Think about the last presentation you attended; what was the presenter’s point? Designing a presentation around the most important point (the message) greatly increases the chances that the audience will remember it over time. This is why presentation design starts with crafting a clear concise message. One mistake presenters make is to assume an audience can remember multiple “takeaways”. The old saying is true; if everything is important then nothing is important. I follow a message crafting framework that is taught by Dcode communications (www.dcodecommunications.com) in their presentation training program called Wavelength. They recommend crafting your message by completing the statement What I really want you to understand… Read More
Continue Reading“Everything here is a TLA!”
One of my colleagues used to say “Everything here is a TLA!” (three letter acronym). We use acronyms without even thinking. During presentations I sometimes hear a TLA (or other multi-letter acronym) used that I don’t know, or remember. My favorite is EBITA – earnings before the deduction of interest, tax and amortization expenses (I had to look that up – again). The presenter assuming that the audience is familiar with the same acronyms they are is a sign of the “curse of knowledge”. Being afflicted with the “curse” means that once you know something well you cannot go back to the state where you didn’t know it; you may… Read More
Continue ReadingAre you blending your presentations?
Two of the most common presentation types are informative and persuasive. The main elements in an informative presentation are facts, figures, features, graphs, and charts. The goal of this presentation type is to educate the audience; an example of an informative presentation is a lecture. The main elements in a persuasive presentation include stories, analogies, examples, quotations, and metaphors; the goal of this presentation is to get the audience to do or feel something. Examples of persuasive presentations include sermons and motivational speeches. (and hopefully sales presentations) The majority of presentations in organizations (for both internal and external purposes) contain mostly informative presentation elements. This can result in a presentation… Read More
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