Is It Time To Ban PowerPoint?

Last month in the Australian Financial Review Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer was quoted as saying “I think one of the dangers in large companies is that people start to think that their job is to create PowerPoints, [rather than] to make decisions and improve things for customers…. I am seriously considering turning PowerPoint off completely,”

He is not the first CEO to feel this way. In 1997 Scott McNealy, then president of Sun Microsystems, banned the use of PowerPoint throughout his company.

Should you be doing the same?

Or maybe you just need to get a big stick and empower your team and beat PowerPoint into submission

 1. Look at your company communication culture

Often when I suggest to a client that they need to change the way deliver their PowerPoints they respond with “Oh, we can’t do that. Our manager supplies the templates and slide headings and we MUST do it this way!”

Forcing people to use PowerPoint is forcing them into ‘lecture mode’. People start telling rather than selling and presentations become predictable long winded and boring.

Your company communication culture starts at the top. Are your managers delivering great presentations or are they presenting with PowerPoint circa 1995?

2. Put PowerPoint last

Many people, when asked to deliver a presentation, open their laptops and start cranking out slides. Instead you should be:

1. Setting an objective
2. Tailoring your message to your audience
3. Developing your topic
4. Structure your presentation
5. Making it persuasive
6. Including a call to action

PowerPoint should be the last thing on your list before you start practicing and you may find that your presentation is better off without it!

3. ‘Flip’ your meetings

This idea comes from the flipped classroom model, where instead of teachers delivering lectures, information is sent out before for the students to read and class time is dedicated to discussion which the teacher facilitates.

How this would work for you

Instead of your team delivering a PowerPoint presentation they would instead email an executive summary of their recommendations and then facilitate discussion on the pros, cons and recommended improvements for the idea.

So there is no need to ban PowerPoint – you just need to learn how to use it to your advantage. If all this sounds a little scary, it’s okay, I’m here to help!

Speaking at a conference? Here’s what NOT to do!

I love speaking at conferences. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, challenge myself with new ideas and to travel.

Wherever possible I stay for the day so I can listen to the speakers before me. I love hearing and seeing other people present and understand how nerve wracking it can be to speak to a room full of strangers. But a keynote requires some special preparation and there are rules you need to adhere to.

Here are 5 things you should ever do in your keynote

1. Make it all about you

Let me tell you how faaaabulous I am!

Some speakers remind me of a bad first date – you know the ones when all they want to talk about is their house on the beach and the car they drive? I recently saw a keynote speaker show a rah rah company video and then proceed to talk about himself for a full 20 minutes. He did not start on his topic until 30 minutes into his presentation. The audience was not impressed.

Solution: Focus on the audience’s WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) and your credibility will speak for itself.

2. Deliver a report instead of a presentation

This is a mistake I see a lot of novices make. They have done some research that has had some great outcomes and as a result they’ve been asked to present their findings at a national conference. They then proceed to deliver their research in its entirety and bore the audience until they are catatonic.

Solution: Deliver a ‘Persuasive Executive Summary’ and relate it to the audience. Those who want the detail can read the paper.

3. Let me show you the spreadsheet…

Keynotes and PowerPoint abuse seem to go hand in hand. Here’s a quick tip. Open your PowerPoint make the slides full screen and stand six feet away. If you can’t read the detail on your slide, neither can your audience. It’s time to escape PowerPoint purgatory.

Solution: Have a look at the blogs I have written on how to “Escape Powerpoint Purgatory”

4. You MUST do this!

There is a saying in sales: ‘Telling is not selling’. When I’m in an audience I take off my evaluator’s hat and enjoy the moment. But every now and then something will punch through that causes discomfort. I was listening to a speaker recently and I thought: “Maybe it’s just me…” but when I noticed the person on my left checking her emails and person on my right playing solitaire, I thought “Maybe not!”

I asked them after why they were disengaged and they said:

• “She came across as preachy and a know it all”
• “I don’t appreciate being told what to do”

Solution: Tell stories. Share your challenges and what you learnt from them. Use inclusive ‘we’ language rather than ‘you’. Pose questions to the audience and increase interaction.

5. Go over time

Several years ago I spoke at a conference where the two previous speakers went over by 20 minutes each. I was the last speaker before lunch and you could see the audience was getting testy. I checked with the conference organiser first and then I stood up and said:

“I’m going to tell you what you need to know about delivering a persuasive presentation and I’m going to do it in 20 minutes” I received my first standing ovation when we broke for lunch on time.

Solution: Franklin D Roosevelt’s advice to his son on public speaking was “Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Conferences are planned down to the last minute – if you want to be invited back, you’d better be on time!

This year I have delivered keynotes across Australia and overseas on topics ranging from persuasion and making your message stick, through to presentation skills and “escaping PowerPoint Purgatory’.

My audiences have consisted of accountants, lawyers doctors, CEO’s, HR professionals, trainers and managers. If you have a conference coming up I’d love to have a chat to see if what I deliver can meet your needs.

Why you NEVER want to read your speech!

I want you to try something for me next time you’re alone.

Stand up and hold a book at waist height and read it out loud. Listen to what happens to your voice. When you lower your head your voice gets squashed and vocal variety is reduced. It’s also harder for people to hear as you cannot project your voice as well. We also tend to fall into a ‘reading rhythm’ which can have the same effect as swinging a pendulum in front of the audience – “You are getting sleepy…”

Here are four ways to deliver your presentation – but only one of them will increase your persuasion quotient.  

1. Read your speech

When we write a speech we tend to fall into report mode. The language and the tone becomes more formal and doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily.

On top of this, we lose all the things that make a presentation engaging: eye-contact, gestures and vocal variety. 

2.  Memorise your speech 

We’ve all seen someone who as delivered a memorised speech. They stand as if super-glued to the spot, beads of sweat break out on their brow as they desperately try not to lose their way and they stare over your head, fearful that if they look anyone in the eye their brain will turn to mush.

Memorising a speech to the point where you can deliver a natural sounding presentation is possible – but do you really have the time for that?

3. Wing it!

Those of us that love to stand up and speak often fall into this trap. We know the topic, we know the audience, why do we need to prepare?

The challenge here is that we can talk too much, go off on wild tangents and before you know it 30 minutes have passed and we have not even touched on the first main point we wanted to talk about! Even if you know the topic well, a few notes with an introduction, some headings for the main body of the presentation and some thoughts about how you would like to conclude will be enough to keep you on task and on time.

4. Have a prepared plan

Hmmm… a prepared plan I hear you ask, what’s that?

A prepared plan provides you with the structure to stay on task and on time. Your presentation is not written out word-for-word, so you can deliver it in a conversational tone. Your notes are in large font, so it’s easy to see where you’re at if you forget the next point. Most importantly, you can focus on the stories and delivering your message with passion to ensure you are engaging and persuasive. I’ll share more tips and tricks on delivering a prepared plan next month.

Stand up, Speak up and Persuade – Exclusively for Women

Women do have special needs when it come to public speaking. Studies show that women are heard less at meetings and tend to self promote less as well.

Everyone is capable of giving a persuasive presentation.  All you need are the stories/facts, skills and confidence.  If you work on the first two, the third, i.e. your confidence, will definitely improve!

Please see information below on my first specialised public speaking course for women which is being hosted in Adelaide by Behind Closed Doors.

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In response to overwhelming feedback we have received from our behind closed doors members on presentation and public speaking workshops conducted by Sharon Ferrier, we are planning a Persuasive Presentations Workshop specifically for business women during May.

If you report to boards, manage teams, pitch for business or venture/angel capital, are in sales and business development roles, conduct meetings and need to make presentations or do public speaking, these workshops are a must for you.

Sharon Ferrier has agreed to conduct a special two session workshop for business women who want to speak up, deliver with confidence and be persuasive.

Date: Wednesday, 15 May and Wednesday, 22 May 2013 (you must attend both sessions)

Time: 9am – 12.30pm each session

The investment is a special BCD price of $495 plus GST 

Contact Kristy Ashton from Behind Closed Doors (BCD) for more information 

 t  08 8333 4303  e kristy@dwbottomline.com

WIIFM!

Every time a group of people collect to hear a speaker they are all thinking the same things. And the list generally consists of: Please don’t bore me! I wonder what’s for lunch? Did I lock the back door when I left home this morning? Gee, that guy in the second row is cute! How long is this going to take? Please – make it relevant to me and my problems. The only three things that you can influence as a speaker are the first and last two.

Here are 3 ways to tailor your message to suit your audience when preparing for your next presentation.

1. Do your homework
It makes sense – the more you know about your audience the more you can tailor your information and deliver it in a way to suit them.
Questions to ask yourself include: What is their level of knowledge on this subject? What is their learning style? What is their attitude towards me? What motivates this audience? What type of job do they have? What other priorities do they have?

2. Meet and greet
Meeting and greeting audience members as they enter the room achieves two purposes. First it reduces your nerves as you are able to move, chat and focus on them rather than you. Secondly you are able to gauge the mood of the group and get a feel for their needs and priorities.

3. Address the elephant
As a speaker you need to have a strong objective and be clear about what you want the audience to do, say, think or feel. But all this will fall on deaf ears if you don’t address the burning issues that the audience has.
I remember years ago when I first started my business, walking into a room full of angry looking people sitting with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces. I started by saying “Hmmmm – you don’t look happy to be here. Who was forced to attend this training today?” I wasn’t surprised when every hand shot up. This enabled me to focus on why they weren’t looking forward to the training and to address their concerns rather than plowing on and pretend everything was fine.
*****
Someone once said “People don’t care about how much you know ’till they know how much you care.” By focusing on the audiences needs you are ensuring that your presentation is relevant and of value.

Structure – making your presentation palatable.

Good presentation structure is like a fine meal. Your introduction serves as an entree – something to tantalize the taste buds and have you looking forward to the main course. The main course is the ‘Meat and three veg’ component. This is the substance of your presentation. And as for the dessert – well, this is the conclusion – something to leave a nice taste in your mouth and to be memorable.

Here are 3 tips to ensure a strong and easy to follow structure when preparing for your next presentation.

1. Write your introduction last
Your introduction requires tremendous thought. It is here that you establish the importance of the topic. What it is that you will be speaking about Why it is important and Why the listener should care.

Don’t forget, you also need a ‘grab’. This should be the first 10 – 30 seconds of your presentation. Something to capture the audience’s attention; a startling statistic, hypothetical question, story or quote that provides a memorable sound bite.

2. Pick a plan
Jerry Weissman in his book ‘Winning Presentations’ identifies 16 flow structures. Here are my five favourites:
1. Problem/ Solution
Organises the presentation around a problem and the solution offered by your company.
2. Rhetorical Questions
Asks, then answers, questions that are likely to be foremost in the minds of your audience.
3. Features /Benefits
Organises the presentation around a series of your product or service features and the concrete benefits provided by those features.
4. Case Study
A narrative recounting how you or your company solved a particular problem for a client.
5. Physical
Organises a cluster of ideas according to their physical or geographic locations.

3. Conclude with a call to action
So… what IS your presentation objective? What do you want them to do, say, think or feel? Now is the time to ask “Will that be cash or charge?”
My favourite ways to ask for action include:
“So, where do we go from here?” (then tell them)
“What do we need to do differently come Monday?”
“To summarise, there a three important things you need to know…”
“So… what are you going to do now? What changes can you make to ensure…?”
*****
Good speech structure enables us to take the audience’s hand and lead them on a gastronomic journey that leaves them sated and nourished, rather than stuffed with empty calories and a nasty bout of indigestion!

Clarity is King!

A definition:
“Clarity – free from obscurity and easy to understand”

There you go – isn’t that what we all strive for in our communication with others? And yet simple doesn’t mean easy.

Here are 3 ways to develop clarity when preparing for your next presentation.
1. Focus
The last two newsletters were about setting an objective and knowing your audience. The next step is to get a large piece of paper and write down EVERYTHING you know about your topic. I like to mindmap my topic. This enables me to do a real ‘brain dump’ of all the information I have collected and I find the mindmap then highlights the gaps I may have in my information so I can conduct more research if required. Have a look at http://www.mindmapping.com.au if you would like to know more.
Once you have completed your info dump, the next stage is to get a big black marker and cross off everything that is not related to your objective or relevant to your audience. This step is hard but essential. If it does not relate to your audience or your objective it is irrelevant and will only clutter your message.

2. Eliminate jargon
Within an industry jargon can be useful. It enables us to speak in shorthand and convey technical information rapidly. Jargon can also alienate, confuse and humiliate your audience, and is one of the most common barriers to effective communication. At best your audience will not understand, at worst they will feel angry that you have excluded them with your language.

3. It’s a bit like…
Stories, analogies and metaphors work. Why? Because they allow an individual to relate your information to their current experience. They also trigger different parts of the brain and in doing so, become more memorable.
*****
Clear communication should not require massive effort on the part of the listener. Stick to the guidelines above and you can’t go wrong.

Watch your language!

In my workshops I talk a lot about the importance of assertive communication in business.

Aggressive communication uses word like fists in an attempt to harm the other person. Passive communication implies that ‘I’m not important and neither is my message’ and results in the receiver dismissing both. Assertive communication on the other hand, is clear, friendly and respects both the giver and receiver.

I was reminded of the importance of assertive communication when delivering my ‘Managing Meetings’ workshop recently. A participant (let’s call him Bob) was telling me how he was finding it difficult to get the meeting started on time and keeping participants on track. I asked Bob to pretend he was running his fortnightly meetings and I took note of the language he was using.
“Um… Guys? Are you ready for our meeting?”
“Um… Thanks for coming to the meeting today”
“Is it alright if we…”
It was very clear that Bob was trying to control a meeting full of Alpha males with passive language. Asking the group “Are you ready for our meeting?” Is like asking a six-year-old “Are you ready to go to bed now?” It’s fine to thank a group who has gathered at short notice or is meeting voluntarily, but it is inappropriate to thank everyone for attending the meeting when it is part of their job description. I found that Bob was constantly asking permission from the group when it was not required and this enabled the more vocal members to hijack the meeting and send it off the rails.

My recommendations to Bob were:
1. Email an agenda station that the meeting will start at 9.30am sharp
2. If there are loiters in the tea room getting coffee, deliver a 5 minute warning “The meeting is starting in 5 minutes guys”
3. Start the meeting on time with a ‘grab’. For example: “A lot has happened in the past two weeks and we have several important issues to discuss”
4. Use assertive language such as “Now we have an opportunity to discuss the XYZ proposal. Sam, can you please share your thoughts and then we’ll go around the room” and “Thanks Tim, can you please summarise your point in a couple of sentences as we need to move on”
5. Use the whiteboard to ‘car park’ issues that are off topic.

Bob is a great team leader. By increasing the use of assertive communication he will keep his meeting on time, on task while keeping the people happy.