Professionally Speaking...

6 Steps For Creating A Presentation

Everybody knows how to create a presentation, right? You just sit down at the computer, open PowerPoint and start filling in content on the slides. Mmmm...perhaps not. Perhaps there is a better way.

When we have a presentation looming, our bias for action tempts us to skip any planning phase and get right to producing the final product. We may even fool ourselves into thinking that we plan and create simultaneously. But sufficient time devoted to mapping and organizing your presentation up front allows you to deliver a more focused message that is more likely to address your audience's needs.

Let me suggest a process:

1. Audience Needs Analysis. Before you put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, spend some time determining what your audience already knows about your topic, what information they can use, how do they feel about the topic you're presenting. You want to answer the WIIFM question...the "what's in it for me?" question that every audience member has.

Some methods you can use to uncover information about your audience's needs: ask questions of a few representative audience members; talk to people who have presented to this audience before; do a survey; question the person who invited you to do the presentation.

2. Outline Your Presentation. Develop a bullet-pointed outline of what you want to cover and the approximate order. Don't go into a lot of detail here...this is just your road map. Make notes on areas that you need to research or on which you need to find additional resources. Once you've completed the outline, it should give you a good sense of whether or not your presentation flows logically, covers the key aspects of your topic and fits the allotted time frame. It is during this step that you want to answer the question, "What is the one key message I want my audience to take away from my presentation?"

3. Research. Next you want to compile the more detailed information and resources you made note of in the Outline step. This may entail reading, interviews and internet research. Make modifications to your outline based on your audience needs analysis and research.

4. Write Out Your Presentation. Now that you have all your material organized, write out your complete presentation. Although this seems onerous and I certainly don't recommend that you deliver your presentation from a fully scripted version, this is an interim step that allows you to get a good sense of the flow of your information and work on intentionally crafting your language.

5. Create Delivery Notes. Create the notes that you will use to deliver your presentation by condensing the fully scripted version to bullet points. [Note: these are bullet points for you, not for any slides you may design.] There are a variety of note formats you can use and I recommend trying a few to see what works best. This step gives you another chance to refine your message, make it more focused and incorporate vivid examples.

6. Design PowerPoint Slides. Yes...it's the very last step. [And it's a good idea here to ask if you really need PowerPoint...will it enhance your audience's understanding?] Once you have created and refined your presentation, then and only then should you design your slides. Now you can really focus on what slides will add additional clarity to your spoken words, what slides will give the audience a vivid graphic example to help them get your point, what slides will help explain a particularly complex idea.

Some of these steps may indeed overlap. For example, parts of your audience needs analysis and your research may occur simultaneously. Your research and designing your slides may overlap as you find a terrific chart or illustration that you want to include. You may also decide to omit writing out your presentation and move directly from research into creating your notes; however, I do not recommend this for beginning presenters or those who present infrequently.

For your next presentation, try this approach to creating your remarks. I guarantee you that your message will be clearer, your audience will be better served and as a bonus extra, you'll be much better prepared which will free you up to really focus on connecting with your audience.

Presenting in a Crisis

When most of us think about making a presentation, we don't typically think of having to do that in the aftermath of a tragic event. Yet that is the situation faced this week by Washington, DC and NTSB (National Traffic Safety Board) officials following Monday's subway train disaster in which 9 people were killed and many others injured. Mesmerized by the television coverage of the shocking accident, I couldn't help but observe (and be proud of) how skillfully these officials communicated to the public in this difficult situation.

There was no PowerPoint. There was no time to rehearse. But there was an audience of reporters, commuters, family members desperate for information and assurances.

WHAT ARE THE PRESENTATION LESSONS?

Among the presentation lessons worth noting:

• At Monday night's press conference, all presenters started their remarks with condolences for the families of the victims, recognizing that no matter what details, facts or explanations they might be providing, at the core, this presentation needed to connect with the audience on a human level.

• Debbie Hersman, NTSB Lead Investigator and Dennis Rubin, DC Fire Chief, instilled confidence in the audience by assuring them that the accident scene was under control and that both entities had a clear idea of their objectives going forward. They looked directly into the cameras and spoke clearly, explaining what the next steps were, what they already knew and how their investigation would proceed. Transparency in providing details is a key strategy in crisis communications. As Dan Hicks describes here, in his blog, Communicating Through a Crisis, the court of public opinion is unforgiving when it appears that information is being withheld or officials are hiding behind corporate shields.

• One can only imagine how difficult it was for John Catoe, General Manager of WMATA (Washington MetropolitanArea Transit Authority) as he stood before the cameras, having lost one of his employees and ultimately holding responsibility for the accident. Visibly moved, he spoke with sincerity and simplicity. With no euphemisms or gobbledy-gook, he gave the details he had.

(this clip is not of the press conference I referred to, but it does give you a sense of the speakers' styles)

Here are some additional ideas about managing crisis communications.

Let us hope that none of us will ever have to make a presentation following a disaster. But the lessons learned from how communication was handled in the Metro accident will be valid for any of our presentations: concern for the audience, sincerity, transparency and quiet confidence.

The Don't Miss This List, Edition 4

I haven't published a "Don't Miss This" List for a while...can you tell I'm a little behind on reading my feeds? (maybe too much Twittering??) In catching up on some of my favorite blogs, I found several I wanted to share:

• A clever comparison from Janes-List shows us 5 ways public speaking is like dieting.

• Over at DeFinis Communications, Angela highlights eye contact as a key way to connect with your audience and gives us 5 great tips for talking with your eyes.

• Loraine Antrim at The CXO Mindset encourages us to recognize the strategic value of story telling in a presentation and outlines how to plan a presentation based on story.

• I passionately believe that practice is a key element in creating a great speaker. So I'm delighted to see The Eloquent Woman's 9 not-to-miss reasons for video practice.

• Sims Wyeth at High Stakes Presentations says "...there are all kinds of voices that work for the audience as long as they feel real and communicate enough emotional energy to engage the interest." Wyeth then examines a variety of vocal stumbling blocks that get in the way of that audience engagement.

PREVIOUS "DON'T MISS THIS" LISTS:

The Don't Miss This List, Edition 3

The Don't Miss This List, Edition 2

The Don't Miss This List, Edition 1

                                                                                                    

THOUGHTS ON A CONFERENCE

I spent most of last week at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) International Conference and Expo (8000+ attendees) here in Washington, DC at the very impressive Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The days were chocked full of interesting sessions, interesting people and interesting observations. 

• The organizers did a great job. A month prior to the conference, they set up a LinkedIn group for conference speakers as a forum to ask questions and share ideas/best practices. I was asked to post a Presentation Tip of the Day 2-3 times a week. Having a specific place for speakers to congregate virtually generated good discussion (PowerPoint and how to be interactive with a large audience were hot topics) and also forged connections prior to being on-site.

• Once at the conference, the organizers provided a Speakers' Room, equipped with screens so presenters could rehearse presentations and even use other speakers as a mock audience. We all know how challenging it is to find the time to rehearse so facilitating that by having a dedicated space, populated by other folks with similar needs, is a grand idea.

• Twitter most definitely had a presence. There were hashtags set up for the conference (#astd09) and for the local chapter (#metrodcastd) and there was a steady stream of tweets sharing session information, impressions, questions and meet up details. What was lacking, however, was a public display of the Twitter stream where people could see it as they were moving about the Convention Center. This would have been a great way to share ideas and engage more people in the conversation going on in the back channel.

• An interesting experiment was conducted by one of the speakers, Doug Caldwell. He projected the live Twitter stream during his session. Doug set up a hashtag ahead of time and populated it with tweets encouraging people to attend. Yours truly was his assistant/scribe during the session. We used Tweetchat as the platform to gather and project the hashtag tweets. Since none of the attendees were tweeting, I ended up capturing key messages and participant comments for the Twitter stream. Couple of lessons: the scribe has to be familiar enough with the content to determine what the nuggets are; figure out how to toggle back and forth between the big screen and the laptop screen before the session; recognize that there is a several seconds delay between hitting enter on Tweetchat and having the tweet appear in the stream. Participants, although very engaged in their workshop activities, did notice when one of their comments hit the big screen. This is also a great way to archive the 'in the moment' participant comments for future sharing or dissemination. Kudos to Doug for experimenting. It was a cool experience and I'm anxious to use Twitter again in a presentation.

• Teleprompters were used for the general sessions, with video screens placed around the hall so everyone could see. It was clear that several of the presenters did not have much experience with the teleprompter. One of the main presenters was extremely good and the contrast was stark. Plea to speakers using teleprompter: please, please rehearse, with teleprompter, more than 10 minutes before your speech.

• In almost every session I attended, presenters ran out of time; they were either trying to cram too much into the allotted time or they had not accounted for questions and dialogue from the audience. When developing a speech or presentation, allocate time for audience questions and comments. The amount of time depends on your topic and the overall duration of your presentation; for example, in a 90 minute presentation, leave a good 15 minutes for questions.

• Session evauations are one of my hot buttons (more on that in a subsequent post). Feedback is the most valuable thing a speaker can get from the audience. So as a speaker, don't skew the audience's opinion (one way or the other) by stating that you're trying to maintain your perfect scores (or some other attempt to influence). By the same token, if you're in the audience, do the speaker the courtesy of providing honest, thoughtful feedback. Don't say the presentation was good if it wasn't; if you have thoughts for improvement, offer them.

Attending a conference is both an exhausting and exhilarating experience. And it is most definitely a juicy learning lab for a presentation trainer!

TWITTER IN PRESENTATIONS...LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT?

With the explosion in popularity of microblogging tools like Twitter, presenters are now faced with the possibility, or even likelihood, that some members of their audience will be tweeting (posting on Twitter) during the presentation. Initially, that idea is off-putting to many presenters. They sputter, "But that means the audience won't be paying attention to me." Or "It will be distracting for me to see everybody typing on their iPhones." Or "What if they say something negative about me or my presentation?"

Those concerns are all worth examining. Let's look at them one by one.

THE AUDIENCE WON'T PAY ATTENTION

Even without Twitter, you run the risk that your audience won't pay attention to you. Certainly to minimize that concern in any situation you must craft a presentation that is relevant to the audience, addresses their needs and employs the various presentation techniques designed to involve and engage the audience.

Interestingly, however, some research suggests that the audience may be even more engaged when there is a Twitter backchannel in a presentation. In the Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching(Volume 2, 2009), Dr. Martin Ebner, Head of the Social Learning Department at Graz University of Technology in Austria conducted research at the e-learning conference, Ed-Media 2008, to determine the behaviors of attendees using Twitter during a presentation. Throughout the keynote, the Twitter stream was projected on the screen along with the presenter's slides. During the 45 minute presentation, there were 54 tweets which Ebner categorized into 4 buckets:

• concerning the presentation content (22%)
• discussion between 2 or more Twitter users (2%)
• links to various resources (31%)
• comments, including reactions to the speaker's presentation, feelings, thoughts and opinions (43%)

As presenters, assuming we have created a relevant presentation, we need to ascribe the respect and integrity to our audiences that they will, in fact, be engaged in what we are saying and thus, will further the discussion through their tweets. Particularly when the Twitter stream is projected for all in the room to see, most attendees want their tweets to be intelligent and germain rather than silly or off-topic.

I'LL BE DISTRACTED

This may indeed be the case initially. But let's break this down. Audience members punching letters into their phone or typing on a keyboard is really no different than audience members taking notes. We need to ensure that we don't let our self-talk convince us that the audience is no longer listening to us simply because they are using an electronic device.

More challenging in terms of distraction is projecting the Twitter stream on the screen behind you and knowing that electronic dialogue is going on while you are talking. Here the speaker is competing with the constantly changing flow of information.

You could speak directly to the tweets. This requires ultimate flexibility, a thorough knowledge of your subject matter, a crystal clear understanding of what you want your presentation to accomplish and the ability to return to your presentation flow after responding to a tweet. If you can manage it, this is the pinnacle of real time, interactive exchange between presenter and audience, furthering and deepening the conversation.  

A complementary option is to have a moderator or partner who can help you manage the dialogue. The moderator can prioritize the tweets, answer or redirect some and pass questions and salient comments to the speaker.

Most definitely, rehearse these techniques several times before going live. This is a fast-paced exchange of ideas and information; being super prepared and comfortable with your subject matter and giving thought to the audience's point of view are the keys to success.

THE AUDIENCE MIGHT BE NEGATIVE

Yes, there could be a tweet that says something negative about you or your content. However, most audience members have the maturity and integrity not to post something inappropriate or cruel, particularly when all their fellow audience members can see it. More likely, someone might post a legitimate disagreement or difference of perspective. Handle this the same way you would any objection in a presentation...with grace, respect and facts.

SO, IS THIS TWITTER THING A GOOD IDEA?

Yes, I think it is. It's still a bit scary for most presenters. The dynamic is evolving and we will no doubt continue to refine how to integrate the Twitter backchannel into our presentations. Look for a subsequent post on best practices for how presenters can become comfortable with this tool.

But the benefits of using Twitter during a presentation are unmistakable:

• It gives the audience more ownership as they have a tangible role in shaping the discussion.
• The presenter can gain immediate feedback.
• It facilitates and encourages discussion among tweeters after the presentation.
• It creates a wider audience and more visibility for your message, since the presentation tweets will go out to everyone's followers and even be re-tweeted.
• It gives your presentation a longer life through archiving (the symbol # before any word or phrase creates a hashtag [#twitinpres] which then allows Twitterers to use that hashtag to group all relevant tweets).

The exciting thing about Twitter in presentations is that it removes the presenter/audience barrier that we all bemoan. The speaker is no longer delivering wisdom from on high. The audience becomes an active participant in the conversation, shaping it to meet their needs. And isn't that the ultimate example of audience focus?

What experiences, either as a presenter or an audience member, have you had using Twitter in presentations?
 

 

PRESENTATION TIP: USE NOTES

When I teach presentation skills classes, I frequently get asked the question, "Should I use notes in my presentation?" [Said in a tone of voice that assumes the correct answer is no]. For some misguided reason, people seem to think that if they are delivering a presentation or a speech, they need to be able to do it completely from memory, sans notes. They seem to think notes are cheating or make them look like they're unsure of their material.

Well, my answer to the question, "Should I use notes?" is a resounding "Yes." Notes are useful on two levels: practical and perceptual.

Practically, having notes takes the pressure off having to remember every fact, as well as the order and flow, of what you are presenting. Perceptually, having notes provides a security blanket. If you don't need them, fine. But if you do lose your place or forget what you wanted to say, a quick look at the notes rectifies the situation.

Memorization, which some regard as the gold standard, is fraught with problems. Assuming you are capable of memorizing a 30-plus minute speech, if you draw a blank or get a section out of order, you're in trouble. A memorized delivery also runs the risk of losing the inflection and tone that makes you sound fully present and connecting with the audience.

TYPES OF NOTES

Now that I hope I've persuaded you to use notes, the next decision is what type of notes should you use. That depends on the kind of presentation, your own personal style, and to a lesser extent, the physical venue.

INDEX CARDS

3x5 or 4x6 cards work well as a way to remind yourself of the key messages of your presentation or important facts, statistics and quotes. Because you can't write much on the small cards, they are most effectively used as a prompt to keep you on track and jog your memory. This format is appropriate in most situations, whether you're presenting from a stage in a conference center or from the head of the boardroom table. [Hint: number the cards. In the unikely event that you drop them, you'll be glad you did.]

8.5x11 SHEETS OF PAPER

This is not a format I recommend. This size is too large to be held comfortably in your hands. It also provides room for way too much content, thereby tempting you to read from it. The place where this format could work is when you have the sheets in a 3-ring binder and it sits on the table in front of you, where you can refer to it periodically.

POWERPOINT NOTES

Using the notes field on PowerPoint can be effective, but there is a major shortcoming. It often means that you have way too many slides; you've created slides to accommodate your notes, where you might otherwise not have used a slide. [Click here to learn about the Presenter's View.]

Using the actual slides as your notes is something I strongly recommend against. Chances are it will encourage you to put excessive text on each slide. As well, it will create a temptation to read off the slides, possibly even turning to the screen behind you, instead of focusing your attention on the audience.

Here are some more great tips on creating notes from Olivia Mitchell at Speaking About Presenting.

HOW TO USE NOTES

Once you decide which note format is most comfortable for you, you now have to learn to use it so that it supports your presentation rather than detracts from it.  When using notes you should:

1. Never write in full sentences. Simply jot down key phrases or headlines in bullet form. The point of the notes is to jog your memory. They shouldn't be so complete that someone else could pick them up and get the meat of your presentation.
2. Make sure your notes are easy to read, which means writing large enough and leaving lots of white space.  
3. Learn how to interact with the physical cards, slides or paper. Don't shuffle the cards, don't switch them from hand to hand, don't gesture with them, don't keep putting them in and pulling them out of a pocket. Don't let cards or paper or computer screen obscure your face.
4. Remember it's OK to look at your notes...that's what you have them for and the audience will be perfectly fine with it. But do so in a deliberate manner; don't glance surreptitiously at them as if you're trying to make it seem that you're not consulting them. Break eye contact with the audience, glance at your notes and absorb the next point, then re-establish eye contact with the audience and deliver that section. The pause may seem particularly long to you, but it doesn't to the audience. And it will give them an opportunity to process what you've just said.
5. Practice, practice, practice until you can use your notes smoothly and seamlessly.

If you follow the advice above and remember to keep your focus on the audience, notes will become another excellent tool in your presentation tool kit.

LAUNCH OF SPEAKING PRO CENTRAL

I am excited to be a featured participant in the launch of a great new site: Speaking Pro Central.

This is a community of people (many of us are bloggers) who have come together to collect and organize the best content from blogs, news sources and other web sites about speaking and more specifically, speaking professionally.  The goal is to create a place where it's easy to find current and highly relevant content.  And perhaps to stimulate new connections.
 
You can get a sense of the power of the site by visiting the site and clicking a keyword on the left. If, for example, you click on Speaking you find:

• The keywords on the left are ordered in relationship to the current term. So you can see that Audience, Techniques and Practice all relate heavily to Speaking.
• At the top of the page are the most recent posts, announcements and web pages for Speaking.
• Below that you find the top posts according to social signals across the network. The site will become much richer over time as more people join the community and the content base grows.

My blog, Professionally Speaking... is featured on the right. If you click on that, you will find my latest posts at the top of the page and then a section called The Best From Professionally Speaking..., which is based on social signals.

All of this technology and the idea of Speaking Pro Central comes from Tony Karrar. If you have ideas on how to improve the site or want to do something similar, I know Tony would like to hear about it.

This site is such a good example of the philosophy of the blogosphere: link, share, connect with new colleagues. Here are my fellow bloggers who are participating in the launch:

Better Presenting

Craig Strachan - Keep Talking!

Dahle Communication

Ian Griffin - Professionally Speaking

Matt Eventoff

Presentation Blog - Presentation Advisors

Pro Humorist

Speak Schmeak

Speaking about Presenting

Successful Speeches Blog

Thoughts On Presenting And Design

Writing Practice Prescription

 

PRESENTATION MANNERS

  When we're preparing for a presentation, we don't often turn to Miss Manners for advice. Yet there are some fundamental rules of etiquette or politeness that we'd do well to observe.

TIMING

We all know not to be late for a presentation. But do we give the same attention to running over? It is not unusual for speakers to go past their allotted time, or worse, only be half way through their presentation when time is up.

Not adhering to the time frame is just plain rude to the audience (and to any speaker who is following). It demonstrates lack of preparation on the presenter's part and a disregard for the audience's time.

When creating and rehearsing your presentation, ensure your material fills only about 80% of the scheduled time, thus allowing sufficient flexibility for questions and discussion. If you do finish five minutes early, no audience will be upset to gain a little extra time.

COMPLAINTS

Any complaints you have about the venue, logistics, support you've received or equipment should not be shared with the audience. These are your problems, not theirs. The audience needs to know that you are fully focused on them, not distracted by other issues. Either deal with annoying issues before you begin speaking or park them at the door, to be dealt with after your presentation is finished.

Criticizing another speaker is equally unacceptable. Not only is this unprofessional, you are suggesting to the audience that they have wasted their time.

LOOK 'EM IN THE EYES

If you were sitting across a table talking to someone, you wouldn't look at the table or the wall behind you as you spoke. In a presentation, too often the speaker speaks to the screen behind him or keeps his eyes focused on his notes. This lack of eye contact is off-putting for an audience, as it communicates that you either aren't very interested in them or you didn't think them important enough to be well prepared.

Practice your presentation enough times that you are not overly reliant on your notes. Enough practice will also ensure that you know what the slides say so you don't have to constantly look at them.

What other presentation manners [good or bad] can you think of?

[Mind Your Manners, Ann Douglas, Flickr]

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE, PART III

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

Rudyard Kipling

 

Words are the primary mechanism we use to transmit ideas. Words encourage, challenge, persuade, teach and transform. Yet many business presenters speak without adequate knowledge of, or attention to, the tools that can hone their craft.

I highlighted some of these tools in Part I and Part II of The Power of Language. Here are some additional rhetorical devices that can be effectively integrated into your presentations to make your message come alive and connect with the audience. Also check out the Successful Speeches Blog for ways to make your presentations more memorable.

[Click on the speaker's name below to go to an audio and text version of the speech.]

Antithesis

Antithesis gives balance to a sentence or clause by intentionally juxtaposing contrasting ideas. The juxtaposition adds emphasis to both concepts.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  

                                             Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream

Symploce

A technique where the first and last word or words of one phrase are repeated in one or more successive phrases. This is another way of structuring repetition, which is always a powerful tool.

"Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear. When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it."             

      William Jefferson Clinton, Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Prayer Service Address

Rhetorical Question

A question in which the answer is obvious or implied and therefore, no answer is expected. Because it is human nature to answer a question in our heads, even if we don't do so out loud, this is a very effective device to force the audience to rreact, expand their thinking and get them to consider possibilities. It is frequently phrased as "What if...."

"How can we allow the rich and powerful, not only to rip off people as consumers, but to continue to rip them off as taxpayers?"

                                                 Ralph Nader, 2000 NAACP Convention Address

Rhetorical devices add so much richness to your presentation or speech: they make your message and ideas more memorable; they expand the understanding of the listener; they build a powerful connection with the audience. Why not start using them in your next presentation?

POWERPOINT: VISUAL POWER

It's no secret that I think visuals should dominate words in a presentation where any type of slideware is used. But if the word 'visuals' immediately makes you think 'pictures' or 'photographs', reconsider. Charts are an elegant way of graphically representing many types of information, making it easier for the viewer to grasp not only meaning but context as well.

Thanks to Chris Spagnuolo at the EdgeHopper blog for alerting me to this wonderful video about the benefits of charts.

Charts come in a variety of shapes and sizes which makes them all the more versatile. Thinking about what relationships you want your data to convey will help you choose the best chart for your purposes.

BAR CHART

A bar chart is a popular method of showing relative relationships or numerical comparisons. Different colored bars can be used for additional emphasis. This type of chart allows for a strong image when there are only a few data points. When, however, there are numerous bars, the labeling can get confusing. A bar chart would be good to show, for example, the number of cases of influenza reported in the U.S. for the last 5 years or the number of pieces in different packages of M&M candy. (Attribution: katiescrapbooklady, Flickr)

 

PIE CHART

Pie charts are typically used when showing proportions, for example the percentages of stock, bonds and cash in a financial portfolio or the sources of energy use. With the various proportions representing slices of a pie, it is easy to see the relationships between each of the elements. Different colored slices, like with the bar chart, can be used for emphasis. If each slice needs a lot of labeling to be understandable, it's best to show a legend off to the side, with a small box of the appropriate color next to each label.

STACK GRAPH

The stack graph is a useful way of displaying data that needs to be viewed both independently and cumulatively, as in this example of types of mail received over a specific period of time. (Attribution: sidehike, Flickr).

TAG CLOUD

A tag cloud is a visualization of word frequencies, which is useful for showing relative relationships. For example, showing two State of the Union addresses as tag clouds would give you a visualization of the density of certain words and terms, thereby conveying an overview of the important concepts. Here's an intriguing way of showing comparative property values. (Attribution: urbanwild, Flickr)

What other types of graphic representations have you found to be an effective way to convey your information and engage your audience?