Better PowerPoint Presentation
Have you even read one of your presentations lately? What are you doing? Most presentation are Information Monsters – like reading a long drawer of index cards in a library.
Most presentation are just this: STATISTIACTICS. A whole bunch of numbers with “some random shit we could do but we haven’t thought any of it through”.
Let’s try this instead.
Story Rainbows seduce people instead of beating them down with all your information
The simplest way to structure your presentation is this with details:
1. Hook (Start in the action, bring the drama) < ACT 1
2. Situation (10 slides, build on one theme)
3. Challenge (state the problem)
4. Our Idea (dwell on the organizing idea < ACT 2
5. Our tactics (only what you recommend, connected to the theme)
6. Rollout plan < ACT 3
7. Logistics
8. End (what the future looks like, revive the hook)
Key Issues with presentations
1. No central theme – bouncing everywhere
2. Useless information – put it in the appendix
3. Telling the audience what they already know
4. Lack of a show – entertain us!
Now, to the person-in-charge/reading this, stop being so scared. Unleash your colleagues who know how to write and how to tell stories. Stop saying “my concern is blah blah blah blah blah.” Don’t edit slides you aren’t presenting. Challenge yourself/team/colleagues to be bolder. Otherwise, get out of the way.