4 simple things you can do to lift your next presentation onto a whole new level. From a deepdive talk at Dotconf 2011 in Dublin.

1. All the world
is a stage ...
and most of us are
desperately unrehearsed

2. PRESENTING
to humans in the offline world
A deep-dive session at dotconf 2011
with
Rowan Manahan (@PresenterMentor)

3. These
drop-­‐in
text
boxes
are
intended
to
provide
a
narrative
voice
for
this
stand-­‐alone
presentation

4. Good
presentation,
great
presentation,
is
all
about
deferred
grati9ication.

5. And
humans
aren’t
very
good
at
deferred
grati9ication
–
because,
for
99.9999%
of
our
evolution,
we
haven’t
needed
to
be.

6. When
it
comes
to
presentations,
this
lack
of
ability
to
defer
grati9ication
is
most
obvious
in
four
areas.
Most
presenters
and
presentations
are:

7. (Starting with the biggest one)
They are underrehearsed
or (more typically)
completely unrehearsed

8. They are unfocused –
rambling, incoherent,
& overcrowded with info

9. They don’t use the
available technology

10. They don’t look like they
are in charge of the room

12. “
All the world’s a stage
and most of us are
desperately
unrehearsed
(Sean O’Casey)

13. On
the
subject
of
rehearsal,
here
is
the
sum-­‐total
of
my
20+
years’
experience:

14. Professionals rehearse,
amateurs do not.

15. Professionals rehearse,
amateurs do not.
Any
questions?

16. FAQ
So
how
much
time
should
I
spend
on
rehearsal?

17. “100
hours
in
the
garage
for
every
hour
you
will
spend
on
stage”
(John
Lennon)

18. 100 : 1

19. FAQ
But
we
are
sooooo
busy
around
here!
That’s
way
too
much
time
...

20. FAQ
You’re
right,
it
is
way
too
much
time
–
unless
the
presentation
has
the
potential
to
transform
your
business.
But
we
are
sooooo
busy
around
here!
That’s
way
too
much
time
...

21. I
wonder
how
much
time
Steve
Jobs
spent
getting
the
iPhone
launch
preso
that
good?

22. How
much
time
would
you
spend
getting
ready
for
a
pitch
preso?
What
if
losing
that
pitch
meant
your
business
would
collapse?

23. Rehearsal should be proportionate to
REWARD

24. FAQ
Yeah,
rehearsal
is
great,
but
I
don’t
want
to
end
up
sounding
too
stale
...

25. FAQ
I’m
sure
you’re
right.
I’m
sure
all
the
actors,
musicians,
thinkers,
politicians
and
comedians
who
pour
weeks
and
months
of
their
lives
into
rehearsing
...
Yeah,
rehearsal
is
great,
but
I
don’t
want
to
end
up
sounding
too
stale
...

34. I’m
sure
they
all
sound
stale
as
a
result
...

35. So
how
about
ensuring
that
your
opener
is
memorable?
Rehearse
it,
say,
10
times.
Opener
X 10

36. And
your
closer,
your
call-­‐to-­‐action.
How
about
if
you
rehearsed
that
20
times?
Closer
X 20

37. Primacy Recency
Attention
Time

38. Primacy Recency
Because
audiences
tend
to
Attention
remember
the
9irst
thing
you
say
and
the
last
thing
you
say.
Make
sure
both
of
those
things
are
worth
hearing.
Time

39. I
guess
how
much
you
rehearse
can
depend
on
how
smart
and
well-­‐
informed
about
your
subject
you
are.

41. I haven't heard the president state
that we're at war. That's why I too
am not knowing – do we use the
term intervention? Do we use war?
Do we use squirmish?

42. If God had not intended for us
to eat animals, how come He
made them out of meat?

43. If God had not intended for us
to eat animals, how come He
made them out of meat?
That
line,
by
the
way,
is
from
her
book.
Someone
proofread
that
remark.

44. The
comedian
Jeff
Foxworthy
talks
about
how
a
long
applause
break
could
have
ruined
his
chances
during
his
9irst
appearance
on
network
television.

45. I’m
smiling
and
I’m
going
into
Joke
#4;
but
my
mind
is
3
minutes
ahead,
thinking
about
how
I’m
going
to
cut
my
set
back
down
to
exactly
6
minutes.

46. So
when
I
say
rehearse,
I
mean
REHEARSE!
Rehearsal
does
not
mean
9iddling
with
your
slides.
You
‘lock’
your
slides
in
advance
of
your
preso
and
then
you
start
rehearsing.
Actors
are
not
rewriting
lines
in
Macbeth
during
rehearsal
–
they
are
imbuing
the
text
with
emotion,
with
meaning,
with
relevance.
REHEARSE!
March
up
and
down
in
your
pyjamas
every
night
for
a
while.
If
you
think
it’s
worth
presenting,
then
believe
me
when
I
tell
you,
it’s
worth
rehearsing
...

48. I
still
remember
when
‘Slide
Sorter’
meant
spreading
your
slides
out
on
a
big
table
and
sorting
them
into
piles.

49. SELF-
VITAL NICE INDULGENT
TO HAVE CRAP
See
if
you
can
guess
which
was
always
the
biggest
pile?

50. SELF-
VITAL NICE INDULGENT
TO HAVE CRAP

51. I
recommend
taking
three
bites
of
the
cherry
when
you
are
deciding
what
to
include
and
what
to
omit
from
a
presentation.
1.
START
AT
THE
END.
When
you
are
9inished
presenting,
what
do
you
want
your
audience
to
say?

52. I
understand.
I'm
buying.
I'm
investing.
You're
appointed.
Approved.
Now
go
and
do
it.

53. Clarity
of
purpose,
clarity
of
intention,
makes
the
process
of
distilling
your
message
a
whole
lot
easier.

54. 2.
HUMANS
ARE
VERY
SELF-­CENTRED.
What
are
your
audience
interested
in?

55. Level of Me
interest
Everybody else on the planet
Subject Matter

56. Therefore,
your
audience’s
internal
dialogue
is
fairly
easy
to
predict.
What’s
in
it
for
Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
Does
your
preso
re9lect
that
understanding?

57. 3.
HUMANS
DON’T
RESPOND
WELL
TO
FACTS.
We
like
to
think
that
we
do,
but
we
don’t.

58. What
medium
piques
our
interest,
holds
our
attention
and
makes
us
feel
safe,
secure
and
clever?

59. “
Communication is
the transfer of
emotion
(Seth Godin)

60. “
Communication is
the transfer of
emotion
What
medium
allows
for
the
“transfer
of
emotion?”
(Seth Godin)

61. There has to be a
STORY
Find
your
story
and
re9ine
it
until
you
have
found
the
best
way
to
tell
it.

62. Just
the
facts
E=mc2
ma’am.

63. Just
the
facts
E=mc2
ma’am.
Facts
are Logic
is
not
enough not
enough

65. No-­‐one
should
smoke,
drink,
eat
junk
food
or
drink
9izzy
drinks.

66. But
we
do;
because
facts
and
logic
alone
are
not
really
effective
persuaders.
So,
no
matter
how
technical,
how
apparently
dry,
your
core
information
might
be;
Qind
your
story
and
tell
that
to
your
audience
as
you
share
your
facts.

67. “
People will forget what you
said, will forget what you
did, but they will never
forget how you
made them feel.
(Maya Angelou)

69. Professionals master
all the available tools.

70. Smart
guy.
Great
speaker.
But
guess
what
...
?

71. He’s
not
making
it
up
as
he
goes
along
...

72. Smart
guy.
Great
speaker.
But
guess
what
...
?

73. He’s
not
making
it
up
as
he
goes
along
either
...

74. The
tools
that
enable
you
to
do
this
are
built
into
your
presentation
software
They
will
make
your
life
immeasurably
easier

75. Here’s
a
slide
from
a
presentation
on
pitching

76. And
here
is
the
verbiage
that
goes
with
it:
“There’s
quite
a
difference
between
a
pitch
in
which
there
is
zero
for
second
place
and
a
pro
tennis
player
who
suffers
the
indignity,
the
anguish,
of
losing
a
grand
slam
9inal.
Maria
still
gets
to
pocket
a
fat
cheque
for
second
place,
she
holds
on
to
her
sponsorship
deal
with
Nike,
and
she’s
back
out
at
the
next
ATP
tournament
a
few
days
later
–
you
have
no
such
consolations
when
you
are
just
beaten
out
in
a
pitch
for
a
piece
of
business.
You
get
precisely
nothing
for
second
place.”

77. That’s
a
whole
lot
of
words
to
remember,
so
most
people
build
slides
that
look
like
this
...

78. Pitching is Binary!
• Pitching:
• Win or Lose - no middle ground
• No points for second place
• Pro tennis player:
• Big prize money
• Sponsorship continues
• Next tournament

79. Pitching is Binary!
Wordy
–
even
if
you
introduce
the
bullets
• Pitching:
sequentially.
• Win or Lose
t-he
image
lgroundlike
an
Unbalanced
–
no middle
ooks
• No points and
loses
place of
its
impact
afterthought
for second much
• Pro tennis player:
because
it’s
so
small.
• Big –
this
is
an
SelQish
prize money AutoCue
slide
for
the
• Sponsorship continues
presenter’s
bene9it,
not
for
the
audience’s.
• Next tournament

80. Alternative
–
your
audience
sees
a
powerful
image

81. And
you
see
this:

82. All
the
important
elements
on
your
prompt
screen,
including
your
speaker’s
notes
If
a
top-­‐notch
tennis
player
loses
a
match
in
a
grand-­‐slam
tournament
...
(a)
she
s9ll
gets
a
sizeable
paycheque
...
(b)
she
doesn’t
lose
her
sponsorship
deal
with
Nike
So
it’s
painful,
it’s
unpleasant,
but
it’s
not
the
end
of
the
world
...

83. FAQ
How
do
I
avoid
showing
what’s
“under
the
hood”
if
I
have
to
skip
slides
or
move
to
another
app
during
a
demo?

85. Good
question,
because
it
is
amazing
how
often
you
see
a
speaker
frantically
scrabbling
around
trying
to
9ind
something
in
the
middle
of
a
presentation
...

86. Use
the
‘Extended
Desktop’
setup
and
turn
off
display
mirroring
–
that
way
you
can
use
your
Presenter
View

87. Use
the
second
monitor
(in
this
case
a
projector)
for
your
slides
and
the
laptop
monitor
for
your
Presenter
View.

88. Change
the
second
monitor’s
desktop
to
white

89. That
way,
any
time
you
‘escape’
from
Slideshow
view,
all
your
audience
sees
is
a
blank
white
screen
–
zero
clutter.

90. RTFM

92. When
you
are
delivering
your
preso,
you
must
look
like
you
know
what
you’re
doing

93. Wherever
possible,
get
in
touch
with
your
inner
diva
and
use
your
own
kit

94. Check
the
room
and
the
equipment
well
in
advance
of
your
talk.
The
night
before
a
major
conference
in
2010,
I
should
have
seen
this.

95. Instead
I
saw
this.
It
took
2
technicians
over
90
minutes
to
9ix.

96. “
Excuse me? ... What do
you mean? ... But I sent
them to you two weeks ago!
(Presenter at a tech conference, London, March 2011)

97. “
Excuse me? ... What do
you mean? ... But I sent
them to you two weeks ago!
Don’t
be
this
guy
–
who
never
checked
that
his
slides
were
loaded
on
the
day
of
the
conference
and
the
organisers
just
assumed
he
was
going
to
talk
without
slides
...
(Presenter at a tech conference, London, March 2011)

98. Get
a
zapper
so
you
don’t
have
to
keep
bending
over.
Use
it
discreetly;
don’t
draw
attention
to
animations
and
transitions.

99. Bring
your
own
cables
and
extensions

100. VGA
adaptors
are
particularly
useful

101. And
if
you
want
to
be
the
best
presenter
in
the
world,
9inish
your
talk
early.

102. Oh,
and
one
more
thing
...

103. I
reckon
Steve
Jobs
robbed
that
line
from
Colombo

104. They
say
you
should
never
say
“Never”,
which
presumably
means
you
should
avoid
saying
“Always”
too.
Nevertheless
...

105. Who are these people?
What do I want to happen?
What’s my core idea (20 words)?
What are my 3 supporting points?
Will that convince them?
Why? When
you’ve
decided
what
you
want
to
say,
always
ask
Why not? yourself
these
questions

106. When
you’ve
9inished
creating
your
slides,
always
look
at
each
one
and
ask
yourself
this
question
WHO
is this slide for?

107. “
If you wish to persuade me,
you must think my
thoughts, feel my
feelings, and speak
my words.
Always
remember
what
Cicero
said
about
persuading
people
(Marcus Tulius Cicero)

108. And
when
it
comes
to
presenting,
never
go
for
the
easy-­‐way-­‐out,
instant
grati9ication.

109. Rehearse!

110. Find your story

111. Master your technology

112. Take charge of the room

113. @PresenterMentor

114. fortifyservices.com
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