Episode #73, Presenting in a Non-Profit World (with Andy Goodman) is up! This week we ditch the corporate world to talk about presentation in the world of cause-based organizations. Andy Goodman of The Goodman Center joins us to talk about his career teaching storytelling and presentation to non-profits, NGO's and foundations. And we dive into his seminal 2006 book, Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes which you can download for free here.

Take a listen!Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.

One of my favorite PowerPoint hacks is to hide page numbers in slideshow mode because really, who needs to see those on screen? This simple technique can also be used to hide unreadable source notes and any other content that should be visible in printouts and PDFs, but just isn't needed or wanted on screen. Watch it here:

There's a new(ish) conference dedicated to presentation out there, and I couldn't be more excited to be a speaker at this year's Click Presentation Design Conference, June 13-14 in Seattle.

Click is a part of Creative Pro Week, a larger gathering dedicated to Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and other aspects of print design, run by CreativePro. Traditionally, those hard core Adobe print and digital graphic designers didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the world of presentation, so I was thrilled to see the organizers of Creative Pro Week add a couple of days dedicated to presentation design at last year's conference in New Orleans. And apparently, it was a hit, so they are again offering attendees sessions dedicated to the world of slides.I'll be giving two sessions (topics to be announced soon) and will be joining a number of other heavyweights including Julie Terberg and Richard Goring of BrightCarbon.

The complete list of speakers and more information is here, and the full conference agenda will be announced shortly. But you can register now for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5-day passes depending on how much learnin' you want. I'm hoping to arrive a day or two prior to the start of Click in order to deepen my InDesign skills.

If you've been on the fence about attending the Presentation Summit because it might be too much presentation and not enough design, Creative Pro Week might be for you! Or if you just want to soak up as much presentation stuff as you can, I would definitely consider heading out to Seattle in June.

And if you do decide to go, let me know as I would love to meet you!

 Episode #70, Presentations in the Courtroom with Kerri L. Ruttenberg is up and live!

Troy, Sandy and I welcome our first legal guest, Kerri L. Ruttenberg, to talk about trial graphics, how presentation is used in the courtroom and her fantastic book, Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals.

Kerri is a top DC litigation attorney and probably the top expert in using visuals in the courtroom in the country. I reviewed her book a while back when I first learned of it, but now we get to dive a bit deeper and hear more about the psychology of visuals, what can and can't be used in a courtroom and what the state of the trial graphics industry is.

Even if you never plan on working in this area of presentation design, this is a really good conversation in which you'll learn a ton not just about how to convince juries with visuals, but how to convince your own audiences.

Take a listen!Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.

Episode #67, There Are No Mistakes (with Travis Thomas) is up and live!Troy, Sandy and I welcome Travis Thomas from LiveYesAnd for a discussion on how to live with presentation mistakes and what can be learned from the world of improv comedy.

Take a listen!Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.

Episode #46, Sharing the Stage with Your Slides welcomes special guest Sally Koering Zimney, speech coach and host of the This Moved Me podcast.

How exactly should one interact or even acknowledge the slides behind you during a presentation?Sally joins the crew to talk about the little and the big things to consider when sharing the stage with slides. 

Subscribe on iTunes and check out the show notes for more info.

10 years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the Macbook Air—still maybe the best laptop ever and definitely one of the best uses of props in a presentation ever.

Watch it all below.

I speak and give trainings often, and it's not unusual for me to have a 400-slide deck from which I need to pull 60 or 90 minutes of material. Like many presenters, I'm not always perfect at managing the time of my talks, and until now, I have relied on Excel to calculate the running time of my slides. But now, thanks to a brand new PowerPoint add-in called TalkTime, I know instantly the total time my slides will take to present even as I add or delete material. And you can too, because I helped develop it and we're giving it away for free!

Jamie Garroch of YouPresent is one of the best add-in developers for PowerPoint around. He steps in and creates Office solutions for clients when Microsoft can't quite get the job done. One of my favorite add-ins (which you can download for free here) is Text to Outline which can turn all of a given font in your presentation into outlines, allowing you to use non-standard fonts in shareable presentations.It was at the recent Presentation Summit that I casually mentioned my desire for an add-in that could calculate the total time of a presentation based on times assigned to individual slides. Literally a few hours later, Jamie sent me a prototype that blew me away. We then spent the next couple of weeks going back and forth and dramatically improving the functionality well beyond what I thought possible.

The result is TalkTime, a free and simple add-in that adds a small set of tools to the transitions tab.

These tools let you copy PowerPoint’s rehearsal times into TalkTime, enter them manually for each slide, record timings from a normally delivered slideshow or even copy times from audio narrations. TalkTime keeps track of the total time you plan to spend delivering your presentation and even takes into account hidden slides. And it shows you the times of individual sections, letting you manage large chunks of content.

Watch the below tutorial video to see what it's all about or visit Jaime's page for more info and screenshots.

You can download TalkTime or grab it anytime from this site's Goodies page which also includes tons of other great free tools and assets to make you a better presenter. You can access the Goodies page by subscribing to this blog.We would love to know what you think and if TalkTime helps you stay on time. Use the feedback button in the "About" section of the add-in or drop me an email.

If you're looking for other PowerPoint add-ins or customized solutions, definitely check out YouPresent. And, of course, if you're looking for a speaker or presentation trainer who never goes over his time, call me!

My friends at Presentation Guru are holding a 1-day presentation conference this July at the Globe Theatre in London.Unlike other conferences, this will be far more hands on and designed for a small number of groups who will get personalized attention from a team of presentation experts.

Sign up for this unique opportunity if you can!

Dave Gordon is an incredible speaker, speech coach and brand educator that I've worked with a lot in the past as a colleague and client. He has a great piece out on not getting discouraged by that portion of your audience that no matter what, will always be overly critical and in some cases, flat out hate you.

10% of the people will come up to you at the end of your talk and tell you in person how much your message meant to them. They will shake your hand, give you their card, or somehow make a connection.

80% will respond via survey that they enjoyed the presentation and got at least one thing out of it that they could do to advance their career.

10% hate you. For whatever reason, they didn’t like you, your message, your clothes, your hair, your accent. Whatever it was, they just didn’t connect.

Those who get nervous when they present, focus on the 10% that hate. You want everyone to love you and your message, but that’s not possible. The key is to remember "show and tell." Get up and share something meaningful for you that you know over 90% of your audience will appreciate and enjoy. Find the friendly faces and nodding heads in the audience. They are the people you talk to. The other 10% aren't really listening anyway, but that's about them, not you.

I suppose it's a bit like pricing your services in which if you're not getting a small portion of clients saying you're too expensive, then you're not charging enough. If you don't have a small portion of your audience "hating" you, maybe you're doing something wrong.In any case, read the piece here, and sign up for his newsletter which is always filled with good stuff.

Ugh. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio presented the City's new budget yesterday with a series of not ready for primetime slide-aments. Can't seem to find the full deck, but here's just one highlight. 

 We had another great Presenters Network Get Together this week organized and hosted by David Grupper of PointMade Animation. Saw old friends, some very old friends and met lots of new designers and presentation professionals from the New York area. And we had some great presentations from speakers.

Take a look at all the pics here!

The good folks at PointMadeAnimation are again hosting the Presenters Network, an evening of  drinks, talks and networking for anyone involved in the world of presentation. Last year's event was a huge success and a lot of fun (check out pics and videos here), so if you're in New York,  come by on July 19th to this rooftop event. Registration is required, but be sure to put in the discount code "pointmadeanimation" for a big discount.And as I did last year, I'll be one of the event speakers. This time I'll be talking about Office 365 and the latest game-changing features to have come to PowerPoint.Hope to see you there!

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And, it's also time to start registering for this year's Presentation Summit, being held this year in Las Vegas.The 2016 lineup for the world's only conference dedicated to presentation is very exciting. the always amazing Nancy Duarte will be delivering a keynote address, and we will also be welcoming Sunni Brown for a first time visit and talk.As always, there will be breakout sessions galore including a number that I will be giving. I will also have the pleasure of moderating a late night roundtable discussion with Nancy on the business of presentation. Check out the entire schedule and list of presenters here.I know I say this every year, but this is really a conference not to be missed. It is unique among business conferences in so many ways, but mostly in how intimate the organizers keep it. You have direct access to the best minds and players in the world of presentation, and there is no way to attend and not leave a better presenter and creator of presentations. The conference always sells out, so sign up soon, and use the following code for a nice discount: "nh75"If you have any questions or are on the fence, drop me a line, and I'd be happy to convince you further!

President Obama's 2016 State of the Union last night was more "big picture" than is typical, and so was the traditional Enhanced State of the Union. Fewer charts and graphs and numbers overall and more imagery and singular statement "slides." I also liked that they didn't feel the need to fill every moment with a visual.Watch it here:

There has been an increasing trend in companies these days of insisting presentations be limited to just a few slides. I'm hearing more and more from clients that bosses are demanding "5 slides only" or "10 slides maximum" for an internal presentation.So, what does this actually mean and how do you handle a situation like this?

Slide Number Agnostic

First of all, I have always been slide number agnostic. For an on-screen presentation, it makes no difference if you present 10 minutes worth of content with one slide or with 20 slides. In my trainings, I routinely use upwards of 100 slides per hour.But herein lies the clue for you when given a cap on number of slides. Anyone who asks you to limit your number of slides is actually asking you to limit and focus your content. Most people assume content is related to slide number the way that a newspaper article is related to word count. But it's just not true. It's quite possible to put 60 minutes of content onto 5 slides—and that's precisely what some people do...

It's About Time Allotted

The first step in answering this challenge is to truly examine how much time you have to present. When preparing a presentation, overall time and time per slide are two of the most important metrics to consider. If you're given 5 minutes to present next year's sales strategy, that's a pretty good indication that this is not the place to discuss the work history of your 25 new sales reps and the 15-phase implementation plan for the new B2C website. Given 5 minutes, you can only address the big picture and the actionable takeaway, if any.

They Just Want the Big Picture

And that gets us to what most people are actually asking for when they ask for a cap on slides. They simply want the big picture and the takeaway. But for whatever reason, corporate America has failed time and again in adequately expressing and teaching people how to deliver this. Raise your hand if you've ever delivered more than you knew you were asked for. Why did you do it? Well, nobody has ever been fired for including too much...So, let's accept some collective blame here, and now understand why you are being limited to 5 slides only. It is a clumsy attempt to force people to not put needless details up on the screen.

So How Do You Handle the Slide Cap Request?

Clarify the presentation's objectives with whoever has requested the slide cap. Talk in terms of time allotted to present and ask what level of detail and takeaway is required. In most cases, people don't want all the detail behind the overall message. If it seems as though the requested information can fit into the allotted time, but is still more than what will comfortably fit on 5 slides with one message per slide, then ask for an exception and explain why. If the requested information is too much for your allotted time, then ask to provide additional content in a handout that will never be projected. Detailed tables and endless research notes have a place—just not on the screen in a live presentation. And keep in mind:

"5 Slides Only" = "Just Give Me the Big Picture"

Nice TEDBlog post about a body language study from Science of People.

Not so surprising, but helpful to hear again: the best presenters smile, use their hands, and audiences make their decisions on a presenter in the first 7 seconds. 

Webinar for American Management Association - March 19

This will be my first of a number of upcoming projects and trainings with the AMA. "Creating Visual Presentations" will be a regularly offered 90 minute webinar, and the first session is March 19th. Every webinar includes plenty of Q&A, so if you can't register for this one, keep checking AMA's site for future times.

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Mirren Live New Business Conference - May 5-6

On May 6th, I'll be returning to speak at this annual conference dedicated solely to agency new business. Each year Mirren brings together top names from the biggest creative agencies in the country for two days of sessions that cover everything from prospecting to creative execution to compensation with a whole lot of case studies and endless networking thrown in.

In my session, 5 Principles for Transforming Your Pitch Deck, I'll again discuss how agencies can make their pitches more effective and more visual.

The conference always sells out, so register now and save $300 before April 3rd.

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Presentation Summit - September 27-30

My favorite event of the year will now be in one of my favorite cities in the country! For those of you who always remain undecided, this is the year to attend. The only conference dedicated to presentation in the world, the Summit gathers together the top people in the business. If your business involves presentation and PowerPoint, this is your conference. And did I mention New Orleans?

Register early and use the code NH75 for a special discount for my readers.

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PresentationXpert - October 21

Stay tuned for more information on my next completely free webinar for PresentationXpert on October 21st... 

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The above are just my public appearances and trainings, of course. My calendar is already filling up for the year with speaking and training engagments in Colorado, California, Minnesota, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts. If your organization is interested in customized presentation, data visualization and speech coach training, drop me a line!

Update on 2015-03-13 18:42 by Nolan Haims

Receive a discount off registration for MirrenLive with this code: "NolanHaims@Mirren"

Mashing together two copyrighted names and adding in a healthy heaping of Second City, it's PechaFlickr: Select a topic, then improv a 6 minute, 40 second PechaKucha.

Many of you know that I'm a big fan of a little-noticed addition our President has made to the age-old tradition of the State of the Union address. The White House has recognized the visual, media-hungry, short attention span society we have become and has responded by adding slides to the President's annual address of Congress and the nation.

No, there are no screens behind the President, and if you watch on TV, you won't see the slides. But if you watch online in real-time or afterward, you can view the Enhanced State of the Union that includes composite video of the President and a sidebar of vertical visuals (slides) that hit key points of the President's speech.

As usual, not every slide is perfect (really, they have got to lose the red text over blue backgrounds...), but I have noticed the visuals getting better each year. And what I noticed most of all this time was an increased use of imagery. The slides continue to become simpler and more effective for communicating their message in fractions of a second.

And if you just want to view the slides, they are on SlideShare.

The always amazing Presentation Summit was held a couple of weeks ago in San Diego, and this year I had the honor of giving the opening keynote.

The topic was one of my favorites: Simplicity.

Looking at everything from songs by the Beatles to the Vietnam Memorial to the menu at Chipotle, I like to think I made an argument for simplicity standing out, being memorable and actually making money where complexity does not. 

Bad presentations have many root causes, but over complicated messages and design are high on the list, and so I felt that a discussion of simplicity was an appropriate kickoff to 3 days dedicated to all things presentation. And indeed, it seemed to set the theme for the conference. (That and Star Wars references.)

Geetesh Bajaj from indezine.com has a nice play by play review of the talk, and here are a few slides...

 

 

I had a blast from beginning to end at the Summit, reconnecting with so many friends from around the world (even met a new one from Iceland this year!) who just happen to be the top people in the business. I also managed to get a number of new faces to attend this year—always trying to get more design blood at the Summit—including the kick ass women from SlideRabbit who put together a nice set of learnings from the conference. Also check out Presentitude's ABC Guide to the Presentation for a nice recap.

Thanks and kudos to Rick Altman who has run the conference since day one, puts on an incredible show each year, and is a great friend.

For those still on the fence over attending, next year will be in New Orleans. Now you really have no excuse...

Lastly, here are some visual notes taken by the awesome Stephy Lewis on my keynote and my breakout session, "Confessions of a Presentation Designer."

  

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If anyone is looking for a keynote speaker for their conference and would like to know how simplicity can help their business and endeavors, drop me a line!