PowerPoint Tip: Break Your Addiction to Ineffective PowerPoint Presentations One Presentation at a Time - Part 2

Last time I gave the first six steps in a twelve step program for breaking the addiction that many presenters have. They have become accustomed to packing their slides with text and data and mostly reading the slides to their audience. They know others have somehow managed to use visuals effectively in presentations, but they need some help to break the habit.

I hope these steps will help you or someone you know to start to make the changes that will help improve your presentations, and lead to even greater success. These first six steps dealt with making a decision to change and committing to the work it will require, and you can read them here. The next six steps, which is the focus of today’s newsletter, address how to make the change.

7. I have asked for assistance to address my shortcomings. Knowing that this will take time and effort, I have asked for approval at work and home for time and funding to get the training I need. I have made the time in my schedule for the required learning, better preparation of my presentations, and more rehearsal for each presentation.
8. I have made a list of the mistakes I have made using PowerPoint and am willing to correct them. From the fearless inventory of skills in step four, I have listed the areas that I need to improve on. I will seek out the training, books, and other resources that will help me improve in these specific areas. I will seek the guidance of coaches and others who can give me the expert perspective I need.
9. I will make my presentations better for future audiences. I know that the training and learning will be difficult at first to implement in my presentations. Change is difficult when you start it. I commit to the work required to make the changes and will push through the difficult times in order to make the changes I have committed to. I won’t give up when the going gets tough.
10. I will continue to evaluate my presentations honestly and admit mistakes when I find them. I will use checklists and rubrics to evaluate all aspects of my presentation, from design, to content, to delivery. I will be ruthless in my evaluations so that I don’t slip back into the practices I once followed. I will ask experts for their honest opinions to help check my progress.
11. I will continue to learn and develop my presentation ability with the goal to become the best presenter I can be. I know that this is not a one-time effort. I will need ongoing guidance and ideas in order to continue to improve. I commit to continuous learning through books, blogs, videos, courses, newsletters, conferences, etc. I will ask presenters I respect which thought leaders they follow and learn from them.
12. Having realized the errors of my presentations in the past, I have tried to share this message with other presenters and demonstrate better presentations principles when I present. When I see an article, video, blog post, tweet, or other item that demonstrates this better way to present, I will communicate it to my network through my personal and electronic communication. I will recommend to my colleagues, bosses, and friends, those resources that have helped me.

Now it is truly up to you. If you need the complete list of twelve steps for yourself or a friend, I’ve put the entire list in an article on my web site here. I know that changing from your old ways of presenting is difficult at first. I’ve done it and so have many fellow readers of this newsletter who have written to thank me over the years. You can do it too. I am here to help and encourage you along the way with articles, my blog, slide makeover videos, and many other resources. Now take that first step.

PowerPoint Slide Makeover #54: Using a timeline instead of a list of dates

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 we want to talk about upcoming product launches or future events, the easy approach is to just list dates on a bullet point slide. This makeover shows a timeline visual that communicates the message more clearly and with greater impact.

This slide is similar to those submitted by the participants in my workshops - 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: Break Your Addiction to Ineffective PowerPoint Presentations One Presentation at a Time - Part 1

The twelve step program created by Alcoholics Anonymous has been used as a model for many people to break their addiction to alcohol, drugs and other destructive behaviours. It has been adapted to many situations to deal with different problems people have. I started thinking about these steps when I was considering how to stop people from creating and delivering PowerPoint presentations that are ineffective and damaging to their careers.

So today I am giving you the first six steps of my twelve step program for breaking the addiction that many presenters have. They have become accustomed to packing their slides with text and data and mostly reading the slides to their audience. They know others have somehow managed to use visuals effectively in presentations, but they need some help to break the habit they have.

I hope these steps will help you or someone you know to start to make the changes that will help improve your presentations, and lead to even greater success. These first six steps deal with making a decision to change and committing to the work it will require. Steps seven through twelve, which will be in the next newsletter, address how to make the change.

1. I admit that my abuse of PowerPoint has become unmanageable. I can’t seem to figure out how to stop inflicting overloaded text and data slides on my audiences. My audiences don’t find my presentations effective, even if they aren’t telling me that to my face.
2. I have come to believe that there is a better way that can save my presentations. I have seen other presenters deliver effective presentations with persuasive visuals, so I know there is a better way. I see that they start with structure, create and use visuals that illustrate their message, and deliver their presentation as if they are having a conversation with the audience. I’d like to be able to do this too.
3. I have made a decision to turn my presentations over to this better way of presenting. I believe that I can change my ways. I believe that it is possible and that it doesn’t require an innate design ability to do it. I believe that I can learn the skills I need to be able to create effective PowerPoint presentations.
4. I have made a fearless inventory of my skills at design, creation and delivery of presentations. I have used honest feedback from others and independent assessments to truly evaluate what I am good at and where I need to develop skills. I have been encouraged because now I know what I need to learn in order to become a better presenter.
5. I have admitted publicly that my presentations have not been as good as they should have been. I have committed to my family, friends, colleagues and my boss that I know I can create and deliver better presentations. I have done this publicly so that I can count on their support, guidance and encouragement through this process. I also want them to hold me accountable to make these changes. I look forward to celebrating with them as I see the changes result in successful presentations.
6. I am ready to address my presentation faults. I know this will involve hard work and I am willing to commit to the efforts that are necessary. I will allocate the time necessary to study and practice these new skills.

Next newsletter, I’ll cover the final six steps on how to make the necessary changes.

PowerPoint Slide Makeover #53: Using a full screen photo to enhance a story

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. Stories and analogies are important to increasing the impact of your message. Don't just type out the key parts of the story on a slide as bullet points. Use the ideas in this makeover to show a full screen photo that increases the impact of your story or analogy.

This slide is similar to those submitted by the participants in my workshops - 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.

"Show your work" is not needed in presentations

At a recent workshop, one of the participants raised the point that the reason so many people put all the data on their slides is that in school we were always told to "show your work." Our kids are just finishing their school year and I agree that it is important in school to show your work. Otherwise, the teacher can’t evaluate whether you really know the material or not. If you just show an answer, they don’t know how you got the answer and can’t be assured that you grasped the concepts they were teaching.

But the workplace is different. As professionals, our presentations are not an attempt by our bosses to check if we know our job. They do that evaluation before they ever hire us. If we couldn’t do the work, we wouldn’t get the job, it’s as simple as that.

Your presentations are to present the result of your work in a way that enables others to use the information to make decisions or use the knowledge to be more effective and efficient in their own work. If you show all the background and data, you lose the audience because it is overwhelming. There is so much coming at them, they don’t know what the most important point is. And they give up trying to figure it out, or, even worse, come to a different conclusion than the one you wanted them to reach.

Instead, present only the conclusions from your work and in a way that clearly shows the meaning of the analysis to this audience. Always be thinking about what the audience really wants to know from you. They don’t want to know all the work you did, they only want to know how the conclusion will impact them. Feel free to have backup or Appendix slides that contain more details in case someone wants to see the details, but don’t include those slides in the main part of your presentation.

PowerPoint Tip: Being too emotionally invested in your slides leads to less effective presentations

I’ve spent some time thinking about the different reasons why presenters don’t create presentations that are as effective as they could be. One of the reasons is that too many presenters start their preparation by creating their slides. They spend a lot of time getting all the text and numbers just right on every slide. And when somebody suggests a more effective visual approach, they resist, and end up using the original, overloaded slides.

Why the resistance? Because they are heavily invested emotionally in the slides they spent so much time creating. It is human nature to resist changing something that we put a lot of time and effort in to. We think that since we spent so much time on it, there is no way we are just throwing it out and starting over again. Our emotions take over, and it has nothing to do with the rational logic that the new approach is better at effectively communicating our message.
To help prevent this from happening, I always suggest that presenters start their preparation away from the computer. Start by thinking about the goal of the presentation: what you want the audience to do at the end of the presentation. Think about where the audience is now, and jot down three to five steps that will move the audience from where they are to where you want them to be by the end of the presentation. Write down what proof, evidence, and support you have to back up your main points. This is the structure of your presentation, and can be done on a whiteboard, pad of paper, or, my favourite, sticky notes so I can move them around.

Once you have your message organized, check it with others to make sure it is sound. Ask colleagues if the structure makes sense for this audience. Check with your boss to make sure it covers the areas she wants it to address for this audience. Check with audience members to make sure it addresses their important concerns or areas that they most want to know about.

Only after you have a good structure should you begin developing the visuals that will support your presentation. The structure helps to focus the message and helps to reduce the tendency to put everything we know on the slide. Since we understand the structure, we can more readily use visuals that we will speak to during the presentation. We are not spending time trying to organize our thoughts during the creation of the slides, the organization is already done.

This approach actually cuts down the presentation preparation time since less time is spent revising slides due to the structure of the message being revised. In a typical presentation that does not start by creating a good structure, many of the revisions are done to improve the message, not to make the slides better. This time can be drastically reduced by starting with the preparation of a good message structure.

Remember that the goal is to communicate effectively what the audience needs to hear from you on this topic. It is not about how much time you spent carefully putting every word and number on your slides. Start with the structure, and reduce the emotional investment you have in your slides. You will end up with a more effective presentation.