PRESENTATION
ZEN
Introduction
[1] Presenting in Today’s World
Preparation
[2] Creativity, Limitations, and Constraints
[3] Planning Analog
[4] Crafting the Story
Design
[5] Simplicity: Why It Matters
[6] Presentation Design: Principles and Techniques
Delivery
[7] The Art of Being Completely Present
[8] Connecting With an Audience
The Next Step . . .
[9] The Journey Begins
Introduction
The 1st step to creating & designing great
presentations is to be mindful of the current
state of what passes for “normal” PowerPoint
presentations
&
that what is “normal” today is out of sync &
off-kilter with how people actually learn &
communicate
Principles
Restraint in preparation
Simplicity in design
Naturalness in delivery
Greater
Clarity
Goal
Think differently about:
the design
& the delivery of the presentation!
See presentations in a way that is different,
simpler, more visual, more natural, & ultimately
far more meaningful!
Don McMillan:
Life After Death by PowerPoint
[4:26]
Slideuments
A good oral presentation is
different than a well-written
document
Attempts to merge them
result in poor presentations
& poor documents
“The Conceptual Age”
High-Touch/High-Concept
Involves the capacity to:
• detect patterns &
opportunities
• to create artistic &
emotional beauty
• to craft a satisfying
narrative
“Thinking Different”
will be valued more than ever
“A Whole New Mind”
The 6 Senses
[The 6 Right-Brain Directed Aptitudes]
•
•
•
•
•
•
Design
– not only function
Story
– not only argument
Symphony – not only focus
Empathy – not only logic
Play
– not only seriousness
Meaning – not only accumulation
Design
The best designs are so well done that “the
design” is never even noticed consciously by the
observer/user
Ex: airport signs, book covers
We take conscious note of the messages which
the design helped make utterly clear, but not
the color palette, typography, concept, etc.
Design starts at the beginning – not at the end
• The design of the visuals begins in the
preparation stage
• Consider your
– topic
– objectives
– key messages
– audience
Story
“Narrative Imagining” = Storytelling
• Put your own personality, character, &
experiences into the material in the form of a
narrative, which is illuminating, engaging, &
memorable
• Stories can be used for good:
teaching, sharing, illuminating, honest
persuasion
Symphony
Information Age:
focus, speculation, & analysis
Conceptual Age:
synthesis & the ability to use seemingly
unrelated pieces to form & articulate the big
picture
The best presenters can illuminate the
relationships that we may not have seen before
They can
“see the relationships between relationships”
Symphony requires that we become better at seeing
What’s needed is those who can recognize the
patterns, & who are skilled at seeing nuances &
the simplicity that may exist in a complex
problem
Symphony is about utilizing our whole mind—
logic, analysis, synthesis, intuition—to make
sense of our world (i.e., our topic), find the big
picture, & determine what is important & what
is not before the day of the talk!
It’s about deciding ‘what matters’
& letting go of the rest!
Empathy
Empathy is emotional
• It’s about putting yourself in the position of
others
– It involves an understanding of the importance of
nonverbal cues of others & being aware of your
own
Empathy allows a presenter, even w/o thinking
about it, to notice when the audience is “getting
it” & when they are not
The empathetic presenter can make
adjustments based on his/her reading of this
particular audience
Play
• In many public speaking situations,
playfulness & humor can go a long way toward
making a presentation palatable
• Humor implies good, old-fashioned humor
that leads to laughter instead of jokiness or
clown-like informality
– Laughing people are more creative, productive
people
Meaning
• A presentation that goes well can be
extremely fulfilling for you & your audience & it might even help your career!
• Few things can be more rewarding than
connecting with someone by teaching
something new, or sharing that which you feel
is very important with others
Make an impact & a difference
•
•
•
•
Exceed expectations
Show them that you’ve thought about them
Do your homework & know your material
Demonstrate through your actions how much
you appreciate being there & that you are
there for them
“The Conceptual Age”
Review
• ‘High-Touch’ talents such as exceptional
presentation skills are important today
• The best presentations of this generation will
be created by professionals who have strong
‘whole mind’ aptitudes & talents
• Strong analytical skills will take you far as a
communicator
Left Brain – Right Brain ? Tests:
http://mindmedia.com/braintest.html
• Be sure to view the Personalized Analysis at
the end of the test
http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/question
naire/questionnaire.cgi
Part 2
Seth Godin
• Presentation is about the
transfer of emotion
• Communication is about
– getting others to adopt your
point of view
– helping them understand
why you’re excited (or sad,
or optimistic, etc.)
If all you want to do is create a
file of facts & figures, then cancel
the meeting & send in a report!
Your Brain
Left Side
Focused on
– dexterity
– facts
– hard data
Presentations
Right Side
Emotional, musical, & moody
Judges the way you talk, the
way you dress & your body
language
When people view a presentation, they want to use both sides of their brain
Left Brain vs. Right Brain Visual Test
Left Brain vs. Right Brain Visual Test
• People usually come to a conclusion about
your presentation by the time you’re on the
2nd slide
• You can wreck a communication process with
lousy logic or unsupported facts, but you can’t
complete it without logic
• The reason we do presentations is to make a
point – to sell 1+ ideas
• If you believe in your idea, sell it!
• Make your point as hard as you can & get
what you came for
• Your audience will thank you for it because,
deep down, we all want to be sold
How to Improve Immediately
First:
• Make slides that reinforce your words,
not repeat them
• Create slides that demonstrate, with
emotional proof, that what you’re saying is
true not just accurate
• No more than 6 words on a slide - EVER
Second:
• Don’t use cheesy images
• Use professional stock photo images
• Pictures have more of an impact than words
Third:
• No dissolves, spins or other transitions
• Keep it simple
Fourth:
• Create a written document—a leave-behind
• Put in as many footnotes or details as you like
• When you start your presentation, tell the
audience that you’re going to give them all the
details of your presentation after it’s over, &
they don’t have to write down everything you
say
• Remember, the presentation is to make an
emotional sale
• The document is the proof that helps the
intellectuals in your audience accept the idea
that you’ve sold them on emotionally
• Don’t hand out printouts of your slides—
they don’t work without you there to interpret
The Home Run
• You put up a slide
• It triggers an emotional reaction in the
audience
• They sit up & want to know what you’re going
to say that fits in with that image
• If you do it right, every time they think of
what you said, they’ll see the image
(& vice versa)
BP Oil Spill
Military Slide
BP Oil Spill
A New Era Requires New Thinking
• Today, literacy is not only about reading &
writing text, but also about understanding
visual communication
• Today, we need a higher degree of visual
literacy & an understanding of the great
power that imagery has for conveying
important messages
Role of PowerPoint?
• Document-creation tool?
• Glorified overhead transparencies?
Resources of proven, visual storytelling:
• Documentary films
• Comics
Stories told through imagery
Summary—Presenting in Today’s World
• The presentation of the content is simple,
balanced, & beautiful
• There are many paths to designing &
delivering presentations
• The problem is not one of tools or techniques
so much as it is a problem of bad habits
• In the “conceptual age” presenting well is a
“whole-minded” skill—good presenters target
people’s “left brain” & “right brain”
• Live talks enhanced by multimedia are about
storytelling—live talks today must tell a story
enhanced by imagery