Professionally Speaking...

No Excuse For Scary Slides

Scary may be a good thing for Halloween decorations and theme park rides but certainly not for presentation slides. With all things scary taking center stage as we get ready to celebrate Halloween, it's a good time to ensure that we have some tools to engage our presentation audiences rather than scare them with our terrible PowerPoint slides.

Way back near the dawn of time, when PowerPoint was invented (1987), our limited technology skills and the scarcity of easily sourceable images made it sort of (note I said sort of) acceptable to fill our slides with text and the odd clip art stick figure.

But that was then.

What's our excuse now?

Slides that accompany our presentations should enhance the audience's understanding about different aspects of the content. They should help the audience think more deeply or see your point more clearly. Above all they should be memorable and make an impression.

Sources for thought-provoking images and chart and graph slide templates abound. In the interests of motivating you to explore different and more effective ways of supporting the content of your presentations here is a profusion of resources:

IMAGES

• New York Public Library Public Domain Images :: Over 700,000 photographs, maps, posters and prints including a collection of images of New York from the 1870s to the 1970s.
• Pixabay :: Close to a million images offered under a Creative Commons license and requiring no attribution. Categories include business/finance, architecture/buildings and science/technology among others.
• PicJumbo :: Beautiful photography in a wide range of categories.
• Unsplash :: Stunning, high resolution images from contributing photographers.
• Flickr :: A wide selection of images, some whimsical or amusing. In many cases you do have to sort through some amateur content to find a gem. Do an advanced search to look for images available under a Creative Commons license.
• Gratisography :: More high resolution images.
• New Old Stock :: Vintage photographs from all over the world.

Images from these sites are free and either have no known copyright restrictions (in the case of public domain images) or are offered under a Creative Commons license.

DESIGN TOOLS AND TEMPLATES

• Diagrammer :: A huge number of downloadable diagrams that can be used to create charts and graphs and express relationships between various ideas and data sets.
• Canva :: Professional layouts and drag and drop functionality combined with a large selection of images, shapes and fonts.
• Visme :: Another site offering slide templates and tools to help you present your ideas visually and make your data easy to understand.
• Slidebot :: This is a particularly interesting twist on design tools. Here you provide the text you want on your presentation slides and, in seconds, Slidebot designs slides tailored to your content and presents alternatives for you to choose from. You are able to edit and then export the finished product.

So ditch the mounds of bullet points. With all these tools, there really is no excuse for scary slides.



Pixabay/Halloween Pumpkin/Yuri_B  CC0

 

 

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It's Not What You Say

There would be people who'd disagree with the premise of Michael Parker's new book, It's Not What You Say. I would not be one of them.

Parker, a former vice chairman of the global communications and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi London, certainly has a wealth of experience with speeches, presentations and pitches -- making them; evaluating them; coaching others to give them. His key message is that, "...most of us tend to focus on the content -- the what we say -- at the expense of the delivery -- the way we say it."

In all my presentation skills training work with various industries and types of presenters, I think he's bang on. Of course the content and the message are important. But if the delivery is not compelling, if the presenter cannot connect with the audience, if busy slides capture all the attention, then the message may not even be heard. It certainly won't be remembered.

Having established the proposition that we need to focus more on the delivery, Parker takes the reader through bite-sized pieces of presentation advice ranging from "make the audience your friend" to "talk from the heart, not the chart" to "the longer you go on, the less impact." Each section contains useful ideas, reminders and nuggets of advice on how to be a more powerful and effective speaker. Running through the book are pertinent quotes and stories illustrating the points he makes.

The book is an easy read at 139 small pages. What makes it even more readable are the whimsical illustrations scattered throughout which create visual appeal and help to cement the concepts.

Many presentation books, while good, are very detailed and required a significant commitment of time to work through the concepts. Parker's book is the condensed version. It's so practical and so relevant it definitely deserves a place in your presentation toolkit.

 

 

 

 

 

Brain Science Supports More Visual Slides

Research on how our brain works and how it responds to information gives us a better understanding of human behavior. What is becoming increasingly agreed upon is that images (a.k.a. visual cues) used instead of, or in addition to, words make information clearer, easier to access and more memorable. You see, the part of our brain that processes visual images is much larger than the part that processes words so we have a built-in bias for using images to enhance our understanding. That bias can be fed by many forms of visual stimulation – pictures, illustrations, charts, graphs, diagrams, maps, cartoons.

When it comes time to create our presentations, however, we forget about this bias because it’s so much easier to just put a lot of words on a slide. But in so doing we compromise our audience’s ability to comprehend, remember and even care about our information.

Lucky for us (and even more lucky for our audiences) there are now a number of resources that provide pre-designed slide visuals and templates we can easily incorporate into a presentation. Not only can this save us hours of time, the slides are likely more professional-looking than anything most of us could create.

Here are some sources for slide templates:

SlideModel.com

SlideModel offers a robust suite of over 10,000 templates which are designed in alignment with current business trends and influenced by user feedback. The templates can be edited in Microsoft PowerPoint but are also compatible with other presentation tools like Google Slides, Keynote or OpenOffice.

Users can browse a collection of diagrams, business models, charts, maps and shapes and simply copy and paste the slide(s) into their own presentations, then replace the text placeholders and images with their own content. Each slide template has a helpful detailed description of its purpose, suggestions on how to use and the color pallet of the design.

For most of the templates text, color, shapes and icons are editable. According to SlideModel, “This tool becomes a Swiss-Army Knife for presenters running out of time when making their presentations and provides a wide range of presentation templates such as pitch deck templates to present a startup to an investor, marketing PowerPoint templates to present a marketing plan or educational templates to prepare a final thesis project presentation.”

SlideModel offers various subscription plans based on the number of desired downloads. It also offers free weekly presentation slides to subscribers. Pricing is reasonable with 4 options to choose from: 1-day access; 3 month access, annual basic access; and annual unlimited access.

Diagrammer™

This is an offering from Duarte Design, well-known for its principal, Nancy Duarte, and her best-selling presentation books, Slide:ology and Resonate. Duarte describes Diagrammer as a “visualization system” based on the principle that “diagrams use proximity, scale and links to clarify hierarchy and relationships between information, making your message more easily understood.”

The website has over 4000 customizable and downloadable diagrams. By asking questions it guides you to define the relationship you want to show and then takes you through several steps (like defining the number of objects you want to represent and whether you want a 2-D or 3-D perspective) to help you choose from the appropriate category of diagrams.

It appears that you can download the diagrams for free but since there is no mention of pricing on the website, I don’t know if there is a limit to the number of downloads.

SlideHunter.com

SlideHunter also offers PowerPoint templates, diagrams and charts that are customizable and downloadable. There are some attractive slides available and they are free. Perhaps because of that there is a lot of advertising on the website, so take care that what you click on is actually part of SlideHunter’s offerings.

Knowing that visuals can help make complex ideas more undertandable and all ideas more memorable seems reason enough to try out some of these professionally designed slides. A small word of caution...less is more. Don't let the beautiful slides overshadow you. At the end of the day, it is you who will connect with your audience and change the world. Supported by the beautiful slides.

 

Photo Credit:
flickr.com/Brain C.C. 2.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Ways To Counteract Your Audience's Short Attention Span

I recently read an updated statistic about people’s attention span. According to research done at Kaiser Permanente, humans have an average attention span of 8 seconds [one second shorter than a goldfish!].

As presenters, this should be very worrisome.

We’ve known for some time that we need to capture our audience’s attention quickly and work hard to keep it by presenting our information in an engaging manner. Now it looks like that’s more important than ever.

Here are some techniques for extending that 8 second time frame:

1. Ask lots of questions. Our brain processes a question differently than a straight declarative statement. When someone hears a question they automatically start formulating an answer even if they don’t verbalize it. Use frequent rhetorical questions to create a break in your narrative and keep listeners involved. Use closed and open ended questions to generate real participation. If the audience is talking it’s much harder for them to dis-engage.

2. Don’t keep a slide on the screen for very long [8 seconds??]. This means that you can’t have a slide covered in bullet points [which isn’t a good idea anyway] because it will take you too long to cover all that content before moving to the next slide. Change the visual cues frequently to keep listeners’ attention.

3. Guard against information overload. Be quite ruthless in editing your content. Ask yourself, “What does my audience really need to know about my topic?” And then find another vehicle [handout, document on website, email] through which to share the nice-to-knows.

4. Organize your content into bite-sized chunks of information. These smaller segments will make it easier for your audience to follow and increase the likelihood they’ll stay engaged.

5. Make your presentations shorter. Just because you have an hour, it doesn’t mean you have to talk for an hour. See #3 above and plan to use at least a third of your allotted time to engage in dialogue with the audience. Let them ask questions; ask questions of them; ask them to share their experiences; ask them how they think your information will help them or how they will use it.

6. Incorporate interactive activities into your presentation. In addition to audience participation [see #5 above] use quizzes to test knowledge or present scenarios requiring a solution. Add video snippets to demonstrate how something should – or shouldn’t – be done. Leverage technology to poll audience opinions or solicit answers to questions [Poll Everywhere] or gather audience feedback through a Tweetstream.

No matter what technique you use – and I suggest using several – you’ll have a good shot at extending that attention span so your audience can triumph over the goldfish...and far more importantly, get maximum value from your presentation.

Photo Credit:
www.flickr.com/Three Second Memory C.C. 2.0

 

 

 

 

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

I know you are terribly busy at this time of year building and packing all the toys, motivating the elves, polishing the sleigh and grooming the reindeer. But I could really use your help.
 
Business presenters all over the globe need to make better presentations so that the power of their messages will be truly heard and their audiences will be engaged and take action. Here are the gifts I send to presenters everywhere this holiday season. And Santa, any assistance you could provide in getting these presents distributed would be greatly appreciated.
 
Gift #1: Commitment to The Audience: an unshakable belief that an audience deserves your absolute best and an unwavering focus on making each presentation a valuable experience for those listening to you.
 
Gift #2: Minimal Use of PowerPoint Bullets: the time and energy to develop more visually meaningful and helpful slides to support audience comprehension and retention plus the courage to NOT use PowerPoint when you, the presenter, can communicate the message more powerfully.
 
Gift #3: Management of Presentation Nerves and Anxiety: a willingness to invest the time in learning how to manage the fear of speaking in front of a group so your audiences can benefit from the full impact of your message.
 
Gift #4: Acceptance of the Value of Rehearsing: the resolve to commit the necessary time to practicing every presentation so that your audience gets your most competent performance.
 
Thanks, Santa, for helping presenters everywhere to be their best! And do be careful on those slippery roof tops.
 

May you all have a very happy holiday season, filled with peace and joy,
compassion and generosity.

Photo Credit:
Flickr/docjohnboy's photostream  C.C. 2.0

 

 

 

Presenters, Be Thankful For These 4 Things

In the early 1600s around Plymouth, Massachusetts the pilgrims observed days of thanksgiving to offer gratitude for the bountiful harvests. Some 400 years later we celebrate a day of Thanksgiving to offer gratitude for our bounty -- friends, family, good health and good fortune.

As I reflect on all the things in my life I am grateful for it occurs to me that as presenters we have some special bounty for which to offer thanks:

1. The gift of our audience's time. Thinking of the time an audience spends with us as a gift can subtly change the filter through which we look at them. We can be thankful for their attention and their interest which can help us be more focused on ensuring we give them value in exchange.

2. Tools that make us more effective and more engaging with our audiences. Things like Canva, PowToon, Crowd Mics  and  Poll Everywhere. Not that any of these [or any other tools] will take the place of well organized content designed to meet our audiences' needs and a well practiced delivery. But assuming  those are covered, the many speaker tools available today can make our presentations more interesting, memorable and polished.

3. Our opportunity to share ideas and touch hearts and minds. This is an enormous privilege that we must not take lightly. John F. Kennedy said, "The only reason to give a speech is to change the world." And while we may see that purpose as rather grand, each of us has our own "world" where we can influence thoughts and perspectives.

4. The ability to improve as a presenter and find more ways to offer value to our audiences. Presenting is one of those skills where we can always get better. Even when we're at the top of our game, our audiences make every presentation different, offering us the opportunity to continually hone our craft. From presentation skills training to Toastmasters, from more practice to increased audience needs assessment, we can challenge ourselves to deliver more value.  

What else would you add to the list?

 

Photo Credit:
www.flickr.com/Be Thankful  C.C. 2.0

 

3 Places To Use A Neutral Face In Your Presentations

Since the days when we were mere babes in arms we have used facial expressions to convey what we feel, what we want, what we think. It has been such a successful way of communicating our emotions over the evolutionary years it's not surprising that we've never put much emphasis on cultivating a neutral expression [except perhaps for poker enthusiasts], one that doesn't convey any particular emotion.

Now showing emotion and having varied facial expressions when we deliver our presentations is a great way to keep our audience engaged and communicate that we are fully present and involved. But there are times, both when delivering a presentation and when watching one, that a neutral face is a very useful technique.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A NEUTRAL FACE?

In the context of presentations I describe a neutral face as one that has an unbiased, impartial expression. It's not an "open book." With a neutral face the audience shouldn't be able to discern your opinion about something that's been said -- either by you or by someone in the audience.

Not for a moment, however, do I mean to suggest that a neutral face is somehow blank, disengaged or unfriendly. It is just not guiding the audience to a particular conclusion or biasing them in any way.

 

View image | gettyimages.com

The neutral face is pleasant and attentive with strong eye contact and relaxed facial muscles.

WHERE WOULD YOU USE A NEUTRAL FACE IN A PRESENTATION?

There are several key places in any presentation where a neutral face is one of your best tools:

1. When you're answering a question that is confrontational or argumentative. Under these circumstances you want to maintain your cool and your facial expression is key to communicating to the audience...and the questioner...that you're in control of your emotions. Your neutral face in this situation enhances your credibility, professionalism and maturity far more than a frown, look of disgust or rolling eyes.

2. When you ask a question of the audience and someone gives you a wrong answer. Maintaining a neutral expression assures you won't embarrass the responder by overtly signifying that the answer is wrong (or dumb or stupid). You can then elicit responses from other audience members and reinforce the correct answer once someone offers it so the audience is left with the accurate information.

3. When you want to encourage the audience to express different perspectives. By remaining neutral during a dialogue you will encourage more audience members to share ideas. Knowing that you hold certain opinions because your facial expressions have communicated them can shut down opposite points of view.

 

Photo Credit:
flickr/Aztec Greenstone Mask  C.C. 2.0

 

 

 

What I Learned About Presentation Skills From My 3 Cats

I am one of those fortunate beings who gets to dedicate my life to creating happiness for my feline companions -- Gilbert, Sullivan and Jake (aka the boys).  This is not an endeavor I take lightly, nor do they. And for all the toys, cat food, prime window spots, kitty climbing trees and love I shower on them, they pay me back in countless ways, including demonstrating some truths about presentation skills.

Here are the presentation best practices my kitties employ:

::Focus:: When my boys want something -- food, play, my lap -- they are laser focused in their intent. They do not allow themselves to be distracted or deterred. They shut out everything else going on around them and give their undivided attention to what they desire at the moment.

Presentation Best Practice: Focus is important for a presenter in a couple of ways. Staying focused on your presentation when you're developing it means you will dedicate sufficient time for prep and practice and not let other things get in the way. As well, a clear focus on your intent and what you want your presentation to achieve will ensure success. As you develop your content and design your visuals, keep coming back to your objective and key message to ensure that what you're creating supports what you want to achieve.

::Posture and Gestures:: When the boys are trying to communicate they use their bodies to underscore their message. They may lie on their backs with paws in the air communicating that they want to play. They may sit up tall and straight with one paw slightly lifted when asking for food. They may stretch a paw out and gently touch my arm to communicate that they want to be petted.

Presentation Best Practice: Use your body in your presentation to transmit engagement and energy. Stand tall and confidently. Move around your space with intention. Be aware of your gestures and use them to add visual interest to your words. Walk closer to the audience when you're making a key point. But also be aware of when it's appropriate to stand still. Ensure your body and your gestures enhance the message you're communicating, rather than detract from it.

::Repetition:: The boys gain my attention with their persistence and repetition. When their kitty alarm goes off telling them it's time to eat, they don't digress from their purpose. They tell me that they're hungry by rubbing against me, meowing, walking back and forth in front of me and then doing it all again and again until they accomplish their goal.

Presentation Best Practice: Repetition helps your audience process and absorb your message. Look for different ways of repeating and reinforcing your key message. When your audience hears that message multiple times they'll find it harder to ignore and easier to remember.

::Flexibility:: In spite of their single-minded focus and persistence, the boys know when flexibility is the best strategy. Once they recognize that they're not going to get any more food or that I'm working and can't play with them, they read the situation, revise their plans and go have a nap.

Presentation Best Practice: Although you've planned your presentation to follow a certain flow, it's useful to have some options in your back pocket in case you need to modify your plan. The sign of a seasoned presenter is having the confidence to be flexible. If you notice your audience looks confused or you think you've lost them or it's just after lunch, be flexible enough to adjust what you'd planned to do. Take a break, insert a Q&A session, give them a quiz, tell a story.

You can certainly learn presentation best practices from many sources. But if you are lucky enough to have kitties in your world, do watch and listen to what they can teach you about communicating effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

Presentation Myths

Of the various titles I’ve held in my career, myth-buster actually hasn’t been one of them. Yet when I teach the Association for Talent Development's (ATD) Presentation Skills Certificate program and other presentation courses and workshops, I find myself “busting” a lot of myths about presentation practices.

So many businesspeople who are tasked with making presentations, even at senior levels, have never had any formal training in how to engage an audience, manage anxiety and get a message across effectively. It’s no wonder presentation myths are so prevalent.

Some of the common myths I encounter are easily corrected:

Myth:: Admitting to your audience that you're nervous helps calm your anxiety.

Reality :: Would you want your airline pilot to tell you he's nervous at the beginning of your flight? I didn't think so. Don't make it about you. Your audience wants and expects to receive value by spending time with you. Telling them you're nervous makes them uncomfortable and compromises your credibility. Learn to manage your nervousness and keep this secret to yourself.

Myth:: You shouldn't use your hands when you talk.

Reality:: Hand gestures are like punctuation for your words. If you typically use hand gestures when you speak you will look awkward and inauthentic if you try and squash them during a presentation. Hand gestures also convey enthusiasm and energy. If you don't typically use them, consider adding a few in strategic parts of your presentation to increase impact.

Myth:: Look at a point just over the audience’s heads and they will think you're making eye contact with them.

Reality :: Unless your audience has their collective eyes closed, it will be pretty easy to see that you're not looking anyone in the eye. Intentional eye contact enhances your credibility and trustworthiness. Make eye contact for 3-5 seconds with one person and then move on to someone else.

Now those myths were relatively simple to deal with. Other myths require more attention and practice to bust:

Myth:: You shouldn’t use notes during your presentation.
Myth:: Start a presentation by introducing yourself.
Myth:: Your slide deck is a good handout for the audience.
Myth:: Finish your presentation with a Q&A session.
Myth:: It’s best to memorize your presentation so you won’t forget important details.
Myth:: Bullet points on your slides should include full sentences and punctuation.

Since presentations have become the accepted way of communicating in our business world presentation myths are transmitted quickly and easily like a contagious virus throughout and between organizations. Every time you speak in front of a group you can perpetuate the myths by using the same old presentation practices that disengage the audience and may even limit your career. Or you have the opportunity to change minds and influence perspectives by delivering a clear, powerful and memorable message.

If you’re interested in busting some of the presentation myths you may be operating with, join me at one of my upcoming ATD Presentation Skills Certificate programs and learn how to be a more engaging, confident presenter.

Photo Credit:
flickr/The Unicorn  C.C. 2.0

5 Ways To Make A Bigger Impact At Meetings

I doubt you've ever heard anyone say they wished they had more meetings to attend. Most of us complain frequently about how unproductive meetings are and how they interfere with getting our job done.

In addition to being time-wasters, meetings can be political mine fields, organizationally speaking. Whose side should we take in a disagreement? When should we speak our mind? When would silence be the better choice? How should we ensure that others know the contributions we make? When would it be more savvy to let others take the credit?

From a communications perspective, here are 5 ways to make a bigger impact at the meetings you attend:

Do Your Homework
Know the purpose of the meeting and the topic(s) being discussed. Determine your position (which may be to gain more information). Think about how you want to show up at the meeting -- advocate? big picture thinker? skeptic? subject matter expert? If the topic is one you do have input on, prepare how to communicate the key message you want the other attendees to hear.

Be Aware of Your Body Language
Make sure your body language communicates what you want it to as people read a great deal into what they see. Maintain eye contact both when you are speaking and when you are listening. It makes you appear interested and involved. Sit up straight instead of slouching in your chair or swiveling. Manage your facial expressions. Smile freely, as appropriate, but be careful of frowning when disapproval or confusion isn't what you intend to convey.

Listen More Than You Talk
Develop active listening skills that allow you to concentrate fully on what's being said and actively engage in the conversation even if you aren't speaking. Use "connect" words and gestures such as "OK," "I see," nods and smiles to indicate that you are involved. Refer to others' comments and perspectives when you speak demonstrating that you have indeed been listening.

Ask Questions
Prepare questions ahead of time on the topic being discussed. Ask your questions in an open, non-threatening and non-judgemental way. Become known as the person who asks intelligent, thoughtful questions that get at the heart of the issue. If people are wallowing in the weeds, ask a strategic question to get the group thinking about the bigger picture.

Speak Up
When you do have a contribution to make to the discussion speak confidently and clearly. Eliminate "wimpy" words and phrases such as, "in my opinion," "maybe," "perhaps," "if it's all right with you." These undermine your credibility and make you appear tentative. Also lose the "ums" and "you knows." Not only do they compromise your message, they become distracting and annoying very quickly. Speak loudly enough that everyone can hear you particularly if your normal voice is on the soft side. Develop a couple of phrases for dealing with interruptions. For example, "...just let me finish this thought and then we can move on" or "...that's a great point and I'll come back to it in a minute."

If we are destined to spend so much of our time in meetings, isn't it worth it to develop some strategies for making them as productive as possible? And establishing your reputation for making valuable contributions and speaking confidently and on point is a happy by-product.

Photo Credit:
Wikimedia Commons/Impact of a Drop of Water  C.C. 3.0