PowerPoint Tips, Mistakes and Ideas from 2011

What are the best ideas that you can use to improve your PowerPoint Presentations?


What if Your PowerPoint Slides Make You a Liar?


The marketing director of a well known Internet company presented us with fascinating stats about Internet use and users.

I was captivated by the numbers and percentages until he reached the graph slide in his PowerPoint presentation.

One of my colleagues raised his hand to ask a question. The presenter innocently paused to take the question and was blindsided by what happened next.


Black Death Versus PowerPoint


It's estimated that the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) killed 20 to 50 million people in Europe between 1347 and 1351. It's attack was swift and merciless. People didn't know how to deal with this threat. They didn't understand nor appreciate personal hygene nor sewage removol. They were vomitting in the streets - and dieing horibily. Almost half of the European population was eliminated in four years.


How Many Words Can You Have on Your Slides?


This is a question that more presenters need to ask before they speak. How many words should you put on your PowerPoint slides? What is the maximum number of words?



Geoff Ramm Presenting With PowerPoint


I watched my good friend from the UK, Geoff Ramm present at a few conferences. We were fellow speakers on this speaking tour. Geoff is a marketing expert and specializes in Observational Marketing. That means he looks around and reports what he sees – especially what seems to be working.
In his presentations Geoff made the best use of PowerPoint that I’ve seen. Too many speakers use PowerPoint as a crutch or shield. You know those speakers who simply repeat the words on the slide or constantly check the slides so they are reminded of what to say next.
 
 
Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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Top Executive Speech Coach Blog Posts of 2011

Executive Speech Coach Top Blog Posts of the year are:


What’s the difference between a speaker’s bio and an introduction?


Many people don’t realize the difference and often say bio when they mean introduction. And many non-professional speakers mistakenly supply their bio as an introduction.

There is a big difference between these two documents in their purpose and hence their form. Function always drives form.



Researching Your Presentation


Get your facts straight

Don’t stand there saying, “I think so” or “I’m not sure.” Don’t lie and pretend to know something you do not. So spend time collecting and confirming your information. Too many public speakers are quick to present their opinions without providing clear substance. Avoid that trap
 
 
Should you call out an individual by name?


Question about engaging your audience
I asked the group of MBA students for examples of ways to engage your audience. One student suggested selecting an individual, calling their name and directing a question to that person. He pointed out that this was a common technique used by professors in the university classroom.


How to Open Your Presentation with Commanding Attention


You have a few seconds to set the tone for your presentation. A good start paves the road to success while a weak opening can slam shut the door to success.
Your opening must do three things for you. Grab attention, set the direction and establish rapport. Without their attention you have a room of non-listeners. Without knowing your direction your audience will feel lost and confused. Without rapport you might have a room of enemies.


George Torok
Speech Coach for Executives

Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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Change Your Posture, Change Your Presentation Success

Perhaps you remember your teachers or a parent scolding you to “Stand up straight, don’t slouch.” Looking back you probably realize that advice was well intended.
We generally perceive a person that stands straight with head high is more confident and thus more successful. Because of that we tend to listen better to that person and grant more credibility to their words.

Research from Harvard adds more weight to that advice. The work was published in an article titled “Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance” which appeared in an issue of Psychological Science magazine (September 21, 2010).
The study and article suggest that if you assume a more powerful pose you will feel more powerful because of the increased production of testosterone caused by the physical power posturing. This is a curious aspect of body language. By adjusting the physical language of your body you can  influence  the internal chemical language of your body.
The Burnside News reported:

The study concluded that learning to adopt "high-power" poses of your body for two or three minutes before an interview, meeting or presentation will increase your testosterone levels and decrease your cortisol levels. Since testosterone is associated with power and dominance in mammals and cortisol can cause hypertension and even memory loss, this simple technique can be quite valuable to anyone who suffers feelings of powerlessness, nervousness or physical upset prior to a potentially stressful "performance."

The message for presenters is, if you want to be more successful, adopt a powerful stance before you take the stage. You will both feel more powerful and convey greater power and confidence.

Go ahead and practice before your mirror. Just don’t let your mother walk in on you.

Read the rest of the Article in the Burnside News at Improving Presentation Skills with Power Poses.



Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns


English, like many languages has many dialects and regional accents. None of them is the right way. This detailed website explains and demonstrates the variety of English spoken in North America.

The detail is amazing - including links to videos that demonstrates the accents. Kudos for Rick Aschmann for the detailed work into producing this resource.

North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns

http://aschmann.net/AmEng/



Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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Geoff Ramm Presenting With PowerPoint

I watched my good friend from the UK, Geoff Ramm present at a few conferences. We were fellow speakers on this speaking tour. Geoff is a marketing expert and specializes in Observational Marketing. That means he looks around and reports what he sees – especially what seems to be working.

In his presentations Geoff made the best use of PowerPoint that I’ve seen. Too many speakers use PowerPoint as a crutch or shield. You know those speakers who simply repeat the words on the slide or constantly check the slides so they are reminded of what to say next.

Geoff Ramm worked with his slides as if they were a tag team. One didn’t steal from the other. They handed off to each other. Geoff would set up the next slide before it appeared so the audience anticipated it and knew what to look for.

When the slide had delivered its message, the attention moved naturally back to Geoff. Like an accomplished comedy duo they worked seamlessly together.

The slides were real visuals – photographs. Not paragraphs or bullet lists. The only slides that had words on them were for his transitions. So the audience always knew what was coming next.

Nicely done Geoff Ramm and company.



Presentation Skills Training

Read "Annoy Your Audience: Read Your PowerPoint Slides"


Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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Power Presentations Tip 51: Fact vs. Opinion

Facts vs Opinion

When you want to persuade you need to present both facts and opinions.

Both need to be there. Facts serve as the foundation and reference points. Opinion builds on the facts and leads them in the direction you wish to take them.

Be clear on the difference. Distinguish between them and use them wisely.

In a courtroom trial the lawyer will present a series of linked facts and then interpret those facts via expert opinion or his own opinion. The jury will reach a verdict based on their own opinions. But it all starts with proven facts. Unproven facts are simply opinions and not the foundation for a persuasive argument.

Facts

When presenting a persuasive message you need to include the relevant facts – but not all the facts. Too many facts will bore and confuse people.

Choose your facts carefully and present them clearly and confidently because your argument of opinion is based on the facts. If the facts are unproven or disbelieved your argument will fail.

The speaker mentioned that today was the birthday of Elvis (primary reference point fact). He then went on to add stats about the growth of Elvis impersonators since the death of Elvis (secondary reference point fact). He next compared the money earned by these impersonators versus the original (tertiary fact).

His conclusion was that it was more important for people to be an original instead of a copy (opinion).

It looked like a good use of fact-linking to support his opinion – except for one thing. One audience member pointed out that today’s date was August 16 – the anniversary of the death of Elvis; the birth date was January 8. The primary factual reference point of the speaker’s argument was wrong. Therefore the rest of his argument was suspect. If his facts are wrong or suspect his opinion is worth very little.

Get your facts straight.

Opinions

Facts by themselves often fail to persuade. It is opinion that persuades people because opinion adds relevance. To be effective build your opinion on facts. Your opinion will always appear more convincing when supported by proven fact.

The salesman repeated several times that the laptop was a good price. That was his opinion. He did not connect that to any facts. Because of this I didn’t believe him and stopped listening to everything else he said.

Some speakers mistakenly present opinion as fact. If you can’t prove it – don’t call it fact.

“In my experience” is an opinion. “Everybody knows” is not basis for a fact. Wikipedia is not a source of reliable facts.

I believe that more speakers need to distinguish their facts from their opinions and appreciate the dependant relationship between them.

When building your persuasive presentation research and clarify your facts then build your opinion on top of the facts.


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Presentation Train Wreck: Avoid These Mistakes

Presentations that make you feel sick

Have you ever cringed while watching a speaker and wondered “How is this speaker going to save this train wreck of a presentation?”
Most presenters make some mistakes. All speakers can get better. And then every once in a millennium you witness a presentation that defines awful. If you saw the movie “Apocalypse Now”, just imagine Marlon Brando, watching this presentation and muttering, “The horror, the horror”.
Be forewarned. This will be awful. Reach for the air sickness bag.
This speaker was the head of an international office for a major advertisement agency. You would think that people who make their living persuading people to buy would understand the principles and importance of communication skills. You would think that their leaders would be superb communicators and presenters. At least, that’s what I had thought.
Of all the speakers at this international marketing conference, this speaker was the only one who chose to plant himself firmly behind the lectern. With both hands desperately grasping the lectern he made it clear to his audience that:
  1. He had no intention of getting close to his audience metaphorically and literally,
  2. He would be lost without his notes,
  3. He would not let the lectern fall over. 
He then showed his first slide while reading it word for word from his notes – never looking at the audience. Then, the next slide and so on…

I admit. I stopped paying attention for a while. Examining my finger nails and wondering if they were ready for cutting and filing – seemed more interesting at this point.

At some point during his presentation he started to display videos of TV advertisements that his agency had produced. I missed his introduction of the first video – wondering “Where did I leave that nail file?” But the videos did seem more interesting than he so I glanced at the videos on the screen. He played a few in a row – without commentary between. No setup and no debrief. I wondered: What was his point? What message was he trying to convey? Did his audience understand the message? Did he know the answers to those questions? Did he even care?
Then one video caught my attention. It was a short story about a teenage girl having communication problems with her handicapped father. They argued. They both seemed angry and frustrated. It was saddening to watch. Then, the daughter attempted suicide.
In the last scene of the video the daughter was recovering in the hospital while her father donated his blood to save her. It was an emotionally stabbing story.

I wondered, “How is this speaker going to bring the audience up after this emotional plummet into the abyss? Surely he understands that you never leave your audience with despair. You might take them to the depths for a brief visit. But you never abandon them there. You always leave them with hope.

I was intrigued at how he would perform this magical transition. I wanted to learn from this advertising agency CEO.

Then he said, “Well, that’s it. Thank you.”

Arrrrrggghhhhh.

He left his audience in the pit of despair. And then he failed to have a close to his presentation. That callous ending demonstrated a complete lack of understanding and empathy for the feelings of his audience.

Of course he also demonstrated an incredible lack of presentation ability. I believe that this man is an unconscious incompetent. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. And he clearly didn’t care. He was the only person who didn’t compare notes with the other speakers at this marketing conference.


The Lessons From This Disaster
  • Know your presentation well enough that you don’t need to read it.
  • Move away from the lectern to appear more open to your audience.
  • Tell your audience what to notice when you use videos.
  • You might even stop the video part way to draw attention to an important point.
  • After the video review the message.
  • If you take them to an emotional low – be sure to bring them up immediately after.
  • Close your presentation. Don't just end it.
  • Demonstrate that you care about your audience.
The best news for you as a speaker is that the standard for awful has been set. And you now know how to be better than awful.



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When You Speak It's Not Your Time That You Are Using

The worst presentations waste time.

They start late, drone on too long and go over time.

If you are starting late, ask your host, "When do you want me to finish?" And then finish early. They will love you.

The measure of a good presentation is not how long you can speak. It is about how well you can get your message across in the shortest possible time.

Always be prepared to have your presentation time cut. Leave out that 5 minute story, extra point or extended Q & A.





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