Jami Rae Garrison

Jami has been a stock photographer since 2004. Her work is featured on WarmPicture.com and in her blog at imajphotodesign.com. She also dabbles in some design work, including website development and even some print design such as flyers, newsletters and business cards. She is also a demographer and geographer, working with statistics and geographic information systems (GIS) creating maps, charts and analysis. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her two (young adult) sons and her soulmate, Charley. She lives in Arizona, home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the southwest U.S., and enjoys traveling throughout the southwest capturing as much of the beauty as she can through her lens.

Building Presentations

 Design  No Responses »
May 292012
 

I’ve written before about the difference between a presentation and PowerPoint.  And now that you know the difference and you realize that what you need is a presentation and not just a PowerPoint (or slideshow), you need to begin the task of building your presentation.   And by “build” I not only mean the look of your presentation but the story and the structure of it as well. Let’s get started.

Before you go about designing your slides you first need to have your story outlined. People spend so much time trying to get cutesy graphics and flashy designs that they forget the purpose of the slides. The purpose of slides is to augment your presentation. They should never be a replacement for your presentation or, worse yet, your speaker notes!  Let me repeat that: your slides are not your speaker notes!  Your presentation (what you say) should be able to stand on its own without the slides. The slides simply enhance your story.

Build The Story

Your presentation is essentially a story.  What story do you want to tell your audience?  Let’s say, for example, that you are a shoe expert and have been asked to give a presentation on ladies’ shoes.  Do you just jot down some bullet points, type them into PowerPoint (or KeyNote), throw in a cute design template, and call it good?  No!  To be effective, you need a story.  You have to engage your audience.  Just because you are a subject matter expert doesn’t mean you can get in front of an audience completely unprepared and engage them in your topic.  What you need is to prepare a story that will not only engage the audience, but will also provide them with information and key points they can easily take from your presentation.

Building your storyline is critical to a successful presentation.  You will probably have to gather data and information from external sources as well as your own personal knowledge, but the critical piece is your story.  The story is what will keep your audience engaged.  To help you with building your story, I have outlined seven steps for building a memorable, engaging presentation:

Step one: Gather your supplies.

What you will need:

  • pen (preferably one regular pen or pencil and a felt-tip marker)
  • paper (standard note paper is fine – I prefer yellow legal pads – the 8.5×11 size
  • post-it or ‘sticky’ notes (either 3 inch x 3 inch or 3 inch x 5 inch size – or both)

Step two: Write down your thoughts.

This is the brainstorming part.  It seems in this day of computers and instant gratification so many people skip this step and just plunge right in to the a presentation.  I like to just jump into my topic and start writing things as they come to me.  All those ideas I had about what I want to say in my presentation – those are the things I start writing down.  They become bullet points and sentences on a page.  At first I find it comes out in a sort of order then I tend to get other ideas as I write and I just go with it.  I write it all down.  Not all of this will make it into the final presentation and there will most likely be things not on this first idea sheet that will be in the final presentation.  The intent here is to gather all your ideas into one place.  There’s no page limit here, but get at least one page of thoughts.  I generally try to keep it to one page anyway so that I can look at the whole thing as I move on to the next step.

Step three: Arrange your story.

Now it’s time for the sticky notes.  Grab your pad and the felt-tip marker and write one main idea per ‘sticky.’  As you write each one, stick it on a wall or, better yet, a white board or chalk board.  If you don’t have access to either of these you can use anything where you have enough space to start putting the ideas up in front of you.  Once all your ideas are on the ‘stickies’ start arranging them so they make beginnings of a story outline.  This is where you may come up with more ideas or discover that some of the ideas you had originally just don’t fit.  So get rid of the ones that don’t quite flow with your story, add new ones if you think of something else along the way.  Continue until you have the outline for your story.

Step four: Design your story.

You now have your story and talking points in front of you on the sticky notes.  Look them over and determine what type of image would best represent and enhance each talking point.  Using the shoe example I mentioned at the beginning of this article, if I was talking about different shoe styles, I’d probably want to have an image of the type of shoe I’m talking about projected on the screen behind me.  Once you have an idea of the images you want for your presentation, it may take some time to find them so be prepared to select some alternate images that will work just as well.  You do not need an image for every point you have, you may be able to cover multiple points on one image and you may be able to use a simple chart or table instead.  Just remember, though, keep it simple!  Do not add a table or chart with so much data that you have to use a small font to show it all. If that’s the case, it does not belong on a slide.  Save it for the handout instead.  Think it through and just be sure not to get hung up too much on looking for images and graphics that you lose sight of the story.

Step Five: Put it all together.

Shoe image faded with statistic overlaid on top

Now that you have your key talking points and the images that enhance your story, it’s time to put it into the digital presentation.   The images will have much more impact if you have just one image per slide and the image takes up the whole slide.  The slide would not need any words on it, just the image (no logo, no title, just the image taking up the whole slide).  You will be presenting the details when you speak.   To illustrate, let’s go back once again to the shoe presentation.  If I was going to give some statistics like, for instance, the percentage of women who wear pumps, I’d have my photo of a nice pair of pumps taking up the whole slide, then as I talk about the percentage the image would fade in the background and the percent number would come across the top in big, bold letters.  No text on the slide necessary – just the number.  This is simple, it’s memorable and it enhances my story.

Pie chart graphic with speaker notes

Simple pie chart graphic for use in a presentation. The speaker notes, to be used by the speaker and for distribution later but not shown during the presentation, are displayed below.

When building your slideshow, whether using PowerPoint, Keynote or some other presentation software, take advantage of the “Speaker/Presenter Notes” feature to add your talking points or even your actual speech that goes with each slide.  That way when people ask for a copy of your presentation, you can give them the talking points that go with it by using the “Speaker Notes” feature.  I would also suggest that you include the sources for your images in the notes section and, if you’ve purchased the images yourself, you should convert the presentation to PDF rather than giving the PowerPoint or KeyNote file directly so that you are not redistributing images in violation of a license agreement.  (Note: even Royalty Free images do not allow you to freely redistribute them, but they do allow you to use them in your presentation and provide a printed/PDF version of your presentation for your audience.  Always read the license agreement to be sure).

Step Six: Create the handout.

Some places you speak at may require that you provide a copy of your presentation.  As mentioned in Step Five, your presentation will not be very useful without the notes that go with it.  So for places that require a copy of your presentation, be sure to include the notes.  But what you also need for your presentation is a handout.  I’m not talking about a printed version of your slideshow, either.  I’m talking about a one page handout that will provide your audience with key take-away points from your presentation.  Using a handout is a very valuable tool because a sheet of paper allows you to include more information than can be included on a slide.

The simple pie chart graphic with added details for use in a handout.

Start creating the handout by gathering the main points from your presentation.  These will be the ones you have from the sticky notes plus any additional you may have added as you put together the slideshow and modified the presentations.  Put these on a one-page document (it can be double sided).  Sometimes simple bullet points work, but you may want to add a graph, chart or table to illustrate your information.  The important part is to make it easy to read.  The one-page handout not only provides the information from your presentation in a quick and easy-to-read document, but also gives you the ability to provide additional details to your audience that you did not have time to cover in your presentation.  Be sure to cite any sources you used in gathering your information.

Step Seven: Practice makes perfect.

Once you have your outline, your presentation slideshow, and your handout completed, your next step is to practice your presentation until you pretty much have it memorized.  If you’ve gone through the steps as I have outlined above then you probably have most of the statistics and key points already committed to memory, but you still need to practice the presentation.  Print out the speaker notes pages from your slideshow and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!   It also helps to rehearse it while sitting in front of your computer and going through the slideshow as you talk.  You should have your presentation polished so that you don’t even need to look at the slides behind you as you speak.

Having your presentation polished, the slideshow designed to enhance your story, and a handout for your audience to take away with them will make your presentation a memorable and informative one!

Related Posts

Presentation or PowerPoint?

 Design  No Responses »
Jan 232012
 

In this day and age it seems that everyone loves creating a “PowerPoint.”  I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone say “I’ll just create a PowerPoint for that” or “Can you make a PowerPoint for that meeting?”  Really?  You want to create a PowerPoint to discuss the changing demographics in the region from 2000 to 2010?

Sounds simple enough but then I sit in a meeting with nothing but PowerPoint slide after PowerPoint slide filled with boring text.  Text, I might add, that the presenter is reading out loud while I’ve already read the tiny print on the slide silently to myself three times.  Meanwhile I totally missed any little tidbits of information that the presenter added that wasn’t on the slide!

Bored Businessman and SecretaryAre you this type of presenter? Do you really want to be that person?

Or would you rather create a presentation where the audience really listens to you, doesn’t have to read-along on the slide, and goes away actually learning something?  Wouldn’t you prefer this if you were in the audience?  I know I would!

I’m guessing you’ve heard of “death by PowerPoint”  but do you really want to live by that motto as a presenter?  Of course not.  So let’s start with some basic principals.   Here are what I call the three golden rules of presenting.  Think of them as Standard Operating Procedure:

  1. Simple
  2. Organized
  3. Polished

Simple

It sounds so easy but this is often the hardest thing to do.  When presenting think about what it is you want the audience to walk away with.  They can remember at least three main points. And within those three points you can use about 3 different facts to back up each.  Just remember the power of three.

So far I’m only talking about the content of your presentation.  The “PowerPoint” should enhance what you have to say, not detract from it.  If you need speaker notes, do NOT make more bullet points on a slide, use some index cards. Yes, it’s “old school” but very effective.

I once gave a presentation at huge conference (about 20,000 attendees).  My part was just 10 minutes during the plenary session.  I was on stage with a veteran of this presentation and one of the biggest things I learned from him was the use of index cards. He preferred the larger index cards, 5×8 inch, and even used color to organize them.  I followed his lead and after 3 days of rehearsing found that my cards had gone from having most of my speech written on them verbatim, to just some quick bullet points to keep me on track and within the time limit.

PowerPoint also has a “presentation” feature where you can type your notes into the “notes” area of the slide and view them while presenting in this mode.  I’ve found this to be a little used feature but you may want to explore it if you prefer reading from the digital screen.

So let’s talk about the PowerPoint presentation.  As I wrote earlier, it should be an enhancement to your presentation and not your crutch (or speaker notes).  Should something crazy happen like the projector bulb goes out or the laptop/computer dies, you should be able to give your presentation without it.  (It just won’t be the “enhanced version”).

And don’t, for goodness sakes, do not make a bunch of copies of your presentation for a handout.  If you need a handout, make a one-page handout of the key “take away” items you want your audience to remember.  If it’s a lengthy stuff, write a report.  You can send them a digital version of your presentation later if they really want it (be sure to add speaker notes so that they can get the meaning of your images).  I will give a quick example here but go into details on designing your presentation slides for another blog post.

Let’s say I’m giving a presentation about the results from the 2010 U.S. Census and I want to explain which incorporated cities in the county have the oldest and youngest populations (by median age).  I could present a slide like this and basically it read it to my audience:

slide example

Okay, the color scheme and design I chose are fair (a standard template) but if you were sitting in the audience, wouldn’t it be much more engaging, and hold your interest more, if I did something like this instead:

I show the slide below as I say to the audience: ”Of the 25 Incorporated cities or towns in Maricopa County, the Town of Carefree stands out.”
Then I transition the slide to black and white (with a header) like this next slide as I say: “The Town of Carefree has the distinction of being the city with the oldest population by way of median age.”
Then, finally, I transition the slide to show the median age on the slide like this as I tell them “the median age for the population of the Town of Carefree in 2010 was 60.2 years of age”

Now wasn’t that simple?  Simple, easy, memorable.

Organized

A lot can be said for a well-organized presentation.  When creating your presentation think about the flow and the story.  Does it tell a story?  Is there a beginning, middle and end?  I find it most helpful to start with an outline of what I want to talk about.  I then fill in my introduction and ending to wrap it all up into a coherent discussion.

An outline will  not only help you organize your thoughts but it will allow you to add relevant information that you may have overlooked but that is important to your overall topic/theme/point.  In addition, don’t be afraid to cut stuff out.

There are many times where you may find yourself with too much information.  Just because a specific statistic or fact sounds interesting doesn’t necessarily mean it will add to your discussion.  If it is something that doesn’t contribute to your storyline, take it out.  You can always provide your audience with a report or handout that has additional information in it.  Too much detail in a presentation can often be deadly and you’ll lose your audience before you know it.

As I mentioned previously, creating an outline can do wonders for keeping you on topic, ensuring you cover the most relevant and important facts, and staying organized.   Once you have an outline created, then start thinking about what you can show on a PowerPoint to enhance your presentation.

Not only should your presentation be well organized, but you should be organized when you present.  If you’ve got a well thought-out outline, be sure you stick to it.  Use index cards during your presentation if necessary, like I mentioned previously.  Once the presentation is ready, make yourself a checklist to ensure you stay organized and on time.  Here are some things to ask yourself:

  • If you are providing handouts, are they readable, copied and ready for distribution?
  • If you will be directing your audience to website for additional information do you have the URL available either on your final slide or in a handout for quick/easy reference?
  • Is there adequate audio/visual equipment where I’ll be giving my presentation?  Find out ahead of time if you need to bring your own laptop and projector or what specifically will be provided for you.
  • Do you have enough copies of everything?  Get an estimated count of attendees.  Don’t make copies of everything you have, it’s a waste of paper.  A one-page handout is plenty and/or provide a link (URL)  to a digital version of your presentation (with your speaker notes included) and/or accompanying report.

Being organized not only looks professional but it gives your presentation and you more credibility.

Polished

A simple and organized presentation will fall flat if it is not polished.  I don’t care how well you know your subject matter, you still need to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!  Practice your presentation in front of a mirror, in front of your family, your dog, or whomever.  I’ve even used my video camera to record myself.  If possible, ask for constructive criticism on the presentation itself (both the PowerPoint and your speech) as well as on your delivery.  Be open to change if it is warranted, but you do not have to use every idea that your reviewers give you.

Another benefit of rehearsing is to help you with those stage-fright jitters.  I think we all have the jitters when we get in front of an audience, some of us more than others, but if you are practiced and polished it can go a long way for calming your nerves.   Rehearsing will not only help to polish your delivery of the presentation but it can help you refine and polish the slideshow as well as the speech.   Everything looks better with a little polish.

Final WorDS

Preparing the presentation itself takes the most amount of time, of course.  I know I only touched  the surface on how to make a PowerPoint that enhances your presentation.  In my next article I’ll go into more detail and provide more examples on how to create a simple yet memorable PowerPoint.  In the meantime you might want to check out the work of Garr Reynolds, the Master of Presentation Zen.

I also want to point out that creating a presentation/PowerPoint for teaching technical subjects does not always lend itself to being as simple as I have shown here.  But there are ways of adapting this approach to teaching.   I’ll also cover that in a later article as well.

Remember, make your Standard Operating Procedure for preparing and giving presentations Simple, Organized and Polished.  You’ll be amazed at how much your audience will appreciate, remember and learn with just these simple techniques.

(Note: “PowerPoint” can be whatever favorite software you use for your digital slideshow – I’ve referring to it here as “PowerPoint” for the sake of simplicity).