Category: Opinion

Opinions

Godin’s 9 Steps to Presentation Nirvana

 

In my opinion PowerPoint has an unfair reputation as a bad presentation tool. We have all heard comments over the years such as, “death by PowerPoint”. However, it is not the tool which is the problem, it’s often the presenter. My two favourite books on presenting, help to improve the style of your slides. The books also offer sound advice on limiting the amount of text on your screen.  Often, people respond more favourably to stories. Seth Godin, makes this point in his post below.

  1. Don’t use PowerPoint at all. Most of the time, it’s not necessary. It’s underkill. Powerpoint distracts you from what you really need to do… look people in the eye, tell a story, tell the truth. Do it in your own words, without artifice and with clarity. There are times Powerpoint is helpful, but choose them carefully.
  2. Use your own font. Go visit Smashing Magazine and buy a font from one of their sponsors or get one of the free ones they offer. Have your tech guy teach you how to install it and then use it instead of the basic fonts built in to your computer. This is like dressing better or having a nicer business card. It’s subtle, but it works.
  3. Tell the truth. By this I don’t mean, "don’t lie," (that’s a given), I mean "don’t hide." Be extremely direct in why you are here, what you’re going to sell me (you’re here to sell me something, right? If not, please don’t waste your time or mine). It might be an idea, or a budget, but it’s still selling. If, at the end, I don’t know what you’re selling, you’ve failed.
  4. Pay by the word. Here’s the deal: You should have to put $5 into the coffee fund for every single word on the wordiest slide in your deck. 400 words costs $2000. If that were true, would you use fewer words? A lot fewer? I’ve said this before, but I need to try again: words belong in memos. Powerpoint is for ideas. If you have bullets, please, please, please only use one word in each bullet. Two if you have to. Three never.
  5. Get a remote. I always use one. Mine went missing a couple of weeks ago, so I had to present without it. I saw myself on video and hated the fact that I lost all that eye contact. It’s money well spent.
  6. Use a microphone. If you are presenting to more than twenty people, a clip on microphone changes your posture and your impact. And if you’re presenting to more than 300 people, use iMag. This puts your face on the screen. You should have a second screen for your slides–the switching back and forth is an incompetent producer’s hack that saves a few bucks but is completely and totally not worth it. If 400 people are willing to spend an hour listening to you, someone ought to be willing to spend a few dollars to make the presentation work properly.
  7. Check to make sure you brought your big idea with you. It’s not worth doing a presentation for a small idea, or for a budget, or to give a quarterly update. That’s what memos are for. Presentations involve putting on a show, standing up and performing. So, what’s your big idea? Is it big enough? Really?
  8. Too breathtaking to take notes. If people are liveblogging, twittering or writing down what you’re saying, I wonder if your presentation is everything it could be. After all, you could have saved everyone the trouble and just blogged it/note-taken it for them, right? We’ve been trained since youth to replace paying attention with taking notes. That’s a shame. Your actions should demand attention (hint: bullets demand note-taking. The minute you put bullets on the screen, you are announcing, "write this down, but don’t really pay attention now.") People don’t take notes when they go to the opera.
  9. Short! Do you really need an hour for the presentation? Twenty minutes? Most of the time, the right answer is, "ten." Ten minutes of breathtaking big ideas with big pictures and big type and few words and scary thoughts and startling insights. And then, and then, spend the rest of your time just talking to me. Interacting. Answering questions. Leading a discussion.

Most presentations (and I’ve seen a lot) are absolutely horrible. They’re not horrible because they weren’t designed by a professional, they’re horrible because they are delivered by someone who is hiding what they came to say. The new trend of tweaking your slides with expensive graphic design doesn’t solve this problem, it makes it worse. Give me an earnest amateur any day, please.

I would add a further point.

10.   Watch other presenters.  YouTube and TED, carry great videos of experts presenters. My advice is to  study, watch and learn from them. Watching other presenters is a great way of improving your own technique.

Grab Office 2007 for less than a tank of diesel!

Indeed, Microsoft UK are selling Office 2007 for the bargain price of £38.95 in their Ultimate Steal Promotion.  What’s the catch?  You have to be in academia and have a registered .ac.uk email address.  I made use of this offer last year and I am very glad I did! 

Terms and Conditions apply

This post is dedicated to all those in UK Universities. I think I’m missing my days stressing over essays!

Personality Not Included – A Book Review

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“The moment that organisations lose  their personality is when their employees become “people” rather than individuals…”.

As many of my readers and friends know. I’m very much in touch with the “human side of business”, especially forming a connection with people. Revealing, the honest, sincere and human side of your business to your customers has repeatedly proved to be a good thing. It’s the key to delighting them and making sure they stay with us for a very long time.

Rohit Bhargava as an author is right up there with the likes of Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki. Why? Because he tells it like it is. Jargon is left at the door and the book uses great worldwide examples of excellent personality branding. It’s nice to see an American author who shows a refreshing awareness that we all don’t live in America!

Wow. I must admit, Rohit actually had me at “hello” with this book. The book brings together, my own personal experiences of business differentiation. Learning, from companies such as Moo and Innocent Drinks (Also mentioned in the book). Rohit did an excellent job of drawing me in with his great writing style and a clear passion for the subject.

Throughout the book he provides many examples of businesses which are successfully using the techniques within the book. The case studies were almost enough to sell me the book alone. However, learning about each technique and then being given an interesting and detailed example of how each idea can be implemented in real life was fantastic. It was was great to see Steve, Hugh and the Blue Monster also getting a mention – Rock On!

Personality Not Included successfully leads the reader through the process of building a company personality. Rohit’s approach impressed me in a number of ways. Firstly he outlined all the key elements. I especially liked his “UAT Filter“- the three core qualities of a company personality:

  1. Unique
  2. Authentic
  3. Talkable

Spot on. Secondly, he presented great examples from several companies for each element.

As I finished reading Part 1, Rohit did something that many marketing writers do not usually do. He wrote a “Part 2?. The second part of the book focuses on how to put the discussion in Part 1 into action. To further guide the reader through the process, Rohit provides a number of tools and frameworks to help. The book is broken down into the following chapters:

Part One

Chapter 1 – Faceless used to work because big meant credible. This is no longer true

Chapter 2 – Accidental spokespeople are speaking for your brand – Embrace them

Chapter 3 – Uniqueness plus Authenticity plus Talkability equals personality. Use the UAT Filter

Chapter 4 – Backstories establish a foundation of credibility. You need onq.

Chapter 5 – Fear of change leads to barriers. Finding your authority overcomes them

Chapter 6 – Personality moments are everywhere and unexpected, but you must spot them

Part Two – (Putting Personality into Action)

• New Styles of Marketing (Ten Techniques are Described in Detail)
• Taking Theory Further (Tools and Guides to Accompany Chapters 1 – 6)

The key theme from the first half of the book is that personality matters, because it is the element of your brand that inspires loyalty more than any product feature or element of your service ever can.

Rohit reminds the reader, that consumers aren’t just buying a product or service from you. They are buying “into” a whole experience. If they find the experience positive, they are very likely to purchase again, and/or recommend your business to others. As a text book, Personality not Included could also be used to boost your own “Personal Branding”.

If you love Seth Godin, or Guy Kawasaki then you’ll love Rohit Bhargava. If you are looking for a refreshing and up-to-the-minute business read, then you could do no better.

To conclude, Bhargava’s marketing experiences with the world’s leading companies has produced the definitive book that explains “Personality Branding”, in a practical, understandable and actionable way. I can’t recommend this book highly enough for any entrepreneur, business person, or anyone who wants to better understand how ‘personality’ can impact a business.

If you are interested in learning more about this book, download the book’s intro. Or, purchase online from Amazon.

Digital Nomads keep Dell Weird

“Keep Dell Weird”, a recent post from Hugh grabbed my attention.

[NOTE TO PEOPLE WHO WORK AT DELL:] Remember where you’re from. Austin, Texas. Love it. Cherish it. Never forget it. Rock on.

I’ve long admired Dell. I believe their products offer good value for money and their consumer and corporate products appeal to a wide section of people.

IMHO, “Keep Dell Weird” suggests a company that is different to others in its industry. It recognises that its audience is different and the company is passionate about delivering great products. But also, passionate people who work at Dell want to connect and engage with everyday people.

If this sounds reminiscent of the Blue Monster, there is definitely some cross over. However, back to Dell.

Dell has been a great poster child in its adoption and embracement  of Web 2.0 technologies.  The Texas based company has also been one of the few companies to embrace the wisdom of the crowd with its IdeaStorm site. The company runs an SME blog and more recently has embraced the use of Twitter. You  can even find Dell’s CEO on Facebook if you look hard enough.

However, Dell’s new social media related site, digital nomads recently caught my eye.

 

Digital Nomads is a site for those of us who work regularly on the move. Perhaps out of coffee shops or airports. Or, maybe those who drag their office around with them in a rucksack. The Digital Nomads site is specifically catered for the mobile warrior. The site also rocks for a number of very cool reasons.  

Firstly, the site is led by Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s Chief Blogger, and Dell’s Bruce Eric Anderson. Thus, the dialogue is authentic and from within Dell.

Secondly, it’s a great for sharing content. We, as digital nomads can go there, participate in and read posts that might interest us. However, we can also read posts from within Dell and learn all about exciting projects and tools that we can use, to make our lives easier

You can also grab digital nomad wallpapers and your own digital nomad badge from the site. Tres cool.

This is going to be a fascinating project to observe and participate in.  Dell’s on going conversation with the audience is great and my opinion keep’s Dell Weird!

Nice work Dell.

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Focus on the Customer Experience

 

Great insight, via Armano’s blog. The above video is a presentation given by the staff of an experience design consultancy called Adaptive Path to employees at Google.  The presentation highlights the key points that are made in the book entitled, "Subject To Change". 

Google obviously invests heavily in its brand. Its home page may have nothing but a search box and links to Google’s services — which means the company is forgoing tens of millions of dollars in advertising — but it’s doing something more important: putting its customers first. Untargeted ads, even simple text links, goes the rationale, would put too steep a cost on its users.

This decision is "revolutionary," wrote Havas Media Lab director and London economist Umair Haque on Harvard Business Online in February. "By choosing to invest in consumers over advertising, Google is a living example of a deeper truth: The future of communications as advantage lies in talking less and listening more."

The biggest challenge that today’s marketers face is understanding HOW to overcome the obstacles that get in the way from creating user/customer/consumer experiences that people want to make part of their everyday lives.  Everything has changed.  Years ago, Starbucks was celebrated as a brand that understood this—today, it’s customers are less loyal and it’s stock price is reflecting this.  Blockbuster promised to transform our living rooms into home theatres—today, media consumption including movies is fragmented.  Marketers today are faced with a choice.  As Seth Godin points out, we can choose to become liars—spinning fabrications around inferior products and services who depend on traditional marketing to make themselves appear more appealing.  Or we can be honest, and figure out how to actually make the product, service, and brand better—so marketing initiatives will become a natural extension of the experience a customer has with that brand.

Is this the job of the company, the consultant, the agency, the brand?  If you want to thrive in an age where basically we’re all spoiled and demanding—then the reality is, it’s all of our jobs.  So watch the video and think about which side you choose to be on.

Pump up the Volume

As has been widely reported in the press last week. Bill Gates has formerly stepped down from his official duties at Microsoft to concentrate on humanitarian efforts. I salute his efforts and raise my glass in admiration.

Bill Gates, though lacking the charisma of other pioneers such as Steve Jobs has always inspired me. Bill’s passion and dedication to software, (as can be felt in the video above) is amazing. From small and humble beginnings, he created an amazing company. But what now for the company, as its former Chief Software Architect looks to save the world?

Steve asks, “Whether bloggers can fill the void after Gates?”.  This is a great question.  Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many Microsofties both in the UK and at various European conferences. Predominantly, most of them blog and you can feel their passion about their chosen field.  However, can all these individual bloggers replace the voice of Gates?

Steve, is a great blogger and engaging presenter. But I ask myself, where are the other ‘hidden gems’ at Microsoft and particularly in the UK? I have so far attended two Web technology focused events recently. Both of which Microsoft had sponsored. I saw some great demos, but where are the passionate people at Reading hiding?  I want to see, hear and engage with you. Believe me, I’m not the only one.

Microsoft may have lost a key asset as in Gates. But, as the world becomes ever smaller and our connections and relationships become more important. I hope that the company increases its efforts with the on going dialogue with its customers and especially, its consumer communities.

The big voice may have gone. But I think now might be the time, to “Pump up the Volume” on many of the other quality voices within the company.

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What is Cloud Computing?

 

There is a lot of talk in the media today about “Cloud Computing”. But what exactly is it?  Nick Carr’s recent book suggests that, cloud computing will become ubiquitous as electricity is today.

The following experts give their own definitions at the recent Web 2.0 Expo.  Tres Cool.

But what do YOU think Cloud Computing is?

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Live Mesh ‘rocks’ my world

 

Like many people today, I use multiple computers and use multiple mobile devices (Mobile Phone, iPod etc).  I have a designated ‘work’ PC, a Dell laptop and an Apple Macbook laptop (which I think of as a ‘lifestyle computer’). My lifestyle computer carries all of my digital media – music, pictures and video. My Windows Mobile phone carries all of my Outlook contacts and syncs my content from my Dell Laptop.  My iPod connects to my Macbook. As you can see, I spend time in the content management space. But I’m not alone.

One of the biggest issues I have, is keeping my digital life synced. The above scenario, is just one consumer’s perspective. What about a small business? Today, more people are working from a greater number of computer devices. There soon comes a need to backup. Sharing and syncing content is a headache.  Of course, there are options. Copy data to memory sticks or email data to yourself. Functional solutions but hardly elegant Microsoft’s Live Mesh platform can help consumers and businesses in data management – Best of all it is free.

I dream of a day when my data is stored in the cloud. No matter, which device I pick up, it recognises who I am and securely logs me on to the Internet.  My files are copied over to my device and are available wherever I go. Live Mesh, is a first step to that dream.

Live Mesh is currently invite only :-((  But signup over at www.mesh.com or www.sharemesh.com for chances to signup to the technical beta

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Size Matters…

 

I have been lucky enough to own many different types of laptop over the years. However, no computer has excited me more than the Eee PC (it should really be called the Eee Laptop!)

There are already thousands of reviews of this little machine all over the Interwebs, so I won’t bore you with that.

The laptop is very small, but perfectly functional. A laptop you can take anywhere, especially on short trips or on holidays. The laptop features Flash based storage, which ensure fast boot times and comes with a reasonable web cam, excellent for Skype. The screen and keyboard are a tad small, but you can easily use it for typing emails or for web surfing. (Indeed, the machine comes with Wifi too)

At around the £200.00 mark, the laptop is excellent value. If you are in the UK, pop into your nearest Dixons for a preview.

 Guide to install Windows XP on the EEE PC

 Eee User Blog

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