1. PRESENTATION ZEN

2. Introduction [1] Presenting in Today’s World Preparation [2] Creativity, Limitations, and Constraints [3] Planning Analog [4] Crafting the Story Design [5] Simplicity: Why It Matters [6] Presentation Design: Principles and Techniques Delivery [7] The Art of Being Completely Present [8] Connecting With an Audience The Next Step... [9] The Journey Begins

3. Introduction

4. The 1 st step to creating & designing great presentations is to be mindful of the current state of what passes for “normal” PowerPoint presentations & that what is “normal” today is out of sync & off-kilter with how people actually learn & communicate

5. Restraint in preparation Simplicity in design Naturalness in delivery Principles Greater Clarity

6. Goal Think differently about: the design & the delivery of the presentation! See presentations in a way that is different, simpler, more visual, more natural, & ultimately far more meaningful!

7. Don McMillan: Life After Death by PowerPoint Life After Death by PowerPoint [4:26]

8. Slideuments A good oral presentation is different than a well-written document Attempts to merge them result in poor presentations & poor documents

9. “The Conceptual Age” High-Touch/High-Concept Involves the capacity to: detect patterns & opportunities to create artistic & emotional beauty to craft a satisfying narrative “Thinking Different” will be valued more than ever

10. The 6 Senses [The 6 Right-Brain Directed Aptitudes] Design– not only function Story– not only argument Symphony– not only focus Empathy– not only logic Play– not only seriousness Meaning– not only accumulation “A Whole New Mind”

11. Design The best designs are so well done that “the design” is never even noticed consciously by the observer/user Ex: airport signs, book covers We take conscious note of the messages which the design helped make utterly clear, but not the color palette, typography, concept, etc.

12. Design starts at the beginning – not at the end The design of the visuals begins in the preparation stage Consider your – topic – objectives – key messages – audience

13. Story “Narrative Imagining” = Storytelling Put your own personality, character, & experiences into the material in the form of a narrative, which is illuminating, engaging, & memorable Stories can be used for good: teaching, sharing, illuminating, honest persuasion

14. Symphony Information Age: focus, speculation, & analysis Conceptual Age: synthesis & the ability to use seemingly unrelated pieces to form & articulate the big picture

15. The best presenters can illuminate the relationships that we may not have seen before They can “see the relationships between relationships” Symphony requires that we become better at seeing

16. What’s needed is those who can recognize the patterns, & who are skilled at seeing nuances & the simplicity that may exist in a complex problem

17. Symphony is about utilizing our whole mind— logic, analysis, synthesis, intuition—to make sense of our world (i.e., our topic), find the big picture, & determine what is important & what is not before the day of the talk! It’s about deciding ‘what matters’ & letting go of the rest!

18. Empathy Empathy is emotional It’s about putting yourself in the position of others – It involves an understanding of the importance of nonverbal cues of others & being aware of your own

19. Empathy allows a presenter, even w/o thinking about it, to notice when the audience is “getting it” & when they are not The empathetic presenter can make adjustments based on his/her reading of this particular audience

20. Play In many public speaking situations, playfulness & humor can go a long way toward making a presentation palatable Humor implies good, old-fashioned humor that leads to laughter instead of jokiness or clown-like informality – Laughing people are more creative, productive people

21. Meaning A presentation that goes well can be extremely fulfilling for you & your audience - & it might even help your career! Few things can be more rewarding than connecting with someone by teaching something new, or sharing that which you feel is very important with others

22. Make an impact & a difference Exceed expectations Show them that you’ve thought about them Do your homework & know your material Demonstrate through your actions how much you appreciate being there & that you are there for them

23. “The Conceptual Age” Review ‘High-Touch’ talents such as exceptional presentation skills are important today The best presentations of this generation will be created by professionals who have strong ‘whole mind’ aptitudes & talents Strong analytical skills will take you far as a communicator

24. Left Brain – Right Brain ? Tests: http://mindmedia.com/braintest.html Be sure to view the Personalized Analysis at the end of the test http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/question naire/questionnaire.cgi

25. Part 2

26. Seth Godin Presentation is about the transfer of emotion Communication is about – getting others to adopt your point of view – helping them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic, etc.) If all you want to do is create a file of facts & figures, then cancel the meeting & send in a report!

27. Your Brain Presentations Left Side Focused on – dexterity – facts – hard data Right Side Emotional, musical, & moody Judges the way you talk, the way you dress & your body language When people view a presentation, they want to use both sides of their brain Left Brain vs. Right Brain Visual Test

28. People usually come to a conclusion about your presentation by the time you’re on the 2 nd slide You can wreck a communication process with lousy logic or unsupported facts, but you can’t complete it without logic The reason we do presentations is to make a point – to sell 1+ ideas

29. If you believe in your idea, sell it! Make your point as hard as you can & get what you came for Your audience will thank you for it because, deep down, we all want to be sold

30. How to Improve Immediately First: Make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof, that what you’re saying is true not just accurate No more than 6 words on a slide - EVER

31. Second: Don’t use cheesy images Use professional stock photo images Pictures have more of an impact than words

32. Third: No dissolves, spins or other transitions Keep it simple

33. Fourth: Create a written document—a leave-behind Put in as many footnotes or details as you like When you start your presentation, tell the audience that you’re going to give them all the details of your presentation after it’s over, & they don’t have to write down everything you say

34. Remember, the presentation is to make an emotional sale The document is the proof that helps the intellectuals in your audience accept the idea that you’ve sold them on emotionally Don’t hand out printouts of your slides— they don’t work without you there to interpret

35. The Home Run You put up a slide It triggers an emotional reaction in the audience They sit up & want to know what you’re going to say that fits in with that image If you do it right, every time they think of what you said, they’ll see the image (& vice versa) Military Slide BP Oil Spill

36. A New Era Requires New Thinking Today, literacy is not only about reading & writing text, but also about understanding visual communication Today, we need a higher degree of visual literacy & an understanding of the great power that imagery has for conveying important messages

37. Role of PowerPoint? Document-creation tool? Glorified overhead transparencies? Resources of proven, visual storytelling: Documentary films Comics Stories told through imagery

38. Summary—Presenting in Today’s World The presentation of the content is simple, balanced, & beautiful There are many paths to designing & delivering presentations The problem is not one of tools or techniques so much as it is a problem of bad habits

39. In the “conceptual age” presenting well is a “whole-minded” skill—good presenters target people’s “left brain” & “right brain” Live talks enhanced by multimedia are about storytelling—live talks today must tell a story enhanced by imagery