Comments

Thank you, thank you, thank you (from a sometimes university professor and budding consultant/presenter) for a peek into the TP presentation juggernaut. I just returned from a policy conference in DC and am sad to say that many experts' messages were "lost in translation." The points some of these Big Thinkers were trying to make were muddled by less than stellar presentations; they just could not articulate themselves/their messages. In all, it's amazing how many poor presenters we all have to deal with on a daily basis--at work and in personal time.

Posted by Lee H. Igel at May 26, 2005 10:57 AM

Great appreciation for the idea!
Great importance for my life including my introducing innovative idea,freak creation,and,my sincere love!
Great appreciation,the lovely idea,one pretty day!

Posted by Anniken at May 26, 2005 11:01 AM

Thanks Tom - radically and innovatively perfect for our times - love the CONNECT! CONNECT! CONNECT! Now to get Congress/Parliment to understand - possible?

Posted by Sean at May 26, 2005 11:15 AM

Great stuff, but can I also point people to a guy called Max Atkison, whose "Lend Me Your Ears: All You Need to Know About Making Speeches and Presentations" is avalable from Amazon.co.uk and maybe elsewhere. I went on a training course this guy ran some 20 years ago: it was excellent, he was excellent and most of it still applies. The fundamental point - and what I suspect sank the presentations Lee saw - was that so few people appreciate a presentation is differet to a report. Writing your report in PowerPoint (or preferably Keynote) and sticking it up on a wall is not a presentation. Points 15 - 17 sum this up for me: keep your charts simple and clutter free! Do you want the audience to listen to you or are you happy to lose them as they concentrate on reading all these screeds you've just put up on the wall? Have the backup data available for people to read... but as a handout.

Posted by Mark JF at May 26, 2005 11:21 AM

As a designer by trade, I wholeheartedly agree. Presentation can make or break your product -even if the product is mediocre.

Our example is a close relative to the point you currently address. We exhibited at tradeshow show this month (SURTEX - Artwork licensing) for the first time (my 2nd time ever!). Having walked the show last year, we recognized the presentation chaos set forth by publishing houses akin to Las Vegas. Knowing we had a great product, we set ourselves apart by creating a zen approach to exalt our luxury line of illustrations. Additionally, my partner/husband, Andrew, created alluring over-sized wood inlay portfolios to support our distinguished product.

Do you know how great it was to hear how wonderful our presentation was? People assumed we had exhibited for years. No explanations were necessary to people who 'got it.'

Posted by EC Stewart at May 26, 2005 11:25 AM

Wonderful Tom - an excellent resource

Interestingly I recently ran a 90 minute workshop for 12 healthcare managers and didn't use one PowerPoint slide. This was unusual for me and quite deliberate.

I asked for a show of hands ‘how many of you had been to a workshop or presentation in the last five years where PowerPoint was not used’

No hands went up.

My workshop went well - probably to do with the topic more than me ...but my point is this;

PowerPoint is wonderful - I love it and use it all the time - but it is rather wonderful sometimes to run a seminar/workshop/talk without the use of PowerPoint and just use your mouth/your story telling and your natural communication skills. We can all do it you know ...really!

Thanks again Tom - greetings on a wonderful warm early summer afternoon in good old England

Posted by Trevor Gay at May 26, 2005 11:39 AM

Great list Tom. As an ex-theatre director turned presentation coach can I also put in a plea for the power of props, audience participation (participants, not spectators)and silence?

Posted by Steven Pearce at May 26, 2005 11:48 AM

I have been using a new book + blog + discussion board to transform my Powerpoint Presentations... even my audiences have noticed!! Again it is about "selling" an idea and catalysing Action too!
Works for me!
Jim Rait
Find it all at Cliff Atkinson's site at
http://www.sociablemedia.com/

Posted by Jim Rait at May 26, 2005 12:28 PM

Jim, thanks for the heads-up. I've just bought the book. Matt

Posted by Matt at May 26, 2005 12:59 PM

Tom, I keep going on about Apple Keynote. While the success of any presentation depends on the person delivering it, having an easy to use, elegant slideshow to back you up always helps.

Have sent you via e-mail a taster which I hope you will enjoy.

Posted by Noel Guinane at May 26, 2005 1:08 PM

I'm with Jim re: Cliff Atkinson and "Beyond Bullet Points." I came across his blog a few months ago and he is excellent at teaching us all how to give better presentations. I highly recommend purchasing his "add-in" along with the book - a great "workbook" resource. Mind you, this isn't for the faint of heart -- the premise is that PowerPoint is for visual stimulation only - no more than six words per slide! That means you really have to have your presentation down cold...

Posted by Michele Miller at May 26, 2005 1:22 PM

Tom:

Thanks for sharing your list. Your ability to distill 38 years of experience into a few slides is itself a testament to presentation excellence. Great quote at the end by Stevenson. People don't follow intellect, they follow passion. Again Tom, REALLY GREAT stuff! Thanks.

Posted by walter white at May 26, 2005 1:29 PM

Having both given (but having heard far more often) many presentations - a few suggestions that I've seen work very well, mostly items that build on the fantastic resource you've provided us.

- Engage the audience, early and at least once again - this doesn't mean they have stand up and dance, but something as simple as a request for a show of hands helps get people focused and engaged

- Use your slides, if you have them at all, to illustrate and enhance what you are present, not to be the text which you are reading. As you put up a new slide, you at least briefly will lose the audience's attention - they'll look at the new slide and start to read it. Use this fact to your advantage, not disadvantage. One of the best presentors I've ever seen used his slides (the largest of which had I think 11 characters on it, most were just one or two words) as punchpoints during his speech.

- When you are crafting the story of your presentation the ideal is a story which your audience can engage within and feel a part of - this doesn't always mean it "sounds like them" but it should have enough flesh to be real, to be emotive. When I do training I look for how to connect my audience with the tool - my illustrations should be drawn from real problems, real engagements - not pure theory or fantasy.

- Give people many ways to recall and reengage. A simple handout. An email address, a URL. Don't overwhelm people but also don't be remote and too aloof. Last night I heard Dr. Jeffery Sachs present at a very well attended event here in Chicago, at the end of the event as he was signing books he made a point of giving everyone his card and contact details - whether or not people follow up with him directly, this helps bridge the gap and make him accessible. Likewise knowing about your blog here, seeing resources like this powerpoint which you make easily available helps bridge the gap between presentor and audience and thru that engagement deeper appreciation of your presentations likely arises.

- If you take Q&A it is good to think about how you will close after the final question. Frequently somewhere in the middle of Q&A the audience will drift a bit - someone will ask a question people aren't engaged by, will take too long in asking the question and give a short speech etc. At the end, I would suggest returning to "here's how to reach me" and "here's what we just did/heard and here's some things you - the audiin ence - can do in the next few days"

- Whenever possible avoid physical barriers between you and the audience and non-physical barriers such as lights in your eyes which prevent/make difficult your viewing and reacting to the audience. Clearly in large scale presentations this can be difficult - but work with the organizers to find some way for you to be able to move naturally and get at least some feedback from the audience (monitors showing the audience so you aren't just on stage talking to bright lights, wireless mikes so you can walk and have your hands free, etc)

Shannon

Posted by Shannon Clark at May 26, 2005 1:35 PM

Great stuff, Dr.

But why put the list in a PowerPoint file? Wouldn't that generate an expectation of a presentation, let alone an excellent presentation? I just posted the exact same content in a Word doc on my blog. Feel free to take it, if it's more helpful to others...
http://www.uneekNet.com/blog

Posted by mike atkinson at May 26, 2005 1:44 PM

thanks for wonderful present(ation).

Posted by jens at May 26, 2005 1:49 PM

Great list Tom! The only thing I have to add is somthing a speech instructor told me years ago: "People won't miss what you don't tell them." I have seen more people get tripped up because they realize that they forgot to mention some minor detail and feel compelled to go back to it. If it's not one of your absolutely key points, let it go. Chances are it'll be more of a distraction to the audience and can end up detracting from the overall presentation in the end.

Per EC's point earlier, it is always important to consider every public forum a presentation. And every detail important.

Posted by Andrew Hayden at May 26, 2005 1:54 PM

Great points! The two biggest hitters for me are #15 and #17: No more than three key points, keep the slides clean and clear.

I've sat through far too many briefings with muddled slides and an overwhelming number of "This is the key point!"

Failure to distill down to the essence only hinders your ability to win the audience over to your position.

Posted by Jim Holmes at May 26, 2005 2:22 PM

It is all about the brain and how to get your stuff in. Thoughts and feelings are so intertwined that motive is always a factor in moving people into your perspective. So how does it feel? Where is the audience? What do they from you need to feel better? To think better? What can I do, say, be better? Know the Brains of the folks you will be presenting to. This is the single most powerful weapon in the connect! connect! connect! mantra. If you are trying to present to analyzers and you are avoiding the data you are losing the whole thing. If you are talking to creatives and all you have is data you will be losing it also. Less is always more. Show and do is always better than show and tell. Interaction and story are always more engaging than sit and absorb. And by all means get them to laugh and breathe. Breathing is the single most important thing in the world and laughter induces breathing and opening up of the cerebral cortex like no other action. In the upper brain comes the Aha's and in the lower brain they will learn to love you. It is a constant dance between the two parts of the brain. I love this presentation stuff. It makes work more like play.

Posted by Gary Fox at May 26, 2005 2:59 PM

Two bits of advice my Father gave me (gave lectures most of his working life)

1) Standup, Speakup then Shutup
2) Make sure y'brain is in gear before opening y' gob

I mostly agree with Trevor about powerpoint - I think it is way over used - it takes the passion out of the presentation - but if you are a little unsure of your self it can help lot to give you structure and prompts.

Posted by PaulH at May 26, 2005 3:54 PM

You made me smile. What can I do for you?

Posted by Wendy at May 26, 2005 3:57 PM

Paul, I can definitely see how Powerpoint would take the passion out of a presentation. Maybe you should switch to Apple Keynote?!

Posted by Noel Guinane at May 26, 2005 4:21 PM

Powerpoint or Keynote can take the passion out of a presentation? Come on, folks: it's just software and like all software, it just does what the user tells it to do! Let's not confuse the medium and the message, let's not be bad workmen blaming their tools. What takes the passion out of a presentation is generally a) a badly written presentation; or b) (and more likely) someone who presents without passion.

Posted by Mark JF at May 26, 2005 5:47 PM

Mark, I agree with you. The presenter and their message is what the presentation is about, not the slideshow.

Can't resist mentioning though that if you're using Keynote, you never have to blame your tools!

Posted by Noel Guinane at May 26, 2005 5:56 PM

The only one who can take the passion out of a presentation is the PRESENTER. I am also amazed LOVE is not mentioned in the list. Being in love as an artist loving their craft with your topic you present the opportunity for the audience to fall in love with the topic. The most important tool in any presentation is YOU.

Posted by Randy Reynolds at May 26, 2005 6:37 PM

Tom, I love the way you think, but good grief, all that text in reverse on red is pretty tiring to the eyes. Did you design the colors/layout yourself?

Posted by Nancy R. at May 26, 2005 7:08 PM

It ain't the powerpoint that takes the passion out of the presentation, it's the presenter. If she/he has not got the passion, it's clear to the audience, and the presenter is wasting everyone's time.

My choice for number one skill in presenting is passion. Everything else follows and falls into place.

Posted by Terry K at May 27, 2005 12:36 AM

I rest my case - see my earlier comments about powerpoint simply being the tool - it will not mask a poor presentation or presenter - there really is nowhere to hide under the spotlight.

It is all about the 3P's - preparation, passion and presenter .... now there's a title for someone's next book :-) copyright it soon! :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at May 27, 2005 3:25 AM

Personally, I am not a big fan of Dr.TP's presentations as I find them too BRIGHT. Colors when used to highlight the IMPORTANT points make the presentation more EFFECTIVE rather than spraying them all around.
With regard to any presentation, I strongly believe the TARGET AUDIENCE is a KEY component in the preparation of a presentation. On the flip side, if the presenter is REPUTED (like a Nobel prize winning physicist), nobody really cares about anything but the CONTENT!! Hence, I would consider every presentation UNIQUE - with different varibles of varying weightage.

Posted by Hesh at May 29, 2005 2:40 AM

Hesh, I so agree with you on the look of Tom's slides being too bright. Tom's ppt great content, but a wretched look.

Posted by Nancy R. at May 30, 2005 3:53 PM

free viagra online without prescription Hey, that's great! We've a couple of professional slideshow critics in the forum. It's just like TV, you know, those programs where a group of 'experts' get together and with tremendous tact, encouragement and kindness, rip other people to shreds!

Seriously though, the problem with all corporate slideshows the world over is Powerpoint. It's rigid and limited and not nearly as powerful or as much fun as Apple Keynote. The people behind Keynote understand that if you want to draw other people's attention to a slideshow, you need a little eye candy.

Anyone out there doubt what I say, check out Apple Keynote for yourself. It's subtle, it's elegant, it's easy to use. In fact, it may very well encourage you to buy into the future now.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/

Posted by Noel Guinane at May 31, 2005 2:49 AM

Noel, I believe that relatively elegant presentations can be created in PowerPoint. Tom just chooses to ignore the basic rules of design. That's fine. He's Tom, he can do that. Little ol' me would get called on the carpet for doing the same. I have just wished for the longest time that Tom would consider the viewer's eye strain factor. Negative style text is hard enough to read and Tom dares to do it IN RED! Ouch! But really, I truly ADORE Tom's content. Worth all the eye strain! Ha!

Posted by Nancy R. at May 31, 2005 3:03 PM

Nancy, if you really like elegant slideshows, you should invest in an Apple laptop and Keynote presentation software. It's dead easy to use and drop-dead gorgeous!

Posted by Noel Guinane at May 31, 2005 5:30 PM

Noel, I'd love to do that, but our office's budget for next year has already been carved in stone. Maybe the 06-07 budget year tho. I use both a PC and a Mac in my work (PR/Communications) at a community college.

Posted by Nancy R. at June 1, 2005 7:27 AM

buy viagra cheap usa Apple Keynote itself is wrapped into a package called iWork which includes Keynote and a desktop publishing program called Pages available direct from Apple for $79. If you've already got a Mac, you're $79 away from slideshows that will knock the socks off whoever sees them.

Posted by Noel Guinane at June 1, 2005 2:47 PM

Noel, great news! I will pass it on to the boss.

Posted by Nancy R. at June 1, 2005 3:00 PM

Hey Nancy, for 79 bucks you might as well take the plunge yourself and then expense it when your boss sees how great it is!

Posted by Noel Guinane at June 1, 2005 4:10 PM

Noel, Well that's totally NOT the way things are done here and I'm up for a major promotion, so now's not the time to rock the boat. But good to know it's so affordable.

Posted by Nancy R. at June 2, 2005 7:26 AM

Nancy, showing a little initiative and doing something better than it's currently being done isn't rocking the boat. In fact, it's supposed to be one of the main reasons for promoting someone! Could I suggest that that's the way things should be done around there? Maybe after your promotion you can encourage those very qualities and reimagine the educational institution you work for (with the help of the best presentation software of course!). Good luck!

Posted by Noel Guinane at June 2, 2005 9:08 AM

This is a fantastic list Tom! I've been a big fan of your presentation style for years.

Posted by Juliana Aldous Atkinson at June 7, 2005 5:16 PM