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Yesterday I presented a webinar called "Power Point is Evil: but if you're going to use it, use it well" for LexBlog's clients as part of their free resource Webinars provided to their clients.
The recorded version of this Webinar, and resource handouts, are now available free on LexBlog's You Tube Channel.
Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, don't miss my free webinar "PowerPoint is Evil: But If You're Going to Use it, Use it Well" for LexBlog.
This past week I spoke at a State Bar convention. I had a great audience (with a few of the usual exceptions, to be blogged about next), and I had fun giving the presentation.
I presented a shortened version of one of my attorney speaking seminars "Improving your Public Speaking Skills." The host of the event invited my company to exhibit in exchange for my presentation, which was great because I (and my staff) stayed for a great deal longer than usual and we had much more interaction with the event attendees as well.
While walking around the exhibit hall for 2.5 days I chatted up a bunch of the attendees. And, unfortunately,
the consensus was that the vast majority of speakers at the annual convention needed public speaking training - before they presented their CLEs to the bar attendees.
I know this is a pretty common issue, since I used to be a practicing attorney and I know how bad CLE programs can get. Additionally, my company puts on 60 - 70 CLE ligitation skills training programs per year; so I even know that some speakers are resistant to public speaking training and suggestions for improvement.
What I don't understand is why bar associations don't make the investment and offer training programs, or DVDs, to the attorneys who are going to speak at the bar's annual event. It's a small investment compared to the event budget and income and the rewards always outweigh the cost.
I understand that not all of the speakers will take you up on your offered training, but enough of them will to make a difference and to cut down on attendees' dissapointment and complaints.
Not surprisingly several attendees told me they weren't sure they would return the next year due to the quality of presentations they saw.
Here is an open plea to bar associations:
You don't have to hire me to train your CLE speakers at your annual events, but you do have to hire someone. Or at least license someone's training program to distribute to your speakers.
Or maybe even just buy Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen or Nancy Duarte's Slide:ology in bulk and send them off to all CLE speakers booked for your annual event. Yes, I really wish I'd written one of these books 20 years ago when I first started complaining about Power Point.
Seriously, do something!
Today when I was reading Entrepreneur Magazine, I came across this word listed under their Jargon column:
Meanderthal: a person who has great difficulty expressing themselves succinctly, often giving long, unfocused presentations.
It got a great laugh out of me! I LOVE it! And like all good magazines that provide examples of their newly defined words, Entrepreneur provides this one:
I want to gouge my eyes out every time the office meanderthal pulls up a Power Point.
Too funny!
Not sure I have to comment much on this, other than to use it as an illustration of the fact that people:
If this sounds familiar to you, as in you might be guilty of communicating in this fashion, it is time to learn how to be organized and succinct. It is also probably time to give up the Power Point addiction, even if everyone else uses it. Trust me, your colleagues and audiences will thank you and will like your presentations a lot more.
Thursday, July 14 at 7 a.m., I will be interviewed by Cindy Rakowitz, a radio host at VoiceAmerica Talk Radio. The topics we will discuss include public speaking, how to organize a presentation, the importance of good introductions and much more. Ms. Rakowitz has been a talk show host for “Stars of PR” for over 5 years with an incredibly diverse audience. This is an interview you won’t want to miss! Tune in online.
Hats off to the genius behind this graphic and hilarious illustration of the backlash surrounding Power Point - Doug Zongkers.
If you have any doubt that there is a backlash, the audience's reaction to this presentation should dispel that doubt. And this was presented at the AAAS humor session on February 16, 2007!
Another way to look at this presentation is that is a great example of how audiences view and receive - i.e. hear - the most common type of speech/Power Point presentations.
Hats off to Jennifer Ellis (via Ashton Treadway and Barb Cahill) for posting it on Facebook as well!
In just a little bit I'll be doing a free webinar, Public Speaking for Business Development, designed for attorneys and legal marketing professionals. It is currently "sold out" at 100 seats.
We will be recording this program and will post a link on this blog as well as our CLE website, Pincus Professional Education. Update: here is the recording.
As I prepare for the webinar, a few quick reminders came to mind that I can pass on.
First - when you're doing a webinar, you should really test things out the day before and then again about one to two hours before the program, to give you lots of time to fix things.
Second, check your speaking notes and your slides. I just noticed a few minutes ago that my notes had not been put back in the right order! OK, that would just be a bummer to discover 10 minutes into my presentation.
Third, always have a back up. Currently I have to staff members with my presentation and slides at different locations. One has "host" capability and one has "presenter" capability, so that if my system crashes, we can keep on going regardless. They can move the slides, which I really don't need to see, and I can keep talking.
Fourth, and this may seem pretty obvious, but people get nervous before speaking, so the reminder is needed: turn off all phones - cell, office, anyone else's phone if they are sitting in your office when you are speaking, etc. For example, my bookkeeper is here today and I just reminded her to turn her cell on quiet.
I recommend creating a little check-list that you keep with you various presentations, related to the type of presentation, stuck right in there with the speaking notes:
If you're on today's call, don't hesitate to post a comment here or on our facebook page.
Cheers!
So by now everyone knows I hate Power Point. You may even know some of the reasons I hate it and some of my suggestions for using it effectively if you insist on using it (or are required to use it).
Now I find myself in the interesting position of needing some sample Power Point presentations - good ones!
One of the judges who speaks at our Pincus Professional Education litigation bootcamps has requested I send him an example of what I consider an excellent Power Point presentation.
Unfortunately I can't because I've never seen one. I've seen a few good ones, even some tolerable ones. And I've seen excellent slides amongst average Power Point presentations. But in my area of focus especially - the legal world - I have never once seen what I would consider an "excellent" Power Point presentation from start to finish.
Doesn't mean they don't exist. 
If you have one, or have seen one, especially in a legal setting, I would really appreciate you sending it my way.
I'll even sweeten the deal. I'll send my Public Speaking for Attorneys DVD to whomever sends me the Power Point presentation that I select to send to the judge as an example, and of course I will give full credit.
About a week ago I read Jennifer Ellis’ great post, “PowerPoint Peeves of a CLE Provider.” I loved it! She hit a lot of my usual gripes, but the most important point she makes is this:
Here’s the deal, as I mentioned before and will again, and again and again, until I stop seeing those god awful Power Point slide decks that obviously serve as the speech outline:
Power Point is a Visual Aide. It is not your presentation.
And this applies to any presentation, not just CLE programs for attorneys.
Create your presentation first, practice it, put it in a short outline format (key words and phrases, not full sentences or written out speech). Then, and only then, do you look at it and decide where you could use visuals to enhance your message.
And then – go find good visuals!
For example, I am giving a webinar tomorrow with Kevin O'Keefe for LexBlog: Public Speaking for Business Development. This program is a twist from my usual public speaking presentations, so I sat down a few weeks ago and put together my first draft full sentence outline. I then reviewed it a few times, massaged it, condensed it and wrote a list of the main points in the presentation that could use some sort of visual.
A few days later I spent time on the internet and in my cartoon files finding the right visuals to reflect the message I will be presenting. Then I created the Power Point slide deck that will go with my presentation, not be my presentation.
That's the process you want to go through.
For inspiration, check out the books: Presentation Zen and Slideology, which I have mentioned before (yes I wish I'd written one of these instead of just griping about Power Point for the last ten years).
When I am forced to use Power Point, as I do in Public Speaking Webinars, I usually search istock, have custom cartoons made, or use cartoons I purchase a license too, like the one here. If you are interested in contact info for custom cartoonists, email me or post a comment and I'll send you the phone/email of the three folks I recommend.
Jen’s second most important point:
A copy of your slides is not an effective, or helpful, handout.
Amen.
If you are going through the trouble of creating a presentation and taking time out of your busy day to present, do it right. Please. You risk hurting yourself and your reputation if you don’t (as well as the CLE provider’s reputation).
Generally speaking, attendees want the following (at least at our CLE programs):
For the past ten years or so I've been telling people that Power Point is evil. It generates a good laugh of course and gives me a launching pad to explain why I abhor Power Point - at least how it is used by most speakers.
I'm relieved to see the huge backlash - finally - against Power Point and the fantastic books out that teach people how to use it more effectively.
I can recommend heartily Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and Slideology by Nancy Duarte, both of which provide good explanations and graphics illustrating better ways to utilize Power Point in a presentation.
Garr Reynold's blog Presentation Zen and Nancy Duarte's Duarte Blog are also usually a good read.
I'm also relieved to see slides now being used more effectively - as a visual aide - instead of as the presentation in-and-of itself.
One of my favorite law firm consulting gurus, Cordell Parvin, occasionally writes on this issue. A while back, before I had this blog, he posted a blog highlighting one of his client's effective use of Power Point. For a short cut, here is a link to his client, Mark Opashinov's, Power Point:
Tips & Traps Competition law for Intellectual Property Licensing PowerPoint
If you take the time to look at this Power Point you'll notice a few things that stand out and work well:
He has a couple slides where he goes overboard - too much, too busy, or white type that is hard to read due to the background (slides 6, 9, 10, 14 and 28 need to be reworked for example). But compared to the usual attorney Power Point presentation full of the speaker's outline in bullet point form, this is a huge improvement!
My only other observation about this particular example is that I cannot tell if the speech itself is well organized and easy to follow. For that I'd need to hear the presentation.
In the end, it is not Power Point, per se, that is evil, I will admit. But the tendency of speakers to bore the heck out of their audiences via Power Point is, if not evil, at least senseless.
I will leave you with a tip for creating better presentations if using a slide program:
Never, under any circumstances, open up Power Point and start typing in our speaking outline - you are guaranteed to doom your audience to boredom.
Be Heard: Public Speaking for Attorneys
By the American Bar Association
(Available mid-2011)
