Personal Photos for Slides

I just enjoyed a car show close to home in South Windsor, Connecticut. Photos of old cars can be used to connect with seniors in my audiences, and the exquisite paint jobs on the hot rods will connect with hot rod enthusiasts.

These photos do not do justice the to paint jobs. The paint work on these hot rods left my drool marks on the tarmac.

What about you? Do you collect personal photos to use in your presentations? Just as you should keep on collecting stories for your story file, you need to also collect personal photos for your presentations. You never know when you will be able to connect with your audience through a personal photo. As Darren would say "Photo time, photo time, photo time".

Happy Anniversary

Today is our seventh Anniversary in the USA. We landed after a major snowstorm on Jan 21, 2001 at JFK.

We brought:
- 6 suitcases
- One bag of medicine for my son
- Three backpacks as carry-on luggage
- $400 in cash
- $5,000 of debt to the consulting company that sponsored my H1-B Visa

This was the sum total of our worldly possessions when we landed at JFK to start a fresh live in the USA. No furniture, no cars, no family in the USA.

WOOHOO!! After seven years, my lovely wife and I still agree that coming to the USA was the best decision we could ever have taken. Why are we glad? Because life is good in America today. Click here for my podcast on what is good in America today.

Bottoms up - Here is my toast to a wonderful lifetime in the US of A.
(Remember to drink a soda on my behalf - because I don't drink alcohol)

Now think. What would you bring if you were to leave your home for the chance at a better future in a new country? What would you pack in your suitcases? We brought the essentials - some favorite books, our family photos, and blankets to keep us warm. Little did I know at the time that I also brought stories which I use on the platform to help my audiences thrive in changing times.

What stories are you recording that can help your audiences overcome challenges? Are you capturing your personal photos which will help your audiences in the future?

P.S. Enjoy your family times now. You won't be able to enjoy them if you ever have an ocean between you.

Photos in Juxtaposition

When you want to show contrast follow Al Gore's example and put the photos in juxtaposition.

Here are the "before" and "after" photos of this morning's snowstorm in South Windsor CT.

These photos clearly show that our weather forecasters overestimated the accumulation. We had predictions of 8 to 14 inches of snow. Instead, we received 5 inches.

You can use photos such as these to support your points in your presentation such as "Overestimating accumulation leads to false alerts and costs overallocation of resources for snow removal".

Where can you take personal photos and use them in your presentation? Take many photos with your digital camera and build up a library so that you have access to personal photos for your PowerPoint presentations.

Good place to consider bullet points

Yes, you read the title correctly. There is a at least one instance where you can use bullet points effectively in your slide show.

No, I am not smoking my socks. Contrary to the Pow'rFul Philosophy advocated in Dodging the Bullet Points, where I warn all presenters to avoid bullet points, I recently saw one slide with bullet points. (Of course, the rest of the presentation had a ka-billion bullet points as well to encourage MEGO - Mine Eyes Glaze Over).

You can use bullet points to list the accomplishments of an award recipient. For example, when presenting an award, you may say:

"Joe Soap is receiving the Dubious Darwin award today because he:
* Was chief cook from 1987 to 1999
* Had three mistresses while chairman of the International Censorship board
* Served in congress from 1999 to 2003
* Member of Toastmasters International since 1965
* Daredevil from 2003 until last week (Thanks to $10 of gas only filling 1/2 of his jump bike tank)
* 16 marriages and 15 unexplained disappearances of spouses

There is no reason for you to memorize these facts, and there is no reason for the audience to take home a handout of these facts. Your purpose with this slide and information is to show that Joe Soap deserves this award. That's it. Your purpose with this slide is to make your point and go forward. Once you have established Joe's eligibility for the award and presented the award, you can move on to the next slide.

You should enhance this slide with a personal story about the recipient. Tell any story that you and the recipient were involved in, so that your audience has some picture to take home with them - perhaps the night last week where Joe's jump bike ran out of gas on the jump ramp? Even a poorly told story is better than no story at all. You can also show a personal photo of Joe and his 16 wives - This will be a striking image that no one will forget.

There you have it. This is the only instance I have ever found where Bullet Points are appropriate on a slide show.

Till next time, keep Dodging those Bullet Points.

Personal Photos

In the Pow'Rful Process I advocate that all presenters use personal stories and photos in their slideshows. We drove to Vermont today to take photos of the Fall foliage. Our trip delivered a few nice photos, but most of the parts we drove through today are not yet in peak.

One of the photos is above. I will use this photo to point out that a little color in our lives lets us appreciate the green in our lives more than if everything is green.