This post was mentioned on Twitter by DennyMcCorkle: Avoiding Death by PowerPoint! http://bit.ly/uuofx – Professors should learn from this….

Great article!

I like your rules without rules, template without tempates, presentation without words and attention without sleeping.

I will remind it!

Cheers,

Mario

Thank you and keep posting more articles like this.

Somewhere I have his name but he was a serious engineer in his previous life and his talk was entitled “How to Create An Effective PowerPoint Presentation” which was deliciously deceptive and on surface looked like a perfect snoozer.

But although billed as a serious engineer and PPT expert, he was really a seriously hysterical comedian, and he proceeded to build a sample presentation with every possible feature of PowerPoint in real-time — layering animation, tables, photos, sounds, until the PPT was some kind of monster on its own and had absolutely no connection to whatever topic it was intended to address. You can imagine the mess that he managed to create. He even showed engineering charts demonstrating why audiences prefer incomprehensible tables. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life and the entire audience was on the floor. Clearly we in business can relate to Death by PowerPoint.

http://saleseverything.ning.com/

Christine, Sylvie – thanks

John – yes, that is a nice challenge. I try that out at toastmasters and it is different ball game! Haven’t tried it at a ‘big’ presentation yet

Harish – my point it is that templates force you to present/prepare according to a predefined structure. I don’t like to do that. I like to use the slide as a canvas and not a page in a planner I completely agree with keeping things simple!

Manik – These are not rules! simply ideas that work for me. They may not work for everyone, but these can surely be ‘food for thought’ to develop one’s own ideas! (these may not work for me as well 6 months down the line )

Rahul, Paula – thanks

Barbara – to each his own. I would be very uncomfortable with someone else ‘preparing’ a presentation for me

Guillaume, Ellen, Kent, Dahle – Thanks

Nafees – Nice point again – depends on the subject though!

John – Thanks!

You are the Man!! Good stuff. I also liked “PowerPoint” is My Slave”. I wish you success as your gifts are appreciated.

John Chambers

There are two ways of presenting your ideas and thoughts. Obvious one: forward direction where you start and using step-by-step process you divulge more information about your subject. Second and more challenging one is to start with your final outcome and then go backward from details plan to broader objectives.

I find it useful to practice traversing in both direction before actual presentation. It will give you more confidence and insight into your own presentation.

Cheers !

Nafees Ahmad

If you haven’t checked out the blog ‘Tickled by Life’ you should. It’s an interesting site that talks about everything from presentations to just living a better, healthier life. In their post ‘Avoiding Death by PowerPoint!’ they make a lot of go…

Easy to see why those who speak and talk at meetings are the only ones getting much back:-)

Great site and thanks for the courage to call it as you see it:-) What would it take to shift to learning by engaging participant multiple intelligences to learn a thing in ways that apply it as they go – for evidence of knowing?

Christine Corelli
Professional Speaker

I learnt one rule which pays: Never insult the intelligence of the audience.
Translated, it means don’t explain too much. An understatement works wonders, and it helps you to keep it short with the audience gasping for more.
If you can inject a spot of humor it helps further.

Bill – Yes, I did not write this with a webinar in mind!

Paul – Thanks

Peter – Thanks! Yes, visualization is very powerful and works for me as well.

Olivia – Nice Observation. I really don’t like rules in any area of my life! – and nice post.

Phylisa – Glad that you found it useful. Thanks for the forward.

Kanti – I would approach this in 2 ways. (1) preparation! (2)
PowerPoint allows a ‘presenters’ view which only the presenter has access to. More in a different post!

Phil – Thanks. Write to me and i’ll send you the links.

BAW – if anyone can find meaning in that, i salute them!

Arvind – Good to hear from you! Thanks.

Dr. Kim – Thanks. How did the talk go?

Sue – Thanks

Sushant – Thanks

Dexter – Thanks and that is a great metaphor. I’ll find it difficult to present now, without the necklace popping into my head. Thanks for sharing.

Glen – Thanks for letting me know. Should have been only one! Will check.

Nice image at the start, it made my laugh. Stumbled!

Cheers,
Glen

P.S. Having 2 email pop-ups is super annoying

I often use a metaphor to help people remember how to design and deliver a presentation. I compare a presentation to a necklace.

The centre of attraction is the precious stone, the jewel on the throat of the wearer, this jewel is the WIFM ( the What’s In It For Me ) the audience is looking for. The Jewel is in a clasp of course- a precious metal clasp, that holds the jewel but does not seem visible- this is the Presenter’s Objective or Purpose.

Then comes the pearls of wisdom ( your messages and content ) strung on the threads of logic ( sequence and flow ) – you can choose how many threads ( rows of pearls ) but most important is the CLASP, which is the Summary and Action Plan or Way Forward ( we must meet our Call-Objectives ! ), without which the necklace is incomplete and infact not a necklace !

I have learned a few key notes when writing and maintaining an audience. For example, A speaker needs to maintain his or her listeners with interesting and important information to keep their attention else the attention of those persons will be lost and difficult to recapture.

Good read!

Helpful perspective on a common problem. I like points 5 & 6 about forcing interaction with the audience, even if a bit unpredictable in its outcome.

I’ll be giving a talk this weekend (no PPt slide!) to an advanced communication team (mostly post-DTM, authors, speakers) about the importance of showing vulnerability to your audience in order to have them walk hand in hand with you to the solution (for themselves). It is a bit of a rant against what you point out in #2 of the isolating professional image some we are taught to send.

Best regards,
Kim Robinson

We somehow have become convince that

Is this supposed to mean something? LOL.

The only flaw in the argument is that because, as you say, its about you and the relationship you build with your audience, most of the people who make bad presentations are by definition incapable of presenting effectively.

It would have been great to have links to presentations by the presenters who you quoted as examples. Great though. I’ve subscribed!

Shalu Wasu at Tickled by Life gives you “12 outrageous ideas to make your presentations absorbing” in his posting “Avoiding Death by PowerPoint”. I liked his listing from his first two point – there are no rules and have your……

Bill Cooey
e3datasolutions