IT Manager's Journal

I really don't have anything against the PowerPoint application itself. It's a wonderful tool for creating presentations and I'm sure a lot of hard work went into it's creation, but bad presentations and insanely poor training programs are a real trial for anyone forced to sit through them. Presentations are about communication and the delivery of a message, be it one of education, persuasion, or the exchange of information information. No matter the topic of your core message, you need to take the time to craft an effective and compelling presentation.

Improve your slide content

Slides should have minimal text and contain images that invoke emotion toward your topic. Too many presenters craft slides with the same text they plan to verbalize during the presentation. Does this add any value for the audience? No. You want the audience to focus on you and not the slides. Your slides should reinforce your core message and not repeat it. Using imagery, especially wild imagery is the best way to grab the attention of your audience. High quality images are easily obtained from sources like iStockPhoto or Getty Images for a nominal fee. The benefits will more than outweigh the costs.

Bullets kill people, and bullet points certainly feel like they're killing you when you're in the middle of a boring presentation, so minimize bullet points or eliminate them altogether. Instead, include one or two statements and/or an image to convey your message.

Take a close look at any graph you intend to use -- does it really convey your message? Instead try displaying a small section of your graph or highlighting the trend of the data.

Leave the details of your presentation in a handout, that you give to the audience at the end of your presentation. This will take a little more effort to create, but your audience will have something of value as reference once they're back home.

The audience is king

Many speakers act like the presentation is about them and what they know. They are deeply knowledgeable on a topic and love to inform us of every last detail with little regard for what the audience actually needs. They somehow forget to put themselves in the audience's shoes, however, and deliver what people want. Presentations are really about the audience and as a presenter, you always have to keep that in mind. The better job you do by helping the audience understand the material, the more visibility and recognition you'll receive.

When crafting a presentation, ask yourself what the audience really cares about then create your core message around that answer. Your audience will remain engaged and actually learn something from your talk. Are you ready for the fame and fortune?

Craft your story

As we move through the 21st century, it's becoming clear that right-brained thinking is becoming more important in a world dominated by left-brained analytics. Creative thinking is the new norm and is just as important as analytical thinking was 20 years ago, and storytelling is an essential component of presentation development. Unfortunately, many people don't see it that way.

When you start developing your presentation, close PowerPoint, get off the grid, and think about your core message. This is known as the "take-away" -- the absolute, essential, core message your audience should walk away with. Your take-away will form the core of your story, leaving you free to build out the remaining parts of the story.

Try using pen and paper for this part of your project. This frees you from the distractions inherent to PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a nice container for your presentation, but it's NOT a tool to help generate ideas. You'll have no concern for colors, font selections, images, or any of the available features during this phase of development.

Make your message memorable

It's one thing to deliver information, it's another to deliver a message that's memorable. By memorable, I mean a message that is engaging and will be remembered by the audience. Here's an example:

Boring message: China has more honor students than the U.S.

Memorable message: China has more honor students than the U.S. has students.

Wow. See the difference? The first message is just a plan old fact; emotionally bare and easily forgettable. The second message is unexpected, a bit shocking, and evokes emotion. These are signs of a memorable message -- one that will be remembered by your audience. By the way: that statement about China's honors students is true.

Good speakers look for ways to present data in unique and unexpected ways. Try developing a comparison to something that is unrelated, yet interesting. For example, compare your data to the population of the countries in the world. Where would your data rank? You may be surprised.

Interrogate your slides

Once you've created a set of slides, decide which ones to keep and which to throw away. Turn your core message into a question and ask each slide if it meets your objective or contributes significantly to conveying that message. Use the harshest interrogation techniques possible and make each slide beg to be included in your presentation.

• Do your slides add value beyond what you're going to say?
• How many bullet points do you have?
• Do your slides evoke emotions?
• Can the slides' font be read 20 feet away by a room full of baby boomers with aging eyesight?

Be ruthless -- it will make your message memorable.

Practice makes perfect

Actors do it. Singers, movie stars, and rock bands all do it. I'm talking about rehearsal -- that beloved act of performing in a garage or before an empty auditorium. If you are truly serious about improving your presentations, then practice before your initial delivery.

Early in my career I would prepare my presentation, look it over, and deliver it the next day. Some presentations went well and others were, well, not so memorable. Sometimes they were memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't until I was working on client presentation where we had to formally rehearse our delivery that I realized the benefits. During our practice sessions, our team leader was like a director yelling, "Cut! We need more feeling, Vic!" After two dry-runs and several edits, we were ready to go. The presentation went very well and the extra effort paid off. Rehearsing gives you a chance to work out any kinks and practice speaking, as opposed to going over the slides in your head. It's now a staple in my presentation bag-of-tricks.

Conclusion

It's time for us to revolt against the scourge of bad presentations. Is it possible that productivity lost due to bad presentations is actually hurting the economy? I'm not sure, but I do know you can dramatically improve your presentations by developing a core message, crafting a story, making your message memorable and rehearsing your delivery. Try it -- your audience will love you for it.

Victor Stachura is an industry consultant with 25 years experience working for a large IT Services firm.