Trainers Alliance International

Impress Your Audience with PowerPoint

By Hugh Curley

PowerPoint is a tool, and like all tools it can make our life much better or much worse. Consider the hammer. If we need a nail driven, the hammer makes an excellent tool; if we need to replace glass, the hammer will make matters worse. Because PowerPoint is a much more complex tool than a hammer, it can be much more beneficial or much more detrimental.

Here are a few rules I saw violated recently to the detriment of the presentation.

1. Before the audience arrives, verify the correct operation, connections, sound levels and lighting. Ensure all of the stage hands know their functions and what cues cause them to respond. Ensure all equipment and props are ready and that you know how to use them. Test your laser pointer to ensure adequate luminance and that you can hold it still. It works best if multiple presenters all use the same equipment, if possible.
2. Use a remote control that has forward, backward, blank slide and a laser pointer. These can be purchased for $30.00 or more. An example is at  http://store.greenpearle.com/mirafrwiprwl3.html. This will allow you to move around on the stage rather than being tied to your computer. Do not try to substitute a wireless mouse for a remote control; they do not have the ability to go backward or blank the screen and they do have other buttons which you may inadvertently press.
3. Be sure that the audience members can read the slides on the screen. Remember that not all members have eyes as good as yours. A good general rule for text is five lines maximum of five words each, set in a bold text. If you must show copies of screens, use the magnifier to highlight the points of interest (capture the screen with the magnifier already in place rather than try to use it on your presentation).
4. Do not read the material on the slide. It does two things: 1) turns you eyes away for the audience so you lose contact with them, and 2) insinuates that they cannot read. Paraphrase the slide content, explain it, tell a story about it but do not read it.
5. When using a laser pointer, the audience members must find it on the screen and then follow it. They will not be able to do either it if you move it quickly over the area of interest. Slowly move the laser pointer over or around the area of interest. Also, be sure the batteries are new.
6. Blank the slide when you are not referring to it. People will naturally look toward the bright light and read what is on the slide, rather than listening to you. As they continue to read the slide, they will find the spelling error your seven proofreaders missed.
7. If you have enough information to require PowerPoint, you have too much information for the audience members to remember or to write down – give them copies of the slides. Otherwise they will be concentrating on copying the slides and ignoring your talking.
8. Pictures and graphics can communicate much more information in a more easily understood and remembered manner than a bunch of words. Avoid cutesy pictures, gratuitous icons, emoticons, excessive animation and complex or highly detailed photos. If you cannot convince your worst critic in one short sentence why that graphic is required for your show, delete it.

PowerPoint is a powerful tool that can enhance your presentations immeasurably when used properly. In the famous word of Tony the Tiger, use it as wisely and it will make you look “Grrrrreat.”

Honesty matters. Most of us think we’re honest, but in reality, we lie all the time. To whom do you think you lie the most? Your boss? Your significant other? Your kids? Yourself?

I imagine that I lie to myself the most. I tell myself I’m going to finish a project by a certain time, and then I write email or work on a different project or go talk to a colleague. I tell myself I won’t go to bed without going to the gym or for a walk. Then when I crawl into bed at 2 AM I wonder why I couldn’t have taken 10 minutes to walk around the block.

That’s not lying, you might be thinking. Lying is when you say something untruthful, with the intent to deceive.

Since 1998 I’ve been studying the concept of Radical Honesty as presented by Brad Blanton, Ph.D., in his books, Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth; Practicing Radical Honesty: How to Complete the Past, Live in the Present and Build a Future with a Little Help from Your Friends; Radical Parenting: Seven Steps to a Functional Family in a Dysfunctional World, and others.

After many years of studying the Radical Honesty paradigm, I am just now getting used to saying to someone, “What you just said made me uncomfortable,” or, to use Dr. Blanton’s preferred wording, “I resent you for what you just said.”

It used to be much easier for me to stuff those feelings, to sweep the words under the rug, to justify to myself why I shouldn’t react to them, or to simply put those feelings in a mental backpack to be dumped out later—often months later—in anger or hysteria. As I become more adept at noticing those feelings in my body, it becomes harder and harder to stuff or repress them. Now I am aware that the pain of not speaking my truth is far greater than the momentary fear that comes from taking a deep breath and speaking. It gets easier every time I do it, which helps me encourage others in my life to be honest with me, and to risk speaking my truth to more people outside my comfort zone.

We mostly lie by withholding information (“Oh, I forgot to tell you, there won’t be any bonuses or raises again this year”), and by saying something we don’t really mean (“I’d be glad to work on this project with you,” which may really mean, “I don’t have any choice except to work with you, but I’ll let you do most of the work”).

Think about it. When you ask your mate, “What’s wrong?” and she says, “Nothing,” she’s lying. Do you believe her? You can tell by her body language, her tone of voice, and the tears in her eyes that she’s lying. Or, you ask him, “What’s wrong,” and he glares at you, or says, “Nothing,” but he’s not looking at you and you know he’s on another planet emotionally. It is even worse in the work place, where women are taught it isn’t okay to cry, men are often competitive, and managers think they don’t need to tell their employees anything.

With the stress these days of layoffs, cutbacks, and everything else, wouldn’t an honest conversation between management and staff be a welcome change? Wouldn’t quashing rumors before they get out of hand make for happier workers? Wouldn’t taking the “wonder” out of what’s really going on make people want to come to work and more willing to do the jobs of their fallen colleagues if they knew what the stakes were?
Just like in a personal relationship, people make things up in the absence of information. So the more information they have, the better choices they can make and the easier it will be to gain cooperation.

If you want to bring more honesty into your life, even if you aren’t ready to be Radical, here are some coaching challenges for you:

1. Notice what your body feels like when you aren’t telling the complete truth.

2. Notice when your intuition tells you, “you left something out of that explanation” or “you are afraid to tell that person what you are really thinking or feeling.”

3. Notice when people around you say something that you react to, don’t like, take issue with, even resent. You’ll know because you’ll notice some a physical reaction in your body.

4. Notice what you do: Do you respond? Do you go have a snack? Do you say nasty things about that person to yourself or someone else? Do you leave the office and take a walk around the building?

Please feel free to email me your thoughts and feelings and what came up for you while reading or when you accepted the coaching challenges.

Stephanie Roth is The Relationship Maven, a certified Radical Honesty trainer, and a professional speaker. She is the author of the SEEK Program, a self-esteem enhancement curriculum for teenagers, and coauthor of Empowering Vision for Entrepreneurs, Dreamers, and Other Visionaries. She coaches business people and families to speak the truth and ask for what they want. Contact her at stephanie@leapfrogconnections.com or call 303.410.8167.