Presentation Zen Shortly after he returned to Apple in 1997, Steve Jobs gave an internal presentation to employees from the Town Hall building on the Apple campus (YouTube link below). This was an important presentation to let employees know where the company stood and where it was heading. A typical CEO may have put together a slide deck and run through a kind of SWOT analysis. “This is a very complicated world, it's a very noisy world. Jobs then reminds people that Apple is one of the world’s top brands, right up there with Disney, Nike, SONY, etc. In the presentation, Jobs said that marketing is not about touting features and speeds and megabytes or comparing yourself to the other guys, it's about identifying your own story, your own core, and being very, very clear about what you are all about and what you stand for...and then being able to communicate that clearly, simply, and consistently. “Nike sells a commodity, they sell shoes.
Tom Peters on Presentations In May, Tom Peters gave his insights on what he calls "Presentation Excellence" on his website. Great, great, great stuff from a guy who knows a thing or two about speaking to a crowd. Tom also posted his tips — 56 in all — for Presentation Excellence. It's all great advice from someone who has a lot of experience speaking to groups big and small. (Download the Presentation Excellence PowerPoint document from Tom's site). My "Best 11" of Tom Peters' 56 Tips (Tom's words in bold) (1) Total commitment to the Problem/Project/Outcome Authenticity. (2) A compelling “Story line”/“Plot” There's that word "story" again. (3) Enough data to sink a tanker (98% in reserve). Research. (4) Data are imperative, but also play to Emotion. The brain has a logical left hemisphere an emotional right. Absolutely crucial. (6) No more than ONE point per slide! Simple visuals for the screen, always. Right. (8) SMILE! This is one important way to connect. Again, you want to make a powerful connection? (10) Energy!
National Storytelling Network Working Smart: Microsoft PowerPoint The Making of the Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation Why I did it "Doesn't he realize this presentation is a waste of time? Why doesn't he just tell us what matters and get it over with?" How many times have you heard (or muttered) that? How many of of us have been frustrated at seeing too many presentations where PowerPoint or other visual aids obscure rather than enhance the point? How I did it Back in my hotel room I imagined what Abe Lincoln might have done if he had used PowerPoint rather than the power of oratory at Gettysburg. I wasn't a professional designer, so I thought I'd be in for a late night doing some serious research: in color science to find a truely garish color scheme; in typography to find the worst fonts; and in overall design to find a really bad layout. I posted the presentation on my web site that night and promptly forgot about it. It is clear I struck a chord that reverberates with many people out there. Face to Face with Abe, Tufte, and the Ghost of Feynman More Press Email BOY did I screw up. Peter Norvig
Presentation Helper - How to give a bad presentation Here are the Ten Commandments of presenting or not..I. Thou shalt not be neat Why waste research time preparing slides? Ignore spelling, grammar and legibility. II. Transparencies are expensive. III. Do you want to continue the stereotype that engineers can’t write? IV. You need the suspense! V. Be humble — use a small font. VI. Flagrant use of color indicates uncareful research. VII. Confucius says “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but Dijkstra says “Pictures are for weak minds.” VIII. You should avert eyes to show respect. IX. You prepared the slides; people came for your whole talk; so just talk faster. X. Why waste research time practicing a talk? Commandment X is most important. David A. 1 January 2012 Filed under Presentations , Hints and Tips , humour Related Pages We'd love it if you could link back to us on your blog. <a href=" >How to give a bad presentation</a>
The Business Card Game - lifehack.org First of all, if you’re going to attend an event, have business cards that give people a way to contact you. If you’re not going as a representative of your current day job, make your own cards, and put your own sites and links and contact information on them. But then what? Cards are Good Conversation Starters- If your card isn’t plain white or doesn’t look like you used a built in MS Word template, people will often look at your card the way one looks at a four-year-old’s rendition of a fire truck. Let’s talk for a minute. Send “Nice Seeing You at BarCamp Boston” emails to people, with clear subject lines, and then inside, start with telling them who you are again (you ALL met lots of people, right?) Finish this email with whatever “call to action” you’re hoping for. File the Cards- My current method of filing cards from events is that I gather them all in a binder clip and then toss them in a drawer.
teasing the audience What was it the Army used to say were the rules for lecturing? Tell 'em what you're going to say, tell 'em, then tell 'em what you've told them. That worked in a certain age, but people's expectations have changed. Some radio journalists haven't changed with them. The start of the Da Vinci Code trial was a good example - made all the more memorable because the story was about a story, which had been turned into a thriller: what a great opportunity to talk about the case using the rules of good storytelling..... Two writers have begun an action in the high court in for breach of copyright against the publishers of the best-selling novel “The Da Vinci Code”. He’s reputedly the highest paid author in the world but today Dan Brown was in court to defend himself against a charge of plagiarism. It starts from the theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalen. The cue makes it worse - it tells virtually everything you need to know about the story in the first 20 seconds.
Considering Presentations - lifehack.org Tomorrow, I will stand in a room of people at Bar Camp Boston and talk about content networks. The audience will be primarily really technical people, who know more about networking, hacking, developing, engineering, and everything than me. They will be looking at me with eyes that all engineering crowds give me at presentations: “Who are you? What do you know? How can this be useful to me?” I owe them a good performance. Step One: Consider the Ending- When this presentation is over, I want the people in my audience to be energized, happy, engaged, and thinking about my material. With that in mind, I know this: I don’t have to SELL people anything. Step Two: Consider the Venue- There are 150 total attendees. The venue determines the toolkit. Step Three: Consider the Audience- Of course the audience is the most important part of the presentation. The presentation must fit the audience, and you have to really consider what their ears and eyes are trying to pluck from it.
My Best Presentation Tricks - lifehack.org Giving presentations can be a complete and utter thrill. Too bad attending them can be a complete and utter bore. If you are on the giving side, I want to offer you up a collection of my best presentation tricks to date. I’ve written on presentation and the storyteller’s promise before at my site. Stories and Characters With few exceptions, a presentation is an opportunity for you to tell a story to an audience. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. At the beginning, your character should have a problem. Ads are presentations. Touch Their Eyes Presentations are not opportunities for people to read in a group setting. Remember that a slide deck doesn’t have to equal the handout provided after the presentation. There are all kinds of great sources for interesting graphics and images to add to your slide deck. A Presentation Doesn’t Equal a PowerPoint Side Deck I was once in an argument with someone over the fact that I didn’t have slide deck materials to give her. Wrong.