My, isn’t technology a wonderful thing? We can multi-task all day long using nothing more than a tricked-out cell phone. We can cram hundreds, even thousands of minutes of music on a device no bigger than a credit card and carry it with us wherever we go. We can even store and animate an entire set of professionally crafted presentation slides on a notebook computer and carry it around with us, so that we are ready at a moment’s notice to dazzle a potential customer or decision maker and win his approval. Yes, the world these days is simply crawling with technological labor saving devices.
Of course, this in no way means that the world is necessarily better off. Multi-tasking, whether on a cell phone or not, can simply be a euphemism for self-important workaholism. And how is it possible for anyone to enjoy – really enjoy – listening to any songs these days, what with all that workaholic multitasking going on? But most troubling of all to me, I have seen countless presentations ruined because the presenter relied on the “magic” of his PowerPoint technology to impress the gee whiz out of his audience, instead of developing a solid presentation strategy that was at the same time informative, engaging and compelling.
Surely, you have experienced what I am talking about. The presenter is introduced, he turns on his computer, he calls for the lights to be dimmed, and then for the next 30 minutes he drones from one slide to the next, essentially reading his notes to you off of the screen, probably also repeating the same set of graphics over and over again. In the meantime, you, along with most of the rest of the audience, have long since nodded off in the dark, inspired by the boring nature of the presentation to do something more productive ? like sleep.
PowerPoint – along with any other computer-generated presentation medium – is a presentation TOOL; it was never intended to become the heart and soul of your presentation. For better or worse, the heart and soul of your presentation is YOU. It is all well and good to rely on visual aids to spice up your presentation, but don’t allow them to become visual “crutches;” a convenient way to create the illusion that you are giving a presentation when all you are really doing is reading off the screen, just like your audience is.
Forty years ago, UCLA’s Dr. Albert Mehrabian began developing his ground-breaking theories in the psychology of non-verbal communication. He discovered that humans exchange information on three levels, and the believability factor of the information being received by one party is determined by the effectiveness of the other party on each of these levels. The interesting thing is the weight or value assigned to each of these levels. Dr. Mehrabian was able to demonstrate that only about 10% of the believability of the message was associated with the words or content of the message. The tone of voice and vocal patterns of the sender accounted for another 30% of the message. By far, the most important factor the receiver relied upon when evaluating the trustworthiness of the message being sent – almost 60% of the value – was reserved for the facial expressions, gestures and body language of the sender. Talk about the messenger becoming the message!
Well, I hope you can see where I am going with all of this. Once you turn out all of the lights and start reading your notes off the PowerPoint slides as they scroll by, you have completely destroyed the single most important presentation tool you have – your ability to connect through body language -- and you have severely impaired a second tool – a compelling, engaging tone of voice (because you are just droning away at the screen). Where does that leave you? It leaves you nursing a 10% effective, mostly boring presentation.
I am actually not opposed to the use of PowerPoint, or any other useful visual aids. They are a valuable and often necessary component of a good presentation. But the presentation doesn’t start with the visual aids; it starts with you. Your body language, your tone of voice, your enthusiasm, your ability to sell the story behind your presentation, and convince the audience that you are convinced of the importance of your message – THAT is what makes for a memorable presentation. I would much rather leave the lights on and keep my audience awake by making eye contact and talking to them while occasionally referring to an important graphic on the screen, rather than dimming the lights permanently, along with any hope I had for real success.
Sometimes people rely too much on PowerPoint because they lack the confidence to face the audience on their own. If this sounds like you, I encourage you to sign up for one of our great Presentation Training classes. There you will find the presentation skills and confidence you need to become a well-rounded and successful presenter. Above all, whenever you are preparing for your presentation, don’t forget that 90% of what the audience needs from you will not come from those slides. A great presentation starts with:
Relaxed, smooth, body language and effective gestures
Plenty of smiles and friendly eye contact
Verbal and vocal skills that are easy to listen to and engaging in tone and delivery
Once you have command of all of the above, turn on the PowerPoint only when you need it. You know what I bet? I bet you won’t need it nearly so much, anymore.
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October Presentation Quick Tip of the Month – Make It Personal
Most of the time, we have to struggle just to cram into our presentations all those compelling facts, figures and supporting data that we assume will overwhelm all doubt and make the case for our side. However, you know the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words?” Well, that is often just as true for word pictures as it is for visual pictures. A word picture can be any sophisticated bit of imagery, including similes and metaphors. The best word picture, however, is a simple story. For instance, if you are trying to make the case for sending contributions to disaster victims, you could go on and on with reams of statistics about property damage and monetary losses and the number of homeless. Or, you could tell the story of one family, explain what they lost, and describe what they are facing now. That one family in turn represents all those other faceless families hidden behind your reams of numbers. Any time you can tell a story, you make a presentation more personal for your audience, which means you are much more likely to get a personal, and committed, response.
