Draw me a picture (at SXSW)


Not able to attend SXSW (the South by SouthWest conference), I have to live vicariously through the tweets, blog posts, slideshares, and other conference notes from attendees who happen to be among my social media contacts.

So, this set of hand-drawn notes by ad agency Ogilvy appeals to me on several angles.

First, it’s visual. Colorful. Image-based, more than text-based content.

Second, it’s good for business. Clever that this agency differentiated itself from others, the illustrations open potential business opportunities for Ogilvy, simply because presenters and followers who request a free 11×17″ print might linger, browse, and perhaps do business with Ogilvy.

Third, it’s cleverly different. Unlike the presentations posted on other sites, notes posted on blogs, and photos and tweets, this visualization of the content got my attention.

Prepare to be visually fascinated!
See http://ogilvynotes.com/

Tips for Photographing a Conference


captured-geewhizkidSchwarzenfeld Photography guest-posted a great entry at Digital Photography School’s site on tips for shooting conferences.

Tips include knowing the agenda, changing your point of view, and taking the must-have shots.

I happen to agree with many of the points, and engaged in some conversation regarding the topic.
Read the entry at DPS.

The power of sticky notes


stickiesWhen a  team asks me to join in a brainstorming session, and the first thing I see is someone with a notepad trying to capture all their thoughts, I always find a way to have them change to sticky notes and a large wall space. Why?
Continue reading

Team huddle shakes up boring meetings


How are your team meetings?

  • Do they drag on endlessly while your staff watch the clock, aware that work isn’t getting done?
  • Does the staff leave the meetings no closer to producing results than when they came into the meeting?
  • Does the staff leave the meeting unsure of team priorities and “TOP 3” targets for the day or for the week?
  • Does the meeting leave the team’s morale downward at the meeting?

If your team meetings need a kick in the seat of the pants, try something radical, like a structured team huddle. Watch the video of a team huddle and find the six key parts of the huddle.

PowerPoint Comedy of Errors


UPDATE 2010: Don McMillan updated his comedy bit for 2010! (first posted in 2007…)

How many errors can you find in this PowerPoint show? Making the rounds on video sites is Don McMillan’s clever presentation, Life after Death by Powerpoint.
Did you spot the

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The art of the focal point


“Every good design needs a focal point.” Garr Reynolds begins in this meaty blog post.

Explaining “Tokonoma,” Garr moves from the Japanese architectural and cultural explanation, into the realm of practical application in—of all things—presentations. He takes the real-life, explains the concepts, and turns them back into the real life.

Brilliantly depicting before and after examples of presentation images, Garr shows examples that my most-practical and literal-minded followers can swallow.

I encourge you to apply the principles if you do any of the following:

  • create presentations and training visuals
  • design living spaces or workspaces
  • create visual communications (even the most-basic e-mail!)
  • Read his post on presentationzen.com.

Share. Play nicely!


geewhiz was taught to play nicely.

geewhiz was taught to play nicely.

Do you facilitate training or brainstorming meetings? Read the ten groundrules for participants, and see how the simple geewhizkid brain translated them into three rules for preschoolers.
(simplified on vspblog.com)

Rethinking the Presentation


Business Week’s article “Rethinking the Presentation”supports the presentation principles that I’ve covered in past sermons blog entries. In summary, the article reinforces the mantra: avoid bullet points, cut the noise, picture superiority, and other facets of the new design methodology.

As a team member on a redesign of our new employee orientation presentations, we featured many of these techniques, starting with Continue reading

The Power of Visual Presentations


Coincidentally following my recent post about the poor use of presentation software, I was delighted by the visual style and delivery of our new CEO and his team of presenters at our recent corporate -wide staff meeting.

Gone were the typical bullet points, pie charts and bar charts of regional sales, and overused company-logo-based background themes. Instead, our eyes were treated to high-quality visual images that supported the messages, in non-traditional asymmetric page layouts that intentionally bled images off the edge.

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In conclusion, let me read this slide to you


Originally posted in flickr by Zach Graham, his photo of a presentation slide symbolizes what not to do with presentation slide software. I can only imagine the painful looks on the faces of the audience. The presenter’s use of a microphone indicates either a large room or a large crowd. Imagine how far back you sat, trying to squint at the slides. Continue reading

5 ways to reduce PowerPoint overload


Bored by 50-slide presentations that drone on, bullet by bullet, slide by slide? Having a hard time keeping audience interest in your point. Then start practicing these five research-based techniques for reducing PowerPoint overload: Continue reading

Presenting to Persuade – top five strategies of pros


When presenting information to persuade, how many of the 14 core practices used by persuasive speakers do you use? As blogged in FastCompany:

"Josh Gordon, author, has identified 14 core practices used by persuasive speakers in conference and meeting settings. Additional research shows that the top five practices are used by only half of business leaders surveyed.

The top five persuasive strategies:

  • Sharing facts: 73.5%
  • Offering a solution: 62.1%
  • Sharing a new idea: 52.8%
  • Telling a story: 51.6%
  • Changing a perception: 50.9%

The remaining practices include humor, creating excitement, audience involvement, building trust, inspiration, building a financial case, creating an emotional appeal, getting competitive, and overcoming hostility."

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