Category: Presentation Tips

Techniques for Effective Presentations

Presentation Tip 15: Are “Pitches” Different?

Guy Kawasaki believes most slide shows used as a “pitch” have too many slides, last too long and use too small a font.

His 10/20/30 rule is that a “pitch” (i.e., one designed to reach an agreement, like make a sale or raise capita) should have 10 slides, last no more than 20 minutes, and use no slide smaller than 30 points. He explains further:

  • Ten slides. Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting—and venture capitalists are very normal. (The only difference between you and venture capitalist is that he is getting paid to gamble with someone else’s money). If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t have a business.
  • Twenty minutes. You should complete discussion of your ten slides in twenty minutes. Sure, you have an hour time slot, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion.
  • Thirty-point font. The majority of the presentations that I see have text in a ten point font. As much text as possible is jammed into the slide, and then the presenter reads it. However, as soon as the audience figures out that you’re reading the text, it reads ahead of you because it can read faster than you can speak. The result is that you and the audience are out of synch.

There is some wisdom here. “Pitch” presentations have unique needs. It’s most effective if you make your points quickly, and Kawasaki’s recommendations are great for this purpose.

Just don’t let them be a Procrustean bed that prevents you from being more flexible when another approach would work better, as when teaching a complex CL topic, for example.

Presentation Tip 14 Slide Shows & Audience Expectations 

While slide shows like MS Powerpoint have their pros and cons, there is a risk in not having any slide show to help your audiences.

Stephanie Everett‘s Lawyerist article Lawyer Public Speaking & Teaching addresses this and related issues in her great short summary of the topic. It’s all worth reading, and these points are particularly relevant:

Audiences almost always expect a slideshow when they attend a presentation. Without it, they may think you forgot or were just too lazy to put one together. …

The slides should be the starting point for a conversation. This will help frame your topic and remind people where you are. …

The audience is there to hear you and not to read the entirety of your presentation from slides. Keep the information on the slides limited, and make sure you are the one giving the lesson, not the slides.

Finally, have a backup plan. Computers crash. Flash drives get corrupted. Your presentation may not work. That means you need to be ready to roll without the aid of a PowerPoint slideshow.

Presentation Tip 13: Online Presentation Microphones

As explained in Presentation Tip 12, the first step in online training is deciding on your level of ambition. What quality level do you need? What is your level of technical skill? How much time do you have?

Once you decide on your preferred quality level, you can decide what level of equipment you will need. We provided some advice on camera selection in Presentation Tip 12. Let’s consider microphone selection.

Which is more important for online presentations, video or audio?Most lawyers would say video is more important.

Dennis Kennedy knows better: Audio quality is more significant. The microphone in your typical desktop computer or laptop is usually pretty poor. Most computer purchasers prioritize things like processor speed, memory or display quality. It makes sense for them to cut corners on microphone quality.

Unfortunately, it’s harder to get good audio. Again, the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast provides a good starting point for analysis:

Microphone built into your laptop or desktop. Use this only if high quality is not important to you.

Headset with built-in microphone. These can be better than a laptop or desktop. Exercise some care in your selection. Mighell likes the Plantronics Voyager Focus UC.

Lavalier mic. These are generally comparable in quality to headsets. which then again allows you not to have great microphone technique, but will still pick

Stand alone microphone. The Kennedy-Mighell Report uses a Shure 58. Many other high quality mics are available.

More in our next Presentation Tips post.

Presentation Tip 12: Online Presentations Intro & Camera Selection

Everyone understands why online presentations have become more important than ever. This is the first in our series of online Presentation Tips. We invite you to travel along with us.

Selected Resources

Here are a few of the better resources we’ll be discussing:

  1. Top Tips & Tools for Better Online Presentations
  2. Video & Audio Quality Matter — Make Your Remote Work More Professional

The first order of business for online presentations is deciding on your level of ambition. Tom Mighell summaries the issue concisely at the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast:

So what do you want? Do you want a professional setup for talking to clients or colleagues? Do you want a more polished setup to record videos for YouTube or other services? I think the purpose that you have is going to determine the kind of setup that you have got. And I tend to agree with you, if you want something that’s more professional, more polished, if you tend to want to make more of what you are going to be doing with this, what you have likely is not going to work.

Video Quality

Dennis Kennedy‘s followup provides a perfect example for the ambition issue: Use the camera built into your laptop only if you don’t care about quality.

Cameras are typically not a primary consideration for laptop purchasers, so manufacturers tend to use very cheap cameras. What if you are more ambitious?

  • Cameras in smartphones or tablets provide an easy way to get a better result. This may seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense. Since camera quality is a discriminating factor behind mobile device purchases, manufacturers strive to provide higher quality cameras. Mighell observes: “I decided to use my iPad to attend a Microsoft Teams meeting and the quality difference in the camera was 1,000% better on the iPad.” A USA Today affiliate article has some advice.
  • Dedicated high-resolution web cameras are the next step up. Logitech is a reliable brand name. Mighell recommends the Logitech C930, but they are in short supply, and vendors recently have taken advantage of the market to bump up the price. A Google search will find one, or a model of comparable quality.
  • If you are striving for the highest quality, a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera may be your best choice. These are general purpose cameras that can be adapted for online use. They generally have the best quality. The downside is that they can be trickier to set up. Engadget has good advice on the ins and outs.

Microphone selection is similar: Choose the level that best matches your ambition level. More on microphone selection in our next Presentation Tip post.

Presentation Tip 11: The Humor Paradox

One of my professional friends had a major problem: A major cases of humor-impairment. Though bright and articulate he absolutely could not deliver a joke in front of an audience. 

This created a problem for him. He had to teach a class on fraud. I dug up a seventies-era photo of one of the subjects the most famous fraudsters of the 1960s–Texas wheeler-dealer Billie Sol Estes.  My friend accompanied this slide with a mildly sarcastic reference to the subject’s “leisure suit.”  It was a remarkably garish garment, even by the standards of the 70s.  Though this joke wasn’t exactly the peak of wit, my friend never failed to get a laugh using this photo as a prop.  Even better, knowing that his joke was a pretty much a guaranteed winner increased his confidence, making him more effective with the rest of the presentation. 

Why is effective humor a key to successful presentations? We’ll start with a question:

Which of these statements is correct?

  • Presenters should never tell a joke just to be telling a joke.
  • Nearly every presentation can be improved by using humor.

Though these statements may appear inconsistent at first glance, they are both correct. Humor is a great way of connecting with an audience—but it is usually a mistake to include a joke just so you will have a joke.

The difference is critical: If you tell a “joke,” and no one laughs, you look like a dummy, and worse, a dummy who just wasted everyone’s time.  By contrast, if your would-be “humorous” material advances the substantive point you want to make, it doesn’t matter if the joke falls flat.  You haven’t wasted anyone’s time.  You’ve still advanced the ball.

Distinguishing between “canned” humor and “organic” humor is a key to resolving the apparent inconsistency.  Canned humor is something artificial grafted onto your substantive ideas.  Organic humor flows from your substantive ideas and helps advance them.

Of course, getting a laugh is even better, and one of the little-understood truths is that organic humor does not have to be very funny to get a laugh.  Look for chances to introduce humor that naturally arises from your substantive material.  It the humor advances the substantive point you are trying to make, so much the better.

Graphics are an easy way for even the humor-impaired to add humor to a presentation.  Show the audience a picture that relates to your topic.  Sometimes the picture itself will be the “punch line.”  More often, you will deliver the punch line orally.

A beauty of the organic humor approach is that even if no one had laughed, it would not be a problem.  The speaker had not gone “off topic” in a time-wasting unsuccessful attempt to get a laugh.

Want to know more about the use of humor in presentations? “Humor Consultant” Harold Kushner’s book Successful Presentations for Dummies remains the best reference I know on this topic.

Presentation Tip 10: Cuomo & Powerpoint

Andrew Cuomo is having a moment. The New York governor is attracting tremendous attention for his COVID-19 briefings, which are typically telecast live by national networks. 

Cuomo’s approach contrasts favorably with President Trump’s typical briefing approach. Cuomo has many strengths as a presenter, including his understanding of MS Powerpoint.

The text and links in a recent Fast Company article demonstrate why Cuomo’s presentations have touched a nerve.

“We can’t be stupid” was the blunt message to a key demographic that was not complying with quarantine recommendations from the deck that ran alongside New York a recent Cuomo briefing:

Effective use of PowerPoint will be a key theme of this Presentation Tips series. The potential benefits of slide shows like those created in MS Powerpoint are consistently underrated. We will be using Cuomo as an example in a number of posts, but for the time being will only quote a section of a Business Insider article that explains some of the Cuomo-style slide show benefits:

Cuomo’s PowerPoints read like an iPhone notes app list of everything he woke up worrying about in the middle of the night. It’s the text a dad sends with his assorted list of worries. They convey a sense of authenticity, of someone who is sharing his thought process (often bluntly and in ALL CAPS) in real time. Much like how a comedy PowerPoint gives you a peek into the thought process of a comedian, Cuomo’s PowerPoints seem like his a projection of his id: They’re from a loud, bullet-pointed heart.

Much more on this topic later, but the key point for now is:

Slide Shows can have enormous benefits–for those who know how to use them.

Presentation Tip 9: Lightning Talks

Are you tired of speakers who drone on and on? Maybe a compressed format would be right for you. Compressed presentation formats known as lightening talks can provide a welcome alternative.

  • Pecha Kucha (Japanese for “chit chat”) is known as the 20×20 format. Each presenter shows 20 images, each for 20 seconds.
  • Ignite gives each speaker gets 5 minutes and must use 20 slides with each slide advancing automatically after 15 seconds. This forces speakers to get the point quickly. 

These formats are constraining but so the rules for sonnets. Lightening talks may be just right for your next conference.

Any of these formats require more preparation than a conventional speech. Olivia Mitchell has some advice on preparing an Ignite presentation.

Presentation Tip 9: Benefits of Using Question Forms

One of my favorite presentation techniques is using forms for audience members to ask questions. Left to my own devices, I would never have realized the value of this technique, but having seen it used very effectively in several CLE programs I did for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, I became a believer. I now use the technique for the reasons PBI used it, and have found multiple other benefits. A sample question form appears at left.

The PBI programs I did drew large audiences, many of whom were eager to ask questions. PBI staff circulated among the audience collecting the forms and delivered them to the panel moderator. While one panelist was answering a question, the other panelists, led by the moderator, would quickly study other written questions, decide which ones had the most intructional value, who would address them, and prepare their answers.  

 Why Use Forms?

Rambling, disjointed answers are one of the most annoying presentation flaws. The use of question forms facilitates large improvements:

Giving panelists time to think about their answers and decide which panelist(s) could answer most effectively results in enormously more concise and useful answers.

This was only the beginning of the benefits, however. Audience members sometimes use questions not to seek knowledge, but to advance personal agendas. The use of question forms gives the speaker or moderator (if a panel) better control over the situation. If there is not enough time to answer all questions, those questions motivated by personal agendas get the lowest priority.

There are many other benefits to using question forms. It’s more democratic, as the audience members with the most instructive questions may not be the most assertive in getting the moderator’s attention. Experience over a decade using this technique has convinced me that written questions tend to be more thoughtful than spoken questions. 

Especially where I will be teaching similar classes in the future, I find it invaluable to keep a record of the audience’s concerns. The questions frequently stimulate my thinking on the topic, causing me to add modules to future training programs or use the ideas in other ways.  Many of the best ideas I’ve used in writing books and magazine articles were prompted by questions asked during various seminars.

Optional or Mandatory?

Should you answer only questions submitted on written forms? In large groups or where there is heavy audience interest in the topic, this may be the best way.

Post-Presentation Questions

Some speakers might like audience question forms because they enable the speaker to avoid unwelcome subjects. In some situations, this might be appropriate, but it’s not the way I use question forms.  I normally volunteer to take additional questions from the floor as well. I also usually tell the audience that I will distribute answers to all remaining unanswered questions after the conference. I answer all the questions, but in a way that gives me better control. 

Of course, the best way to answer post-conference questions is via a website or blog that you control and want to expose to audiences. This is called “killing two birds with one stone.”

Presentation Tip 8: How Bad is PowerPoint?

Bashing Powerpoint is nothing new. Yale professor Edward Tufte devoted a pamphlet setting out his gripes. Tufte even cites it as a key factor in the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.

Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint from Amazon meetings.

Peter Norvig’s mocking vision of the Gettysburg Address translated into a slide show is hilarious.

Others believe it “may be the worst business tool ever created.”

These criticisms are close enough to sting, but the truth is more complicated. Strong presenters tend to use Powerpoint effectively. The difference between effective users and the typical poor users is less technical knowledge and more basic presentation skills. If you take slide shows away from poor speakers they will typically be even worse.

We’ll be looking this issue more closely in our Presentation Tips series, but for now, we’ll only make one point:

Powerpoint can be a fantastic tool–if you know how to use it.

Presentation Tip Number 7: Should You Have Handouts?

A simple question deserves a simple answer:

YES, nearly always.

There are many reasons for this.  The simplest is that at least a few audience members, perhaps many, will consider the failure to provide some written accompaniment to be evidence of apathy and/or laziness.  Apathetic slacker is not the image most of us want to project.

However, handouts are not merely an appearance issue.  Well-done handouts enhance audience understanding and increase the chance they will retain your message.  They are also a basic courtesy for the audience, freeing them from the frantic scramble to write down every important thing you say.  (You will be saying important things, right?).

Excuses for Lack of Handouts

Excuse 1: I want the audience to be paying attention to me while I’m speaking, not a handout.

I call this the narcissist excuse.  Few presenters are capable of constructing such enthralling handouts, but even if you are one of this talented group, is it really so bad if people learn the material from your handout instead of your eloquent voice? 

In any event, if you think your handouts are really that extraordinary, why not distribute them after your talk, instead of at the beginning?  If you take this approach, be sure to let the audience know at the beginning of your remarks, so they won’t feel a need to take duplicative notes.

Excuse 2: Handouts will dilute the value of my jokes or other surprises. 

This excuse has a silver lining of sorts: At least the presenter is trying to keep the audience engaged and believes their material is good enough to deserve protection.

However, in this situation it is possible to have the best of both worlds:

Again, there’s no law against distributing your handouts at the end of your talk.  Be sure to alert the audience when you begin speaking that you will have handouts, so they don’t feel obligated to write down every word you say.

Another approach is to distribute an edited version of the material at the beginning. Good slideshow software facilitates preparing a redacted version of your remarks.  You can create a separate version of your slide show that omits the surprise-killing slides.  This still requires a little extra work, but it’s worth it if you have high quality jokes or other surprises.

Excuse 3: Distributing handouts will make the audience remember the presentation better, so I can’t use the same material next year.

Wow!  This is my absolute favorite excuse.  There’s so much wrong with it that I don’t know where to start. 

Isn’t helping the audience remember what you are saying the whole point?  This excuse tacitly admits that handouts increase audience retention of the material.  Isn’t that’s a good thing, instead of a bad thing?

Audiences receiving compliance-oriented training should not have to suffer the same canned presentations every year.  This approach is no more attractive by delivering the material in a quasi-stealth manner, withholding handouts that might help the audiences remember the material. 

A key objective of this series of Presention Tips is to empower presenters so that coming up with fresh, engaging material each year does not seem like an overwhelming challenge.  We will be distributing our ideas in future columns, and we solicit your suggestions in the Comments section below.