UX Conference 2012:  Four Presentation Lessons

The UX Conference organized by internet info was a fabulous place to spend the day.  There were tons of interesting geeks to meet and the presentations were full of lessons, good and bad.  I thought I'd share a few with you.  

1.  Reading your slides makes people hate you

OK, that's a strong statement, but doing this horrible thing certainly doesn't make people fall in love with your presentation.  Think about what you're doing here:  When there are paragraphs or a few sentences on your slides (a bad idea anyway) and you decide that the audience can't read it themselves or that somehow you're improving their experience by reading the words to them, does this really increase the value of your presentation or make the audience understand the words more?  Absolutely not.  
As an observer in the back of the audience, when the first speaker started doing this with every slide, I saw that most people in the audience stopped listening.  Whatever message this presenter wanted to share was lost because most people had already turned him off. Avoid this presentation sin!

 2.  Case studies need a reason to listen

Helena Simkova was a wonderful example of how to make a case study a valuable presentation.  She had the unfortunate position of being the last speaker in a program that was already running late.  Even before she said her first word, people were starting to leave.  She had to make it worth people's time to stay later than they had planned - and she did so beautifully!  The challenge with case studies as presentations is that there is always a question lingering among audience members, 'Why the heck should I care about this?'  How can you overcome this?  Put lots of lessons for the audience within your case study. Some examples:  Did you try something different?  Tell us the situation and then outline how this can be applied in other situations.  Were there problems?  What were they and how can we identify and deal with similar ones in our work?  
Helena stated clear and simple lessons for us after each content point.  By doing this, she persuaded us to keep listening for more.  Nice work!

3.  Stop using 'Thank you for your attention' on your slides

Almost everyone uses this phrase for their last slide (not just in this conference) and I think it's time to kill it once and for all.  What possible purpose does this slide have?  It's clear that you wrote this sentence when you were preparing your slides before the conference.  How did you know that the audience will pay attention to you?  It's a sad fact that most of the time they don't pay attention to speakers anymore - there are too many things vying for our attention now.  But, let's assume that the audience listened to your whole presentation.  Is this phrase on a slide really the best way to end your talk?  I think it's much more useful and engaging to have your contact details on your last slide and to SAY something like 'It was a pleasure talking with you.  I look forward to continuing the discussion during the break. Enjoy the rest of the conference!'  Try it next time!

4.  Proper preparation is the key to success

The best presentation of the day was by Jan Ilavsky.  Some people said to me afterwards that Jan must have a talent for presenting and it's just easier for these kind of gifted people.  My answer?  Bullshit!  Jan was in my seminar in preparation for the conference and he had a lot of ideas, but he wasn't clear on what it should look like in the end.  He got some presentation basics from me and some great feedback from everyone in the training session.  But, the main difference for him was the hard work he put into the presentation after our session.  It was clear that he took this speaking opportunity seriously and he made sure that he was producing an engaging and fun-to-listen-to talk that had real value for the audience.  Want to have everyone praising you after your presentation?  Go through all of the necessary preparation steps and practice it until it feels natural.  And, when you're this prepared, you're relaxed enough to add some humor and make it look easy like Jan did. 

I'm happy to see that some conference organizers are starting to take the quality of presentations seriously and making the speaker selection process much more rigorous.  It's only fair that when people pay money and take the time to attend a conference that they are provided with the quality presentations that they deserve.  Congratulations to the UX conference organizers for creating a great day for all of us!

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

Stop Wasting Our Time!

What's the first question you should ask yourself when you start preparing your presentation?

a. What are my audience's expectations?
b. What are my objectives?
c. What font should I use in my slides?

Answer? None of the above. Your first question should be: Is it really necessary to give a presentation or is there a more efficient way to communicate this information?

Really think about it.

What would happen if, instead of boring people with twenty slides full of charts and graphs about your organization's quarterly financial performance, you send all of this information by email and ask your audience to review it before your talk? Make it clear that you are not interested in wasting anyone's time reading charts for people in a presentation when they can do it themselves.

Your role in the presentation will then be to interpret, tell them why it's important and to answer questions that your audience has had both the time and the necessary information to formulate. That will take a lot less time than slowly flipping through each slide during the presentation and saying, 'Let me draw your attention to the figures from last month, blah, blah, blah'.

Isn't that a better use of everyone's time? Are you brave enough to try it?

© 2011 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Seven ways to kill your presentation

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Seven ways to kill your presentation

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Presentation Review: Pierluigi Pugliese

Pierluigi Pugliese, an Agile coach at Connexxo, presented Soft Skill Essentials for Software Craftsmen at WebExpo 2010. His was the last presentation that I reviewed for this conference and, like the first (David Hussman), I was thrilled to find such a high-quality performance. What stands out in my mind the most about his talk is that he turned his presentation into a learning experience with the audience absolutely involved from beginning to end. For only the second time since I have been reviewing presentations, I am giving a complete 'outstanding' rating!

Rating system: 1 = outstanding 5 = sucks

You can see a detailed description of my review criteria here

Message - 1

Pierluigi's main message was clear from the start. His aim was to give us concrete methods for communicating better with people because soft skills are just as important as technical knowledge when dealing with a community of software professionals. He introduced his message by asking us questions, 'How do we deal with people? How do we create a more productive team? 'What about developing individual skills in addition to team development?' This message served as the basis for all his content and the activities he included. Because of this clarity, everything made sense.

Content - 1

Pierluigi didn't just give us facts and expect us to take them at face value. With every content point he asked us to try it out ourselves and come to our own conclusions. His method for this involved introducing a concept, having us practice it in pairs and then asking the whole group what we learned. He challenged us to think and act - this is not done often enough in presentations! He wasn't just feeding us his knowledge. We were encouraged to experience it and use that experience to see how these methods really work. He used a wide variety of examples, games, anecdotes and audience interaction to reinforce his message.

Attention - 1

I found it impossible NOT to pay attention to Pierluigi throughout his presentation. He opened his talk with a question, 'What do you expect to learn today?' It's not an unusual question to start a presentation, but this was different because he really expected us to answer him and he waited until he got some concrete answers to it. I think people were a little shocked because they didn't expect to get involved right from the beginning, but it set the tone for the whole presentation. We knew then that we would be an integral part of his talk - that's exactly how an audience should feel! The rest of his presentation involved some kind of audience interaction at all times. He never let us go!

Slides - 1

Pierluigi's slides were bright, colorful and clear. And when there was text, it was sparse and big. Absolutely how visual tools should be used!

Presence - 1

Pierluigi's presentation style can best be described as BIG. He used the whole room and commanded attention from everyone there. He got down close to people and gave thoughtful responses to questions. It was clear that he really wanted to make us understand - he didn't just want to do his presentation and hope that we got it. The feeling that I got from him is that he is the best kind of educator - someone truly interested in getting his message through and having his audience remember and use what they've learned after they leave his talk. I think that a few audience members were a bit unnerved by his style. They weren't used to all of this interaction and attention (after one of the first pair exercises, one member of the audience even said he felt 'uncomfortable'). But, Pierluigi managed to explain the method and why we were doing it (and to be sensitive to this man's feelings at the same time) so that even this audience member admitted that he was 'getting it and feeling good' after the next exercise.

Thank you, Pierluigi, for allowing me to review such an outstanding presentation. I managed to learn a lot about your topic and to witness a fabulous performance at the same time. Bravo!

© 2010 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Presentation Review: George Tziralis & Miro Solanka

George Tziralis of Openfund and Miro Solanka of Sportmeets gave a joint presentation at WebExpo 2010. I hadn't initially planned to review their presentation, but I met them while we were waiting for a different presentation to start and they immediately showed interest in getting feedback on their presentation. I'm really glad it turned out this way because they delivered an excellent presentation. As good as it was, however, they were particularly interested in how they could improve so this review might seem overly critical in light of the fact that it was such a good presentation, but it's meant to be that way.

I have to say that George and Miro are a great example of how two people can do a presentation together. George supplied the general information and advice about getting funding and help with a start-up and then Miro was a concrete example of a start-up that got help from Openfund. It's not easy to do, but they managed to deliver two presentations as one in message, consistency and style. Great work! You can view their slides here.

Rating system: 1 = outstanding 5 = sucks

You can see a detailed description of my review criteria here

Message - 3

The title of their presentation is, Seed Capital in Practice, A Guide for You to Start Up. At the beginning I was a bit confused about what the core message was. Is this an introduction to Openfund and what they are all about or is this a guide for people who want to get funding this way for their start-up? The messages were mixed and sticking with one of these would have made it clearer. It was obvious that Miro's part was an example of what can happen if you do things right, but I would have made the Openfund part stick to a single message - this is what you need to do if you want to successfully get funding and advice from a seed capital firm.

Content - 3

Most of the content was clear and gave a lot of information about what you should do if you want to get help with your start up. The part I found confusing was the 'What You See' and 'What You Get' section. I think I would have called it 'What you think' and 'What investors think'. Why not try putting a headline: 'What you think' and one statement 'we have no competition' (for example) and then on the next slide use the headline, 'What investors think' with one statement 'hasn't done market research'. After these two slides, you can address the issue and give advice on this one topic. And then the other topics would have this same, simple style. Sticking to just one statement for each headline will make it much clearer what you want the audience to remember.

In Miro's part of the presentation, there was some basic information missing (and an audience member asked afterwards) - how do you make money and have you been successful so far? Miro set up the problem/getting funding scenario really well, but we were all curious about how the idea could be profitable and whether it's working for him now.

Attention - 3

Both George and Miro were very good speakers and used lots of opportunities to keep their audience's attention in a variety of ways. I only had a problem at the beginning (and it's connected with the core message above). George started his part by talking about Open Coffee in Greece and how much it had grown. I kept thinking - what the heck does this have to do with getting seed capital and start-ups?! Why not try opening next time with some interesting facts on the topic - what percentage of start-ups are successful (or fail) in the first year? how many of them fail to get funding? what are some reasons that applications are rejected? This would naturally lead to your message about how to be successful getting the help you need to start.

George had a good summary at the end with all of the points that he would like us to remember from his talk. This was lacking in Miro's part. I would have liked to see him talk about the lessons he learned about the application/start-up process that will help others. What should you have done differently? What would have made it an easier process? How could you have prepared in a better way?

Slides - 2

Both George and Miro had great slides (and their styles and color schemes matched). The only thing I would change is the color scheme for the 'what you see' and 'what you get' section. Remembering what red, green and yellow means was too much for me (when I'm trying to listen to the speaker at the same time). Just simplifying that part will make a big difference.

Presence - 2

George and Miro are very good speakers - professional, natural and they seemed comfortable in their roles. The only criticism I have is when they were dealing with audience questions, they seemed a bit hostile. I admit that there were some strange questions coming from some audience members, but it happens. Remember to keep your cool.


Thank you, George and Miro, for agreeing to a last minute presentation review. I truly enjoyed your presentations and the advice above is the result of your specific request to find something to 'fix'. Your performance was absolutely one of the best I've seen this year!

© 2010 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Presentation Review: Petr Dvorak, Inmite

Petr Dvorak, iPhone Developer at Inmite, presented ‘Mobile Web Services from the Perspective of an iPhone Developer’ at WebExpo 2010. This was the second presentation I saw on the first day of the conference (David Hussman was the first). David’s performance was a hard act to follow, and Petr made it even tougher on himself by asking me beforehand to be especially critical in my review. But, I’m happy to say that although I have a few words of advice for him, Petr’s presentation was great and I didn’t have to use the word ‘suck’ :).

Rating system: 1 = outstanding 5 = sucks

You can see a detailed description of my review criteria here

Message - rating 2

From the very beginning of his talk, Petr told us what his key message was, ‘iPhone might not last forever, but web services written for it will’. This is a clear, simple way to start, but I might have gone further and told the audience why this is important to them, what they are going to learn about it and how this is going to shape the presentation. Great start, just extend it for it to have more impact.

Content - rating 2

Petr did two things that I really liked. He used examples to illustrate his content points and he frequently reviewed what he had talked about by saying ‘there are two points you should remember about this…’ before moving on to the next topic. Excellent! Especially, in technical presentations, don’t assume that your audience is going to absorb everything. Keep telling your audience what’s important and what you want them to remember!

Attention - rating 3

This is the only area that I think Petr could improve greatly on. He opened his presentation like a flash of lightning. It seemed like all of the sudden we were in the middle of his presentation! I could have used a much more targeted and attention-getting opening. Remember to include something to get us thinking about your topic and to spark our interest. Also, the conclusion could have been better. As I stated before, Petr continually made sure we were keeping up with him during his presentation, but at the end he left us hanging. It’s a good idea to end with a summary of what we’ve learned, what we should remember and why it’s important. And, finally, it would have been good to use more rhetorical and direct questions to keep us interested and focused on his topic.

Slides - rating 2

Petr’s slides mostly included one or two sentences that were easy to read quickly and then start focusing on his talk again. He also used good photos to make it more colorful. Petr’s talk was in Czech, but his slides were in English. I assumed that this was the reason there was so much text on them sometimes. I think it’s hard to present with two languages at the same time and it’s something I would avoid (but I think it was a necessary evil at this multilingual conference). In a monolingual setting, a lot less text on slides would have been desirable.

Presence - rating 2

Petr had a very confident and open speaking style that was a pleasure to watch. He didn’t hide behind the podium (even though it was possible), but came down on the level of the audience and placed himself directly in front of them. It’s refreshing to see speakers doing this and I wish I would see it more often. The only word of advice I have for Petr is to slow down! I know it’s just nerves getting in the way, but during the first five minutes Petr was speaking way too fast and I wanted to tell him to breathe!

Petr was one of the few Czech presenters at WebExpo 2010 that agreed to have his presentation reviewed and I was very pleased to be able to see him give his talk. Thanks for the opportunity and I look forward to seeing you present again!

© 2010 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

Presentation Review: David Hussman, DevJam

David Hussman, owner of DevJam, gave a presentation called Products & People Over Process and Dogma at WebExpo 2010 in Prague. David's presentation was absolutely outstanding! It was a pleasure to see something done so well. So, the goal of this review is not to give him advice, but to show everyone what he did right so they can learn from his example.

This was the first presentation I saw at WebExpo and, to be honest, the topic scared me a bit because I had no knowledge of Agile. It turns out that I had nothing to worry about. David's presentation was easy to understand, thoroughly enjoyable and the first presentation that I have given a perfect score to. Bravo, David!

Rating system: 1 = outstanding 5 = sucks

You can see a detailed description of my review criteria here

Message - rating 1

David's message of 'challenging the status quo of Agile' was clear from the start and he encouraged us to share, compare and learn in order to fully understand and be involved in the presentation of this message. Throughout his talk and in many different ways, David reminded us of his message and how the information he was presenting directly related to it.

Content - rating 1

David supported his message by including content that challenged our way of thinking about Agile and looking at how we can approach things differently to get a better result. He introduced each content point with a question for us either to ponder or to answer directly. With every new point, he included real stories or examples so we could visualize and truly understand what he was talking about. I came into this presentation knowing next to nothing about Agile and, because of his instructive and open approach, I never felt lost - that's an amazing accomplishment that many technical presenters should strive for!

Attention - rating 1

David started his presentation by asking his audience to make two lists of words, processes that we use and products that we end up with. We were told to discuss with our partner how the way we do things helps produce our results. We were immediately involved and engaged and truly a part of his presentation. It was clear from the beginning that this wasn't going to be a typical, boring presentation with the speaker throwing a bunch of facts at us. This style of speaking continued throughout his talk and there was never a moment that he lost our attention. He also periodically reminded us of what we had learned and invited questions before he moved on. From beginning to end we were captivated!

Slides - rating 1

David's slides included questions (one per slide), photos, easy-to-understand flow charts and lists. Most of his slides were exactly what they are meant to be - glancing slides - we glanced at the slide, got curious and then put our focus back on what David was saying. This presentation was clearly not about slides - they were only the tool David used to whet our appetite for what he was going to talk about next. We need to see more of this! Let's stop our dependence on slides when we present and remember that slideware is just one of many presentation tools.

Presence - rating 1

David's speaking style was open and personable. I didn't get the feeling that he was 'the expert' (even though he is!) overloading his audience with information. He gave the impression that he was truly interested in getting our interest and involvement in his presentation. He was really more like a guide taking us on a journey of challenging our current thinking and pointing out specific ways that we might think differently.

Thanks, David, for the opportunity to see your presentation and share with my readers an example of an outstanding presentation!

© 2010 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved

6 Reasons Your Audience Is Ignoring Your Presentation

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6 Reasons Your Audience Is Ignoring Your Presentation

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Presentation Review: Cornel Sampson

Cornel Sampson of Aisa International delivered the second presentation at July’s meeting of the Prague Networking Group. As I stated in Don MacLennan’s review, the presentations started much later than planned and the circumstances were made even more difficult for Cornel due to a few members of the audience who chose to continually heckle his presentation. I have kept this situation in mind when reviewing his presentation, but I still think there are some valuable lessons to be learned from Cornel’s performance.

Below are some details and advice for future presentations.

Rating system: 1 = outstanding 5 = sucks

You can see a detailed description of my review criteria here

Message – rating 1

Cornel’s core message was absolutely clear. He wanted to let us know that we need to take concrete steps in order to plan for our retirement. He stated his message at the start of his presentation and reminded us throughout. We knew exactly what his message was about and what we could expect to hear.

Content – rating 5

Although Cornel’s message was clear, I was extremely disappointed that he didn’t follow it up with the content necessary to support it. Before the event, we were told that Cornel would be giving us a case study. However, he gave us an imaginary example of a taxi driver who didn’t do the necessary financial planning in order to enjoy his retirement. A presentation about investments and retirement planning demands certain content: What is Aisa’s track record in helping its clients successfully prepare for retirement? How has Aisa managed to protect its clients in difficult financial times like the ones we are experiencing now? How has Cornel personally helped real people invest their money well? We needed real examples with real success stories in order to consider investing with Aisa (of course, without real names, but they must be obviously real people).

Advice: In order to support your message, think about the questions I stated above and structure your presentation around these points. Your organization has to earn the trust of its potential clients in order to be successful and that requires concrete examples of your and your organization’s credibility, experience and ability to earn a return on your clients’ investments. While I appreciated the humor of your presentation, I really don’t think it was effective in accomplishing what you wanted in your talk.

Attention – rating 4

Cornel started his presentation by asking us to raise our arms and lead us in a cheer while there was a photo of him and his wife in a tropical setting. I understand that he wanted to wake us up and get our attention, but the crowd was already stimulated by the amount of wine that had been drunk earlier and I don’t think this opening set the right tone for a presentation on investments.

Advice: There is a big difference between getting the audience’s attention and giving them a reason to listen. Yes, the cheer got our attention, but was it connected to your message? Did you make us start thinking about our retirement? NO. If you want to project an image of credibility and trust, I would drop this kind of opening in any situation. Ask us some questions about our retirement plans. Ask us if we’ve considered offshore investments – why or why not? Get us thinking in the right direction!

Slides – rating 4

Cornel’s slides were fine for the humorous tone he had set for the presentation, but I don’t think that they were appropriate for the message he wanted to communicate. There were some serious slides besides the taxi driver examples, but he focused on these slides too much instead of talking directly to the audience. This gave the impression that he was unsure of the information.

Advice: When you change the content as advised above, I would use very few slides and, instead, focus on the audience. If you want to include some statistics, don’t give us a graph showing how much we can earn with your investments – the audience was smart and knew that it’s always relative to the financial situation at the time of retirement. Also, please always use the spell check after you’ve created your slides. You misspelled ‘credibility’ and that only gave the hecklers more ammunition!

Presence - rating 4

The crowd was tough. Anyone who attended this event will confirm this. And, the hecklers were acting childishly and deliberately tried to humiliate Cornel. That isn’t fair for any presenter. However, he could have handled it better. When there was the first legitimate question, he very abruptly said, ‘Let’s save the questions until the end.’ Why? People had a lot of questions and the information that he was giving them demanded some interaction.

Advice: In an informal setting like this event, it’s possible to stop hecklers from ruining your presentation. I would have singled them out and asked the audience if they would rather listen to the hecklers or listen to what you had to say. I’m sure the audience would have been on your side and very clearly told the men to shut up or leave. Don’t let hecklers put you on the defensive.

Cornel, I know this was a tough presentation to make. I admire the fact that you didn’t give up and managed to finish in spite of some really rude audience behavior. But, I would work on improving your image of credibility by giving your audience real examples of how you’ve helped your clients succeed financially. That will change the whole tone of the presentation and help you spread your message. Thanks for the opportunity to review your presentation and I look forward to seeing the next one!

© 2010 Jeanne Trojan. All rights reserved