how to create better · most presentations are built by collecting enough ideas/slides to fill up...
TRANSCRIPT
How To Create Better
Presentations
PREPARE MESSAGE DESIGN POWERPOINT
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CONGRATULATIONS
Alright… so congratulations are in order!
You’ve been shortlisted and the client recognizes that we are qualified to do the work. However, every firm on the shortlist is qualified, so what do you do now?
Use your interview to convince the panel that you know and understand their project more than any other team.
#1fear #2fear
public
speaking
death
Now… the bad news
Did you know that according to the Wall Street Journal, public speaking is the number one fear in America?
We seem more afraid of public speaking than we are of physical demise, heights, jumping out of a plane, or dreaded in-laws.
Nearly all men can stand
adversity, but if you want
to test a man’s character,
give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
Nancy Duarte
Out of the millions of presentations delivered every day, only a small percentage are delivered well – and as a society, we’ve come to expect it.
Unfortunately, while many people are able to verbally express themselves well in a presentation, our visual expression is notalways in line. We keep blaming the software for the terrible output, but we should all take more responsibility.
TYPICAL APPROACH
Demonstrate capabilities
• We’re qualified
• Our team is strong
• We know your project
Speaking roles
Polish presentation
CONTRARIAN APPROACH
Create chemistry, comfort
• What success looks like
• Answers to key challenges
• How we’ll work together
Interactive roles
Get people comfortable
Objective
Themes
Roles
Preparation
BECOME A CONTRARIAN
Death by PowerPoint Think like a billboard designerDesign
PREPARE MESSAGE DESIGN POWERPOINT
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Size RolesTechnical
knowledge
Hot
buttons/
drivers
Everyone knows how important it is to figure out what the client’s hot buttons, drivers, and challenges are BEFORE we write our proposal.
The same goes for our presentation. We need to know who our audience will be – each person is different and each person will have different priorities when choosing the winning firm.
For example, if we’re going to be presenting to a panel of procurement staff, we won’t want to get into too much technical detail – we want to focus our presentation on how we can add value to the client’s organization and hopefully save them money.
You also want to know the size of the audience –if there will only be two people from the client’s end, we don’t want to show up with a whole army of people and completely overtake the room.
KNOW YOUR
AUDIENCE
CAST THE TEAM
One of the first things you need to determine is who will attend the interview.
Right or wrong, people form an impression of how competent we are in the first few seconds that they meet us. The buyers want to get to know the people they will be working with. They want to know if they can trust us. The team who can present confidently and build trust and rapport with the audience has a great shot at getting to the top of the shortlist.
If you know you’re going to be shortlisted as part of the overall procurement process, this is something you want to think about and talk about at the proposal stage. Make sure the PM you select for your proposal is a good presenter and will elicit the response you want from the client.
INTERVIEW
LOGISTICS
Duration Format
Technology Order
How long will your presentation be?
What will the format be? How long do you have for the actual presentation… how long for Q&A?
Some clients give you a prescriptive format with questions to answer, some give you nothing.
Will the client require that you use their computer and their projector? If so, you want to make sure you use a standard size PowerPoint template with standard fonts.
And then of course, it’s always a game to figure out whether your team is presenting first, last, or somewhere in the middle. There are conflicting theories about which one is best… for me, I think I’d prefer to go last so you’re fresh in the client’s mind before they make their decision.
DRESS CODE
MATTERS
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
It may seem silly, but it's critical to wear the right clothes at the right time at the right place. You don’t want to be either over or underdressed.
Just try to dress to the same level as, or a level above, your client. And of course, consider any social or geographical influences. If you’re meeting with international clients, research what is and isn’t appropriate.
Don’t just put effort into your slides, put effort into your style as well.
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When you’re tasked with a presentation, don’t think of it terms of slides, think of it in term of ideas.
What is the best way for you to present your ideas? How can I best connect my audience with my big ideas? THAT’s what your presentations should focus on.
If there is something in my presentation that doesn’t help me get my ideas across to my audience, I delete them. I would encourage you to do the same.
For many presentations, that may mean no presentation at all.
So what goes into a good presentation? Good storytelling and sound design
Each of these is worthy of more time than I will give today, but we’ll have enough time to browse through these topics, hit some high points. Hopefully this will arouse your curiosity to read and learn more.
People love a good story, and a good presenter is aware that his or her audience is waiting for a good one. However you approach your presentation, you should think of it in terms of big ideas and leading your audience through them.
Storytelling Design
Intro ----------------
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About You ----------------
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About Us ----------------
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Approach ----------------
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Approach ----------------
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ROI ----------------
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Experience ----------------
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Experience ----------------
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References ----------------
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Staff ----------------
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Why Us? ----------------
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Questions ----------------
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Most presentations are built by collecting enough ideas/slides to fill up the time allotted. The result is presentations that are relatively flat. Each slide conveys it’s information in the same general format, with the same general emphasis. This approach is easy, but it isn’t effective because the audience is left to pick out the important parts on their own. It’s like watching a movie without a plot, without a hero, a villain, or a climax.
The main thing to think about where storytelling is concerned is that a presentation full of bullets is by its nature flat. A slide deck of bulleted slides on their own are really a collection of information presented to your audience enmasse. It is left to your audience to discern what’s key. But a good presenter does this for them. He or she figures out who the audience is and what they want, then takes the time to highlight what is important for them.
Intro About
You
About
Us-
Approach Approach
ROI
Experienc
e ----------------
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Experienc
e ----------------
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Reference
s ----------------
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Staff Why Us? Questions
?
$
AB
AB
AreAre
We
• Do good work
Are
• Really cool
Awesome!
• Oh, we’re awesome
321
A good presentation tells a good story, and a good story has high points and low points. The audience isn’t left to wonder what the main point is, because the storyteller highlights them.
When developing a presentation, the first thing you should consider is your “big ideas”. Why is your audience here? What do you want them to remember a week later? A year later? These “big ideas” should be highlighted in your presentation. You should spend more time on those slides and ideally illustrate them in a way that makes the most impact.
map your presentation **
Before you start developing your presentation, you should map it out.
But most people start with a blank PowerPoint slide, and that’s a mistake. If you create in PowerPoint, you are probably already “in the box” and the tendency is to just populate the slides with what PPT expects (bullets).
Sticky notes are great and a better solution.
Easy to create/scrap
Easy to move around
If it can’t fit on a sticky note, it’s too much info for your slide
PREPARE MESSAGE DESIGN POWERPOINT
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Click here for a video on why visuals are essential in presentations,
in order to eliminate Death by PowerPoint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exn7alAxsLQ&t=14s
Three easy hacks to make your presentations look more professional
Here is yourmessage.
It’s super
importa
ntHere is yourmessage.
Here is yourmessage.It’s
super
importa
nt
But delivering it with bad slides
But delivering it with bad slides
But delivering it with bad slides
People won’t payany attentionto it.
And they’ll getdisappointed whenthey realise it’s notfish and chips*
metaphorically speakingof course
And they’ll getdisappointed whenthey realise it’s notfish and chips*
You don’t need to be a designer to make beautiful slides
Here are three easy hacksto make your presentationslook more professional
But before we begin, let’s have a look at the
ugly duckling
Gross isn’t it?
Gross isn’t it?White Background
Gross isn’t it?White Background
Bullet Points
Gross isn’t it?White Background
Bullet Points
And shock of all horrors
Clip art
StepOne
The background
White can bereally harsh
Make sure you use creative commons
images, or buy them from a stock
image site.
Don’t be that guy
vChoose an image in-keeping with your brand
Do
v
Choose a busy picture
Don’t
Advanced
Duplicate your image
Advanced
Go to artistic effects,
choose blur
Add a Fade animation
after previous
Advanced
Classy Huh!
StepTwo
Bullet Points
Just No!
Too much text, all at once
Make each point its owntext box, and have them fly in after previous or on a click
Cut down your text!
Do
Have your textfill the box –reduced the size!
Don’t
Create boxes that are different sizes
Don’t
Don’t
We innovate
We care
We include you
We support you 24/7
We have expertise
We’re award winners
Don’t
We innovate
We care
We include you
We support you 24/7
We have expertise
We’re award winners
forget to line them all up
Advanced
Right click your box
and choose Shape Fill
Drag the transparency
Slider to 25%
Yep!
That’s sophistication.
StepThree
Iconography
Say no to clipart
It makes your presentation look like a child’s IT project
Instead, get yourselfa set of icons.Stock image website are great for this – it’s definitely an investment
Icons provide an
easy-to-understand
visual language for
your audience
We innovate
We care
We include you
We support you 24/7
We have expertise
We’re award winners
Once you have your icons pop
them in a box the same height
as your points
Copy the formatting of your points to
your new boxes (ctrl+shift+c to
copy and ctrl+shift+v to paste)
Group the objects and add
a zoom animation with previous
and in the animation pane drag
them to the corresponding text
box
Let’s see this swan
Remember what we had before?
Now look at her!
Now look at her
Three easy stepsand your presentation looks aeons better
The best thing is that youcan use these principlesAnd use/re-use them allover your presentations
And your super-important message will always be wrapped up in beautiful paper with a big bow
Interested in finding out more? Click here
PREPARE MESSAGE DESIGN POWERPOINT
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http://www.brightcarbon.com/PPTtricksVideos of each of these tricks and many more in action
on the BrightCarbon website
Quick Access Toolbar
Quick Access ToolbarAdd shortcuts to your Quick Access Toolbar to access the things you use more quickly.
File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar
Download BrightCarbon’s most used PowerPoint functions in our own customized toolbar
www.brightcarbon.com/resources/powerpoint-help/quick-access-powerpoint-
toolbar
Right click on anything in the menus
To add to theQuick Access
Toolbar
Freeform Shapes
Freeform ShapesCreate custom shapes and edit existing shapes using the Freeform Shape Tool and Edit Points.
Use the Freeform Shape Tool (Insert > Shapes >
Lines) to draw any object. Left click once to start,
release the mouse button, click again for another
point, and continue. Click near the start or double
click anywhere to finish.
Right click any shape and select Edit Points. Move
any black edit points to alter the shape. Create new
points by left clicking on the red outline. Remove
points by holding the Ctrl key and left clicking on
the point to be deleted.
Customize further by clicking on any black edit
point to reveal the Bézier vector handles. Right
click the black edit point to choose smooth,
straight, or corner point. Move the white box edges
of the Bézier to change the point shape or curve.
Focus Shift
Focus ShiftAnimate in a second blurred version of an image over the top of the first to shift focus.
The invisible box ensures your
blurred image won’t have sharp
edges
Create an invisible box over your objects and group
Select the group, Copy and Paste as Picture
Picture Tools Format > Artistic Effects > Blur
Add animation to blurred image. Animations > Add Animation > Entrance Fade
Hyperlinking
HyperlinkingUse hyperlinks to quickly and professionally navigate your presentation.
Hyperlink any object to travel to a slide, webpage or document
Hyperlink boxes on menu slides to jump to different chapters
Hyperlink logos to return to menu
Right click on an object
(not a group) and choose Hyperlink
Hyperlink invisible boxes over multiple objects or groups
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4