Why aren’t presentations becoming generally better despite so much great thinking on how to fix them? Is it because many come together at the last minute?

Presentation Zen (which is awesome) got me thinking. What can you fix if you only have a few moments? Say you don’t have time to master the concepts in Garr’s book, you haven’t been reading presentations blogs, your company didn’t invest in training or coaching, and you’re on the spot. What then?

10-minute overhaul to improve any presentation:

Audience & Objective
Put your slides (or script/visuals/etc) away and get out a piece of paper. Imagine that you just gave the presentation. Now write down answers to:

1. Who was in the audience? What motivates them? (2 mins)
2. How did my presentation connect directly to their interests and motivations? (1 min)
3. What did I achieve? What is the audience going to repeat from my presentation? How will they answer “What did you just learn?” (1 min)

These answers determine your purpose. They show your “audience-specific objective.” Know who you’re talking to and how to connect their needs to your goals.

Get Darwinian
Back to your slides. Delete or hide any that do not support your audience-specific objective. (2 mins) (If you MUST, promise you will click swiftly through with little comment. If knowing it’s there makes you calmer, well, calmer is better.)

Reorder
Start and end the presentation with your big idea expressed as “what’s in it for them.” Tie it to your audience’s interests and motivations. At the end of the presentation, connect your big idea to what you want to achieve. Your presentation should start something. It should stimulate an active response from the audience. (2 mins)

Extra time? Arrange your entire deck to build up the case for your big idea. Illustrate with simple stories. Sort concepts and stories into coherent sections and use clear transitions between them. Find a sequence brings the audience to your conclusions.

Lightning Round
Race through your presentation using no more than one sentence to explain each slide. Take no more than five seconds per slide. State the point in just one short remark. If you can’t, kill the slide. If you can’t kill it, “maim” it until it has a point. (2 mins)

Extra time? Go through the presentation several times in “lightning round” mode, and do significant edits between rounds. Work in teams to collaborate on the best “main points” of the presentation.

Come see this in action. Join me on ooVoo (sign up at www.MyOovooDay.com/signup.php) at 4 PM on 2/12, 2/14, 2/19 or 2/21. We’ll experiment with the ooVoo videoconferencing software (download required) by discussing how to use this fire drill. The seminar is FREE and benefits the Frozen Pea Fund.

I use the word “slide” in this drill. Most formal presentations still use slideware. They DO NOT have to. If yours does not (YAY!), substitute “paragraph” “supporting point” “story” “example” to best suit your presentation.

Is this news? I’m terribly sorry not to know one way or the other, but I’ve been under a technology news rock.

At any rate, word’s been out for months that a presentations application for Google’s web-based version of the software FKA Office has been well, in the offing. Earlier in the summer, Gmail users noticed a Googlenative format option when opening .ppt attachments.

@Zemote just echoed @jabancroft on Twitter, pointing out that Google Presentations is now live.

Check out Google Presentations, here. UPDATE: Here’s the story on Google’s blog.

(And PLEASE remember, it’s not what the software does, it’s what the user does!)

Need better body language fast? Walk, smile and care.

Mastering presentation body language gets confusing fast. It takes time learn effective body language and eliminate “wrong” messages. Overused body language “tricks” ring false and irritate your audience. So here are three simple ways to dramatically improve your body language – fast.

Walk…
Take a hike! Practice relaxing your walk. Head up, shoulders back and relaxed, breathing deeply and walking with confidence and purpose. Try to lead with your sternum or collarbones. Practice by simply going for walks. Occasionally “scan” your body for relaxation, paying attention to how you feel and where you hold tension.

Smile…
Even if you’re not feeling it, put a genuine smile on your face. You will relax and engage your audience better. With a real smile – not a forced one – a lot of other better body language will follow.

Care…
You’re talking to someone, a lot like you would if you were simply sitting together. They matter to you. A lot. Show them you care about the experience they are having. Look at them, talk to them. Using the right gestures and posture can be effective, but avoid “tricks.” If you wouldn’t do it in conversation, you probably shouldn’t while presenting.

Walk. Smile. Care. Got it? Great. Have a nice day.

UPDATE: What are your favorite tips for better body language? Tell us in the comments!

In recognition of Movie Misquotes week on the twitter.com/twitterflix game, some thoughts on getting quotes… Wrong.

It’s a small point, but it matters. Quotes are fun in presentations. They can add a lot. But when they’re wrong — especially famously wrong — they can be just one less thing to believe about you.

Take a moment to check your quotes and get them right. Don’t just go with the first search result. Can you find 1 or 2 good references that agree? This handy page of famous misquotations at Wikipedia is a good start. Some that surprised me:

“Let them eat cake.” — Marie Antoinette (The original quote comes from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions)

“Elementary, my dear Watson.” — Sherlock Holmes The complete phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” does not appear in any of the 60 Holmes stories written by Doyle.

“Billions and billions.” — Carl Sagan Johnny Carson coined this while parodying Sagan. (Who had enough of a sense of humor to say it jokingly in class.)

“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — Lord Acton It’s actually “PowerPoint tends to corrupt, and absolute PowerPoint corrupts absolutely” (ok, we jest)

Even the much revered Twainism “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt” doesn’t actually appear in his books. It also gets attributed to everyone from Einstein to Lincoln. Twain’s Puddinhead has a paragraph or so that amounts to the same thing, but not the sweet, pithy turn of phrase that’s come down to us.

Like any “rule,” break this one when you need to. Wrong quotes aren’t nearly as annoying as the urban legends clogging up your inbox. They may even have more impact than the correct words. But you might want to use them with a wink and a “did ya know they never said that?” to increase your credibility…

These are some really good presentation tips from Doug Lawrence at Guy Kawasaki’s blog. Really good. If you adopt and use any of them, sweet.

But…

Don’t knock yourself out trying to do it all at once. Don’t get lost in the cool tricks. John’s right about too much noise hindering your game. Every one of us can make giant improvements by sticking to the basics. Know your audience, know what you need to achieve, build a message that works with (and for) both.

I tell clients “ums” are no big deal. Get hung up on eliminating them and the first one you utter can blow your game. Same goes for any rule.

I’m not dissing the advice. I especially like the one about ‘performing’ for a hero, because damn straight, you will prepare like you never have before. My point is never get too lost in “the rules” (yes, even mine) to present like the star you are.

No matter how much strategic duct tape, smile-lubricating tooth vaseline or, gasp, (if Miss Confidentiality is to be believed) eye wrinkle removing hemorrhoid ointment is put to use, a person lacking personality, character, talent or beauty won’t win a pageant. Tips and tricks can help, but don’t let them distract and annoy, and NEVER rely on them to make a lame presentation better.

Ever Zen, Garr gives us When there is no quiet, there can be no loud

When I talk about the 3 Vs, (accurately) it’s about using each “V” (Visual, Vocal and Verbal) well. Your voice has 4 basic qualities: pitch, volume, tone and speed. Shift each to emphasize important points and maintain attention.

Most of the time, you default to one comfortable place on each of these four scales. For impact, shift each characteristic to a different level, kind of how you would adjust a graphic equalizer. Are you high pitched? Swing low. Loud? Go soft. Excited? Spring your “ah-ha” point with flat calm. Fast? Slow it down when they really have to listen.

For rapt attention:
Pitch: Drop to much lower voice
Volume: Pull it back to a stage whisper
Speed: Slow way down
Tone: Judicious use of a “sad” tone of voice pulls focus in the midst of excitement
Or, just shut up completely. Count to at least 5 in your head.

On some level, your audience wants to “succeed” at listening to you. Human nature responds to vocal shifts by thinking “why?” Shifts signal change and trigger interest in following along. Dead silence is brilliant. Few can resist wondering “what did I miss?” and looking up. (And you felt compelled to say ummm instead of silence!)

Shifts are the “italics, boldface or underline” of your speaking voice. These tools organize writing as headings, emphasis, etc. Vocal shifts help organize your presentation. Oh, and just like highlighting, overuse renders them meaningless.

PPT Angst — The Beat Goes On, in a new direction. Jeff Nolan’s refreshing post adds clearer thinking to the “Ditch PowerPoint” meme. Let’s change how we’re using PowerPoint, and let’s make it easier (sourcing good design) to do so.

Everyone knows a company (or person) that swallowed the kool-aid and relies “too much” on PowerPoint. But is “too much” the problem?

In any given PPT rant, substitute the word “outline” for the word “PowerPoint” (that’s what most PPT abusers are doing anyways) and the problem becomes relying too much on outlines.

Presenting a new idea? Outlines keep you organized, but don’t belong in your visual aids. Summarizing a project for management? A written report/executive summary outline is great in addition to your presentation (you gotta keep ‘em separated). If an outline is NOT the best tool to use, don’t make your PowerPoint into one.

Pretend the projector breaks. Would you post that entire bulleted outline and heavy text onto a whiteboard, flip chart or blackboard? Or, would you draw a few diagrams and key illustrations, particularly the ones that spontaneously arose during the conversation? (Because you DO promote conversation when you’re presenting, RIGHT?)

For any given Pistachio client, it’s not (necessarily) how much PowerPoint is used, it’s how it’s used.

UPDATE: My favorite post (Stephen Colbert) about how bullets CAN work and, this brilliance from Hugh

Great post and video on hacks to help you upgrade your memory. I’m no fan of memorizing, but fluid access to what’s in your brain is a critical presenting and speaking tool. Fluent recall also bolsters confidence, which is probably the single biggest “opportunity for improvement” going. If your memory needs work, give these hacks a try.

Attention (non-stealth) startups! Go check out Vator.TV (”the YouTube for entrepreneurs”) and then start working on a pitch for it. Is the Angel you dream of going to find you this way and end all your money problems? Yeah, right. But even if nobody ever *found* you there, this is a great chance to nail your pitch.

1. Keep it short and rock their interest (read yesterday’s post and especially the Update #2 link!).

2. Once your pitch is up, send links to interested people for some quick 411 on your deal.

3. Take a good look at what is already on the site, especially in your “space,” to get tight on what works and what does not.

4. Tag your post well so it gets FOUND.

5. Do NOT let your post go stale. When your pitch gets better, re-post, and continue to improve.

BONUS: Send advisors, investors, mom, etc. the link to your pitch and ask them for feedback!

Tip o’ the pitch podium to Tony Hung of DJI

While you have their attention, get to the point. The “ah-ha” moment. Connect them with what you’re doing and why it matters, preferably on an emotional or visceral level.The winner of a May Entrepreneur Idol pitching contest at Stanford swats it out of the park:

Linus Liang, 25, a first-year graduate student in computer science, held up a diapered baby doll. “What if I could tell you how you can save 4 million babies a year?” he asked.

Liang’s idea is to create “a low-cost incubator that could help infants in developing countries.” But put that way, how much of your attention does it grab? How motivated are you to learn more? Is that easy to grasp and file away in your memory? Do you already have opinions and emotional buy-in around low-cost incubators in developing countries, or do they just sound like they would probably be a good thing?

What about saving babies? Better yet, millions of them.

That answers “what’s in it for me” and gets right to the benefits, it connects something we know nothing about (low cost incubators) to something we value highly (saving babies), it contains an easily understood problem statement (babies are dying), and it’s all supported by a clear visual aid, the baby doll.

I saw a startup pitch a technology to “fine tune” chemotherapy — and minimize its harmful side effects — a couple of years ago. Their grabber? A young mother who beat Breast Cancer only to die because chemo destroyed her heart. That entrepreneur didn’t have to waste pitching minutes convincing us that chemo needs to be fine-tuned.

The “Rule of Thumb” (ROT) goes: you get a 30 second “free ride” of audience attention. How are you using it?

UPDATE: You really can help save babies today, please support the March of Dimes be a hero for babies…

UPDATE 2: The Google Reader Oracle coughed up this gem on pitching, via Seth Levine’s VC Adventure blog.