By Jon, on October 12th, 2011,  
Maybe it’s fueled by the recent “99%” protests happening around the U.S. (of which I can’t say I totally understand), but I’m reviving my neglected-as-of-late blog to take a stand. As a general approach to effective PowerPoint presentation design – bullet points are not okay.
Let me give you a bit more back story. I’ve answered a handful of questions on Quora, a crowdsourced Q&A site. Some have been about social media and marketing, but most address presentation questions. Someone recently answered a question that I had once answered, so I get the notification in my email. The question was, “What makes a good PowerPoint presentation?” (Yes, pretty open ended and generic). As I read the latest answer, my fuse finally ran out. Boom.
“Six bullet points per slide. Each bullet point with no more than 6 words.”
Now, let’s get some perspective on this. In Continue reading…
By Jon, on September 22nd, 2011,  This past Monday I had the privilege of speaking at the Presentation Summit in gorgeous Austin, TX (note the view from my window in my Instagram picture on the right). It was one of the most unique experiences of my speaking career, and I’m really impressed with the embrace by such a large crowd of the pursuit of effective presentation design and delivery. But what I was most surprised (and I shouldn’t have been) was how much I learned and how far I need to go to consider myself truly an effective presenter (not just presentation designer). I just wish I could have stayed for all three days instead of just one.
The morning opened with a brief intro by conference host Rick Altman (of Better Presenting). He urged the audience, with the help of Denzel Washington’s commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania, to fail Continue reading…
By Jon, on September 6th, 2011, 
When presenting, we’ try to convey meaning to our audience. The content we’re delivering means something to us, and we hope it will mean something to our audience. But it’s up to you, the presenter, to unearth that meaning and connection. Simply delivering facts, figures, statistics, and testimonials aren’t enough. Without a story, your content—whether you’re pitching your startup idea to investors, trying to sell a service to a business owner, or hoping to motivate potential donors to support your charity—will be meaningless. Sure, a flashy demo or impressive numbers might pique their interest, but what’s going to form a long-lasting memory in their minds? What move not only their minds, but also their hearts? A recent trip got me thinking about the value of a story.
This Labor Day weekend my wife and I decided to take the 76-minute train ride into New York City and be “tourists” for Continue reading…
By Jon, on August 4th, 2011,  Editor’s Note: You’ve prepared for weeks (if not months) researching, gathering, and designing your content, but it all comes down to the minutes you spend delivering it to your audience. When that audience is live, sitting just feet from you, it’s imperative to make a real connection with them. One of the most important delivery tools to make that connection is eye-contact. Since my expertise is in design, I brought in Fred Miller, a presentation delivery expert, to explain how you can use eye contact to engage and connect with your audience members.
Start Off Strong
The first element of nonverbal communication is Eye Contact. It’s one of those tools that you can use right at the beginning to start your presentation off strong.
After being introduced Continue reading…
By Jon, on July 25th, 2011,  Stories are clever little fellas. They can sneak their way into your heart and evoke emotions that you didn’t even know you were going to feel. They grab your heart and mind and connect you to an experience, whether factual or fictional, as if you experienced the adventure yourself.
It’s not a hard sell to convince people how powerful stories can be, and how important they are in conveying our messages. However I talk about it so much that sometimes I wonder if maybe just a little bit of what I’m saying is hot air. But then I hear a story, and feel the effect it has on me, and realize that the power of storytelling is very true and real. I know, because this time it brought Continue reading…
By Jon, on July 21st, 2011,  Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Brand Provocateur Mary van de Wiel (aka Van) on her BlogTalk Show – NY Brand Lab Radio. We had a 30-minute chat about all things storytelling, including personal-brand storytelling, the convergence of presentation design and marketing, social media, relationship building, as well as the benefits of letting your guard down and truly inviting your audience into your world.
Van has actually been interviewing some major storytelling thought leaders this year, including Michael Margolis, Nancy Duarte, Raf Stevens, and my good friend Clay Hebert (twice).
Van is a masterful brand storyteller in her own right. The founder of Zing Your Brand, Van helps brands narrow in on the scintillating spark that can set them on fire.
Take a listen and let me know what Continue reading…
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