Declutter EVERYTHING!
The goal of your talk is: “The Audience GETS IT!”
They don’t have to agree with everything you say, but they do have to understand it.
DECLUTTERING the Components, Parts, and Elements of your presentation can help you reach that goal!
The Tenets to Follow for DECLUTTERING Are:
Clean – Simple – Zen-like
Less is More!
Apply Those Rules to Declutter to the Following: Props
There are good reasons to use props. People learn three ways: By seeing, hearing, and doing.
Because over half your audience are visual learners, props, when used correctly, can help them GET IT!
Props should be large enough that everyone in the audience can see them and easily determine what they are.
Keep them out of sight until the point in your talk where they are needed. Otherwise they are a distraction to your presentation.
Put props out of sight when finished so they are not a diversion.
PowerPoint/Keynote
A Slide Presentation is a prop. It is a tool. It is not the presentation!
Use high quality, universally understood images.
Otherwise, it’s the equivalent of showing people Rorschach (Ink Blot) images. Individual interpretations will vary, and people will GET different meanings from your presentation.
Those images should have a white background with no distractions in them.
One image per slide is usually best.
When constructing your slides, use Simple
Build Ins
Build Outs
Transitions
Templates
A White background Template, with nothing but the image you place in it, in most cases, is best.
Other colors, unless done with great care, make images hard to see.
Insert Blank (Black) slides, at strategic intervals into your presentation.
They will take the audience’s attention off the screen and onto You, the presenter.
Eliminate, except perhaps on the first and last slides:
Logos
Copyright
Contact information
If they like your “stuff.” they will seek you out!
Dont Use:
Fancy Fonts
Use Arial, Gills Sans, or Helvetica
Crazy Colored Fonts
Page Numbers
Dates
Bullet Points Kill – Kill the Bullet Points!
Bullet Points do not reinforce your message!
They
Confuse your audience.
Complicate your message.
Conflict with your presentation.
Study after study confirms: We Cannot Multitask!
When you have Bullet Points on your slide, the audience is reading a different line than you are speaking. This makes for a disconnect!
Get a Good Wireless Remote Control
It is distracting, as I’ve witnessed many times, to continually walk to the presentation laptop to push the “Forward” Key.
Your Wireless Remote should allow you to:
Advance slides and go in reverse.
Control the volume of audio in your presentation.
BLANK the screen to take the attention of the audience off the screen and place it on You!
Have a laser pointer.
Personal Appearance
Don’t Wear
A name tag, ribbons, etc.
Your cell phone, pedometer, or pager (yes, they still make them), where they will be noticed.
A wild and distracting: Tie, shirt, sport coat, eyeglass frame, dress, hat, shoes, etc.
Jewelry that catches light and shines.
All the above is Clutter and distracts the audience.
Think about Steve Jobs’ Clean and Simple “uniform.”
Plain black turtleneck sweater, jeans, and sneakers.
Language
Every industry, age group, and region has buzz words, acronyms, technospeak.
Don’t use them:
In a guest post, your blogpost, a comment, white paper, or offline article; use language everyone will understand without constantly looking through a dictionary.
In your writing; online and offline.
Speaking.
An audience will not be impressed when you talk in language they don’t understand.
No one wants to feel stupid.
Rather than ask, “What does that mean?” they will tune you out.
This applies to what they read as well as what they hear.
Videos
Here, as in your slide presentations, the same rules apply.
Intros and Outtros, transitions, language, and backdrops should all be Clean and Simple.
Handouts
Don’t!
Unless you are conducting a Workshop.
In that case, try to ensure people don’t look ahead in the material.
They are distraction and have the same negative effect Bullet Points have in Slide Presentations.
The audience will be reading a different section or sentence then you are presenting and there will be an extreme disconnection.
If you must have Handouts:
Distribute them after your talk.
Email them after your presentation.
This is also a great way to build your database!
Follow the above suggestions for DECLUTTERING Your presentations and they will be – NO SWEAT!
For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you An Elevator Speech Template and an Elevator Speech Worksheet. (Who hasn’t struggled with their Elevator Speech!)
Go to HERE to receive it! ———————————————————————————————————————————————————
About the Author Fred E. Miller is a speaker, an international coach, and the author of the books, “NO SWEAT Public Speaking!” and “NO SWEAT Elevator Speech!”
Businesses, Individuals, and Organizations hire him because they want to improve their Networking, Public Speaking, andPresentation Skills.
They do this because they know:"Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities."
They also know:We perceive really great speakers to be Experts. We like to work with Experts.
He shows them how to: Develop, Practice, and Deliver Fantastic Presentations! with – NO SWEAT!
Services:
Keynote Speaker
Workshop Facilitator
Breakout Sessions
Personal and Group Public Speaking and Presentation Coaching
Crafting Your Elevator Speech, Floor by Floor with – NO SWEAT!
Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.
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If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about this post or other posts please contact me: Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com.
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