 Pow'Rful
Presentations Newsletter |
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Pow'Rful Presentations is a relatively monthly investigation
of ideas, strategies and techniques to assist PowerPoint® Presenters
communicate clearly with audiences.
In my effort to please the widest range of readers and
knowing that adult learners acquire new skills in different
ways, you may find typographical or grammatical errors in
this newsletter. No need to point these out to me. These
errors are purposely selected to serve diverse audiences,
and prove that I practice what I preach in communicating my
message through all available channels.
Also, depending on your background, and my South African
origins, you may find some of my spelling and grammar to be,
well let us just say "imaginative".
© Wayne Botha 2008
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| Powerful Presentations Alliance. |
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First things first - you may be wondering why I did not publish
newsletters in January and February of 2008. Well, for the past
two months I was crazily doing what I love doing - namely making
presentations, coaching and consulting.
As Area B2 Governor for Toastmasters I trained our club
oficers, prepared for the District 53 Spring Speech Contest,
held club contests, and coached clients to drastically
improve their marketing presentations. Couple these
activites with the formation of the
Powerful Presentations Alliance, the launch of our new website, and
the result is the first newsletter of 2008 being published
in March.
You, as the reader of this newsletter benefit from the
Powerful Presentations Alliance, because I am excited to
announce that my partners in the Alliance are the best of
the best
PowerPoint®
Presentation Practioners. We have years of presentation
experience and advocate the same philosophy when using
PowerPoint®.
This means that you get the benfit of our combined
experience.
To demonstrate the tremendous value created by forming
the
Powerful Presentations Alliance, this newsletter
focuses on the "Hard" Slides.
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 What is "Hard" slide? Let me first explain an "easy" slide. An "easy" slide is a slide where you can easily communicate your message with a photo. For example, when you want to impress your audience with the likelihood of future college graduates, you can use the slide above.
When you display this slide, every parent is paying
attention and thinking "how cute". This slide is "easy"
because it is easy to find a photo that conveys your
message.
However, when you are faced with conveying statistics and
trends, you are faced with "Hard" slides. The natural
tendency is to put up a chart or a data-intense spreadsheet
which leads your audience straight into snoozeville.
Craig Strachan (founding member of the
Powerful Presentations Alliance) solves the problem of
the "Hard" slides in his newly published Putting
the Power Back into Power Point ebook, which you can
download for free.
The key to communicating statistical information is to keep your slides simple. Only display the important information and nothing more.
Answer this question before you create your slide "What
point am I trying to make with this slide?" This answer will
guide you through a slashing process to eject the
less-relevant data and focus on the data you need to support
your point.
Also, be constantly aware that colors don't always display
through a projector the way you see them on your computer
monitor. Always test your presentation through a projector
first, otherwise your green and yellow contrasts may
surprise you and confuse your audience.
In summary, when you are faced with designing the "Hard"
slides, follow these pointers:
1. Answer the question - What point am I trying to make with
this slide?
2. Keep your charts simple.
3. Fewer data points and less information helps your
audience understand your point.
4. Rehearse your slideshow through a projector, just in case
your projector changes your color scheme.
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More next time!
Wayne Botha
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© Wayne Botha 2008
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