Proactively sharing useful resources is a form of collaboration that is aimed at helping each other to grow and thrive. Therefore, I share here my main takes from a 2017 EY training about "delivering good presentations", and I start by unpacking suggested resources.
MY KEY TAKES FROM SOME USEFUL EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
Steve Job's slide shows, starting with "we have some great staff today":
- key number/word/quote/phrase/graph
- key images: evocative or illustrative
- users' stories, product features demos*
- table: to illustrate, highlight focus, compare
- semantic hierarchy: by characters' font/size
- green/amber/red list of benefits/drawbacks
RSA Animate's videos, to deliver ideas, views, opinionated stories:
- speech snapshots, conveyed in meme-style
- representation of ideas in words and images
- humour in images for attention and ideas flow
Tom Peters's body language to express attitude and to emphasis:
- walks up and down the stage, energetic
- turbines hands, going on-and-on with list
- points parallel palms/cut to make a point
- opens/swings arm/s if lists action to take
- swings hand for cadence or questioning
- opens hand palm up for obvious answer
[Related, how to reinforce verbal comms with visual hand gestures:
The Storytellers explains how storytelling can support a narrative:
- share small stories that represent positive lived experiences
- link the personal small stories to the organisation’s narrative
- show what it looks like to thrive: success stories counter bad
Above: Maria Cristina Brodu presenting at the EY training about delivering effective presentation
MY KEY LESSONS FROM A 2017 EY's TRAINING ON EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
Structures, according to the objective, and audience of the presentation:
- Situation + Complication (why this presentation: objective). Question. Answer.
- Context + Trigger. Qs + Answers (what we know; how we can fix it/prevent it)
- Objective (evidence 1, 2, 3). Conclusion. Advice -> audience draw conclusion
- Recommendation. Conclusions to support it (evidence a, b, c) -> report writing
- Objective. Issues (issue 1, 2, 3). Conclusion. Advice -> to deliver bad news
- Boom (grabber). Wow wow wow (from calm to drama). Boom -> news, movies
Strategic parts of a presentation: what the audience remembers the most
- Introduction (what's in it for the audience). Credentialise (why you). Conclusion
- Agenda: manage expectations and Qs timing; inform about summary handouts
- Light bulb time: if the logic is clear, audience comes to conclusion and retains it
- Interaction, or group activities, to help audience to understand it by themselves
- Pause if you show a complex visual to digest; use blank screens if you ask Qs
Voice: influences perception of presenter, conveys emotion to audience
- emphasis on words. Pitch. Volume. Pace (faster for excitement). Silence gaps
Body language: 80-90% of communication in presentations is non-verbal
- build rapport with audience: eye contact, point of focus in the face (e.g. front)
- stand: feet shoulders-width-apart; balanced/centred; no crossed arms/hands
- seat: upright (no leaning), hands on table, feet on floor or cross legs (no feet!)
- movement: set the room to walk between 3 points (e.g. water, flip chart, laptop)
- only a glance at notes, to not lose the audience (or take a pause, read, restart)
- audience retains after 48 hours: 10% of what heard, 35% seen, 65% combined
Language: the simpler the better, with verbs in active and positive form
- acronyms, professional jargon: define it before to use it (if it may be unfamiliar)
- 'lose' vs 'save': "continue to lose"/miss opportunity" more impactful than "save"
- don't assume knowledge ("as you should know") but ask audience if they know
- instead of using rhetoric questions, turn them into actual engaging questions
- have breaks to refresh the audience's attention; pause after making a point
- call specific people in the audience to answer a question, as attention grabber
- no more than 20 words sentences: succinct phrases are easier to understand
- slides are an outline, not a script: with too much info to reads, no one listens
- tell a story to describe the data: how it started/ended, journey/challenges/takes
- hierarchic structure: big picture content is easier to absorb (no dive into details)
- data to support a point (add data source); examples to facilitate understanding
Get buying-in, and buyers' defence of purchase in front to their hierarchy
- it's people who decide what to buy for their organisation: usually risk adverse
- self-interest: buyers think "what's in it for me" not for the firm (helps promote?)
- build trust through relationship, to develop purchasing confidence in the buyer
Team presentations: for impact, memorable content, display of teamwork
- upfront definition of roles and responsibilities and version control management
- housekeeping: proof reading by independent party unfamiliar with the content
- handover between speakers: introduce the next person who's going to talk
- agree on dress code, session and presentation time for each, relative location
- stroking: listen and look at speaker, endorse what said before to add more to it
- 'master of ceremony': introduction, conclusion, directs Qs to all team members
- balance looking at speaker and at audience, to create rapport with eye contact
Above: Maria Cristina Brodu presenting in 2017 during her EY 's training about delivering presentations
BOOKS FOR FURTHER LEARNING ABOUT EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
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