Make Better Slides

The Wikipedia told me about the "Chinese water torture". This was a torture that was supposed to drive its victim insane with the stress of water dripping on a part of the forehead for a very long time. It was characterized by the inconsistent pattern of water drips. Supposedly, the desire for the human brain to make a pattern of the timing between the drops will also eventually cause insanity to set in. That was then. Today that method is replaced by subjecting unsuspecting colleagues to horrible presentations that makes the water torture look almost benign. There are many reasons why presentations go haywire. You have probably suffered through many sessions where the speaker reads through what really looks like the pages of a book - except that all 5000 pages including the graphs and tables of research data - all put into one slide. The font is small enough to inspire people not delay any more the decision whether to wear specs or not. Worse still many presenters feel that the slide is like a teleprompter. They read it out line by line and imagine that the audience is either illiterate or so lazy that they will not read stuff even if it is in front of them.Here is the big secret -

1. If you have sentences to share with your audience, use a Word document
2. If you have data and graphs to show – use Excel. Give them a printout that they can either read ahead of the meeting or can deliberate upon out after you have gone home
3. If have a conclusion to share or an idea you want them to remember use PowerPoint

The Slide Rule (pun intended): Have a single point on a slide – preferably with a visual. The visual should be about the story that goes with the slide. The slides are for the audience to remember as key take aways. Slides are not speaker notes. It is not about the slides anyway.There are some people make presentations that makes the audience ask for more. Here is what I have learnt. There are three elements which are needed to make great presentations. Make sure your arguments have Clarity, know the audience ie Concern and present with Confidence.CLARITY: If you could make only three slides - each slide with three words - what would they be? Till you have those three key slides don't add any more. It could be 3 key ideas the audience should take away, 3 reasons why your idea deserves funding etc.  More than three ideas is wasted on the audience. Try asking people immediately after the presentation what they recall. You will be surprised how widespread amnesia is. So keep it simple. Here is a fascinating talk by Steve Jobs given to students at Stanford for their commencement address. Notice the title: How to Live Before Your DieWays to Build Clarity in Your Presentationi)   Structure the talk around some questions.ii)  Three most popular questions that help structure your presentation : Whats the big idea I am suggesting; What data or evidence led me to that idea; How will it improve your life?iii) Use three four words that builds a mnemonic for the audience to remember your slide.iv) Clearly think through what you want the audience to do after you have done the presentation.  What is the objective of giving this info to the audience? Is it to inform, convince or entertain? Hence what information or anecdotes will prove that point.v)  One slide for every 5 minutes of talk time is a good thumbrule. Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule is a good guide. Here is what he says.CONCERN: Become Persuasive, Insightful and Inspiring – not pedantic. You can do this only if you understand the audience and tailor the message. Ask yourself if it was a different audience you were presenting to, how would you structure your presentation differently? What do they know about the subject that you can build upon or challenge? How about starting with three startling and unknown facts about your topic.

1. Encourage participation by asking some opinions. Questions initially should not be to “test” the audience level of knowledge. You are the expert and the audience knows it. That’s why you are a speaker. Get them excited about your idea.
2. The whole presentation is like a story. Make it memorable. Adult learning is more when they feel they will use the information to become better. Share how that could benefit them. Tell them how to do it in easy steps.
3. Learn to use multiple media - maybe a short film clip? A screenshot of blogs that they could read later?

CONFIDENCE : It is not about the slides. It is just your turn to tell a story. Begin with interesting/ fascinating factoids. Here is Professor Clay Shirky talking about What is Cognitive Surplus? If you don't know what that is, don't worry. That's why you should listen to him. Watch him present like a master storyteller. His first words are the first lines of a story. That's how he explains this stuff in a manner even someone like me can understand :)Did you notice how he began with "The story starts in Kenya..." He proves the point that skillful presenters can make a complex concept easy to understand. They just use stories to feed their audience with their idea - a morsel at a time. That's why I am a big fan of the TED.com site. It is a collection of stories that explain interesting ideas. Each speaker gets 18 minutes to engage the audience with their story.I love the talk given by author and diplomat Shashi Tharoor on The Soft power of India. Notice how he connects the TED elements of Technology Entertainment and Design to what India is about to make his a very compelling presentation. Remember the old saying, "Tell them what you will tell them (intro), tell them what you have to tell them (your main idea) and tell them what you just told them (recap of key ideas)."What are your tips to be a better presenter?------------Some related stuffDownload my cartoon. Click Here ... ok... CLICK HERE insteadWhy do TED talks last for 18 minutes? You must watch the video for some good insights Click hereMy talk at TEDxGurgaon on What Makes People Happy. Click HereGuy Kawasaki lists making a good PowerPoint as one of the ten things you must learn (in school).----------If you are a looking for more tips checkout This cool site http://www.hackcollege.com/