|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fading into Sameness: How Too Many Slides Can Ruin Your Presentation
"I have a love/hate relationship with PowerPoint. In the right hands, it's a great presentation tool. In the wrong hands (and unfortunately, most usage falls into this category) we are cloning generations of boring slide shows narrated by speakers we barely notice." - Debbie Bailey Ah, the good old days. For me, those were the days before PowerPoint slide shows became the norm for virtually every business presentation given in corporate America. I fondly remember the days when presenters spoke passionately about a subject near and dear to their heart without having to display every single thought on a slide. I often reminisce back to the time when 80 slides for a 20 minute presentation was NOT the standard, when presenters weren't just slide narrators, when preparing for a presentation meant more than putting together your slide show. Now don't get me wrong, I know the advantages of using a few good slides, however, I also know that too much of a good thing is, well, BAD. I subscribe to Bill Wheless' philosophy about PowerPoint "It's like alcohol in the hands of a drunk. What we need is moderation." Somehow, we must learn to use, but not abuse, slides. If we don't, we risk looking and sounding like every other boring business presenter. Worst of all, we become forgettable. Think about the last presenter who strongly affected you. More than likely that presenter used very few, if any, slides. The most memorable presenters rely on their delivery style to make their point, rather than a well designed slide deck. When I first began teaching presentation skills more than 20 years ago, I struggled to convince presenters to incorporate the use of visual aids. My how the world has changed. Today, convincing presenters to rely less on their slides and more on their dynamic communication skills is even harder. It's almost as if presenters believe that all it takes to deliver a successful presentation is a good slide deck. Unfortunately, when asked to prepare a presentation, presenters spend the vast majority of their time working on their slides, rather than on perfecting their delivery style. Consider for a moment why political candidates and presidents DON'T use slides. My guess is, they don't want to divert any attention away from themselves. They understand what Roger Ailes, author of the famous book "You Are the Message" has known for quite some time. "For those who want to succeed, there is only one secret. YOU ARE THE MESSAGE." Generally, here's what happens when you overuse slides: 1. Your slides lose their ability to make an impact- Essentially, slides become the white noise in the presentation, so constant that they are no longer noticeable. 2. The audience focuses on your slides, rather than on you. If 55% of your communication power comes from your body and face (based on the universally accepted research by Albert Mehrabian), than NOT having the audience focused on you diminishes about half of your POWER as a presenter. Can you really afford to cut your personal power in half? 3. You are demoted to the position of slide narrator. The slides take center stage and like the narrator of a play, you are the anonymous voice coming from somewhere in the background. Just as too many slides can detract from your success as a presenter, having a few well designed slides can strengthen your impact. Consider these quick tips designed to help improve your use of slides: 1. Develop your presentation first, then determine where a visual might help the audience better understand your message. This is a much safer approach than developing your slides first. 2. Try to boil your presentation down to six or fewer important slides that speak to the heart of your message. Make sure that each slide you chose complies with the 6 x 6 rule-no more than six lines of text with six words on each line. 3. Better yet, make the impact of your slides visual, rather than verbal (words written on slides). The best slides arouse the audience visually so take a creative approach to translating words into meaningful pictures. Rest assured that it's not that I am anti slides-I am pro YOU! While slides do serve an important function, even the best designed slide can't compete with the power of YOU. YOU are the greatest visual aid of all! Take the focus OFF the slides and put it back where it belongs- squarely on YOU! Invest the time you might have spent on your slides on your delivery practice and rather than fading into sameness, you will STAND APART from the rest! (c) Debbie Bailey, 2004 Debbie Bailey is a well-regarded Presentation Skills Training Consultant and founder of Trainer2go Inc. For more information about Debbie go to trainer2go.com">http://trainer2go.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
Your Unique Point of View I had a chance to go to one of those big positive thinking rallies recently. I am one of those positive personal growth people that really enjoy that kind of thing. How to Make Good Use of Your Web Conference Session Preperation is vital when conducting a successful videoconference session. Thus there are a number of steps to remember prior to the videoconference session itself:Always test the equipment before hand. A Powerful Presentation Technique-Story Telling Appealing to emotions is the most powerful way to transfer learning in an information cluttered training or presentation. A compelling story woven with a lot of information in the telling with a conclusion that appeals to the emotion can permanently etch the learning in an otherwise unresponsive training or meeting fatigued audience. Tough Talk: Bad News Delivered the Right Way Communicating Bad News The Right WayIt's the rare executive who actually enjoys speaking before groups of people, even under the best of circumstances. Public speaking routinely ranks highest on people's list of fears. How to Give a Great Speech As a former owner of a National Speakers Bureau, I have learned from several thousand professional speakers "How to Give a Great Speech." Here are some techniques that I share with my coaching clients who want to become paid professional speakers or business professionals who want to deliver masterful presentations. Total Recall: How to Remember Your Speech Without Memorizing We all fear that moment. You look out on a sea of faces and your mind goes blank. Fading into Sameness: How Too Many Slides Can Ruin Your Presentation "I have a love/hate relationship with PowerPoint. In the right hands, it's a great presentation tool. Choosing a Company Shirt vendor Where can you choose a company shirt vendor? There are many catalogs out their with more than competent companies selling logo'ed attire for small, medium and large businesses. Online there are many great companies too which have low costs for shirts and then put on your logo and send them to you. Secrets of Successful Presentations Does the thought of speaking in front of others send you running in the opposite direction? Youâ??re not alone. Many people avoid public speaking at all costs â?" and there is a cost. Presentation Skill Mistakes Last week my husband and I attended an awesome 4 day work conference! I decided to sit in on both days of business presentations hoping there would be a nugget or two I could share with you.Presenting to an audience of 100 to 300 top producers were executives of a large company. Ancient PowerPoint Secrets: Ask Your Grandma! Yes, there are ancient PowerPoint secrets.. The Crucial Components of a Lesson Plan MAKING INFORMATIVE LESSON PLANS: --The performance objectives should answer this very basic question - what should the trainees be able to do at the end of the training period that they were was not able to do at the beginning of it? --For evaluation procedures, how will the trainee's accomplishment of performance objectives be demonstrated or measured (written test, skill test, skill demonstration)? Evaluation procedures should provide documentation of the achievement of all performance objectives. --For equipment and supplies needed, what is available? What must be used? What cannot be used? What unusual items will be needed? Any special student materials? Instructor materials? Handouts? Lesson plan for the students? Manuals? Visual Aids? Props? --When entering space requirements calculate room size, number of rooms, seating requirements, seating arrangement, writing surface needs, and any special training environment needs. Tips to Energize Your Presentations "There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. Lecturing from the Lectern Most people love to hide behind the lectern.. Cross Cultural Presentations The international flavour of many people's jobs naturally means that there is greater interaction between people from different cultures. Within the business environment, understanding and coping with intercultural differences between people is critical to ensuring that interpersonal communication is successful. Plasma Screen Hire - What Do You Need to Know for Presentations How many people will need to see the screen? A 42" plasma screen is the most common size and will usually be sufficient for a smaller meeting - up to 20 people. Several other sizes, bigger and smaller, are available, including 32, 37, 40, 50, 61 inches and now up to 81". Coaching Tips for Powerful Presentations Tip #1 The purpose of your speech is to get results; to help people make changes and think or act differently. So start with the end in mind. How Storytelling Can Grow Your Business People love stories. We love to hear about other people, and stories help us to learn, remember and put to use new concepts. 35 Surefire Ways to Kill a Meeting 1. Play "find the meeting" by changing the location and time of your meeting at the last minute. Four Different Ways People Process Your Information There are four different ways that audience members assimilate information. They are: visual, auditory, auditory digital, and kinesthetic.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Interesting sites: site map- manchester rejse- ekspres lån- snus tobacco- snus Offroad snus |