By Jon, on January 25th, 2012,   I came across a fantastic video recently entitled, Every Presentation Ever. This parody, brought to you by Growing Leaders Inc. and Habitudes for Communicators, includes nearly every blunder and annoyance that creeps its way into 99% of presentations (just my educated guess). I posted it on the Presentation Advisors Facebook page a few days ago. Watching it made me cringe, knowing that these mistakes aren’t a product of PowerPoint or the content, but because the presenter doesn’t know the very basics of effective presentation design and delivery.
However, I didn’t want viewers to get a chuckle and just move on. Instead, I want them to learn from these ever-so-common mistakes. So here are ten lessons that will help you become a better presenter (in order of their appearance in the video).
1. ARRIVE EARLY TO PREPARE The presenter is fumbling Continue reading…
By Jon, on January 1st, 2012,  In order to create an amazing PowerPoint presentation, you have to learn the process of effective presentation design. After four years of blogging, I’ve written a number of posts designed to help you create better, visually engaging and effective PowerPoint presentations. As all blogs posts do, some resonated better than others and often provided great discussion in the comments.
Instead of forcing you to sift through my site, page after page, or trying to search my site with keywords just to find the best posts, I have aggregated 20 of my best blog posts, including the 5 most viewed post written in 2011, to help you become a better PowerPoint presentation designer. Post types include specific presentation design techniques, book reviews, tips, methods, and more.
So without further adieu, here are the best PowerPoint presentation design posts from Presentation Advisors to make you a better presentation Continue reading…
By Jon, on December 12th, 2011,  Thanks to a tweet from fellow presentation designer and visual communicator Tony Ramos, I came across this impressive TEDx talk by John Bohannon, biologist and journalist, entitled, “Dance vs PowerPoint: A Modest Proposal.” Just hearing the title, I was intrigued. I’m no stranger to the numerous arguments against PowerPoint, but I’d never heard of dance as an alternative. Take 11 minutes out of your day to watch this video and I’ll give you my thoughts after the jump.
I’m not sure how you saw it, but it seemed his presentation was divided into two distinct parts, so I’ll cover each of them separately. The first half focused on the explanation of a complex scientific theory that most people (including myself) would find difficult to understand had John explained it one-on-one over a cup of coffee. John used dancers not to reiterate but Continue reading…
By Jon, on December 6th, 2011,  Recently I was sitting at a conference with the keynote speaker as he prepared for his afternoon keynote. He admitted to me that his PowerPoint skills were “basic at best,” as if that meant it was impossible for him to create an effective, enjoyable presentation. I told him, “If you can import a picture, you can create an effective PowerPoint.” He smiled and went back to making his last minute edits, but it left me thinking about the general (mis)perception of what it takes to design effective PowerPoint presentations. You don’t need to know as many PowerPoint techniques as you’d think to improve your presentation tenfold.
If a PowerPoint beginner sat over my shoulder as I edited a PowerPoint presentation, they’d probably be overwhelmed with the numerous and speedy edits, clicks, and adjustments I make as I add set the palette, add images, text, alter colors and more. I Continue reading…
By Jon, on November 28th, 2011,  I was recently browsing twitter and saw a tweet from my friend Kyle Lacy (Founder/CEO of BrandSwag) about a presentation he and his firm had created and placed on SlideShare called “Building Your Personal Brand.” I wanted to share this presentation with you for a number of reasons that I’ll outline below, but particularly because I truly believe that one of the most valuable yet underutilized uses for PowerPoint is developing your personal brand.
Building Your Personal Brand
What the internet, particularly social media, has done over the last 15 years is to level the playing field for those who want to share their passions with others. 15 years ago if you wanted to write, you did it in a journal that probably never strayed further Continue reading…
By Jon, on November 14th, 2011,  Most presentations born in a corporate setting, especially in sales, have a very similar structure. I’ve spoken before about starting your presentation off strong, and even how you can put a new spin on the traditional agenda slide. But recently I noticed a problem that seems to arise in all presentations and I’m not sure presenters realize it is a problem or exactly why. However, the consequences of this error can derail your presentation the moment it starts.
The mistake: Talking about yourself.
Let me spare you the suspense – While your audience, presumably a prospective client, is there to listen to you, they’re not acting as your audience because they want to hear about you. No, they don’t really care about you. All they care about is themselves and how they’re going to solve their problems, reach their goals, or whatever they Continue reading…
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