Canned Slideshows

I presented at the Hartford, CT public Library last night. One of the questions from the audience was "How do I improve a canned slideshow?". For example, if you receive a slideshow from Head Office and are expected to deliver this presentation to many clients, what do you do?

This question is only relevant if the slideshow was created by someone not yet enlightened to the Pow'Rful Process, as defined in Dodging the Bullet Points. If the canned slideshow consists of slide after monotonous slide filled with text, text, and more bullet points, then here is what you can do:

1. Advocate to your manager that you need to reduce the amount of text. Reproduce the text on the slides onto a handout which you make available in your presentations, and remove some of the bullet points on the slides. Aim for no more than three bullet points on a slide as a guideline.

2. Craft your own slideshow that conveys the intended message and use the canned slideshow as handouts to complement your own presentation.

3. Try to enlighten the creator of the canned slideshow to the fact that text on slideshows is boring, and not appropriate in today's professional circles. Offer your carefully crafted presentation as a replacement.

When you are asked to deliver a canned presentation that is below the level of a presentation you would create yourself, then work to improve it. Don't willingly continue to deliver slideshows which negate the effort you have invested in learning how to craft memorable presentations.

Perception and Perspective

My wife had the flu and took medication. You know the night-time green liquid that numbs all pain? She had to make a last-minute journey in town and while backing-up her BMW she brushed against a tree. The tree left a slight indentation on the trunk.

My wife was distraught at the blemish to such a fine vehicle. She likened the blemish to a pimple on your nose on prom night. You think the pimple is the end of the world. In reality - everyone else thinks your pimple is a non-event. I assured my wife that the mark on the trunk of her BMW was irrelevant.

Most people feel nervous when speaking in front of other people. You feel as if the whole audience is frowning and judging you all the time, pondering questions such as

-Did she just start three sentences with "and"? In elementary school Ms. Jones taught me that you never start a sentence with "and". What a bad speaker she is.

- Did he move to the left side of the lectern first, and not look at the right side of the audience for three minutes? What a bad speaker he is.

In reality, your audience is not setting such a high bar. Your audience is trying to listen to your message. Focus on giving your message and don't be burdened with your perceptions of your anxiety. We all feel more nervous and less confident in front of others than we appear. Look confident and focus on delivering your message.

Keep your perception in perspective. A BMW with a blemish on the trunk is still the ultimate driving machine. Your speech delivered while relying on some notes still delivers your message to your audience.

Blended PowerPoint Presentations

Answers.com defines the word "blend" as "To combine or mix so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another".

When is work fun, labor, and pleasant? Don't these terms blend together sometimes, making fun work and work fun and pleasant? I was down at Portland, CT today working with my friend as we prepare his sail-boat for the coming season. It was hard work polishing the boat. It was also fun to be outdoors and anticipate the pleasure of the summer sailing season. The time together blended into a combination event.

In an upcoming presentation, I will again be making the point that PowerPoint slides are only one part of your blended presentations. Other components of a blended PowerPoint presentation are your stories, examples, audience activities and your eye-contact when you hit the "B" button and turn off the projector.

So when can we call a PowerPoint presentation "blended"? When all these components are mixed together for the benefit of the audience and leaving out one component detracts from the audience experience. Leaving out your stories and only having PowerPoint slides makes for a sub-optimal presentation.

What about your PowerPoint Presentations? Can you honestly say that you deliver "blended" presentations?

Giving back with Free Seminars to go from Panic to Power

Liz and I give back to our communities by sharing our Public Speaking skills at free seminars. Here is an extract from the report of a recent "Panic to Power" presentation. Read the full article here.

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Colchester -04/18/2008 - Seminar offers public speaking tips

BY CHRISTINA LEVERE ReminderNews

The first thing you notice about Elizabeth Trendowski and Wayne Botha is that they are quick to smile. Their affable manners make it easy for them to convince people to try things they otherwise might not do... like getting up in front of a group of strangers and pretending to be Paris Hilton.

The impersonation exercise was just one of the activities on tap for "Panic to Power: Swift and Simple Speaking Strategies Anyone Can Use", a free seminar held April 10 at the Cragin Memorial Library. The event drew a wide range of people, from school teachers to business professionals, looking to beat their public speaking jitters.

"Public speaking is a skill that anyone can learn if they want to," Trendowski said. "People think that they should be able to speak well because talking is so natural, but public speaking is an art, and arts need to be practiced."

Trendowski has been in the business of giving presentations for more than 20 years - first as a safe service trainer in the hospitality industry and more recently as a public speaking trainer. She's president of the Smart Training Institute and author of "From Butterflies to Speaking Highs."

Botha has authored "Dodging the Bullet Points - 5.5 Steps to Presenting with PowerPoint" and is co-author of a successful CD, "Panic to Power."

The two are also active members of Toastmasters International (Botha is area governor), a nonprofit organization that offers people a way to hone their communication and leadership skills by getting together for speaking practice. The group even hosts public speaking competitions.

When Trendowski and Botha asked the group why they were so afraid, answers varied. A businesswoman who gave presentations to colleagues noted that she often lost her train of thought while speaking. Another woman said she worried that others were judging her. A man said he rushed through his speeches and forgot to breathe.

"Everyone is afraid of messing up and being embarrassed," Trendowski said. "Even me. I didn't start off great."

Ironically, her worst experience wasn't in front of hundreds of people (she said the number of people doesn't make it the most difficult), but was during a publicity tour. She completely froze. For the television interview, the producer had to dub in her voice. For radio bits, the producer used sound clips.

"It was very embarrassing," Trendowski said, laughing.

Botha had a similar experience, although his public speaking gaffe was only in front of two people. "I didn’t know the material," Botha said. "I just froze."

Indeed, there are many reasons why public speaking can be a nerve-wracking experience, and Trendowski and Botha were armed with tactics to help even the meek become speaking mavens . They use the word "panic" as an acronym for "preparation, activity, needs of the audience, interesting and closing." During the seminar, Trendowski elaborated on each point, using group activities such as having everyone stand to make note of body language , for emphasis.

By the end of the evening, everyone seemed to have conquered at least some of their jitters. People joked, laughed and offered their own public speaking anecdotes.

What does your introduction say about you?

What does your introduction say about you? As presenters, we are obligated to provide introductions to our event planners. Most speakers introductions are lengthy obituaries, and just as exciting for the audience.

Most speaker introductions read something like:
"Joe Soap is wonderful. Joe Soap has written two books. Book one is titled - How to be boring. Book two is titled - How to be even more boring. Joe Soap has lived in Arizona for his whole life and owns three cars and a cat. When Joe Soap is not on his soap box about his XYZ Widget Development Process, he dedicates his time to writing insomnia-curing speeches. Joe Soap has trained 25,000 people in 30 countries across the world. Joe Soap holds a Masters degree in The Anal Retentive Examination of Esoteric Studies from the University of Obscurity. Please help me welcome Joe Soap to the lectern".

This introduction is wrong for the reasons below. Take note and make sure that your introductions are significantly better than the introduction of Joe Soap.

1. The whole introduction is about Joe Soap. Sitting in the audience, thinking "What is in this presentation for me?", all you hear is about Joe Soap. In your heart you are thinking - "Who cares what Joe Soap has done. What is he going to do for me while I listen to his speech?" Make sure that you speech introduction is you-focused and tells the audience what they are getting out of your speech. For example, "In the next thirty minutes, you will learn 3 skills to use in your next conversation".

2. Make your speech active. Do you notice all the passive verbs in Joe's introduction. Study Active and Passive verbs here, and put life into your introduction.

3. Only include relevant certifications in your introduction. Don't bother mentioning your list of degrees and accomplishments unless they directly build credibility for you speech. No-one cares.

Use your introduction to show your audience that your speech is about them, not about you. Make your introduction say the right things about you.

Can you say a few words...

Have you been called on to "Say a few words" at short notice? For example, you are at a business event and your host invites you to the microphone to "Say a few words". As you walk up to the stage, how do you create your short speech?

Here is a technique that I explained to an audience this week. My audience found it beneficial, and you may find it useful too.

1. Define what you want that audience to remember after your speech. For example "I want them to know why I support the invasion of Mars to capture plutonium".

2. Support your message with some, or all of: Examples, anecdotes, metaphors, benefits, stories. For example "Our children will benefit from the vast resources of plutonium on Mars as the alternative energy source for the next 1,000 years. In 1969 we landed on the moon. The moon landing was a giant leap for mankind and forever expanded our minds to new possibilities of space exploration. In the same way, we need to stretch our minds and realize that we can invade Mars and capture the plutonium. We merely need to believe that we can do it. Do not let your children down and let this opportunity slip past us. "

3. Recap your message.

4. Leave the stage.

You can execute these simple steps in the time that you walk up to the microphone. Remember - Message, Supporting Point, Recap. One of my audiences did it this week, and you can too.

Challenge your audience

Last night I witnessed intense audience interaction. (I wish I could take the credit for this marvel, but alas it was not I).

Dan Mezick presented to the Southern New England Chapter of Project Management Institute(SNEC-PMI). Just our name - Southern New England Chapter of Project Management Institute, indicates that we believe in structured approaches. Our group could be subtitled "Process, structure and no-surprises R Us"

Dan enlightened us to the current state of Agile methodologies and Scrum in the software development industry. Wow! Scrum-masters are not Project Managers, which is a radically different approach from the traditional Project Manager in Corporate America.

SNEC-PMI has many members from the insurance industries around Hartford, Connecticut. This means our members have matrix organizations, seldom have dedicated portions of time from team members, team members around the globe and work on many different projects concurrently. Subject Matter Experts (SME's) are assigned to projects as needed, and may not be part of a project for very long. This is daily reality for many of our members.

Dan explained that Scrum includes co-located teams, timeboxes, teams self-organize and team stay together for the duration of the time-box. The result is exponential increase in productivity and strong personal relationships between team members.

Srum methodology is controversial because it is so different from what this audience has been trained to do, and what this audience experiences every day. The result - audience asking many questions and many questions leading to more questions. The audience learned a tremendous amount from this presentation which is foreign to many of us. Audience Participation Extraordinaire.

I learned last night that one way to create memorable presentation is to bring topics to an audience which is contrary to their current way of thinking. Challenge the way that your audience does things today. This stimulates interaction which results in a truly memorable presentation.

And truly memorable presentations are your goal as a presenter.

Pruning Presentations

While coaching a presenter this week, I realized that the process of crafting a tight and concise presentation is like pruning a rose bush.

When a rose bush is left to nature, it branches out and grows in many directions. Some branches are strong and desirable, others go in directions that distract from the rose bush. As a gardener you decide which branches are desirable and most likely to provide the form you envision as well as most likely to yield the roses that you want to see. Then you prune off the remainder of the branches which are sapping energy from your desired vision.

Presentations, especially PowerPoint slides are "bushy". Slides have many random thoughts and lots of data which is loosely related to the point of the presentation.

A lot of my work as a coach is to help clients define their vision for the presentation. Answer this question "What message do you want your audience to leave with?". Then prune away all the other messages in your presentation and focus on growing slides that support your main message.

What about your presentations? Are you delivering "bushy" presentations? Isn't it time to take the pruning shears to your presentation - envision what you want and remove the remainder? The result is a stronger presentation which yields a memorable message to your audience.

Doug Stevenson

Attended the monthly meeting at NSA New England Chapter today. Doug Stevenson was our guest speaker. Doug presented the basic of the Story Theatre method and coached two lucky members from the audience.

When Doug got on the platform, my first thoughts were "Huh? I came to see this slightly built, guy with out-of-control grey hair? Where is the high-energy Doug that I have heard about?" The Doug on the stage looked like a tired banking clerk from the 1820's. I was waiting for him to pull out a ledger and start calling out the account balances for the townspeople.

Well, the first observation that totally blew my mind was Doug's incredible facial expressions, especially in reaction to events. I could almost hear his mind working as he acted out a call to his travel agent.

Then, as the stories and session progressed, Doug amazed me with his natural vocal variety. Totally congruent with his body gestures and facial expressions.

Within 30 minutes, I would not have left that room even if nature called. Doug Stevenson is an amazing story teller. If you ever get the chance to see Doug live, then be there.

Not only is Doug a fantastic story teller, he is also an honest and open person. He shared with us how he came to find his calling in life and now he is making a difference by teaching people how to tell their stories. We each need to find our callings in life and share it with the world.

Here is what I learned from this session: Doug Stevenson is amazing - get to see him and register for his retreat if you get a chance.

P.S. Doug did not use PowerPoint - he did however offer this insight that struck home with me "PowerPoint makes your presentation Predictable". One of my challenges is now to find a way to create flexible PowerPoint presentations.

Reducing Anxiety

"How do I reduce Anxiety before I make my presentation?" was a common question asked by novice presenters.

Liz Trendowski and I presented "From Panic to Power" Public Seminar at the Cragin Library in Colchester, CT last night to a standing-room only crowd. We answered this question amongst the many other topics we discussed.

So how do you reduce anxiety? Well, the best way to reduce anxiety is to prepare thoroughly. Preparation will not eliminate anxiety - but lack of preparation will increase anxiety.

Specifically, during preparation, you can reduce anxiety by:
1. Clearly defining the purpose of your presentation. Then craft your presentation around this objective.
2. Using bullet points for the main points of your presentation, and not trying to memorize every word of your speech. Have confidence that you connect with your audience when you use your own words to convey your main points, and it is OK if you misplace a few words along the way. I find anxiety increases when trying to read a script and make sure that I say each word, and phrase perfectly.
3. Rehearsing your presentation - 10 times. That's right. Rehearse your presentation ten times. Then you will feel very comfortable with it, and will be far less anxious.
4. Internalize your main points. For example, if you are proposing three reasons to stop drunk driving, internalize these three points, so that you can explain them to your friends without event thinking about speech.
5. Practise your speech while driving. Talk out loud, and speak your speech. You will find out the parts that you know and the parts that you need to spend more time.
6. Join Toastmasters to get the Stage Time. Public Speaking is an interactive skill- you get better with experience. The best place to get the experience is Toastmasters.


This is how I reduce anxiety. You can follow these same techniques.

Emotional Attachments

I was asked to critique a PowerPoint presentation for a group of colleagues. Having written "Dodging the Bullet Points", and co-authored "Panic to Power Audio CD", I was the obvious choice for this task.

The presenters are all IT professionals. They are presenting the results of a study. The presenters fell into the trap that most PowerPoint presenters fall into, namely:

Step 1 - Open PowerPoint.
Step 2 - Dump all known facts about the topic into PowerPoint.
Step 3 - Voila - we have a presentation.

Fortunately the presenters are receptive to wise feedback and made adjustments to simplify the slides while slashing the volume of text on the slides. Their presentation will stand out from presentations by their peers.

Here's the part which most presenters have trouble with - becoming emotionally attached to text. For example, if your slide lists the top 12 causes for divorce, then at most, discuss three causes with your audience. Why? Because your audience will not remember all twelve causes. You will succeed and can feel proud if your audience walks out and remembers three reasons.

Now - if it is essential for your audience to remember all twelve causes for divorce, then put it on a handout for audience members to take home.

Every time I recommend a presenter slash the text and number of bullet points I see them go into shock. First, the presenter defends their decision to list all twelve points on the slide. Then they want to keep it, but only speak to two or three points. I stop negotiating at the point where we have three bullet points on the slide and the remainder in the notes section of the presentation. Hey - at least it is off the slide and out of view from the audience!!

Do not become emotionally attached to the volume of text on your slides. If you cannot remember all the points on your slide without reading your slide to your audience, then how do you think your audience will remember all of your points?

Rather have your two strongest points on a slide then support and illustrate your points with examples and stories that demonstrate these two points. Your audience will thank you and possibly remember your points as well.

April 9, 2008 is HR Day

Marsha Kiley, our District 53 Lt.Gov.Marketing, 2007-8 <Mpkiley431@aol.com> has announced this:
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District 53 Toastmasters has declared Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 as "Human Resource Professionals Day" and we have created a special page on our District website specifically for HR Professionals. It has links to several web-based resources as well as articles & case studies showing how Toastmasters can help develop communication and leadership skills within a company.

The web page, http://www.district53toastmasters.org/HR-web-resource.html, has more information about HR Day.

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As you read this blog, please inform your HR representative of the benefits of Toastmasters. Toastmasters is the most cost effective Leadership and Communication Training Program that I know of. It is also a lot of fun, which is why I advocate the Toastmasters program so strongly.

WIIFM?

I was camping with my son's Boy Scout troop this weekend. On Saturday we went orienteering which included a 3 mile hike. Judging from the comments, I assume that all scout masters hear these words from Pre-teens "My legs are sore", "why is it so far", "when is lunch?".

After we returned to our cabin, after the "gruelling" 3 miles (judging from the complaints), our boys went to play at the nearby stream. Scout leaders took a short break, then began afternoon activities which includes gathering wood for the evening fire. Scouts were asked to help gather wood, and the scouts half-heartedly dragged a few branches closer. The leaders were left to gather the required wood, if we were to have a fire of any substance.

After sufficient moans and groans from the scouts, the leaders let them off to go an play further. Then a miracle occurred. The scouts were magically cured of all aches and pains. One scout suggested building a dam in the stream. Others agreed and within minutes all the scouts were dragging logs, tree limbs and boulders to the construction site. Without adult intervention, the scouts formed an effective and functioning team. A dam wall took shape and after an hour, it was interrupting the flow of water in the stream.

Scout leaders watching were amazed at the transformation. Firstly, these boys were "exhausted" while hiking this morning, yet fully energized this afternoon. Secondly, when asked to gather firewood for the evening bonfire, these scouts were too tired and claimed there was no good nearby.

What happened? The WIIFM factor kicked in. The scouts did not see the value of the hike, or of collecting firewood. They saw the value of building their own dam wall and realized that "many hands make light work".

WIIFM in your presentation? Do you explain to your audience near the start of the presentation what they will get out of your presentation? Do you show them the benefits of listening to your presentation versus getting root canal to pass the time? Remember that you are there for the benefit of your audience. Help them to understand it by addressing the WIIFM factor early in your presentation.

By the way, I assume that you know "WIIFM" stands for "What's In It For Me?"

SMART Goals

Has anyone ever told you that you should set SMART goals? SMART Goals are - Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-bounded.

When you set a goal for yourself, such as "Write my first book in 2008", most people will tell you that this is not a SMART goal. You will hear "It takes 18 months to publish a book", and "New authors struggle to sell their first book". Experienced authors may even tell you horror stories such as "My first book was the worst two years of my life".

Do not listen to such nonsense. In April 1994, I knew that I wanted to live my life in the USA. This was not a SMART goal for many reasons, including these reasons. I did not have the money for an airplane ticket to the USA. I had no work visa to find work in the USA. I did not have any sought-after skill that would attract employers to me in the USA. And everyone around me took it upon themselves to point this out to me.

But on January 20, 2001, I landed at JFK Airport with my family and we are now living our dream life in the USA. You can achieve seemingly impossible goals. I do it regularly and share the secrets with my students.

Ignore the naysayers in your life and write your book. The world needs to read it. Don't listen to people who say that it is not an achievable goal. Rather listen to people who have gone before you and published a book.

Many people want to write a book. I wrote "Dodging the Bullet Points" in 2007. Since then, many people have come up to me and said "Wow!. I would also like to write a book - how do I get started?"

To answer all questions, and jump start authors on their first book, I have teamed up with Liz Trendowski and we are holding a Feet to the Fire Bootcamp specifically for Authors on 5/24/2008 in Hartford. Come and join us to write and publish your first book in 2008.

And don't worry - you will reach this goal with our help - even if people around you say it it not a "SMART" goal. At the SMART training institute, we specialize in reaching goals that conventional wisdom label as not "SMART".

Area Contests

Wow. What a week. Toastmasters District 53 held Area contests. Area B2 was on Tuesday night. Wednesday night was too many Area contests for me to keep track of.

What was the lessons learned?
1. None of the winning presenters used PowerPoint. This is a shame. PowerPoint presentations leave memorable images for the audience. This lack of PowerPoint usage opens the door wide for a future contestant to outsmart, and outshow the competition.

2. Every contestant learns, grows and stretches their own speaking skills. You cannot compete in a Toastmasters District 53 Area contest and come away without being a better speaker for having competed.

3. Contests are well-run, thanks to a contest script that our Division B Governor assembled. I have attended contests where the introduction was something like "Welcome to our contest. Let's start. Contestant #1 is Joe Soap. Joe - give your speech". Now that we have a script to follow, every contest that I attend is fair, consitent, and well-run. The lesson learned here is that we can all benefit from documenting a procedure such as "How to run a good contest" and then making the procedure available for all contest leaders to follow as a standard operating procedure.

How can these lessons help you in your life?

Pointless PowerPoint

Does your agenda for your slideshow contain these words or similar generic ones?

- Service Overviews
-Technology
-Vendor samples
-Strategy
-Competition
-Future

If so, then print out your slide and take a deep look. Ask yourself "What is the purpose of this slide?" If you think that your audience is gaining value from this slide, then repeat the previous sentence.

Your text needs to be specific. Make clear points with your text. Do not use generic words because no-one can walk away with a memorable impression of "Technology". If your presentation includes a discussion of the whizz-bang-super-deluxe mousetrap, then put a photo of your mousetrap on the slide and tell your story of how it helps customers.

"What is the purpose of this slide?" is the question that keeps us on the straight and narrow path to presentation success. Answer this question on every slide.