PRESENTATIONS

MATTERSome simple tips for making

awesome presentations

This talk was designed to be delivered live, so to allow the slides to make a bit of sense, I’ve inserted some

“subtitles” in boxes like this.

ED(Fidgeon-Kavanagh)

My name is Ed... and I have a ridiculously long surname

@clearpreso

You might know me online as @clearpreso, and if you don’t you should probably follow me!

I went here during my college days

B. CommAnd studied business

PPTNerd

It was there I became a PowerPoint nerd!

I finished college and then worked in afew corporate jobs

I quickly realised that most of the presentations in these organisations really SUCKED

BRANDINGSays...

Their branding said that they were clear, smart and professional

WEBSITESays...

So did their website

Says...PRINT

And so did all their print materials

PRESENTATIONSays...

Their presentations gave o! more of this vibe... It looked like it was thrown together at the last minute...

PRESENTATIONSays...

Usually... because it was, by a disgruntled person like this poor fella.

Result = a bunch of

CRAP

WHAT’S THE BIGDEAL?

But why does it matter if presentations are awful?

First impressions

COUNTPresentations are often a point of first-contact with

important decision makers. If your presentation comes o! poorly, that is what people will think of you and your

idea/product/service

IDEAS THAT SPREAD

WINIdeas that spread... win. If you can’t present your idea in

an engaging way it isn’t going to spread.

A person canhave the

GREATESTIDEA

But if that person can’t convince enough

other people itDOESN’T MATTER

TEACH people

Presentations are your chance to teach people about important topics...

Just look at what Al Gore achieved with his presentation “An Inconvenient Truth”

STAND OUTfrom the crowd

A high-quality, well thought out and beautifully designed presentation helps you stand out from the rest of the pack.

BUT

That better be your last slide

The audience are typically left like this after a presentation... not impressed to say the least

How can weCHANGE

all this?

VISUALSOTHER STUFFOver the next few minutes I will give you a few tips

regarding:

STRUCTUREVISUALS

OTHER STUFF

STRUCTUREVISUALS

OTHER STUFF

STRUCTUREVISUALS

OTHER STUFF

STRUCTURE

WHY are you presenting?

First and foremost try to work out why you are presenting. Write it down on a piece of paper.

WHY are you presenting?

And really try and determine what you want the exact outcomes to be.

TAILORyour message

Never try and use a generic slide-deck/message when speaking to di!erent audiences. One size never fits all.

THREE messages

Try to base your presentation around three core messages. Any more and you will overload the audience!

20Minutes

Try to keep your presentation to 20 minutes or less, us humans have a short attention span.

CURATION!

When trying to determine what material should stay or go try and have the mind of a gallery curator.

Art Gallery

Art galleries always have a few well chosen pieces, presented well without distraction.

Art Gallery

They could add many more pictures here, there and everywhere, but it wouldn’t be as e!ective...

Instead, galleries keep these paintings in the back room, ready to be exhibited when appropriate.

Don’t start HERE

When you are starting to plan a presentation try to stay away from your computer for as long as possible.

Go somewhere quiet with a pad of paper and a pen and try to get your message determined first.

Don’t start HERE

Put yourself inBeginners Shoes

We can often become so familiar with our own specialty that it can lead to us assuming the audience will know

more than they really do.

Put yourself inBeginners Shoes

This is dangerous! Try your best to imagine what your message will sound like to a complete beginner.

SIMPLELanguage

Use simple language...No one is impressed with your jargon.

“ ”eBay for the buyers and sellers of live music

Use references that people can easily understand...

An ecommerce platform for the facilitation of musical events through dynamic database driven relationships

Rather than stu!y nonsense like the above.

What’s theSTORY

Try to tell a story about your idea/product/service.

What’s in it for me?The story should answer the audience’s question of

“What’s in it for me?”

VISUAL S

For THEM

The slides are for them, not for you.

NOTthis!

Your slides are NOT an autocue... so don’t stand there staring at your computer monitor and reading them

word for word!

You should however have one in view, and put it in “presenter view” mode so you can see what is coming up

next and how long you have been presenting.

If Steve Jobs did it... so can you!

How many slides?

I get asked all the time “how many slides is the right number to have in a presentation?”

As many as you need!

My answer? As many as you need. Choosing some random arbitrary number is not helpful.

Think of your presentation as a pie...

You could split it into a few pieces/slides...

Or a lot of pieces... at the end of the day the overall quantity has not changed at all...

It has just become easier to eat and digest.Cut your pie into as many pieces as makes sense.

Get rid of the LOGO

Visual Tip #1

For triangles make it tri-co

Intro Tri

Co.

Tri Co.

Tri Co.

You might have a lovely logo, but nobody really cares. In a presentation it is the message that needs to be front

and center... not your lovely logo.

For triangles make it tri-co

Intro Tri

Co.

Tri Co.

Tri Co.

And what’s more, by including all this unnecessary brand decoration you are severely reducing usable space to

the red area above.

Steve Jobs didn’t have a logo on every slide...

Neither does Je! Bezos...

Or Seth Godin... So let’s follow their ways and leave the logos o! the slides. (Except for the start and end)

Use the rightFONTS

Visual Tip #2

Legibility

First and foremost make sure people can read your text.

Take your lead from things like road signs...

And billboards, these things are designed with legibility from a distance in mind...

They have big, clear text, set in a colour that is in high contrast with the background.

DISCLAIMERBIG COMPANY X FOR BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY AND NOT TO BE USED WITH THE GENERAL PUBLICTHIS FINANCIAL PROMOTION WAS ISSUED AND APPROVED BY COMPANY X, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO INSTITUTIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CLIENTS ONLY. THIS COMMUNICATION IS ONLY INTENDED FOR AND WILL BE ONLY DISTRIBUTED TO PERSONS RESIDENT IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE SUCH DISTRIBUTION OR AVAILABILITY WOULD NOT BE CONTRARY TO LOCAL LAWS OR REGULATIONS.THE DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY PARTICULAR SECURITY OR TO ADOPT ANY SPECIFIC INVESTMENT STRATEGY. THE MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN BASED ON A CONSIDERATION OF ANY INDIVIDUAL CLIENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED IN ANY WAY AS TAX, ACCOUNTING, LEGAL OR REGULATORY ADVICE. TO THAT END, INVESTORS SHOULD SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ADVICE, INCLUDING ADVICE AS TO TAX CONSEQUENCES, BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. THE PROSPECTUS AND/OR SIMPLIFIED PROSPECTUS SHOULD BE READ BEFORE AN INVESTMENT IS MADE. THE INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES FOR EACH SUB-FUND ARE OUTLINED IN THE SUPPLEMENTS TO THE PROSPECTUS. ANY RESEARCH IN THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN AND MAY BE ACTED ON BY COMPANY X FOR ITS OWN PURPOSE. THE RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH ARE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE ONLY INCIDENTALLY. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED DO NOT CONSTITUTE INVESTMENT OR ANY OTHER ADVICE AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ANY COMPANY OF THE FUNZO GROUP OR ANY PART THEREOF AND NO ASSURANCES ARE MADE AS TO THEIR ACCURACY. THE INFORMATION ABOVE IS BASED ON INFORMATION AND DATA SUPPLIED BY THIRD PARTIES. WHILE SUCH INFORMATION AND DATA ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE, COMPANY X DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INACCURACY IN SUCH DATA. PRODUCTS, REPORTS, RATIOS AND RATINGS DO NOT CONTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO EVALUATE AND/OR COMPARE PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICE PROVIDERS. OPINIONS INCLUDED IN THIS MATERIAL CONSTITUTE THE JUDGMENT OF COMPANY X AT THE TIME SPECIFIED AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. COMPANY X

IS NOT OBLIGED TO UPDATE OR ALTER THE INFORMATION OR OPINIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS MATERIAL. INVESTORS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN

Think of how companies make their small print hard to read and try your best to do the opposite.

DISCLAIMERBIG COMPANY X FOR BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY AND NOT TO BE USED WITH THE GENERAL PUBLICTHIS FINANCIAL PROMOTION WAS ISSUED AND APPROVED BY COMPANY X, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO INSTITUTIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CLIENTS ONLY. THIS COMMUNICATION IS ONLY INTENDED FOR AND WILL BE ONLY DISTRIBUTED TO PERSONS RESIDENT IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE SUCH DISTRIBUTION OR AVAILABILITY WOULD NOT BE CONTRARY TO LOCAL LAWS OR REGULATIONS.THE DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY PARTICULAR SECURITY OR TO ADOPT ANY SPECIFIC INVESTMENT STRATEGY. THE MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN BASED ON A CONSIDERATION OF ANY INDIVIDUAL CLIENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED IN ANY WAY AS TAX, ACCOUNTING, LEGAL OR REGULATORY ADVICE. TO THAT END, INVESTORS SHOULD SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ADVICE, INCLUDING ADVICE AS TO TAX CONSEQUENCES, BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. THE PROSPECTUS AND/OR SIMPLIFIED PROSPECTUS SHOULD BE READ BEFORE AN INVESTMENT IS MADE. THE INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES FOR EACH SUB-FUND ARE OUTLINED IN THE SUPPLEMENTS TO THE PROSPECTUS. ANY RESEARCH IN THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN AND MAY BE ACTED ON BY COMPANY X FOR ITS OWN PURPOSE. THE RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH ARE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE ONLY INCIDENTALLY. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED DO NOT CONSTITUTE INVESTMENT OR ANY OTHER ADVICE AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ANY COMPANY OF THE FUNZO GROUP OR ANY PART THEREOF AND NO ASSURANCES ARE MADE AS TO THEIR ACCURACY. THE INFORMATION ABOVE IS BASED ON INFORMATION AND DATA SUPPLIED BY THIRD PARTIES. WHILE SUCH INFORMATION AND DATA ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE, COMPANY X DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INACCURACY IN SUCH DATA. PRODUCTS, REPORTS, RATIOS AND RATINGS DO NOT CONTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO EVALUATE AND/OR COMPARE PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICE PROVIDERS. OPINIONS INCLUDED IN THIS MATERIAL CONSTITUTE THE JUDGMENT OF COMPANY X AT THE TIME SPECIFIED AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. COMPANY X IS NOT OBLIGED TO UPDATE OR ALTER THE INFORMATION OR OPINIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS MATERIAL. INVESTORS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR

OWN

Make it bigger...

DISCLAIMERBIG COMPANY X FOR BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY AND NOT TO BE USED WITH THE GENERAL PUBLICTHIS FINANCIAL PROMOTION WAS ISSUED AND APPROVED BY COMPANY X, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO INSTITUTIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CLIENTS ONLY. THIS COMMUNICATION IS ONLY INTENDED FOR AND WILL BE ONLY DISTRIBUTED TO PERSONS RESIDENT IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE SUCH DISTRIBUTION OR AVAILABILITY WOULD NOT BE CONTRARY TO LOCAL LAWS OR REGULATIONS.THE DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY PARTICULAR SECURITY OR TO ADOPT ANY SPECIFIC INVESTMENT STRATEGY. THE MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN BASED ON A CONSIDERATION OF ANY INDIVIDUAL CLIENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED IN ANY WAY AS TAX, ACCOUNTING, LEGAL OR REGULATORY ADVICE. TO THAT END, INVESTORS SHOULD SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ADVICE, INCLUDING ADVICE AS TO TAX CONSEQUENCES, BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. THE PROSPECTUS AND/OR SIMPLIFIED PROSPECTUS SHOULD BE READ BEFORE AN INVESTMENT IS MADE. THE INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES FOR EACH SUB-FUND ARE OUTLINED IN THE SUPPLEMENTS TO THE PROSPECTUS. ANY RESEARCH IN THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN AND MAY BE ACTED ON BY COMPANY X FOR ITS OWN PURPOSE. THE RESULTS OF SUCH RESEARCH ARE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE ONLY INCIDENTALLY. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED DO NOT CONSTITUTE INVESTMENT OR ANY OTHER ADVICE AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ANY COMPANY OF THE FUNZO GROUP OR ANY PART THEREOF AND NO ASSURANCES ARE MADE AS TO THEIR ACCURACY. THE INFORMATION ABOVE IS BASED ON INFORMATION AND DATA SUPPLIED BY THIRD PARTIES. WHILE SUCH INFORMATION AND DATA ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE, COMPANY X DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INACCURACY IN SUCH DATA. PRODUCTS, REPORTS, RATIOS AND RATINGS DO NOT CONTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO EVALUATE AND/OR COMPARE PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICE PROVIDERS. OPINIONS INCLUDED IN THIS MATERIAL CONSTITUTE THE JUDGMENT OF COMPANY X AT THE TIME SPECIFIED AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. COMPANY X IS NOT OBLIGED TO UPDATE OR ALTER THE INFORMATION OR OPINIONS CONTAINED

WITHIN THIS MATERIAL. INVESTORS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN

Remove bold e!ect...

Disclaimerbig company x for business & professional investors only and not to be used with the general publicthis financial promotion was issued and approved by company x, for distribution to institutional and professional clients only. This communication is only intended for and will be only distributed to persons resident in jurisdictions where such distribution or availability would not be contrary to local laws or regulations.The document has been prepared solely for information purposes and does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or to adopt any specific investment strategy. The material contained herein has not been based on a consideration of any individual client circumstances and is not investment advice, nor should it be construed in any way as tax, accounting, legal or regulatory advice. To that end, investors should seek independent legal and financial advice, including advice as to tax consequences, before making any investment decision. The prospectus and/or simplified prospectus should be read before an investment is made. The investment objectives and policies for each sub-fund are outlined in the supplements to the prospectus. Any research in this document has been undertaken and may be acted on by company x for its own purpose. The results of such research are been made available only incidentally. The views and opinions expressed do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change without notice. They do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of any company of the Funzo group or any part thereof and no assurances are made as to their accuracy. The information above is based on information and data supplied by third parties. While such information and data are believed to be accurate, company x does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data. Products, reports, ratios and ratings do not contain all of the information that is required in order to evaluate and/or compare products and/or service providers. Opinions included in this material constitute the judgment of company x at the time specified and may be subject to change without notice. Company x is

not obliged to update or alter the information or opinions contained within this material. Investors should consult their own

Remove all caps...

You couldn’t take us to court even if you wanted to.

Finally... simplify

Fonts SAY something

There is a reason that coke use a font like this...

And KPMG want to look like this...

Classic Antiques

A modern font might not suit an Antiques business...

Infotech

And this might look out of place for a tech company...

Karens Kiddie Creche

Even comic sans works in some scenarios...

Smiths Funeral Home

But not others.

Font SIZE

Not autocue

Design for the person at the back of the room... they are no less deserving of fully understanding your visuals.

Use the rightIMAGES

Visual Tip #3

Information alone

=10% Recall

Information & Image

=65% Recall

NO CLIPART

Just say no to this sort of thing...

NO LOW RES

NO LOW RES

Use something much more clean, crisp and high res

NO STOLEN STUFF

Watermarked photos not only look absurd in a presentation... but you are also using them illegally.

Our fantastic trip will bring you to the most scenic places on earth

Don't hide the image, let it speak for itself...

For triangles make it tri-co

Intro Tri

Co.

Tri Co.

Tri Co.

Our new product is called twitter We have designed the interface to look like this It’s great.

If you are showing o! your awesome website or software, don’t let it be crowded out. Make it full screen!

See... you didn’t need the other stu!.

610mm

Here are some slides I created for a recent client of mine. Don’t be afraid to let an image dominate the slide.

50 % Dying out over the last 20 years

34% Of Americans

are obese

Make it

REAL

Our Team

Don’t use stock photos when you have anopportunity to make it REAL.

Our Team

We all know this isn’t your team... so why use it?

Kelly Herbst

Digital

Marketing

InternLynne

O'DonnellCEO

Clare McEvoyUX Design

VinnieReynolds

CTOInstead get a high quality picture taken of you and your

team like in this example.

Step away from theANIMATIONS

Visual Tip #4

HOLY HEADACHES

BATMANMost of the older animations and transitions in

powerpoint resemble e!ects from the old Batman series... best to leave them alone...

And the new animations in PowerPoint and Keynote seem like something out of a Michael Bay movie...

outrageously over the top. Best to leave them alone too.

Use the RIGHT charts for your data

Visual Tip #4

Just keep itSIMPLE

A B C D E F

This (shockingly) is a default chart you can choose in Keynote. It is not only visually o!ensive...

A B C D E F

But it makes it very hard to read. Here’s a question, which is the bigger section in the chart B or F?

A B C D E F

To make things easier lets use simple colours rather than cheesy rock textures.

F

E

D

C

B

A

A B C D E F

Then remove the 3d e!ect which only serves to distort things. Add some labels, and now we have

a much easier task

0

25

50

75

100

A B C D E F

0

25

50

75

100

A B C D E FBut maybe we had the wrong chart all along! Pie charts

are actually quite poor in most situations.

0

25

50

75

100

A B C D E FAnd we could just highlight the sections in question...

Much easier to answer our question now!

A B C D E F

Especially compared to this piece of... work.

THE OTHER STUFF

REHEARSE

“If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem to wonderful at all”Michelangelo

“If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem to wonderful at all”Michelangelo

Steve Jobs only ever managed to look natural on stage by rehearsing a unnatural amount.

We’re talking days of rehearsal, not hours...

Real rehearsal isOUT LOUD

Rehearsal is not just sitting in front of your computer and clicking through the slides.

Do it out loud, and ideally in front of people.

JUST ASSUMESOMETHING WILL GO WRONG

Very, very wrong

What will you do if your computer won’t turn on? You need a back up plan (and a back up to the back up).

At the VERY LEAST have your presentation on a usb key (or two) that you could use in another computer.

Upload it online so you have access to it...

Paper-based Backup

You also have to factor in that the projector might be broken or the power might be out. Bring some notes to

guide yourself.

COVER THAT GLOWING

LOGO

This is really annoying

Chances are that your laptop will be facing the crowd, glowing logos like this are very annoying...

This is really annoying

Not only that, but unless you are an Apple employee you shouldn’t be doing free advertising anyway...

Why not use something like this

(Incipio

feather

case)

Get something like this case, or a sticker, to A) remove the glowing distraction and B) stop the free advertising

DON’T FORGET TO SHARE

My most viewed Slideshare

108,500+

That’s about 9,000 people more than here... if it weren’t for online sharing this many people would have never

otherwise seen my work!

THAT’S ALL

FOLKS

HAPPY PRESENTING

If you got value out of this presentation please do share it

AND / OR

CLICK HERE to get to my twitter page and send me a (preferably

nice) tweet or two.

Visit me @ www.clearpreso.com