ATTENTION, POWERPOINTERS!!
I recently Googled “PowerPoint,” “Presentations,” and “Conference Presentations” to make sure I am not spewing material you could obtain elsewhere. I’m NOT. However, I encourage you to peruse Microsoft’s recommendations and those by other “experts” on communication principles with PowerPoint.
THEIR INTENT is: To present a nice, neat, semi-interesting, professional presentation of important information.
OUR HERO’S INTENT is (Watch out! Are ya ready?): To deliver the same information while connecting, engaging, exciting, motivating, and, maybe even, inspiring your audience so that their presentation experience with you is unforgettable and the information memorable. Your audience should be on the edges of their uncomfortable seats, not relaxed and passive in a beach lounger. That’s kinda like teaching, but without the students, although I recommend the same approach in the classroom.
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
7. SIMPLE VISUALS
The research evidence to support the power of images and the value of tapping visual/spatial intelligence has been well documented. Images stick in people’s memories. They can also have a profound emotional impact. Adding visual images to your PowerPoint can radically change the meaning of the content and how much your audience learns and remembers.
Your strategy for considering images should be to review each content slide and answer this question: WHAT IMAGE COULD BE USED TO MAKE THE POINT OF THIS CONTENT CLEAR AND MEMORABLE?
CREATE A POOL OF IMAGES: There are at least 3 categories of simple images available for use: (1) pictures, (2) cartoons, and (3) graphics.
a. Pictures—Begin with personal and professional pictures related to the content. Then Google free pictures floating in cyberspace.
b. Cartoons—If you want to infuse a little jocularity into your presentation, here’s your first opportunity. Consider both single panel and multipanel cartoons.
c. Graphics—There are buckets of clip-art/artwork in a variety of forms that can be used to illustrate different content.
EDIT THE IMAGES: Once you’ve assembled a pool of possible images to include in your presentation, you need to EDIT according to specific criteria:
(1) Emotional Impact—If the image doesn’t elicit a feeling by the viewer, it can be just as boring as dead words on the screen. What affect do you want to the image to elicit? What's its emotional outcome?
(2) Intellectual Impact—What does the image contribute beyond the content already presented? What increment in information does it provide? What’s its unique purpose?
(3) Offensiveness—Make sure there is nothing about the image that can offend anyone in your audience. Test it out on several colleagues or students. If you have any doubts, DON’T USE IT!
Pick only the BEST images for the final cut. Colleagues can be very helpful in providing impartial, first impression reactions to the images. Images do not require explanations; they should have immediate in-your-face positive impact if they’re doing their job.
My next blog will cover how to insert your picks into PowerPoint and test their effectiveness.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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