PowerPoint Heaven

I'm giving a presentation to 70 graduates who are working for a company. I trained 5 of them in Presentation Skills, for half a day, a few weeks ago. Now they want me to present on Presentations in 1 hour, to the rest of their colleagues. Oy, how do you give a Presentations skills course in 1 hour to 70 people!! Actually, I see it as a pleasant challenge. Corporate training over the last 20 years has moved from several weeks, to 2 weeks, to 1 week, to 2 days, to 1 day, to half a day, so why not to 1 hour!!
Everything you ever wanted to know about giving a presentation in.....1 Hour. Oh, and that included some of them giving presentations, so in fact it's everything you ever wanted to know about giving a presentation in half an hour!

An element of a presentation is of course PowerPoint. You can train people to give presentations without PowerPoint, but the reality is that that's part of the corporate culture, and people who are new to giving presentations rely on PowerPoint as their crutch.
Funnily enough, I'm not going to use PowerPoint for my presentation, I'm going to use MindManager, and use it in Presentation mode, which highlights each part of the MindMap, but I may have hyperlinks to PowerPoint presentations.

Which brings me to what I wanted to write about here, is more on Beyond Bullets, a weblog with tips on how not to present boring bullet point PowerPoints. Some great ideas and tips, and I'm beginning to realise there are quite a few resources on how to move away from a standard PowerPoint presentation.
Here are a few highlights from all the entries I've read;

Visual Improvisation

I created a PowerPoint presentation with 50 blank slides, then inserted a photo object from a clip art collection on each slide. I set the transition timing at 1 minute, with each slide fading to the next automatically. I told the group we were going to do a little visual improv, and asked for one person to volunteer to stand up. When an image showed on screen, they would begin to tell a business story -- the only constraints were that they had to refer to the image in some way, include the name of their business, and that when the minute was up they had to sit down. At that point, the person to their right would stand up and carry on the same story, using the new image to prompt their part of the story. The story continued around the table until everyone had contributed their piece of the story.

StoryMaking v StoryTelling

It's always struck me that story"making" is the right model for our time rather than story"telling". Storytelling implies that I'm a passive recipient of your story, which is the model for most film and TV: I sit and receive your pre-determined message that already has a beginning, middle and end, and I don't have any involvement in its outcome. That's fine if I want to sit and be entertained -- to laugh, but not think.......Open up your PowerPoint presentation and ask - what is the core problem here, from my audience's perspective? Click on that key slide, and move it to the front. That's the beginning of your story. Because we deal with problems and with change every day, we're always looking for solutions, and stories can be symbols that point out ways to deal with them. Think of your PowerPoint as a tool to help make a story that's relevant to your audience, and that engages them along the way so everyone can have a happy ending together.

Visual Story

Everybody is doing the same thing with PowerPoint, so why not try a little experiment outside the PowerPoint box? Find a photograph that is interesting, but the meaning might be unclear. Let's say it's a picture of a swan. Place it on a PowerPoint slide, with no additional text or description. When you project the image on the screen, ask your audience, "What does this mean to you?" Listen to their responses, and repeat them back so everyone hears them. Then, as you begin your talk, spin the image into a theme you'll develop through the story of your presentation, for example: "Has anyone seen the extreme makeover shows on television, where the ugly duckling gets turned into a beautiful swan? Well today we're going to talk about the extreme makeover of a business strategy. Because with some hard work, even the ugliest strategy can be transformed into beautiful results. Let's see how...."

Evoking from the Audience

Try turning your PowerPoint approach inside out. The next time you make a presentation, replace one of your usual bulleted lists with a new slide that contains only a simple image on a blank background. When you show the slide to your audience, ask them a question about it. Listen to their response, repeat it back, and tailor your talk to what you heard. If you've managed to draw forth any information that helps you adapt and adjust your dialogue with your audience, you're well on your way to evoking communication success.

People Paper Projector

Sketch out three circles on a piece of paper or a PowerPoint slide. Write the names of each of the three media platforms -- people, paper and projector. What is the ratio of communication that travels across each medium in your presentation environment? Do you have a good balance? If your projector is overloaded with data, shift it to paper. If your paper is lacking an emotional dimension, work on visualizing themes with a projector. And are you, the person, controlling and managing your media in a way that opens up understanding from your audience? If not, mix up your media and premiere a new media lineup.

Red Eyed Tree Frog

Try this out: Insert a new slide, choose Format --> Background, then Fill it with the color red. Insert a Text Box, and write the phrase "This is Important", or "Big Idea Here", or something to that effect. Now, insert that slide at the point where you present the single most important idea out of your entire presentation -- the one thing you want people to remember above everything else. Show this slide, and pause for a moment to allow the startle coloration effect to work. Then hit the "B" key to black out your screen, and explain your idea. Then continue with the rest of your presentation. This is an exotic technique to be sure, but it may be one that just may startle your audience into remembering your idea for a long time to come.

There are some great tips for PowerPoint presentations. The reality of Presentations and using PowerPoint, is that there is no right answer. Giving a good presentation is an artform, not a science. There are elements you can learn, but you just have to go out there and Just Do It, and evolve your own unique style, derived of course from lots of other people!!

Hell, I'm giving a talk on Presentations in few weeks time, and I'm a poor example of a good presenter!

Comments

[shannon]

Having had the pleasure of sitting through one of your presentations Tony, I reakon your a pretty good example of a good presenter!

Particularly from a corporate viewpoint. Most presenters I encounter make me feel like I am watching the television: they just drone on and almost oblivious to their audience, and offer as much opportunity to participate as the TV does. Most can't even pick up on the bored body language to be able to use it to alter their approach. Probably because they don't have an alternative approach.

But without pissing too hard in your pocket, you were (and probably still are) better than most...