The Art of the Presentation

I just reviewed a power point presentation that is being delivered in a training session next week by a member of the management team.  He has one hour to talk about marketing and somehow he figured that he couldn’t get his point across with less than 152 slides.  No joke.

Corporate America discovered PowerPoint and has become incredibly lazy. Just let the slide do all the talking. No need to think about how its being said, as long as its on the slide we’re covered.   I cringe when ever I come across a slide that is loaded so much content that the font has been reduced to a size 12.  And in this case, all 152 slides are using….well, I will let you guess.

Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and current venture capitalist, had a great posting on his blog awhile back on PowerPoint.  Check it out here. His rule on PowerPoint applies primarily to pitching to a VC, but he points out the basic issues that we so often see in training environments. I am not sure that I think we can limit ourselves to 10 slides during training, but the point is valid.

Another great resource is Presentation Zen. PowerPoint is a graphic display of our presentation and is worthy of the attention of a designer.  And if we don’t have access to one, then we must be mindful of what we are putting on screen. Its not about cramming as much stuff on the slide as possible, its about making the most impact.

 

“Knocking one out of the park”

“Come on team, lets knock one out of the park!” 

Sound familiar?  This is starting to sound like one of the buzz phrases from the 90’s like “synergy” or some crap like that.  So what does it mean?  What are we really saying when we are told to “knock one out of the park”?

Recently, I heard a relatively new and inexperienced manager implore her team to do just that, knock it out of the park.  Nice way to motivate, but the problem with little phrases such as this is that it feels like eating a chinese meal, an hour later you are hungry again and wanting more.  Why is that?  Because it doesn’t give any real direction.  When managers drop this line, they fail to define how they want it to happen.  Or they are masking the reality that they are micromanaging but by asking everyone to knock it out of the park,  the manager is hoping that everyone feels part of the solution.

People need to be empowered to hold the bat and take a swing.   Yes, some will fail, but that is truly how we develop our people. And even though its like helping our children to ride a bike; we hate to see them fall and skin their knee, it is part of the process and we need to let it happen.  We aren’t protecting anyone by not allowing them to try.

No one will push themselves if they don’t have any ownership in it.  Why would anyone try for the fence if someone will come along and claim the ball as theirs?  And if you have never been told what to watch for and how to hit it, then can you be expected to succeed?  Pretty easy to encourage you to achieve greatness but even easier to pick you apart if you haven’t been told how to get there.

So next time you are trying to rally the troops, think for a second about your role.  Have you coached your teammates on the finer points?  Have you defined the goal?  And if they fail at bat, the question isn’t just “what could they have done better?”  The question is also “what could you have done better?“

 

We have the tools…….

Can someone please tell me why the hell we are so uninformed?

The recent issue of Wired has an interesting little story about how well informed we are during this incredible information age.  Take a look at it here.

We all know that smoking kills, yet we keep doing it.  There is no secret to losing weight, eat less smarter and exercise more.  Yet, we are seeing obesity reach epic levels.  So why are we not acting on what we know? Why aren’t we asking more questions?

While I was teaching at a college during the 2004 election, I was stunned by the level of apathy that so many of the younger generation has.  There was a general feeling of not caring what happens because it “doesn’t effect them” and “their vote doesn’t count”.  Al Gore and the 2000 election came up and I was so disheartened by then that I couldn’t engage in the argument(the 2000 election was even more disheartening).

I am really stumped on this one.  We have the technology to know in real time when someone blows their nose in Kazastan and yet, 79% of us don’t know who Robert Gates is?  Seriously, does anyone have some thoughts on this?  Does this scare anyone else?  I am usually not the smartest guy in the room, even when I am alone.  So I make it a point to know what is going on in our world, even when it is nothing to smile about.

At least we know that Paris is a changed woman.

 

iPhone frenzy

I need to preface this by admitting that I am Mac fanboy.  There is nothing that I love more that drooling over the specs of new hardware from Apple.  I proudly wear my Apple OSX tshirt for special occasions and I even have a pair of brand new Apple tennis shoes that were handed out to all of the Apple developers in the early 90’s.  But I have to admit being taken a bit back by all of the hype of this thing coming out Friday night.

Some of these guys are already camping out to snag one.   There are reports of armed guards accompanying the shipments. There are even reports on how to safely purchase an iPhone without getting mugged.  Seriously, Steve Jobs may be a genius at marketing but this is nuts.  It isn’t Jesus making an apprearance, its a cell phone.  There is no way that I would even consider waiting in line for a product that will be obsolete in 20 minutes.

Ok, that and the fact that my wife won’t even talk to me about getting one.   But if she would let me get one…..

 

Professional Cat Herder

Professional Cat Herder….sounds cute.  I am seeing this little “title” on more and more business cards. Or I hear people tell me that they compare their job to a cat herder.  But what are these people really saying?

When we struggle to get people on the same page with us, they end up doing their own thing, independent of each other.  But in business, that is unacceptable.  So what is the real issue here?  Is it that they are just such independent people that they must go where the wind takes them?  Or is that they haven’t seen any real leadership?  And just who’s fault is that? Theirs?

Trent Lott wrote a book called Herding Cats.  I haven’t read and I can’t say that I am in any big hurry to either.   But in his case it might be appropriate.  He has a bunch of people that run around with their own agendas, each possessing a general unwillingness to compromise unless their lobbyist says its ok.  Alright, I better stop before this turns political.

In my line of work, corporate training, I have seen this first hand several times. Management scratching their heads because people aren’t taking advantage of the resources that are available.   We have all heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.”  We just haven’t done a good job of telling the horse that it is hot and drinking now will prevent thirst in the immediate future.  Its not the horse’s fault for not knowing this, its ours for not sharing this information.

So before we proudly display a badge proclaiming our role as Chief Cat Herder, maybe you might want to take a look in the mirror and see why that is.   You may not want to put that on once you do.

 

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

In the 1967 film, Cool Hand Luke, Warden is trying to impart empathy to the plight of Luke and his “failure” to understand his place in the prison. The movie is essentially about one man’s quest to remain true to who he is despite being in a rough prison. If you have never seen the film, do yourself a favor and rent it. You may swear off hard boiled eggs for awhile but you will be better off having experienced the film.

Luke endure beatings, time in the “box” and moving dirt, lots of dirt. Yet the Warden just can’t reach Luke. He is admired by the rest of the inmates for his strength and ability to maintain his identity until he is finally broken and conforms with the rest of the prison population. So the Warden won….or did he?

Luke eventually conformed to prison life after defying the guards, escaping and gaining the respect of the prison population. Yet, the Warden had to resort to extreme punishment to break Luke. The prison still had their martyr which gave them all a champion and an idol. The Warden may have won the fight but he lost the battle.

When we have conflict with coworkers, are we looking at the big picture? You probably don’t have the authority that a Warden has to control someone’s life so you need to look for compromise. Is it that big of a deal? Is there common ground? Could this other person have a point? I am not saying lay down and become a doormat, but sometimes the strongest person is the first one to refuse to fight. Sometimes it takes a step back and a different perspective rather than continuing to cram the same idea or position down someone’s throat.

Is it respect you are after, or fear and loathing? Refuse to budge and see other points of view and I guarantee that you will be loathed, kinda like a Warden.

 

Hello world!

Ok, I am doing it. I have read enough of these darn things and after having lunch with my friend, Brent Schlenker, I am finally motivated to do it. So here it is……

(crickets chirping)

Where is the inspiration to write something brilliant? I thought WordPress came with something brilliant for me to post? Guess this blog is gonna be tougher than I thought. OK, well, wish me luck.