Monday, October 01, 2007

Simply Put

“It’s an eye chart but...” How many presentations have you been in where you have heard that excuse when introducing an idea or a concept?  Or worse, where you have used it yourself!

Think about it – if it’s too complicated to show, think about how hard it is to explain; and then think about how it is even harder to understand, especially if you are hearing it for the first time.  Then think about why clients have trouble “buying” what we sell. (Not that we should sell, but that is a story for another time…)

Imagine you are talking to a family member, or to a significant other, or to someone you wish would become your significant other.  Then, imagine you are expressing your devotion—your eternal and everlasting devotion.  Now imagine your words are so complicated that you had to explain everything...from your motivation...to your “real” meaning...to your desired outcome.  Now imagine you did it all in PowerPoint and with “eye charts!”

The bottom line, I’m afraid, is that the “Lonely Hearts Club” would have huge membership!

I find our need to prepare “presentation decks” with multiple pages, complex charts, lots of bullets and long and longer sentences bizarre. It’s as if we and our clients have become addicted to a powerful narcotic.

Why do we fear exposing ourselves to pure discussion?  Why don’t we embrace the “elevator idea”— the say it in 10 seconds way to throw an idea out for consideration, make it clear, short and relevant?  Make me ask for more; make me want to hear more; make me want to get you to do more – and voila – you have the business outcome…

I believe we are rarely successful when we are being complicated.  We all know great ideas cause you to hit your forehead and say “why didn’t I think of that!!!”

So here is the thought expressed as simply as I could find it:

“Simplify, simplify”
Henry David Thoreau

Now if that isn’t simple, I don’t know what is.  By the way, I’m happy to send you the deck…not!! 

Posted by David on 10/01 at 08:50 AM
(7) Comments • Permalink

  1. Amen...BTW, you might check out Cliff Atkinson's blog @: http://www.beyondbullets.com/ He wrote the book "Beyond Bullets" and has some good points...just not "bullet points."

    Posted by Scott McCormick  on  2007-10-01 15:30:48

  2. Excelent source!! Everyone should check this out.

    Posted by david sable  on  2007-10-01 15:56:26

  3. There's a whole bunch of "How to present for your audience instead of at them" resources out there, and Beyond Bullet Points is one of my favourites too. Also worth a look, as a presentation done right, is Dick Hardt's "Identity 2.0", helped by the fact that it's actually an interesting concept too - http://identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/

    Posted by Mark Plant  on  2007-10-01 17:35:25

  4. introduction - Hello Powerpoint - bulleted lists oversimplify human thought - ppt weakens > verbal reasoning > spatial reasoning + approx 40 words/slide - clients take home outlines of your thoughts + not your thoughts Resources - Thankfully, Lincoln didnt use it > http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/ - Edward Tufte > information design legend > cites how powerpoint deconstructs > http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint Wrapping up - Thank you for your time

    Posted by good morning captain  on  2007-10-01 19:39:14

  5. Well said, David. A story well told, is a story easily retold. And how can we persuade an action, if the receiver doesn't understand the sender's message? Onward storytellers!

    Posted by Matt Anthony  on  2007-10-01 20:05:20

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