Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

Laser Pointer Abuse

I’ve written before about some of my presentation pet peeves. Here comes another one.

Now I enjoy listening to good speakers, particularly those who can hold my attention, communicate their message, and throw in a little entertainment. I remember one such speaker from a meeting. He had energy, enthusiasm, and a compelling message.

He didn’t really need the seemingly endless string of PowerPoint slides he used, which all looked the same. Each slide included six or seven complete sentences—in bullet form, of course—and one small, animated graphic crammed into the lower right corner. But that’s not my complaint.

Because each slide was so packed with stuff, the speaker used his red laser pointer to highlight every sentence on every slide. Granted, he was a true marksman with that pointer and never missed his target.

But following that red dot was like watching an Olympic ping pong match. My neck was killing me trying to follow the action. It was nothing short of audience abuse.

I’m not saying there’s no role for a laser pointer in a presentation, but give it a rest. It’s possible to reduce the clutter on a slide so it doesn’t detract from the message, and then the audience can follow along without a pointer to illuminate your every thought.

The Laser Institute of America (yes, it’s a real organization) believes additional safety regulation regarding laser pointers is an important legislative priority. I hope any new law includes a provision for protecting audiences from laser pointer overload.

Speaker's Anxiety

It's normal, even expected, to feel anxious before speaking to a group. Maybe that's why Amazon offers almost fifty different titles on performance anxiety. Some offer tips of dubious value, like pretending your audience is naked.

I'm not sure that image would reduce anxiety as much as it might make me want to bolt right out of the room. 

You might be able, though, to overcome one common source of performance anxiety: The belief that the audience is keenly aware of your inner nervousness. Psychologists call this false belief the "illusion of transparency."

Research has shown that observers are not as aware of your anxious state as you may believe. What's troublesome is that this belief often causes unneeded stress and can lead to a poor performance.

In a 2003 article published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, researchers explored the possibility that speakers could reduce performance anxiety with a simple reminder that their inner turmoil was not written all over their faces.

The researchers gave some speakers a short reminder about the "illusion of transparency" before a speech; they gave others no reminder. Afterward, the speakers who got the reminder evaluated their performances more positively, expected their audiences to rate their presentations more highly, and judged themselves as appearing more relaxed than the speakers who didn't get the reminder.

Furthermore, when audience members evaluated the presentations, without knowing which speakers were which, they rated the reminded speakers as being more relaxed, composed, and effective than the speakers who didn't get the reminder.

Next time you head to the podium, remember the "illusion of transparency." The audience has no idea how nervous you are. Try to resist spoiling the whole thing by telling them that you are.

The 189 Percent Solution

As the lights dimmed, the speaker’s first words were, “Some of you won’t be able to read this chart.” No kidding. The culprit: an overwhelmingly dense PowerPoint presentation.

I was squinting so hard that I felt a dull headache coming on. I wouldn’t have been able to see that presentation with binoculars. But the speaker bravely plowed on, slide after slide--brimming with images, animation, and bulleted lists.

My recollection of the presentation’s key points? Next to nothing. I thought it was me, but then I saw a reference to a study that convinced me otherwise. 

Richard E. Meyer, a professor at the University of California, studied the impact of multimedia presentations on human memory. He found that when irrelevant words and pictures were removed from such presentations, people experienced a 189 percent improvement in remembering the information.

Sometimes we pack so much stuff on a set of slides that we’re actually defeating our purpose. Next time you’re preparing a presentation, just repeat to yourself, “189 percent…189 percent.”

PowerPoint Blues

The presentation sounded promising, and I was looking forward to it. The speaker approached the podium, greeted the audience and fiddled with the computer to bring up the first slide. I swear there was a collective groan in the audience.

The first slide was so dense with text even those in the first row had no hope of reading it. The rest of the slides were more of the same. The audience started heading to the exits after less than five minutes.

The misuse of PowerPoint is rampant in the business world. In the wrong hands, this tool can be disastrous. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If we all adhered to eight simple rules, PowerPoint could, once again, be an aid to communication, rather than a barrier.

Eight PowerPoint rules:

Ø Create your slides after you’ve developed your speech

Ø Use slides sparingly, and only if necessary

Ø Audience members must be able to read every word on a slide, no matter where they’re seated

Ø Slides are not speaker notes

Ø Aim for no more than three words or a single image per slide

Ø Every slide must be clear and coordinated with your presentation

Ø Dump the animation

Ø Rehearse with your slides.

Got any additions to the list? Let me know.