This lesson – and the next one – are specific to presentations, so skip ’em if you never (ever!) give presentations!

There are no rules. Whatever works, works. Remember that and you’ll be fine. Combine that idea with the E of the PIE model (which is coming up soon!) and you’ll do very well. Actually, I lie… there is one rule…

Bullet points are pointless

Unless the point your trying to make is that what you’re talking about is long, boring and has no structure – and isn’t memorable – then bullet points aren’t the way to go. What you’re trying to do is get your audience interested enough to want the boring details that boring presenters would put in their bullet points.

I can think of fewer things which undermine your credibility more than needing a script.

So what is the alternative? One of the most simple-yet-powerful is called the Assert-Evidence Technique. Without going into the science behind it (trust me, there’s a lot of it, most of it very well expressed in P-values and statistical validity) it looks like this… you can increase your audience’s engagement with what you’re saying – and the likelihood of them remembering it and subsequently acting on it – if you:

• present a big, bold, relevant emotionally-impactful image; then
• provide facts verbally.

This flies in the face of what most of us do, I know. Deal with it 😉

By the way, if you’re thinking that “It’s all very well for people who have ‘fun’ presentations but it won’t work for me: I’ve got to give technical information”… …you’re in luck. The research on how well this works was done when looking at how to train doctors at medical school. It doesn’t get any more technical than that!

It’s not rocket science. In fact as soon as you think back to the presentations you’ve attended you know this works. This very short video undersells the idea, but you can see how it might start to work. As you watch it (it really is very short!) give the example slides marks out of ten for being ‘interesting and memorable’. (Try not to give marks based on how interesting the content is.)

If you’re typical, you gave 2/10 for the original, default slide design; it went up to four or even five for the reversed colour-scheme slide; and shot up to eight out of ten for the images!

Exercise: before you move on to doing this kind of thing for your own work, take a few minutes to consider what you might show as your impactful, relevant image for each of these topics.

Topic in question	What image might you show?	Possible problems and things to keep in mind
How to treat a dislocated knee
The importance of trees in controlling floods
The new tax laws, due to start next year
The new tax laws, due to start next month!
Use of libraries in rural parts of your county
The need for more staff at weekends at your call centre
The problem with food waste in your company
Why holidays in Spain are changing
The sales opportunities for your new widget in Singapore

Now you’ve got the hang of it, apply the Assert-Evidence Technique to your own topics. Start with an easy one!

The next session looks at slide design in more detail.