Are You In A Data-Driven, Presentation-Making Company?

Today I'm doing a workshop for a new group of managers who want to bump up their "presentation" capabilities.

Here's the thing. The company characterizes itself as "data-driven" with most of the data exchanged through stand-up presentations.

This isn't a unique situation. The easy part is actually helping the participants become more effective at telling their stories, understanding their audiences, and knowing when and how to use effective graphics.

The harder part is helping managers to understand the best situations in which to use presentations. That's especially true when the culture has established a way of doing things. Presentations are just one way of communicating...and they aren't necessarily the most effective way in many situations.

So I think some additional help is needed and I'd welcome your participation.

Will You Help? Here's How...

Below are some questions. I'll take your responses and share them with the group as well as the sponsoring executive. I think it could prove helpful to share experience other than my own, especially from people who are living this every day.

You don't need to mention your organization's name, but do share your job title and department (Marketing, IT, HR, Finance...)

I'll collect the responses from the comments box now through Thursday at 7 a.m. And, I'll let you know in a post exactly how you impacted the managers.

These should get at the right kind of information:

1. In what kind of industry do you work?
2. How large is the organization and is it global?
3. How would you describe the use of presentations in your organization?
4. What makes that approach effective/ineffective
5. As one who makes presentations and/or listens to them, what advice would  you offer to improve their effectiveness and frequency?

I'm really looking forward to your responses!

Click on your preferred subscription area at the top of the sidebar on the left. You'll always get the newest post!

Comments

[AJW]

Hi Steve,
1. Materials and Measurement Instrument Testing
2. 280 facilities in twenty six countries
3. Mostly limited to Top Management across borders and subs.
4. Presentations are usually downloaded by all individuals before the meeting so everyone is not just reading the information for the first time. This allows for concetration on the presenters message. This is only effective for strategic or rapporting type of presentations.
5. As little tekst and information per "slide" as possible. Some people have a hard time sticking to a single subject and coming to closure before moving on to next subject. Focus (with conclusions drawn) is key for the type of presentations I see every day.

[Steve Roesler]

AJW,

Hey, thanks for the synopsis. Am on lunch break right now and your points 4 and 5 will go a long way with the group. Have been working already on #5. The way that you send the presentation material out in advance (assuming everyone at least gets familiar with it) is worth its weight in gold. I've discussed that previously as an option; however, because no one has personally "seen it done," it's not a "real" option.

You may have now made it a good option.

Will let you know the results, AJW.

[John Saremba]

Excellent questions!
1. In what kind of industry do you work?
In both the academic world (teaching part-time at a college) and business world (as a training and technology consultant).

2. How large is the organization and is it global?
The college has 600 instructors, while I own and operate my company of one.

3. How would you describe the use of presentations in your organization?
Variety of uses: to assist in delivering adult education courses; to support training workshops; and to support presentations.

4. What makes that approach effective/ineffective?
I have spent considerable time looking into the effectiveness of training sessions and presentation sessions and developing a better approach to using PowerPoint and handouts. I have found that as a tool multimedia/presentation software can be very useful if used properly. Unfortunately, most people using PowerPoint use it as an electric teleprompter and as a presenter-focused device, it fails to engage people in the presentation. Part of the problem is that people have been shown or learned how to use the software, but not how to creative active learning or engagement in the presentation or training session. The best approach is to develop any visual aids to be just that aids to support your message not become the center of the message. Moreover, the design of handouts do not promote learning and retention of information. I have gone to a worksheet approach in which people have to reflect on the material being presented. My mantras include: "Lecturing isn't learning" and "Hands on activities, Minds on learning".

5. As one who makes presentations and/or listens to them, what advice would you offer to improve their effectiveness and frequency?
Very good question. Several keys: no matter what you do, ensure that your presentation is participant-centered; use visual aids to enhance memory and understanding in combination with business narrative; content is only useful if people can reflect and analyze it, which means don't read off PowerPoint text-laden slides, but rather use dynamic visuals with headlines to create memorable thoughts in the minds of the audience. It is amazing the difference when engaging, educating, and inspiring participants rather than reading PowerPoint slides to them.

[Steve Roesler]

Wow, John, what a complete and helpful response (experience is a heck of a teacher, eh?!).

We're of like mind on this for sure, John. Regardless of the platform--I use Keynote for my own presentation graphics but most clients use Powerpoint--it's how one views the role of the presenter vs. the role of the platform.

Over the years, Powerpoint has become the driver, rather than the message. In our workshops, we spend huge chunks of time to change the thinking and have people use an approach to construct their message and THEN go back and see what would best support it.

I'm no longer inclined to get into the argument about Powerpoint being the devil incarnate. It's a matter of how to use it effectively.

Thanks for taking the time to be so thorough. With your permission, I'm going to include your response verbatim as part of a handout (with attribution) at our next workshop.

All the best!