- ‘Less is more’ is exposing, leaving an unconfident presenter feeling unsupported.
- ‘Talking over a slide’ happens because the presenter has no idea what is next, and can’t transition to or position the slide without seeing it himself/herself.
- ‘Cramming too much in’ happens because editing is a second part of the process all too often overlooked in presentation preparation. Often, this results because the presenter is unclear as to the real problem s/he is trying to address. So, the only way to deal with that is to put too much in. It is like having an important guest to your house for dinner and not knowing in advance what they like to eat, or if they have any food allergies. In your desire to please them and appear to be a good host, you make too much food, still never feeling ‘ready’ and confident that you’ve made the right things. Lesson: Ask what someone wants/needs to eat before planning your menu.

Ah, when will we learn? On the plus side, having used these techniques in my own work for some time, and having just reworked a subpar client course using these techniques, I know they work. How? People remember things. People learn. People walk away wanting to do things differently. Isn’t that the real purpose of any presentation: To drive better performance and to solve problems? If not, put it in an email and just press send.

My bottom line: Just because you said it, doesn’t mean they got it. If you want them to get it, present it differently.

Cheers,
Ken De Loreto

Thanks,
Robby

Thanks for including the overview and slides.

Cheers

Darren Fleming