******************************************************************* Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Tip Issue #129 March 6, 2007 Published & Copyright by Dave Paradi of ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com Circulation 8,586 *******************************************************************
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******************************************************************* In this issue: New "Presenting Data to Executives" ebook Public Workshop in Toronto PowerPoint Tip - What the Audience Really Wants Best of the Blog - Lessons from "An Inconvenient Truth" Dave's Travel Schedule *******************************************************************
New "Presenting Data to Executives" ebook
Based on an increasing number of requests to help specialists and analysts revise their executive presentations, I have created a new ebook on how to present data to executives. It is ideal for anyone who presents financial, operational, market, sales or other data. More details at http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/presentdata.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Workshop in Toronto
I have been getting a number of inquiries about public workshops recently. I do public workshops in conjunction with conferences or sponsoring associations and I have one coming up in Toronto, ON on April 20th. It is in conjunction with the Health & Safety 2007 conference and will cover key issues such as presentation structure, slide design, best practices for individual slides, using more visual slides, multimedia and delivery. To register, go to http://www.iapa.ca/conference and sign up for the post-conference workshop (you don't have to sign up for the conference to attend the workshop).
------------------------------------------------------------------- PowerPoint Tip - What The Audience Really Needs
Too many times presenters assume they know what their audience needs. And too many times they are wrong. I remember a presentation I did a couple of years ago where I made this mistake. I had a conversation with the person who had booked me and I felt that I knew what they wanted. I prepared my presentation but as I was on the stage, I could see that I wasn't hitting the mark. And the evaluations showed it.
A few months later a fellow professional speaker reinforced for me the need to dig deeper to find out what the audience really needs. So now I regularly use online survey tools to find out what topics the audience wants me to cover and I structure my presentation accordingly.
The past two weekends I spoke in Nashville and Las Vegas for the same organization. And the presentation was so successful because of my preparation, specifically my audience research. When they asked me to speak, I suggested that we do an online survey of the attendees so that I could focus the presentation.
When the results came in, I was able to start formulating the topics I would present. Then I had another conversation with the conference organizer and we discussed the results of the survey. She was able to add more insight, including the biggest question that the people attending the meeting struggle with. She also clarified the overall purpose of the meeting. These two critical pieces of information helped me focus even tighter on what would be of value to my audience.
This audience focus is one of my key philosophies when presenting and was a key driver in my latest ebook, "Presenting Data to Executives". Too many specialists and analysts deliver "data dump" presentations that don't take into account the perspective of the executives in the room. This leaves the executives confused and without the information they need to make important decisions. It also hurts the presenters chances at advancement. If you present data to management or executive groups, check out this new ebook at http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/presentdata.htm . If you are an executive who has seen one too many of these confusing "data dump" presentations, email me so we can discuss a customized session to teach your staff the secrets of executive presentations.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Best of the blog - Lessons from an Academy Award winning presentation
Last week the movie "An Inconvenient Truth", based on a presentation by the same name, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Film. Earlier this year I watched the movie and wrote an article on what lessons presenters can learn from the presentation and how the message is being spread by Al Gore and others his organization has trained to deliver the presentation. Check it out at http://snipurl.com/inconvtruth
Other recent blog posts at http://pptideas.blogspot.com : Why some templates don't work very well You Know You Have Lost Your Audience When ...
------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave's Travel Schedule
If you have been sitting through too many presentations that did not relay the key information needed to make critical decisions, you should schedule an in-house or web based seminar or workshop. You can save money by booking me to speak to your organization or conference when I am close to your area for other clients. Here's where I will be in the next few months:
March 22 Toronto & Mississauga, ON March 29 Huntsville, ON March 30 Toronto, ON April 10 Toronto, ON April 16 Toronto, ON April 19 Toronto, ON April 20 Toronto, ON (1 day Think Outside The Slide(tm) workshop that you can register for at http://www.iapa.ca/conference ) May 26 London, ON July 6-12 San Diego, CA July 13-16 Los Angeles, CA September 7-9 Winnipeg, MB October 25-26 Huntsville, ON E-mail me at Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com to discuss how my Think Outside The Slide(tm) sessions can help your organization be more productive and improve communication throughout the organization.
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