Dr. Mark, I am a product marketing professional. I work hard on my powerpoint slides, regularly adding lots of graphics and using lots of animation options. But yet no one pays attention to the content or what I have to say? I could really use some advice.
Thanks,
Frus Traited
Thanks for your e-mail Frus. Based on the PowerPoint sample you sent me I have the following advice. None of this should be surprising to you and there are many other ways to skin this cat but here are 3 that work for me:
1) don’t overload your presentation with bullets, graphics, animation or detailed facts
2) you need to connect with your audience on relevance, emotion or interest -preferably all 3
3) don’t wait for questions, ask your audience some questions to make sure they are engaged during the presentation and understood at the end
The phrase “less is more” was probably first coined when MS demoed the very first PowerPoint colour video presentation from a laptop computer in Paris, 1992. Yet, it is still amazing how many slides still contain as much detail as a 10 page white paper. When there is so much information, which is barely readable BTW because the font is so small, the audience will either zone out or be so busy squinting at the slide that they will completely miss the points you are trying to make. I say slides with that much information are, as we say in the UK, “about as useful as a chocolate teapot”. As for animation, unless you are trying to make a point between a transitioning diagram, or needing to reveal information gradually, you should exercise animation restraint. There are instances when animation is worthwhile, for instance if you want to create a presentation that perhaps is set to music as an introduction or maybe that’s the whole presentation itself, no speaking on your part! Using PPT to create a presentation that is almost like a cool flash like this one from my early years.
Which brings me to the second point. You need to make sure that the audience really wants to hear what you have to say. The information you are delivering has to meet a need, and if you are presenting at a conference, truth in advertising about your session is essential. We’ve all been to one too many sessions and walked out 5 mins in.
Forming an emotional connection is a little more unique. You can do this by personalizing your presentation, where the information has relevance to your personal experiences. A good anecdote or story woven into the presentation also can help. Another technique I have used to great effect is to use music and a theme from a well known or recently released movie. I learned this when I was consulting to the Mollywood stars. Music stirs up great emotion within all of us. Who doesn’t get pumped up when they hear the theme to Rocky. Additionally, movie themes are a great way to talk analogously about competition (villains) and other related marketing subjects. I’d point you to one of my examples online, but unfortunately I’ve sold the movie rights to my presentations and I no longer can distribute them.
My final suggestion is to keep the presentation interactive. Don’t wait to be asked questions, ask first! Especially the bloke who is nodding off in the back. Think of yourself as Tony Robbins, not Baskin Robbins. Don’t stand there like a “cone” waiting for a response. Move around, get among the people and do some selling! You’re not in sales but you do need to “sell” your presentation. Like my good friend Ben Affleck said in the movie Boiler Room. “ABC … Always Be Closing”. My advice to you is to keep probing your audience, make sure they are paying attention, getting the most out of your hard work, or at the very least making sure they are awake. Otherwise you will have wasted your time, or worse, your boss will have your guts for garters.
Thank you and keep the questions coming.
About Dr. Mark Eteer
Mark Eteer was born in the UK in 1966. He studied computer science at the University of Essex and after 8 years as a programmer, moved into marketing. He obtained his PhD entirely online. His successes marketing for major corporations and minor startups, combined with his no nonsense straight forward guidance on all matters marketing, has led him to be sought out by some of the most well known marketing stars in Mollywood. Although unsubstantiated, he claims that he was the marketing/PR mind behind Tom Cruise’s behavior on Oprah, although he admits that Tom took it a bit too far. He currently lives in an exclusive suburb of Mollywood.
As a leading provider of scalable, enterprise-wide, high ROI marketing ideas, Dr. Mark uses his cloud-based, next-generation approach and solar-powered, game changing methodology which leverages social media to answer paradigm shifting questions about marketing and product management.
Dr. Mark would like to thank Ramon Chen for allowing him to be a guest blogger here on Cloud ‘N Clear and understands that Ramon disavows any knowledge of any bad advice he might offer.