Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Tip Newsletter - Issue #178, February 10, 2009
Published & Copyright by Dave Paradi of ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com.  Circulation over 8,200
In this issue
Latest Slide Makeover
Public workshops in March & April
Take me with you
Save time with content templates
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
Feb 19 - London, ON (Manufacturing)
Feb 21-23 - Chicago, IL (MBA students)
Feb 26 - Quebec City, QC (Association)
March 2-3 - Cincinnati, OH (Healthcare)
March 16-18 - Los Angeles, CA (Association seminar open to the public, for details click here)
March 23-26 - St. John's, NL (Utility; tentative)
April 8 - Ottawa, ON public half-day workshop, details here
April 18 - Calgary, AB (CAPS Chapter)
April 21 - Toronto, ON (Association conference)
April 22 - Toronto, ON IAPA post-conference workshop open to
the public, for details click here
May 8-9 - Chicago, IL (MBA students)
June 28-30 - New Orleans, LA (SHRM Conference)
 Latest Slide Makeover Video
If you are showing a process that repeats on a regular basis, make sure that it is clear for the audience.  This makeover shows a slide that tries to explain a cyclical process but doesn't succeed as well as it could.  The new slide tells the story clearly and is easier to understand.  Click on the video below to play it in your browser.

Slide Makeover Video at www.YouTube.com/thinkoutsidetheslide
Public workshops coming up in March & April

March 17, Los Angeles/Santa Monica, CA: half-day workshop
On March 17th in Santa Monica, I'll be delivering a half-day workshop that you can register for at a discounted rate.  Get details and register at
http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/powerpointseminar.htm .

April 22, Toronto, ON: full day workshop sponsored by IAPA
On the last day of the IAPA Conference in Toronto, I'll be delivering a full day of ideas on how to transform your overloaded text slides into persuasive visuals.  You can register for this workshop as course PD300 at
http://www.iapa.ca/Main/Micro/conference_2009/registrate.asp (Click on the Register Now button and follow the registration process)

Special Launch: Take me with you when you present

If you have ever run in to problems when you are setting up or during your presentation, wouldn't it be nice to be able to call me and get a solution to your problem?  Nice, but not possible, since I can't possibly offer that service to everyone.  But I've done the next best thing, and I am happy to announce it today.

When problems arise during your presentation, pull out your Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile device or other smartphone and pull up http://m.thinkoutsidetheslide.com, the new mobile-specific section of the ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com web site.  It answers the most common questions presenters face before or during their presentation, like:
  • My slides show on my laptop screen but not through the projector - what do I do?
  • My video clip won't play - what do I do?
  • The mouse cursor keeps coming up every time I advance to the next point - how do I get rid of it?
  • I was just told I have less time to present - what do I do?
  • My computer just froze up - what do I do?
  • and many more
Here is what is looks like on an iPhone/iPod and a Blackberry:

Mobile site on iPhone/iPod          Mobile site on Blackberry

Each question is a hot link to the answer, so just click on the question and you have quick access to just the information you need.  You can also scroll through all the questions and answers to find the right information to solve the problem you’ve run in to.

Bookmark http://m.thinkoutsidetheslide.com on your device today and pass it on to fellow presenters.

Don’t have a smartphone?  No problem, the site works from any computer.  You can even save it as an HTML file on your computer because the entire site is on one page!
Don't create your own slides, copy and customize

Would you like to cut hours off your preparation time for each presentation?  Now you can with pre-designed slides that allow you to copy, paste and customize visuals such as graphs and diagrams. All the colors, positioning and even animation has been done for you.  Check them out at http://www.PPtContentTemplates.com .
From the Blog at PPtIdeas.blogspot.com: Don’t misinterpret Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
In a blog post at http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html, Guy Kawasaki says:
“Before there is an epidemic of Ménière’s in the venture capital community, I am trying to evangelize the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.”

Ever since this blog post, commentators have used it to justify a call to reduce the number of slides in all types of presentations. But I think most of these commentators are misguided. Let’s look at what Kawasaki actually said. He said the rule applies to venture capital presentations and “any presentation to reach agreement”. OK, hands up, how many of you are almost always doing presentations where you expect to reach an agreement in that meeting? What, almost no hands up!?! Exactly my point.

Most of the presentations that are done are not ones in which you expect to reach agreement in that presentation – even if they are sales presentations. I’d say less than 10% (and I’m being generous at that) of presentations fall into the category that Kawasaki talks about. So why do so many commentators apply it to other types of presentations? Beats me! But I think it may have to do with the search for a simple way to solve the problem of poor presentations. We are all annoyed at the awful presentations we have to sit through, but we don’t know what to do about them.

The effectiveness of the presentation has less to do with the number of slides you use as it does with the connection you make with the audience. If you actually read the blog post – go do it now, I’ll wait for you – OK, you’re back and I’ll continue – Kawasaki talks about the barrier that slides create between the presenter and the audience when not used well. There are many ways to solve this problem, one being his 10/20/30 rule.

My suggestion, captured in my book The Visual Slide Revolution, is to transform the wall of text that Kawasaki describes, into persuasive visuals. This allows you to have a conversation with the audience, connecting with them and more effectively delivering your message – whether it is a message updating financial figures, HR policy training or a sales pitch. It actually can lead to more slides being used, but they are more effective and the audience is not bored stiff.

Before you buy in to the latest commentator who quotes Kawasaki’s rule, step back and think for yourself. There is no easy answer to this issue. But there is a better way to use slides if you are willing to invest in the success of your presentation.
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Contact Dave: Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com or call 905-510-4911
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