I hate PowerPoint: it's the sign of the decline of Western civilization as we know it. Alas, I have to use PPT just like every other cubicle jockey; but, since I hate PPT so much I've learned--after much wailing and gnashing of teeth--how NOT to prepare slideshow.
You see, three outcomes usual occur during presentations:
- The presenter spends all his time crafting "perfect" slides--including incongruent sounds, witty transitions, and complicated animations--but then fails to actually practice briefing the underlying material. As an added bonus, they also usually fail to practice with the sounds, transitions and animations, meaning the come across as double the buffoon.
- Or, the briefer works so hard on the material that they end up throwing together a crappy slideshow, with misspellings, dense phrases, broken links, and whatnot. Sure, they may be a content genius, but the poorly constructed slides make 'em look like a Grade-A @$$clown. My worst pet peeve are bullets that extend across the page, break, then have a single word or two on the next line. It looks careless.
- Finally, there are the dreadful briefers who screws up both the slides and the underlying content. It's like watching a train wreck happen, except those in the audience are the victims. Indeed, I saw this happen in the fall of 2010, when I was subjected to a poorly-prepared and organized briefer who practically soiled himself on stage. And I had no sympathy: yes, I can appreciate nerves, but the presentation came across like he'd prepared it five minutes before prime time under caffeinated duress.
To illustrate further , I present to you Exhibit A: The Worst PowerPoint Slide Contest. Go ahead, peek! I'll wait...
With that, rare is the briefer who balances both: presenting flawless slides and deep knowledge of the material. At top form, they don't even need o look at the slides while talking, or only turning to the screen to add emphasis to a particular point.
Thus, I present my 11 simple rules for a good briefing, amassed over years of slitting my wrists over the horror that is PowerPoint.
- No bullet should be longer than two lines. Longer quotes requiring emphasis are okay if you put them in a distinct text box. Ultimately, bullets are mental notes, not crutches or excuses for brain dumps. The audience is listening to you: if they wanted to read dense passages of size 1 text you could've simply emailed the briefing.
- Pick or design a template and stick with it for every slide: colors, fonts, text box alignments, everything. I guarantee the audience will notice even the smallest changes when you transition, and lose focus on you and the content in the process.
- Don't use any sounds or animations. You're there to look professional, not cute, and odds are you'll pork the effect transition anyway.
- Be liberal with relevant images, charts and figures, as long as they're easily readable by the audience. Indeed, a good image can replace bullets, the bane of deep intellectual rigor. That, and I'm friggin' tired of seeing stock PowerPoint imagery--I'm looking at you, bald, 70's porn moustache guy flipping money and stick figure scratching his head under a question mark!
- If time permits, "case the joint" first: know where the podium, screen, microphone, and pointer are, and prepare a Plan B if anything is missing (indeed, how often does "the clicker" fail to work?). If using the host's computer, preload your briefing or plug in your USB drive to make sure the appropriate drivers are installed. After all, there are few schadenfreude events that equal the uncomfortable, squirming silence radiating from an impatient audience.
- Use audio/video clips and hyperlinks sparingly. If they're absolutely necessary, make sure they work in step #4.
- Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! Know your material--know it well enough that you keep your eyes on the audience and not the screen. Know it well enough that you only need a note card and not a crate of dog-eared legal pads. Even better, know the presentation well enough that you don't need notes at all. You're wasting the audience's time if you simply stare at the screen and parrot bullets.
- Dry run the brief with a colleague, friend, or better yet, a critical sworn enemy.
- Repeat step 7.
- Use humor sparingly, and keep it clean. The occasional humorous image is usually the best, especially if it's relevant to the topic--makes the audience chuckle, yet also serves as memory jogger.
- Print a hard copy of your presentation just in case the IT goes to pot (ref: #4). I always do, even though I can usually brief from memory (ref: #6 and #8--and go rehearse again while you're at it). At the very least, I find it helpful to jot notes on the relevant slide during the Q&A session--any presentation worth it's salt has a Q&A session.
And there you have it! Keep in mind, though, that the above tips are not meant as a product endorsement, but rather simple concessions to the reality of the Microsoft Office Empire and the slide show imitators it spawned.
Still, I'd love to read your own hints, tips, or stories of presentation agony! Leave a comment, or drop me a line at james -at- jdfielder.com.
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