The Manager - Edition 67 - Presenting Using Slides You Don't Like - By Rob Lambert

Welcome to the Cultivated Management Newsletter

Hi, 

I hope you've had a cracking weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead. 

I've had a proper spring clean this weekend. I've thrown lots of stuff away, tidied up, decluttered and streamlined our house. I've also done the same thing with my digital clutter too.

I also made the drastic decision to delete all of the hard work I'd put in to the Cultivated Management Online Course. Hours of video was deleted because it wasn't good enough. It took me a few days to make the tough decision, but the video and audio quality wasn't good enough, the content wasn't tight enough and I just didn't feel it was good enough. I know I can do better. So I've pushed the release back a quarter, got a whole new plan in place and I'm fired up to make it good enough for you. 

Also - I just wanted to remind you that you can find me on LinkedIn and Instagram. 

Until next week

Rob..

Apologising for slides

I see it a lot.

Presenters apologising for the content, format and look of slides. 
 

"I'm sorry - there's a lot of content on this one". "This is a busy slide, but bear with me". "I know this one hasn't rendered well but I'm sure if you squint you'll see it". "You're not likely to see this slide from the back. Sorry". "This is a good slide, but the image is low quality, sorry". "There are lots of words on this slide - so I'll give you a few minutes to read it".

I've heard all of these and more. 
 

Communication is something the listener does

The listener processes the words, images, messages and they make sense of them, and then they do something; react, move, change, respond etc.

So if you stick stuff on a slide deck that people cannot read or see or comprehend - you have not communicated. 
 

People will not be listening to you

No need for lengthy slides - people won't be listening to you. They will be trying to read your slides.

Get rid of the hunk of text and find an image, graphic or simpler way to explain something. Talk around the new simple graphics. Use big fonts and images that engage - people are there to listen to you - use slides to support your talk - not replace it.
 

Good communicators don't waste other people's time

A good communicator gets to the point.

Quickly. And without extra fluff - even more important in a presentation. 

Put in the work

Every time you cringe or apologise for a slide, is a time when you should have done something about the slide in question.

Put in the work and create a better slide, shorter text or something more suitable for the audience. 

If you apologise for a slide you are essentially saying you didn't put in the effort - and therefore you're not interested in making it easier for the audience, or relevant, or simpler.

If the audience and the talk is important, put in effort. Communication is really hard. It requires a lot of effort to succeed. 
 

Practice makes permanent

I know why some people use wordy slides - so they can read from them. It makes sense, but why bother with a presentation? If you have lengthy hard to read slides, and you're going to read from them, then just print it out and let them read it. It will be better. 

Practicing your talks means you're more likely to remember them, can deviate, can keep good time and should mean you need fewer prompts. 
 

All communication has a Purpose, Audience, Context

What's the purpose of your talk? Get clear on this and make the talk deliver on it.
Who's the talk for? Deeply understand your audience and make the talk for them - not for you. 
What context will it be delivered? High pressure presentation, small informal group, mixed genders/race/hierarchies, big room, via video? Get clear and ensure the talk works for the context and medium.

--

Above are some ideas from my Zero to Keynote course.

One of the core things to remember: Any slide you have to apologise for, is a slide you need to remove, fix or fine tune. 

Go forth and present - and don't have slides that make you cringe. :)

Ta.
Rob

Cool Stuff To Click On

1 - One of the better uses I've seen for Drones. Planting seeds for new trees. 

2 - Amazon workers are listening to Alexa....and you...

3 - I enjoyed this article about re-skilling being the new hiring. Essentially - hiring people takes time and costs money, but re-skilling existing staff can be a useful way to move your company forward. Totally agree - if you've been hiring strategically and with care you'll already have a great workforce who take learning seriously and exhibit all of the positive behaviours that lead to a positive work culture. Of course.....not all companies take hiring so seriously :)

4 - Deep listening as a future skill. Indeed - in fact, it's a current skill needed too. If only we listened more in organisations - imagine the amount of effort, time and energy we could conserve.

5 - Tesla encouraging doctors to play down injuries to avoid paying workers compensations.

6 - Exercise makes you happier - more so than money. Yay. One of the pillars of life is health - and exercise contributes to making life better.  

Book Of The Week

No book this week - but I do have about 5000 books on the go at any one time, so expect a barrage of them in future newsletters. I really must complete a book before starting a new one :)

Thanks for reading this week's edition of The Manager. 

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Thanks
Rob..