1O Golden Rules for Your Next Presentation

Presentation checklist

The tricky part to remember while presenting: less is always more.


1.
SET ONE GOAL
Limit your focus, don’ try to impress the audience with how much you know, instead focus on what matters most . 

2.
START BIG
Start with your conclusion, show the big picture, tell what you are going to tell

3.
LIMIT HOW MUCH INFORMATION YOU WILL PROVIDE
Don’t let the audience drown in information, statistics and bullet points.
Stay focused and save the rest for another format: handouts, report, discussion.

4.
MAKE A RECOMMENDATION
Your presentation should drive action, make a recommendation but don’t forget to mention both pluses and minuses.

5.
KEEP IT CONVERSATIONAL
Use simple words, short sentences, avoid jargon

6.
SPECIFY WHAT YOU ARE ASKING OF YOUR AUDIENCE
Don’t let people guess what you are after. If you want them to do something, tell them.
Or better yet – show them.

7.
KEEP IT BITE SIZE
Present in short, simple chunks and combine claims and arguments with plenty of illustrations
and personal references.

8.
EASY WITH POWERPOINT
Don’t hide behind the slides, people will either listen or read.
If you have detailed information – make your slides into handouts.

9.
END STRONG
Plan your ending. It must be brief and powerful.
Why? Because that’s what your audience will remember most.

10.
BE BRIEF
Brevity is the first rule of speaking.
You are more likely to stay focused. You will be less boring. And your will leave your audience wanting more not less. And we want to have a good discussion as well.

Simplify in 2014

Happy presenting in 2014.
And remember to keep it simple. 

Flipchart instead of Powerpoint

When I first came to the Solar Turbines conference room in Prague, I was suprised not to see any flip chart. It is unusual because flip chart is such a powerful alternative to PowerPoint.

Give it a try.

• You appear more natural and human
• You will look more confident
• The audience will be more engaged
• You will have to simplify your message ... and that's good
• You will be brief ... that's also good

There are just three things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you create a structure even on a flip chart. Its important to give an impression of well thought through and organised thoughts

• Use post-it notes to put up headlines on the flip chart. You will be more dynamic. And you will not forget your thoughts.

• Write short keywords only. Don't try to write whole sentences - keywords are enough.

What makes an effective argument

What kind of evidence should you include to strenghten your arguments?

There are 3 rules to keep in mind:

1.
Use real and specific data wherever possible. (try to avoid general and abstract)

2.
Include evidence of many different types including evidence against your proposal

3.
Pay particular attention to what is new and different in your information

***

If you don't have much time to read further you can just watch these short videos:

Vladimir Kovar arguing against corruption on TV
Notice his start button, specific examples and strategic ending

 

Perhaps, now, you want to read on ...

***

REAL AND SPECIFIC DATA

People prefer specific facts, information about real situations and actual photographs rather then ilustrations. So don't just say 75% of our suppliers prefer this arrangement, but also provide one or two quotes from real suppliers saying what they like about it.

If your information is conceptual, support it with some data as an example.

Don't say: "This is the concept of how we are going to reduce costs". You can say: "This is what happened to costs in our plant in Belgium, when they introduced the proposed measures"


DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVIDENCE

When you are making you case, make sure that you include many different types of evidence and arguments:

Quantitative and Qualitative Data
don't use just numbers, give us some examples, illustrations, diagrams, photographs or real product examples

Multiple Arguments
The more evidence you include, the better. This is true whether or not your audience is concerned about the issue which is discussed. More arguments are more effective and they give the correct impression of a strong case being made.

Casual arguments
Casual argument shows how one thing leads to another. People are more willing to be convinced when they understand that something will be successful, but also why. 

Don't just say: "Our research shows that serif fonts are more readable (Times New Roman). That't because the little serifs allow to process the letters more quickly"

Evidence about the problem
Evidence against your recommendation

It may sound counter intuitive, but you should also include evience that supports competing, alternative solutions and evidence against your recommendation. 

Why?

You will be more credible with the audience because they see that you are taking comprehensive view, not just selecting information in your favour.


NEW AND DIFFERENT INFORMATION

Whenever possible include information that is new and different. Especially if you are presenting project update or research study. 

In this case you usually have too much information and you need to leave something out.
Don't repeat what people know already, or what they can simply read.


WHAT TO LEAVE OUT

Don't make your audience feel guilty or irritated. 
You will not be able to persuade them.

3 types of Questions

Questions can be the best part of any presentation. 

Or the most frustrating.

I have picked three common situations:

1.

One guy won’t stop asking questions

How can you prevent it?

The general rule is that people raise their hands with questions, and you pick who gets to speak. If you keep calling on the same person, whose fault is it? If people are yelling out questions or comments, ask them to first raise their hands.

How to respond:

Realize the audience hates these people. The sooner you quiet them down, the happier the audience will be with you.

Just because a question is asked does not mean you are obligated to answer.  Ask the audience, ‘’How many people are interested in this question?” If only a fraction of the audience raises their hands, tell the asker to come up afterward and you’ll answer then. 

During a break, talk to the person in private.  Thank him for his contributions, but ask him to hold off on asking more questions so others can have a chance to contribute.  Give him your email as an alternative way to ask questions.

2.

There is a rambling question that makes no sense and takes three minutes to ask

A good warning sign of this is a question that has a 60-second preamble.  Whoever is asking a question this long hasn’t thought about it enough yet to even form a question.

How to prevent:

This is tough. Warning people to avoid rambling questions tends to intimidate them from asking anything at all. It’s much better to respond when and if it happens.

How to respond:

Ask a clarifying question, ‘’Do you mean X or Y?”

Interrupt people if necessary.  

If they seem lost, ask them to rethink their question while you answer the next question.  Then go back to them later.  This is pushy, but if you do it with charm, the audience appreciates it.

Realize the audience hates these people, too. They didn’t come to the session to hear someone’s rambling, poorly formed pseudo-question. If someone is 30 seconds into a question, and you think he’s going nowhere, you’re the only one in the room who can do anything about it.

If you do cut him off, remind him of your email address and mention that longer questions are fine—just not in real time.

3.

You are asked an impossible question

There is nothing wrong with a tough question you can’t answer.  

There is no law that says you as the speaker must know everything.  If you are speaking on an interesting topic, of course there will be questions you can’t answer.  There were plenty of questions Einstein couldn’t answer either.  

How to prevent:

The only solution is to have a talk so boring, or so obscure, that tough questions are impossible because the audience doesn’t know what the hell your point was.  Don’t do this.

How to respond:

Learn to say three words: ‘’I don’t know.’’ 

They are easy to say.  You will not die instantly if you say them.

Write down the question or ask someone to email it to you, and promise you’ll post an answer to your blog.

Offer the question to the audience. Maybe you’re not the only one who can’t answer the question. If no one in the audience knows, they seem at least as dumb as you do.  And if someone does know, you’ve helped the person who asked the tough question get an answer, even if it’s not from you.

***

What difficult questions or people do you have to face?

PS
Notes are adapted form an excellent book Confessions of Public Speaker by Scott Berkun.

Presenting Status Update

Not always we stand up to present big change and groundbreaking results. Much more often we are to deliver a simple status update.

The problem with status update is that they are often boring and flat. 

Why? 

Because nobody needs more information. 
If it's just information, perhaps it's enough to send an email or distribute a report.

So if you want attention - and you should - you must turn the status update into a problem solving presentation. You can do it by asking yourself these questions:

1. 
Why does the audience need the information I am going to present?

2. 
What does the information allow them to do? 

3. 
Could they do without my information? 
If so, would my information allow them to do something better? Faster? Cheaper?

***

How would this change your next presentation?
When will be the first opportunity to give it a try?

Goog luck and let me know about your questions and progress,

Tomas

How to present tables and charts

At Status Meetings we are often presenting just raw tables and charts.  There is a way to make them better in a few simple steps.

How to present tables and charts 

Click on the this link and download a simple guide for better tables. (Czech only)
Is it useful?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_gDOVxazhysa0R3cXEwR1lhZ00/edit?usp=sharing

***

Far too many tables and excel sheet are dumped on a page without a comment. 

You don't want your readers to work out what's going on. When readers see a table, they don't really know ehere to start. Without an obvious point we tend to simply give up.

So instead give your tables a lead-in tittle summarising the main idea. Don't just say: Our results.  Why don't you try instead: Income up 15% from 2 years ago.

Giving your table a lead-in title will also help you to focus your thoughts and present better:

What should you comment on:

a trend

a pattern

a highlight

an anomaly

a variance
a conflict
a risk
your opinion or conclusion

There must be something after all why are you showing the table? 

If you can't think of anything significant to say, then ask yourself a question: "Do I need to present it at all?"