By admin
I decided to write this little reference to communicate the notion of effective communication. We live in a very complex, technically oriented age. Advances in information handling, distribution, processing, and visualization have spawned a culture in which information is available to everyone. Sadly, however, effective communication—the very means by which that information may be understood and used by those who may benefit from it—is an increasingly disappearing art. In this reference, my goal is to convince you that communication is both easy and fun. I plan to do this by giving you some nifty little tools to apply the art of communication to your particular technologies, specialties, or interests. I have no doubt that this will make you better, happier, and more effective in all your communication endeavors.
My own idea of effective communication was awakened during a presentation of a technical paper early in my career. The presentation started with a bang! Well, actually it was more of a piinng, click, click, click,…sound that echoed throughout the auditorium. It was the top button of my jacket popping off, striking the microphone, and rattling around the podium. My briefer’s notes might have muffled the sound somewhat, but they were back at the hotel room. Quickly pocketing the button and glancing at the projection screen, I saw that my first chart was both upside down and reversed, clearly indicating that the individual who was in charge of handling my charts was even more disorganized than I—which was not particularly comforting. After coaching this person (over the auditorium’s public address system for the enjoyment of all) on properly orienting the charts, which seemed to take an eternity, I finally turned toward the audience. Good, I had their attention! From that point on, the presentation went quite well and the audience was both attentive and polite (I think they felt sorry for me).
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By Peter
To customize your presentation, you’ll need to arm yourself with useful information and materials. It’s a process that you should begin during your preparation period, days or even weeks before the presentation, and continue right up until the moment you approach the front of the room. Here are some steps your can take:
Prior to Presentation Day
- Research your audience. Learn all you can about who will be attending: their knowledge level, key interests and concerns, and personal or professional biases.
- Learn the names of some key audience members. Know the names of several key influencers in the audience. Learn the names of the highest ranking company officer, the most respected technical expert, and the manager with the most authority to make decisions.
- Get current on industry news and trends. During the run-up to your presentation, diligently search out news and media stories and Internet items related to the company and the industry to which you’ll be presenting.
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By Peter
Many business presentations contain information that must be conveyed repeatedly, to multiple audiences. For example, a salesperson may have to present a new product to many different groups of customers; or, a human resources manager may have to explain the new company benefits plan to dozens of small groups of employees. In the IPO road show world, company officers must make their presentations to many, many groups of investors. Typically, they give 60 to 80 pitches over a period of two to three weeks, often six to eight presentations in any given day. Read more »
By Peter
While the Internal Linkages bond together the components of your presentation, it’s equally important to bond your presentation (and you, as the presenter) to each specific audience. You can achieve that with External Linkages: words, phrases, stories, and other materials that you insert throughout your presentation to make it fresh. There are seven External Linkages:
- Direct Reference. Mention specifically, by name, one or more members of your audience.
- Mutual Reference. Make reference to a person, company, or organization related to both you and your audience.
- Ask Questions. Address a question directly to one or more members of your audience.
- Contemporize. Make reference to what is happening today.
- Localize. Make reference to the venue of your presentation.
- Data. Make reference to current information that links to and supports your message.
- Customized Opening Graphic. Start your presentation with a slide that includes your audience, the location, and the date.
Let’s consider each External Linkage, along with illustrative examples.
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By Peter
On my very first day as an undergraduate at New York University, I attended the orientation session for incoming freshmen in a state of suspended animation. I had left behind the camaraderie and the cinder-block walls of a New York City public high school, and now, alone and apart from my close friends of four years, I entered the marble halls of NYU’s Gould Memorial Chapel. I was a solitary speck in a sea of strangers, all of us intimidated by our imposing surroundings and further humbled by our requisite freshmen headdress: bright violet beanies.
My awe was heightened when I saw an array of austere deans and professors in their black gowns, seated on the stage, looking down at us lowly frosh. As each of these august sages stood in turn to address us, their stentorian tones and crisp articulation echoing off the domed ceiling of the chapel, I recalled how differently my high school teachers had spoken, with the strident twang and staccato pace of a hardcore New York accent. I was still in the same city, but I might as well have been at Oxford or Cambridge.
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By Peter
Educators distinguish between distributed learning and massed learning. Distributed learning, occurring over time, is the more efficient method because it allows for absorption and understanding. Distributed learning is a synonym for Spaced Learning; massed learning is a synonym for cramming.
Every schoolboy and schoolgirl in America has heard the story about how Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope. The implication is that he dashed off the classic speech with little or no advance preparation.
There are several variations of this tale. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills describes several other lesser known versions of the same story that have Lincoln “considering [the speech] on the way to a photographer’s shop in Washington, writing it on a piece of cardboard … as the train took him on the 80-mile trip … penciling it … on the night before the dedication, writing it … on the morning of the day he had to deliver it, or even composing it in his head as Everett [the prior speaker at the Gettysburg ceremony] spoke.” [1] Read more »
By Peter
Verbalization means turning your outline into a full-fledged presentation by practicing it beforehand. Speak the actual words you will use in your presentation aloud, accompanied by your slides. Do it just the way you will do it when you are in front of your intended audience. A truly effective presentation is practically impossible without this magic ingredient
Yet many of my business clients are reluctant to verbalize during our sessions together. Some claim that the presentation isn’t “baked” yet, unaware that Verbalization will move the baking process along. Others feel self-conscious or uncomfortable about “performing” in front of others. Still others view Verbalization as too elementary. Whatever the reason, they try to short-circuit the process, often assuring me, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll rehearse my presentation before I have to deliver it, and it’ll be just fine.”
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By Peter
Numbers play a key role in any business presentation. Revenues, units shipped, profits, and market share are the hits, runs, and errors of the business scorecard, and everyone in business understands their importance.
This is not to say that everyone in business feels equally at home when it comes to interpreting numbers. There are the green-eyeshade types who immediately recognize key trends and can quickly pick out the most important item in a column of figures. Then there are the rest of us, who need a little time and a lot of context to fully grasp the meaning of a profit and loss statement or balance sheet.
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By Peter
- Create a consistent look and feel and maintain it throughout.
- Be consistent in your choice of font, as well as in your choice of case.
- Keep font size to a minimum of 24 or 28 points.
- Avoid abbreviations at all costs.
- Add shadows and bolding to make all text more legible.
- Use sharp contrast: light text on a dark background, or vice versa.
- Insert your company logo, but don’t make it look like a neon sign; treat it instead as a watermark, with a subtle, embossed effect.
- Avoid the clutter caused by recurring slogans, datelines, copyrights, and the ubiquitous “Company Confidential” warning in the periphery of every single slide.
- Use blank space. You don’t have to fill every nook and cranny of every slide with information. Newspaper advertisements use white space to set off text. Look at them, see the difference, and follow their example.
You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned the differences between serif and sans serif fonts, or text justification right, left, or center. These typographic fine points are matters of individual taste, and as the Latin proverb tells us, De gustibus non est disputandum (There’s no arguing taste).
Follow the guidelines above, and your text graphics will be simple, consistent, and logical, reinforcing the subliminal message of Effective Management.
By Peter
Sometimes parallelism isn’t applicable, and so the relationships among the bullets will not be readily apparent. And sometimes, a single concept will require more than four bullets; it may take five or six or even eight bullets to fully explain one main concept. But throwing a diversity or a multiplicity of bullets up on the screen at once is too much input for your audience’s eyes and minds. It overwhelms their reception.
The effective solution for either case is to build the list, one bullet at a time. The build is easy to do with the Custom Animation feature in Microsoft PowerPoint or any other presentation graphics program. Reveal the first line and explain and discuss it. Then click to reveal the next line and explain and discuss it, until you reveal all the bullets. Read more »
