Death by PowerPoint!
We’ve all endured them … PowerPoint presentations that drone on forever.
The most critical job of a manager, when you boil it all down, is communication. To be successful, a manager has to be effective in communicating one-on-one, in writing and in groups. While weakness in any of these three disciplines will compromise the ability to lead, the weakness most often seen in managers is in group communication. And it’s the most conspicuous.
Group communication can be one of a manager’s most powerful assets. When presenting to a group, he or she has its full attention – at least at the start. The trick is to keep it.
Rather than dreading presentations, managers should seek out opportunities to present to anyone in the company. The best way to develop any skill is through repetition. This particular skill also helps to increase personal and professional exposure.
Unfortunately, corporate presentations are usually either:
1. Mildly competent, or
2. Career killers
If a manager has a propensity to dig a hole for him or herself in a presentation, PowerPoint can be an earthmover on steroids. On the other hand, managers who are adept at presenting and public speaking can communicate even more effectively and convincingly with PowerPoint.
One of my near-death by PowerPoint experiences occurred during a plant review of a company that I used to work for. After touring the plant with the staff and making the general niceties with the production folks, we settled in the conference room for the homestretch … the PowerPoint presentation.
The projector warmed up, the presenter clicked on his computer, and I saw something that almost killed me on the spot – the little box in the lower left corner of the frame that read, “Slide 1 of 101”. That’s right, 101 slides!
I didn’t have the heart to pull the plug on their presentation and ask them to get to the point in 20 slides or less. The team had worked very hard to improve that factory, and they deserved the chance to relate the pride of their accomplishments on their own terms. So there I sat, contemplating forms of suicide to end the pain of nonstop listening.
All we walked away with from this presentation was that they presented 101 slides! Beyond that, I couldn’t have recalled three things they had tried to communicate to us 15 minutes later.
The Ten Elements of a Great Presentation
1. Before you do anything else, identify a maximum of three key points you want the audience to remember.
2. Determine why your audience should remember these points, so you can communicate that, too.
3. Open your presentation with the “why” in such a way that it takes no more than one minute to explain. If you can’t explain to the audience why your presentation is important to them within one minute, you’ve lost them.
4. Never forget that the audience cares less about what you have to say than you do.
5. Speak at an appropriate rate. Not too slow or too fast. And project your voice.
6. Communicate broadly through body language as well as spoken language.
7. Don’t use the podium. It’s easy to create the impression you’re holding on to it for dear life. Speakers who don’t use a podium show more confidence. Walking, talking and gesturing at the same time also is a great way to hide the yips because all the adrenaline doesn’t go to the throat.
8. Be so well-rehearsed that it doesn’t sound rehearsed. There’s no substitute for preparation.
9. Review your presentation with a trusted colleague or two to ensure it says what you think it says and is easily understood.
10. When using slides -
§ Organize your presentation so the titles of the slides alone tell the story. Any other text or charts should simply support the title.
§ Don’t overuse slide animations.
§ Never read the slides word for word. Their only purpose is to reinforce what the audience is learning.
§ Never spend more than two minutes on a slide.
§ Finally, and most importantly, prepare your presentation so that you don’t actually need any slides. If you can do that, your slides will enhance your presentation, rather than being a crutch.
I can’t emphasize enough that if you want to succeed as a leader, you must master the art of group presentation. If you just aren’t comfortable with it, there is only one way to cure your discomfort… do as many presentations as possible! Comfort and controlled self-confidence will only come from experience. The more you avoid developing your presentation skills, the heavier this anchor will become on your career.
Take a course, join Toastmasters, or buy a video/CD on the subject. Start with easy small group presentations and continue to work your way up until you are comfortable regardless of how many people are in the room.
