Not insanely great, but pretty damn good

Posted on Feb 15, 2012

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I was listening to CBC Information Morning the other day and the host was interviewing some guy on the subject of presentations, how to do them effectively and what not to do, that kind of thing.  Afterwards the host made his usual pitch for listeners to weigh in. 

I felt I had something worthwhile to offer so I did, and then figured there may be others who could benefit so I am also sharing it here.

I have been doing media training and crisis communications training since the early 90s, and while we are committed to continuously tweaking these and other related workshops to make them better and keep them current, this is usually confined to searching out the best audio and video examples.

Thank you Stephen Duckett and your appetite for cookies, and thank you Sarah Palin for, well, for being you, but I digress.

In my mind, the biggest improvement to our courses came two years ago after I read The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, a book by Businessweek columnist Carmine Gallo.   I had seen this book before while scanning bookstores, but ignored it because of the over-the-top subtitle; How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. I’ve always found that when a book makes an unrealistic, outrageous claim, it’s best to keep browsing.

But then a friend recommended it, so I did read it, and am I ever glad I did. I can’t claim it made me insanely great (the author obviously didn’t know who he was talking to), but there is no doubt it made the visual aspects of our presentations considerably better.

I used to think my visuals were pretty good. I kept my bullets short, I didn’t clutter the page with too many, and I didn’t read them to the group. I thought I was on top of my game. But after reading the book, I realized how much better they could be.

But what I specifically liked about the book isn’t just the tips on what to do, but the fact it went beyond that to discuss the cognitive science about why. It included research on how the brain takes in information, and when I read that it all came together.

I immediately reworked all our materials. Bullets were out. Most words were out. Images were in.

It’s now a couple of years since I read the book so I have forgotten much of what was in it, but I haven’t forgotten how inspired it made me feel. And while here I have focused on the visuals of the presentations, the book also appealed to my speech-writing side, as it contains a treasure-trove of insight into that art as well, but that would be a whole blog in itself. Maybe another day.

At the risk of sounding like a pitchman (as if I haven’t already), I really do recommend this book to anyone who wants to sharpen his or her presentation skills.