[smile – my voice will convey the smile] I’m Charlie Knapp, Director of Customer Learning for the Quest International Users Group. In our time together YOU will learn useful ways to structure your conference presentation to make it compelling. As a bonus, you can apply these ideas when you need to create other kinds of presentations, white papers, or other work products. [long pause] Now, parts of what I am about to share I learned out of necessity. Let me tell you a story.

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Once upon a time I spoke at a conference, and that particular time, I was boring. I have had good training on presentation skills from the Dale Carnegie Course and others. My presentations usually earn strong reviews. But that particular time, my presentation skills were undermined by my PowerPoint. It was a PowerPoint tragedy. What if the TV news reported on my presentation?

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[long pause] What went wrong? Plenty. Following the company practice at that time, I had too many topics, Too many slides, and too many bullets. As a result, my audience was bored. Their negative reviews bothered me. There was NO happy ending that day. Since then, I have worked to find better ways to communicate when presenting about complex topics. Now, I am going to share with YOU some better ways.

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Boring has an evil twin. And the name of that twin is…

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Confusing. [long pause] Confusing and Boring often hang out together. When they make their way into your presentation, your audience will suffer. You will feel their pain when they rate your presentation. But, there is hope!

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In our time together, you will learn three keys to creating a compelling conference presentation. You will learn The One Thing Your Presentation Needs Most, Why Less Is More, and How to Structure Your Story. As a takeaway, I have created a tool that will HELP you to structure your story. By the way, I would like to acknowledge my former manager Jeffrey Pease, who introduced me to some of these ideas and helped me refine my own ideas. Are you ready to learn three keys? All set? Here we go.

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Consider these pearls. What do you think is the difference between these pearls…

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And these pearls? It’s not just the Tiffany price tag. The biggest difference is one thing. A string.

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A story is similar to this string. Stories connect the dots.

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So, what is the one thing that your presentation needs most?

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[pause] Your presentation needs a story. In fact, your presentation needs to BE a story. The story in your presentation connects the dots. [pause] Stories translate information into meaning and value. If you want your audience to value your information – and do something with it – your presentation needs to BE a story.

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[pause] Good stories follow a familiar structure. Think about this Grimm’s Fairy Tale. Little Red Riding Hood bakes some cookies for Grandma. But when she gets to Grandma’s, the big bad wolf is waiting for a happy meal. That happy meal is wearing a red hood. The happy ending is, the old woodcutter steps in and saves the day.

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[pause] Authors and Hollywood Tell Stories. What is their formula? It is a well-known sequence of 3 parts. You have a situation, a complication, And then you have the resolution – the happy ending.

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I know some of you are thinking that this makes sense for a case study, But your topic isn’t a case study. [pause] I have specific ideas for you that I will share in just a few moments that complement the foundational ideas that I am going to share next. So stay tuned.

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Let’s talk about your story. A story has to start somewhere.

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[pause] Sometimes the hardest part is picking a place to start. When that happens you might feel like you are stuck. Authors call it “Writer’s Block”. An empty screen is uncomfortable.

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So we fill it up. [pause] Once we finally get going, It’s common to really… get..going. We create a brain dump. We dump into our presentation everything we can think of. And then we need a computer to string together all of the content.

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Your greatest challenge is that you know too much, And it all seems important.

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[pause] Brain dumps can be unfocused. So our content ends up being similar to this big lump of wax, with not enough focus and structure to organize the thoughts In the heat of a live presentation, jumbled content can end up confusing and boring your audience.

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[pause] What if you organized your content with a clear structure? The result will be a clear message. If you have a clear message about something your audience cares about, Backed up with appropriate details, You will be compelling! [pause]

How much structure is clear? You have heard the familiar phrase: Less is More. That does not mean to keep things superficial, especially with complex topics. And it does not mean to keep things loosely structured, like a brain dump. What I am saying is this: If you want to be clear and compelling, keep the structure simple. Less is more.

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[pause] In order to simplify, you have to make some choices. Let’s say you have seven major topics you want to cover in your presentation. Seven is not a simple structure. So, how many topics would make for a simple structure? The right number is…

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Three. Three topics or Three phases. Only three.

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Why three? [pause] Because Monty Python says so! [pause] But seriously…

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Three seems to be natural. [pause] You can think of many examples where three seems natural. Writers and attorneys have a name for this phenomenon. It is called The Rule of Three. There is scientific research that seems to show that our minds are hard wired to latch on to groupings of three things. In contrast, two seems incomplete. And more than three is too much of a good thing.

Why not more than 3? Think of the children’s game of Musical Chairs. When the music stops, someone will drop out of the game. It similar with your presentation. There is a natural mental capacity for three things. When the music of your presentation stops, only three things have a natural place in each listener’s memory. Some of your brilliant content won’t have a place in the listener’s memory. Not only that – you lose control over which things your listeners remember. Would you like some proof?

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It’s Quiz Time. What are Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? I will give you 7 seconds to think about it. [pause]

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I have read Covey’s book a couple of times. Off of the top of my head, I remember three habits. Only three out of seven.

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Steven Covey needed a whole book to explain his 7 Habits. You might have one whole hour for your conference presentation. What will your audience remember? If you want your audience to feel compelled to act upon what you share, you need to stick to just…three…things. By the way, what about using longer acronyms such as SMART? You have same problem. Your conference audience might remember that you discussed five or seven things – but from a one hour presentation, they won’t remember all five or seven. Therefore, if you want your conference content to be compelling, you need to stick to just…three…things. [long pause] Speaking of three, there are three main patterns for organizing your content into a story – three main kinds of conference stories. Let’s dive into those three stories.

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If your story has chronological phases, Sequences are the easiest kind of structure to organize. The payoff to this structure is that your listeners will remember your three phases with ease. And the best part is, they will remember your happy ending. What I am calling the happy ending is very important. The happy ending paints a picture that answers the question, “Why Change”. By the way, many of us are used to talking about technology in terms of problems and solutions. For a conference presentation, the first stage doesn’t have to be a problem. It may be about an opportunity, such as adopting a new technology that will give your company an advantage over competitors. Personally, I like to frame the first stage as a challenge, rather than a problem or situation. Now, what if your story doesn’t fit easily into a sequence of stages?

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There is a kind of story that is called a Structural story. Structural means that you organize all of your content to fit within a story having three over-arching topics. The payoff is that when you are done, your listeners will remember your three topics. In order to make this work, you need to define three topics that will have similar importance. In just a moment, I will show you how to structure your topics.

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[pause] Pat Benatar has a famous song. Can you guess which one I’m thinking of? [pause] It is “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. Sometime you need to lead off with your best shot. Attorneys have a name for this principle: The Law of Primacy. It means, be sure to lead with your strongest topic. Do you know the marketing question of “What’s In It For You”? Lead with the topic that your audience will care about most. Sometimes you know that your audience will be skeptical. Lead with your most persuasive topic.

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[pause] These story structures work for many kinds of content. In addition to presentations, these ideas work for magazine articles, white papers, and even videos. Let me tell you another true story. I was asked to write an article on big data for Quest’s Q&A Magazine. The theme was up to me. I know that many Q&A readers know what big data is, so I needed to find a more advanced theme.

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I looked at what industry thought leaders had to say, and I looked at customer case studies. Soon I had pages and pages of notes. And I had a blank screen where I needed to create my article. What would be my theme? What would be my main topics? And how would I start the article? I was stuck.

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[pause] Then, I decided to apply my own advice. I needed to pick the top 3 topics. As I scanned bullet after bullet in my notes, I placed a star in the margin next to the ideas that seemed to be especially useful.

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[pause] Eventually I noticed a pattern. [pause] Many companies are experimenting with Big Data, but few have found how to make big data make a big difference in the business. [pause] I like to create content that helps people to actually do things that they find useful. What if I wrote an article about how to use big data to make a major difference, a strategic or competitive difference, in the business? Now, I had a theme to connect all of my ideas. Next, I needed three topics. For the sake of my storyline, I decided to call them 3 keys. As I looked at my notes, I noticed three overarching topics that supported my theme.

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[pause] For each of the three keys, I arranged and filled in the details. You can see my article online at bitly / Big Data Enterprise.

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[pause] With the approach I recommend, you will have three phases or topics. So how do arrange your supporting points? If you apply once more the Rule of Three, you will end up with a 3 x 3 matrix. … Now let me ask you, What if there was a tool that would help you to define and apply a 3 x 3 matrix to your conference presentation?

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[pause] This Storytelling Matrix will help you to structure your story. You can download this file at the Quest web site on the Speaker Resources page. The first part is to define a summary sentence. Why? Creating a summary sentence will help you to focus your topics and supporting points. The next part is the actual matrix, the 3x3. First, going across, define your three phases or topics. I call these the three Key Messages Next, going down by each of the three key messages, define your supporting points. You might have quite a lot of supporting points for each of your 3 key messages. Organize your supporting points into 3 buckets so that they will have greater impact.

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[pause] Let me explain one way to work through the process. First, make a list of the points you want to cover that your audience will value

most. Then, find a place for each point. Some points will seem weaker than others. You have three main options for

weak points. First, bolster the point. That might happen by combining with another point into

a broader point. Second, demote the point. For example, you might move a point from the top

row of your matrix down to a supporting point. Third, delete the point if it does not add enough value on this topic for this

audience. Remember, aim to have your 3 key messages have roughly similar importance. Keep arranging your content until it fits into the Storytelling Matrix as a 3x3

matrix.

[pause] For example, what would this presentation look like if you viewed it in the Storytelling Matrix? The summary sentence helps you to focus your content. It is the theme that strings together your topics. By focusing on the happy ending, you focus your content on what’s in it for your audience. You focus on what the audience will care about. You paint the picture that answers the question, “Why Change”? After that, the rest is a matter of arranging the main details within the 3x3 matrix.

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[pause] What do you do after you finish your Storytelling Matrix? It is time to create your

presentation. Create slide titles from each cell in your Storytelling Matrix. I recommend that whenever you can, you state your title using a verb. Why? Studies show that attention spans are getting shorter. Your titles will grab more attention if they are about action.

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[pause] Now that you have defined your presentation’s story, it is time to add two kinds of elements that you might think of as being analogous to bookends.

[pause] Stories and proofs will make your presentation stronger. If start with a story, you will issue an early invitation for your audience to care about your presentation. If they care, they will pay more attention. If your storyline is a sequence, you have a natural story to tell. You could start off with a short version, then use the rest of your presentation to elaborate in three phases. Newspaper writers call this approach the Pyramid Principle. If your storyline is about topics rather than phases, a great way to grab interest is to start with a story. How should your story start? Dale Carnegie started a great course for people who want be more persuasive in front of others. That course led him to write the bestseller, How to Win Friends and Influence People). The Dale Carnegie recommendation is this: To gain and keep the attention of your audience, Start right in the middle of the action, rather than giving a lot of background. [pause] Sometimes you might not be able to come up with a story. For example, your presentation might be about a new approach or technology or product. If that is the case, you can still paint a picture of what the happy ending looks like. That is what I did at the beginning of the Big Data article that I just showed you.

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[pause] The other bookend that your presentation needs is at the end. End with a call to action. A call to action is not just for marketers. A call to action invites your audience to act upon your information. It guides

them to the best… next actions. For example, if you supply links to learn more, you will help listeners turn your

insights into their actions.

[pause] One way to make your presentation stronger is to show rather than tell. Showing rather than merely saying makes your ideas seem real and concrete. Finally, back up any claims you make with proofs. Metrics and quotes make your ideas seem real and concrete. A great book about this is called Made to Stick, researched by Chip Heath.

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Next, don’t forget to clean up your presentation. Any of us can get in a rush and forget to check spelling and grammar. Nevertheless, be sure to fix the obvious and distracting mistakes. Next, look for slides that have too many lines. Too many lines draw attention away from what you have to say. And too many lines can be hard to read from the back of the room. So, delete content or split it into multiple slides. If you embed a video or video link, make it play upon a mouse click. What happens instead for many presenters is that they click right past the video. Then they have to navigate backward in the slide show to get the video to play. Animations sometimes play back erratically. A better alternative is to use multiple slides instead. As a bonus, printed copies will show the sequence.

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[pause] When you present, do you sometimes struggle to remember key points you want to tell about a particular slide? Do you sometimes struggle with coming up with the right words to transition to the next slide? PowerPoint has a feature called the Presenter View. When you turn it on for your particular presentation file, you can see – on your laptop only – your notes and the next slide. Your audience sees only the current slide. Using the Presenter View is a huge help and a great habit.

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[pause] Finally, you want to be a confident and relaxed presenter. The best way to do that is with practice. The CEO of one of the largest cloud software companies is famous for giving strong presentations. His secret weapon is that he practices his presentation 7 times. That helps him to fix content that doesn’t roll off the tongue as smoothly as it looks on screen. Practice – along with speaker notes – builds up the memories of what he wants to say next. And finally, practice helps him be relaxed and confident when it’s show time. So, practice like a rock star CEO.

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[pause] Do you want to learn more? I recommend these top-rated books. They will give you additional ideas to make your presentations clear and compelling. And that is what we are after with this webinar – to help you be clear and compelling at your next Quest conference.

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[pause] Don’t forget to download and complete the Storytelling Matrix. You will find it posted on the Speaker Resources page at the Quest web site.

[pause] In our time together, you learned three keys to being Compelling. Let’s recap. What is the One Thing Your Presentation Needs Most? …A story. Why is Less More? …Because that is how our brains are wired. How Many Key Messages? 3 What Tool Will Help you to Structure Your Story? The Storytelling Matrix

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[pause] In closing, I have one last suggestion for your presentation. I consider this the most important thing to keep in mind. Have fun!

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