What¹s wrong with presentations

What’s wrong with presentations?

Cindy Kane, Bridgewater State University

Michael Miller, Fun Enterprises

Hi.

What your audience isn’t telling you.

#1 You promised something you didn’t

deliver.

“Ever wonder why it's so hard to get new students to speak up, connect with a club or try something new? Join us as we examine in a experiential way, the barriers to communication which new students face every year. By identifying these barriers and creating a bond, you'll be able to help students in their transition and your college in retention!”

Conference model

What should we present?

Proposal submitted

PRESENTATION!

What

happens

here?

Between proposal submission and presentation for NACA Northeast: • Complete 16 levels of Rosetta Stone language

courses. • Walk one-way from Juneau, Alaska to Miami,

Florida 3.48 times • Lose 66 pounds safely on Weight Watchers (2 lbs per week) • Finally organize and tag all of your event

photos you’ve been meaning to deal with.

You have choices.

Cam

pu

s M

od

el

Did we mention that you have choices?

#2 I’m leaving this session without a

shred of information I can use.

Program 1: Pack the House at your next lecture: Inspiring students to attend educational events outside of the classroom isn’t easy. Through analysis of one school’s experience, participants in this session will explore creative and unusual marketing ideas to bring educational events into the spotlight for your programming board’s calendar.

Program 2: The President’s Leadership Series at Cracker Barrel College began in 2008 through a partnership between student affairs and alumni. This session will review the steps taken to solicit the sizeable donation and how that was translated into campus programming efforts at CBC.

#3 I don’t think you know what you are

talking about.

Be prepared.

#4 You’re having trouble teaching me

your own content.

Bullets kill.

Especially in presentations.

There are five important strategies to avoiding “Death by Power Point”

• Break up your info into as many slides as possible. Extra slides don’t cost any money. Breaking them up into as many pieces as possible assures that your presentation has some momentum and tempo. Your participants will also have something to look at. • Use photos, not clip art. There are some great sites for free images. Way back when clip art was the only game in town, it made sense. Today, use visual imagery for rich illustrations of your points. • Never smaller than 32 pt font. People can’t see what you have up there from the back row. • Use a simple color palette. Dark backgrounds with light text show up very well especially in large presentation rooms. • Use very few differences in font. There is another set of rants and raves about font choice we can schedule

for next year’s presentation.

People read faster than you speak.

Don’t render yourself useless.

Simple design rules:

Break up your info into as many slides as possible.

Photos, not clip art.

Never smaller than 32 pt font. Use little font

variation.

Simple color palette.

“This is my first presentation at a conference.” “I didn’t have much time to prepare.” “I’m not an expert on this topic.”

Enthusiasm.

Communicating enthusiasm means…

Your own brand.

Communicating enthusiasm means…

Bringing passion to even the most boring topics.

Communicating enthusiasm means…

Managing intensity.

Silence. Eye contact. Repetition.

#5 I’m here to listen to YOU, not this

joker next to me.

What’s the point of group work?

quick tips for successful use of group work

Cindy Kane Michael Miller cindy.kane@bridgew.edu Michael@funent.com Twitter: @cindykane Twitter: @MillerSpeaks

Cindy Kane cindy.kane@bridgew.edu Michael Miller michael@funent.com