Powerpoint woes...

I admit it, I am a communications geek. I love seeing artful communicators bring stories to life, grab an audience, and change the world.

Compare business communications with ‘consumer’ communications, and you’ll see a gap like the grand canyon…  but every once in a while you see a presenter that bridges that gap, and gives a business orientated presentation that you would probably enjoy even if you didn’t have to see it.

My two favourite examples? Funny you should ask!… read on dear reader..

First up…. Dick Hardt talks about Identity in the Web 2.0 world, and his company ‘Sxip’.

Dick attributes inspiration for his presentation style to Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law professor, and copyright expert. If you want to see what the best in stylish, information rich, story laden presentations look like… take a look at this 2002 presentation from OSCON, regarding ‘free culture’

http://www.lessig.org/freeculture/free.html

I love these presentations!

• Micro-slides – 1 concept / photograph / word
• Fast delivery – Lessig has somewhere in the region of 243 slides in his 30 minute presentation – breaking every rule in the standard presenters rule book
• Story – It’s personal, it’s a view, it has humour, it is given by a human not a corporation
• Style – Both presentations have a consistent graphic style, Lessig’s verges on iconic!
• THEY ARE DIFFERENT! – both presentations are unexpected, different, novel, attention grabbing!

Now, maybe this style isn’t for you, maybe you are a relaxed Steve Jobs kinda’ presenter… maybe a story teller that uses just 1 slide, or none at all. Or maybe you have a few presentations hidden inside that use a style all of your own. It doesn’t matter… This is what you have to measure yourself against, and what matters is that you enliven your corporate communications with something different, something that is you, and something that wakes your audience from it’s Powerpoint induced auto-slumber.

Communication can engage, or disengage an audience, and it can make or break your project.

I’d love to hear about your favourite presentations! drop me a line or leave a comment, and I’ll start a gallery of the best in business presentations.

PS: Powerpoint is 20 years old this week… are we getting better or worse at using it?

— Jason Bates

Tags:  presentation, Lessig, project+management, project+leadership