Presentations: 15 Minute Series

Introducing the 15-minute-series, a fast blog/podcast about technology. (4000 words only)

My first blog in this series is about presenting / focus: slides. You might say, how can you learn how to present in less than 15 minutes. I guarantee you that you'll feel much better after reading this, and if you want to do more, contact me  (robert.e.griffin@gmail.com) and I can send you a mini-syllabus to continue your reading of this topic. In the following example, I am assuming that you have your own content to express.

Let's start out with an outline:

I. Presenting / Focus: Slides
   A. Learning what a good slide does
        1. Communicates clarity
            a. How?
                i. Contrast
               ii. Repetition
              iii. Alignment
              iv. Proximity
          2. Know your room
          3. Know your audience (personalize)
   B. Setting up the slides
         1. Plain is simple
             a. Notes are hidden in your presentation screen, you see them, but your
                 audience doesn't.
         2. Beginning, middle and end
   C. Your presentation slide checklist
         1. Don't give your content away!
             a. Handouts after presentation - deliver electronically
             b. Make sure you cite resources
             c. Offer follow-up incentives
             d. Business card
             e. Say good bye! at back of room
__________________________________

This blog (which will soon be a podcast) will take you less than 15 minutes to read, or about 4,000 words. That's not bad for the return that you'll get from your effort. I am going to try to get across to you everything you need to know to give a great presentation.

An important thing that you need to create for your presentation is your visual style. Why? Because we are visual beings. Most of our brain contains visual cortex cells. We like to look at things, but at the same time, we don't want to distract our audience. So our visuals should support what we are saying in a very limited way. I say "limited" because we want to choose the right image without causing our audience to become preoccupied with what we are trying to convey. the whole notion of having slide after slide of bullet points is "gone thing."

Garr Reynolds is a world renown presentation guru and Robin Williams is a world renown design guru. Somehow the two of them, unwittingly got together to say the same thing. When designing anything, particularly a digital presentation, contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are key to a professional design.

If you go to this presentation, you'll understand how these four design attributes can change your effort. If you understand CRAP: contrast. repetition, alignment, and proximity --- you'll have a firm grip on understanding design. While I was part of a team that was putting up the first health care related website in the world back in 1993, I had no idea what I was doing. I went out to a bookstore and looked in the design area. I didn't find much in the way of designing a website, but shortly after that I found Robin Williams' small paperback book:
                                                                                                                       

"The Non-designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice." I've been using this book and the information in it to design things ever since, including presentations. My best advice is to watch this video by Garr Reynolds, who is also a beholder of Robin Williams’s brilliant advice.

Another really important aspect of giving a presentation is understanding the room that you are going to be giving it. I'm really not kidding about this. As a professor, I am assigned many different rooms in which to teach. It's never been the same room every semester, and believe me when I tell you --- the room matters. The best way to handle this is to ask some questions.

• What are the lights like? 
• How big is the room? 
• How are the seats in the room situated? 
• Are there windows, and do the windows have shades that work? 
• Where are the outlets in respect to where you are going to have a podium? 
• Are you going to have a podium? 
• If you are using a digital presentation, does the venue have the right application to show your slides or presentation?

You'll probably have more questions than this, but the point is --- the room matters!

Equally important is your knowledge of your audience and what you know about them. You should never go into a presentation or speech not knowing something about who you are speaking to. I say the best way to start this process is also to ask some questions.

• What do they want to hear from you?
• Who are they?
• What are their demographics:
• What gender are they?
• What race?
• What cultural aspects do they exhibit based upon where they live? 
• Are they Urban? Suburban? Rural?
• What is their income?
• What is their religion?
• What is their action point?
• What are their pet peeves?
• ... and so on ...

If your speech is extraordinarily important, like being asked to speak at a commencement --- you MUST know who your audience is.

In 2017, slide design is plain and simple --- more photo, less text. Put your text in your notes function, for you to refer to, but NOT for your audience to see.
Below is the difference from old to new presentation:

| |
The above is correct. This is ok, but less effective.

When you are designing your presentation you must have a beginning, middle and end. When you are preparing this you should memorize both your beginning and your end. Yes! Memorize them!

These are the critical points of your presentation, just like traveling on a plane --- the take-off and the landing are critical. The middle is always very important and you should break it down with titles, sub-titles and other details. Everyone has a different way as to how to create their "script." Whether you use index cards, or an 8 1/2 x 11 printed page --- whatever, you have to feel comfortable because you are reading this or referring to this to go through your presentation.

Your final presentation slide checklist:

• Don't give your content away! - Ask your audience to give you their email address or contact information.
• Handouts after presentation should be delivered electronically so that you gain their permission to market to them. Also, giving them a handout before the presentation will distract them.
• Make sure that you cite all of your resources!
• Offer follow-up incentives, such as more information on your website that they can reference.
• Make sure that you have your business card ready
• Say goodbye! at back of the room. Shake everyone's hand --- or try to!