We had a
pleasure to meet Peter Taylor, the author of “The Lazy Project Manager”, during
the PMI Gdansk Branch seminar on the evening of 31st
of January, 2013 where he advised on “great presentations”. The recording
of his presentation can be found here and below I would like to share some take
aways.
Open on a high & finish on high– start and finish your presentation
with a story.
Peter
started with a funny story on shreddies – just a shreddies, diamond shreddies
and a combo pack with both. The conclusion: it’s all about the presentation –
who you present to makes a difference.
Getting the
audience's attention right from the beginning is essential. Remember first 10
minutes window is the first point of opportunity to lose your audience.
The Audience.
You can
have 4 types of listeners:
• “Fans” want your success
• “Entertain me” – they can leave the interest
quickly and move to “neutral”
• “Neutral” – they don’t have an opinion
• “Left the building” – not focused on your presentation,
you lost them
The Purpose: convince, educate, motivate ....
Keep it
simple, but have a structure. Peter shared a story from his wedding where he
needed to present and was not very good at presenting. He bought a lottery
ticket for all important people – “top table” with the same numbers: 1, 7, 15, 21,
30, & 40.
1 because it was first day of our
life ticket
7 because it was July
15 because it was 15th of
July
21 because there were 2 bridesmaids and
1 page boy
30 because he knows his best friend
for 30 years
40 because both parents were about
to celebrate the 40th anniversary
The Content
If you talk about something you know
well rehearse to control your time.
If you do not know the subject well rehearse
or invite people who know more to support you.
Time
It’s not
the volume but the message that counts. Do
not waste people’s time
The Tools
Be clever!
Do not overuse graphs, moving objects, data etc.
The Style – it’s a lot about you.
Present key
facts and use rather pictures than words. Our brain is far more capable to take
visional images! Keep an eye contact with your audience!
The Practionalities – 3 Ps:
Prepare - Practice and practice again. A well rehearsed presentation will keep your
audiences attention.
Present – the
smallest part!
Profit – you
will gain something: learn, engage, keep connected….
The Risk
Be prepared for anything:
-
Have
an usb stick with your presentation
-
Don't
rely on an internet connection
-
Check
your desktop
-
Be
prepare to shorten your presentation – recognize the needs of your audience and
adjust
Break the Rules – my favourite one!
- 6:6:1 rule (6 bullets /6 words/1 idea on one slide)
- Agenda (tell what are you going to tell, then tell
and then tell what you have told) -
ridicules!
- Thank the audience!
The Hates – there are a lot of them and a few below:
-
Reading
the slides
-
Flat
voice
-
Ppt
presentation
-
Non
interactive presentation
-
Agenda
– especially if you have 10 points and manage to cover 2
-
Time
management - no one will mind if you finish early but they will hate you if you
go on for too long
- Sitting or
standing in one place while presenting
Q&A
You need to
control your audience. Sometimes you will have people who won't accept an
answer. Don't battle with them, your audience isn't interested, instead ask
them to talk to you afterwards.
With 41 slides, 121 words, 3 words per
slide and 61 images Peter managed to keep the audience awaken for one hour.
Well done! That was a great Presentation on Presentations! The summary of the 31st
event can be found on PMI
website.
Break the rules and have fun with
your next presentation!
No comments:
Post a Comment