Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Tip Newsletter - Issue #182, April 7, 2009
Published & Copyright by Dave Paradi of ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.  Circulation over 8,200
In this issue
Latest Slide Makeover
29 Minutes With Dave web training
Plan your follow-up
Workshop attendee comments
From the blog
The Visual Slide Revolution book at www.VisualSlideRevolution.com
One of the Top 10 Business Books of 2008
Click on the cover to learn more
Book Dave to do a live program for your group:
1) Transforming Text Slides into Persuasive Visuals
2) Hands-on Creating Persuasive PowerPoint Visuals
3) Cutting Presentation Preparation Time by Using Content Templates and Creating a Slide Library
4) Creating and Delivering Effective Web Presentations
Click here to learn more and book Dave.
Dave's Travel Schedule
April 8 - Ottawa, ON public half-day workshop, details here
April 18 - Calgary, AB (CAPS Chapter)
April 21 - Toronto, ON (Association conference)
April 24-26 - Mississauga, ON (Participating in Speaker Boot Camp, e-mail me for details)
May 8-9 - Chicago, IL (MBA students)
May 11 - Toronto, ON (CAPS Chapter)
June 28-30 - New Orleans, LA (SHRM Conference)
August 21 - Toronto, ON (MBA Students)
October 13-14 - Atlanta, GA (PowerPoint Live conference)
October 17 - Edmonton, AB (CAPS Chapter)
 Latest Slide Makeover Video
Seth Godin and PC World describe this slide as one of the worst PowerPoint slides ever.  The complex diagram makes it impossible to understand what the message is.  This makeover shows a better way to present complex diagrams so the audience understands the ideas.  Click on the video below to play it in your browser via YouTube (or click here to watch it on my web site in QuickTime format).

Slide Makeover Video at www.YouTube.com/thinkoutsidetheslide
Learn how to create Calendar Visuals in 29 minutes

You’ve been watching the Slide Makeover videos or you’ve seen me present slide makeovers in a live session and you’d like to know how I did that in PowerPoint.  I’ve listened to your feedback and I am introducing a new, quick way to learn the skills I use in creating makeovers that leave you amazed at what can be done in PowerPoint.  Introducing the 29 Minutes With Dave web-based training series.  The first session is on April 23rd and is on how to create Calendar Visuals instead of listing dates.  Get all the details at www.29MinutesWithDave.com.

PowerPoint Tip: Plan your follow-up

Is your presentation done when you stop speaking and the audience has left the room?  It shouldn’t be.  Research published in the book “Brain Rules” by John Medina shows that people remember the information better if they are re-exposed to it after your presentation.  This means that your presentation should consist of the time you have with the audience plus a planned follow-up to reinforce your message.

So what does a planned follow-up look like?  You can plan to send one or more follow-up e-mails to the audience members to remind them of some of the key ideas and direct them to more resources or implementation ideas.  You can prepare a special report extending the ideas and mail it to the audience members two weeks after the presentation.  You can schedule a conference call or web meeting to answer any questions that have come up.  Or you can create a series of videos to reinforce your message and make them available over the web.

Let me share what I have changed in my approach to presentation follow-up.  In the past, workshop attendees had the opportunity to add their name to the newsletter list and they received the same e-course that those signing up on the web receive.  This year I have changed what workshop participants receive.  They start with a reminder to start implementing what we covered in the session and a suggestion of the easiest change they can make to improve their slides.  I also address the key objection people have to implementing the ideas and give a strategy to overcome it.  Then, they are given access to the past makeover videos to learn even more.

Thirty days after their name is added to the list, they receive another reminder and are directed to more resources, including back issues of the newsletter, over 45 articles, a link to get my book “The Visual Slide Revolution” and a link to short “how-to” videos that can help them when creating slides.  The goal is to help the participants in my sessions have the greatest chance of succeeding in using the ideas to transform the overloaded “wall of text” slides into persuasive visuals.

You don’t have to follow my exact approach, but consider how you can increase the impact of your message by planning the follow-up before you deliver your next presentation.  If it is time for your organization to schedule one of my workshops, let me know and we’ll get the process started.

Recent comments from workshop attendees

"It was great!  Not only did I learn useful shortcuts, how to think beyond text slide and how to get my point across with graphs and pictures instead of text, but I was engaged the whole time.  Proving that Dave’s process really works.  Fantastic workshop!"
"I’ll never look at my PP screen the same again.  Ideas will allow me to produce a far more convincing, interesting and worthwhile presentation.  Thank you very much, fantastic day."
"I’m shocked – way above my expectations which were already high."
"Very informative ….Great real world examples delivered with intelligence."
Click here to learn about how I customize every workshop to deliver exactly what your group needs.
From the Blog at PPtIdeas.blogspot.com: Oratory & Obama   

Marianne Gobeil of Leading Communicators did a great job in her newsletter last week pointing out that US President Obama is not a great orator, but he is a great communicator. She explains that the difference is that an orator uses big fancy phrases and words, whereas a great communicator understands their audience and directs their message to the concerns of that audience. She observes that this skill gave President Obama a great advantage over his rivals in the election process. I suggest you read her newsletter and check out her unique SpeakCheck® service if you want your leadership communication to improve.

So how do we extend these ideas to the world where we are not the top leader of a nation or a company, but we have a presentation that is important to us and the people in the audience? I suggest you focus on Marianne’s observation about great communicators being audience focused. One of the steps I always cover when talking about the structure of your presentation is doing a full audience analysis. Only after you understand their situation can you decide what you need to say. Secondly, prepare your visuals so they have context for your audience, meaning that the audience will understand them because the visual is familiar.

Remember that the presentation is about the audience, not about the presenter.

Comments on the new look of the newsletter? Click here to e-mail me.
Contact Dave: Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com or call 905-510-4911
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