After sitting through literally thousands of terrible presentations all across the country, Andy Goodman concluded that Einstein was right – time can slow down. He claims to have been in rooms where he thinks time stopped entirely.
Goodman decided to do something about it and set out with his team to conduct research about what makes a presentation good…or not. They interviewed 2,501 public interest professionals across North America about why they wanted from presentations. They also asked most-often-named “good” presenters for their advice. The result was a book called, “Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes”. This week Goodman presented an entertaining and extremely useful webinar of the same name to share some of the highlights (if you missed out, you can always hear a recorded version of this webinar here).
The Fatal 5
Goodman asked interviewees what drove them crazy about bad presentations. He heard these 5 things most often mentioned:
- Presenter reading the slides verbatim to the audience
- Presenter goes too long and provides too much information
- Lack of interaction
- A lifeless presenter
- Room and tech problems
The average grade interviewees would give to presentations they’d seen in the past 6 months? A C-minus.
So…what do people want out of your presentation? Goodman heard the following:
- Interaction (audience participation)
- Clarity
- Enthusiasm
Goodman then continued with tips on how to build a better presentation including a basic paradigm shift in approaching presentation design, an outline for incorporating a powerful beginning, audience interaction, effective Q&A and a solid conclusion. He also provided tips on using PowerPoint presentations and handouts effectively as well as resources for designing better PowerPoints. If you happen to have an important presentation coming up in the coming weeks or months, this webinar is a must-listen!
To access the webinar, click here ($99 for the recording or FREE for CMF Members). Up next week is a FREE webinar, Take Your Retail or Consumer Products Cause Promotion to New Heights sponsored by MSLGROUP. Join us!
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