Your message and other things you say

Was teaching today and came to the instruction on PowerPoint. Had a pretty interested group and was going through some more advanced things like the presenter’s view on a second monitor and some cheap tricks on using blank slides. Was (not) surprised that most of the folks hadn’t seen an A/V Mute button on a projector, so I went to show it to them, showed them my laptop was still functional and then went to turn the projector back on and…

Nothing.

No display. “Searching for signal…” It was JUST working, for Pete’s sake!!! I did a pretty nifty segue and blanked the screen, but knew I had to come back. When I did, nothing seemed to work — Fn-F8, auto search, manual input selector — nothing.

I was about to quick and call a break when I happened to lift the computer again… and knocked the VGA cable to the project to the floor. Evidently the screw had come loose (in the laptop connection, not the instructor) and the cable came loose when I showed the screen to the class. It would have likely been the last place I’d have thought to look, but it sure seems now like the most obvious thing I should have seen.

Total time looking like a doofus was less than 30 seconds, but it reminds me to…

Check the easy stuff first. Have a checklist.

Here’s a tip that must not be well known judging from how many times I see people fail to use it.

The problem with projecting a presentation is that if a break comes or the presenter wishes to do some other work on his computer, then that work can be displayed for all to see, which is usually not desired. I’ve watched folks get around this by Fn-F8 and making their laptop/computer not display to to the projector. The problem with this solution is that the projector now is not receiving a signal — a fact which it usually displays quite vividly for all to see. I watched a presenter not long ago then proceed to walk into the line of that message and had a big NO INPUT scrawled across his face for a large part of his presentation. The second solution is to turn off the projector. But this causes two problems. The first is that most projectors get loud as the fan spools off to cool the bulb before shutting down (making it hard to present). The second problem is when the presenter wishes for the computer to be displayed again, the projector could take 30 seconds or more to warm up before displaying and becomes a walking billboard for Sony or Epson or whomever until it does.

Enter the solution. Most display projectors have a remote. And there’s a button this remote called “A/V Mute” or something similar. Pressing this button causes all video (and audio, if it is hooked up) to be suspended (blacked out). It’s a toggle switch, so pressing it again causes the computer display (and sound, if appropriate) to instantly be displayed. No messages. No delay. No fuss.

Mute the display when it doesn’t directly support your message.

In another presentation I witnessed at last week’s conference (and LOTS more to come from that), I watched a rather academic session digress into long-winded narration of PowerPoint.  The slides got worse and worse and the presentation less and less interactive as the experienced presenter reverted to the thing that was most comfortable to him.

Finally, he commented on a slide that was particular wordy with, “Well, you know the 5×5 rule?  I guess I didn’t follow it to the letter, but I certainly didn’t think 50 words was appropriate.“  That led me to actually count: 5 bullets; 36 words.  Yikes!

So where’s the cutoff?  And if he knew the 5×5 rule (which isn’t a rule, but a guideline to get presenters to put ONLY the content that helps an audience ‘get it’), why wouldn’t it apply to him?  I think the more egregious (I love that word) sin is not the wordy slides, but the comment that in essence says, “I know there’s a rule of thumb to help everyone get the content, but I don’t want to follow it.  Get over it.“  A blatant violation of Rule #1 (which is NOT a guideline) if there ever was one.

I probably could have overlooked the whole issue if he’d just have kept his mouth shut.

Focus on the audience, always.  And if you don’t (?), certainly don’t bring attention to it.

Most of us have multiple versions of our speeches, training programs, presentations, and notes.  It’s hard to keep them straight.  Frequently, the easiest and best way is to date them.  I do this myself.  I have my own naming convention for any date-related materials, and it works great for me.

But when putting something before the public’s eyes, it’s usually a bad idea to include a date.  Watched two presentations today and both of them had the date either in the title, file name, title slide, or handouts (or more than one).  This immediately alerted the audience that this material was not originally for them.  It was recycled.  One presenter even said something to the effect, “I gave this talk to Group A last fall.  I hope it’s still current.“  Message to audience?  “You aren’t worth me checking to see if my material is correct.”

There’s nothing wrong with reusing content.  It saves time, usually yields a more robust show over time, and is just plain practical.  But using a corollary of Rule #1, we MUST make it presentable and fresh to each audience.  Rename those files.  Clear the title slide.  Keep the comments in check.  It’s new every time.  Or at least it appears such to the audience.

Don’t use dated slides for current presentations.

Watched a speaker host a meeting and then ask an invited guest to open the business end of a large forum after the holiday pleasantries were exchanged.  This second speaker, known to the entire audience as a position of authority, then got up to give a casual state-of-the-union address followed by a town-hall like Q&A.  Problem was, during the whole time Speaker B was on the stage, Speaker A’s PowerPoint was displayed in the screen, complete with Speaker A’s name and discussion title.  Anyone walking in late would have been quite confused.
This actually is a specific instance of a larger problem, quite prevalent in the technical community using PowerPoint.  The purpose of PowerPoint — and any other visual aid, prop, display mechanism, joke, or demonstration — is to help get a message across.  When the presentation becomes PowerPoint, and not the message we have to give, we are prone to have everything on the slides.  This causes problems when there is even a slight detour from what is already pre-printed in our slides.
The best solution whenever there is verbal communication that is not consistent with the slides is to blank out the visual (the ‘B’ key in PPT will do just that).  Where is it written (OK, where is it good) that there must always be a displayed visual on the screen?  If the visual is to help with the message, then there should be points when there is no need for a visual to help.  When the visual IS the message (or at least the presenter thinks so), then we are forced as an audience to always watch something.  This divides, not focuses, our attention.

Corollary: do we really need a slide that says “Questions?” in order to take questions from our audience?  And if we do want to delineate a change in the program to Q&A, should it stay up the entire time we answer them?  I vote no.  Better solution is to engage your audience and take questions whenever.  If that is not feasible or desirable, then blank everything out, get the audience’s attention, and focus on questions without the distraction of a slide deck in the background.  Bonus points if you answer the question with a pre-created PPT slide and jump to it directly (# and Enter on the keyboard) to help make the point.

Make your visuals be supporting material to help drive home a point.  Don’t make the visuals the point.

David Ferrabee blogs today about how information and technology is commonly confused with communication.  He is spot on.

Communication defined involves interchange or transmission of ideas.  So often when I talk to folks about what they want to say, they start with something like “I’ll use PowerPoint” or “We’ll create a SharePoint site”.  It is very difficult to explain to folks that this is the last decision (how we’ll transmit the message) we need to make, not the first (what we want to transmit).

I worked with a guy a few months ago, who after taking my course on how to develop a ‘training’ class for a technical audience, came back with his PowerPoint deck for me to approve.  Since I had demoed about a dozen alternate ways to get a message across to a class (and PPT was NOT one of them!), I asked what else he considered and he responded that he just felt PowerPoint was the best way to get the message across.  I suppose that could have been the case, but I really believe he just had not ever considered anything else (and probably was all he’d ever seen in his technology company).  More likely, it’s just a case of not trying to be creative enough and really ascertain how the audience will learn.

Been brainstorming with a friend on how to excel at web conferencing (LiveMeeting — side note: why are all the cool Microsoft tools the most abused communication methods?), which is not something I really like or excel at, but is nonetheless a very valid (and cost-effective) method for message deployment.  He ran across a treasure trove of examples at http://main.livemeeting.com/demos/web_seminar_archive.cfm, which mainly are just marginal PowerPoint decks translated to web shows.  I actually fell asleep while we tried to watch one (yes, it’s been a busy few weeks and I’m tired, but aren’t all our audiences filled with tired folks?).

The principles of communication, especially Rule #1, are always in effect, and never more so than when technology steps in to the picture.  We must meet our audience with a clear message that meets their needs, in a way they can remember and act upon.

Don’t let technology or a method be your message.

Lots of speakers provide handouts.  It’s a good idea.  It gives the listener a take-away and future reminder of the content — at a minimum they’re faced with the decision of whether to throw the handout away or not.  That is more follow-up than a listener who only walks in and walks out.  Certainly we hope for more, but it’s a start.

The problem with handouts is when they don’t facilitate better listening, retention, or follow-up.  Handouts that I receive (or observe) frequently have little or nothing to do with the presentation content, or worse still, have a conflicting message.  When the handouts are so large they can’t be covered completely (as in a long class or when a corporate notebook or sales flyer is provided in a limited-time engagement), then it should be made clear when the speaker is in sync with the content.  A simple “You’ll find this information on page 12” (followed by enough time for the audience to get to page 12) gives folks peace of mind and the indication that they needn’t scramble for a pen to take notes or try to remember this explicitly (folks will remember that which impresses or impacts them anyway).  Conversely, if there is an important point you wish the audience to retain which is NOT in the handouts, then a warning to such is warranted: “This is not in your notes — I suggest you jot down in the margin on page 12 the URL that our colleague has just suggested.”

And handouts, like speaking, generally fall under the LIM (Less-is-more) principle.  Printing PowerPoint Notes pages in l landscape DOES NOT qualify as adequate handouts (especially if the PowerPoint is a brain dump itself).  Rather, give them ONE PAGE that outlines the key point(s) and any follow-up reference that is absolutely necessary (or a web site where all the information can be obtained).

Give folks what they need, and make it easy for them to follow.

Watching some sports talk ‘analysis’ tonite — three ex-jocks trying to elaborate on the finer points of a game that admittedly is not my number one passion.  I was having trouble paying attention, and tried to figure out the reason why.  I think I may have discovered it.

I was frustrated that I missed a score that was scrolling by the wavy ticker behind the desk, then watched the ticker and missed the point one of the jocks tried to eloquently make.  Upon further review, I noted that there were two screens showing highlights or some manner of replay behind the desk, the logo showing the game under discussion had about four flashing colors and three panels of moving graphics, and the logo of the show had a comet-looking periodic flash traveling a crazy path across another panel.  All told, there were seven (7!) things moving on the screen that were not people.  Even blurring my eyes I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to be watching.

Speakers do the same thing.  PowerPoint shows have gratuitous animation that adds nothing to the content, speakers have nervous ticks that draw more attention than the message, and backdrops and distracting elements — even open windows and doors — draw attention away from the speaker and what they have to say.  This should not be.  If the message is important, focus the attention squarely on it.

Eliminate anything that will distract from your message.