Week 5 Clear Presentations

 "In giving presentations, use the 10/20/30 rule....use only 10 slides, take 20 minutes maximum, and use at least 30-point fonts." - Guy Kawasaki, formerly of Apple

Well, this weeks lesson on Presentations was one that I needed. All the presentations that either I have done or seen as an audience member, have pretty much been the "standard" presentation that I now find is really an attention killer. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by this. Looking back on those presentations, I see that I was bored right off the bat or read ahead and became bored waiting for the next slide. I won't even talk about when the presenter pretty much reads from the slides!

This weeks topic also brought to the forefront for me the over used method of cramming a bunch of PowerPoint "tricks" to give the illusion of a professional presentation. While this may have been the way of doing things previously, there is now a "less is more" kind of approach to PowerPoint presentations. The video "Life After Death by PowerPoint 2010" really showed what NOT to do in your presentations. For those of you not in this class, I have posted the video here for your viewing. It is absolutely hilarious as well informational.



One area that I was totally unaware of was the use of Storyboards. Storyboards are a layout or plan for your presentations. They include all the details of your presentation like the images, audio, and script notes. Storyboards help you organize your thoughts and give the presentation its structure. They also provide clarity to your topic while also keeping it concise. This will be much appreciated by your audience!

The biggest takeaway for me this week was a bit of  advice from Chip and Dan Heath, authors of "Made to Stick".  They said to tease your audience. Make them curious about what your presentation is about. Don't start out with a bullet list of what your topic is going to cover. Grab their attention with a story or an example. They referred to stories and examples as "the building blocks of presentations". They will enhance your presentation by forcing the audience to listen instead of expecting everything to be displayed in PowerPoint.

While I am about to step into uncharted waters with the Presentation Project, I look forward to the challenge of trying new techniques and creating a presentation very different from the old ways of bullet points and clip art.   So to borrow from an old saying, it's time to teach an old dog new tricks!