persuading with powerpoint
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The seven habits of highly effective PowerPoint presentationsTRANSCRIPT
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Persuading with PowerPoint
A workshop for the Haas School of Business by Seth Familian :: May 6, 2008
The seven habits of highly effective
PowerPoint presentations
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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Presentations
[ 1 ] Start with a structured story
[ 2 ] Standardize your design language
[ 3 ] Standardize your written language
[ 4 ] Animate to narrate, not exaggerate
[ 5 ] Show with images, tell with voiceover
[ 6 ] Build slides around the transition
[ 7 ] Learn to love the presentation remote
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[ habit #1 ]
Startwith a structured story
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Story-based structure: an example
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Story-based structure: an example
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Structuring your story
Find a focus
Outline the flow of ideas
Storyboard complex narratives
Divide longer presentations into sections
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[ habit #2 ]
Standardizeyour design language
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What’s wrong with this slide?
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What’s different in this version?
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Let’s compare the two…
What do you notice about fonts, spacing, colors, sizing, and layout?
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Elements of a standardized design language
Consistent fonts Serif (e.g. Times New Roman) OR sans-serif (e.g. Arial), not both
A limited palate of complementary colors Focus on muted tones, not bright colors Use “transparencies” of the same color for variety:
Consistent spacing between lines of text More spacing between bullets of the same “level” Less spacing between “child” bullets and their “parents”
Simple and uncluttered layouts Use “align” “distribute” and “master pages” to maintain consistency
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
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A standardized design language in action
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Indispensable tools of the trade
Grouping To apply animations to sets of shapes/text Right Click > Grouping > Group
Cropping To manipulate imported images View > Toolbars > Picture > Cropper
Print Screen To capture web pages or screenshots Prt Sc key (computer-specific) Also consider Snipping Tool 2.0
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Indispensable tools of the trade
“Transparency” settings Easily create different tints on a color
Double-click shape > Colors and Lines
Line & Dash styles For designing better lines
Double-click shape > Colors and Lines
“Tables and Borders” toolbar Easily adjust table text & borders
View > Toolbars > Tables and Borders
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Indispensable tools of the trade
“Align or Distribute” toolbar For creating clean and balanced slides
View > Toolbars > Align or Distribute
“Line spacing” Infuse text-heavy slides with balance
Format > Line Spacing
Text Box properties Manage those unwieldy text boxes!
Double-click on box border > Text Box
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Indispensable tools of the trade
Keyboard Shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + g = group 2 or more selected elements
Ctrl + Shift + >/< = increase/decrease font size of selected text
Shift + Drag = move element along X or Y axis
Ctrl + Drag = copy element
Ctrl + Shift + Drag = copy element and move copy along X or Y axis
Alt + Drag = move element more precisely
Shift + Resize = resize element proportionally
Ctrl + Resize = resize element from center
Ctrl + Shift + Resize = resize element proportionally from center
Alt + Resize = resize element more precisely
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Let’s put these tools into action!
Here is some sample text we can work with. It’s long enough so we can play with the spacing, font size, etc…
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Master pages are great for maintaining consistency
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[ habit #3 ]
Standardizeyour written language
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What do these slides have in common?
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Best practices for writing slide text
Be concise! The less text the better
Start bullets with active verbs whenever possible
Make sure all language is grammatically consistent
For longer bullets emphasize a key word or two with larger text at the beginning, then do a “soft return” (shift + enter) and continue with smaller text below
Use titles as an opportunity to reiterate the story
The audience should be listening to you, not reading your slides!
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[ habit #4 ]
Animateto narrate, not exaggerate
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Static, complex slides are tough to narrate
24P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
WebPress Revenues & Profitability
Year 5
$7,150,000
$50,449,000
$86,000
$21,496,000
$38,551,000
Year 4Year 3Year 2Year 1
$10,000,000
$20,000,000
$30,000,000
$40,000,000
$50,000,000
$0
Cost to Cash Flow Positive ≈ $2.4M
Subscription Revenues
Advertising Revenues
Operating Expenses
Operating Profits
Cash Flow Positive
Breakeven
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The bottom line on animation in PowerPoint
Good Animation…
Helps tell a complex story
Always makes sense within the slide’s context
Uses subtle effects
Takes a backseat to the content of the slide
Is never too flashy
Is quite rare
Bad Animation…
Adds nothing to the story
Usually makes no sense within the slide’s context
Uses dramatic effects
Strives to be at the center of the slide
Is almost always too flashy
Is painfully common
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Fundamentals of animation in PowerPoint
Three key animation attributes
The type of effect
Its speed and direction of entry
When it enters (timings)
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Effect Types: Only four worth knowing
Appear
Fade
Faded Zoom
Wipe
Very Slow
Slow Medium FastVery Fast
Very Slow
Slow Medium FastVery Fast
From Left
From Right
From Top
From Bottom
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Effect Timing: Three different “start” types
On Clickeffect starts when you click the mouse
With Previouseffect starts at the same time as the effect before it in the list
See how this animated at the same time?
After Previouseffect starts only after the effect before it has fully animated
See how this started to animate only after the box above finished animating?
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Animating bullets and other text
Have the first bullet appear “with previous”• This helps you avoid an unnecessary click at the beginning of the slide
Animate one bullet at a time• Helps focus the audience on the point at hand and prevents “reading ahead”
Animate “groups of bullets” together• This will avoid unnecessary clicking on your part
Use the “Appear” effect as much as possible• “Fade” also works, but prevents quick clicking through slides
To add emphasis to a concluding point, use “Faded Zoom”
This is an example of a Faded Zoom concluding point. Notice the box, too!
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Let’s practice!
This headline should appear immediately
This first bullet point should appear on a click
This second bullet point should appear on a click• And this “child” bullet should appear with its “parent” above
This third bullet should appear on another click
And this conclusion box should appear on a click as a faded zoom
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Animating tables: text with a twist
Pure Players (Findory.com, Topix.net)
WebPress
RSS Readers
Content Portals and
Aggregators (Google & Yahoo)
Traditional
Media Websites (LaTimes.com, CNN.com)
Portable Print Format
Mobile Device Delivery
Hassle-Free Preference Collection
Targeted Ads
Intuitive InterfacePersonalized
Content
Strong Offering --------------------- --------------------- Weak/No Offering
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Animating charts and graphs
Deconstruct the graph in PPT to get the best results• This can be tricky. First, copy the chart from excel into PPT• Make sure you treat the image as a “picture of a chart”• Ungroup multiple times to get at individual elements• Then format and animate to your heart’s content
Use the “Wipe” effect to bring in individual elements• “Bottom to Top” wiping works best for bar charts• “Left to Right” wiping works best for line charts
Synchronize legend elements with builds
Use different “start” types for more elegant builds
Use “timings” to create even more nuanced effects
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Let’s practice animating a chart!
First, we need to paste in a chart from Excel…
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Additional notes on timings
Timings are the key to gorgeous animations They facilitate better customization of individual elements
They enable you to create faster and more elegant builds
But they also require lots of time to optimize, so be patient!
To create a cascading bar chart with timings: Make sure all elements within a given
group start “with previous”
A delay of 0.2 seconds usually works well to create a cascade
Play with the “pacing” of other builds to match the timing of a group
35P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
WebPress Revenues & Profitability
Year 5
$7,150,000
$50,449,000
$86,000
$21,496,000
$38,551,000
Year 4Year 3Year 2Year 1
$10,000,000
$20,000,000
$30,000,000
$40,000,000
$50,000,000
$0
Cost to Cash Flow Positive ≈ $2.4M
Subscription Revenues
Advertising Revenues
Operating Expenses
Operating Profits
Cash Flow Positive
Breakeven
36P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
Key Development Milestones
Year 3Year 2Year 1
$0
Cash Flow Positive
Breakeven
Pilot Partner Beta Site
Article Recommendation Functional
Web Interface Functional
$3,000,000
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
($1,000,000)
WebPress Profitability
$1.5M First Round
$1.1M Round 2
Partner #2
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Final thoughts on animation
Focus first and foremost on the story you want to tell
For effects, you usually never need anything more than Wipe, Fade, and Faded Zoom—it’s all about how you use them
• The one exception is “Circle Out,” which works well for animating 2x2 lines
Always build printer-friendly animations! • Any slide with animation should be totally legible in “normal” & “slide sorter” view• If you can’t do this and the printed page looks cluttered, use multiple pages
The “disappear” command can be especially helpful when trying to reveal elements of a table one row or column at a time
Simplicity is always your best option. Don’t overcomplicate!
38P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
How WebPress Works
Assessindividual reader tastes &
preferences
Deliverrelevant content to preferred platform(s)
WebPress’s personalization
algorithm dynamically identifies
individual preferences and
adapts to changes over time
WebPress matches individual
preferences with relevant articles
and targeted advertising
WebPress delivers content
to the individual’s preferred
platform(s) and provides custom
layouts that emulate the look
and feel of print newspapers
PersonalContent Bundle
MobileDevices
Printer-FriendlyMini Newspaper
CustomizedWeb Interface
Matchpersonal preferences to relevant content & ads
Content Preferences
ProfileSegmentation
Relevant Daily Content
Relevant Advertising
D A I L Y C O N T E N T
Platform Specific Advertising
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[ habit #5 ]
Showwith images, then tell with voiceover
Let’s start with an example…
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What kinds of content do they consume?
Short-Format
Peer-Driven
Aggregated
Consider the service StumbleUpon:
User selects from an initial list of topics & categories
Stumble tool is added to user’s browser toolbar
Clicking “stumble” takes user to a random site which coincides with their interest
For example: a virtual “magnetic poetry board”
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What kinds of content do they consume?
Short-Format
Peer-Driven
Aggregated
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What kinds of content do they consume?
Short-Format
Peer-Driven
Aggregated
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Where are they consuming this digital content?Marumushi Metro NY Wash Post LA Times CNN Digg NY Times Fox News Drudge
2 Screens
3 Screens
4 Screens
6 Screens
5 Screens
7 Screens
1 Screen
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Times to consider using images instead of bullets
Timelines & sequences of events
Competitive landscapes (use logos)
Consumer segmentations (faces show emotion)
When discussing any website (screen shots)
When selling a product or vision (mock-ups)
To inject humor or a “break” in an otherwise text-heavy presentation (editorial cartoons)
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Sources for high-quality images
www.gettyimages.com
www.corbis.com
http://images.google.com
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[ habit #6 ]
Buildyour slides around the transition
Business Plan
48P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
Newspapers are Suffering
Annual Revenues$55B $2.5B
Annual RevenuePer Unique User$500 $50
Print Editions Online Editions
As print circulations decline and readers move online, revenues suffer:
Source: eMarketer 2006 Online Publishing Report andNewspaper Association of America
why the difference?
49P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
Explaining the Disconnect
Demand precise targeting onlineAdvertisers Pay minimal CPMs
Lack loyalty and willingness to pay
Feel entitled yet dissatisfiedReaders
Can’t fully monetize their content online
Are risk aversePublishers
Stakeholder Attitude Result
50P R O P R I E T A R Y & C O N F I D E N T I A L
WebPress enables newspapers to give their readers
The WebPress Solution
Assess individual reader tastes and preferences
Match personal profiles to relevant content and advertising
Deliver personalized news to a reader’s preferred platform(s)
What they want.
When they want it.
How they want it.
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Good transitions are about good story telling!
Think about the story that links slides together
Write your slides so the conclusion from one provides a bridge to the slide that follows
Good transitions are usually just a few words• The contrast: “In contrast to X, let’s now consider Y”
• The build: “Here’s another example of X”
• The break: “I’ve told you about X, now let’s talk about Y”
Practice delivering slides out loud to nail the transition
There should always be a bridge from one slide to the next• If you can’t crack it, you may need to rethink the presentation’s structure
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[ habit #7 ]
Learnto love the presentation remote
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A what?
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Why use a presentation remote?
You’ll seem more professional as a presenter
You’ll present with more elegance, since you won’t need to pause briefly for each click
You won’t be anchored to your computer, and will be able to move around more freely
You’ll be able to focus 100% of your attention on your audience—which is what really matters
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To review…
[ 1 ] Start with a structured story
[ 2 ] Standardize your design language
[ 3 ] Standardize your written language
[ 4 ] Animate to narrate, not exaggerate
[ 5 ] Show with images, tell with voiceover
[ 6 ] Build slides around the transition
[ 7 ] Learn to love the presentation remote
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Thank You! I hope these PowerPointers prove helpful in your professional endeavors
For a copy of this presentation, visit:
www.sethfamilian.com/persuading2.ppt
Further questions? Feel free to contact me:
415-615-2225 // [email protected]