Next Level Presentations
Who has never been bored to death with slides full of bullet points and thought “Is this it? When can I leave?”.
In this post, I’ll be discussing how you can make your presentations amazing! Be sure to check them out in order or I’ll eat your souls.
1 - Preparation
Motivation
We live in the Conceptualisation Age according to Daniel Pink.
And people capable of moving an audience end up with serious advantages in the world, no matter what they work on.
So if you also want to have a piece of this new age success, come with me.
A Zen Approach
This approach uses a lot of concepts from the Zen Buddhist aesthetic from Japan. It values simplicity, elegance, clear objectives.
6 Pillars
This approach follows with 6 pillars.
- Design: The conscious act of adding or removing elements in a art piece. It is something to be thought about since the beginning of the process, not some after thought when it’s over. The clarity to know which elements should or shouldn’t be in the composition requires calm and reflection.
- Stories: Whomever gets the attention of the crowd, be it in a school class or a lecture, are those that are able to move people emotionally. And these are the people that can use a fundamental human tool called Stories.
- Symphony: Being capable of synthesise problems, see complex relationships between different kinds of data and show their findings in a simple way. More important than killing the crowd with text after text is to show intuitively how the concept you are trying to convey is useful.
- Empathy: Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand how better show a concept. If the crowd isn’t moved and hasn’t learned, then you failed.
- Fun: Common sense presentations are formal and boring, they are something to be endured till the end. But inserting fun can help you explain concepts in a more intelligible way.
- Meaning: If you have the opportunity to speak about something you find interesting and important, be it in a small group or a huge auditorium, be grateful. Show your gratitude when you present. You might even surprise yourself to see people caring about what you care about.
How to be more Creative
Start with a beginner’s mind, the mind that is open to novel ideas, it is curious and wants to understand things.
Like a child, this mind is worried only about exploring. There are no thoughts of “I’m doing it wrong”.
The expert’s mind on the other hand thinks “This can’t be done” or “This shouldn’t be done”.
It is important to start the process in a exploration filled way. That way you don’t spend too much time inside your head thinking about what’s the worst that will happen if you do this or that wrong.
Don’t Force
Plan to allow good lengthily walks on nature, long showers, or even physical exercise. The brain needs a break to renew it’s creative energy.
Restrictions
John Maeda, author of Rules of Simplicity once said that it’s restrictions that generate better solutions.
If you want the freedom to draw a giraffe, say with a short neck, you’ll see that you don’t have the freedom to draw a giraffe.
Restrictions are a part of any design initiative. They delimit what you can and can’t do. With them you are forced to create with the bare minimal, and make your message as clear as possible.
Example: Pecha Kucha:
Analog First
Most people open up a computer to brainstorm and create the minimal layout for the presentation. Don’t do this. Preparation must be a step on it’s own. And it must be done analogically to minimise distractions.
First you must take your idea from your head and put it in paper, where you can see it, share it, and improve it.
You need to see the details and add or subtract(mostly subtract) when needed. You need to be capable of viewing with a bird’s view and with an up close view. Ideas and patterns are easy to see when they are on a whiteboard, wall or over a desk.
Brainstorm
Use blank sheets of paper or whiteboard with post its. It’s important to be able to move one idea from place to place, that’s why I adopt post its more often than not.
After all the ideas are mapped in post its, group them accordingly with the questions “What is my point?” and “Why does it matter?”.
So you can create a sequential flow of ideas and a structure so they make sense.
Tell a Story
There is a huge gap between “Let’s colonise Mars by 2030” to “Here’s a list of every technical advancement in the aerospace industry over the last 20 years”. One tells a story, and another tells facts.
Facts don’t engage an audience. You need to tell a story that shows the importance of those facts. It’s the famous Show don’t Tell.
Every Story needs Conflict. It is the eternal struggle between positive and negative forces. Without one, you can’t see the other. Without villain there is no hero. A Batman movie doing anything but hunting down villains would be very boring.
So, create contrast, create conflict and show your message going against an opposing force.
Editing
It’s during this stage that you remove the non essential.
That way you don’t sound prolix.
Re read your text, your story and always ask yourself “Does this serve my message?”. If the answer is anything but an emphatic YES, remove it.
Now that we are prepared, we are ready to move on towards the next step in this series, Design!
2 - Design
What is important in design?
1 — Simplicity
古池や 蛙飛び込む 水の音
The old lagoon
Frog jumps in
Splash
Simplicity is removing what is not essential, simplistic is to dumb down the message.
There is a thin line between the two, focus on simplifying something, but not more than possible without removing important parts of the message.
Remember to achieve the most with the least means.
2 — Signal to Noise Ratio
Each element that does not serve the message is noise. It’s always good to think that “everything is noise until proven otherwise”.
In this slide we have a background image that does not serve the message of “Next Level Presentations”.
On this one we have the infamous Word Art. Using weird fonts make the act of reading harder. Don’t buy into the feeling of “I need to make this pretty so I’ll use some fancy fonts”.
By removing the weird typography, replacing it with a more legible one, and removing the background image, we have improved tenfold the clarity and aesthetics of the slide.
3D vs 2D
We have here some noise in the shape of lines and unnecessary 3D elements.
If a 2D graph will do, don’t go 3D.
A 2D graph will almost always do. Unless you are a professional designer and has chosen to use a 3D one for your particular situation, keep it simple.
3 — One Idea per Slide
Text vs Image
The slide on the left tries to explain how to use a soldering iron in a typical bullet point way. It describes it.
The slide on the right? It shows it. It illustrates it in a fun way. And in case you are wondering, kids prefer the second one.
Small Image x BIG
Images speak louder than words. Every time that you can replace long descriptions with an image, go for the image.
The message will be clearer and no one is gonna read the slide instead of paying attention to what you’re saying.
There’s a bigger impact to the audience when you use big images that fill the whole slide. Small images around other elements tend to be distracting instead of helping people visualize your idea.
Remember, every element that doesn’t make the idea clearer should be cut out.
4 — Logo in each slide?
We don’t say our name before every sentence in a conversation.
And if the Batman logo disappears for 10 minutes in the movie, you won’t freak out and forget what the movie is about.
We humans are awesome at understanding context. That is good because we can remove the logo in each slide except the first and last one, and people will still remember what your company is.
5 — Elegance
Use of Colors
Saturated colors impair reading and visualization of details, while subtle tonalities enable the perception of nuance.
In Zen Buddhist culture, saturation of colors and elements in an art piece is seen as low effort and low creativity.
While simplifying something and removing the non essential is highly congratulated.
Empty Space
Empty space enhances whatever elements exist.
Imagine yourself going in an art gallery full of paintings, vases and sculptures.
Now picture yourself going into a room with white walls and without any details other than a single painting.
Which one of the experiences give more importance to the painting?
That’s the power of empty space.
Amplification
As I said before, each new element you add in an environment takes the focus away from the existing elements.
While on the picture on the left, people dressed as mickey and hulk would stand out, on the left you could easily miss them in a sea of people.
In an empty road, each person dressed differently seems unique.
Rule of Thirds:
There’s a useful concept using in photography. That trick results in more harmonious and aesthetically pleasing compositions to the human eye.
The rule of thirds is basically drawing two horizontal and two vertical equally spaced lines. It divides the image in 9 quadrants.
And where the four lines cross, is where you’ll want to put the most important elements in the composition.
Visual Hierarchy
Each element has it’s importance accordingly to where and how it’s located in the composition.
3 - Delivery
In this third and final part we will be discussing how to better present so the audience doesn’t sleep.
They are actually going to be thrilled about what you have to say!
Just for Fun
Every great presenter, be it a teacher, developers, entrepreneurs, are capable of showing a lightened spirit during their presentations. It’s almost as if what they are doing is of little consequences.
And that brings us to Humor.
Humor
That’s why humor usually works when doing a presentation. It takes the edge off you and your audience.
Because if you really think about it, when you talk to a room full of people, the primitive part of your brain is going like:
“OH MY GOD, THEY ARE FROM A DIFFERENT TRIBE, and if I do anything wrong THEY WILL KILL ME. And post on instagram or whatever”
I may have added that last part. I’m pretty sure Instagram didn’t exist in the stone age.
Don’t worry, no one is going to kill you. Well, at least not during the presentation.
They might if your presentation is just reading text to them though.
Don’t read
Every person on your audience is probably aware of the alphabet, and can/will read faster than you can your slides.
Put Energy on your Voice
When we talk about something we love in a group of friends we trust, we share with enthusiasm naturally.
But when we present in front of strangers, we are more worried about protecting ourselves than connecting with the audience.
That is what makes our voices sound robotic and monotone.
My solution to that particular problem is to imagine that the people in the audience actually wants to hear what you have to say(shocking!, I know).
Be grateful for the opportunity to share something you find important with them.
Curiosity is infectious
If you demonstrate your curiosity about a certain subject, the audience will follow.
When not to use Slides
Sometimes a simple conversation is enough.
You don’t need a slide deck every daily meeting you have with your team. But some principles still apply.
Deliver the most value with the least means.
Finish before they expect
Leave the audience with a taste for more.
References:
1 — Pink, Daniel, A Whole New Mind.
A Whole New Mind | Daniel H. Pink
Presentation Zen book:
PresentationZen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter)
Site:
Extra:
https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/little-bits-how-to-craft-a-perfect-presentation-55d440d5644e
Ted Talks:
How to sound smart in your TEDx Talk | Will Stephen | TEDxNewYork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o
Why storytelling matters | Garr Reynolds | TEDxKyoto
Rule of Thirds:
What is the Rule of Thirds? Definition and Examples in Film
Zen Mind, Beginner’s mind book:
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Lucas Schiavini
