Last night, I volunteered to judge the Delta presentations of the 2015 one-year MBA students. It felt good not being the presenter and really good being the judge 🙂 Below are some key takeaways of mine.
Need for Visuals : I’m completely convinced of the need for more visuals and less text. It was very difficult to take in anything when the presentations are loaded with text. Some of the one’s were really really text heavy and it wasn’t easy to concentrate. So you may ask, how much text is appropriate ? I felt one to two sentences per slide mixed with visuals to be more appealing. Anything beyond that, I had difficulty moving back and forth between the screen and the presenter.
Need for Simplicity : Teams with simplicity in their slide-crafting kept me more engaged and more interested. Slides with just one data image helped me absorb the content. Whenever there was too much data on one slide, I checked out of the presentation for few minutes. The problem with that is, even if the listener wants to check-in again it won’t be easy for him to follow. This is my take on the need for simplicity. This is an essential ingredient if you want your audience engaged totally.
Need for laughter : It’s very easy to get bored when you are just watching presentation after presentation. If you know you will be in situations like that, it helps to have a slide that can make the audience laugh so that they can get back into the presentation
Need for honesty : When someone asks you a question at the end, it’s ok to say “yeah, we didn’t consider that issue” instead of saying something to cover up. This helps building trust which, I believe, is the foundation for any business relationship
It was a great learning experience to be on the other side. My long trip from John Creek was well worth it. Thank You, Prof. Noonan for giving us this opportunity
Hi Suresh,
Your pointers were really succinct and helpful–thanks. What do you think about slides that have just one image and no text?
That is the formatting that I used with my presentation for this MP semester. I wanted people to be really engaged with some of the stories that I wanted to tell. I also asked people to relocate to the first row of the room, so that I could use my props. The technique of using audience engagement, getting their energy up, and focusing their attention on you is important. Another technique I have used at large, all-day conferences is to get everyone to stand up and give the people around them a high-five. It may seem a bit juvenile, but it get people to laugh and connect with each other. This can bring them back from wherever they were when they were zoning out.
Marjorie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As long as you have a good header for slides with single visuals, that will work. You want your audience to understand the slide quickly so that they will focus on what you are gonna say. Similarly one can use single long sentence in a slide without a slide. Take a look at this deck by airbnb from slideshare.net. They have used the technique of single image and single sentence per slide very effectively.
http://www.slideshare.net/500startups/joe-zadeh-airbnb-presentation-at-lean-startup-sxsw-austin?qid=efe9766c-a055-403b-b3e8-861296314f3e&v=default&b=&from_search=6
Hi Suresh,
Yes, it was indeed a great opportunity to sit on the “other side.” Glad that I was able to share in the judging experience, too!
I totally agree with your points. The first two points are especially relevant based on some of the presentations we saw last night. Some had entirely too much text. I as a judge, or an audience member for that matter, found it challenging at times to absorb what was being conveyed. When powerful points must be relayed to an audience, make a separate slide so that the point doesn’t get lost in the clutter. I find that varying text size within a bullet also helps to emphasize a point e.g. “double the growth seen year-ago.”
Another point that I would add is “Need to guide your audience.” When presenting a slide with graphs and text, verbally guide your audience to which section of a slide you want them to focus. Is it a trend that you are highlighting, is it a cluster of shapes within a quadrant chart, or otherwise. Familiarity with your slide is nice, but remember your audience hasn’t seen it before. Tell them where to focus.
Finally, I would also add, “Need for a Cohesive Message.” Ensure that your verbal message is in sync with your slides. If you are speaking of a favorable trend, the graphs and visuals should be consistent with that message. While elaborating on points is important, your message should still be related to the topics being conveyed on the graph and the overall story line.
Jodi,
Thanks for bringing up the “Need to guide your audience”. Even I was lost in the sea of information dump where I was trying to make out which graph or number matters. Probably one can avoid the information dump itself in the first place if he/she understood the “Need for simplicity”
Suresh,
Exactly! Even Professor Noonan interrupted to ask them where he should focus. That says it all!
Marjorie,
Great tips for engagement.
Suresh,
Good article! I had the exact same experience. I even wrote on my feedback ,” I’m not sure if I should listen to them talk or read everything on the slide” couldn’t focus on both.
Also another feedback is the body langauage of the presenters. There were some presenters who were constantly wandering and moving from one end of the room to another which was distracting.
I’m sure I do a lot of the issues that we mentioned myself as well, but just by this experience, hopefuly I’ll be more conscious of all these qualities the next time I’m presenting in front of a large audience.
Thanks
Hamdan
Suresh,
Thanks for your comments! I had the exact same experience that evening when I was on the judging panel. I remember one presentation in particular whose slides looked like they came directly from a report! It had entirely too much text. You could tell that they did an excellent job researching and making recommendations, but it would have benefited them to revisit their delivery of the presentation.
A second point, that in my opinion is very important, is to thoroughly describe how to arrive at your recommendations. What is the research and analytical process your team took to arrive at the recommendation. This answers the “HOW.” Better cohesion between those points–essentially funneling down their process– allows for us to see how they got down to their recommendations.
It was definitely a great experience to judge from the other side!
Sahar,
Totally agree with you on the ” research and analysis” part. I was trying to piece together their methodology while they were presenting. It wasn’t easy and I couldn’t figure that out for most of the presentations. Having only one week to work on the project could be one reason for this, I guess.