Note what works & what doesn't work

At our recent Canadian Association of Professional Speakers Convention, one of the keynote speakers, Darci Lang, shared an idea that has helped her improve. She is a great speaker and she said that one of the things she does after every presentation is to take a few minutes to note down in a journal what went well that presentation and what didn't work so well. This is an important practice for presenters to follow. I'll share how I would adapt it when thinking about your slides.

When using visuals, take note of the expression you see on people's faces when they see the slide. If they are confused, it may be a signal that the slide is not designed as clearly as you thought it was. This doesn't mean that you should necessarily go and change the slide for your next presentation. The benefit of noting it in a journal is that you can see patterns emerge.

If you note that a slide didn't work well and see in your journal that this is the third note about that slide, it is a trend that suggests that the issue is with the slide, not the audience. After you make a change to a slide, track whether the new slide is working or whether further tweaks are necessary. Use the trends that appear as a more reliable indicator than the reactions of a single audience. You will end up with a better reading that way.

Use Darci's suggestion of journaling what works and what doesn't work with your slides and you will see a big improvement in 2009.

The Visual Slide Revolution named as one of the Top 10 Business Books of 2008

Yesterday I was proud to see my latest book, "The Visual Slide Revolution" named as one of the Top 10 Business Books of 2008 by Canada's leading national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. You can see the full article at http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/VSRGMTop10.pdf . The publicity caused the book to reach the top 500 of all books sold at one point yesterday on Amazon.ca. If you'd like to learn more and order your own copy, go to http://www.VisualSlideRevolution.com .

If you are looking for other book gift ideas for a professional on your gift list this year, I recommend the following:
slide:ology by Nancy Duarte - buy at http://snipurl.com/slideology
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini - buy at http://snipurl.com/influencebook
Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath - buy at http://snipurl.com/madetostick
Multimedia Learning by Richard E.Mayer - buy at http://snipurl.com/mmlearning
Brain Rules by John Medina - buy at http://snipurl.com/brainrules

Enjoy!

December 16/08 Slide Makeover now available

Just a quick note to let you know that a new Slide Makeover Video Podcast based on the ideas in "The Visual Slide Revolution" is available for your viewing through the iTunes Store, online or through my YouTube channel. When you are talking about date based events or information, don't use a simple list of the dates with no visual. This makeover shows a slide with a list of dates transformed into a clear visual that people will be able to understand and act on after the presentation.

This slide was one sent to me by one of the participants in a workshop - someone just like you who is looking for a way to make their presentations more effective. If you want to submit some of your slides to be considered for a future slide makeover, e-mail them to me at Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.

If you have already subscribed through iTunes or another podcatcher, the new podcast should be automatically downloaded when you next run the program.

To subscribe via the iTunes Store, click here.
To view online or get the RSS file for other podcatchers, click here.
You can also watch all the podcasts on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ThinkOutsideTheSlide



If you have subscribed via iTunes or YouTube, please provide your positive feedback on the videos in the Comments and Ratings areas of the service so others know the value you get from the videos.

To get your own copy of "The Visual Slide Revolution", click here.
To access quick "how-to" videos for only $1.99 each, click here.

PowerPoint Tip: Take time to update your slides

In the next few weeks as my travelling starts to slow down and I have more time in the office, I'll be doing something that I suggest you do as well. I'll be reviewing and updating the slides that I use in my workshops. Today's tip is about why you should update your slides and how to do it.

In my book, The Visual Slide Revolution, and in my teaching, I suggest that you can cut your preparation time dramatically by using a library of standard slides that will cover about 70-80% of the material you normally deliver. But you can't just create the slides once and assume that they will last forever. I suggest at least every six months you freshen the slides with new ideas. This way, it keeps your material current and it keeps your delivery fresh because you are always integrating new ideas.

Where will these new ideas come from? From your experience. In the past six months, go back and see what slides you have created to customize a presentation and ask yourself if they should be incorporated into the slide library because the message can be applied to many situations. Add these slides to the library.

Then, go back to your notes and e-mails and see what questions were asked about the content you deliver. If a question was asked two or three times in the last few months, create a slide to answer that question and note in what circumstances it would be appropriate to add this slide to a presentation.

Finally, look at the slides you have been using and take a critical viewpoint when assessing whether you could do a better job with each slide. Most will be fine, but you'll take a fresh look at a point and a more effective visual will pop into your mind. Revise those slides. If you are always improving, your competition will never catch up.

As an example, here are some of the slides I'll be working on in the next few weeks. Twice this year I have had to address the issue of vector graphics causing a slide file to grow very large. I'll add a slide on how to address this issue. I'll also use some of the slides from my new PowerPoint Content Templates as illustrations of some of the types of visuals that can be used. And I'll also be updating my slide on how you can hyperlink to content outside PowerPoint with better graphics.

As we get closer to the end of the year, it is a time to reflect and look back. Take the time to revise your standard slide library to make your presentations in the new year even more effective. If you haven't created a slide library yet, now's the time to start.

If you want to learn more about my new PowerPoint Content Templates that can kick start your slide library, go to http://www.PPtContentTemplates.com .

The danger of gradient fills

At a presentation last week I saw the danger of using gradient fills demonstrated in a way that illustrated loud and clear the potential for misuse. A gradient fill is one where the color gradually moves from one color to another. It can be done from top to bottom, side to side or in more complex patterns.

What this presenter did was to fill every shape with a gradient fill that moved from black at the top to white in the middle and back to black at the bottom. Then he put text in the shape. Of course it was impossible to select a text color that had enough contrast with both the black and the white background, so most of the text was almost impossible to see.

Am I suggesting we never use gradient fills? No. I use them in the background of my own slides. But here is the way I think they work best. The two colors should be fairly close to each other so that when the color changes, there is no significant difference in contrast with any text or shape that may be on top. For example, having a gradient from black to navy blue would work well. I also suggest only one gradient, i.e. go from one color to the next but don't go back to the first color again, it is too busy.

If you are going to use gradient fills, keep them simple and maintain the ability to see whatever is placed on top of the fill by selecting appropriate colors.

December 2/08 Slide Makeover Video Podcast now available

Just a quick note to let you know that a new Slide Makeover Video Podcast based on the ideas in "The Visual Slide Revolution" is available for your viewing through the iTunes Store, online or through my YouTube channel. When you are showing changes over a time period, avoid confusing the audience with an overloaded visual. This makeover shows a slide with a confusing diagram transformed into a series of clear visuals that people will be able to understand and act on after the presentation.

This slide was one sent to me by one of the subscribers to the newsletter - someone just like you who is looking for a way to make their presentations more effective. If you want to submit some of your slides to be considered for a future slide makeover, e-mail them to me at Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.

If you have already subscribed through iTunes or another podcatcher, the new podcast should be automatically downloaded when you next run the program.

To subscribe via the iTunes Store, click here.
To view online or get the RSS file for other podcatchers, click here.
You can also watch all the podcasts on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ThinkOutsideTheSlide



If you have subscribed via iTunes or YouTube, please provide your positive feedback on the videos in the Comments and Ratings areas of the service so others know the value you get from the videos.

To get your own copy of "The Visual Slide Revolution", click here.
To access quick "how-to" videos for only $1.99 each, click here.