Presentation Review: Seth Godin's Linchpin Session

This is Part 2 of a 3 part series, wrapping up my thoughts about Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in NYC on Friday, January 15th.

On Friday, January 15th, I was lucky enough to join my wife (@weddingistas), Emily (@emilyspearl), Susan (@trueblindfaith), and David (@davidwakeman) for Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in New York City.  It was an amazing experience and I am so happy to have shared it with such great people. 

I'll break down his presentation into three parts so it can be more easily digested. 

The First 30 Minutes:
As long as you got there at the suggested time of 9:30am or prior, you were able to get a great seat.  We were about 7 rows back on the right side of the auditorium.  As we sat, we noticed a bunch of instruments set up directly in front of us on the far right of the stage.  To the entire audience's surprise (and ultimately delight), The Ebony Hillbillies, a bluegrass band, came out and played about 3 songs.  Especially since it was so early in the morning, this was an incredible way to start the day.  They got everyone clapping and dancing in their seats, energized and ready for Seth. 

Getting presentations going is like pushing a car - very hard to get going right off the bat.  This was a way to get the crowd excited and smiling so Seth could hit the ground running.  It was pure genius.

Seth's Presentation:
First, I can honestly tell you that I haven't a clue how long Seth spoke.  I never looked at the time.  I rarely ever looked away.  That's how engaging he was.

Second, I won't be explaining exactly what he spoke about.  I'll simply be outlining some parts of his presentation that I found interesting from a presentation skills and design perspective. 

Seth began his presentation standing beside a podium with the curtains closed behind him.  His wireless mic actually wasn't working - a bad thing when the auditorium was filled with about 500 people.  Instead of freaking out, Seth simply stated "It's not working?  Okay, well, it will be working in a minute."  He then began to project his voice as well as possible until the lavaliere mic was turned on/up after about 10 seconds.  Most presenters would focus on fixing the problem, but Seth just marched on.  Like a pro, he didn't let a little hiccup slow down his presentation. 

After about 10 minutes of speaking, Seth broke out the slides!  I was pretty excited because I thought he may not be using them.  I was also excited because I know how great Seth is at presentation design.  Even better, Seth dispels the myth that only people with artistic skills can create effective PowerPoint presentations (from what I could tell, Seth designed his slides using Keynote on his Mac).  Unfortunately, Seth asked that we not take any pictures.  I was able to snap one from my phone, but that was it.  They mostly consisted of images and minimal text.  Seth's slides were wildly effective and the creation of them took very basic design skills.  Of course, the ability to actually create the presentation from a framework and storyline perspective took immense skill.  I was greatly humbled.

The Number of Slides - Seth used a ton of slides.  Easily over 100.  I won't comment on whether or not this was the "right amount" because I'm a firm believer that there is no optimal number of slides.  It has everything to do with your presentation style, preparation time, dedication, and story.  Seth's choice of number of slides was right on, because you felt like you were watching a movie.  He moved briskly from slide-to-slide, never letting one get too stale.  I'm sure it's because I'm a presentation geek, but I couldn't wait for the next one.

Slide Design - As mentioned previously, from a technical perspective, Seth's slides were basic.  That's not a critique.  Merely a statement of fact.  While I'm not saying it hurts, being artistically gifted and well versed in the Adobe Creative Suite isn't a prerequisite for effective slide design.  Seth merely imported images and, while sparingly, used small amounts of text in large fonts. 

What was more impressive was Seth's choice of images.  I have seen thousands of photos on iStock.  So many that I can often pick out when a photo is from iStock.  Trust me, it's a lame skill and no fun at parties.  I recognized less than 3 iStock images in Seth's presentation.  This means Seth 1) knew what he wanted to represent on the slide and 2) took vast amounts of time and effort to seek out the perfect image.  I wish I knew what resources he used.  (Tip: I'm a big fan of Flickr instead of iStock)  Image searching is a tedious and frustrating endeavor.  One can often get caught up looking for the Unicorn (an image that doesn't really exist) and waste hours of precious time.  But it's also an endeavor that can be incredibly rewarding when you do happen upon a great image.  

Finally, Seth did a great job designing his slides to only slightly corresponded with his point.  In other words, you couldn't just look at his slide and know what he was about to say.  But once he explained his point, then came the "Ah Ha" moment (a.k.a. Oh, I get it now!).  Great presenters only give part of the information on the slide (most often sans-text), filling in the blanks with the words coming out of their mouth!  Thus, the presentation couldn't exist as a slide deck on its own.  Without the presenter, it's just a bunch of seemingly unrelated images.  The living, breathing presenter is the Star!  And with Seth's words the slides became a perfect visual backdrop. 

Concluding Seth's Presentation
Once it was over, Seth deservedly and graciously received a standing ovation from the packed auditorium.  He quickly jetted to the back where he sat and signed everyone's books (which were free to each person who bought a ticket) and/or posters (also free).  I realize it's standard business to sit and sign autographs after speaking about your book, but I still think it's a nice gesture.  Nothing creates evangelists better than personal connections.  I tried to avoid acting like a fanboy and simply told him the presentation was great and thanked him for commenting on my blog.    

So that's it?  It was perfect?
That's up for debate, but Seth definitely did a few things that many consider "taboo" in the presentation world.  I'll cover those in the final part of this 3 part series.  Stay tuned!!

Comments

[Dave Wakeman]

I definitely found the presentation fascinating and Seth's ability to capture your attention was amazing. It isn't often that you do lose yourself so completely in a business presentation.

Thanks again for having me.

It was a great time!

Dave

[Seth Godin]

thanks for coming! I used compfight to find many of the pictures (though I took a few), and everything was CC licensed...

glad you enjoyed the event.

[Jan Schultink]

Great review, sad I could not be there in person.

Your observation about a "movie effect" is spot on. Images flipping through at a high pace make the whole appearance almost look like a documentary. Seth is very good at it (I saw his Tribes presentation), but others might prefer a style that is more focussed on the presenter itself.

[Jonathan Thomas]

Dave,
It was my pleasure to have you. I'm glad to hear you had such a great time. Seems like we all did!

[Jonathan Thomas]

Seth,
You put on a great show. Of those I spoke with in attendance, they all loved it too.

Thanks for the compfight resource. I used it today for a presentation and it came in handy!

[Jonathan Thomas]

Jan,
Thanks for the comment. You definitely missed a great show! The great thing about presentations is that there are so many different ways to present in order to fit your style. This style fit Seth perfectly.

[Emily Cavalier]

Thanks again, Jon, for an amazing eexperience! And through Seth's comment, I learned about compfight and have started using it when I don't have my own photos for blogs.

You rock.