Er…And your point is?
22/03/12 22:17 Filed in: Presentations
One of the cardinal rules of slide design is: one slide = one topic. Yet even applying that rule, many people still cram their presentation visuals so full of material that the purpose is unclear. So here’s another rule to apply: every slide has to have a point that the audience can absorb in seconds.
Presentation pro and author Nancy Duarte says slides are a glance media, much like billboards. Brain researcher John Medina says multitasking is a myth. People can’t listen to a presenter and read slides at the same time. Other research states that people lose interest in slides very quickly, no matter how well designed they are. The evidence is overwhelming: you need to make your point crystal clear and do it fast.
So, when you’re drafting your slides, give them a once-over asking: what’s the point? Is it clear? Will my audience get it in seconds? If not, it’s time to do more work to bring key ideas into focus. Here are three things you can do to sharpen your slides.
• Create a headline that states the point in words - Make it a complete thought, rather than a complete sentence, to keep it short
• Highlight what you want people to focus on — Use bolder lines to draw the part of a graphic you want to discuss, or use a brighter colour to emphasize important bars in a chart.
• Use builds to layer information on the slide as you talk about it — That way people don’t have to figure out what’s important about a mass of text or complex graphic all at once.
Learn how to write compelling presentations scripts and illustrate them with simple, effective visuals. Join me for the workshop Make an Impact: Presentation Design for Non-Designers, May 31, 2012 in Ottawa.
What people say about Wendy’s Make an Impact workshop:
• “Very interactive. Good pace. Great instructor.” - Mike Nakhlé, Government of Canada project manager
• “Significant recommendations for improving presentations. Well presented. Interesting & challenging.” - Linda Russell, Government of Canada communications advisor
• “Anyone tired of bullet points, bullet points, and more bullet points will come away from this workshop full of new ideas.” Tom Hollon, PhD, Falcon River Biomedical Communications
Presentation pro and author Nancy Duarte says slides are a glance media, much like billboards. Brain researcher John Medina says multitasking is a myth. People can’t listen to a presenter and read slides at the same time. Other research states that people lose interest in slides very quickly, no matter how well designed they are. The evidence is overwhelming: you need to make your point crystal clear and do it fast.
So, when you’re drafting your slides, give them a once-over asking: what’s the point? Is it clear? Will my audience get it in seconds? If not, it’s time to do more work to bring key ideas into focus. Here are three things you can do to sharpen your slides.
• Create a headline that states the point in words - Make it a complete thought, rather than a complete sentence, to keep it short
• Highlight what you want people to focus on — Use bolder lines to draw the part of a graphic you want to discuss, or use a brighter colour to emphasize important bars in a chart.
• Use builds to layer information on the slide as you talk about it — That way people don’t have to figure out what’s important about a mass of text or complex graphic all at once.
Learn how to write compelling presentations scripts and illustrate them with simple, effective visuals. Join me for the workshop Make an Impact: Presentation Design for Non-Designers, May 31, 2012 in Ottawa.
What people say about Wendy’s Make an Impact workshop:
• “Very interactive. Good pace. Great instructor.” - Mike Nakhlé, Government of Canada project manager
• “Significant recommendations for improving presentations. Well presented. Interesting & challenging.” - Linda Russell, Government of Canada communications advisor
• “Anyone tired of bullet points, bullet points, and more bullet points will come away from this workshop full of new ideas.” Tom Hollon, PhD, Falcon River Biomedical Communications
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Write It to Say It Rather Than Read It
19/03/12 14:51 Filed in: Speeches
Has the written speech had its day? That question, posed at the UK Speechwriters’ Guild Conference in February, is getting a lot of attention. The debate started when Russian presentation specialist Alexei Kepterev argued that impromptu communication is more authentic and preferable to safe, dull written speeches. His remarks sparked a spirited response from other speechwriters in their blogs and even the Huffington Post. Follow the links to read posts by the always interesting Martin Shovel, Max Atkinson, Charles Crawford and Kepterev himself.
Now, I don’t agree that authenticity and written out speeches are mutually exclusive ideas. However, Alexei Kepterev’s observation that formal speech texts are often dull is spot on. And the reason why is simple: they’ve been written for the page, rather than the stage.
One of the keys to crafting a good speech is to write it to be spoken, not read. Here are three techniques for using a script to engage in conversation with your audience as opposed to merely reading them your speech.
Write the way you speak - Spoken English follows a simple model: subject, verb, object. “I have a plan.” We naturally speak in the active voice. So, keep sentences simple, direct and active. Oh, and don’t get hung up on the rules of grammar. People often speak in sentence fragments; and they split their infinitives, misplace their modifiers and leave their participles dangling too.
Set up the page to help your delivery - Long paragraphs and speech texts don’t mix. It’s hard to keep track of your place when the page is filled with dense chunks of text. Instead, start every sentence (or fragment) on a new line. Or, do as Churchill did, and set up the page so that each line ends where you want to pause or take a breath.
Rehearse - Read your speech aloud and amend it until the words flow off your tongue. Then practise your lines until you just have to glance at the script from time to time to stay on track. It helps if you let go of the notion that you must say every word exactly as it’s written.
To learn more speechwriting techniques join me for the workshops Write Out Loud: Practical Speechwriting Skills and Deliver Value Beyond Words: Advanced Speechwriting Skills scheduled in Ottawa October 18 and 19, 2012.
Now, I don’t agree that authenticity and written out speeches are mutually exclusive ideas. However, Alexei Kepterev’s observation that formal speech texts are often dull is spot on. And the reason why is simple: they’ve been written for the page, rather than the stage.
One of the keys to crafting a good speech is to write it to be spoken, not read. Here are three techniques for using a script to engage in conversation with your audience as opposed to merely reading them your speech.
Write the way you speak - Spoken English follows a simple model: subject, verb, object. “I have a plan.” We naturally speak in the active voice. So, keep sentences simple, direct and active. Oh, and don’t get hung up on the rules of grammar. People often speak in sentence fragments; and they split their infinitives, misplace their modifiers and leave their participles dangling too.
Set up the page to help your delivery - Long paragraphs and speech texts don’t mix. It’s hard to keep track of your place when the page is filled with dense chunks of text. Instead, start every sentence (or fragment) on a new line. Or, do as Churchill did, and set up the page so that each line ends where you want to pause or take a breath.
Rehearse - Read your speech aloud and amend it until the words flow off your tongue. Then practise your lines until you just have to glance at the script from time to time to stay on track. It helps if you let go of the notion that you must say every word exactly as it’s written.
To learn more speechwriting techniques join me for the workshops Write Out Loud: Practical Speechwriting Skills and Deliver Value Beyond Words: Advanced Speechwriting Skills scheduled in Ottawa October 18 and 19, 2012.