4/10/2013

1

YOUR PRESENTATION 

SUCKS.

HERE’S WHY...

WHAT WILL WE TALK ABOUT?

Why your presentation sucks

It’s all about you!

Classic blunders

Make your presentation CRAP

We’ve all been there... Approximately 20,800 PowerPoint presentations are given every minute around the world...

and the vast majority of them suck.

4/10/2013

2

Don’t blame PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, etc.

These are just a tools.

It’s the speaker who sucks.

We want you to not suck.

Presentations are about communication!

If you want to 

show me facts 

and figures send 

me a report.

4/10/2013

3

Why your presentation sucks...

Lack of proper preparation

No practice

Too much info

Story?

Bad visuals

No CRAP

How do you fix it?

Organization

Meaning

Practice

Support materials

Get organized and plan ahead.

Have a system for gathering your ideas.

‐Jesse Desjardins

Framing Information

Message Triangle 

What is it?

What are we doing?

How will this help people?

4/10/2013

4

SOURCE: Escape from the Ivory Tower

Framing Information

Note –

A one hour presentation should take around 30 hours of preparation.

“If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready today.  If you want me to speak for 10 minutes, it will take me two weeks to prepare.”

‐Mark Twain

Practice

Practice

Practice

4/10/2013

5

BODY LANGUAGEHands

Posture

Eyes

Walking

Absolutely no “lasers” allowed

This includes lasers on sharks...

WHAT TO WEAR?

Did I mention “Practice”?

Try it our in front of others

4/10/2013

6

Try it out in front of a mirror!

Own the stage –make it yours.

We all love a good story!

The human brain is hard‐wired to respond to a story.

Tooby and Cosmides, 2001

4/10/2013

7

Tell a story

Tell them what you’re going to tell them

Tell them

Tell them what you told them

Keep it short.

Ernest Hemingway

Challenged to write a six word story...

For sale: baby shoes, never used.

4/10/2013

8

Make them the hero of your story

“PowerPoint would have been a useful presentation tool prior to the 1930′s when people were still amazed by anything big on a screen.  Just throw up a PowerPoint, when people are sleeping they can’t tell how stupid you really are.”

‐Tom Demerly

4/10/2013

9

The slides are an aid‐

Not a crutch.

If they are staring at the slide they are not listening to you.

YOU are the presentation.

Don’t fall for the classic blunders

The most famous of which is "never get

involved in a land war in Asia,"...

4/10/2013

10

Too much info‐

Don’t spoon feed them.

Might as well just hand them your presentation and then sit down.

4/10/2013

11

Size Matters.

If you’re going to show something –show it!

Don’t just read your slides.

4/10/2013

12

You know what I’m talking about...

• There are

• folks who

• will read every

• bullet point

• on 

• their slides

• because they

• haven’t taken

• the time

• to

• prepare or

• practice

• their

• presentation

Bullets

Three to six–no more

47

Review Existing Training Materials Develop structured courseware review protocols to

ensure consistency in the review and analysis of existing materials

• Determine the extent to which training adheres to acceptedInstructional Systems Design principles

• Identify mechanisms used to ensure accuracy and currency of information

• Review previous course evaluations and feedback

• Gather data on training implementation challenges

• Map out all training methodologies currently used to teach various aspects of the courses

• Compile, review, and analyze lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, trends and new regulations to determine additional training needs

• Determine how to incorporate modifications and new guidance such as NIMS into training

• NIMS provides the framework for incident management regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity

• Serves as the basis for NRF

• Incorporate NIMS information in the materials, at a level of detail appropriate for the topic and audience

Doont forgit to speel chek!

4/10/2013

13

VisualsA good visual can help you tell your story

Interesting visuals can help make your presentation memorable and fun

Corbis.com

iStockphoto.com

123rf.com

Compfight.com

If you’re still using Microsoft clip art just give up now because there’s no hope for you.

About stock photos...

4/10/2013

14

About stock photos...

Real Estate

Your slides should be covered by CRAP

What’s CRAP?

Contrast

Repetition

Alignment

Proximity

4/10/2013

15

Disclaimer

CRAP will not guarantee perfect presentations

Some CRAP is better than no CRAP

Not an expert ‐ but I know CRAP when I see it

Recommend:  The Non‐Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams (no, not that Robin Williams)

Use Highest Contrast For Visual Clarity

Not GOOD

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Use Highest Contrast For Visual Clarity

Not GOOD GOOD

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Can You Read This?

Repeat After Me: Repetition Is Good

Not GOOD

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers• She sells sea shells by the sea shore

• Doki doki• brekekekex koax koax

• That solitude which suits abstrusermusings.

• Dead in da middle of little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middle men who didn't do diddily.

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

4/10/2013

16

Repeat After Me: Repetition Is Good

GOOD

AlliterationAlliteration

•Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

•She sells sea shells by the sea shore

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia

•Doki doki

•brekekekex koax koax

AssonanceAssonance

•That solitude which suits abstruser musings

•Dead in da middle of little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middle men who didn't do diddily

Not GOOD

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers• She sells sea shells by the sea shore

• Doki doki• brekekekex koax koax

• That solitude which suits abstrusermusings.

• Dead in da middle of little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middle men who didn't do diddily.

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Visually Aligned = Mentally Aligned

Not GOOD

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Visually Aligned = Mentally Aligned

Not GOOD GOOD

Home sweet home.

Home sweet home.

Home sweet home.

Home sweet home.

Home sweet home.

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Where do I belong?Where do I belong?

Proximity Promotes Perception

Not GOOD

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Repetition of a leading consonant sound

Imitating the sound described

Repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming

4/10/2013

17

Proximity Promotes Perception

Not GOOD GOOD

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Repetition of a leading consonant sound

Imitating the sound described

Repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming

Repetition of a leading consonant sound

Imitating the sound described

Repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming

Here’s a few slides that could have benefited from a little CRAP

4/10/2013

18

PIOs need to be working together in centralized location

As PIOs respond separately to the event and to the public perception• “Rapid Response Teams”• Acknowledge and respect the issues of

public• Talking points also address public fears• PIOs present in the EOC….represent public• Address public fears directly• CALL FOR PSYCHIATRIC HELP

Start Today

1. SUCCESS ON A DAILY BASIS EQUALS SUCCESS IN AN EMERGENCY or CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSE

2. People in crisis reach out for the person first, the agency second.

3. When people think of you, do they salivate?

4/10/2013

19

Use CRAP 

on your 

slides and 

you’ll be a 

winner too!

4/10/2013

20

There are three shortcuts for great design

Buy it.

Invest in professional images and typeface.  

It can really set you apart.

Steal it.

Reverse engineer any design that you like.  

Make it your own.

Hire someone.

There are many talented professionals who would love the work.

4/10/2013

21

You are the presentation

Tell a story

PowerPoint is not evil  – bad presentations are evil

Use CRAP on  your presentation

So what did we learn?

Questions?

Christopher J. KramerArgonne National Laboratoryckramer@anl.gov