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Key Elements to a Great Presentation

February 8, 2011 by Deborah Michele

Giving a good presentation is a skill that can be honed much like many other business skills. There are how to guides (like the one below), YouTube video tutorials, professional classes, advice from your colleagues or spouse, and many other ways to improve your “skills”.

However, a really good presenter doesn’t just deliver the material, she leads the audience through it. She makes an emotional connection between the audience and the content. She is there to inspire and communicate with the audience, and a presentation is merely a tool to do so.

In working for the past several weeks on developing new sales presentations for my organization, I’ve actually really enjoyed the creative process of developing these communication tools. In preparation for training the team to deliver these presentations, I put together the following list that I thought was worth sharing about what I think makes a great presentation.

The list is long, but the key element (that is short and sweet) is YOU. The presenter is, in the end, the only thing that can truly make a presentation great. A presenter who leads the audience from beginning to end with charisma, fluency in the content, and confidence can take any boring powerpoint presentation and turn it into a fantastic communication platform.

The List: Key Elements to a Great Presentation

Slide Layout/Design

  1. Keep it simple – the less on the slide, the better
  2. Use the same fonts throughout and use no more than 2 fonts
  3. Limit bullet points and text
  4. Backgrounds should not be distracting – text should be easy to view
  5. Sans Serif fonts (fonts without feet) such as Arial, Verdana, Calibri and Helvetica are easier to read digitally. Also, stick with standard fonts that can be found on any computer (these above are good examples).
  6. Avoid all CAPS except on title slides
  7. Photos should add, not detract from the presentation. Do not utilize clip art, instead choose professional photographs. When scaling photos, always hold the shift key down so that the photo will scale proportionally. Do not stretch images.
  8. Use a consistent background style. Powerpoint has many to choose from and then you can select a palette of colors as well.
  9. Slides should have no more than 6-8 lines of text whenever possible

Content

  1. Human attention is VERY limited. Don’t cram too much information, either in each slide, or in the whole talk. Avoid details – they won’t be remembered anyway.
  2. You should have VERY minimal text. People will read the slide while you are talking, so if you want them to listen, give them less to read!
  3. Your slides should reinforce your words – not repeat them. You should not be reading your slides, but rather speaking and the slides are there to provide you with guidance and to reiterate the most important points to your audience.  People come to hear you, not to read an on-screen book.
  4. The content should only contain the necessary amount of information to achieve the goal. If you over-inform, you will lose people. Stick to the basics. Get people excited, but don’t
  5. You may know a lot more than you are sharing, which is great, keep that information handy in your head when you get asked a question. That’s a great time to give a bit more detail, but again, keep your answer simple and not too overly informative or people will tune out.
  6. Always be asking yourself, “How much detail do I need?”  Nothing in your slide should be superfluous and you may even need to cut details that may be important to you, but don’t serve your audience because they are too detailed and only add clutter.
  7. Don’t include too much data in charts – 4-6 slices is enough for a pie chart, 4-8 bars in a bar chart etc
  8. People comprehend better when information is presented in small chunks or segments – break up each section with a title slide to clearly show the distinction
  9. People will remember the last couple of slides more than the stuff in the middle.

Delivery

  1. Be proactive about becoming a better presenter. Presentation skills are essential. Set out to become a better presenter by reading about effective presentations, watching and copying interesting presenters, and identifying and replacing bad habits. It will help your career, and it will help those who have to watch you present.
  2. Begin with a clear objective in mind. Why are you delivering this presentation? What do you want your audience to do as a result of your presentation? What do you want your audience to think following your presentation? Effective presentations are those that help the presenter achieve their objectives.
  3. Think about what’s in it for them. What does your audience want to get out of this presentation? You’re there for them. Give them what they came for.

What about you? Any tips you’d like to share?

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It’s Been a While

January 22, 2011 by Deborah Michele

It’s been a while since I’ve posted – life always seems to distract me with all the fun that can be had!

It’s been a while since I went to a yoga class – so I went this morning. It was physically hard and yet so so mentally good. Thanks Soul Tree Yoga.

It’s been a while since I went out for drinks with my girlfriends – who’s up for this week?

It’s been a while since I told my family how great they are – so here goes: I love you guys! You’re the best I could ask for!

It’s been a while since I paused and reflected on how much I’ve done lately – both professionally and personally. It feels good to stop and acknowledge it all.

It’s been a while since I looked back and measured the changes in my personal and professional life. Kaizen is tough to see as it can be slow and subtle. Sometimes you need to take a step back and compare where you are to where you were.

It’s been a while since I’ve set any goals down on paper, so here’s one for the new year: Expand my network – stick out my neck and connect with people. This is not something that comes naturally or easily for me (I have a deep seeded fear of rejection that comes across as aloofness). It it is work for me.

It’s been a while since I selected a word to focus on. My word now: intention. Do all things with intention. Be present. Be completely dedicated to what I am doing at that moment.

It’s been a while since I tried something totally and completely new – hmmmm….. endless possibilities.

 

What thing do have you not done in a while?

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How do you describe what it takes to be a leader?

September 14, 2010 by Deborah Michele

About two weeks ago, I was named one of the top 25 most influential young professionals in Colorado by Colorado Biz Magazine. Needless to say, I’m honored to make the list – unfortunately, I’ll miss the dinner on September 30th when they announce the top 5 as I’ll be out of town (but I have my finger’s crossed). Today I received a message from a writer who is composing an article for the magazine and she asked for a few sentences on what it takes to be a leader.

My first thought was that there are about a billion books on the topic – why would she want my few sentences? But I considered a second time and realized that I know I would rather hear advice from people like me over a big book written by someone in the corporate world (I don’t consider myself or my company very “corporate” – so there is a difference). So I gave it a shot and here’s what came from my gut:

“Being a good leader is about trust and integrity – you have to provide the right amount of direction and encourage ownership – and then let go. Another person will never do things exactly as you would do them, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. You have to be able to identify when something is different, but equally effective, as opposed to when it will not achieve the goal. And in the end, you have to be willing to share the success or the failure – a good leader only blames herself when things go wrong.“

Now admittedly, before hitting the send button, I spent about 10 minutes browsing the internet to make sure that my response sounded “different”, as even though I had written from my gut, I had this unnerving feeling that I was paraphrasing from something I had read somewhere along the way (which I no doubt am – it’s a popular topic after all). I was happy to see that my answer differed from the first few I came across, and then it became clear that it differed from everything I found in my short internet search.

The truth is, every leader has their own definition of what makes a good leader – some people just haven’t taken the time to define it (and most haven’t been forced into it like I was today).

So now I’m asking you – what’s your description of what it takes to be a leader?

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What do you deserve?

September 10, 2010 by Deborah Michele

A friend of mine once said “I’ve worked hard enough, I deserve to make more money”. It struck me as a strange statement, because up until that moment, I had sort of left the determination of what I’m worth up to others.

I was raised to believe that you get what you deserve. It was a common theme throughout my childhood that I was punished if I mis-behaved and rewarded when I acted as was expected of me. It was a very fair and honest way to raise a kid. But now as an adult, I’m struck by my own limited view of justice.

Life is not truly as fair or honest as my Beaver-Cleaver childhood left me to believe. Especially in today’s job market. You can’t expect to be rewarded grandly for putting your head down and trying your hardest. Although I am a firm believer in karma, I’ve finally realized that the world does not just deliver wealth and success to you just because you “deserve” it.

We would all like to think that we will be successful simply because of our hard work. But any “how to be successful” book will tell you that most of the time, success is the resulting combination of hard work, luck, good timing, and knowing the right people. And unfortunately, there is no “right” combo of these things. You probably know more than one person who is successful, not because of hard work, but really only because he/she knew the right person.

But there is one other element that isn’t often discussed in “how to be successful” books – expectations. People who expect to be successful often are – not just because they expect to, but because they couple that expectation with the other 4 elements. They see themselves as deserving of success, and as cocky as that might be, that confidence and flat-out expectation that they will succeed is the driving factor to making all the other elements work together towards their goal.

So what do you deserve?

Do you whole-heartedly believe that you deserve success – no matter how you define it: a large salary, a corner office, or a healthy work-life balance.  Is there even a glimmer of doubt that you are good enough, deserving enough, to be the head of that non-profit you have admired?

Or do you just work hard and believe that you will be given what you deserve – that it is up to the universe to decide what value your work has and thus how successful you will be.

Have you considered that perhaps the universe doesn’t get to make these decisions, perhaps, just perhaps, you do? What do you deserve?

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Measuring Kaizen – When Change is Hard

August 8, 2010 by Deborah Michele

I had a conversation recently with a friend who lost a lot of weight. He said that the physical change was the easy part, the tough part was the mental change.

I know what he means. When you can see the direct results of your attempts at change, it is gratifying and makes you want to keep moving in that direction. However, changing behavior requires kaizen – meaning you are constantly working through minor tweaks and daily attempts at doing things differently. The effects are not like weight loss. You can’t step on a scale and physically measure your progress. Instead inner change is subtle and hard to recognize. When you don’t have that instant gratification (like stepping on a scale after only 3 days of dieting and seeing yourself a few pounds lighter) it’s much harder to feel positive about all of your efforts.

So what can you do to measure kaizen?

1. Find your Fault

None of us are perfect. We are can always improve, change, and learn. You wouldn’t be reading this far if you didn’t feel the need for some change in your life. But you also can’t become someone else – you can only become a better you.

The first step is to spend some time on tough reflection. Observe your actions, and especially the reactions of others to you, and be honest with yourself about what you can improve upon. Do you need to be more empathetic, patient, calm, open-minded or??? Your personal weaknesses are not always easy to face, but personal growth can’t happen without this step.

2. Establish a Baseline

The only way to know that you’ve effected change is to establish a baseline, and then watch and watch some more. Being aware of your actions and reactions will make it possible to see how far the needle jumps – and in which direction.

For instance, let’s say that you recognize that you have a tendency towards negativity and want to become more positive. You can’t go from one extreme to the other overnight, so think of the goal as not to be “positive” but to be “less negative”.

Spend one day counting how many times you say something negative, think something negative, or do something negative. You may even need to do something really scary – ask someone else what they think to help you keep track. It’s not fun, but it’s a sure way to really understand the extent of what needs to change. And then over the next 3 weeks, be extra vigilant of your negativity and continue to keep count. Just by putting the awareness on the problem, you’ll find that your count will go down as you will naturally be trying to reverse the trend. I’m not guaranteeing that you will be a “positive” person at the end of 3 weeks, but 21 days of being less-negative will give you a good solid base for taking the next steps toward a positive outlook.

Occasionally awareness can bring about disappointment that you aren’t getting to the end goal faster. As with all change, self-change takes time. Remember that it didn’t take a day to become negative (or whatever habit/personality quirk you want to change), and you can’t reverse it that fast either.

3. Hold Yourself Accountable

Ultimately, only you are able to affect change in yourself. It takes commitment and ongoing due diligence to ensure progress. There are ways to hold yourself accountable through the tough journey of inner change

  • Keep a Short List – and Look at it Daily – a constant reminder of the change you are seeking will keep you on the path
  • Ask for help –  Other people can help – find someone you can trust to point you back in the right direction when you wander
  • Reward yourself for progress – we all need a little recognition for the hard changes we undertake

And Finally – Accept Your Set-Backs as a Form of Change

For each 2 steps forward, you will take one backwards. It’s the natural process of breaking out of your mold. This back-and-forth between the old you and you that you want to be may be frustrating, but you need to recognize that this wavering is change in and of itself. Celebrate your progress, pat yourself on the back, and recognize that change is hard work and that you should be proud for you success. Recognizing the need for change and taking action isn’t easy and the results will be varied, but the work you do will be the most important you will ever undertake.

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Make New Friends – How I got over my fear of networking

June 29, 2010 by Deborah Michele

My daughter just went to her first Girl Scout sleepover camp. As I drove her up to camp last week, the song I learned many years ago when I was a Girl Scout myself came ringing back in my head: Make new friends, but keep the old, some are silver and the other gold.

It is a great lesson for a 9 year old headed off to camp with her best friend, but I found it easily applied to many things in my life as well.

Over the years, I have struggled with networking. It’s one of those things that I really shy away from. However at a recent conference, I finally got through my “networking wall” and made some progress in this area that I have struggled with for so long. I finally figured out how to “make new friends” again!

I know I’m not the only one who fears networking, so here are some of the top reasons that networking is so uncomfortable and how I have overcome them:

1. I gravitate to those I know and struggle to truly network

There is absolutely no point in going to a networking event and only talking to people you know. You must see it as your responsibility to walk away from the group (or even the only other person you know) and put yourself out there. Meet new friends… it’s not just for 9 year olds.

2. I don’t know anyone and everyone else knows people.

This is especially a concern when attending an annual industry conference. It can be awkward to be at an event where everyone else seems to know someone and you are on your own. But what I have realized is that most people gravitate towards their “friends” in order to feel important or to appear “well-known” and most of the time, if you don’t know them, they don’t know you either. And if they don’t know you, they don’t know how important (or unimportant) you are either, so you have to carry yourself the way you want to be perceived and assume that everyone out there wants to meet you as much as you want to meet them.

3.  I am out of my league

I find it especially difficult to network with people if I feel like I am not as experienced, knowledgeable, or seemingly amazing as others in the room. I say “seemingly” because I often find that many of the people who are seen as amazing are just “well-known”, but not necessarily because they do great things. I have to remind myself that t I’m pretty dang amazing too, it’s just that no one at this particular event knows it, yet. Just because I’m not as experienced, doesn’t mean I’m not as capable.

4. I really want to meet that one “powerful” person who can really connect me to my future.

Attending an event where you know that one important person will be present can be difficult. If you don’t make the effort, you’ve wasted your time, but knowing how to approach that individual is key. You need to think about what value you can bring to the conversation. Figure out what you can provide (a compliment on his/her work, a connection to someone else, a suggestion on a great local restaurant) and be prepared to work it into the conversation quickly. You shouldn’t expect to have much time and you shouldn’t expect that this one meeting will change everything for you, but you should see it as a small step in the right direction.

5. I don’t have anything to talk about

I am TERRIBLE at small talk, often because I find it shallow and meaningless. How can you really get to know someone if you talk about the weather? I don’t mean you have to go to the other extreme and ask about someone’s most recent illness, but there are many things to talk about in between those extremes.

The key is to have a few good questions and let the other person talk. What do you do? What do you like best about it? What is challenging in your position? What’s it like to work with X? and so on… you never know what you might learn and if you can find something interesting in what is said, you’ll soon be deep in conversation, not just making small talk.

All these are good tips, and truly things that I use, but there is really only one thing that got me over my fear of networking – confidence. Confidence that I am somebody, that I do have something worthwhile to share, that I can contribute to the conversation, and that others will want to meet me – and I just did “it” (it being networking).  Amazingly, I was right.

Have any tips you would share?

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Is it boring in here or is it just me?

May 19, 2010 by Deborah Michele

Work can be challenging, exciting, fun, and sometimes…. boring. Lately, I’ve realized that there are different types of boring.

Bored Worker Type #1 – Bad Attitude

Some people just have bad attitudes towards work, and they see their job as boring because of it. I can’t help this, and I guarantee that the next job will be just as bad because in this case it isn’t about the job, it’s about the worker.

Bored Worker #2 – Bad Match

But then there are other situations where a job is boring for “good” reason. For instance a job can be boring…

  1. because I’m so low on the ladder that I get thrown all the tasks that no one else wants to do. But I work hard and have a good attitude towards it because I know it’s just temporary. I’m just putting in my time until I can move up the ladder.
  2. because my job doesn’t challenge me anymore – I’ve done it for so long. It used to be fun, but now it is just monotonous. I’ve mastered the skills, now I need something that takes my skills to the next level.
  3. because I’m in a position that doesn’t interest or fulfill me.
  4. because I don’t believe in the mission of company or industry in which I’m working.

All of these types of “boring” jobs have one things in common – they are poor job fits. But guess what – these jobs aren’t boring, it is just you. There is a difference here than in the first example above – this isn’t a matter of a bad attitude, it is truly just a poor match and you could be much happier in another situation.

So it’s time you moved on – you owe it to yourself and to your employer. Your current position could be just the right job for someone else, and the next person to fill it could find it exciting and fun and really put his or her heart into it. Wouldn’t you feel better knowing that the company was better served by a new, energetic individual who is fulfilled. And wouldn’t you feel MUCH better if you were in a job that was a better fit? Leaving your job behind for someone else is really a win-win for everyone.

Another Kind of Boring

But then there is another kind of boring. You’re challenged, you’re interested, you’re high up in the company – and yet, you’re bored. And this time, it might NOT be you!

This third kind of bored worker is characterized by a job that interests you (ask yourself – if I looked for another job today would the job description look just like the one you are leaving?) – but feeling constant frustration with your managers or co-workers.

Lack of good leadership is what causes this “other kind of boring”. Poor leadership (micro-mangers, control freaks, and the like) strip you from the enjoyment of work that you might otherwise love. If you don’t feel ownership, you can’t possibly be excited about what you do on a day to day basis. If you have to get approval on every step of a project and are unable to make decisions that you are qualified to make, the sense of marginalization and belittling takes the enjoyment out of what could otherwise be a great position.

Yes, for once, you can blame others – but only for a moment.

Because the truth is, although your manager might be to blame for your lack of excitement, you have a responsibility for your own happiness. You are the only one who can change your situation.

Pay the Excitement Forward

You also have a responsibility for those who work for you and around you. Don’t be the type of leader who strips employees of their ability to enjoy their job – don’t make their job boring. Provide your own employees and team mates with a sense of ownership and freedom to innovate (without being told “that’s not how we’ve always done it”). Doing so really just takes following 4 simple rules:

  • Give clear expectations.
  • Assign responsibility and ask to see the final outcome – don’t hover along every step of the way – let them figure it out. The challenge is what makes work interesting.
  • Make yourself available to answer questions – but know when to say “that’s really your decision to make, not mine”.
  • Let go. Know that nothing will ever be done by someone else the same way that you would have done it. That doesn’t make it wrong, just different.

Have any other thoughts about boring jobs? Leave a comment below.

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Mindset

May 6, 2010 by Deborah Michele

I am really excited by the book I just finished. I’ve been on a non-fiction kick for a while now, and although it is usually a novel with a good story that sends me up to bed early for some reading, “Mindset – the Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck had me completely hooked.

The book discusses the two mindsets – fixed and growth – and has me constantly re-evaluating which category I fall into and watching people around me to assess how they approach life. It’s fascinating, and I feel a little like I’ve just pulled back the shroud covering the entrance to a hidden room – and there is a whole pile of gold in there. Yes – it’s that good.

Her basic premise is that some people have a fixed mindset and believe that intelligence and talent are fixed – meaning that you either have talent and intelligence of a certain level, or you don’t. And then there is the growth mindset people who realize that you can develop talent and intelligence through effort and eagerness to learning from the challenges you face.

The fixed mindset says that success is only due to being naturally good at something and that having to put forth effort to overcome a challenge, means that you aren’t successful at all. It’s a mentality of “be great or give up”. VS the growth mindset people who see that effort is what truly pays off and learning from challenges is success in and of itself.

I can say those things out loud and say “oh – yeah, I’m totally a growth mindset person”. But in reading the book, I realized that I am more fixed mindset than I would like to admit. It made me really start to reevaluate how I move through life.

First of all, I realized (to my dismay) that I really had always considered intelligence as being fixed (although I would never say the same thing about ability) until I learned more about the brain. Dweck explains that by using your brain, the neurons actually grow stronger and pass messages faster and more efficiently. Once she gave the scientific explanation, I totally changed my perspective. The harder you push your brain, the better it functions and your overall intelligence increases (not just your knowledge).

Another case where I thought that I was more in the growth mindset camp than maybe I really am, is related to taking risks and doing new things. Although I really like challenges because I love to learn from them, I also have this assumption that either I’m good at something or I’m not. And that just isn’t the case – because not everyone is born great – some people work their butts off to get there.

I don’t think that I’ve ever put focused effort on anything to get really great at it. I tend to be good at a lot of things, but never great at any one thing – maybe this is why.

The book has changed my perspective on so many things – including how to encourage my kid’s growth, how to work with my team, and how to push myself down a path to success. I wish I could buy a copy for everyone I know – it’s that good!

Read it for yourself and then come back here and tell me if it affected you the same way.

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SERIES – Productivity Tools: google docs

April 12, 2010 by Deborah Michele

Google pretty much blows me away. I spend a good deal of my day in google searching for things, reviewing several websites I manage via google analytics and webmaster tools, and of course in my gmail account. I’ll cover some of these tools in future posts, however for now I’m going to focus on google docs.

THE WHY

Google docs is really quite amazing in my opinion. It is web-based software which mimics the Microsoft Office Suite. For anyone who is a regular Office user and hasn’t yet tried google docs, you are probably wondering why you would bother with a web-based version of something you already have loaded on your computer – there are three main reasons that you shouldn’t pass this tool by so quickly:

1. Access

Because Google stores your documents on their servers, you can access them anywhere you have internet. You can borrow your brother’s computer and still get to your files – or just pull them up on your iphone. For those of us who travel frequently or  need easy access to work files from home, google docs is a great solution (the longer I can work without using remote access or VPN the happier I am).

2. Collaboration

This is really the key to why google docs are so useful. Once you create a file, you can share it with ANYONE. In fact, you can make it public domain to be viewed by anyone with a link to get there (hence you can utilize some of the functionality for simple forms on your website – more on that in a minute). You get to choose how you want the document to function and who you will give permission to view and edit it.

If you work within groups that are not based within the same office (or even if they are), it can be very frustrating to deal with documents as you have to email them back and forth and typically end up with multiple versions. Using a google doc allows you to share your document with another individual or a group and control the permissions as to who can edit and who can just view the document.

3. Browser settings

One of my favorite aspects of google docs being web-based is that I can set it up so that each time I open a browser, a tab opens with my most important documents. Because I add multiple “home pages” to my browser, I actually open 3 (or more) separate tabs each time I start the browser on my computer for the day. Because I have set my browser to automatically log me in to my google account, it auto-opens one of my files – which right now happens to be my goal worksheet. Everyday, I’m hit in the face with my goals and can’t ignore them or forget about them.

THE HOW TO

To utilize google docs you must first have a google account. It is important to note that a google account and a gmail account are not the same thing. You can actually have a google account utilizing any email address. Think of the google account as access to all of google’s tools – then you simply add in the tools you want to use.

To actually use google docs once you have created and logged in to your google account, click on “documents” (it’s across the top in a drop down menu of “more”).

Navigating to google documents from your igoogle account

You can create a new document or upload a document that you’ve already created. If you upload a file, it automatically converts it to the equivalent google doc (ie. excel files convert  to “spreadsheet”)

Once you have created your document, you can save it and share it. To share it, you just need to go back to the “documents” main page, check the box next to the file, and click the “share” button at the top. You have multiple different options for sharing. If you select to invite another user to view the document, you will then be able to use the advanced permissions to allow (or disallow) others to edit the document.

Setting the user permissions when sharing a google document

If you generate a web address (URL) for the file and make available to anyone, you also have the option to let others edit your document as well. Check out the sample google doc that I have made public as an example (you can’t edit it – I didn’t let you :)

One of the most useful aspects of google documents is that you are able to create a web form. I made a quick and easy form so that you can see how it works - click here to check it out now. I can see any responses that come through in spreadsheet form and can adjust the form at any time. You can even embed the form on your own site, which is a fast (and free) way to make a web form.

That’s just the beginning. In fact, I could probably go on and on about how to best use google docs to improve your productivity. But these are the basics to get you started. I’ll be putting together some more detailed information for you soon – stay tuned!

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A break in productivity

April 2, 2010 by Deborah Michele

Apparently I am not a well oiled machine.

I do not run at high efficiency speed 100% of the time without breaking down. In fact, I am inconsistent, have occasional moments when I get out of sorts completely and have to reset myself, and occasionally, I need to be turned off completely for full on repairs (aka… vacation).

So after a few weeks of maintenance (better known as laying on the beach), I’m back and turned on again.

The productivity tools series is coming – I just needed to regroup a little. Talk to you soon!

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