MLK PPROGRAM 2016 – I
HOW TO GIVE AN AWESOME PRESENTATION AN ALTERNATIVE TO POWERPOINT, BULLET POINTS, BORING PRESENTATION
Taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68a6M5FFBc
Around the world every day thousands, if not, millions of people give presentations. Some are
great, and have a powerful impact on their audiences. Others...well, just say their works are in
progress. This is Powerful Presentations: Simply Stated.
Meet Jim, an aspiring professional trying to make it in the world. Jim used to give presentations
like just about everyone else he knew. PowerPoint was his tool of choice. He used it like an
outline, with a header followed by bullet after bullet, and sometimes even sub-bullets! When he
wanted to be fancy, he added what usually turned out to be an ineffective chart or sometimes a
table. And when Jim wanted to really spice things up, he added...yep...clip art. Unfortunately, Jim's
approach would often confuse and bore people. This was a problem because he had important
things to say.
Fortunately, Jim learned a better way and didn't stay in the dark for long. Perhaps most
importantly, he now focuses on the story he wants to tell. In doing so, he tries to follow a simple
structure, with a clear beginning, middle, and end that links together his various points and builds
to his conclusion.
When formulating his story, Jim uses a simple pad of paper or sicky notes. Staying low tech at
this stage helps him think more creatively and stay outside the box. He then considers what tools
will help him best tell his story. Jim sometimes opts to use a whiteboard, flip charts, handouts, or
even no props at all. When it makes sense for him to use PowerPoint, he tries to remember the
adage that “sometimes less is more”. He doesn't dumb down his presentations, but he does try to
limit each slide to one key idea. Or, depending on the content, he sometimes builds an idea
incrementally so it's easy to follow.
He looks for visual ways to tell his story, with minimal text, photos, and clear charts and graphs.
Sometimes he'll use quotes, but he tries to remember that people can't read his slides and truly
listen at the same time. Jim still uses plenty of text to help him remember what he wants to say,
but he hides it in his notes that only he sees (show view notes screen). Jim's new approach takes
more time, energy, and rehearsal, but it's been well worth the effort. His audiences are now much
more engaged and better understand and remember his presentations.
MLK PPROGRAM 2016 – I
Taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ruwY1fnxT4
Why our brains reject bullet points? lucky for you after watching this you'll also know exactly how to
make your presentations.
NUMBER ONE
The redundancy affect, turns out, our brain is an able to process the same information efficiently
when you see and hear the same thing at the same time. It’s too much info at once.
NUMBER TWO
The picture superiority affect (PSA) researchers have found ideas are more likely to be
remembered if they're presented as visuals instead of words. After three days you only remember
about 10 % of what someone says compare to remembering 65% if they showed you a visual.
NUMBER THREE
People read faster than they hear, a person can read about 275 words a minute vs be able to hear
only 150 words a minute. This means people will reach your bullet points before you can say them,
and then they will stop listening.
NUMBER FOUR
Working memory limits, recent studies show that people only have a limit memory capacity. Some
information shown as a bullet is a step on a ladder. You're forcing your audience to climb.
How do you make better presentations? Well there are two simple rules that solve all of the four
problems.
1. rule number one use last text no more bullet points pretty please
2. rule number two use more visuals