Presentation Zen - Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery

One Minute Bottom Line

Review

Normally I don’t mention this part in a review, but Guy Kawasaki’s Foreword is excellent and a great example of the kind of impact a presentation can have. I don’t want to give it away, so all I can do is recommend that you get to a bookstore, pick up a copy of “Presentation Zen”, enjoy Guy's foreword on page “ix”, and then go buy the book.

Section 1 - Introduction
Chapter 1, “Presenting in Today's World,” sets the stage for the rest of the book. It explains how the author, Garr Reynolds, first realized that most presentations created with tools like PowerPoint and KeyNote are neither enjoyable nor effective, and that there had to be a better way. This insight led to the creation of the Presentation Zen website (www.presentationzen.com) and eventually to this book.

Garr also points out that Presentation Zen is not a method with a few easy to follow steps. It is an approach to designing and delivering a presentation, and that each presentation you create will be different.

There’s a quick look at why most PowerPoint presentations are so bad, and why most books about using PowerPoint don’t help. Garr then gives us a peek at one of the ideas from Dan Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind”, shows how it applies to creating excellent presentations, and then winds up with the admonition that if we want to get better at presenting information, we need to think differently about our approach.

Section 2 - Preparation
Chapter 2, “Creativity, Limitations, and Constraints,” starts with a reminder that we are creative. This may not be difficult for most of us to believe since we, as architects and developers, create new applications and systems out of our thoughts on a regular basis. Still it’s worth considering, since some people view what we do as more of an engineering task with little room for being creative.

Limitations and constraints are covered next, and we see how having limits and constraints can actually make it easier to create a solution. There’s a nice two page example using the Pecha-kucha “phenomenon.” If, like me, you've never heard of Pecha-kucha, you might want to check out the website, www.pecha-kucha.org, for more details. In short, it is an exercise in creating presentations with a few very strict limitations. You must use 20 slides, each of them is displayed for 20 seconds (you can’t control the timing), and your story must be told in synch with the visuals.

“Planning Analog” is Chapter 3's title, and in it Garr makes a convincing argument that when designing your presentation, you should step away from the computer and use things like paper and pencil, or a whiteboard, or even a stack of Post-its.

The ideas is that by getting away from the keyboard you activate different portions of your mind (Check out Andy Hunt’s book “Pragmatic Thinking and Learning” for more on this) which can lead to being more creative, and designing a better presentation. Garr also points out that it helps to “get away from it all” (meaning go someplace with few distractions) for a bit so you can get a clearer vision of what it is you want to say.

Part of planning a talk involves asking questions. Unfortunately as beginners, we often ask the wrong ones because we want to “get it right.” So we wonder about things like “how many slides should I use?” instead of what’s truly important – What’s the point, and why should they care?" Without answers to those kind of questions, we’re probably going to create another snoozer of a talk.

The chapter ends with useful information on the three parts of a presentation; the slides the audience sees, the notes you can see while presenting, and a handout the audience can take and read later. While everyone’s familiar with the slides, you may not have known that the presenter can view a combination of the slide being presented and the notes that go with it on their screen while the projector just shows the slide by itself. This allows the presenter to have detailed information available to support the content of the slide without resorting to external notes. But, the best thing is the handout.

Most of the time the handout is either a printout of the slides themselves, or a split page with two or three slides on the left and an area on the right for you to take notes. But that’s not the only thing a presenter can do. What if the handout was an actual document filled with the kind of detailed information needed to support the ideas from the presentation? If you, the presenter, did that then your slides wouldn’t have to have all that extra stuff people need to see before they'll believe your story.

Which leads us to Chapter 4, “Crafting the Story,” where we look at one of the main ingredients that makes for a compelling presentation – telling a story that sticks in the minds of your audience. This is a short chapter, just 22 pages, but I believe this may be the most important one. It starts with the concept of crafting a “sticky” message (check out the book “Made to Stick” for more on this), and why stories and storytelling are important. Garr introduces a four step process he often uses when preparing a talk, and ends the chapter with a strong recommendation to cut out anything that doesn’t contribute to the strength of the presentation – no matter how cool it is.

By the way, this chapter also contains an excellent four page article by Nancy Duarte on storyboards and the process of presentation design. This article is what lead me to read her book, "slide:ology," and post a review of it on the DZone web site.

Section 3 - Design
“Simplicity: Why It Matters” is the title of Chapter 5, and in it we  see why a simple (as in clear, direct, and essential) presentation is more effective than the traditional style. As an example, Garr points out the differences between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates’ presentation styles. For a preview, take a look at “Gates, Jobs, and the Zen aesthetic” on the Presentation Zen web site.

This chapter talks about some ideas commonly associated with Zen: simplicity, naturalness, and elegance. It also points to another great source for learning about simplicity: comics – as in comic books and comic strips. Garr recommends Scott McCloud’s book “Understanding Comics” as a great start for understanding the art involved in telling complex stories in a simple manner, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

Chapter 6, “Presentation Design: Principles and Techniques,” and Chapter 7, “Sample Slides: Images & Text,” are difficult to write about because they are filled with images of slides so that you can see the difference that applying the principles and techniques can make in your work; and you really do have to see the differences to appreciate them. The principles discussed in chapter six include: Signal vs. Noise, Picture Superiority (people prefer images to text), the use of Empty Space, and what Garr refers to as the “Big Four” – Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity.

As I said, earlier, Chapter 7 is full of images too. But these images are from several presenters so you can see how different people can apply the principles from Chapter 6 in their own ways to create something unique.

Section 5 – Delivery
Warning; more Zen ahead! Chapter 8, “The Art of Being Completely Present,” is a reminder to be “fully present” when you are making your presentation. This means that you can’t afford to be distracted by concerns that you didn’t practice enough, or thoughts of what you’re going to do after you get finished. If you’re doing that, then you aren’t fully present. Some portion of your attention is on the past, or the future, instead of being focused on what’s going on right now.

Garr invokes the spirit of Steve Jobs again, and if you’ve seen any of Jobs’ presentations then you know why. But he also recommends some other interesting sources for advice on presenting, like Jigoro Kano’s “Five Principles of Judo”, and Ben Zander (conductor for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and co-author of “The Art of Possibility”). The chapter ends with a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously, and to enjoy whatever we happen to be doing when we're doing it.

“Connecting with an Audience” is the title of Chapter 9, and one of the things a successful presenter must learn to do. Without that connection, you’re pretty much wasting everybody's time.

In this chapter, Garr covers some things you can do to be better at making that connection. The first suggestion is that it is better to finish a little early that to run over your allotted time. The rest are designed to help you remove barriers to communication, and it includes ideas like:

• Don't use a lectern, or podium, so there’s no physical barrier between you and your audience. If you need amplification, use a wireless microphone so you can move naturally instead of being anchored to a single spot on the stage.
• Keep the lights on. It’s tough to connect with people when you can’t see them and they can’t see you.
• Get a remote control, and learn how to use it, so you can step away from the computer and pay attention to your audience.

Section 5 – Next Step
Chapter 10 is the last one in the book and its title, oddly enough, is “The Journey Begins.” It’s a short chapter, but it set us up for the road ahead. For many of us, reading about improving our presentations is far easier than doing it. But that’s the next step. Taking the information and ideas in this book and applying them in our daily life.

Garr helps with three pages of suggestions that can help us be better presenters – on stage or off – and better communicators in general. These include:

• Read and Study: There’s an abundance of books, DVDs, and online material to learn from so take a look around. But don't get stuck at the starting gate. Remember that there is such a thing as being over prepared.
• Just Do It: If you want to get better at anything, including presenting, you have to practice. Garr recommends Toastmasters and volunteering to speak at local groups – like your local Java User Group.
• Exercise your “Right Brain”: Find something you’re passionate about that lets you be creative and do it. Whether it’s drawing, writing, playing music, photography, or anything else that exercises your imagination. It’s an opportunity to express yourself to others and that will help you when you’re working on your presentations.

The book ends with a quotation attributed to Lao-tzu that seems very appropriate, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Reading and absorbing "Presentation Zen" is a great first step and can help you enjoy the rest of the journey.