Power Point is not the Devil

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I was cruising the aisles of the business section at Barnes and Noble yesterday in search of new alluring book titles and came across a book on leadership and presentations that looked interesting. I opened it up to the table of contents and noticed a section on PowerPoint so I turned to the page indicated where I read "how many of you have ever left a presentation and said 'Wow he/she has a great PowerPoint!'? No one right?" The writer went on to suggest that great leaders don't need Power Point for a great presentation. That may be true in some cases. But to then make the assumption that no one has ever been moved by a great Power Point? Well, I respectfully disagree.

Slides in a presentation have the ability to create a visual experience that a stand alone speaker could never achieve no matter how amazing her language choices might be. That is just the truth of the matter. Millie and I recognize the place of our slides--to provide visual impact to our message--and we design them accordingly. On many occasions our workshop and presentation attendees have commented on how great our slides were and well, I humbly agree. We work HARD at it. Millie has spent an hour on one slide before trying to strike just the right tone with the slide and I can't count the endless hours we have spent looking for just the right image. Why?

Because seeing is powerful.

Because the research is conclusive: people are more likely to remember a message when all their senses are employed.

Because audiences want a multi sensory experience.

Because audiences have a shorter attention span and are more likely to zone out without something to look at.

Because Because Because

Slides are not bad.

The people who design them are usually bad at designing slides.

If you have never left a presentation and said "Her Power Point rocked" you would certainly know it when one did in fact, well, rock. It would make an impact. You would sit up and take notice.

Slides are not going to go away.

People are going to keep using Power Point.

And we are glad for it, because it allows us to work with our clients to help them design slides that, well Rock.

I have a few slides above to illustrate my point. Could you do a better job with words to tell the story that the image so nicely tells on it's own? Take the toy soldiers for example. It is just the perfect representation of the idea we wanted to communicate and for our audience the image is a throwback to their days as kids playing in the backyard with their little toy soldiers. Without it, we might have said "You know it's like when you had all those little toy soldiers you used to play with when you were little..." and it might have gotten a few smiles but the IMAGE is way more powerful isn't it?



I shall not throw the book under the bus I read because I did not read the whole thing and I suspect there is probably some great advice inside the book. But suggesting that great leaders who are great speakers don't use Power Point or Slides in their presentations is just flat out wrong.

Just ask Steve Jobs.....

What ideas are sticky for you?

We continue our conversation about sticky ideas today by looking a new ad campaign I find sticky. Recently I have found myself not skipping the new Intel commercials. The two we included here are SO sticky. Why?

Well first they are quite simple. "Our Rock Stars aren't like your Rock Stars" and "Our Jokes aren't like your Jokes" is so simple and yet packs a lot of punch. They are also unexpected. When you think Intel what do you think? Well I don't think about clever, funny, imaginative or cutting edge. I think boring technical computer stuff. But this new ad campaign is less than boring.

Next the ads are concrete because they reference things I am already familiar with--rock stars and jokes. I understand those concepts. By suggesting their rock stars and jokes are different from my rock stars and jokes I feel like they are giving me the opportunity to know them better. We share some common ground--we both like rock stars and jokes right?

Finally the commercials tell a good story. The rock star one is a perfect story. We have all seen the crowds of adoring fans waiting for their favorite band to pass by so they can swoon. Only this time, the rock star is the most unlikely fellow we could imagine--Ajay Bahht, co-inventor of the USB. Wow!

So what do you find sticky?

Leave your comments below. To leave a comment simply press on comments.

Are you Sticky?

In our lunch, learn and LEAD workshop with our friends at VLK this week we are looking in great depth at how to generate sticky ideas for our presentations. I am hoping to get some feedback leading up to Friday that will help us to wrap our head around the concepts of sticky ideas. One of the most profound, yet simple ideas that comes out of Chip and Dan Heath's book "Made to Stick" is "The Curse of Knowledge" heretofore referred to as: CofK. Ok... The CofK concept is pretty elegant in it's description--Once we know something, it is hard to imagine what it was like to not know it. Done. Millie and I have to remember this when teaching presentation and slide design. We have years of experience doing this--most people don't. So we have to carefully construct our messages to fit the experiences of our audience.

Now, if you have ever had to suffer through the pains of helping your little person with multiplication you can understand CofK at work. As an adult, with years of experience multiplying numbers, we have all learned the little tricks that help us to multiple even the most difficult of numbers. Just the other night I was working with my daughter on 7, 8, and 9. I was hoping the pattern that emerges when multiplying with the number 9 would be obvious. You know it right?

9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90 99 108 117 126 135 144 153 162 171 180

Do you see the pattern?

You probably do.

The number in the ten's place is going up as we climb to 90 and it is going down in the one's place. When we get to 99, we start over again and the tens place goes up one while the one's place goes down one.

But my daughter did not see the pattern on her own.

And this made me frustrated. How could she not see it?

Because I am familiar with the CofK I was good to remember that I probably didn't figure out the pattern on my own either (I'm no rainman mind you) and it is more likley that an adult pointed it out to me. And with that realization I was able to then modify my instruction to her to accommodate for the fact that she does not have the same knowledge base as I do.

So, I am wondering--how does the CofK get in the way of your messages? Consider for example if you work in a highly specialized industry. Do you tend to take for granted that not everyone knows the same things you know? (Computer People can be among the worst! Sorry but it's true!)

Leave your replies below. And good luck conquering the mighty CofK (cue dun dun dun music).

Tomorrow's post will get you thinking about what messages and ideas are sticky to you. Start looking around and considering for example commercials, logos, advertising campaigns, packaging, etc. All of these are places where ideas should be sticky (and often are not!)

Until then, have a great (rainy) Monday

The Cost of Self Delusion

I am about half way through "What Got you Here Won't Get you there" by Marshall Goldsmith, a pretty good read on how to break some of our worst habits to reach our full potential. There is not, so far, anything revolutionary in his list of bad habits that hold us back but I am always a fan of repetition to reinforce some of those hard learned lessons. I have paused to put down here a great thought from this very book, found on p. 134.

"Your flaws at work don't vanish when you walk through the front door at home"

that is worth typing again

"YOUR FLAWS AT WORK DON'T VANISH WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR"

I hear people I work with tell me all the time "I am different outside of the work place" and honestly, I have a pretty tough time believing them. The area I struggle most with in my life is organization. I know that about me. Thank goodness I have Millie as my business partner because she helps me with that by 1. being very organized herself and 2. gently reminding me of things I should be paying attention to but have failed to do. "But I am not that way at home". Yeah right.

Goldsmith tells of a Gordon Gekko like character he worked with who was VERY successful financially but a disaster in his professional relationships. Essentially everyone he worked with hated the man. When Goldsmith sat down with him to address this flaw, the guy's response to him was "Oh that is just me at work, I don't act like that at home". So Goldsmith got his wife on the phone who literally burst out laughing at her husbands self delusional statement. I think the word she used was "jerk" to describe him at home. Just for good measure, Goldsmith got his kids on the phone too. And they corroborated her story. OUCH!

My point? Pay attention to the complaints you receive at home, and there is a good chance that those are the very qualities that are holding you back not just in your personal relationships but in your professional relationships too. May Angelou once said "When people show you who they are, believe them". I would add to that--if they show you to be one thing at work, they are likely the same way at home--and vice versa.

Take a week and write down all the comments that people make about you. Even the comments your kids make (ouch!) Write down the good with the bad. At the end of the week, sit down and see if any patterns emerge from the "passing remarks". Then make a plan to do better.

You Gotta Start Em' Early

My daughter is running for student council today at her school. I don't know if she will win the election as the politics in the 5th grade are just brutal! She asked me to help her prepare her speech and I thought I would share it here to illustrate how I can even apply the principles I teach to a 10 year old's speech to her classmates.

Maddie was a little nervous while she was practicing her speech so I did what I have done for countless other people--I gave her some stage directions. I put them in all capital letters and inside brackets so she would know not to read that out loud! As she practiced her biggest challenge was to not read too fast
(DON’T READ TOO FAST! SLOW) Did you know that a survey I read said people are more scared of giving a speech than of death? Seriously? but I want to run for student council and that means giving a speech.... so here I go.

Maddie had three ideas on why people should vote for her. We used this one as the first because it has the smallest impact. I tried to inject a little humor but who knows with ten year olds if they will laugh at my little attempt at humor. Yeah--I could have told her to just burp really loud--kids love that stuff--but I don't believe in pandering.
(REMEMBER TO MAKE EYE CONTACT)
First of all I think I will do a GREAT job on the maverick morning news. i love watching the news and I think it would be fun to be the newscaster. Have you seen Katie Couric on the TV news? Well I want to be the 5th grade Katie Couric!

(BREATHE, SMILE)
I also like helping other people and I think student council is a great way to serve our school by helping students and people in our community too.

I thought this was the best of Maddie's ideas so we put it last. The idea is a direct connection to the posters she made to hand up around the school. Maddie Spears is Mint and she put packages of spearmint gum all over the poster. It was pretty cute and apparently a hit because all the kids wanted to know if they could have a piece if they vote for her.
The last thing is something I think is a really good idea. Ever wish you could chew gum at school? Well I think we should change twin day to “Double Mint Twin Day”. You would still dress like your friend and be twins but the best part? You get to chew gum in school....ALL DAY LONG! I think that would be really cool.

This was Maddie's idea--I didn't inject a transparent appeal to the audience, she did it herself. You probably have some great ideas too for things we could do at our school. If you vote for me I hope you will tell me your great ideas and I will try and make them happen!

We really struggled here. I had some clever ideas but Maddie vetoed all of them because they were lame and stupid. Her words. So we settled on something pretty simple.
Well I didn’t die huh? My mom said I need a conclusion so here is what I can up with: “If you like a girl with great ideas and want just one day to chew gum at school then vote for Maddie!” (SMILE)

To compliment the speech I made her a T Shirt that says "Vote for Maddie" on the front and "I want to be your DoubleMint Twin" on the back and did black and green to match her gum packets.

Will she win? Who knows. I am more proud that she can get up in front of a crowd and articulate her ideas. She is a pretty great kid and if mom and dad could vote she would be a shoe in. 5th graders are a pretty fickle bunch. But in the end, we had fun working on the posters and speech and win or lose, she is still a great kid.

Chicken Soup is Delicious

I begin first with an admission: I have never read a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. I love a great inspirational story but here's the deal. When I get those kinds of stories in an email, I tend to dismiss them as made up drivel and find myself saying "Seriously?" or "Give me a break". So, when someone recommended the book "The Success Principles" by co-creator of the the Chicken Soup book series Jack Canfield I thought "Um, pass...." But the glowing review that my acquaintance gave the book challenged me to check it out despite my crankiness toward the whole Chicken Soup series idea.

And yes, as you probably expected--I was wrong to be so stubborn and mean spirited about Mr. Canfield's books. If they are as good as The Success Principles then count me in. (Mental note: Pick up Chicken Soup for the Soul next time I am out and about)

The Success Principles are the nice kick in the butt I needed to finish out the final months of 2009 and stay inspired to continue to deliver quality training and development programs to our current clients, and find new clients who have a need for the services we deliver. I have marked up a lot of the book but the section that really zapped me was his discussion of F E A R. I doubt there is anyone who is not held back in some part of their life because of this little four letter word. In fact, in our public speaking workshops and presentation coaching it is F E A R that limits so many of our participants.

Canfield cleverly refers to fear as FANTASIZED EXPERIENCES APPEARING REAL. And it is our fear that keeps us from truly being successful. So--what is your fear? Mine is rejection. I hate feeling rejected and that keeps me from going out into the world and asking for new business. But I am learning to do it. I love what I do and the only way I can continue is by growing what I've got. And that means asking. And that means getting over my fear.

If your fear is public speaking, confrontation, dealing with your boss, going back to school to pursue your REAL dream, asking that special someone out, telling your kids NO!, finally having that sit down with a distant parent use this short and simple exercise from Canfield's book

I want to ____________, and I scare myself by imagining ______________.

By completing the sentence you are taking away some of the power of your fears. You are taking control for your own destiny by acknowleding that your fear is imagined. Let's say for a moment that your fear is real. Yes--I am going to get rejected by some of the people I ask for their business. But if I re-write my interpretation of these seeming rejections as getting me closer to a YES! then my fear is rendered meaningless.

What is your fear keeping you from?

In Canfield's book he peppers each chapter with some great quotes. My favorite is a fitting close:

"Progress always involves risk; you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first" Frederick Wilcox

A Respectful Distance . . .

One of the perils of my job is that I could be accused of being a bit of a dork. For instance, one part of my job is to understand and explain how and why people communicate in the ways that they do. One of the ways that people communicate is through their use of space and I'll admit that how people use space is a source of constant fascination to me.

For instance, take the other day when I saw a Dallas police officer who was having a chat with a (rather portly) panhandler in a very busy intersection in Dallas. The officer had pulled his car along the sidewalk and was talking to the panhandler through his passenger window. The panhandler was standing on the far side of the sidewalk (as far away from the police car as possible without leaving the sidewalk) and had positioned himself so that he was almost even with the front tire of the police car. The officer had to lean all the way into the passenger seat and all the way forward just to talk to the guy.

As I sat at the red light watching this interchange, it struck me that the panhandler was using space to lessen the police officer's control of the situation. He was making life just a little bit hard for the cop without being overtly disrespectful.

While I sat there (it was a really long light), the panhandler shuffled up the sidewalk just a bit so that he was pretty much even with the front bumper of the car. At this point, he actually took control of the situation because the cop could not continue the conversation without either leaning completely across the car and out the passenger window or pulling forward. He chose to pull forward and thus surrendered a little bit more of his power to the panhandler.

Clearly, the police officer was still in a one-up position in terms of the power dynamics of the interchange, but the panhandler significantly diminished the officer's power status through nothing more than a shuffle of the feet.