Presentation Handouts - Three Ways They Can Kill Your Presentation

Every audience expects presentation handouts, and your presentation should include them. But these three common mistakes will make your handouts a liability to your presentation instead of an asset.

1. Handing them out at the wrong time

It's not always necessary or appropriate to hand out materials at the beginning of your presentation. That's the usual way it's done, but it has one major drawback: people will read through the whole set of handouts and you'll lose their attention as you begin your presentation. It's very difficult to bring them back, and when they do give you their attention again they probably have some ideas in their heads that you're not yet ready to present to them. Either way, you've lost control.

This is particularly so when the handout is a workbook or even a multi-page document. For example, if you hand out a complete set of financial statements to accountants, they will want to look through them carefully right away. Getting them to focus on what you want to say at any given time is almost impossible.

The solution is to hand out each piece of material at the time you are going to address it in your presentation. Don't give them the whole financial set; give them the Profit and Loss Statement when you're going to discuss it, the Balance Sheet when you're ready for it, and so on with the other pieces. That way, control of the presentation will be in your hands, not those of the audience.

2. Making them simply a copy of your slides

People like to use paper copies of your slides to make their notes, but that carries the same problem as the first mistake. Instead, create your own note pages.

About two-thirds of the page from the left-hand edge of the paper should contain BRIEF statements relating to each topic. They could be extracts from your slides, or summaries of your points. Include as much detail as you think appropriate. Then on the remaining one-third on the right side of the page, leave a column headed "Notes" or "How can I use this?", depending on the type of presentation.

If you must provide a copy of the slides, do it after your presentation is over.

3. Not having enough information on the handouts

The main purpose of a handout is for future reference, so this is your opportunity to provide as much information as your audience needs or wants, even if you have handed it out one page at a time.

You don't want them focusing on handouts containing complicated charts, graphs and tables while you are speaking, but such material makes excellent handouts for later study.

Another advantage of detailed handouts is that if someone asks for, say, the complete architectural plans, before you are ready, you can tell them that they will receive the complete set of detailed plans at the end, but for now you'd like to focus on the drawings on the screen. The fact that they know they'll receive everything at the end gives them the comfort they need to concentrate on your presentation.

Used thoughtlessly or automatically, handouts can kill your presentation; used correctly they can provide another tool to ensure that the audience receives the most value from your presentation.

Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker, workshop leader and author specializing in communication. Call 416-966-5023 for information on her presentation skills workshops. Subscribe to Helen's no-cost monthly e-zine, "Communi-keys", and get your free 40-page e-book, 23 ideas you can use RIGHT NOW to communicate and succeed in your business career!

With PowerPoint 2007, you can produce better results faster by taking advantage of the rich feature sets presented in the Office Fluent user interface. The overall look and feel has been streamlined, and new technologies have been introduced that enable you to "browse, pick, and click" rather than select from dialog boxes.

2007 Manual Missing Point Power12117

How Storytelling Can Grow Your Business

People love stories. We love to hear about other people, and stories help us to learn, remember and put to use new concepts. Aesop knew this. His fables help us to learn life lessons through tales about others, without having to learn them the hard way.

In modern times, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen also understand the power of stories to teach, motivate, and inspire. Their "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books continue to sell in the millions of copies because they tap into our primal need to connect with others through storytelling.

What can stories do for you and your business? Stories can educate customers about a need they have and how you fill it, subtly demonstrate your expertise, create empathy, suggest new uses for your products, train new customers and employees, and motivate listeners to take action.

I recently observed several group presentations by an insurance agent. He knew many of the people in the audience, and prior to each presentation he would look for someone who had made a claim under their policy and ask them to tell the audience how the benefits had helped them through a difficult time. If there was no one in the audience to do it, he would tell about someone who had used the policy and what it had done for them. The stories the agent told were effective, but hearing the claimants themselves was incredibly powerful. Hearing someone talk about the uncertainty of illness, the expenses they faced which were not covered by other insurance, and what the benefits meant to them was moving. I'm sure he sold lots of policies!

Where will you get stories? Stories from your own experience can be effective, and they are unique. You may also get stories from customers, employees, friends and others. The media can be a source of stories. Stories that are familiar because they have been told through the media can establish a commonality between you and your audience, or among members of your audience. Stories unique to your experience provide a personal touch, and can be surprising because they are not known to the audience.

Another possibility is creating composite or fictional stories. This may not be acceptable in some circumstances. For example, several newspaper columnists have been fired for making up stories, or creating composite characters, and passing them off as absolute truth. However, if your primary purpose is to educate or entertain, and you are not presenting them as news, you may take some liberties with minor details of your stories or take bits and pieces from multiple stories and combine them into one composite. Remember that it is important to maintain credibility, so don't do anything that would deceive your audience.

Once you have your stories, where will you use them? Tell them when you are in one-on-one meetings, in group presentations, and when making speeches. Write them down and include them in articles, brochures, sales letters, on your web site and in other written communications. Record them on audio or video and use them in commercials. Use them when training new employees to teach them about your company and its culture. Publish them in your client or company newsletter to reinforce emotional ties.

Stories are a powerful tool which teach and motivate by making an emotional connection with your audience. Use them wisely and well.

Copyright Cathy Stucker. As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous with inexpensive and free marketing ideas. Get free tips, articles and more at http://www.IdeaLady.com/.

Geetesh Bajaj, Microsoft Office PowerPoint MVP and author of the Cutting Edge PowerPoint for Dummies books, gives a fun and comprehensive look at the benefits of using SmartArt graphics in your presentations.

Power Point 9741719