So you have a presentation coming up and it's time to prepare slides. Are you going to "kill it" (i.e., the presentation) or "kill them" (your audience)?
We've all been a victim of bad Powerpoint presentations. Some of us have been guilty of creating them. Technology makes it easy to go a little crazy with our slides and too often, we do.
Seth Godin's popular post, "Really Bad Powerpoint," provides five "rules" for creating better Powerpoint presentations:
- No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
- No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images.
- No dissolves, spins or other transitions.
- Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.
- Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.
My biggest challenge has been with the first rule. Especially when this is combined with another rule (I don't recall where I heard it) of using no more than 12 slides in any presentation.
But I get the point: use slides to support your presentation, not duplicate it. Keep the audience focused on you, not your slides.
Which leads me to my suggestion for creating a better presentation: don't use ANY slides.
If you want to keep the audience focused on you and what you are saying, why give them anything else to look at? There will always be exceptions but for most presentations, slides aren't necessary.
Years ago, I was giving a presentation and the bulb burned out on the projector. We didn't have a replacement and I had to finish the presentation without slides. It threw me at first (and that got me some sympathy applause) but fortunately, I knew the material and everything turned out fine.
I know we tend to use slides as prompts or cue cards, to keep the presentation moving forward and so that we don't forget anything. Godin suggests using hand-held cue cards instead of putting the information on screen. If you know your material well enough, you shouldn't have to do either.
I do a lot of speaking, both with and without slides, and I believe I am most effective when I go "commando". I like the challenge of holding the audience's attention. I like being spontaneous and interjecting new ideas that arrive from my subconscious. Sometimes I forget things, but the audience doesn't know. In fact, leaving things out can actually make for a better (and shorter) presentation.
Do you use slides in your presentations? Are you killing the presentation or killing your audience?
Filed under Presentations, Public Speaking by 
Most lawyers go from case to case, client to client, never stopping to use the successful outcomes they create as marketing leverage for bringing in more clients. That's because they're thinking like a lawyer, not a rainmaker.
Instead of rushing from one case to the next, take a few minutes to think about how you can use the successful outcome (verdict, settlement, closing the deal, estate plan, etc.) to get the story told to the people who can bring you more business.
Here are five ways you could do that.
- Your client. The best time to talk to clients about referrals is right after a successful outcome. When you hand them a check, sign papers, or otherwise bring things to a climax, it's prime time to ask for referrals, for a testimonial, or for other help.
Ask consumer clients to refer you to their friends and family or to other professionals they know. Ask your business clients to introduce you to their vendors or distributors, to write about the case in their newsletter or blog, or submit an article to their local paper. (You can write the article for them).
The favor you ask your client doesn't have to be related to their case. They're happy and willing to help, so ask them to distribute your new report, "like" your new blog post, or invite their friends to your upcoming seminar. And ask them to ask their friends to do the same.
- Your other clients and prospects. Write about your successful outcome in your blog and newsletter. Post it on your web site. Do a little bragging on social media channels. Take advantage of the win to let others see you doing what you do, helping others "just like them" achieve the same benefits they seek.
- Other parties/witnesses. Send a quick note to the other parties and/or their counsel, thanking them for their professionalism. Send a thank you note to experts and other witnesses, for a job well done. It's not uncommon to see the losing side hiring the winning attorney or sending referrals or opposing counsel referring clients when they have a conflict. By the way, do the same thing when you lose a case or settle for less than hoped.
- Your colleagues. Tell other lawyers you know about your case. Send a letter, speak about it at Bar functions, write an article, point them to your blog post. Tell the story and share the legal nuances, give them tips about the judge or arbitrator or experts. Help them do better on their next case and they will appreciate you, reciprocate with good information on their next case, and send business your way when they have a conflict.
- The media. Find something newsworthy or otherwise interesting about the case, your clients or their company and issue a press release or write an article for publication in their trade journal or home town paper. The media are starved for good stories; don't assume there's no news value to preparing a living trust for your blue collar client. In the hands of a good writer, there's always a story to be told.
Leverage means getting more results from the same effort. From now on, leverage your successful outcomes to get more publicity, more speaking engagements, more traffic to your web site, and more new clients.
The top people in any industry, whether sports or business or the arts, have coaches. Attorneys should, too.
A coach can provide training and mentoring and yes, some hand holding, but perhaps the most valuable service they offer their clients is providing a mechanism for accountability.
My coach taught me that accountability is one of the most powerful forces in motivating human behavior. I know when I have to report my progress to him at the end of the week, I get the work done. Without that accountability, it's too easy to delay and defer. I don't know why I listen to my excuses, but I do. I'll bet you do, too.
If you want to get more done, especially in the area of marketing your legal services, you should consider hiring a coach. Actually, you should hire me.
As an attorney, I built a successful practice by implementing marketing strategies and techniques that I learned through a lot of trial and error and a lot of study. As a marketing consultant, I've helped hundreds of attorneys with different backgrounds and practice areas in all phases of marketing and business development.
When we work together, you'll be able to:
- Get more repeat business and referrals
- Determine the best markets for you to target
- Get better clients and bigger engagements
- Develop a web site or blog that builds your brand and brings in new business
- Create compelling content for your web site or newsletter or for a speech or seminar
- Build targeted lists of prospective clients and referral sources
- Use social media to drive traffic to your web site
- Create marketing documents that make your phone ring
- Increase your gross income and your net income
- Earn more while working fewer hours
- Create a marketing plan that works for you, your practice, and your market
If you are on my newsletter list, you will be notified when the next group coaching program is open.
If you're interested in one-on-one coaching, please call me at (949) 888-2800 or use this contact form.
I can also provide referrals to experts in other fields. Please contact me if you're interested in any of the following:
- Copy writing (web, brochures, sales letters, landing pages, radio/TV)
- Media buying
- Email campaigns
- Print ads
- Web site (and blog) development
- SEO
- PPC
- Videos (scripting, shooting, editing, publishing)
- Social media campaigns
- List rental
- Web site metrics
If you want to be at the top of your profession, surround yourself with experts who can help you achieve more than you can achieve on your own. Hire someone to help you determine your most important goals, equip you with the tools and resources for achieving those goals, and hold you accountable to the monthly plans and daily activities that will help you accomplish them.
In "Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story," author Jerry Weissman talks about the importance of capturing your audience's attention at the beginning of a presentation. He warns about launching into your presentation "at full speed" because you would mentally bypass your audience and they would have a hard time catching up.
He suggests seven different "opening gambits" or short statements designed to simultaneously grab the attention of your audience and help launch into your presentation, "in a comfortable, conversational manner." [p 83]
The seven Opening Gambits
- QUESTION. A question directed at members of the audience.
- FACTOID. A striking statistic or little-known fact.
- RETROSPECTIVE/PROSPECTIVE. A look backward or forward.
- ANECDOTE. A short human interest story.
- QUOTATION. An endorsement about your business from a respected source.
- APHORISM. A familiar saying.
- ANALOGY. A comparison between two seemingly unrelated items that helps to illuminate a complex, arcane, or obscure topic.
Weissman says that you can combine two or three of these options to create your opening gambit.
He also says that your opening should be linked to what he calls your "Point B" or your "call to action" (what you want the listeners to know or do) as a result of your talk. By foreshadowing your "Point B," you make it more likely that your audience will recognize and act on it when you get to it.
For example, your opening might say, "When you. . . I know you'll want to. . ." as a way of alerting the audience to what is expected of them. They will then listen to your "proof" in the context of those expectations.
I used this book recently to prepare a presentation. It's excellent, equally strong on content and visuals. It is useful for any kind of presentation, whether for marketing purposes, in the courtroom or boardroom.
Filed under Book review, Public Speaking by
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