Presentation Skills (Part II): Content Rules
Actually, no. 'Content rules' here is descriptive, not declarative, with 'rules' as a noun and 'content' as an adjective. Wait, did that confuse you? Well, that's sometimes the sort of thing which appears in the content presented on a slide.
As a rule, content isn't the point of a presentation's slides. Rather, the slides are meant to target key points, while the presenter presents the content. See, for example, this 20-minute lecture. It's a great talk on its own, but watch Schwartz's slides and listen to him. The content is almost entirely in his captivating and well-structured speech, while the slides are minimalist.
No flashy animations or 'power points' there! The slides serve to provide hooks that help the audience focus better on the speech itself, and do not duplicate the speech. In fact, they are almost incidental to Schwartz's talk.
This style is similar to that of other well-known speakers. Consider Steve Jobs in what used to be his annual Apple presentations. While his slides were beautifully designed works of graphic art and sometimes animation, the real content was in the explication and elaboration found in his speech. The slides don't carry the presenter; the presenter carries the slides.
Simple rule of presentation #1: If the slides carry more than 5% of the presentation, it's probably a bad one. Probably you shouldn't have more than 20 words on a slide, and not more than 1 slide every 2-5 minutes; just watch the information level. Also, if the presenter is reading stuff to you, he's a bad presenter, and those are bad slides.
Simple rule of presentation #2: Simple slides are the best. If the slides are overdesigned, they're bad slides. Don't go for impressive slides and a bad speaker; train to be a good speaker and use simple slides if you must impress. Slides are aids, not a presentation on their own. Government bodies tend to be hopeless here, because the lazy shortcut many of them use is to put all the content on the slides, then print the slides out and use them as handouts. Moronic. Why not have handouts and slides separately? Laziness.
Simple rule of presentation #3: If there more than five parts or points per section, that's forgettable. Literally so, since the human mind seldom processes more than 6-8 items without forgetting. Are you hoping the audience will forget what you have to say? This is a cunning tool I've seen some people use, since they know it's mostly smoke they're churning out.
Simple rule of presentation #4: Strong structure is memorable. This is the hardest rule to obey. A strong structure with great key examples embedded makes a speech memorable. Anything else is probably bad.
As a rule, content isn't the point of a presentation's slides. Rather, the slides are meant to target key points, while the presenter presents the content. See, for example, this 20-minute lecture. It's a great talk on its own, but watch Schwartz's slides and listen to him. The content is almost entirely in his captivating and well-structured speech, while the slides are minimalist.
No flashy animations or 'power points' there! The slides serve to provide hooks that help the audience focus better on the speech itself, and do not duplicate the speech. In fact, they are almost incidental to Schwartz's talk.
This style is similar to that of other well-known speakers. Consider Steve Jobs in what used to be his annual Apple presentations. While his slides were beautifully designed works of graphic art and sometimes animation, the real content was in the explication and elaboration found in his speech. The slides don't carry the presenter; the presenter carries the slides.
Simple rule of presentation #1: If the slides carry more than 5% of the presentation, it's probably a bad one. Probably you shouldn't have more than 20 words on a slide, and not more than 1 slide every 2-5 minutes; just watch the information level. Also, if the presenter is reading stuff to you, he's a bad presenter, and those are bad slides.
Simple rule of presentation #2: Simple slides are the best. If the slides are overdesigned, they're bad slides. Don't go for impressive slides and a bad speaker; train to be a good speaker and use simple slides if you must impress. Slides are aids, not a presentation on their own. Government bodies tend to be hopeless here, because the lazy shortcut many of them use is to put all the content on the slides, then print the slides out and use them as handouts. Moronic. Why not have handouts and slides separately? Laziness.
Simple rule of presentation #3: If there more than five parts or points per section, that's forgettable. Literally so, since the human mind seldom processes more than 6-8 items without forgetting. Are you hoping the audience will forget what you have to say? This is a cunning tool I've seen some people use, since they know it's mostly smoke they're churning out.
Simple rule of presentation #4: Strong structure is memorable. This is the hardest rule to obey. A strong structure with great key examples embedded makes a speech memorable. Anything else is probably bad.
Labels: Presentation, Skills
etched with acid at 9:31:00 am
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