How PowerPoint can sabotage a new corporate design

16. September 201913. March 2023 Uncategorized

How PowerPoint can sabotage a new corporate design

Reading time 2 minutes

In another blog post we mentioned the important role presentations play in anchoring a brand in employees’ hearts and minds. A little while ago, I had an interesting conversation with the head of communications at a not-so-small business. She told me that PowerPoint was the reason the brand was having trouble really taking off inside the company. Which only demonstrates once again that, like it or not, you should never underestimate the power of PowerPoint.

Over the past two years, the company has really developed their brand, and fine-tuning their corporate design was a big part of this. They made a lot of updates to the company’s intranet, brochures, and advertising campaign materials. Now it was time for them to tackle the website and PowerPoint presentations. Their lead agency engaged a PowerPoint service provider to develop a new master, and they apparently did a good job.

When the new master was made available to all employees, however, there was an unexpected outcry. It was completely incompatible with all the old slides they’d been using for years. The issue quickly made its way up to their Management Board who stopped the PowerPoint project in its tracks. They told everyone to keep using the old, totally outdated presentation master for the time being. Now the company is considering whether any changes to PowerPoint should be attempted at all over the next two years. Employees are all far too busy manually converting all their presentations to the new master.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when I demonstrated our method for easing the transition. The QuickSlide migration tool can automatically convert old presentations to the new master. This even includes the various subsequent tweaks, such as adapting existing content to the new corporate design guidelines and color scheme. Users also get access to a variety of tools that simplify the process of creating presentations. So, they actually save time instead of facing extra work.

With the migration tool in hand and a more easily convertible master, the issue was put before the Board again – this time fortunately with a positive reaction, and a better outcome for everyone.

However, this example just goes to show how quickly brand development can be stalled if the transition to a new corporate design is made too difficult for employees.

Achim Sztuka

Presentation preparation – Plan well for the right impression

8. September 201913. March 2023 Uncategorized

Presentation preparation - plan well for the right impression

Reading time 3 minutes

When you present, your audience members need some orientation and security before they can give you their full attention. It’s the same for you, too. As the speaker up front, you need to feel confident, and appear professional. Make sure you have everything you need to present well and guide your listeners. Use our guide for presentation location preparation.

Testing, testing …

If you want to make a positive impression, you need optimal conditions. At the top of the list: your equipment. Whether you’re speaking at a conference, presenting to a client, or to your own colleagues at an internal meeting, make sure all your devices and hardware function properly. Once your audience have settled to listen to you, if they hear “we’re very sorry, but there’s a problem with the speaker’s laptop…” or “our beamer’s not working right now,” or similar, the less patient among them might roll their eyes or even leave the room. Others will switch their attention to their smartphones or the person next to them until you’re ready to start. Even for them, anticipation could turn to irritation if they must wait for technical issues to be fixed before you even begin.

Is it plugged in?

Get familiar with your presentation environment. Ask yourself:

Where’s the beamer? How does it work?
Is there a remote control or pointer? Does it work?
Do I need spare bulbs or batteries?
Where am I going to stand? Can I see my slides without having to turn my back on the audience?
Do I need a microphone? Will I have to hold it, or does it have a clip?
Can I move around freely as I talk?
What about a sound check?
Nothing makes your audience wince more than the sudden screech of overloaded speakers.
What’s the room lighting like? Where are the switches or dimmers?
Consider the time of day you’ll present and make sure you can adjust the lighting as you need to so everyone can see your slides. Are there windows in the room, and are there blinds or curtains to block out bright daylight that can mar visibility of the screen?
Do I have a glass of water close to hand?
This isn’t just good for your voice, or handy in case of a tickly cough. It’s also a great prop in case you go blank or need thinking time before answering a question. A smile and a self-assured sip of water gives you some breathing space.

Got a pen?

Once you have the room all worked out, consider the finer details:

Is there a flipchart or a whiteboard I can use, and marker pens (that work)? This can be useful if you need to explain something or write up points from a discussion.
Do I have my presentation on a USB stick, in case there’s a problem with my laptop and I need to borrow someone else’s?
Are my handouts all printed and easy to find? And those giveaways I want to hand around as a closing gesture? It would be a pity to spoil the moment and final impressions by having to rummage around for them.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

You could probably write a book on all the situations, predictable and not so, that speakers have to cope with. No doubt you too can recall a few episodes, as a speaker or audience member, that you’d rather forget. Prepare everything in a professional manner in advance of presenting to others. Then impress and convince your audience with your calm authority.

How to embed fonts in PowerPoint

15. July 201924. March 2022 Uncategorized

How to embed fonts in PowerPoint

Reading time 3 minutes

Do you remember or have you heard of WYSIWYG ‒ what you see is what you get? When creating a presentation on your computer you can immediately see what it looks like. Yet the whole thing can look completely different when you open your presentation on a different device. WYSIWYG can then quickly become WYSINAWYG: What you see is – not always – what you get.

Broken formatting

Your presentation looks beautiful. All texts are arranged nicely, everything’s looking great in the corporate design. Then you forward it to someone, or you open the presentation on another device, and a nightmare unfolds: The slides look terrible! Why? Because a particular device didn’t have the necessary fonts installed and therefore used a default one instead. This can cause all your carefully constructed formatting, content positioning, sizing and charts to be completely shot to pieces. You may not even notice this as the major cause of this minor disaster as the font box at the top insists your chosen font is being displayed – even though it’s not. This is really mean, especially if you try to solve the issue with another person to identify what went wrong.

Embedded fonts prevent formatting errors

As always, there’s a cure available for this ailment. If you didn’t select a standard Windows font, perhaps because of corporate design requirements, then cover yourself and embed your intended font. It’s relatively simple:

Under File, click on Save As, select Tools, click on Save Options, and tick the box next to Embed Fonts in File, then click OK. This works relatively reliably with True Type and Open Type fonts.

As you can probably tell by the word “relatively”, there are nevertheless a few more things you should be aware of:

Your file will increase in size, usually by at least 1 MB.
Check that your chosen font can be embedded.
PowerPoint Mac recognizes embedded fonts only from version 2016 (16.11) onwards.
Remember to actually carry out the Embed Fonts procedure!

Optimal font control

Play it safe by sending your presentation in PDF format. This is very effective if it goes to a recipient to whom only the content is important – e.g. if your presentation is intended to serve as a handout or a working paper. If, however, the recipients would actually like to use your presentation as such, then a PDF file will severely limit that purpose. None of the dramatic effects through animations will be possible, unless you create an individual slide for each step of the animation. Which is certainly the least efficient way of going about things.

If you’d like to use a font which is non-standard in Windows as a corporate font, the best solution would be to differentiate between print application and Office application in corporate design, and then agree to use a font similar to the corporate font for all Office applications (since this problem is not confined to PowerPoint). Rest assured this is usually possible. It should, however, always be coordinated by your company’s marketing department.

If you observe these small suggestions, you can be sure that the “NA” will only stand for “not applicable” regarding any font problems in your presentations.

Woman presenting in front of the audience

Giving presentations

11. June 201913. March 2023 Marion Sztuka Insights

Giving presentations

Performance

Reading time 13 minutes

The first few seconds of a presentation are crucial. If you can grasp your audience’s attention with your personality from the start, your presentation is much more likely to impress them. Maintaining their attention and inspiring them is the next challenge. Your audience will expect you to present knowledge clearly and concisely to them. They’ll want to examine complex facts and gain insights. They expect the presentation to resonate with them or even involve them.

You can prepare for presentations, not only in terms of structure and content, but in planning and rehearsing the way you perform to, and interact with, your audience. Learn how to address your listeners with charisma and confidence, while also coming across as authentic, open, and empathetic.

Inspiration from theater

Actors are experts in performing to an audience. Some of the key skills you need to present well are taught in drama classes.

Acting is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts, he does not hide; he exposes himself.

Jeanne Moreau

Actors are taught a whole range of performance skills:

Presence in front of an audience
Body language
Breathing, use of voice, speaking
Empathy and dialogue with the audience
Engagement
Choosing the right role
Authenticity – to recognize and express our own personality
Concentration and discipline
Creativity and improvisation
Self-confidence
Handling stage fright

You can also draw on the techniques and methods used by professional actors to help you perform well in a business environment. Use them to help you act confidently in public, and impress or convince others in key meetings and presentations.

Captivate your audience with storytelling

The foundation of any presentation is its content. Your messages and core statements provide a structure for this content. They need to be plain and clear.

You can supplement any facts you present with images, analogies, comparisons, and stories. Storytelling can help substantiate and illustrate facts through a vivid narrative. Experiences from your own personal life or work processes, or even anecdotes from short breaks, turn facts into pictures people can understand, identify with, or relate to. Using storytelling helps you engage with your audience. Stories bring the presentation to life. Your listeners feel as if you’re speaking to them personally and become motivated and curious about the presentation, and you, the speaker.

Stay present while presenting

Presence is the art of being in the moment during your presentation and connecting with your audience. This is how you inspire and energize them. Tired, nervous, or hyperactive speakers bore their audiences. Being present as a speaker means your mind and body are wide awake and stay in the here and now. Your senses are heightened, while you simultaneously radiate calm, balance and relaxation.

Actors with stage presence are good role models for impressive presentations. They perform with their full attention and don’t let their minds wander – neither towards the past nor the future. This also helps them to improvise if necessary.

There are three main forms of presence you can observe for your own presentation:

Physical presence: Physically present people are consciously aware of themselves and their body. They notice their impulses and feelings and express them without getting lost in thought.

Physical spatial presence: People with a high degree of physical spatial presence are perceived by the audience as “filling a space.” They enter the room, and all eyes are immediately on them. Their own attention is focused on being aware of their body and noticing the space around them.

Contact presence: This is the mindfulness and attention the speaker shows the audience. They communicate openly with them.

Show your appreciation

As a manager it’s vital that you express appreciation. It demonstrates your strengths in verbal communication and emotional intelligence. Having a sense of and skills in appreciation is a cornerstone of good leadership – and excellent presentations.

Consider appreciation as an inner attitude. It’s a basic ethical mindset reflected in your demeanor every time you present to or communicate with others. The leadership quality “self-presentation” is about influencing how we come across to others. We want to give a positive impression of ourselves and an optimistic, appreciative attitude to life is part of this. A presentation is credible and effective if, in addition to willpower, the speaker exudes skills in self-direction: awareness, respect and dignity. Appreciation is a key prerequisite for engaging in dialogue with your audience.

The three facets of appreciation

Appreciation for yourself: Successful managers exude balance and self-confidence. They have a high degree of appreciation for themselves, which isn’t dependent on external factors, such as challenges, stress, and pressure.
Appreciation for your audience or conversation partner: Those being spoken to must feel treated with respect, dignity, and interest from the first moment of interaction with us. We manifest our attitudes through our posture, openness, and ease.
Appreciation for the topic: The presentation revolves around your values and principles as a speaker. If you’re passionate about a topic, it even expands your on-stage presence with focused attention and energetic body language.

Engaging with the crowd

An excellent presentation is always a dialogue with your audience, never a monologue. As a speaker, you must make immediate contact with those watching and listening. The talk itself is a complex communication process that’s consciously and subconsciously observed and co-created by the audience. Your presentation’s structure and your skills as a speaker must incorporate various levels of communication.

Sound familiar? You enjoy listening to a talk which really appeals to you. Then you leave the building and realize you can’t remember much about the topic, the speaker, or details of their core message. The speaker quite possibly only focused on reading their prepared text out loud. They only used one level of communication – and so failed to leave a lasting impression.

Experienced presenters play with the rules of communication like musicians with their instruments. They master the subtleties of verbal and non-verbal expression:

Their content and text layout convey a sense of intellectual indulgence, as they clearly illustrate complex topics. They aspire to achieving “light-bulb moments” among their audience.
Personal examples and analogies resonate with the audience’s experiences and tap into their subconscious and forgotten knowledge.
During the presentation, they never lose contact with their audience. Even when concentrating on the text or presentation equipment, there’s never any tunnel vision. They make gestures towards, or make eye contact with, individual listeners or the whole audience.
The speaker’s voice is melodious, not monotone, and their body language is inviting and encouraging to listeners. The presentation triggers thoughts and feelings which place the intellectual content in wider contexts, which impresses them and helps win them over.
The speaker clearly registers the audience’s body language, what they’re moved by or react to, and responds to this accordingly.

With a passion for communication, and by being present while engaging with your audience, you too can create an atmosphere that grasps your audience’s attention. This encourages them to listen to what you have to say and learn from it. It secures the success of your presentation, even after everyone leaves the room.

Express yourself for the right impact

During your presentation, your audience will hear and interpret every word you say. They’ll notice every gesture, look, change in posture, every modulation in the tone of your voice, and emphasis on phrases as messages. Sometimes, our bodies can subconsciously convey something other than the presentation text. An outstanding presentation is one where all forms of expression are coherent – when language, voice and body language all say the same thing as the text.

Verbal communication

When you speak in front of an expert audience, you impart complex information. You can use the spoken word to structure topics and spark your audience’s interest. You can make even the driest of topics exciting with a lively voice, the right pitch, intonation, presentation speed, and well-placed pauses.

These aspects all impact on the clarity and quality of your verbal communication:

Articulation
Vocal quality
Volume
Pace of delivery
Pauses
Voice and emotion

Articulation
The term “articulation” comes from the Latin word “articulatim” meaning “limb by limb, syllable by syllable, point by point.” We articulate sounds by moving our mobile speech organs (lips, tongue, soft palate) and forming certain positions with them. For instance, try saying “ee” first with your lips pursed and then again with your lips stretched into a wide smile. The two sounds you produce are quite different.

Vowels are what give language its sound; consonants are developed in combination with vowels. They can explode (as with P, T, K), hiss and puff (as with S, SH, F, H), and be voiced (as with V, M, L). After a while, you should be able to recognize your own distinctive use of language and work on this for greater clarity of expression.

Vocal quality
A powerful, natural-sounding voice ideally comes from the diaphragm. Inexperienced speakers often generate their vocal volume using compressed air through tense vocal chords. Their voice then sounds shrill and unpleasant for the audience. Plus, anyone speaking like that for a long time will gradually go hoarse. With a stable, supported voice, you can speak in a relaxed, audible manner even for longer periods of time, and fill a large room with your voice without needing any equipment.

Volume
The volume of a speaker’s voice can enhance the impact of their speech. For instance, you can emphasize core statements and principles with a stronger use of your voice when relevant. With targeted variation of your speaking volume, you can make your listeners more active and guide them through your most important points. Appropriate presentation volume of course depends on room size and acoustics. Do an on-site test. In general, speak at a volume just above what you’d normally use in conversation. If you’re unsure, ask your audience at the start if everyone can hear you properly – especially those at the back of the room.

Pace of delivery
The right pace is just as important as the right tone. A suitable pace of delivery for a presentation is generally a bit slower than for regular dialogue. This helps your audience to grasp complex points.

If you talk too quickly, they might miss what you’ve said or not understand it properly. Worse, they might get the impression that you just want to get the presentation over with. Stage fright almost always causes presenters to speak too fast. When practicing, concentrate on your delivery speed. If you use cue cards for your presentation, add the words “slow down” at several intervals to remind yourself to take a breath between sentences.

You can deliberately slow your pace down before and during core statements. This helps increase audience attention and helps them retain information from your presentation. Changing up the pace keeps your listeners engaged and interested in what you have to say.

Tip: If you’re nervous about presenting, before you start, take several deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. This can help calm you and will make it easier for you to control your talking speed.

Pauses
The incredible impact and power generated by a pause in speech is often underestimated. Structural pauses really help listeners grasp and absorb the meaning of your statements. As a speaker a pause offers you the chance to calmly catch your breath. Pausing before a word is also a good way to emphasize an important term or concept.

Voice and emotion
Your personality adds spice to the presentation and brings it to life. Unlike written text, a talk or presentation is much richer with its varying intonation, rhythm, dynamics, and emotion. You can sound optimistic, shocked, dismissive, determined, or confident of victory depending on the situation. Expressing emotions adds your personal take on facts and highlights your standpoint. If you truly believe in what you’re talking about, the emotion in your speech can pack a rhetorical punch.

Non-verbal communication

What makes a speaker convincing and charismatic? Every human has an innate ability to notice physical signals given off by another person. As Albert Mehrabian’s “Silent Messages” case study revealed, a speaker’s impact is based 55% on body language (physical presence, gestures, eye contact), 38% on voice and tone, and just 7% on the content being communicated. The audience uses their overall perception of content and body language to get an idea of the speaker’s self-confidence, engagement, social skills and trustworthiness. To achieve a natural aura of authority while presenting, it’s essential to appear authentic and act in a genuine, unaffected manner.

You can improve your air and demeanor by paying attention to a few key points and adjusting them when necessary. The following practical exercises, inspired by physical and acting training, will help you prepare and instill confidence in yourself as you give your presentation.

A confident stance
Standing firm with upright posture shows a person can rely on their stable balance. The stance looks solid, self-assured, and powerful. When you present to an audience, it’s important to adopt a confident stance. Center yourself into a relaxed, but upright posture. This puts you in touch with your physical center, deepens your abdominal and diaphragmatic breathing, and improves stability. Your movements from this core position are then much more fluid and relaxed, and even follow their own natural rhythm.

Breathing
Conscious breathing supports a speaker throughout a presentation. The spoken word is a resonant exhale, which is very important for your voice’s projection and expression. At the same time, your respiratory energy creates suspense, alertness and presence. Breathing training – inhaling and exhaling slowly and steadily – can help you warm up and calm any anxiety before going on stage to present.

Gestures
People express their personality through their gestures. Just like signatures, they’re highly individual from person to person. They can range from minor movements and subtle impulses to extravagant gesticulation. This body language can intensify the impact of your communication and presentation in many ways – both on stage and in everyday life.

Our gestures can’t be seen as independent from our general body language or the meaning of the words we say. This link is the reason individual gestures in everyday life are spontaneous. Sometimes during presentations, we can unwittingly make gestures or facial expressions which give away our lack of confidence. Once we’re in flow with our presentation, though, our body language can subconsciously support our speech and content, and how we communicate with the audience.

Eye contact
While talking during a meeting or presenting, one key part of your attention is focused on the people in the room. The listeners are the ones you want to get through to with your presentation. Eye contact demonstrates you’re there with the people in the room. Be as attentive as you can to your guests and look right across the room during the presentation.

It takes courage to make eye contact with the audience, because it means engaging in dialogue with them. Rest your focus on certain groups of people. Address different individuals through your eye contact, but avoid long, intense periods of eye contact with just one person.

Note: Your contact with the audience is broken every time you look down at your script or cue cards. Try to talk as freely as possible, without relying on your notes.

Roles of the speaker during a presentation

The main objective of public speaking is usually to impart knowledge, to convince or sway opinion, to inspire or to entertain an audience. One feature of an excellent presentation is the deliberate way the expression and effect of the speaker’s various roles are used to achieve these objectives.

In presentation situations, an audience often expects the speaker to play the role of expert on a topic, which they express through the presentation. Body language and a clear, matter-of-fact voice indicate that it’s an expert speaking. The effect is factually convincing – but it can become monotonous and bore listeners.

If as a speaker you want to inspire and impress your audience, this role won’t suffice. You need to adopt other roles, such as a storyteller who engages with their audience, or a host who welcomes their guests and invites them to listen and reflect.

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

William Shakespeare

Theater roles in presentations

The sociological approach to roles has its origins in ancient theater. Actors prepare their role by expressing it in their own personal way using their body language and voice. By analyzing the role, they explore all the motives behind the character’s actions, their values, and expectations (always in the socio-political context of the play and its era). The actor plays their role successfully when all forms of expression – both visible and invisible – are coherent.

Theater and literature are full of archetypal roles with their own specific motives. Some examples:

Ruler/Authority (The King or Queen)

I’m the one responsible and where the buck stops.
I’m the ruler and oversee everything.
I’m the role model.
I have a duty of care for everything entrusted to me.

Host (The Physician)

I invite you in.
I’m genuinely happy that I can assist you.
You’re important to me.
I’ll take care of you.

Expert or academic (The Scholar)

I want to inform objectively and impart knowledge.

Courageous warrior (The Hero)

I concentrate hard.
I react with great purpose when problems or challenges arise.
I have a keen, unshakable sense of awareness.

Trickster or Shakespearian “fool” (The Jester)

I’m very agile.
I’m curious, even about unusual, cryptic, or taboo topics, and like discovering new things.
I enjoy holding a mirror up to people, so they can see how others perceive them.
I like to entertain – or annoy – my audience with provocation and jokes.

The role repertoire is applied based on the public-speaking structure, where content-based objectives are translated into presentation phases. This can be supported with a “stage direction schedule” as part of the preparation for presentations.

Role coaching

The conciseness and clarity of the speaker’s role is reviewed through role coaching. In any communication, expectations, and value systems (including assessments) shift consciously and subconsciously between the speaker and their audience. Subconscious patterns and habits can cloud clarity, and therefore success, in communication. This makes it difficult for the audience to listen, absorb key messages, and take in new or complex information.

Role coaching examines the way the speaker presents or expresses themselves. Sociologist Erving Goffman talked about “impression management” in this context. Self-presentation of a speaker must fit with the values of their audience, those they’re speaking to or with. A role coach will check that the speaker’s aware of the expectation patterns of their role, and of their own personal patterns of expression (facial expressions, gestures, voice and use of language). They must consciously choose the role and then pay attention to any subconscious patterns that could diminish the performance and success of their talk.

Prepare for your presentation

If you prepare your next presentation thoroughly in advance

it will run smoothly on the day
you’ll be more confident, knowing what you have to say and how at each point
you can improvise if you need to, in case of technical or other issues

Plan your timing for delivering each part of your presentation at the right pace. Rehearse your whole performance – how you want to come across, what role you’ll play and when, and at what points you’ll involve your audience. Think about which words you’ll use to kick-off your performance as a first impression for your listeners. Make conscious decisions on where you’ll place your cue cards, glass of water, remote control to change slides, and so on, so it all feels comfortable and familiar on the day.

Consider how you’ll get yourself ready for the presentation on the day. For instance, plan in some calm time to psych yourself up and center yourself. Precisely plan your appearance (clothes, shoes, bag/case, hair, make-up, as appropriate). Map out your whole journey to the venue without needing to rush.

For a detailed look at how you can prepare yourself well for your next presentation, see our paper, “Giving presentations: Preparation.”

We also offer presentation training – get in touch.

How word templates bring order to the chaos

28. May 201915. May 2023 Uncategorized

How word templates bring order to the chaos of corporate admin

Reading time 2 minutes

Whether it’s letters, press releases, quotes, contracts, tenders, process documentation, manuals or reports, many companies are intensive Word users, for both internal and external admin purposes. Maybe your company has clear specifications for layouts of relevant documents, and which mandatory information needs to be displayed, such as the date or a logo. Word templates help you firmly establish these specifications, for consistency of in-house style and external presentation. In practice, however, especially at larger companies, Word can reach its limit quite quickly. Example scenarios – see if any of the following resonate with you at your organization:

In addition to centrally provided templates, the company also uses various department-specific templates for special purposes. In most cases, there’s a lack of centralized control over branding and quality standards here.
As every legal unit (and every brand and international branch) requires its own details in the header and footer, the number of templates expands rapidly.
Things get really complicated when content components, like centrally checked quote items or contract components, come into play.
Providing all these different templates and updating them every time they change, for instance, when there’s a change to the executive board, is a tedious and time-consuming exercise that’s often neglected. It generally requires the involvement from both the Marketing/Communications and IT departments, which complicates the process further.
Normal users can barely keep up with all the template changes. They often don’t even know where the latest templates are, so usually revert to old documents and overwrite their content.
Things frequently come unstuck in terms of how documents look: While professionally created Word templates do contain precise typographic specifications, for example, in the form of styles, most users don’t know how to use these correctly, so either avoid them completely or don’t use them consistently.

These situations are regular issues at many companies, with all the associated consequences for external image and internal efficiency. Or companies try to fix some of the problems with solutions like general template management systems. Our Word add-in QuickDoc proves it’s possible to improve on this situation. QuickDoc makes it easy to provide and manage templates and components centrally, and ensures users actually use them correctly too. Curious? Then click here to learn more about QuickDoc.

Your audience’s inner attitude during a presentation

6. May 201913. March 2023 Uncategorized

How to deal with your audience's inner attitude during your presentation

Reading time 3 minutes

There are loads of useful textbooks on PowerPoint and giving presentations that tell us how to tune in to our audience. That’s a good thing. If we don’t take into account who’s sitting in front of us, why they’re there, what they actually want and what interests them (or doesn’t), then we won’t achieve anything by presenting to them. We’re not going to grab their attention.

There’s another important aspect: inner attitude. How can we attune ourselves to people who are opposed to what we want to achieve? Or how do we treat those who, luckily for us, share our point of view? What about the “neutral” members of our audience?

Try out our useful tips for coping with the different attitudes and divided opinions among your own presentation audience.

Yes, agreed!

Marvelous – you have people in the audience who are with you. The perfect starting point for reaching your objective. These audience members are already on your side, so avoid overloading them with facts and details. You’re free to be direct and put forward concrete goals. Increase the pressure to act by getting them to agree to these goals. Allocate roles, define further steps, and highlight what needs doing.

No way!

Granted: everyone is entitled to a different standpoint from yours. Remember not to take it personally. You’re not under attack. Take the other person’s position seriously. Show that you understand their point of view. Keep your expectations realistic – converting these audience members from a “no” to a “maybe” is a step in the right direction.

At the beginning of your presentation, find some common ground. Things that elicit a nod or a little smile of agreement. Organize your presentation into small independent sections that are easy to follow, and limit controversial points to just a few of these, or just one section. This lets your audience agree to most sections of your presentation, which creates a positive atmosphere. Show that you understand the contentious points: repeat the “opposing” arguments and focus the discussion on them, but be clear on what you don’t agree with.

People who are “against” you aren’t usually interested in your personal opinion. Present facts, refer to experts they respect and state your sources. Give your audience the chance to see that there are overriding or neutral standpoints that support your objective.

Maybe …

Then there’s the neutral section of the audience. Perhaps they are not very well informed, and don’t really know what to expect. Or maybe they were sent to attend the meeting but aren’t really interested in the subject. Others may simply be undecided. There are ways to get all three “maybe” types on your side.

If your audience isn’t well informed, ask them questions. This motivates them to take part and think for themselves. Encourage them to ask you questions. This helps you to identify information gaps and adapt or improvise. Appear credible and understanding. Give your audience time to understand your answers and help them to keep pace with you.

If some people just don’t seem interested, try including them. Encourage them to take part by providing imaginative examples and asking questions. Give them something to smile about or agree with. Use images and metaphors they can relate to, to stir their interest. And remember: uninterested people usually get bored by factual and analytical arguments.

Approach undecided audience members with all your powers of conviction! They’re not really against you, they just want to be convinced. Help them by concentrating on as few points as possible and using real, relevant examples.

Yes No Maybe

All three at once? If you often have to give presentations to groups of people with divided opinions, use the right mixture of all three approaches, and you’re on the right track. It’s even better if you can find out beforehand which audience members play a key role – either because they’ll be the ones making the decisions, or because they influence others. If you really want to be efficient, focus on these individuals and adapt your presentation with them in mind.

The main thing is that you put some thought into your audience’s inner attitudes and opinions in advance of presenting to them. This already makes you better prepared than most.

Creating successful presentations – Content

11. April 201913. March 2023 Marion Sztuka Insights

How to create successful presentations

Part 2: Content

Reading time 10 minutes

When you create a presentation, the most important factor to bear in mind is that your audience will follow you throughout. Unless they keep up with your train of thought, there’ll be no chance to achieve your objectives of presenting to them in the first place, usually to impress, convince or inspire them.

When you next create a presentation, keep the acronym OSCAR in mind:

O – organized – create a clear, solid structure for your whole presentation
S – simple – keep your slides clear and easy to follow
C – concise – remember, less is more, too much is confusing and boring
A – appealing – style and visual elements should be consistent throughout
R – relevant – your slides should resonate with your audience

Organized

Structure your presentation with a clear introduction, a main body with your core message, then conclude it with summaries and next steps.

Find out the different options for structuring your presentation in our Insights paper “Creating successful presentations – Part 1: Structure.”

Simple:

Impress audiences with clear and simple presentations

If we produce a whole pile of elaborate slides with lots of detail, we might think we’ve created a good presentation. In fact, a presentation should stand out with its simplicity. When creating it, your audience should be your focus. Even if you won’t be giving the presentation yourself, think about how the content will come across to those watching and listening. A confusing presentation could make them restless and irritated. If they understand the slides easily, they’re much more likely to be relaxed and interested in what you have to say. As content creators we should make sure the whole presentation is clear and simple to understand.

Keep the following in mind when drafting your slides:

Create headlines with core statements

When we look at a PowerPoint slide, the first thing we read is usually the heading, to find out what’s being shown on that slide. For instance, “Sales trends,” “The new organizational structure” or “Cooperation partners.” These headings should never be misleading and should show what to expect on the slide. They give the listener a hint at what’s to come before you even talk about the content.

It’s easier for an audience to follow your presentation if the heading outlines the slide’s core statement, for example, “Sales trends are very positive,” “The new organizational structure comprises three levels,” or “Are our cooperation partners leading research institutes?” With headlines like this, your audience knows in seconds what will follow next, and can reflect on what’s being shown with the core statement in mind.

Headings which describe the slide’s core statement are known as “action titles.” To offer your audience more clarity about what’s being covered by a particular slide, break down the main topic, for instance, “Sales trends,” with subheadings.

Present clearly with visual elements

The saying “a picture paints a thousand words” holds true for presentations, too. Try to express as much information as possible with visual elements, as opposed to showing heaps of text-filled slides. These can include infographics, charts, photos or maps, depending on what you want to illustrate. Ideally, include at least one visual element on every slide.

Think about what you want to show in advance and ask yourself what kind of image would best convey this. If, for example, you want to illustrate that the opportunities and risks associated with an investment are evenly weighted, you could use an image of scales.

Audiences also enjoy looking at photos, charts and maps. Try to use visuals effectively, but don’t overdo it.

Read more about the use of images and an appealing design – the A of OSCAR – under “Appealing – Make it look good,” below.

Finding suitable images can be a challenge. A few hints:

Find out if your Marketing department has an image database.
If you need bespoke infographics or diagrams, ideally work with an experienced graphic designer.
Check out free and royalty-free images available on stock photo websites, like Unsplash or Pixabay.

Use animations sparingly – or not at all

In general, you should avoid using animations in your presentation and use static images and charts instead. You might be tempted jazz up your slides, but this is usually counterproductive. Animated elements often fail to clarify points and instead divert attention away from the topic. On rare occasions, animations can aid audience understanding. For instance, where you want to show a build-up of information to paint an overall picture, or to show developments or “before and after” changes in state. If you fill several slides with movement and sound, though, this will just distract your audience. Even worse, it can make a presentation look cheap. If you insist on using animations, remember, less is more.

Charts can depict trends, financial data or statistics well on a slide. Choose “Charts” from the PowerPoint Insert menu and select the chart to fit your figures. If your company uses PowerPoint add-ins, like QuickSlide, your charts can automatically be displayed in your organization’s corporate design for brand consistency.

Guide your audience with navigation elements

Presentations represent your trains of thought. For clarity, you need to depict these trains of thought as familiar elements throughout your presentation. These are known as “navigators.” They can be letters, numbers, symbols, even small diagrams which are shown in the same position on every slide, but their content changes as you progress. These fixed elements help your audience find information on the slides which shows them the key thought you’re addressing as you guide them through your presentation.

Keep it concise

If you’ve ever sat through a long presentation that’s been like a flip book – the dreaded slide overkill – then you know the feeling of just wanting that presentation to end. Spare a thought for your own audience when you create a presentation for them. Even the smartest people have limits to their intellectual capacity and concentration span. To understand a presentation, we need to focus on what’s being shown and said – and not always in an environment that’s conducive to concentration.

The worse thing that can happen while you’re presenting is that the audience gets left behind. Not only are they unhappy, but their confused and frustrated facial expressions could unsettle you and undermine your confidence, too. Minimize your number of slides and avoid overwhelming the audience. You’re better off showing them just the essentials.

For trickier topics, or where you think there may be discussions and questions, keep a small set of backup slides as an appendix at the end of your presentation deck. Only show some of those slides if it helps you to explain and the audience to understand something more fully. They’ll be impressed if you show them a backup slide when they ask you a question – it shows you’re well prepared and kept your presentation streamlined for their benefit.

Your individual slides should also be as succinct as possible. Try not to overload them with content. As a rule of thumb, each slide should only contain one single statement. If you can say all you need to on one slide using one clear image or chart, even better.

Appealing - Make it look good

A PowerPoint presentation doesn’t just impress people with its interesting and well-planned content. Good slide design is also important. Your presentations look professional and streamlined when the design is appealing and consistent throughout. To prevent the audience from getting distracted, keep your slide design clear and simple.

Don’t dazzle your audience

Try to avoid wild color combinations or flashing gifs if your presentation will be shown to a bunch of adults. Too many gimmicks can look tacky and might affect how seriously people take either the information on the slides or the presenter. As mentioned above – when it comes to animations, less is more.

Your audience will usually grasp graphics faster if you use fewer colors and make the graphic elements you use consistent (for instance, the line styles and thickness). 3D objects can be confusing. They might look more impressive and interesting, but a third dimension implies additional information that’s often not even available. Instead, keep graphic elements clean and simple. Ideally, you’ve already created design templates in PowerPoint and will use them for each new PowerPoint presentation.

Keep your slides as streamlined as possible. Try not to overload them with every detail.

Try not to cram too much text on one slide or reduce your font size to fit text on a template. Instead:

Cut down your text
Split your content over two slides
Consider a new structure with one slide per point if your presentation isn’t very long.

Types of slides in presentations

PowerPoint slides can generally be split into three different categories, which can exist in their pure form or be combined with others:

Text slides
Conceptual slides
Quantitative charts

Text slides

Slides of pure text, content conveyed through words only, are very common, but it’s important to frame your text clearly.

You can list individual thoughts or factors as bullet points to make them easier to understand. It’s better for your lists to include statements, like “the work environment has improved,” instead of single terms, such as “work environment,” which don’t tell your audience much.

Keep sentences as short as possible. Where feasible, group lists and put them in separate boxes with headings. This helps you to show different key thoughts separately from each other.

Conceptual slides

Conceptual graphic charts visually display your slides’ core messages and are very easy to grasp. Your audience can understand a core statement in one glance. Visuals not only highlight structures; they’re also a good way of conveying dynamics. You can add specific words, statements, lists or even images for more clarity to individual graphic elements.

Slide layout – clear structure

Every presentation consists of a series of slides which need to be shown one after another and understood by the audience.

Create your slide deck using a consistent system and design. This helps your audience to quickly grasp new information on each slide in turn, without having to completely re-orient themselves every time. These established principles for slide structuring can guide you when you set up your presentation.

Top section: Use for information such as chapter names/navigators, backup labels or logos.
Action title: The core message of the slide. Give yourself two lines rather than one so you have enough space for your statement.
Subheading: States what’s shown on that slide.
Slide content: This contains at least one of the three standard elements of a slide: Text, quantitative graphic or conceptual graphic.
Lower section: This is for any additional information, such as sources, footnotes, presentation details, such as title, author, occasion, location, date.
Slide numbers: They assist orientation and are a good reference for every slide. For instance, someone in your audience might ask you to go back to, say slide 18, if they have a question. Make the font for slide numbers large enough for your audience to see them.

Text format and legibility

What’s the point in having great content on your slides if no one can read it? Do all you can to ensure that even people at the back of the room can easily read all the text. A few recommendations:

Clear, easy-to-read font
Font size of at least 14 to 16 points
Maximum seven lines of text or up to 30 words per slide
Single-column bullet points and lists
Simple statements/keywords instead of long sentences
No vertical text where possible
Font color which contrasts well with background colors or images

Tips for good slide design

Slides can be great works of art. Microsoft PowerPoint offers a lot of visually appealing elements. As long as it conveys the right message in the right way, then any kind of visual can work.

In general, try to keep slides consistent and easy to understand. You want to draw people’s attention to core statements, not to details or colorful graphics which don’t add value.

A few tips for good visual design:

Use consistent, uniform slide templates.
Don’t overload slides with pictures.
Use colors and symbols discreetly: Maximum three colors per slide; bear in mind, pale colors are difficult to see; choose contrasting colors where possible, especially where your audience needs to read text over a background color or image.
Use font sizes and styles consistently for text and headings throughout your presentation.
Minimize text and instead incorporate more visual elements where possible
Choose charts which make it clear and easy to grasp the information you want to display

The challenge of image selection

Try to keep your visual language and quality consistent throughout your presentation. Too many variants in style can interrupt the flow of your slideshow.

Convince and impress with relevant presentations

You need to prepare a presentation for a specific occasion, maybe to present a project, or to convince decision-makers about your latest idea. The first thing you need to do is find out who the audience is and think about what you want these people to feel. Put yourself in their shoes: You’re attending a presentation and want to take something from it. The presentation content must therefore be of interest and relevant to you. Ideally, the presentation will offer answers to questions you have, or offer insights into something you’re curious about.

If you, as a presenter, can provide this for your listeners, then you’ll leave a positive lasting impression. Focus on the audience and your message before you get to work on creating any slides. Consider the following:

Who will attend the presentation?
What do I want these people to feel?
What presumptions can I make about my audience? What do they know already?
How does my audience think? How do they best grasp facts?
How can I design my presentation so that my audience will appreciate it?

See our other Insights papers on presentation structure and presenting.
We also provide courses on PowerPoint slide creation, as well as training on giving presentations.

Get in touch to find out more.

10 years of Strategy Compass

9. April 201913. March 2023 Uncategorized

10 years of Strategy Compass

A few thoughts from Achim Sztuka

Reading time 3 minutes

Düsseldorf, Commercial Register B, Number 60903. It is now exactly ten years since Strategy Compass has officially been in business. A pretty long time for those of us who have been there building it up right from the start. So it’s a good time to take stock.

We started out just like any other startup, albeit in our kitchen, not the garage (German winters are too cold for that). An initial homemade website. And our first client, who paid 200 Euros for one software license.

A few office relocations later, and we had a company that had quite successfully overhauled Microsoft Office-based communications at some of the world’s largest corporate groups. Not a bad effort…

When I founded Strategy Compass, I had a very clear idea about what I wanted and what I didn’t. Previous (very exciting) years as a business consultant and holding various roles within a corporate group had taught me a lot in that respect. Hence my question today: What exactly have we become?

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

I consider this great little pearl of wisdom from Peter Drucker to be just as relevant as ever. My main focus had always been on the actual matter at hand. Internal politics, personal aspirations at others’ or the company’s expense, or ideas neglected due to personal sensitivities are all things that make me shudder. And they’re things I definitely did not want at my own company.

It’s been going well so far. We’ve managed to create a content and client-oriented culture in which everyone puts aside their own gains and concentrates on the big picture. For this to happen, not only do you need the right leadership and appraisal systems, but you also need to integrate completely different characters and lifestyles into the company. And in view of the constant growth, increasing complexity and a permanently high volume of projects, the internal processes and teams need to keep developing so that every single person is able to handle the requirements and doesn’t start focusing purely on their own self-interest. It’s certainly a challenging road which is not without its stumbling blocks, but we’ve always been moving in the right direction.

Only the best.

I’ve never seen myself as a classic salesperson. I always found it very difficult to sell something I didn’t really believe in. And my colleagues in management and sales have all shared a very similar view. So it was always essential for us to have the best product, the best staff for the respective job, and the best service. It is our firm conviction that what we do truly benefits our clients. Not just in terms of productivity, but also in terms of the quality of their communications, their decision-making and how they are perceived in their markets. The fact that we keep seeing the value of our holistic approach, regardless of our clients’ industry or background, is the second reason we continue to be confident we’re doing the right thing.

Mission accomplished? Not quite yet.

The potential for what we can offer is vast. There are many options we haven’t even got to yet. Our development pipeline is bulging, and if I could have my way, I would have it all ready today – much to the despair of some of my colleagues. But what I have learned during my years as an entrepreneur is that, while some things can progress very quickly, most require great patience and perseverance in order to be successful. Therefore, I’m excited to think what I’ll be writing here in another ten years.

Achim Sztuka

Time to talk: Planning discussions systematically

8. March 201913. March 2023 Uncategorized

Time to talk: planning discussions systematically

Reading time 2 minutes

What do you want to achieve with your presentation? Reach a decision, implement a change or excite interest? This goal determines where you want to take your audience by the end of the meeting. You design your presentation accordingly – but even if it goes perfectly, you’re still not home and dry. The crucial last phase is the audience discussion. At this point, reservations and counterarguments are voiced; positive opinions and supportive information are brought forward. You can respond directly to these, eliminating reservations and incorporating input from your audience. Together, you can arrive at a constructive result – by agreeing to the next steps, for example. So plan the discussion as part of your presentation concept from the beginning. We’ve come up with a few useful suggestions:

Plan the presentation with sufficient time for discussion: e.g. at least 10 minutes’ discussion for a 30-minute presentation.
Define the optimal moment for the discussion. With short presentations, it usually makes sense to have the discussion after the presentation. You can add it to the agenda, so that your audience knows that there will be time for discussion at the end of the presentation. With longer presentations you can plan discussion time after particular sections. Separation slides can come in useful here. In the meantime, darken the screen with the ‘B’ key (black), so that your audience concentrates on the discussion.
Anticipate your audience’s likely objections and reservations, and prepare suitable counterarguments. Ask yourself who is likely to support your position and involve them directly in the discussion: in many cases, it’s worth having a short private chat with a supporter before the presentation. It’s often more convincing when reservations are countered by peers.
Prepare questions to get the discussion going or lead it in a particular direction.
Prepare the conclusion: Anticipate a realistic result and lead the discussion in that direction.