(The
Pentagon Declares War!)
An article on Presentations by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
What do the Pentagon,
corporate CEOs, and Patricia Fripp have in common? We all deplore the
current trend toward replacing solid presentation content with flashy
audio/video effects. A Wall Street Journal headline (4/26/00) announced:
"The Pentagon Declares War on Electronic Slide Shows That Make Briefings
a Pain."
We sit in the audience
and watch spectacular presentations using PowerPoint, Director, and banks
of coordinated slide carousels, and we think, "Wow, if only I could do
that!" Now, most of us can. The explosion of exciting new A/V technology
has made a wide range of special effects generally available to presenters.
However, just because
something is available, doesn't mean we have to use it! Here is another
point of view.
I am an exceptionally
high-tech marketer and receive good business and prospects from my web
site, e-mail newsletters, online learning seminars, and other
high-tech parts of my business. However, the fastest growing segment of
my business is coaching sales teams, executives, and leaders so they can
be more effective on the platform. The downside of all the presentation-enhancing
technology is summarized by what more and more frustrated managers are
telling me: "Our CEO used to be a really great presenter before he had
PowerPoint. Now he relies on it so much that he is less effective at motivating
our sales force."
Two executives came
to me to develop a speech about a new program. They spent some time describing
it, but it was so complicated that I couldn't really grasp it. I figured
that if I just didn't get it with our one-on-one attention, then the non-technical
audience they wanted to sell it to didn't stand much chance. Finally,
I asked them, "How will this change the way your customers do business?
Tell me about the impact it will have on their lives." They walked out
with a great speech, supported by PowerPoint for added illustrations.
One commented, "What a great process! Usually we put together 40 PowerPoint
slides and then decide what to say in between."
That's exactly the
problem. Misuse of technology can turn speakers into mere readers of captions
for slides. Personal communication is lost.
At the Pentagon,
General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has issued
an order to all U.S. military bases worldwide which translates as, "enough
with the bells and whistles - get to the point." Army Secretary Louis
Calderna suggests that the Pentagon's PowerPoint presentations are alienating
lawmakers: "People are not listening to us because they are spending so
much time trying to understand these incredibly complex slides." And Navy
Secretary Richard Danzig announced that he was no longer willing to sit
through slide shows, saying they were necessary only if the audience was
"functionally illiterate."
That's exactly the
problem. Misuse of technology can turn speakers into mere readers of captions
for slides. A recent survey of captains at Fort Benning, GA cited "the
ubiquity of the PowerPoint Army" as a prime reason why the Army is losing
too many bright young officers. "The idea behind most of these briefings,"
it said, "is for us to sit through 100 slides with our eyes glazed over."
The term "PowerPoint Ranger" has even become a derogatory term, describing
a desk-bound bureaucrat more adept at making slides than tossing grenades.
(WSJ)
Here's another business
example. It was near the end of one of my all-day speaking school and
coaching sessions for engineers. Everyone there was very proud of their
expensive, colorful presentation materials and expected to rely heavily
on them. I had been demonstrating the relationship of organization and
content to delivery, emphasizing that stories are the currency of human
contact, the only way to connect emotionally as well as intellectually.
I asked one gentleman
to play a game with me. Would he pretend that the power had gone off and
he had to repeat what he had just said without any visuals? He did so,
becoming animated and enthusiastic. Without exception, all the other engineers
agreed that he was a much stronger presenter when he talked to them directly
and made eye contact instead of just narrating his slides. This proved
what I had been telling them all day about the superiority of human contact
over electronics. Since then, these engineers often e-mail me that my
name is frequently mentioned in their briefing rehearsals: "Fripp is right.
Cut the viewgraphs down to one third!"
Dan Maddux, Executive
Director of the American Payroll Association, agrees. He oversees 350
meetings year for APA's more than 18,000 members. He has been hiring professional
speakers, government officials, and name entertainment for 17 years for
their yearly congress. Maddux says his favorite speakers use few if any
audio/visuals. "Every time your PowerPoint slide is on the screen, you
aren't!" he says. "Most disappointing," he says, "is when dynamic speakers
totally overshadow themselves and their performance with their slides."
Technology is terrific
-- as long as it supports and enhances your connection with your audience.
Corporate communication departments can use technology magnificently.
What good speakers have is story telling ability! If your listeners could
run your presentation without you, why are you there?
START WITH GREAT
STORIES
Start by answering the audience's basic question, "Why should I care about
your subject?" Turn numbing data into exciting pictures of what will change
in the listener's life or business. Help them make the decision your presentation
is designed to promote.
In the end, your
message and power of persuasion depends on creating exciting pictures
in the minds of your audience, not only on a screen. Use your unique stories
to stimulate your audience's most powerful sensory organs, their imaginations.
More than any showy visuals, people will remember what they 'see' in their
minds while they are listening. When we think of memorable Hollywood films,
what we usually remember most are the moving, dramatic, and funny stories
that movies tell. The screenwriter Robert McKee says, "Stories are the
creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more
meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact."
All actors recognize
the value of great stories and the importance of making them come alive.
I teach business leaders and sales professionals to use stories to train,
lead and sell.
An audience of one
or a thousand will always prefer a trivial story brilliantly told to a
brilliant one told badly.
Executive speech
coaching has become an exciting part of my business. Often, a corporate
speaker brings me sheets of statistics and says, "Here's what I want to
talk about."
"Why should your
audience care about all this?," I ask. "Where is the excitement? What
can we illustrate with stories?" Then we set about turning the numbing
data into stimulating descriptions of what it all MEANS.
Don't depend on
PowerPoint, slides, and overheads alone to tell your story.
Am I asking you
NOT to use these tools? NO! But first decide what you want to say. What
are your points of wisdom? How can you illustrate these points best? Use
your support materials to support your case.
You need to connect
with your audience EMOTIONALLY as well as intellectually. Look at the
people you're talking to, not at your notes. Keep the type on your slides
to a minimum. Your audience is there to listen to your stories, not read
them.
Relate your stories
to the needs and interests of your audience. For example, if you're talking
to salespeople, tell stories about how your satisfied clients have used
your product or service. Use their comments as exciting and vivid dialogue
in your story. Follow the classic Hollywood formula:
Start with interesting
characters. Add sparkling dialogue. End with an important lesson learned.
Remember, everyone
resists a sales presentation, but few can resist a good story well told.
ADD TECHNOLOGY
JUDICIOUSLY
Use technology to support the message, not visa versa. An over-reliance
on flashy affects can even negate the message. A very fine presenter I
know had a nightmarish experience when he was invited at the last minute
to speak for a small group in Las Vegas. The audience would be young and
the theme MTVish. It was, without a doubt, one of the most exciting meetings
he'd ever attended. There were actual MTV clips, high-powered music, and
the officers came dressed as rap stars. The intensity was so great that
it was impossible to get the audience to focus on a real live speaker
or the topic of the meeting. The goal was lost in the glitz.
Don't let your people
fall into the trap of using technology as a substitute for communicating
directly with their members. Their audiences want to connect with a leader,
not glossy graphics. By all means, use audio/visual technology as a valuable
support, but never, never lose the powerful personal touch! IT SHOULD
SERVE YOU AND YOUR MESSAGE, not the other way around. Use it at is was
designed to be used - to enhance your message, not to eclipse it.
(1,492 Words)
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