Mar 04 2009

Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu

Many business people use PowerPoint religiously each week. Although millions of PowerPoint presentations are being prepared and delivered on a regular basis around the world, it often feels as though “PowerPoint land” is a lawless “wild west”. Presentation audiences – big and small – have endured heinous PowerPoint sins for years.

PowerPoint users need to be held to a higher standard so here are the Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu that I came up with: Continue reading “Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu”

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Feb 11 2009

Time is the Root of All PowerPoint Evil

People love to hate PowerPoint, but the real problem is time

People love to hate PowerPoint, but the real problem is time management. (c)iStockphoto/Rickard Blommengren

When it comes to bad PowerPoint presentations, most people love to blame the tool or software. However, it’s interesting that many other people can use the same tool and achieve completely different results.

You might be able to rack up the different outcomes to a person’s experience and expertise, but I believe all ‘PowerPoint evil’ can be traced back to the simple issue of time – and how we manage it or choose to spend it. Continue reading “Time is the Root of All PowerPoint Evil”

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Dec 20 2008

Book Review: Made to Stick

Made to Stick

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, written by Chip and Dan Heath, breaks down how ideas can be made more powerful and long-lasting by following a simple set of rules. This book focuses on what should be the essence of any business presentation – how to create a core message that resonates with an audience and causes them to act in a desired way. I highly recommend Made to Stick (five of five stars) as it is well-written and provides a pragmatic approach to forming sticky ideas – a crucial foundation for any great presentation. Continue reading “Book Review: Made to Stick”

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Nov 29 2008

13 Ways to Quickly Derail a PowerPoint Presentation — Part I

Avoid derailing your PowerPoint presentation. Start strong, build momentum, and don't let up!

Most presentation experts would agree that it is important to have a strong opening to your business presentation. Your audience will give you five minutes or less (usually less) to determine if your presentation is worth listening to or not. They may not physically leave your presentation (that would be rude), but if your audience is unimpressed, disappointed, or annoyed, they will disengage mentally. Suddenly, their iPhone/BlackBerry or the doodling in their notepad becomes more important to them than what you’re presenting. Continue reading “13 Ways to Quickly Derail a PowerPoint Presentation — Part I”

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Nov 11 2008

PowerPoint Slides: How to Balance Simplicity with Detail

Many presentation experts recommend keeping your PowerPoint slides as simple as possible. How do you balance keeping your slides simple with providing your audience with ample information? On one hand, you don’t want to necessarily pack your business presentation with too much information leading to a death by PowerPoint experience for your audience. On the other hand, you worry about providing insufficient details for them to deeply understand your topic and apply what they learned. I will review four different tactics that you can use to overcome this challenge: Continue reading “PowerPoint Slides: How to Balance Simplicity with Detail”

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