Presentation Advisors Blog

Social Media for Business Takes Third in World's Best Presentation Contest

I'm quite happy to inform all of you that my presentation, Social Media for Business, was awarded third place overall in SlideShare.net's World's Best Presentation Contest!

In its seventh year, SlideShare.net's World's Best Presentation Contest fielded 1,822 entries in five categories.  First, second, and third place overall were awarded, as well as six individual category winners.

A big congrats to Empowered Presentations, located in the state of my honeymoon (Hawaii), for their incredible presentation, SMOKE - A Convenient Truth.  It was without a doubt worthy of first place.

I especially want to thank each and every one of you that voted for me, ReTweeted me, and supported me thorughout this contest.  I was overwhelmed by how supportive, helpful, and simply awesome my readers, colleagues, family and friends are.

Take a look at the full list of 2010 winners.

If you haven't seen it already, you can view my entry below:

Social Media for Business

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Gap Free Jeans Promotion - Successfully Confusing

Did anyone get free jeans recently by taking advantage of Gap's Facebook Deal?  I did, and naturally I look fantastic in them, however thousands were left confused and pantless by the promotion.

Find out what caused the confusion in a recent post I wrote over at the Post Advertising blog...

Also, if you haven't heard, there is a premier presentation conference, aptly called The Hook Conference taking place next March in the Music City, Nashville, TN.  I'm going to be covering it in more depth quite soon, but you can learn more about the Hook Conference here.

My First Entry into the World's Best Presentation Contest - Please Vote

Author Note: As of this morning (Monday, October 18th) my Social Media for Business presentation is featured as one of the Top 3 Presentations of the Day on the SlideShare.net homepage!

Over the weekend I published my first entry to the 2010 World’s Best Presentation Contest, hosted by SlideShare.net. This is the first year I’ve entered, and I’m excited to show you what I’ve got and how I got there.

I plan to enter another presentation, but that one I’m going to keep under wraps for now.  I fear if I tell you too much, you might pass out from excitement. [roll eyes here]

For my first entry, I created a presentation that gives a high-level overview of what the emergence of social media means and how businesses can get started. I also included some real world examples of companies doing it right and a few cool stats about the most powerful tools out there.

I’ve embedded the presentation below, but I’d be SUPER APPRECIATIVE if you visited my SlideShare page and, if you like it, voted it up (free membership necessary) by clicking on the thumbs up button. The judges will only vote on the Top Voted presentations, and I’m hoping to be one of them.  You can vote up as many presentations as you'd like.

We’ll take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this presentation after the jump.

Social Media for Business

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Framework:
I rarely use anything that resembles a template. I simply think they’re too restrictive and serve an unnecessary purpose – to feature a company’s branding. If you need to put your logo, website, and tagline on every slide to remind the audience who they’re talking to, then you have bigger problems.

Color Palette:
I chose to use a brown/orange/white color scheme, with brown as the default slide background color and orange/white as the default text colors. I seem to be a fan of orange. Just look around my blog. Both brown and orange are underutilized in my opinion, and I love when presentations go against the norm. They become more unique and memorable, and that starts with the color palette.

Icons:
I used two different sets of icons, the first being the hand-drawn icons on the title page and the second being the white icons on slides 35/36. The hand-drawn icons can be downloaded for free here, and the white icons can be downloaded for free here.  I love how unique the hand-drawn icons are, and the white icons are smooth and help add clarity to the slides explaining hub vs. spoke.

Fonts:
If you read my blog often, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of using non-standard fonts. The default font for the presentation is American Typewriter, which I believe is a Mac-only font (not 100% sure). It comes standard with PowerPoint for Mac 2008, but I don't see it used very often. The secondary, handwritten font is Handwriting-Dakota. Neither font will show up in SlideShare. To ensure the fonts transferred correctly, I saved the document as a PDF (Print > PDF > Save as PDF) before uploading it to SlideShare.

Images:
Using my favorite new site, Compfight.com, I found nearly all of my images on Flickr. Compfight is a Flickr search engine (better than the engine within Flickr) that can search text or tags while filtering for different copyright levels. This way I could search for photos that only offer Creative Commons copyrights. Other images not found on Flickr were purchased on iStockPhoto.com.

As many images as possible were used full-bleed, which means they extent to all four corners of the slide. Imagery is extremely powerful in aiding recall, but make sure you choose images that accurately convey the theme of the slide. I originally had a cool image of a blue door with keys in it for my “Transparency” slide, with the idea that the keys are unlocking the door. However, after having a few people review the presentation, common feedback was that they perceived the image as a locked door – completely opposite of what I wanted to convey. Since audience perception is reality, I went back to the drawing board to find a more appropriate image. That’s where I found the clear bottle, which both conveyed transparency and also fit my color palette – even better!

Length:
My topic was so broad that it would be impossible for me to cross every bridge necessary. A book could be written about the idea that social media is not new – it’s been around forever and only the tools have changed. I tried to create a presentation that was both useful, relevant, and could be consumed fairly quickly. If it were to be presented in person, there would be about 25% less slides. Which brings me to the text...

Text:
Because this presentation needed to live and convey all the necessary information on its own, I had to add more text than I normally would. This is particularly noticeable on the full bleed image slides, where you first see the one or two words that convey the meaining of the slide, but a second, handwritten sentence shows up to expand on the main idea. This second sentence wouldn’t show up in a live presentation. The presenter would provide this information in order to expand on the main educational point of the slide.

I hope you like it. It’s a pretty good representation of how I try to use effective design to entertain the audience and complement the information the presenter is conveying. I will certainly let you know when my second entry has been submitted.

Again - it would mean a lot to me if you voted up my presentation.  If you do, send me an email at Jon {at} PresentationAdvisors {dot} com so I can personally thank you for your support.

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Scott Stratten Proves PowerPoint is Not a Presentation Prerequisite

Photo courtesy of Sean Zinsmeister

Recently I had the priviledge of sitting in on a talk by Mr. UnMarketing himself, Scott Stratten, hosted by the Connecticut chapter of the American Marketing Association.  If you don't know him, you should - he's kind of a big deal on Twitter.  I drove through rain and crazy amounts of traffic for two hours (each way) just for the opportunity to hear him talk about his new book, aptly titled UnMarketing (seriously...I didn't do it just for the iPad raffle and free drink ticket, I swear).  I'll have a review of the book up very soon, along with a free UnMarketing book to give away so keep an eye out.

The Audience Conference 2010 - Social Media, Comedy, and Relationships

Over the weekend I attended The Audience Conference at historic Caroline's on Broadway in the heart of Times Square, NYC.  The conference was to be a blend of social media and comedy, and their similar relationships with content, audience, and the like.  Only a 60-minute train ride and an affordable $100 price tag, I couldn't pass it up. 

Overview:
Via the suggestion and rave-review by C.C. Chapman, I signed up only minutes after learning about this conference.  I was particularly intrigued by the fact that there was NO Tweeting, live-blogging, or connectivity of any kind.  I saw a few people using their iPhones to take notes, but otherwise we were disconnected from our technology.  My iPhone didn't get any service so I had no choice.  I'd have to admit - I felt far more focused and connected (in a non-digital way) with the speaker and my fellow audience members.  I wasn't racing to Tweet out the latest speaker soundbyte and staring at the hashtag column instead of at the speaker.  There is definitely value in spreading presentation content virally, but I thought this was a unique selling point for the conference and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere (and table-service).

Content:
The day started at 10am and was split into two parts: the morning containing "Tech" speakers and the afternoon containing comedians (apart from a sit down interview between host Loren Feldman and Jason Calacanis).  I won't go into depth as to what content they offered, but every talk was different and interesting, and the comedians actually performed their comedy sets and gave some rare insight into their craft during the Q&A sessions afterwords.  Their jokes are content, just like our blog posts, and they A/B test just like Marketers do.  They also, like Marketers, have to know who their audience is, pay attention to their wants/needs, react when expectations aren't met, and connect with them.  All of the comedians brought an honest piece of their lives into their sets, reminding us all of the importance of transparency and storytelling. 

Speakers:
For such an affordable conference and limited amount of tech-related speakers, this conference had an impressive lineup.  Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Chris Pearson (founder of Thesis), and host Loren Feldman from 1938 media.  They certainly didn't disappoint and because of the small venue, all of them were easily approachable which is why a conference like this is so rare.  Instead of swooping in and out, all of the speakers were there for the conference in its entirety. 

As for the comedians, they were all really funny and all had totally different styles but each of them echoed the same sentiment - quality content is king, always be testing and revising, and you have to know and understand your audience.  It made me think about the vast differences in blog topics and writing styles.  Whether you're a food blog or a sports blog, quality content wins and without an audience you're just talking to yourself (so don't ignore them). 

My favorite comedian was Harrison Grennbaum.  He had a fantastic delivery, a welcoming persona, a myriad of joke styles and even finished with an unbelievable magic trick.  Check him out on YouTube. 

Venue
As C.C. Chapman put it so eloquently when I spoke with him briefly, "This is a hidden-gem of a conference."  The venue is quite small, and looked to seat maybe a hundred or so comfortably (although I'm sure they fit 200+ uncomfortably).  This made for a very intimate and connected conference, where you felt like an active participant rather than a passive crowd member.  No matter where you sat, the speaker was no more than a shout away and your question would always go answered.  The food was fantastic compared to more expensive conferences that provide just a box lunch.  I had some fantastic mini-wraps and potato salad for lunch and drinking was encouraged once the comedians took the stage.  I'm sure that resonates with many of you.

I fully expect next year's Audience Conference to outgrown the capacity of Caroline's.  Everyone I spoke to or overheard were raving about the conference, which means word of mouth alone will generate tons of awareness. 

The Presentation Blogger's Thoughts:
Putting away my marketing/social media hat and putting on my presentation hat for just a minute, this was an interesting setting.  No slides or PowerPoint or visuals of any kind.  Just a speaker, a smaller-than-you'd-think stage, and blinding stage-lights.  I have no problem that there weren't any visuals.  Many speakers can tell engaging stories just by their lonesome on stage. 

Lacking visuals, particularly slides, has some inherent positives (usually the fodder anti-PowerPointers use to argue against its use).  Without slides there was nothing the speakers could use as a crutch.  If they stepped on that stage, they needed to know their stuff and as a whole, they did.  I only saw one slightly unsettling technique, which was when one speaker used his iPhone as his notes.  I have no problem with using notes, but I would suggest having a simple small notecard he could have placed on the stool and glanced down at every once in a while.  Instead he held his iPhone and brought it quite close to his face to read what was next.  His content was great and he seemed like a super-smart guy, but I couldn't help but feel a disconnect when he'd look down at his iPhone.    

The Concept of Audience:
A presenter's audience is so important.  Of course without an audience, you don't have much of a presentation.  That's what makes me so crazy when I see poorly prepared presenters with sloppy visuals they use as a crutch.  It's so insulting to the audience - the people sacrificing their own time (and sometimes money) to listen to the presenter.  You're not only doing a disservice to yourself, since whatever your story is will go unheard because of the "noise" created by poor visuals and delivery, but you're wasting the audience's time as well. 

As presenters, writers, marketers, you have to love your audience.  If you ask ANY of the social media influencers out there (you know, the ones that worked hard for years to become an "overnight success"), they'll all tell you stories about how much they care and have cared about their audience.  They created high-quality and valuable content that they were passionate about.  They responded to every comment.  They found where their audience lived (in online terms) and engaged with them.  They attended conferences and shook lots of hands and actually listened to the people they met.

There was no better example of this than at the very end of the conference when I approached Scott Stratten of UnMarketing fame.  Scott is a sought-after consultant, speaker, author, and nothing less than a social media influencer.  Scott used the valuable relationships he's built over the years to leverage Twitter and raise just under $30,000 for Tanner (his goal was $25,000), a special young man whose story pulled on Scott's heartstrings.  Oh, did I mention he did this in ONE DAY?!  Yes, just one-day.  How's that for ROI of Social Media?

I wanted to compliment Scott on his amazing work for Tanner's cause.  I don't know about any of you, but I get a little nervous when I approach speakers and "influencers" at conferences.  I just feel like they get approached every two seconds and all anyone wants to do is pitch their business.  I was afraid he'd presume the same about me.  I'm probably wrong about that because when I pulled Scott aside, he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.  We talked about Tanner, social media, relationships, audiences, the conference, and much more.  I promised myself not to take up too much of his time (get in, get out), but Scott was so genuine and cool that we talked for at least 20 minutes.  I'm just one of MANY "audience members" he has (over 60k followers) but he treated me like we were long-time friends and I can only assume he treats everyone like that.  Now he's turned a follower into an evangelist.  I've already pre-ordered his book, but if you haven't click here to order, available September 7th.  

Conclusion:
After reading this I'm sure you're not surprised that I highly recommend this conference.  I don't know what to expect for next year as far as ticket-price, venue, and attendee growth, but if it stays similar to this year's, it's a must-go.  The only other conference with this much value for the dollar is the 140 Conference.  I will no doubt have fond memories of the conversations I had, people I met, valuable information I learned, and the brownies (which were to die for). 

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Image courtesy of Today Is A Good Day on Flickr

Presentation Tips and Takeaways from Social Media Plus Summit

I just finished my last session at the Social Media Plus Conference in Philly.  I was excited to attend because there were a number of presenters whose blogs and twitter ID's I follow and wanted to meet face-to-face.  You can see my conference related tweets on my Twitter feed with the hashtag #SMPlus.  It was my first wholehearted attempt at live-tweeting at a conference. 

These conferences give me the opportunity to see a bunch of smart people present about topics (I think) they're passionate about.  Unfortunately for them, I can't watch a presentation without my presentation designer's eye.  It's the same reason I won't play in a backyard volleyball game.  If you've played volleyball for 15 years like I have, you know what I mean. 

I was pleasantly surprised with the caliber of presentations.  Not only from the content perspective, which is generally good at conferences that cost hundreds of dollars, but by the presentation design and delivery.  I blogged about the Search Engine Strategy Conference presentations a few months back and I'd say that these were better, especially for a smaller conference.  Now, the content at SES was higher level, but that's neither here nor there.

Instead of walking you through the presentations I thought were great, I'm going to simply list the things they did well and a couple pitfalls a few presenters fell into. 

• Leave the confines of the podium/stage and engage the audience
  I was pleasantly surprised when Frank Eliason, aka @ComcastCares (who I was excited to see present), immediately left the podium, walked off the stage and stood in the middle aisle amongst all the audience members.  He told us "I don't do presentations...I don't do "decks"...I have conversations."  Fantastic.  I've said before that while I believe PowerPoints can help enhance your message in certain situations, they aren't necessary for a successful presentation.  Jason Falls also made his way from side to side on the stage to make sure he made eye contact with audience members on all sides of the room (a much bigger room than Frank presented in). 
  
  
  Frank Eliason presenting from within the crowd
  


• Use big, high resolution images
  A number of presenters including Rohit Bhargava, Jason Falls, and Bill Lublin used big images and very little text on their screen (although I tweeted that Bill could have lost the unnecessary template which only added noise).  Naturally I found all three of these presentations very interesting and engaging.  Not simply because I enjoyed the content matter or because I'm a presentation designer.  They were interesting and engaging because my attention was nearly always on the presenter and their images reinforced their messages so I understood their points better.  I usually only see one or two presenters in an entire conference use the "big image, few text" style of presentation design, so I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 in one day.


• Be interesting and even a little funny
  Trust me - I'm the first one to tell you that being an interesting and funny person isn't something you can just "wish" upon yourself.  If it were I'd have a gaggle of girls sitting beside me right now, laughing at all my jokes.  I found Frank Eliason, Jason Falls, and Bill Lublin all to be extremely engaging and at least made an effort to keep insert some humor into the presentation (it can't always be work, work, work, right?).  Naturally, not every joke worked, but that's okay.  Even when I didn't think the joke was all that funny, I appreciated the effort.  When a presenter is on stage presenting content that they don't even seem interested in or find enjoyable in any way, it's utter agony for the audience.  Perception is reality when it comes to presenting.  If you seem like you're having fun up there, the audience will have fun too.  Jason seemed like he was having a great time and I'd give him the award for best presentation of the day.  He offered great content and let his personality shine through.


• Always think about your audience - Would you want to see that??
  I did sit in on a few forgettable sessions and the Twitter feed confirmed I wasn't the only one who felt that way.  While the presenters will remain nameless, a few designed their presentation in the "old way".  They used long lists of bullet points, slides cluttered with text and small images all over the place, and font so small that I guarantee only 10 percent of the audience could even read.  If they were in the audience instead of presenting, would they want to see these slides?  In those sessions I found myself starting to multi-task.  I was catching up on work emails, news, and other sorts.  It's a shame because I was excited for the content that these particular sessions promised to provide.  Maybe they did provide it, but I doubt many people retained any of it.  Their poor presentation design and lack of concern for their audience's well being as students eager to learn left a bad taste in many audience members' mouths.  

If you're looking for a business-to-business social media conference and you're new to the space, I'd recommend it.  I think they have a good thing going if they offer the caliber of presenters next year that they did this year.  However, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Conferences that team up with a presentation designer (i.e. TED and Duarte, although not formally) to help create effective PowerPoint presentations will have much happier audience members at the end of the day.

My View from the Audience: The 140 Characters Conference in NYC

Last week I attended the 140 Character Conference at the 92nd St. Y in New York.  It was a fantastic two days spent learning and connecting with some of the brightest people utilizing social media today. 

First thing's first - Jeff Pulver did an amazing job gathering so much talent from around the world to speak in two days for a startling low price (I paid $100).  Most conferences charge in the thousands of dollars.   I was always waiting for the "catch" and it never came.  That resulted in me paying about $0.50 per speaker.  How's that for value?

The conference was unlike any other I had attended, both in experience and style.  As someone involved in the presentation world I was intrigued by the approach Jeff took.  While most conferences offer one or two hour sessions in various meeting rooms, the 140 conference is held in one theater with talks ranging in length from 5 to 20 minutes.  It was Jeff’s intention to provide a platform for as many people as possible to share their thoughts and engage in conversation with the attending delegates, and I think that is a great idea.

I found that this style of conference had both advantages and drawbacks.

Advantages:

• Forced presenters to get to the point quickly and narrow their scope
• Presenters could ensure that they're giving their best stuff, turning an average 20 minute presentation into a fantastic 5 minute presentation.
• If you weren't interested in the topic, you knew you'd only have to wait 20 minutes at most until there was a new topic.
• Allowed a wide-ranging set of speakers (170+) to address niche topics like the social media effects on elections, comics, and online dating.
• Changing the input often keeps the audience engaged.

Disadvantages:

• If you were interested in a topic (like Gary Vaynerchuk's Q&A session), it was over in the blink of an eye.
• The speaker talent and presentation quality is a little watered down, but that's inevitable when you compare a conference with 40 speakers to over 170.
• Difficult to get more than a few questions from the audience, if any at all.
• Instead of using restraint, presenters try to squish twice as much content in half the time.
• You're bound to step out on one or two presentations and come back to hear people raving about it (although they're all available free on UStream)

Most presentations didn't use PowerPoint (and that's okay).  I couldn't figure out if the speakers were encouraged/required not to use PowerPoint.  Some speakers claimed that it was a "PowerPoint Free Zone", while others displayed some atrocious slides that wouldn't have been approved by even a PowerPoint newbie.  Jeff never explained the approach to visuals and I was left feeling very confused.  Naturally, had Jeff partnered with a presentation designer to offer his speakers professionally designed presentations at a fraction of the price (due to volume of customers), many more presentations would have been home runs instead of causing stampedes for the door when the bullet-points went flying.

[Aside: People often believe that because I design presentations that I believe PowerPoint should be used in EVERY occasion.  On the contrary, I believe it only suits particular occasions, and other visual tools like video, easels, props, and even just the spoken word can be more effective at times.  It all depends on the situation.]

My Take on the 140 Characters Conference Presentations

What would a Presentation Advisors conference review be without nitpicking at the presentations?  While this will undoubtedly seem over-critical, it is my ultimate goal not to prove my presentation prowess but to teach you, my most awesome reader, some important takeaways so you (and I) don't make the same mistakes.  This is important because in this case I was an audience member, not just a presentation coach trying to help a client improve.  The transmittal of information from the presenter to me was important, as well as the attempt to engage me and keep my attention.  

• Tip #1: Don't Read
  I saw a few speakers and panelists reading from a sheet of paper.  I realize that they were (probably) encouraged not to use PowerPoint, but that doesn't give them the right to read to me, a grown man with pretty good reading skills.  It's insincere and a definite no-no, especially considering they only had to fill a few minutes of content.  It's not a speech, it's a presentation and a conversation.  Take a few hours out of a few days and master your content before you present it.


• Tip #2: Don't Videotape Yourself...While You're On Stage
  This was utterly amazing.  One panelist brought a video camera on stage and never stopped videotaping - even when he was answering a question.  I realize this was a conference filled with "tech-geeks", myself being one of them, but why are you videotaping me??  I'm in the audience!  It's a great honor to speak at a conference like that and I realize this person wanted to remember it, but it was being recorded by a professional camera crew.  I don't think you need your flipcam for the first-person view.  It was very distracting, impersonal, and generally weird.  (It still ended up being one of the more interesting topics and discussions in spite of this)


• Tip #3: Always Plan to End Early
  The time constraints (which were strictly enforced and for good reason) made it very difficult for the presenters to finish on time.  A number of them claimed they were going to "fit a 20 minute talk into 10 minutes" or something of the like.  Instead, how about you take your 20 minute talk, use some restraint, and create a 9 minute presentation?  If you want to answer questions, cut it down to 6.5.  Reason being - you never actually end early, or even on time.  You HAVE to create a buffer to ensure that you end on time and leave time for questions if necessary.  Too many presenters mistimed their presentations and were rushing through their slides to get to the end.  Not only that, but they obviously left no time for questions.


• Tip #4: If You are the Host or MC, Give the Presenter Space
  This was another weird one.  I didn't meet Jeff personally but I'm sure he is a wonderful guy.  Unfortunately, Jeff had a tendency to "creep" on the side of the stage.  He would introduce a speaker and instead of walking off stage, he would stand to the side of the stage in plain view of the audience.  Not only that, but the podium that most presenters spoke from was about 5 feet from the side of the stage, so they could probably feel him breathing and no doubt could see him out of the corner of his eye.  After a few minutes he would retreat backstage but before the end would come creeping out again.  It's hard enough presenting to hundreds of attendees and thousands of Ustream viewers.  I couldn't imagine doing that and having to see someone on the stage with me out of the corner of my eye while I'm trying to present.  Ultimately it was distracting to the presenter and distracting to the audience.  At one point as Jeff started to creep on stage, David Carr of the NY Times said, "Back up Jeff - you're sweatin' me a little bit."  (See it here at the 9:25 mark).


• Tip #5: Don't Disregard the Technical Aspects
  I was amazed at how great the technical team was at the 140 conference.  As someone who worked as a tech for a number of years, I know how difficult it is to put on a conference like this with so much multimedia and sound without one major problem.  They were put to the test with presenters wanting to switch laptops, play video, switch browser tabs, and use every type of microphone imaginable, all with extremely strict time sensitivity.  There was no time for mistakes.  If you need 5 minutes to get a laptop to recognize a projector, it's not a small setback - that could be the entirety of someone's talk.  When it goes perfectly, nobody notices they're there (the tech guys).  But when there's a problem, all eyes are on them. 
  
  If you are using technology during your presentation, which is nearly all presentations nowadays, make sure you arrive early to set up and make sure you're prepared.  Bring your presentation in multiple formats (USB key, CD, email it to yourself at multiple email addresses, etc). Don't take any chances.

In case you missed the conference and want to see some of what I thought were the best talks, here's a list of my favorites (in no particular order):

• David Carr, NY Times - Why Twitter Will Endure
• Chris Lehmann, Principal - Social Media and Education
• Gary Vaynerchuk, Author of Crush It - Question and Answer
• Panel - Where Am I?  How Location Changes Everything
• Twelpforce: Inside Scoop from the Insiders (Best Buy)
• Craig Engler, SVP SyFy Digital - The fine art of watching TV with your Twitter followers
• Panel - Growing Up with the Real-Time Internet
• Panel - Real Time Web and Education #2

Overall it was a fantastic experience and I'm sure I'll be there again next year (maybe speaking!).  What were your thoughts?  What do you think about many short presentations? 

A Presentation Designer's Take on Conference Presentations

I recently attended the Search Engine Strategies 2010 conference in New York City. While I was only able to attend for one day, I still met some great people, learned a lot, and ate lots of free food.

Like nearly all other conferences, every presenter utilized PowerPoint, and this one was no different. Not surprising, most of them were bad. Very bad. I even tweeted during one of the presentations claiming I was being shot to death by bullet points.  It's also quite interesting that I'm writing this post off the heels of a related post about a conference that is actually banning PowerPoint.  

I’ve sat in on numerous presentations, both live and online, in the past year or so but haven’t attended a conference like this in nearly two years. For some reason I was under the impression that with the success of Presentation Zen and Slide:ology, the T.E.D. conference, Pecha Kucha and Ignite conferences, along with Steve Jobs’ incredible keynotes that the presentation landscape has changed for the better, even if ever-so-slightly. After seeing Thursday’s presentations, I guess I was wrong.

I realize that I’m working with an extremely small and unscientific sample size (7), and effective PowerPoint design isn’t on the forefront of everyone’s radar as it is on mine, but I was expecting more. I was expecting even an attempt at less wordy, more visual slides. I wanted to outline some of what I saw.

• Bullet Points – Surprise, surprise. Nearly every presenter used bullet points in abundance in their presentation. One presentation used ONLY bullet points. I walked out of it. The rest of the audience may not have walked out, but their minds definitely did. Most people were watching the Twitter stream, updating their blogs, and I saw one guy definitely sleeping.


• Glaring Errors – This one surprised me. Not only did most presentations travel to Snoozeville with bullet points, some presentations had glaring design mistakes. That’s insulting to me as a paying audience member. You couldn’t even proofread it?


• Poor Graphs and Charts – Slideware like PowerPoint and Keynote are great tools to help show systems, cycles, and processes that are difficult to vocalize. I saw a couple graphics depicting processes that were not only incredibly complex (for concepts that weren’t complex) but used font sizes so small that I couldn’t read them. Note that the PowerPoint was being projected onto approximately 15-foot screens. If I can’t read it at that size, what’s the point of having it on there?


• Crazy Fonts – One presentation in particular was all over the place with fonts. I’m not one to shy away from using multiple fonts within a presentation, but you might want to stop after 2 or 3. Not only that, but you don’t need to outline the font and add a colorful glow or a 3D effect. If nothing else, don’t use Comic Sans!

This post is coming off quite negative and possibly a little pretentious, so I want to make sure you understand that they weren’t all bad, nor do I think I'm perfect. Actually, one presentation by Robyn Raybould about Microsoft’s proof-of-concept tool, currently called “Looking Glass”, was very impressive, especially the way she kicked it off. Her first slide was a simple picture of a sunrise as she flew over the clouds on a red-eye back to NYC. By itself, the picture [while nice] had no context. Not a problem. That’s why the presenter is there – to add context! Robyn proceeded to tell us a short personal story about her 14,000 miles she has flown over the last few weeks, tying it into how her fellow passengers are always eager to connect to their social profiles once they land. I was so impressed. She grabbed the audience’s attention with a beautiful, solitary image and complimented it with a personal story. No bullet-points necessary!

I won’t forget the story Robyn told, nor will I forget the image. More importantly for Robyn, I won't forget her presentation about her product, even down to some intricate product specs. On the other hand, I don’t remember the name of the session I walked out on, nor what they were presenting about exactly (something about marketing mix), who was presenting, or what company they were from. Their non-engaging presentation style and poor supporting visuals actually made them more forgettable, if that’s possible, and it cost them.

Presenters, especially those getting paid to present to those who are paying to listen, need to understand the powerful effects of the way they design, prepare, and practice their presentation. This is first-hand proof that an effective presentation can resonate with your audience, while a poor presentation will be forgettable and aggravate the audience, leaving them with a bad taste in their mouth (and possibly a hold in their wallet!).

Author’s Note: Mari Luangrath, Head Cupcakeologist at Foiled Cupcakes, had a fantastic presentation as well. She was so authentic and it showed. No wonder her gourmet cupcake bakery has seen so much success simply by utilizing social media tools.

Image courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner

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!!

Free Tickets to Seth Godin's NYC Linchpin Session

On Friday, January 15th at 9:30, Seth Godin will be doing a 2-hour live talk and book signing for his new book entitled, "Linchpin: Are You Indespensable?"  I purchased a group set of tickets, which includes 5 tickets.  Myself and my wife (Weddingistas.com) will be going, and I wanted to give away three tickets to my readers.  The details about his talk can be found on Seth's Squidoo page here.  The details about the free tickets are at the bottom. 

The winners have been chosen and notified.  Thanks to everyone who participated and all those who helped spread the word!

I love Seth from two standpoints.  First, and most dearest to my heart, he's an incredible presenter.  He's engaging, interesting, and most of all, knows how to design an effective presentation.  He's actually a champion against really bad PowerPoint.  He wrote an eBook about really bad PowerPoint (that you REALLY need to download) and he comes up twice on the first page of Google when you search "bad powerpoint."  You can see his incredible T.E.D. presentation about standing out below.

Secondly, he's aptly referred to as a "Marketing Guru", and I'm a marketer at heart.  He truly get's what marketing is all about.  His blog is one of the most popular marketing blogs in the world, and his insights are nothing short of profound.

His talks are usually pretty pricey, running in the hundreds of dollars per ticket.  They're also rare.  When I heard he was speaking in NYC and for a very reasonable price, I jumped on the chance.

So I've got three tickets I'd like to give away.  All you have to do is comment on this post and let me know that you're interested.  I'll pick three at random.  You'll have to make sure you're on time and meet me prior to the start of the talk (no later than 9:15am).  Oh, and you have to be nice...and tell my wife she looks pretty.  Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you there!

Oh, and please ReTweet this if you can.  Thanks!

DETAILS:
Start time: Friday January 15, 2010 doors open at 9:30 AM - Eastern Time
End time: 11:45 AM
Where: Haft Auditorium, 227 West 27th Street , New York, NY 10011