Posts Tagged ‘PowerPoint’

« Older Entries

Guest Blog – In Response to OSMCs

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

One of the most talked about blogs in recent months was our criticism of Old School Management Consultants (or OSMCs for short).  Much to our delight, the debate rumbled away on LinkedIn for some time with one particular voice, Eamonn Wilcox, catching our attention.

Eamonn kicks off this week of Guest Blogs by sharing his view on the debate based upon his years of experience working alongside OSMCs and reveals that behind the slide clutter, there was some smart thinking…

Once upon a time, creating visuals was time consuming, and very expensive.  It needed rare skills, patience, software and equipment. Because of this, everyone looked long and hard at visual aids before using them. Then people noticed that Microsoft Office not only had Excel and Word, but also this slide thingy PowerPoint and the floodgates opened. Après Mac le deluge.

25 years ago, I worked at a London Mac Dealer. I was the DTP person who became the Presentation Guy. Then someone offered me a job making presentations on-site for a big Old School Management Consulting (OSMC) firm in Germany, starting the next night. I borrowed the manual for Aldus Persuasion, read it on the flight over and the rest as they say is history. I travelled all over Europe, 65-70 hours a week for eight years, making PowerPoint slides, lots and lots of them. Many so packed with information that you had to work on an A3 in Claris Draw and paste it in. Something, which would send today’s experts screaming from the room. But…

For OSMC making presentations was a core skill, not only the software side, but also how to structure an argument, overcome objections and close the deal. Cramming information onto a slide was often deliberate, showing how complex or absurd a situation was, followed by an image implying ‘if you hire us we can make it go away”. Convincing someone that things needed fixing usually meant first showing the mess they were in.

It is not that OSMC didn’t appreciate design principles but business principles were just as important.

Old School Management Consulting took their client’s needs very seriously indeed. They always started by looking carefully at the customer and their industry before taking their money.  However it worked, they gave the client what they wanted and more importantly what they needed. You can’t give an honest answer until you ‘get’ the question, once you really understand, then it’s what you say and the way that you say it ‘that’s what gets results’.

Of course, some of it was pro-forma work, find and replace a logo and off you go. However, there was a real appreciation for the craft of putting stuff together quickly and efficiently. Clients were impressed by how good it looked and quickly it was done. I had a great time working hard with smart people and got paid for it. Eventually a client made me an offer I didn’t refuse and I moved on.

The crime of packing too much into a page, alas, became the new norm for people who didn’t know what they were doing but had seen it done. So before we trash talk the OSMC remember:

  • What the audience need to hear is still more important than what you want to say.
  • Making it clear is still more important than making it pretty.
  • You’re not a really a professional at something until you’re paid to do it.

Tremendous points well made, Eamonn – who knew..?  Thanks again for your contribution – let the (latest) debate rage on!

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Consultancy, Customer Stories, Presentation Design, Presentation Tools | 1 Comment »

The PowerPoint app for iPad rumour mill won’t be silenced…but is it too late?

Friday, April 12th, 2013

It’s been a while since we all got excited about the “impending” launch of the PowerPoint app for iOS, the operating system that runs your iPad and iPhone.  We spoke to luminaries within Microsoft who remained tight lipped but had a glint in their eye.  We chatted it through with other app developers to get their opinions regarding the whole soap opera.

The anticipation was palpable – finally the iPad was going to be released from the clutches of the clunky (but getting better) Keynote app and allow presenters across the world to take their tried and trusted PowerPoint files and move them over to their favourite tablet device.

Rumour had it that the launch would coincide with the full release of Office 2013…but it never happened.  And, fellow tech and presentation early adopters, it would seem we still have some time to wait…until Autumn next year.  Or so the rumour mill has it –>

What does this mean to those business people poised to present via their iPad?

The truth is that most will have found a way around the inconvenience, either by figuring out which PowerPoint animations, fonts and features Keynote plays nicely with…and sticking with those.  Or perhaps by using a conversion app (BTW – Slideshark is by far the best in the market…and we’ve tried them all) or by thinking bigger and pulling upon experts to create a fully interactive and rich media iBook presenter pack.

To find out more about any of these options, give us a call and we’ll happily chat it through and share some examples.

There may be a few ardent Microsoft fans who persisted with the awful buyer experience and actually managed to get their hands on a Microsoft Surface.  I’ve not met any of these mythical creatures (and my guess is that neither have you).

In summary, we’ll have to see what this prevarication means to Microsoft when they do finally get around to releasing the inevitable app.  My gut feeling?  The anticipation and need has evaporated over time, people have worked their way around the issue and, frankly, Microsoft have missed the boat.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in General information, iPad, Mobile Technology, PowerPoint, Presentation Technology, Presentation Tools | No Comments »

Audience Engagement & Technology – Are CPD Presentations Playing Catch Up?

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

You may not have noticed but there’s been a quiet revolution of late in the world of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) presentations.

A growing number of CPD providers have recognised the value of creating an impactful presentation with strong structure, powerful visuals and presenters well versed in the skills required to keep an audience fully engaged.  This means throwing out the bullet point ridden PowerPoint decks of old, investing in presenter training and reinvigorating their marketing efforts.  This is great news for CPD provider and audience alike…

But are these forward thinking companies still missing a trick?

For many years, PowerPoint was viewed as pretty much the only presentation tool available to CPD providers.   It played to the longstanding opinion that all business and educative presentations had to be ‘formal’.

You’ll be familiar with the scenario:

The presenter speaks (sticking word for word to the approved script) whilst the audience listens intently. Any questions posed by the audience are reserved to the Q&A session (normally just before the sandwiches come out thereby minimising the likelihood of too much discussion or debate).

In short, not the most inspiring presentation format for an eager audience to work with…

Thankfully most audiences these days don’t play by the ‘formal’ rules – when engaged, they can’t help but interact with the presenter, asking questions and probing on topics throughout the session.  This is how people learn and get the most value from the whole CPD process – long may it last…

The CPD experts here at Eyeful wager that this new level of presenter-audience engagement just the tip of the iceberg.  Well established technologies such as online presentations, podcasts and webinars provide further opportunities for the forward thinking CPD provider to engage with their audiences.

The good news is that a few proactive companies are doing just that and firmly grabbing the chance to differentiate themselves through technology.  The reality is repurposing existing approved CPD content and making it available to a wider audience, either on your website, through secure portals, on YouTube or via download sites such as iTunes, is remarkably simple.

Technology brings with it many wonderful opportunities to CPD providers across a range of sectors.  The big question is how and when will you embrace it to make your CPD programme more effective and efficient than ever?

Share

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in CPD, iPad, Mobile Technology, Presentation Technology | No Comments »

Whiteboard Presenting…Minus The Stickmen

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

Over the last few years, we’ve been actively encouraging our customers across the World to think beyond PowerPoint.

By using our Blended Presenting approach, we now have customers mixing up the visual element of their presentations, incorporating different technologies to best suit their audience.  For one audience it might be using an iPad to share their story whilst occasionally referring the audience to a hard copy document or video whist for another it might be the more conventional use of PowerPoint but with the use of a whiteboard at key points of the story.

This use of whiteboard as part of a Blended approach is incredibly powerful.  It allows the presenter to really personalize their message to the audience, perhaps detailing or demonstrating technical content that simply doesn’t lend itself to a PowerPoint slide. Despite the immense power of mixing a presentation up in this way, many customers initially shy away from it.

Why?

A lack of confidence in their drawing skills… The good news is that Microsoft look to have been hard at work addressing this very issue.  They’ve released a video which shows an early prototype electronic whiteboard, SketchInsight, that interprets the users “doodles” and replaces them with decipherable images.

It’s all very clever and could spell an end to the debilitating fear of drawing a rather shoddy stickman in front of a group. More importantly, by pulling on “big data”, it will also allow presenters to call upon real-time data as part of their story, taking the bespoke and personalized presentation to the next level.

Exciting times…but in the meantime, as long as it allows people to happily embrace the electronic whiteboard as part of their Blended Presenting strategy, we’ll be happy…as will their audiences!

Share

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in General information, PowerPoint, Presentation Technology, Presentation Tools | No Comments »

Note to Self – The Audience Owes Me Nothing…& I Owe Them Everything

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Franklin D Roosevelt knew a thing or two about engaging an audience.  To him, it was all about sharing the message and absolutely nothing to do with ego.  That made him rather good at this whole communication lark…

This is what he had to say about confidence, something very closely allied to getting up on stage and giving it your all.

Confidence… thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.

Each and every step of the presentation creation process (we call it Presentation Optimisation) should ooze with the same levels of concern for the audience:

Creating the message

  • Who are they?
  • Why are they here?
  • What can I provide them?

Choosing the content

  • What information do they need to know?
  • How much do they already know?

Developing the visuals

  • What will be the most comfortable medium for them to engage with?
  • How best to manage questions?

Far too often we’re faced with presenters that focus their time and energy on sharing inane details about themselves (hint: a picture of a HQ building is a dead giveaway) and then wonder why the audience isn’t invested in the meeting.

Both sides lose.

The twist in the tale?

The unselfish presenter tends to win the hearts and minds of their audience, making them putty in their hands (ref. Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs, Tom Peters).  In one of my favourite videos, Tom demonstrates his determination to squeeze every ounce of energy out of his presentation for his audience.  Inspiring stuff:

Either way, with an unselfish presenter BOTH sides win.

Happy days…

Share

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Presentation Skills | 1 Comment »

The Curse of The Consultant – Content Cramming

Monday, February 25th, 2013

“A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time”

We’ve all heard the jokes about management consultants.  Depending on your experience, you either nod knowingly and tut quietly to yourself or politely laugh and wonder what all the fuss is about.

Ultimately, the “old school management consultant” (or “OSMC”) style associated with high fee, high profile companies – you know the ones we’re talking about, they specialised in confusing charts, thick reports and having a slightly supercilious air about themselves – became a figure of fun…and thankfully are now few and far between.

Whilst the expensive and ultimately flawed report may well have found it’s way into the shredder, the OSMC’s influence can be felt in companies across the land.  And it’s not good news.

Many OSMC’s were judged on the amount of data they produced.  The thinking was clear – more data shared, the more comprehensive the study…and ultimately the more valuable for the client.  Makes sense in a twisted sort of way…and so ramping up the content became the norm.

The problem is that this profusion of content slowly found it’s way from the OSMC’s usual weapon of choice, the verbose Word document, into other forms of communication including the lowly PowerPoint presentation.   What you end up with is something like this:

And the creation of such horrors is where the rot really sets in*.  Businesses were faced with a dilemma – if management consultants were the clever ones who we should all look to emulate, then shouldn’t we all be creating similar looking complex slides…even though whenever we present them, we’re faced with a sea of confused/unengaged faces?  Tricky.

To make matters worse, many OSMCs made the leap from running big-ticket projects to running the companies.  And cluttered, overly complex slides became the cultural norm in companies across the World.  Need proof?  Look no further:

It’s something we battle with day-in, day-out…and it would seem few companies are immune.  From globe-straddling mega-businesses to fast-growing start ups, they’re all having to fight hard and think harder against creating overly complex slides.  I guess that’s why Eyeful exists…

If you were to take away just one message from this heartfelt rant, this is it – when it comes to OSMCs, everything they tell you about presentations is wrong.

Step away from the content and embrace the message.

* Somewhat alarmingly, this slide was only produced in 2009, thus proving the influence of the OSMC lives on!

Share

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Consultancy, Customer Stories, General information, Presentation Design, Uncategorized | No Comments »

All hail the weather presenters (pun intended)

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

There’s no doubt us Brits are a little obsessed with the weather.  From slavishly watching reports on impending snow-based gridlock to the fervent prayers for a summer with at least some sun, we’re hooked.

This puts the lowly weather presenter under a lot of pressure.  They need to clearly and succinctly share a lot of potentially technical information with their audience.  Their audience will all have slightly different agendas/interests depending on where they live or their travel plans.  Oh, and they need to do this day in, day out (on the hour in the mornings!) so keeping it fresh and engaging is also important.

A tough gig for any presenter…so how do they do it?

Spookily they rely on the 3 key facets of effective presenting that form the basis of our Presentation Optimisation methodology:

  • A clear message
  • The right content
  • Powerful and valuable visuals

Each and every weather forecast starts and finishes with the big message – it’s either going to be rainy, sunny, changeable…  Whatever the forecast, the message is delivered in such a way that the audience knows how exactly the weather is going to impact them (and whether packing an umbrella will prove to be a good idea).

That message is then supported by a level of content that demonstrates how and why the weather is behaving in a particular way.  As an audience, we nod sagely at talk of high pressures coming in from the east but the truth is that this content is shared to merely back up the important message (in the case of the UK, it’s going to rain).  Adding extraneous content merely gets in the way and runs the risk of confusing the message.

To push it over the line, TV presenters use visuals to demonstrate the key message.

The presentation genius of the weather guys and gals is here for all to see – rather than overly complex graphics of isobars and other meteorological clutter, they use simple icons* to help deliver the overarching message – it’s going to rain, don’t forget your umbrella. Visually, less is more when delivering a simple message.

Now apply this thinking to your business presentation…

Do you have a clear message?  Are you running the risk of confusing or reducing the impact of the message by cluttering up the presentation with content you simply don’t need?  Are your visuals helping you clearly deliver on your message or there to justify your content (hint – it should be the former).

Get this right and you’re on the road to what we call Presentation Optimisation…and a more engaged informed audience.

* It’s interesting to note that the BBC received a lot of grumpy letters and e-mails a few years ago when they moved away from their super simple weather icons to a more animated version.  If the animation is getting in the way of delivering a clear message (a la over engineered PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi presentations), you run the risk of terminally confusing your audience.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Consultancy, PowerPoint, Presentation Design, Presentation Skills, Presentation Technology, Presentation Tools, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Creating emotion – a strong message, powerful content and visuals to die for

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

As a Brit, I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and admit I have no absolutely idea about American Football (I’m only just getting my head around the offside rule in “soccer”).

But I am aware of the hoopla that surrounds Super Bowl, from the anticipation of the half time entertainment (will anyone ever be able to top Prince?  I think not…) through to the scramble for the best advertising slots from the World’s biggest brands.  At a cost of $3.8m per 30 seconds of airtime, the stakes are high (but then again, the World is watching…).

For years, the advertisers have relied on hyperbole, pyrotechnics and scantily clad beautiful people to capture the imagination of the audience.  It’s a tried and tested formula that, like the fizzy drinks often advertised in this prime slot, is fun and easy to consume but doesn’t really have much in the way of staying power.

This year, Ram broke the mold.  Yep, Ram…the people who make very large pick-up trucks…  How?

They had an incredible focus on their target marketplace, and by doing so, intimately knew the message they wanted to share.  It went from being corporate speak to being personal and, as a result, incredibly powerful.

They then coupled this with scripted content that delivered the message right to the heart of the audience.  OK, to some (myself included) it might have come across as a slightly too saccharine but the target audience of would-be pickup purchasers would have lapped it up.

And then onto the cherry atop the cake – simple, beautifully shot and powerful visuals that reinforced the message.  Note the absence of fireworks, scantily clad models or celebrity endorsement – this was about using images to support the delivery of message and content in a way that cut through the extraneous noise associated with the Superbowl advertising battle.

Message + content + visuals.  Sound familiar?

Share

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in General information, PowerPoint, Presentation Technology, Sales Presentation | No Comments »

Panic Over – Eyeful Arrives in Europe

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

The EU has had a tough time of it over the last few years.  Economies wobbling, internal squabbles among member states and the perennial debate over how bendy a banana should be (no, really – see here).

No fun for anyone…

However 2013 looks like all of this cross continent tension could be a thing of the past.  The reason?  EyefulPresentations.EU has landed.

You see, we have a sneaking suspicion that much of the recent turmoil is down to poor communication and a dearth of engaging visuals.  Granted, this might be over simplifying the internal workings of one of the World’s most complex and powerful economic entities…but we feel it’s worth a punt.

Either way, we believe the launch of our new EU website is good news for all European businesses.  With us supporting your business through our Presentation Optimisation methodology, you can at least tick of “clearly communicate with prospects and customers” off your to-do list.*

* We know it works because it’s going down a treat with the Dutch, Irish and Eastern European customers.

To learn more about our ability to support companies across Europe, simply visit the website or give us a call.

Merci/Vielen Dank etc etc

 

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Consultancy, Customer Stories, General information, PowerPoint, Presentation Design, Press Release | No Comments »

On the 8th (Working) Day, Rachel Started Giving Slide Redesign Away For Free…

Monday, December 17th, 2012

Today we have an offer for the first four readers to get in touch.

Those of you have looked at our website will know that we offer anyone a free Presentation Healthcheck where our consultants review your existing presentation and make suggestions or offer feedback on how it could work harder for you.

Today, the first four readers who make contact with Rachel Page, from our Marketing team, can not only receive a free Healthcheck but we’ll also redesign three slides for you absolutely FREE*

So fastest finger first….

Email: rpage@eyefulpresentations.com or call (UK) 01455 826395 and quote eighth day of Christmas

* Simon is currently holding his head in his hands at the Yuletide generosity that seems to have gripped the marketing team…

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in General information, PowerPoint, Presentation Design, Presentation Skills, Presentation Technology, Presentation Tools | No Comments »

« Older Entries