WebExpo 2011: Presentation Lessons Learned

WebExpo was a fabulous place this year - full of energy and enthusiasm from over a thousand geeks.  The quality of the presentations there contributed to this great atmosphere.  I'd like to share some lessons from the presentations that I had a chance to see.  

Lesson #1  Technical topics don't have to be boring

I've said this before and most of the speakers at WebExpo proved it.  There were some extremely technical topics presented this year, but that didn't stop the speakers from making them interesting, interactive and even exciting.  You don't think Information Architecture can be sexy?  Don't tell that to Adam Fendrych!  He showed us how it can be done and that it's possible for any topic.  If YOU are excited about your subject and manage to share that enthusiasm with your audience, you've got a winning presentation every time. 

Lesson #2  Less content equals more impact

When Adam Hruby first presented for us in the training session, he had loads of things to say to his audience.  All of it was interesting, but as he only had 30 minutes to speak, something had to go.  He masterfully cut down his content and was then able to add even more energy, visuals and emphasis to the content points that remained.  And, with less content, his message was much clearer and the audience was able to stay focused and remember his very specific calls to action.  Adam ended up being one of the stars of the conference and was a joy to watch present!  Look out for him at future events!

Lesson #3  Proper preparation makes a huge difference

There were two speakers that admitted to me before they presented that they didn't prepare as well as they should have.  Unfortunately, the results made it painfully obvious.  What makes this argument for preparation even stronger is that they are naturally talented presenters.  However, even this natural talent didn't make up for lack of preparation.  There is no substitute for going through all the preparation steps.  And, leaving your presentation preparation until the last minute never works!  Don't say to yourself, 'I'll just wing it and see what happens'.  As Mark Twain said, 'I can't make an impromptu speech without at least four days for preparation.'

Lesson #4  Introverts can be great presenters

You don't think you can be a great presenter because you're not an extrovert?  The right kind of preparation and practice can make even a shy person a successful speaker.  I talked with Richard Fridrich after his very popular presentation and asked him if it came naturally to him.  He said, 'Absolutely not!  I am an introvert and it takes a lot of practice to feel comfortable talking in front of so many people.'  His method?  After he feels confident about the presentation that he's prepared, he practices it many times out loud in his living room.  This not only helps him feel more relaxed, but he often edits his presentation after hearing what it sounds like.  Great advice!

Lesson #5   Everyone can be an outstanding presenter!

I have to admit that when Zdenek Farana first presented for us at the training session, I had my doubts whether he would really be ready for the conference.  But, the WebExpo program manager, Jakub Nesetril, was determined that he had a great message and if we could all work together he might be good enough by September.  Well, 'good enough' does not describe what we saw on the big day at WebExpo.  Zdenek took all of our advice to heart and worked his ass off to make one of the best presentations I saw at WebExpo this year.  I was astounded to see the difference between his first and final versions.  He has proved what I truly believe - everyone has the chance to be an outstanding speaker if you really want to put the work in and make it happen!  Bravo, Zdenek!

And, on that note, I challenge all of my readers to make the extra effort and strive to be outstanding the next time you speak!  I hope to see you presenting at the next WebExpo!

PS  And, to all of the people who participated in my Networking Game at the WebExpo WarmUp party - what was the lesson?  Don't be afraid to say 'Can I join you?' to a group of strangers at an event!!  I loved to see so many people using it at the conference - good for you!  You never know where that phrase will take you! 

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

99 seconds to present - what do you say?

Last week I attended the Business Tuesday event, Success Stories.  Before the main event started, there was an opportunity for a person to present their company in 99 seconds.  I had never seen this before and I think there are some lessons to be learned from this type of mini presentation.  I won't name the person who gave this particular talk because it's not the point of this post.  But, if you're given this type of opportunity, here are some things you should think about.

What is your goal for this type of presentation?  To sell your product or service?  To introduce your company structure or history?  To give detailed information about your processes?

Absolutely NOT!  Your only goal should be to get people excited enough about your organization to want to know more and to motivate them to talk to you after the event or contact you later.  

What should you say to fulfill this goal?  Here are some ideas:

Tell us why you exist.  What problem are you solving?  Who are you solving it for?

What are you doing right now that's exciting?  Why should we be excited about it?  Be specific!  What are you especially proud of that your organization is currently doing and who are you doing it for?  

Why should we care about your organization?  Why should we want to know more?  Are you leading a tribe that we'd like to become a part of?  Why should we not miss out on the opportunity to become a member of your circle?  

The world is all about connections and sharing experiences now.  Forget the sales pitch!  Give us a reason to listen, care and become involved in the exciting things that you're doing!  

And, unlike the person who presented on Tuesday, stick around for the whole event and the networking opportunity afterwards.  If you leave after your presentation, the message you convey is 'Well, I said what I needed to say and if they're interested, they'll contact me'.  That's not the point.  

I look forward to seeing the next 99 second presentation opportunity.  Take advantage of it and I'll give you a winning review!

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

What is Normal?

Most presenters:

Use bullet point slides

Fill their slides with text

Use printouts of their slides for conferences

Look more at the screen than at their audience
Start presentations with their company history or detailed bio information

Recycle slidedecks from past presentations

Think that presentations are about giving their audience information

Don't ask themselves why audiences should care about their presentation

Worry more about how they look rather than what they say

Leave all the audience questions until the end

Call their slides their 'presentation'
Are just glad to be done with the presentation no matter the outcome

If most people are doing it does that make it ok?  It makes me think of when I was a kid and I wanted something that 'everybody' else had.  My mother would ask me, 'If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?'.  

My question to you is - if everyone else is approaching presentations this way, does that mean that you should?  Are you too worried about appearing normal?  Do you want to be like most people or do you want to be a presenter that makes an audience think, 'Wow!  That was something different, something better'?  

Don't follow the herd.  Be outstanding!

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Mashup Presentations: Six Tips

I recently attended the fifth Mashup at HUB Prague and I'd like to share some lessons that came out of watching the presentations there.  

Don't know what a 'mashup' is?  It's an event that features presentations that consist of 10 slides with each slide appearing for only 20 seconds.  There are other events that you may have heard of - Ignite, Pecha Kucha, that have similar formats.  This is a very different kind of presentation, but when delivered well it can be fun and a great promotional tool. 

This is obviously a slide-driven presentation.  You are a slave to the number of slides you can use and the amount of time that you can spend on each slide.  Meticulous planning and rehearsal is mandatory!  This is not something to leave until the last minute.

Here are six tips to think about if you plan to present at this kind of event:

1.  This is not the place for bullet-point slides full of text (actually, there is no place for those, but especially here you need to forget about creating slides like this).  Vivid photos, a few words in a huge font, quotations - these are the kinds of slides that fit this event.  

2.  Spending only 20 seconds on each slide does NOT mean that you need to talk really fast.  It means that every word you say needs to be necessary and to absolutely relate to the slide showing at the moment.  Don't make the mistake of talking at Chipmunk speed - you will look like a fool and your audience will be lost.

3.  Have you said everything you wanted to say and the slide is still just sitting there?  DON'T just stand there and look at your slide waiting for it to advance.  DON'T say to the audience 'the next slide will be coming up soon.'  You need to be able to think on your feet and add something more to say that's important to your message.  When you create your presentation, put in extra 'fillers' to add in case you have too much time.  One of the presenters at this event asked the audience some questions when he found that he had extra time until the next slide came up - that's a great example!

4.   Yes, it's a slide-focused event - but that means the AUDIENCE is focusing on your slides -  NOT you!  Demand that the organizers put the computer in front of you so that you can see the slide that is up without looking behind you. 

5.  Don't waste any time on things like your company history, track record, financial results... people really don't care and it's out of place in this kind of event.  Give your audience a reason to listen and a reason to care about what you're saying.  

6.   This is meant to be a fun event.  You need to put enough work into the preparation and practice that you can give the audience the impression that you are having fun with it, too.  Make it look easy (even if it's not) and you'll allow the audience to have a great time and to love your presentation.

Take the next opportunity you can to give a presentation at this kind of event.  There are more and more happening in Prague now.  Used in the right way, you can make a great impression and have the chance to spread your message.  I'm looking forward to seeing the next one!

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Communication Wednesday: Google, Seznam, Nokia

The day after the Internet Developers Forum, I attended Communication Wednesday and saw presentations about mobile maps. The three main presenters were Jaroslav Bengl (Google), Ivan Mikula (Seznam) and Igor Smerda (Nokia). Their performances can teach us some lessons about promotional presentations and how they can be delivered in an informal setting.

The lessons:

Being first is an advantage

If you find yourself in a similar situation, always ask to be the first presenter. Google had a clear advantage because of this. Bengl had the chance to set the tone, introduce topics and not be afraid that they were already mentioned and to be the one that the others are compared to.

Never be defensive

If you're not lucky enough to be the first, don't make the mistake of comparing yourself to the first presenter. Bengl gave a great presentation of Google maps. He was relaxed and had a friendly style. He also had the confidence that he had a really good product to present. Both Mikula and Smerda appeared to be defensive about their products and how they compared with Google. There is no reason for this and it leaves a bad impression. I'm sure there are great advantages to both Seznam and Nokia's mobile maps. Focus on those and forget about putting the competition down. It never looks good.

Focus on the benefits

There's a big difference between telling your audience what your product can do and showing them what the benefits are. Facts are nothing without telling your audience why those facts are important to them and why we should care about them. For example, Mikula told us a lot about the sms marketing campaign for Seznam's mobile maps. Why? I can't imagine why this information was important to the audience that was there. Smerda also gave us a lot of information that seemed unnecessary because he didn't explain how it was connected to his message.

Know your audience

Communication Wednesday events are great for speakers because it's possible to find out in advance who will be attending. It's an opportunity to create your presentation with this specific audience in mind. When you have this possibility, ask yourself why people are coming to the event. What do they want to learn from you? What are they worried about? What kind of information will excite them?

Don't reuse your slides

It's always easy to recognize when a speaker uses the same set of slides for different events and it gives a bad impression. It's especially easy to spot when the presentation language is Czech and the slides are in English. Don't do this. The message it conveys is laziness and a lack of concern about the impression you want to give your audience. Every audience is different. Take the time to create new slides that will mean something to each one.

Recognize that every presentation is an opportunity

Communication Wednesdays are pretty informal and friendly events. It's not the place for a hard sell presentation. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity to impress potential clients, create excitement about your products and expand your tribe. Make sure that each presentation you make aims to do these things. Bengl clearly recognized this. Mikula and Smerda could have focused much more on these goals in their presentations.

I have to wonder if Google is more aware of how important presentations are to their bottom line. I attended two events in two days and Google was clearly the winner both times. I'm looking forward to seeing other companies becoming more aware of the impression they make when they present and starting to make the kinds of presentations that this requires.

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

The Lost Opportunities of Michael Jurek & Microsoft

If you read my previous post, you know that, with one exception, the Internet Developers Forum was a disappointment regarding the quality of presentations there. Michael Jurek was the keynote speaker and represented the main sponsor of the event, Microsoft. I have no doubt that Michael is an expert in his field, but these days that just isn't enough for people to pay attention or even to stay in the room, as you will see.

Here are three mistakes that I think Michael made:

No interaction

Michael chose not to use the projector remote so he positioned himself to the far left of the stage close to his computer so he could advance his slides. Subsequently, his attention was either focused on his computer or on the screen the whole time. He NEVER looked at the audience!

The audience was not part of this presentation. He never asked us questions or looked to see if we understood what he was talking about. After about thirty minutes, people started to get up and leave the room. I stopped counting after awhile. At the end of his presentation, about half the audience had left. And this was the FIRST presentation of the conference! The keynote should be the presentation that gets people excited about the rest of the day. Instead, it was the presentation that set the tone of boring, slide-focused talks that filled the rest of our time.

Slides

Michael chose to fill his slide deck with bullet point slides full of text. Even in technical presentations, this really isn't necessary. I understand that there is some information in this kind of presentation that needs to be put on a slide, but there are so many other ways to do this! There is no excuse for filling a slide with words and forcing your audience to either read or listen to you. Invariably, they will choose not to listen because it's the easier option. So, that makes the speaker obsolete and it would be better to just send us the slides because all of the information is already on them.

No passion

Michael's topic was about Cloud Computing - the theme of the entire conference. Michael showed absolutely no enthusiasm for this topic. It seemed that his attitude was 'I will put out all of this information and if people are interested, they'll want to know more. If they aren't, I don't really care'. Maybe that wasn't really his attitude, but that was certainly the impression that Michael gave during his presentation.

I don't think that speakers need to entertain us - that's not what I'm talking about. There are just some very basic questions that they need to ask themselves when they prepare. These questions will give the impression that the speaker cares.

Why are you excited about Azure? Why should the audience care about it? What does the audience already know about it? What problem is it solving? How is it different and better than the competition? What is your ultimate goal for this presentation? What do you want your audience to do with this information? Next time, I would advise Michael to think about these questions when he's preparing his presentation. Answering them will make a big difference to his impact.


I asked Michael what he thought about his presentation after he finished. He said that he knew he made a lot of mistakes because he had already had presentation training. I asked him if he knew that half the audience left during his presentation. He said that he was aware of it, but it was just the people that hate Microsoft that left. But, Michael, they were there at the beginning and maybe they expected to hear something interesting from you!

The bottom line is - Microsoft spent some money to sponsor this conference. What was the return for them? Did they motivate people to look into their products and services? Did they share trends that are happening and move people to care about them? Did they increase their tribe?

Sponsorship is a lot more than just putting a table in the hallway with your products. A big part of it is taking the opportunity of making an outstanding keynote presentation and making it translate into increased business. Unfortunately, this didn't happen at the Internet Developers Forum. I hope that Michael rethinks how he presents next time and takes advantage of the opportunities.

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Filip Hracek Saves the Day!

This year's Internet Developer's Forum was a miserable place for presentations*. I will talk about what went wrong there in my next post, but I want to start on a positive note. The one shining light in the blue room yesterday was Filip Hracek, Developer Relations at Google. Out of all of the presenters, he seemed to be the only one that knew what a presentation should be and why it's so important.

There are three areas in which he excelled. Here they are.

Opening & Closing

I knew immediately when he began that his presentation was going to be a good one. He started off with a question and a brilliant set of photos. That got our attention and piqued our interest. He also looked directly at the audience and was clearly talking WITH us instead of talking TO us - there is such a difference!

He closed his presentation with a clear summary. His slide stated, 'What did I say?'. And, instead of just listing his agenda points, he told us what was important about them. Basically, he was telling us what we should remember about his presentation - that's exactly what a summary should be!

Interaction

He was the only presenter that truly connected with the audience. He understood who his audience was - young, tech-savvy individuals - and he created his presentation around that fact. He asked questions like, 'Does anyone already know this?' or 'Has anyone used this yet?' . When most of the people in the room raised their hands, he immediately modified his presentation to get to the heart of his point instead of explaining something that the audience already knew or had experienced. This is SO important in a technical presentation. Of course, you have to be prepared for the possibility that no one, everyone or half of the audience raises their hands, but the extra preparation can make all the difference.

Slides

Filip didn't use ONE bullet point slide. This was so refreshing after sitting through so many all morning. He used photos or just a few words on a slide. He also used his slides for some great quotations to make us think and to help him expand on his point. He jumped from the quotation to some very vivid examples. It was such an effective way to use this tool! Filip's example illustrates exactly the way slides should be used! Get your audience curious about your point and then TALK to them. Don't make them try to read and listen at the same time - it doesn't work!


Filip's performance proves that even a technical presentation doesn't have to be boring. There were a lot of possibilities for the sponsors of the Internet Developer's Forum to connect with their customers, share knowledge and expand their tribe, but the only company, in my opinion, that took advantage of this opportunity was Google. Sending Filip to be their representative for the day was an excellent choice. Bravo, Filip! Thanks for saving the conference for me!

*I am only referring to the presentations in the 'blue room'. There were workshops going on in the 'red room', but I couldn't be in both places at the same time...

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Three reasons I'm not a Toastmaster

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Three reasons I'm not a Toastmaster

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Petr Ruzicka is an outstanding speaker!

Petr Ruzicka from Cisco spoke at Communication Wednesday last night. It's not very often that I have the chance to see such an outstanding speaker so I'd like to share the experience.

What did he do that was so exceptional? I could list a lot of things that he did right but I want to highlight the one that I think can make a big difference to speakers who are already sure of their content.

He OWNED the room while he was speaking. I've seen very few presenters that can pull this off naturally, but Petr knew exactly what he was doing and it really made an impression on the audience.

Here's how he did it:

When it was his turn to speak, he came up to the middle of the speaking area, stood tall, looked at everyone in the audience and didn't say a word. In the few seconds that he did this, the message was clear - this room was unquestionably HIS for the next twenty minutes! This simple act makes the audience alert and maybe even a little uncomfortable - that's ok - it means they are listening and they don't know what to expect, but they know that he is in control of the situation. And, he maintained this control throughout his talk.

I recommend doing this, but only if you've earned the right to own the room. What does this mean? Petr knew his content inside and out, he was absolutely sure that this was the right presentation for this particular audience and he was passionate about his company and his topic. After you've mastered these challenges, try this opening gesture. The power you get from it will amaze you and the audience will be yours!

Thanks, Petr, for demonstrating a powerful way to give presentations and showing us how it should be done every time we present! 

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Stop Ignoring Your Audience!

Start this year by making your audience the focus of your presentations from the very beginning of your preparation to the final delivery. Their needs and expectations should be for the focus of your message and should shape the content you decide to include.


If you can ask yourself a few key questions before you write the first word of your presentation, your audience will notice the difference and reward you by listening to you, remembering your message and acting on your proposals.


It doesn't take a lot of time. It's more about changing the way you approach your preparation.


So, next time you have to give a presentation, start with these key questions:


Who are the decision makers in your audience (they are the only ones that really matter)?
Why are they attending your presentation?
What do they expect to learn from you?
What do you want them to do with the information you're giving them?
What do they need to know in order to act on your proposal?


When you've answered these questions, base your presentation preparation on the answers you came up with.


Try it! Your audience is waiting for you to pay attention to them. This small change in thinking can make all the difference.


I wish you luck in your presentations in 2011. Let me know how the changes you make have helped you make outstanding presentations!

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Stop Reading Your Slides!

Want to know the fastest way to get your audience to stop listening to you and for you to lose credibility? Read your slides to your audience. It's amazing, but some people still think this is an effective way of presenting.

This practice was once quietly accepted, but I have noticed audiences becoming visibly uncomfortable when speakers do this now. And, I absolutely empathize with the way they feel. Why should we sit there and waste our time while you read something aloud that we can read much faster to ourselves? Why don't you either say something that adds value to your slides or just do us all a favor and forget about presenting and send them by email?

Does that sound harsh? Well, it's meant to. It's time that people wake up and realize that reading slides to the audience is one of the worst presentation sins they can commit and doing so has serious consequences for their image and their organization's brand.

I'm sure that most of my readers never even think about doing such a thing, but will you all do me a favor? The next time that someone you know gives a presentation and reads their slides, please gently tell them to stop it!. Thank you.

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved