When I was browsing through Slideshare today, I found this gem. It’s simply too good not to share, because it offers some real solid advice on how to make your PowerPoint slides work for you instead of against you.
Alexei Kapterev gives some solid and practical advice:
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Present to make meaning:
Without providing the necessary meaning about the subject, why it matters to you, and why it should matter to your audience, your presentation will be kept at a level too abstract to really attract attention. You will make your presentations real when you put your content in the appropriate context through stories and real life examples. That’s when people can relate; that’s when people will give you their full attention.
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Significance leads to Passion attracts Attention leads to Action.
When you present with meaning, you are presenting with enthusiasm and give significance to your topic. Such passion automatically will get you attention, which in turn will lead to action in your audience. It becomes easier to guide them to the action you would like them to take.
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Give only 3 to 4 reasons supporting your point.
It doesn’t really matter, how you structure your presentation, as long as you keep in mind that 3 to 4 discussion points are the most your audience will realistically remember. A structure that always works is a Memorable Opening and Closing with 3 to 4 arguments in between. Each of these arguments should be supported by 2 to 3 details. This is an easy and practical format to scale your presentation without losing focus of your 3 or 4 main points.
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Less text, more imagery, wild imagery.
When you design your slides, forget about the words initially. What kind of image could you use to symbolize your message? Just one image that’s powerful enough to convey enough meaning even without words. Then find that image and think of just one word that describes the point you are making. Then put that word on the slide. Just that one word. Less is more.
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Rehearse to get feedback.
You will never get it right the first time. Rehearse your presentation early and often. If at all possible, rehearse in front of your colleagues, friends, and family to get valuable feedback that will make your presentation all that better.
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Simple Design Rules:
- One point per slide
- Few matching colors
- Very few fonts
- Photos, not clipart
Whenever you are introducing a new product or idea, you are proposing change. Change, however, is often met with skepticism.
You have to invoke strong mental images in your audience to which they can relate to in a good way, or otherwise your proposed change may not be perceived as positive change at all. Facts and figures may only get you so far here… But once an audience sees your message in a context that translates into a sensory experience, it will literally make sense. As a result, you are bound to get the necessary emotional response that will lead to action.
“People don’t really buy
your product, solution, or idea,
they buy the stories that are attached to it.”
Michael Margolis, author of Believe Me
So storytelling is important and stories can be useful in all aspects of communication, not just presentations and product demonstrations.
How to become a better storyteller in your presentations?
- Actively Listen to Good Stories
You will find them everywhere… Great stories are what makes the world go around and they are found in large scale as well as on a very small scale. The key is to become a good storylistener. A listener who has a good ear for the words and ways in which a story is delivered. What is the plot? How are the characters described? How is the story chunked and sequenced? Those are all aspects that will make a difference in how a story is being received. Start to tune into those finer details in other people’s stories and your own storytelling will automatically improve. - Hang Out with Storytellers
The world wide web is a fabulous place for people of like minds to gather. Drop in to some of the places that cater specifically to storytellers. Places like the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Network, and the Society for Storytelling are great places to find inspiration and information to make you a better storyteller. - Join a local theater group
Great storytellers often have a theatrical way in which they deliver their stories. I’m not proposing you should present your next product demonstration in the ways of Othello. What joining a theater group will give you is a greater appreciation for the elements of your voice (volume, intonation, pitch, modulation) as well as the knowledge and skills to better use these elements.
Where to find your stories?
- If you are in a large company, ask your co-workers to tell you the stories they know that relate to your business or industry. If you have access to the founder of the company, even better – ask him or her what made them so passionate to end up starting their company. Look out for those stories that people tell with passion, laughter, and enthusiasm.
- If you are the founder of your own company, take a trip down memory lane. What were the stories that led to the company in the first place? I’m convinced there are many neglected stories worth telling in there…
- Ask your customers and prospects about their issues. What are some of the stories around your field of activity that they are passionate about?
- Look at any area of your business and then chunk up and chunk down. What do you see when you look at the bigger picture? What do you find in the details? Taking different perspectives will often lead you to discover some interesting facts just waiting to be told as a story.
The power of stories doesn’t end with the presentation or product demonstration. There is room for great stories at every step of the sales cycle. I worked for a few companies that provided high quality products that came with an appropriate price tag. As a result, I often had to deal with discussions about the price of our products. I never did it in a direct way. I rather told a story:
| “Many years ago I attended an industry event where Jim Lovell was the keynote speaker. His presentation was excellent and the slides with photos from his space travels were stunning. During the Q & A session one of the audience members asked: “How did it feel to fly to the moon in a spaceship assembled with parts from lowest bidders?” Mr. Lovell, not sure if it was a humorous or simply a sarcastic question, answered with a smile on his face: “Sir, NASA never bought from vendors that had the lowest bids; NASA always bought from vendors who wanted to fly with us to the Moon.” |
What stories are working well for you? Can you find even more to add real life context to your demos and presentations? I bet you can.
The above presentation was created with Prezi – my favorite new slide show alternative.
Jonathan Altfeld is an internationally known trainer of communication skills. He recently released his latest creation, the 4-CD set “Creating the Automatic YES”. In this program, Jonathan teaches how to elicit and influence emotional states in elegant and natural ways. Although the program focuses on one-on-one communication, all of the skills and knowledge taught can be applied to product demonstrations and group presentations as well.
The program starts out with the two modules The Power of Context and People Only Take Action in Action States. The listener will quickly understand why emotional states in communication are key to getting a message across. The course then continues to educate the listener about the importance of emotional awareness in all of our communication — and especially in our persuasive communication.
Listen to this sample track from CD 1, Our Ability to Influence is Proportional to EQ. In it, you will hear Jonathan say: “Lead your audience to an Action State in a way that aligns with their values and beliefs.” With that sentence, Jonathan sums up what you will get from the program: the ability to elicit and influence emotional states in your audience.
“Creating the Automatic YES,” not surprisingly, is all about emotional states. You will learn how to lead someone from an Encounter State to an Action State — not in one big step, but through the chaining of smaller state changes in between. This is a skill that will set you apart from other presenters. Thinking about how your audience will feel when they watch your product demo will most certainly help you add great stories — and sequence them for maximum impact — when preparing your demo script.
Although I didn’t plan on it, I listened to the entire course in one sitting. It takes a little under four hours and the quality and logical order of information, bundled with Jonathan’s entertaining presentation style, makes this program seem shorter than it actually is.
For me, this program is a keeper! I recommend it to any product demonstrator as a secret weapon. Armed with it, you will be able to elicit and change the emotional states of your audience with elegance. I consider this the main ingredient that will lead to truly memorable demos. Here’s a link to Jonathan’s product page.
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
Alexander Graham Bell
A memorable product demonstration requires adequate planning and preparation. Preparing for a demo typically involves some creative writing. Writing down your key messages, relevant stories, and the main benefits your customers get from using your product is a cruicial step toward demo success.
Writing a demo script requires a focused mind and concentration. But with many windows open on your desktop, instant message and feed notifications, and social networking status updates, it’s easy to get distracted. If only there would be a text editor that lets users truly focus on the task at hand: writing a compelling demo script…
Meet Ommwriter, the text editor that helps you concentrate. Watch the video below and then head over to www.ommwriter.com to download this nifty freeware. It is only available for Macs, so if you need one of those as well, head over to the Apple Store.
Whenever I work with a client on their presentation or demo script, I first create a mind map. It helps me understand the different chunks of information and their relationship. And mind mapping software makes it easy to change the sequence and flow of a presentation or product demo.
To my delight, a new application has entered the mind mapping scene. MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping application that lets you work on a map collaboratively from any location. All you need is a web-browser. And the Offline Mode even lets you work on your maps when you’re not connected to the internet. Once you’re online again, the maps will automatically be synced with their online versions.
The user interface is well designed and the functionality is what you would expect from a full featured mind mapping software. The top menu bar includes buttons to add, delete, and connect branches, basic text editing functions, as well as an export feature, which converts your map to a document (rtf, pdf) or an image. MindMeister also supports the popular MindManager and FreeMind file types.
On the right side of the workspace, users find:
- Navigator
Lets the user zoom in and out of a map, center the map, or switch to another map. - Text Formatting
MindMeister offers three different text sizes in regular, bold, and italics, as well as an option to change a font’s color. - Icons and Images
There are almost 300 built-in icons available, as well as the option to upload your own image files, to make your maps more memorable. - Extras
- Notes: Attach a note to any branch of your map.
- Links: Add hyperlinks to your branches
- Attachments: Upload a file as attachment to a specific branch.
- Tasks: Set priority and schedule/assign tasks. - Information
Lets the user share and publish, set the title, description, tags, and notification options for a map.
MindMeister is so easy to use, no manual is required. There are a few easy to remember keyboard shortcuts:
- TAB – add new child idea
- ENTER – add new sibling idea
- DEL – delete an idea
- SPACE – open/close ideas
- cursor keys – move between ideas
- + / - – zoom in / out
Collaborating on a map is fun, as users see each other’s modification of a map as it happens in real time. And just in case you need to roll back time to see who added which topic in what order, MindMeister lets you step through a map in its History View.
MindMeister also developed two applications for the iPhone:
- MindMeister for iPhone
This is essentially the same functionality of the web-based application in the palm of your hand. It lets users create, view, and edit maps, then share them right from the iPhone. - Geistesblitz
A very cool, free add-on. The application has one text field and a submit button. Entering a thought in Geistesblitz will send it straight to your default map and add it to a branch called “My Geistesblitzes”.
Geistesblitz is also available as a browser plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer, as well as an option to send your Geistesblitzes via SMS or Email.
The Basic Edition of MindMeister is free and naturally has some limitations. Users can only have 3 mind maps, can’t export in MindManager or FreeMind format, and have to endure a small advertisement in the upper right corner of the screen. To lift these limitations, users can upgrade to a choice of subscription-based plans, based on their needs. MindMeister also offers an Academic Edition.
This morning I came across the blog post “From Telegraph to Twitter: The Language of the Short Form“ by Roy Peter Clark, the author of the book ”Writing Tools” and producer of the hit podcast by the same name.
In his post, Clark writes about the impact Twitter has on language. As a late adopter, Clark just recently joined Twitter and in his article, he thoughtfully discusses the value Twitter offers to language, despite (or perhaps because of) its 140 character limit.
Clark’s main message is that
The brevity of an e-mail message, a blog post, a text message,
even a tweet, is no obstacle to powerful information,
a persuasive argument, a literary moment, a zinger, a joke.
This made me think of presentations and product demonstrations…and how they could benefit from this long known, but too often overlooked, understanding: less is often more.
