identify what is actually happening. You see if I make a point in my presentation and one member of the audience turns to another and says “that was interesting wasn't it –maybe we can use that”-them I’m quite happy about that – they are listening and benefiting! No-one needs to feel offended by that.But if it is a totally different agenda, or goes on for any length of time, then you have a problem,The first tactic to try is just to stop speaking for a moment. What happens then is all you can hear are the talkers, and the rest of the audience will then probably be on your side and against them.If that doesn’t work, and you can be sure that the rest of the audience are also finding it annoying then you can say, very politely: “I wonder if you would mind leaving the discussion until afterwards as we are finding it a little distracting aren’t we?” (turning towards the other members of the audience).Finally, managing question time?Well let’s just bring together what we have mentioned before:Decide in advance when question time will beTell the audience how long it will beFinish at the end of the allotted timeMake sure you have a good conclusion after the question time.(We will be dealing with difficult questions in the next section “Managing Questions).

Posted on: 18 June 2012 | 10:58 am

Managing the Visual Aids - Part 4

We want to continue our discussion of the Managing of Visual Aids now by considering a few tips and tricks when to comes to using PowerPoint in the best possible way.How often do you see people using PowerPoint who have moved on to a new point but still have the previous slide showing? Annoying isn’t it?So what can you do?Well there’s a couple of ways of dealing with that.One way is to use the ‘B’ key on your keyboard. What does that do? It projects a “black” slide on to the screen – effectively showing a blank screen (If you press ‘W’ it projects a white picture but who wants that?)  If you hit ‘B’ again it returns you to the slide you were already at.A better way of handling that is to make every other slide a black slide (create a rectangle, fill it with black and stretch it to slightly over the edges of the PowerPoint slide). Then you can arrange to fade out one slide in to the black slide when you have finished with it, and then fade in to the next one when you are ready. That looks very professional!It’s also worth knowing that if you know the number of all the slides in your presentation you can actually quickly move forward or backward to any one by entering that number on the keyboard and pressing ENTER.Are you aware too that if you save PowerPoint as a PowerPoint SHOW instead of a PowerPoint  PRESENTATION,  it will immediately open full screen without you having to click on the little button at the bottom, to do that?Hyperlinks are also very useful tools in PowerPoint. Let’s say, for example that you have a presentation, and sometimes, but not always, a question comes up and you have a slide that answers that question.  Then put a hyperlink on the main slide, pointing to the second, and IF the question is asked, click and go there; if it isn’t , move on as normal (Just one little thing to bear in mind when using hyperlinks is to make sure you have a return link back to the original slide otherwise you will be stuck on the extra one! Not very funny).Hyperlinks can be useful too if you have a number of different presentations that have common opening slides. Why not have a hyperlink on the last of the common slides to the first slide of each of the following sequences so you can move to them as needed? May save some time.Finally, if you have need to send your slides to someone else, use the  ‘Publish/Package for CD’ option on the menu so that you save the fonts as well as the material if you have used fonts that maybe the other person doesn’t have.In our next post we can take a little time to talk about animations in PowerPoint.

Posted on: 15 June 2012 | 12:10 pm

Managing the Visual Aids - Part 3

We mentioned earlier that we should try to use good pictures/graphics in our slidesSo let’s talk about where we can find them.Firstly,  a good source – and for free – is Google Images PROVIDED you use them properly and legally.How to do that?Follow these screen shots carefully so that you wind up only selecting from those that are free to use commercially, and you will therefore avoid any copyright issues.Shot 1Shot 2Shot 3Shot 4Flickr is similar inasmuch you can use some photos for free if they are so licensed, and often if you give accreditation to the owner.However there a number of sites where you can get excellent, quality pictures that can be used in any context at very good prices – often as little as 1 USD each!Two of these that I personally use are:Fotolia: www.fotolia.comiStock Photo:  www.istockphoto.com.However a Google search for free royalty free images will reward you with a host of sites to choose from – it’s well worth effort!

Posted on: 14 June 2012 | 10:04 am

Managing theVisual Aids - Part 2

Let’s talk today about designing PowerPoint slides.Firstly let’s mention the FOUR components that make up a good slide:COLOR: essentially black text on a white background is NOT a good idea. It is a fact that this is the worst combination for memory retention by listeners. So try to use some nice combinations of backgrounds and text (most of the available templates in PowerPoint do a reasonable job on that so you can mostly follow their suggestions).GRAPHICS: the old adage “a picture paints a thousand words” is never more true than in the area of slides. As discussed in an earlier blog, a picture will do far more for a slide than hundreds of words will. As someone once said “words are to listen to, pictures are to look at. Don't get them confused!.USE FEW WORDS: if you HAVE to put text on – there is no need to write complete sentences. Instead of “The results for the past year show an increase of 23%”can just be “Past year = 23%”. Or even better – just “23% “in large text so there’s a curiosity factor.KEEP IT SIMPLE – remember you are putting over CONCEPTS with slides.  These are NOT handouts or working documents – they are IDEAS and as such should be kept simple.On the subject of simplicity what about these two quotations that say it so well:“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo daVinci“Everything should be made as simple as possible,  but not simpler.” - Albert EinsteinThey say it all!Let me now share a few examples with you.Firstly, look at this Excel spreadsheet.Ugly isn’t it? But by a little amount of extra work you can have the next slide which has exactly the same information, but in a way that’s far easier to grasp. Now compare the next two slides.The first (with thanks to Garr Reynolds and “Presentation Zen” for the concept – a recommended good read) tells the whole story. The second piques the curiosity doesn’t it and requires you as a presenter, to explain it. THAT’S exactly what you should be doing with your slides – don’t say everything on the slide – let them wait for YOU to explain them.As an amusing, but instructive story about how one can simplify things, let me repeat this example from something told to Garr Reynolds by one of his students:When you talked about reducing the text on the slides, I was reminded of a story from my childhood in India. When Vijay opened his store he put up a sign that said "We Sell Fresh Fish Here." His father stopped by and said that the word "We" suggests an emphasis on the seller rather than the customer, and is really not needed. So the sign was changed to "Fresh Fish Sold Here." His brother came by and suggested that the word "here" could be done away with -- it was superfluous. doing?" Later, his neighbor stopped by to congratulate him. Then he mentioned that all passers-by could easily tell that the fish was really fresh. Mentioning the word fresh actually made it sound defensive as though there was room for doubt about the freshness. Now the sign just read: "FISH." As Vijay was walking back to his shop after a break he noticed that one could identify the fish from its smell from very far, at a distance from which one could barely read the sign. He knew there was no need for the word "FISH."Can you do that with your slides?In our next blog I want to talk a little about where you can get  those graphics to put in your slides.

Posted on: 14 June 2012 | 6:32 am

Managing the Visual Aids - Part 1

So now let’s move on to another area of managing a presentation – Managing the Visual Aids.In view of the many aspects of this it will probably take a few posts to cover it fully.So let’s first of all talk about the various visual aids available and how to handle them.A PHYSICAL OBJECT: that’s always the best visual aid – people can see and touch. However if you are going to pass it round you need to be aware that, in common with handouts, you will lose the audience’s attention while it is being handed round. So either (a) show it and say it will be available for inspection after the presentation, or (b) hand it round and just wait while people look at it (or just speak in general terms while that’s going on).FLIP CHART: a very useful but underused visual aid. It’s a dynamic aid inasmuch as things are happening on it as you write and that raises the attention level. Just one word of caution: don’t talk and write at the same time. Write first, talk afterwards. If you talk while you write you will not get full attention, and your volume will suffer too. So write a few things, turn round, talk to the audience, then turn back and write a bit more.WHITEBOARD: the same comments as the flip chart apply here as well. But there is one little trick I’ve seen done which can be every effective. And that’s to project a slide on to the whiteboard and then draw annotations on to the projected picture. Very effective!POWERPOINT: despite my earlier warnings and comments, this can still be a very effective tool. BUT it must be used with caution (see earlier posts). Two words of warning apply here:Firstly, do not become the “button pusher.” In other words. Don't let PowerPoint do all the talking. Introduce a slide by saying something like: “So how did we do last year? Let’s have a look at these figures” (then press button).The other way round (slide leads, you follow) sends out the wrong message.Secondly, if you do need to point to the screen (avoid if you can) then don’t turn back to face the screen, step backwards until you are level with the screen and point sideways to the slide so you are still face on to the audience.OK – that’s the introduction to managing visual aids. In our next post we will talk about designing good PowerPoint slides.

Posted on: 12 June 2012 | 10:22 am

Managing the Location - Part 2

We now move on to our second discussion of Managing the (Time and) LocationFirst let’s talk about timing.We have already discussed in the preparation section how to plan your presentation so it fits in the available time. But one thing we didn’t discuss was the taking of breaks and the attention span of your audience.Attention span of an audience can depend on a number of factors, including culture and the climate!It’s obvious that if you have a warm room with a lot of people and no air conditioning, you will get a sleepy audience. But less obvious is the fact that certain cultures who are multi-taskers (usually Latin countries) need to take more frequent breaks than single-taskers, North American and North European, who can take longer between breaks. (We will talk about culture and presentations a little later in this blog).So the secret is:  PLAN the breaks!Not only that – tell people in advance when they will be, and when announcing the breaks do NOT say “please be back in 15 minutes” because that will be 30 minutes everyone will take. Instead say “please be back in your sets by 10:30” (It will still be 10:35 by the time everyone is seated but at least that’s better than 15 minutes late!).Secondly a brief word about sound equipment.In most cases you will not need that, but in a seminar or conference or larger gathering then it will be necessary to amplify your voice.If it’s a stand mike – then don’t move too far away from it since people will miss what you say. If it’s a clip-on button mike – much better since you can be free to move around, BUT do make sure that you have it switched off after you finish. (There’s a possibly apocryphal story about a man who gave a lecture using a clip-on mike, who then got down and didn’t switch it off. He then went to the toilet .... and the rest is history !!!!)So I can only repeat what  I have said several time already in this section :Don’t leave anything to chanceGive  yourself more time than you think you need to set everything upMurphy’s Law WILL happen!Don’t lose your cool whatever the provocation.Next we move in to Managing the Visual Aids.

Posted on: 11 June 2012 | 6:52 am

Managing the Location - Part 1

So let’s start our discussion of managing your presentation with Managing the Location.And that means essentially getting there not just ‘in time’ but actually ahead of time.(This is assuming you are presenting in a location away from your normal premises. But even if on ‘home ground’ many of these points apply anyway.)The worst thing you can do is to turn up for a presentation with no time to spare. You want to get there to make sure that everything is where you want it to be and all the equipment is in working order.Often the biggest problem we have as presenters is getting our laptops to ‘talk’ to the projector/beamer and nothing is more frustrating to an audience than a presenter who spends half the time fiddling to get the projector to show his slides! So do that before he audience get there!Think too about compatibility of equipment. If you are in Europe you will find that nearly every country has a different electrical socket configuration, and if you are travelling between the USA and Europe you will find there are even different voltages (220/240v for Europe, 110 for USA). Have you planned for that? Will everything work as it should?At the location, will the beamer show the picture at the right size or will you need to move it closer or further away from the screen? I frequently use a video camera in my courses whereby I can record and playback students’ talks. And the biggest mistake I made on one occasion was to turn up with just a little time to spare and to find that there was a new tripod there – but with bits missing! Panic ensued and an atmosphere of unprofessionalism was definitely conveyed!So allow time for every contingency and check everything out.Now let’s talk about seating. Oftentimes there’s very little you can do about that since it has already been arranged for you. But if you have any choice (and if it’s a venue where you are paying for it you can insist on it!) – then what is the best arrangement?If you have just a handful of listeners, then a semi circle (as shown here) is the best. Why? Because you are the same distance from everyone, everyone can see you, and you have good eye contact.Larger than that, then a U-shape works well so that you can walk into the area and still talk to everyone.Larger than, then you are in an auditorium and there’s not a lot you can do to change the seating there. My pet ‘hate’ is the conference table (shown here) since people tend to seat themselves down the far end of the table away from you, and it’s much more difficult to maintain that eye contact that’s so essential!. And apart from throwing the table out there’s not a thing you can do about it!Two other things we need to talk about in connection with managing the location are: planning the breaks and arranging the sound, if needed. Come back soon to read about that.

Posted on: 8 June 2012 | 11:05 am

Managing Your Presentation

We’ve now dealt with the two vital aspects of any presentation – the material and the delivery (left and right brain respectively).However there is one other aspect of a successful presentation that we must consider – how to MANAGE it!We can have done all the preparation correctly, and rehearsed it so it’s perfect – but if there are problems with the equipment, or you have an awkward audience or you get difficult questions – it can all fall apart!So we need to take time to discuss how to manage things so that it doesn't happen – or at least we know how to handle things when things do go wrong.Two essential points to state at this stage:Murphy’s Law will apply at some time during your presentation (Murphy’s Law essentially states: “when something can go wrong it will go wrong”!)NEVER lose your self-control. No matter what happens and how frustrating it can be – never lose control. Particularly never lose control when it comes to dealing with the audience. No matter how “stupid” or argumentative that question is, or how difficult that person was, if you turn on that person and verbally attack them – you’ve lost! The audience will be on their side not yours, and you will find it difficult if not impossible to win them back again. It’s just not worth it!So what will we consider in this section? MANAGING THE TIME AND LOCATIONConsidering getting to the location and the inherent dangersHow to arrange the seating for the best resultPlanning the breaksDealing with the sound system if one is neededMANAGING THE VISUAL AIDSDesigning good visual aidsManaging them so they work properly  MANAGING THE AUDIENCEDealing with latecomersDealing with those doing other things during the presentationPlanning question time properly MANAGING QUESTIONSTechniques for dealing with difficult questions (and questioners!)What to do when there are no questionsCULTURE & PRESENTATIONSA few tips when it comes to presenting across cultures.So, come back tomorrow and we can begin our journey.

Posted on: 7 June 2012 | 10:56 am

Using Notes In Your Presentation

Let’s now address the final subject under this heading of presentation preparation.And that is – use of notes.Basically – don’t ever give a talk without them!!!Why?Because notes are the thing that keep you ‘on track’ with your delivery.Let’s say you are presenting and someone asks you a question. Now you want to pay them the respect of answering the question even if it is not directly on subject. So you spend a minute or two doing that.Now what happens if you don’t have notes?”Where was I?” is the likely question – and if you don’t know, you have to say something, and you could wind up going even further off subject.But with notes in hand – you have the answer right in front of you - “here I am” you say to yourself and off you go.Not only that – notes make sure you don’t stray too far from your prearranged arguments. You check from time to time that you have covered everything as planned.In addition you can also use them to make sure you stay on time as well. Remember we talked about planning the timing earlier? Well why not put down the time markers on your notes so you can see where you are and whether you are ahead or behind scheduleSo what should notes be like?What there are NOT is:A word-for-word scriptThe PowerPoint slides you have prepared.What they should be are little cards (6 x 4 or thereabouts) with just the key points laid out so they   are easy to see (personally I use a yellow highlighter to show up the main headings, and a green one to indicate when I should show a slide - but that’s a matter of personal choice).One little tip – if you have more than one card – do make sure you number them because if you don’t and drop them - disaster!So my final piece of advice? It’s the same as at the beginning – never give a talk without notes – ever!In our next post we are moving on to something  new - managing your presentation.

Posted on: 6 June 2012 | 11:37 am

Practice Makes the Perfect Presentation

Now let’s move on to another aspect of skilled presentations – practice or rehearsal.Basically the rule is -never give a new presentation without having rehearsed it at least once!Look at this picture of a concert pianist. How many times do you think he practices that piece of music before he gives his performance?Many, many times I’m sure. Now here’s a telling question - are you any less of a professional than he is? (Yes, I know, he only has one thing to concentrate on, you have thousands – I understand that – but do you get the principle?).Why should we practice a new presentation? Let me give you a few good reasons:You can look at you presentation on a screen in Word or whatever, and it all seems very logical to you. But it’s not until you try it out loud that you notice there maybe some gaps in the logic. Imagine if you didn't discover that until you gave the presentation?We said very early on in this series, that one way to reduce nervousness was to practice.It also gives you an opportunity to practice the timing – does it fit in with the planning you did earlier?If English isn’t your mother tongue and you are sometimes caught out for the right word, you know it when you practice it first!So it makes a lot of sense to get that practice in.How can you do that?In order of preference:To a ‘live’ audience – maybe colleaguesIn front of a video camera (not as frightening as you may think)Using a tape/mp3 recorderIn front of the bathroom mirrorTo the dog or the cat:-)Whatever – just as long as you practice it.It’s a cliché – but true nonetheless – that practice makes perfect.Here’s to your perfect presentation!

Posted on: 5 June 2012 | 10:52 am

Using Visual Aids - Part 3

Let’s have a final discussion now about visual aids (we will leave the actual designing of them until the next section).What makes a good visual aid?In order of quality:The actual items itself (people can see and feel it)A model of the item (same as above)A movie of the itemA photograph of the itemA drawing of the itemAn overhead slide showing the itemAnd for vehicles for visual aids don’t think automatically PowerPoint; remember there are also:Flip chartsWhiteboardsDVD’sIn fact there is an organization devoted to “Whiteboard Selling” (http://www.whiteboardselling.com/about/) based on the principle that you get much better audience engagement and participation when using a whitebeard than you do with a slide. The audience can add or take away things from the drawing until there is a consensus what the problem or the solution actually is.Finally, to conclude this section on visual aids, let me give you a few (in some cases, amusing) quotes about PowerPoint that might help you put things in perspective:•    It's like a plastic banana…looks good but provides no nutritional value or sustenance." - O-5, National Capital Region Quote relates to many PowerPoint briefings he has seen. •    "PowerPoint – nothing to say and hour in which to say it." - Howell & Childress Point-CounterPoint: PowerPoint and the Dumbing Down of America. •    "No useful information is every conveyed in a Power Point Briefing." - Mike 311th Theater Signal Command •    "PowerPoint presentations are a new form of anesthesia and torture. They were even used at the Abu Ghraib Prison." - Anonymous •    "His knowledge on that topic is only PowerPoint deep." - MAJ (JS) •    "The genius of it is that it was designed for any idiot to use. I learned it in a few hours." - David Byrne formerly of the Talking Heads •    "Power corrupts and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely." - Vint Cerf Internet pioneer •    "Using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table: You can do very bad things with it." - Peter Norvig •    "If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won't make them relevant." - Edward Tufte Professor Emeritus, Yale University •    "PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play - very loud, very slow, and very simple." - Edward Tufte •    "PowerPoint is designed for making a slide show a little more attractive with images and text that move, but when an idiot makes them all move, interest is lost." - Anonymous •    "The idea behind most of these briefings is for us to sit through 100 slides with our eyes glazed over, and then to do what all military organizations hope for ... to surrender to an overwhelming mass." - Richard Danzig Navy Secretary •    "We had 12.9 gigabytes of (Microsoft) PowerPoint slides on our network. And I thought, 'What a huge waste of corporate productivity.' So we banned it. And we've had three unbelievable record-breaking fiscal quarters since we banned PowerPoint. Now, I would argue that every company in the world, if they would just ban PowerPoint, would see their earnings skyrocket. Employees would stand around going, 'What do I do? Guess I've got to go to work.'" - Scott McNealy •    "My plan for improving the quality of presentations used to be two-fold: DESTROY EVERY COPY OF POWERPOINT (and assorted functional clones) in existence, and GIVE OFFENDERS REMEDIAL "HOW TO TALK" CLASSES….”- John S. Jacobs Anderson Read and be educated!!!!!”

Posted on: 4 June 2012 | 10:55 am

More About Visual Aids

Let’s explore this area of visual aids more fully.These days how often do you see a presentation that does not have PowerPoint slides? Very rarely I would suggest. And what do those slides consist of?Dozens of bullet points with whole sentences after them – and the whole slide filled with text.And THEN - to add insult to injury - the presenter will proceed to read every singe word out to you!!And your reaction? You try to read and listen – and wind up not being able to do either, so eventually do neither – just mentally “nod off.”Whose fault? The presenter’s.Over the last few years I have kept a record of the responses to the following question in an international company I work with regularly.Here are the results:55% said about PowerPoint “It’s useful for remembering what to say”29% said “I can’t live without it”60% would use more than 15 slides in a 30 minute presentation.I also asked “what do you hate most in other people’ presentations? Here is a sample of the answers:Reading out exactly what is written without adding value to the PP or a text.Reading out loud from text on the screenToo many slides and most of them without any meaningPictures or images without meaning or connection to the subject.Too much talk or too much info in the slidesWhen there is so much information on one slide you just can't take it all inToo much detailed information on each slideWhen the text on the slides is so small you can’t read it anyway.Using crazy entrance effectsDoes that reflect you own feelings?So there’s got to be a problem here surely?Virtually everyone uses PowerPoint in their presentations, yet the majority of us hate presentations that overuse PowerPoint!Can you make sense of that?It all stems from a mistaken belief that if you use PowerPoint you are classified as “professional”-if you don’t, you are “unprepared.”What nonsense!A visual AID us just that - an AID – it’s to HELP! And it’s to help the audience!If it doesn’t do that then it’s not a visual aid – it’s a visual prop, or a lazy way to prepare a presentation!(Don't  get me wrong – I’m NOT against PowerPoint - I use it myself. But I am against the blatant misuse of PowerPoint. In fact there’s now a movement called “Death By PowerPoint” – and (truthfully) there is now a political party in Switzerland called “The Anti PowerPoint Party” http://www.anti-powerpoint-party.com/. You might also enjoy this video by Don Macmillan about PowerPoint. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck).Let’s explore this even further in our next post.

Posted on: 3 June 2012 | 10:53 am

Using Visual Aids in Your Presentation

Let’s now talk about the use of visual aids in presentations.And let’s say at the outset that “visual aids” does NOT automatically mean PowerPoint!Yet if we are to be honest, ask most people to give a presentation and the first thing they think about is “what PowerPoint slides shall I use”. Right?Some have said that people spend 90% of the available preparation time on PowerPoint and only 10% on the rest!This cannot be right! It’s like spending 90% of the time deciding on a shovel when it comes to building a house!If you have been following my previous advice you will know that I have suggested a logical, coherent 5-step plan to get your presentation into shape.The way to go is to do that FIRST and then ask the question: “Do I need any visual aids to support this presentation?”And the answer may be “yes.” But guess what – sometimes the answer may be “no”. That’s something you need to decide.Let’s also comment on what visual aids (especially PowerPoint) are NOT:They are NOT your notes to tell you where you are in the presentationThey are NOT the handouts that you give out afterwardsThey are NOT something you “can’t do without.” Visual aids serve a very specific service. Could you think WHY we would use a visual aid?Basically it is for any of the following three reasons:To show something that can’t be described easily (I could talk for hours about how my house looks, but show you a photograph of it and you have the idea immediately)To simplify the complicated (instead of the other way round which is what most people do!)To highlight key points (more about that later).If they don't meet those criteria – you don’t need a visual aid! (Really – it is possible to do a presentation without PowerPoint – in fact I can truthfully say that some of the best presentations I have seen in my life have not used one PowerPoint slide.)Please remember the essential truth- people have come to listen to you not to look at your visual aids!I will expand on this in our next post.

Posted on: 31 May 2012 | 10:37 am

End Your Presentations With a Flourish

Having started our presentation with a bang, lead people through with signposts, what do we now have to do?That’s right – end it gracefully!Easier said than done! Most people are so happy to have got to the end of their presentation without dying that they forget to do anything about a conclusion.Typical endings are, for example:“Well that’s about it then. Thank you.” Or“That’s it then – any questions?”Neither of which actually inspires the listeners do they?Let’s sit down and actually PLAN how we are going to finish the presentation.There are a number of things you need to include in your conclusion. They are:Summarize your key points (Tell 'em what you’ve told  ‘em)Tell the audience what you want them to do, or say, or think as a result of your presentationRepeat the benefits; andMotivate them to act!(Incidentally, if you decide to  have a question and answer session at the end of your presentation, do save up your ‘big ending’ until after that session – what you say last is usually what people remembered first!).For example:You might have started a presentation to a group of sales people by saying:”Who wants to double their commission in the next year?”, then you might conclude by saying:“So think about these things, put them in to practice – and you could double your commission by this time next year”.See the idea?Tie all the points together, relate it to what you said at the beginning, and finish with a bang!That’s the way to go.

Posted on: 30 May 2012 | 10:33 am

Using "Signposts" to Keep Your Audience Alert

Today’s post will be a little bit shorter because the subject we will discuss was actually covered in another way in an earlier post.And the subject is;Using Signpost.What do I mean by that?Well signposts tell you not only where you are going but also where you have been.And you need to do that with your presentation.Although you know where you are in your presentation, your audience doesn’t.And because the human brain works considerably faster (something like three times) than we can speak, the listeners’ attention can so easily wander while you are speaking (even if you are a brilliant speaker!)So from time to time we need to say in effect “hey guys, come back – this is where I am”.Do you remember when we discussed the Golden Rule (“Tell them what you are going to tell then, tell them, tell them what you have told them”) I recommended writing the main points on a flip chart and then saying “now let’s move on to my next point which is.....”?.Well that’s exactly what I mean by using signposts – they ARE the signposts –the way of telling the audience “this is where we are.”So use this as a means of keeping the audience on track.(Incidentally some people put their signposts on a PowerPoint slide – the problem with that being once you are on to the next slide, it’s gone. So if you want to go that route, don’t forget to copy the slide and bring it in again when you move from one point to another – maybe using PowerPoint’s facility of graying out one line while highlighting another).So use signpost  and benefit from an alert and attentive audience.

Posted on: 29 May 2012 | 10:01 am

Starting With a Bang – Part 2

Now what was wrong with the introduction “Good morning, my name is John Smith and I’m from Purchasing.”?Well apart from being not very imaginative, we must also ask the question “who cares that you are John Smith from Purchasing?” Aren’t the audience more interested in what you have to say rather than who you are?(Admittedly at some stage you need to tell them who you are and what your credentials are, but the introduction is  not really the place for that.).So what can you say that’s going to grab attention and keep the audience ‘hooked’?Here’s a few suggestions:“Did you know....?” – for instance ‘did you know that 75% of our production goes overseas?’ In other words, if you have some interesting fact that the audience is unlikely to know, or needs to be made aware of, use it in this introduction.“Suppose” or “imagine” – For example – ‘suppose I could give you a solution to the production bottlenecks we have at the moment – would you be interested?’  In other words – paint an ‘imaginary’ scenario that you actually can realize for them“According to ......” – use an authoritative source with some interesting facts. For example ‘according the Financial Times, there is going to be a 10% downturn in our sector in the next 12 months. Are we prepared to deal with that?’“How many people here.....” – used carefully this works well. ‘How many people here would like to have a company in which there are no meetings, ever?’ Just  be careful that it is something that the audience might want!“Have you ever been in the situation....” - paint a common picture where you can help with a solution. ‘have you ever been in the situation of negotiating with the Japanese?’. Again, be careful that you paint a realistic picture.So these are a few ideas to get you going.The secret is  balance the power of your introduction with the needs of the presentation – and also take account of the nature of the audience. By which I mean – if you are presenting to colleagues you work with every day – don’t go crazy with too high impact introductions – they will wonder what has happened to  you!!On the other hand when making a presentation at a big seminar – then you need to stand out so the quality of introduction needs to be ‘bigger.’Here’s to success with your introductions!

Posted on: 28 May 2012 | 10:16 am

How to Start a Presentation - With a Bang

So, now it’s the turn of introductions for our presentations.So often I hear presentations starting this way:(In a bored tone) “Well today I am going to talk about xxxx” .. and you can tell by the tone of voice that it’s the last thing he really wants to talk about.Or what about:“Well I’m not very well prepared, but I’ll try my best to talk about  ......” (I’ve lost it already haven’t you?)Or (and you might think there’s nothing wrong with this but I’ll show you why later):“Good morning, my Name is John Smith and I’m from Purchasing.”Not one of these is imaginative- not one of these says “Wake up everyone, this is worth listening to”You see your audience probably have a lot of things on their mind, and your talk is pretty low down on the list! You’ve got to give them good reasons to bring it to the top.So HIT THEM HARD – WAKE THEM UP  - and MAKE THEM LISTEN!!!!!“But how?”Well let me first give you 2 real life examples (some  of the facts may have been changed slightly to save embarrassment to the presenter).FIRST: A presenter working for a large cell phone manufacturer.In his hand he had a copy of their biggest competitors’ latest newspaper ad.Holding this up he said:“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to talk to you about the future of mobile communications.”Can you imagine how that grabbed the audience’s attention? “What’s he talking about – has he gone made – a competitor is the future?” must  have been buzzing through their minds.However he then screwed the paper into a little ball, threw it to one side and said “And I want to explain how our company s going to do just that.”What an introduction! He had everyone “eating out of his hand.”SECOND: a man was a ‘structural design engineer for aircraft fuselages.’The title itself would send you to sleep would it not?But what he did was this:Before he started he had an empty can of Coke in front of him on the table. he walked over to it, picked it up, and then crushed it in his one hand.He then said:“Ladies and gentlemen, next time you travel on an airplane, I want you to remember that the outer skin of the fuselage is only 3 times thicker than this can of Coke – but by clever engineer design we can make it as strong as steel.”Wow! The audience was on his wavelength from that point on.Why?Because not only had he made a striking introduction, but he had also related it to their own personal lives!What  a good job!Now your situation may not need something as dramatic as that – after all if you are presenting before colleagues that you work with every day of the eek, an introduction as startling as the above two might start them ringing for the men in white coats :-).BUT we can give you some pointers that, while less dramatic, will certainly grab the attention of your audience.Come back soon for the next post.

Posted on: 25 May 2012 | 10:22 am

Where Do We Go From here?

So now that we have followed the 5 step plan to get your presentation together, let’s look at a few essential elements in any presentation, namelyThe introduction (how to get started)The signpost (how to make transitions between points)The conclusion (how to finish elegantly).Each point will be considered in separate posts.We will then go on to talk about:Using visual aidsThe value of practice; and finallyUsing notes for a skilful presentation.So we will start in the next post with INTRODUCTIONS

Posted on: 24 May 2012 | 1:56 pm

Presentations' "Golden Rule"

Now we come to what is often called “The Golden Rule” of presentations.Quite simple put, it is:Tell Them What You Are Going to Tell ThemTell ThemTell them What You’ve Told them.In other words:Lay out what you are going to coverThen cover itThen summarize what you have covered.So it means you have drawn attention to your main points for retention by your audienceNow let’s develop that by practical application.Before my audience (in this case, farmers at the Farmers’ Union) come in to the room, I have written on a flip chart or white board, the following:I will then say – after an introduction –“So today we will be talking about a great business idea for you to consider – Crocodile farming in xxxxx.I will be covering the profits you can gain from it, the investments needed, the time you will save and the environmental impact of crocodile farming.So let me start first with profits.......”... and away you go to expand on that topic.When that’s covered you then say:“now for my second point, which is investment, let me say....”And then after all has been concluded (including any questions):“So let me say in conclusion ..Today we have been talking about Crocodile Farming. I have shown you (pointing to board) that the profits are actually 15% greater than conventional methods, the Investment (point to #2) are xxxx, the time you save (point to #3) is 2 hours a day, and the environmental impact  is positive rather than negative .So with these factors in mind ... why don’t we go into business together.See what you have done?You’ve told ‘em what you’re going to tell them, you’ve told ‘em, and then you’ve told ‘em what you've  told ‘em.Simple isn't it?Yet 100% effective. Try it and see.

Posted on: 23 May 2012 | 10:56 am