Statements like that say a lot about how you approach your career, your products, your life in general.

How much work went in to a Steve Jobs keynote? How many countless hours were spent and by how many people to make those minutes on stage seem effortless and natural?

Steve knew the effect that a presentation could have. What surprises me is that even after we’ve all seen the impact that Steve was able to have with his presentations, so many speakers still don’t take their presentations seriously.

This is actually a huge opportunity. Steve and other master presenters have shown us the road, but few are willing to walk it. Deciding to care about the little details, about things like presentations, is a great way to set yourself apart.

A few months ago my wife discovered that there is a right way and a wrong way to wear bobby pins. One way works well and the bobby pin holds the hair in place. The other way the bobby pin falls out. Turns out she had been using them the wrong way.

Bobby pins have two sides: a flat side and a wavy side. The right way to wear them is with the flat side out, wavy side facing the scalp. This way, the flat side presses the hair into the wavy side and it stays in place.

My wife doesn’t remember ever being taught how to use a bobby pin. She just used what she thought was conventional wisdom and never questioned it. All she had to do was turn the pin over, but instead of trying alternate configurations, she assumed that bobby pins just didn’t work very well and therefore avoided them. Now, knowing the right way she uses them all the time.

How does the “wrong way” of doing something become the prevailing wisdom? Especially when doing things the “right way” isn’t much more difficult than the “wrong way.”

The conventional, prevailing wisdom about how to create presentations is often wrong as well. Full-bleed images and one-idea-per-slide isn’t hard to do, but most people never give these things a try. They just assume that PowerPoint isn’t a good tool. That it doesn’t work well. And it’s to be avoided.

Fortunately, the “right way” of doing things when it comes to presenting is well documented by experts like Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds. All you have to do is wonder if there might be a better way and start looking for it.

(Image credit: Phlora)

I’ve been meaning to post this here for a while now, but…whatever.

Nancy herself describes this little interview with Mr. Chris Brogan as her most favorite one ever.

It is indeed super fun, but also chock full o’ the good little super-informative presenty bits that you’d expect from Nancy and co.

What does S.L.I.D.E. stand for? What are the five things presenters should stop doing tomorrow? What does Nancy look like in Yoda ears? Wanna know? Watch!

(via ChrisBrogan.com)

I’ve been excited about the new reality show, America’s Next Great Restaurant, since I first heard about it several weeks ago. First, I love Chipotle and one of the judges is Chipotle’s founder, Steve Ells, who is a very interesting guy. Second, I like that the judges are actually investing in the restaurant, so it’s not just about abusing and criticizing the contestants. The judges actually want to see them succeed.The pilot episode (which you can watch in its entirety here) aired a week or two ago, but I just got around to watching it this weekend.

In the first episode, 21 potential restaurateurs have to pitch their idea to the four judges/investors who then select only ten to proceed to the next level of competition. What a way to start! Over half the field eliminated solely on the basis of their ability to communicate.

This reinforces my message that presentation skills are crucial to nearly every walk of life. No matter your career choice, no major decision gets made in today’s world without a face-to-face conversation. No matter how great an idea you have or how good a chef you are, it all starts with your ability to communicate.

This first episode was a great study of the kinds of errors people commonly make when they’re not comfortable communicating.

The Bad

One of the most noticeable mistakes made by a few of the contenders was that they couldn’t simplify their message. Maybe they had a good basic idea but they hadn’t spent the time to really think about it and distill it to its essence. Instead, they presented the judges with menus full of hundreds and hundreds of items. In their desire to show the judges all the possibilities, they instead demonstrated that they really didn’t know what direction they wanted to take. And this left the judges without a clear picture of what they’d be signing up for.

This is a common communication error that stems from not knowing what information is important. It’s ultimately a form of laziness in which we basically ask the audience to sort through our piles and piles of raw data. It’s essential when you get up to speak to know exactly what information is essential and what isn’t. Develop key messages you want your audience to take away. Then present those ideas in bite-size pieces.

The Good

In contrast, it was easy to tell which people knew their stuff and were passionate about their great ideas. They stood out from the crowd. Their confidence shone through and made their ideas all the more appealing. And their ideas were well-developed and easy to understand immediately.

These were the leaders. And when they took the stage, you sat up, listened, and were ready to follow. That comes only with practice. It’s not a born trait. Some are born with confidence but that needs to be refined into an appealing manner that draws people in. If you want to become a great leader, communication skills are a must. And the time to begin working on them is now, not two weeks before your big pitch.

What Do You Notice?

Watch the episode and make note of your feeling about each of the contestants. How does the way they present themselves make you feel? Would you invest in them? Why or why not?

A good teacher ought to be able to practice what they preach, and Nancy Duarte is an excellent teacher.

The above video, from a few weeks ago at TEDxEast, is a perfect example of Nancy’s ability to communicate. In this video, she relates many of the points from her new book, Resonate, so watch the video if you don’t have time to read it!

The best part  comes at the end when Nancy shares a very personal story of how she overcame obstacles in her own life to become the communicator she is today. She uses herself to prove that changing the world is possible. Nancy practices what she preaches, and that makes us feel that we can, too.

P.S. – Don’t Be A PowerPoint Felon is now available in Spanish. Many thanks to David Gomez for his willingness to do the translation and adaptation. Thank you, David!

No Sea Un Criminal Del PowerPoint