2. "Social Media: Is It Worth It?" ACU panel Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations Presented by: R. Scott Blamey Director of Development BrownBoots Interactive, Inc. rscott@brownboots.com www.brownboots.com

3. “There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” - Dale Carnegie Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

4. Today’s Objective Learn how to: 1.Structure content effectively 2.Build clean and exciting designs 3.Engage your audience...with simple techniques that apply to written, oral, and visual presentations alike, so that you may present like a pro Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

5. Preview Keys to Presentations with Pop 1.Organization 2.Design 3.Delivery Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

6. ORGANIZATION Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

7. Organization The Speechworks Formula Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations Source: Asher, Joey. Even A Geek Can Speak, Low-Tech Presentation Skills For High-Tech People. Persuasive Speaker Pr, 2009.

8. Organization: The Speechworks Formula 1.Develop your Message Objective (MO) 2.Select no more than three points in support of your Message Objective 3.Collect evidence to support each of your three points and all sub points 4.Create your hook 5.Determine your wrap-up Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

9. The Speechworks Formula: 1. Develop Message Objective (MO) Form the MO by bringing together two things: –What you want –What’s in it for the listener –Answer “What’s in it for me?” (WII-FM) Formula: –“By ________, you will ________.” Examples: –“If you finance this project, I will increase your revenue by $1,000,000 per month.” –“If you follow the instructions in this slide deck, you will become the best presenter in your company.” Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

10. The Speechworks Formula: 2. Select 3 Points in Support of MO No more than three points – even for long presentations! –You can have lots of sub points for each main point, but don’t ever organize your presentation around more than three big ideas that support your MO Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

11. The Speechworks Formula: 3. Collect Supporting Evidence Support your main points with evidence Let your evidence do the convincing Evidence S.P.E.A.K.S. volumes –Stories –Personal experience –Expert testimony –Analogies –“K”wotes (aka Quotes) –Statistics Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

12. The Speechworks Formula: 4. Create Your Hook Opening attention-grabber Doesn’t have to be fancy Avoid: –Jokes –“Hey, it’s great to be here!” (yawn!) –Apologizing: “I’m not accustomed to speaking.” or “I’m sorry if I’m a little disorganized.” Examples: –Fun fact –Relevant story –Quick analogy –Quick introduction –Expert testimony Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

13. The Speechworks Formula: 5. Determine Your Wrap Up The call to action It’s all about connection and persuasion “If you don’t ask, you don’t get” Don’t be shy – your audience already knows why you’re there Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

14. Organization: The Speechworks Formula It’s flexible! –Works for short or long presentations –On-the-fly accordion-ization –Apply it to memos, letters, magazine articles, advertisements, emails, meetings, even job interviews! Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

15. DESIGN Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

16. Design: What Drives Design? Purpose –Education, influence, or entertain Use –Presenter prompt, topic support, or takeaway Audience –Expectations, intellect, attention Content –Volume –Supporting multimedia Technical Ability –Personal and equipment Time Other Factors Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

17. Design: Best Practices Cleanliness and Consistency Content Structure Color Palate Fonts Graphics Bullets Branding Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

18. Cleanliness Keep it simple White space Avoid distracting animations Avoid distracting noises Consistency Layout Fonts Colors Titles Lists Use templates and styles Design: Best Practices Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

19. Design: Best Practices Content Structure Road Maps –Agenda, preview, section outlines –Sidebar or footer TOC (see right) Page Hierarchy –Main Heading (topic) Sub heading (key topic) Body copy (content) –Use Master Slides and Style Sets Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

20. Design: Best Practices Color Palate 2 to 4 colors max Avoid bright and –Everyone hates reading bright red text, yet it is regularly used to draw attention to text. Don’t do it! –Use bold, italic, and/or underlining instead Use high-contrast colors –Especially important when projecting to a screen Especially, especially important when projecting in a bright room Colors can convey a message, but do you want them to? –Elementary colors may suggest the presentation is for children; even if it is, does it help convey your message? –Who’s presenting: you or your text? Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

21. Design: Best Practices Fonts 1 to 2 suggested –Can mix serif and sans-serif, but be consistent with use Sans-serif suggested Standard fonts –Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Trebuchet, Courier New – Else: “OMG my text is a mess!” Fonts can also convey a message (or distraction), but do you want them to? Friends don’t let friends Comic Sans Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

22. Design: Best Practices Graphics “Visuals reinforce a speaker’s message and help the audience remember key points. However, the presenter should always be the focus of the presentation, not the visuals” - Speechworks Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

23. Avoid: Amateur photos Smartphone photos MS clip art Illegal imagery Excessive use of graphics Random placement Design: Best Practices Graphics Do: Use to support or illustrate a point Use stock or original photography Use consistent clip art... maybe Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

24. Design: Best Practices Graphics ~800x600 pixels max –Larger = Slower –High-def full screen is about 1080x768 pixels Do not place behind or crowd text If layering, remove background color –GIF and PNG formats allow transparency Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

25. Unordered Lists Use bullets –When points are equally important Ordered Lists Use numerals –When order is important –When sequence is important –When the number of points is important Design: Best Practices Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

26. Design: Best Practices Branding Persistent logo –On every page Catch phrase –Reiterate the message Color-matching –Headings, borders, etc. match corporate colors Suggestive icons –Subtly build value/message/company associations Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

27. DELIVERY Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

28. Delivery: Physical Preparation 1.Review 2.Practice (out loud) 3.Time 4.Test equipment 5.Dress for success 6.Arrive early, retest equipment Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

29. Delivery: Physiological Preparation Rest Relax Be real –Your first presentation of a new presentation will not be perfect You will not have enough time, few people do You won’t have prior feedback –You know your material better than anyone else –Technical glitches will occur and the audience won’t be surprised –Unless you’re a professional speaker, your primary responsibility is the content, not the presentation Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

30. Boots and spurs Inflection –Loud/Soft –Fast/Slow –Energy, Passion Repeat for emphasis, but not too often Gestures... Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations Delivery: The Show

31. Don’t: Be offensive Let gestures distract your audience Be too concerned –They’re not required for a good presentation Use jazz fingers –i.e. patty-cake position –Reach out as if to shake hands with your audience Fidget, play with change, put hands in pockets Do: Be big –but stay in the strike zone Be steady –Don’t be shy, keep em’ out there Be strong –e.g. Tiger Woods’ arm pump Be forward and inclusive –Within audience area –Never backwards The Show: Gestures Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

32. RECAP AND WRAP Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

33. Recap: Keys to Presentations with Pop 1.Structure The Speechworks Method –Hook, MO, 3 main points, support, MO again, recap and wrap Evidence that S.P.E.A.K.S. 2.Design Not too fancy Clean, simple, and consistent Supportive, not distracting 3.Delivery Preparation Boots and spurs Inflection Gestures Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

34. Wrap Up Practice makes perfect; volunteer to present an AC University topic –We’re neither investors nor your boss Have questions, need help, or prefer a template to get started? –Email rscott@brownboots.comrscott@brownboots.com –Or call BrownBoots, 920.906.9175 Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

35. Resources Generic Speechworks-formula PowerPoint template and other BrownBoots AC University presentations: http://www.brownboots.com/presentations.html http://www.brownboots.com/presentations.html Speechworks website: http://www.speechworks.net/ http://www.speechworks.net/ Asher, Joey. Even A Geek Can Speak, Low- Tech Presentation Skills For High-Tech People. Persuasive Speaker Pr, 2009. Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

36. Quotes “There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” - Dale Carnegie “Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.” - Dorothy Sarnoff “There are two types of speakers, those that are nervous and those that are liars.” - Mark Twain “The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about.” - Author Unknown “It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time.” - Wayne Burgraff Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations

37. "Social Media: Is It Worth It?" ACU panel Business Communications: Tips and Techniques for Better Visual and Verbal Presentations Presented by: R. Scott Blamey Director of Development BrownBoots Interactive, Inc. rscott@brownboots.com www.brownboots.com