All posts by Andrew Cramer

07b-Using good information design, 07d-Delivering a presentation, charts & graphs

Crap Circles

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“It’s Time to Retire ‘Crap Circles’” by Gardiner Morse, may be my favorite HBR article that I have read this semester. Morse makes the point that people often add graphics to PowerPoint presentations without considering if the graphic actually supports their model or idea. Obviously, graphics can be an effective tool for connecting to an audience, more so than a slide deck packed full of text, however, before including a “crap circle” make sure the idea that you are attempting to portray is circular in nature and not linear.

Here are a two bad examples from Morse’s article:

An accounting firm graphic for company services (in a circular graphic): 1) Conception/Start-up Phase, 2) Survival Phase, 3) Growth Phase, 4) Take-off Phase, and 5) Maturity Phase. There is an arrow between each phase pointing to the next. So the question is, how does the fifth phase of Maturity Phase progress into the first phase of Conception/Start-up? It doesn’t.

A solar energy advocacy group use a circular graphic in an attempt to display the relationship between supply and demand for solar power. “Supply Goes Up” as economies of scale are improved, feeds into “Demand Goes Up” as more people and cities begin producing their own power. As “Demand Goes Up” this feeds back into “Supply Goes Up”. Their graphic creates an endless loop of awesomeness for their product and company.

Bottom line, don’t just add random graphics to presentations because they are better than text, be sure to ask yourself if the graphic accurately and effectively portrays the model or idea.

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07d-Delivering a presentation, PowerPoint resources, PowerPoint tricks, slide-craft

Punt PowerPoint

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Like most people, I have always used Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations. It’s quick, simple, and accessible by most users. However, it’s also these characteristics that have led to so many horrible presentations. Everyone can make a PowerPoint presentation, but it seems that only a few can make good PowerPoint presentations.

Obviously, the content, arrangement, and delivery of a PowerPoint presentation will ultimately determine whether the presentation is a dud or not. However, with the extremely high use rates of PowerPoint, maybe there are other software applications available that will help make a presentation standout against the crowd.

Here is a list of five alternative presentation applications that I came across in an article by Stu Robarts.

1. Prezi (prezi.com) – Instead of the linear progression of PowerPoint slides, Prezi presentations are designed on a large space (similar to a whiteboard) where the user can decide the path that the material should be presented in. Ultimately, the design is intended to help audiences understand how the ideas in the presentation are related to each other.

2. Keynote (https://www.apple.com/mac/keynote/) – Apple’s version of PowerPoint. In typical Apple style, it’s only compatible with Apple products.

3.  Google Slides (google.com) – A stripped-down version of PowerPoint; only the essential tools for creating a slide deck are available. However, the perk is that Slides are integrated into Google Docs. Changes to the presentations are auto-saved and multiple users can simultaneously edit a Slides presentation. The output can be downloaded into PowerPoint format.

4. ClearSlide (clearslide.com) – Designed for sales teams. The primary purpose is web-based presentations. It can be integrated with CRM systems for ease of data integration.

5. SlideDog (slidedog.com) – Every professor should be forced to use SlideDog. It’s not so much a presentation development software, as it is a presentation organizational software. It allows users to drag-and-drop all of their files that will be a part of their presentation (PowerPoint slides, Prezi presentation, web pages, PDFs, videos, etc.) into the SlideDog application and then arrange them into the desired order. When one file is completed, the subsequent file is launched. No more watching the presenter frantically search their desktop for the shortcut to the next element of their presentation.

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07c-Telling stories, slide-craft, storyline structure

Structure Storytelling into a Formal Presentation

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I will admit that I am not the best at crafting formal presentations. However, I also would not consider myself the worst. I have a technical background and my slide craft and delivery tend to reflect that. Why do my presentations tend to lean towards the technical and away from creativity and storytelling? I think it may because of my misperception that developing a presentation around storytelling means sacrificing structure until the presentation becomes “fluff”.

Nancy Duarte, a self-described communications theorist and empathy architect, is the CEO of a firm that specializes in the application of storytelling and visual thinking to communications in business settings. Duarte has also authored several books on the topic of communications: Guide to Persuasive Presentations, Resonate, Slide:ology, and Slidedocs. Duarte gave a TED Talk (view here) that has changed my understanding of the structure involved in successfully integrating storytelling into a formal presentation.

Here are a few notes that I took away from Duarte’s talk:

1. Understanding Proper Role Assignment

The presenter is not the hero of the story, the audience is the hero. Duarte states that the presenter needs to play the role of a mentor, guiding the audience along from the current state forward to the presenter’s idea.

2. Three Part Structure

Every story has a beginning, middle, and end, right? Yes, but Duarte provides a little more substance. The story should start with a likeable hero who has a desire. This hero should then encounter a roadblock or obstacle. Ultimately, the hero emerges transformed. This is the kind of structure seen in most movies.

3.  Presentation Shape

Should there be a structure to a good presentation? Most novels have an arch shape, in which they start, build into a climax and then return as the story is resolved. Duarte studied several famous speeches and recognized a similar structure, a repeating step function. The beginning starts with “what is” and compares it to “what could be”. Here is how things currently are, but look at how they could be. The remainder of the presentation should be based on the amplification of the gap between these two. The middle of the presentation repeats the back and forth motion of what is, what could be, what is, what could be. The goal is to make the current status quo and normal condition look unappealing. Finally, the end should be a call to action. The presentation should end on a high with the audience imaging how the world could be with your idea.

Two of the presentations that Duarte analyzed that exhibited this structure were Steve Job’s 2007 presentation to introduce the iPhone and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech. For more information regarding Duarte’s work, check out her website.

07c-Telling stories

Easy on the Slides, Heavy on the Story

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I currently work for a large energy management company, specifically on a team that develops new software applications that promote internal efficiencies of business processes. Every few months I find myself in front of groups of engineers, project managers, and business managers presenting information regarding the latest set of features released in our software applications. The presentation material is always technical, the demonstrations are always technical, and the questions and answers exchanged with the audience are always technical. My purpose is to equip the audience with the technical knowledge to enable them to turn-around and use the software applications to their fullest.

Needless to say, I don’t often weave storytelling into my technical presentations. I’m not particularly looking to close a sale or win over a new investor with my presentations. However, with aspirations to venture into entrepreneurship post-MBA, I have been considering the art of storytelling as a skill that may be extremely beneficial in my near future. An Inc.com article by Riley Gibson highlights three reasons why mastering the art of storytelling can help entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed (Article Link).

1. Stories are Memorable.

No matter how great your idea is or how much data you have to prove its greatness, if your audience isn’t connected to what you are saying, they won’t care or remember after you finish. Gibson points out Dollar Shave Club and their over-the-top hilarious commercials. No PowerPoint slides or bar charts, just a witty and entertaining delivery that won’t quickly be forgotten by viewers, or more importantly investors.

2. Stories Travel Further.

Gibson suggests that memorable stories are much easier to recall in the future than detailed specifications or statistics. The accuracy to which your business idea or venture is retold by others after your initial presentation is very important. In essence, a memorable story will travel more accurately and further than other techniques.

3. Stories Inspire Action.

Finally, Gibson points out that entrepreneurs often need to inspire action, which may be among investors, employees, or even customers. Spilling out data or specifications isn’t likely to motivate the majority of audiences. Rather, a compelling story can reveal the what, why, and how that is behind the action and in-turn can help to inspire the action that is desired.

With a technical background, it will be a challenge for me to punt the PowerPoint slides filled with technical jargon and transition to the development of a story that is 1) memorable, 2) can be accurately recounted, and 3) inspire action. However, I fully agree with Gibson, with a high level of competition in the marketplace for investors and customers, it is of the upmost importance to be able to set your company or idea apart from the rest.

 

Article Link: http://www.inc.com/riley-gibson/3-reasons-every-start-up-should-tell-more-stories.html

07b-Using good information design, charts & graphs, tables

Attention, Cleanup on Slide 6.

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Engineers like numbers. Engineers like problems that can be solved with numerical analysis. Engineers like when others agree that their numbers are correct. However, all too often Engineers fail to clearly communicate their ideas, analysis, and solutions in a manner that quickly informs, educates, and persuades their audiences. I would know; I am an Engineer.

Presenters commonly overlook good information design in their presentations. Instead, they focus on providing the maximum amount of information and data in a manner that allows the audience to fully appreciate not only the solution but also the process of the analysis. In their attempt to wow the audience with slides dominated by tables, charts, graphs, best-fit lines, major and minor grid lines and the like, they instead produce confusion and lack of interest. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of such techniques.

In Edward Tufte’s work on information design, “Visual Display of Quantitative Information” – yes it is indeed as interesting as it sounds – Tufte discusses Data-Ink and Graphical Redesign. In order to achieve maximum impact, Tufte outlines five principles for data graphics that can lead to significant improvements in graphical design: 1) Above all else show the data, 2) Maximize the data-ink ratio, 3) Erase non-data-ink, 4) Erase redundant data-ink, and 5) Revise and edit. To help clarify, Tufte describes data-ink as “the share of the ink on a graphic that presents the data-information”; it is “the non-erasable core of the graphic.” The key and the challenge of this topic is finding simplicity.

Tufte provides a great example of how to erase redundant data-ink within reason. Consider a simple bar chart with a single bar that is shaded and displays the value of the data point at the top of the bar. The height or value of the bar chart in this simple example is identified in six separate ways. Five of those ways can be considered redundant and removed, and the important data will still be present. The six ways include, 1) the height of the left vertical of the bar chart, 2) the height of the right vertical of the bar chart, 3) the height of the shaded region of the bar chart, 4) the vertical position of the horizontal top of the bar chart, 5) the vertical position of the value on top of the bar chart, and 6) the numeric value itself. Removing redundant information creates clearer presentation and more effective communication of a presenter’s ideas.

For most, this is likely not the most exciting of topics. However, for someone who works heavily in numerical analysis and who must convey outcomes to audiences of varying backgrounds, these suggestions on good information design are priceless. Does anyone else struggle in the area of good information design? Have you ever been complimented on your information design? Any other suggestions of how someone can improve their ability to display quantitative information?

 

Tufte, Edward R. “Data-Ink and Graphical Redesign.” The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Second ed. Cheshire, CT: Graphics LLC, 2006. N. pag. Print.