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Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle has an ageless recipe for great content that rocks. One that is proven to work time and time again, across the centuries.
Do you want to know what it is?
Courtesy of Putting People First
Shrink that proposal. Shorten that memo. Simplify that presentation.
Do it in four pages (or less). Better yet if you can tell me what decision you need in 30 seconds flat. Starting from now…
Can you get your audiences to be this attentive?
Having attended my fair share of conferences over the years, I noticed a couple of things.
1) Speakers often share too much about themselves and their companies.
Seth Godin, the master of all things marketing, shares some valuable lessons on how to make an impression with your powerpoints. I am definitely guilty of some of the worst trangressions (like bullet points) but I suppose some of these old habits die hard.
In particular, I like his 5 point list below:
More of Seth Godin’s post here.
Other than Seth, the other masters of the art of presenting are Steve Jobs (whose product launches are always spectacularly choreographed), Guy Kawasaki, Lawrence Lessig and of course the guru of all gurus Tom Peters. Most of the time, these masters do not have elaborate 20 point slides (Seth says bullets are for the NRA) with complicated charts and graphs. Simplicity, it seems, is the key to powerpoint success.
The best reference on how to create presentations that sizzle AND sell is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Simply the best online reference on this subject matter. And its all free.