Your Presentations Stink! Part Two: Bar Charts.

This series is an offshoot from my nationwide corporate workshop on “You Will Own The Room”.  If you want to see part one where I explain the who, what, where, when, why, and how, click here.

So . . . bar charts. We all use them. They are so simple and yet we go out of our way to make them complex and hard to read. Again, it's not your fault — MS Powerpoint and Mac Keynote offer up so many features, you are lured into the world of 3D, colors, shapes and sizes!

I'm here to bring you forward — to easy to understand, easy to design, and effective bar charts.

Let's step back for a second and review why we use bar charts:

• They take a boring list of numbers and make them live on the page.
• They allow you to make additional insights into the data which would be difficult with a list of numbers.
• They are powerful. And they can be easily skewed by modifying the values, timescale, or other measures.

What's a good, simple and easy to understand bar chart? Here's one:

Why is this bar chart better? I'm going to hit many of the same points for your presentations:

• You are not inundated with a barrage of colors.
• You don’t need a legend.
• The data labels and percentages are placed right onto the bar chart.
• Why use colors? You don’t really need them.
• The best part? This slide can easily be printed — and the viewer can also take notes on it.
• I also added internal 'tick marks' to each bar to easily allow you to count the block and quickly estimate the value. So there are three ways to get the value from each bar.

Next up . . . Slide Design & Backgrounds!

Your Presentations Stink! Part One: Pie Charts.

This series is an offshoot from my nationwide corporate workshop on "You Will Own The Room".  Powerpoint (PC) and Keynote (Mac) force the average user to use many of their various tools to supposedly make their presentations 'better'. Unfortunately, they make them more colorful, complex, and hard to understand. Mix in the barrage of bad slides and presentations out there — and you get a real mess on your hands.

More colorful, more complex, and more stuff do not make a great presentation. Actually, just the opposite.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to present various elements I frequently run into when working with C-Level executives and their support staffs.

First up . . . Pie Charts. You know how bad they look.

Now let's take a look at a MY slide:

Okay . . . it's not as colorful. And it's not 3D. But it presents a number of elements that make the information clearer and easier to find:

• You are not inundated with a barrage of colors and shapes. It's simple and allows you to SEE the information quickly.
• You don't need the proverbial info bars at the top and bottom of the slide (I will go into this in successive posts - just trust me for now).
• You don't need a legend — legends force you to search for the information and turn it into a 'treasure hunt'.
• The data labels and percentages are placed right onto the pie chart — no searching.
• Why use colors? You don't really need them. Yes, they look nice - but they muddle the message.
• 3D? This isn't Star Wars — the more simple the image, the easier it is to absorb the information.
• The best part? This slide can easily be printed — and the viewer can also take notes on it.

Now you might say "I like the colorful slide". And that's fine. But here's a little test I want you to take:

Look at both slides and see how hard it is to compare the total percentages between North America and the lowest five areas on the pie chart. You'll find yourself easily adding up the red numbers on my slide AND visually aggregating the slices. On the blue slide you'll be zipping back and forth between the legend and the image to make your calculations.

Just imagine what your audience is thinking. Are they bedazzled by the colors or absorbing your information?

Next up . . . Bar Charts!

How To Be A Great Audience.

I do a LOT of presentations, workshops, keynotes, and informal speeches (usually colleagues and friends ask me to stand up and give the audience a few words of wisdom). I also attend a lot of presentations, sales calls, workshops, etc. And it's funny — lately many presenters have been commenting after the presentation (and some during!), that I was a powerful energizer and helped them with their presentation.

I thought I was just sitting there and listening. I was wrong.

I've been taking notes and have found I exhibit a number of basic behaviors that make me a 'great' audience member. Here they are:

1. I smile.

So simple, yet EVERYONE forgets to do this. Some people smile, some have blank stares and some (and I don't think they realize this) they are frowning, smirking, or looking pretty angry. You're going to hear me talk a lot about energy transferral — and smiling is a simple and easy one to do. So if you remember, try to smile when they are speaking — not an insane, serial killer smile, just a sincere smile.

2. I nod my head.

When the presenter makes a point, I instinctively move my head and agree with them. Sometimes I do it unconciously, sometimes purposefully. In any case, it transfers energy to the speaker and gives them a temperature check of their speaking level.

3. I heartedly applaud at the beginning and the end.

It's hard for some people to stand up and immediately feel comfortable about speaking. A rousing round of applause with their name yelled out gets their blood pumping and immediately engaged. At the end, I'm one of the first slapping my hands together and standing — and getting the rest of the audience up and clapping. It's just the right thing to do.

4. I laugh at their humor.

I range from a small guffaw to a hearty laugh — let it out! When a presenter has a good sense of humor and uses it — the time flies, you enjoy the presentation, and you actually absorb what they're saying. Don't be a sour-puss — no one will like you (trust me on this).

5. I am engaged.

I listen to 'what' they are saying and not what my next appointment might be. I am present and actively engaged with the speaker, audience and topic. Live in the present and you will have a wonderful past and an exciting future.

6. I approach the presenter.

I always arrive early (it's a pleasant defect in my personality, so sue me) — so I always ask if I can help them set up. In addition, I always get the best seat in the house — not only to view the presentation — but the 'power' seat to speak if needed.

After the presentation, I always thank the presenter, mention 1-2 tips they touched upon, and give them positive feedback. Most people don't do this and sometimes the presenter doesn't get a good temp check on how they did.

And here's the PAYOFF . . .

Now step back and think — how can 'being a great audience' help your career or business? What happens if your boss was presenting? Or a valuable client? Or someone on your team? How would this help you? A lot.

I'm not saying to be disingenuous and fake about your emotions to the presenter — but I am stating that you need to let your body language and energy flow to the presenter and audience. If you are just yourself and let your emotions flow, you'll find yourself enjoying other people's presentations more, learning, and having more fun. It's infectious.

And guess what — they will do it for you to when you're presenting!