My Top Twelve Tips For Developing Good Conference Presentations by David Ratcliffe President Pink...

My Top Twelve TipsFor Developing Good

Conference Presentations

by David RatcliffePresident

Pink Elephant Inc.

My Top Twelve Tips For Developing Good Conference Presentations by David Ratcliffe © Pink Elephant 2012 All Rights Reserved. 2

“I don’t mind if you look at your watch while I’m speaking.

But I’ll get annoyed if you start shaking it to see if it’s still

working”


Agenda

1. The 4 goals of a good conference presentation.

2. My Top 12 Tips.3. That’s it!


A Good Conference Presentation ….

… should have 4 goals:

1. Entertain2. Educate3. Connect4. Inspire

They’re all important – but for me THE most important is ………. INSPIRE.

If I haven’t motivated you to do something, then we’ve probably been wasting our time.


1. The audience will usually respond positively to what’s presented if it’s done in an ENTERTAINING way – but is that the ultimate goal?

2. We really want the audience to learn something, right? We do this by EDUCATING them in the session ….

3. …. and CONNECTING them to one another - and other resources for ongoing learning afterwards.

4. That’s still not the ultimate goal, though. We should be INSPIRING the audience to change their behaviour – using this new knowledge, and these new connections, to generate positive results for their organization.

(Google “Donald Kirkpatrick” to learn more about his “Response; Learn; Behaviour; Results” model for training)

Tip #1Remember all 4 goals


For me, a mind-map is an invaluable planning tool.

It helps me to keep on track as I create the PowerPoint – limiting the scope and addressing the right level of detail.

Look at the example on the next slide, it took me about 5-10 minutes to draw BEFORE I started work on this PPT file …..

Tip #2Draw a Mind Map before starting

PowerPoint


Make sure the title & description are actually helpful and include honest statements about what the audience can expect. Don’t make promises you can’t keep!

Make sure the description includes a bullet list of what the audience will get out of the session (checklists? tip list? how tos? etc.)

Be consistent when inserting the title into the description, on the title slide & in the footers.

Don’t allow yourself to be rail-roaded into a topic or description by the Conference organizers. Take ownership and don’t complain about it. But remember, whatever YOU want to talk about better be something your audience needs to hear! So think hard about what would be useful to your audience.

Tip #3Get the title and session description right


It helps to set expectations.

Provides a neat link between the mind-map and the body of the presentation.

I often use the Agenda items as slide titles in the body of the presentation.

Consider repeating the Agenda slide at the end – using it to drive your summary! This technique is also often used by TV news anchors:

Tell them what you’re going to tell them (Agenda slide)

Tell them (body of presentation) Tell them what you just told them (repeat of Agenda

slide)

Tip #4Always use an “Agenda” slide


Gets attention and generates interest.

But make it relevant!

For example: How did you get interested in this topic? Is there some very personal experience you’ve had that

can be linked to this topic? What recently happened in the news that validates the

relevance of this topic?

Tip #5Try to start with a story


Resist the urge to simply cut & paste from the last presentation you did.

Frequent speakers who talk on different topics sometimes have a tendency to re-use materials way too much.

Often it isn’t the time saver you think it is anyway. Amending “old” stuff to make it fit usually takes longer than creating something from scratch. And you can easily end up including additional stuff that isn’t really that relevant.

The mind map can really help with this.

Tip #6Use original material – please!


…. especially when you’re actually speaking. Don’t just recite facts and tell people stuff they don’t yet know. OK – so you just read something you like, big deal. Now add some value to it. Offer up your own perspective or advice.

Tell people to do things - give your opinion; stick your neck out! If you don’t stand for something, you stand for nothing.

Be careful with statements like: “ITIL says this …” or “ISO says this ….” etc.

That’s fine, you need to make those statements from time to time, but don’t forget to add some:

“….. I think this….” or “…. I strongly advise that ….” or “….. You might want to look at it this way ….” etc.

Tip #7Add some value …..


Don’t try to do too much – this is where the right title & description is so critical. If people walk away with 2-3 pieces of useful knowledge and “strong advice” – GREAT!

One of the biggest mistakes made with presentations is cramming in too much information and running out of time. Better to fish 5-10 minutes early than run out of time before you’re finished.

Very generally - 1 slide for each 3-5 minutes. Therefore, a 75 minute Conference presentation:

= 5 minutes of an intro. & 5-10 minutes for Q&A and wrap-up.

= 60 minutes of content. That’s approximately 12-20 slides. OK – 30 slides max! But NOT 40-50 slides for heaven’s sake!

Tip #8Less really can be more!


Tell the audience what you think they could (should?) be doing with this new information & guidance when they return to work.

Make your next steps specific, not general. Think “HOW” more than “WHAT”.

Give timelines, such as: “Tomorrow do this …” or “On Monday start to do that ….” or “Starting the 1st of next month do this ….” or “Go talk to this person tomorrow morning about this …..” or “Reformat your weekly report to show this …..” or “Make a decision about that ….. “

Go on – be bold! Stick your neck out and tell them what you would do if you were in their shoes. What’s the worse thing that can happen? Someone disagrees with you? So what!

Tip #9End with practical recommended next

steps


Ask the audience to let you know (via email or Twitter or whatever) how they got on when they followed your recommendations.

Encourage the audience to tweet and/or blog so they begin sharing with others (think CONNECT!)

Announce a unique Twitter hashtag that identifies your topic/session – remind everyone to use it.

Watch for tweets, etc. and respond yourself – even if it’s just to say “Well done!” or “Thank you!”

Tip #10Encourage ongoing knowledge sharing


Before you send off your PowerPoint to the Conference organizers, go back and re-read the title and session description.

This is a critical step.

Make sure you’ve kept all your promises and have delivered some value.

Verify that you stuck to the point and didn’t get side-tracked.

Double-check that you have the title correct and your slides are numbered.

Even when you think you really are done, there’s still one more tip …. (PTO) …

Tip #11When you think you’ve finished, you

haven’t!


Check that each slide really is necessary and serves a useful purpose.

Watch out for background slides that don’t add much value. If you’re going to be describing something that is easy to explain verbally – then why do you also need a slide?

Take care with builds – they add time and can be annoying.

Now you’re done! You can send it off!

Tip 12b: Now do NOT change anything! I find it annoying to be sitting in a presentation where the

speaker has modified the slides and the handouts don’t match up with what’s on the screen. PLEASE - don’t do that!

Tip #12Cut stuff out – be ruthless!


“A little learning is a dangerous thing.”

-Alexander Pope

“But less is more!”-David Ratcliffe

My Top Twelve Tips For Developing Good Conference Presentations by David Ratcliffe President Pink...

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