Pitching and Presenting Workshop: How to Make Your Story Compelling @ Stanford by Theresa Lina Stevens and Forrest Glick on Feb 21, 2009.
"Learn how to tell your story in a way that will hold your audience captive, whether you're pitching ideas, products, your company, or yourself. Feel free to arrive with a pitch in mind that you'd like to work on. You'll find out how to structure your message, make it irresistible, and WOW them with visuals. Apply these principles and tips to pitches of any length and to any audience, whether it be investors, customers, partners, employees, employers, the media or others."
you can download the full slides at
http://eweek.stanford.edu/2009/media/Stanford_E-Week_2009_Pitching&Presenting_Workshop.pdf
see
http://eweek.stanford.edu/2009/0221a.html
for the event details.
22. Pitching &
Presenting
Forrest Glick
Stanford Technology Ventures Program
1
This portion of the presentation focuses on the use of images and
slides to reinforce your message.
If you!re asked to give a presentation and don!t have time to prepare,
forget the slides. A presentation with no slides is better than a
presentation with bad slides. The slides should reinforce what you!re
saying, not recreate or compete with it.
23. Why do we
present?
2
Why do we give presentations? There can be a number of reasons - To
inform a group about a subject, to solicit input or support, to educate,
to request an action, to motivate, to sell a product.
Ask yourself - What is the GOAL of my presentation?
24. 3
Imagine yourself standing before an audience. This image was taken
during Entrepreneurship Week 2008. It!s what you hope to see when
looking out at your audience - smiling, attentive, engaged. The reality
is that you!ll often see people who are distracted, sleeping, or
otherwise multi-tasking. How do you capture their attention?
25. 1) Distill
2) Design
3) Deliver
4
First Distill your message. Theresa covered many of these ideas in her
presentation. The same principles apply when creating slides and
images to support your message. Consider your audience and
determine what level of detail is appropriate to keep their attention.
26. Define
your
hook
5
Come up with one key message (or hook) for the audience to
understand. New hook = new slide.
27. 6
This video of Guy Kawasaki describes his 10-20-30 rule.
10 slides maximum
20 minutes tops
30 point font minimum
View the video at: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?
mid=1177
28. What is the
core take-away?
7
Reduce ideas to the key concepts. You can!t convey everything - focus
on the key message.
29. 1) Distill
2) Design
3) Deliver
8
So now that we!ve distilled the ideas down to the key concepts, how do
we reinforce those concepts through the use of visuals? Most slides
create a distraction from the what the speaker is saying. Remember
that YOU are the presentation, not the slides. The audience should be
able to quickly comprehend the slide and remain focused on what you
have to say.
30. Start in analog
9
Start in the analog - do NOT launch powerpoint to organize your ideas.
Use a piece of paper or dry erase board to layout ideas and organize
concepts.
31. Use powerful images
10
Capture the imagination and emotions of your audience. Focus on the
use of images over the listing of bulleted points.
32. Speak to logic
and emotions
11
Appeal to the left and right brain. Capture the attention of your
audience through the use of visually appealing images and don!t be
afraid to do something unexpected. Think about text AND visuals
working together to reinforce the concept.
33. LifeStraw®
Safely drink from
any water source
for up to a year.
12
In this example, we've blended a powerful image with a clear and
concise message. The image and text should reinforce each other and
have an emotional appeal. The image is memorable and helps to
clarify the concept.
Image source - http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw.htm
34. 13
Without the use of any words at all (other than the product name) the
idea is conveyed to the audience.
Image source - http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/permanet.htm
35. Date: July 29, 2008 11:14:51 AM PDT
To: fglick@stanford.edu
3 Attachments, 56.3 KB
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14
When designing your slides, you should consider developing three main focus areas.
1) The first area is what your eye immediately goes to. It's usually an image or the largest text. In
this example of an e-newsletter, the image on the right is what I look at first. Use it as an
opportunity to catch the viewers attention.
2) The second area should further reinforce or explain the image and address the question of
quot;what is this?quot; In this example, I view the title and tag-line second.
3) The third area should describe the value of the product or service. Here it's the paragraphs
(specifically their titles) that describe the features. Use the quot;squintquot; test by slightly blurring your
vision when looking at a slide or ads in a magazine. Do you still get the message? You may lose
some of the detail, but the first two area of focus should still come across to the viewer. If they
don't, you should consider refining your message or looking for images/text with greater
immediate impact.
36. Signal to noise ratio
source: www.presentationzen.com
15
The display of data presents a unique set of challenges, but can be extremely powerful when done right.
In this example two slides are shown that present the same data. The left slide is difficult to comprehend, as the viewer
must connect the pie graph to the legend. Count the number of seconds it actually takes you to discern the message.
Compare this to the slide on the right where the title helps to provide context and the bar graph is much easier to grasp.
The more information you put on a slide, the longer it takes the viewer to grep all the data. This is time when the viewer is
not really listening to you and may detract from communicating the core message.
Increase the “signal to noise ratio” by keeping your information concise and focused. Every bit of text that!s not absolutely
necessary should be considered noise and your core concept or “hook” is the signal.
Experiment with a few options for displaying your data and ask a few friends for feedback. Any slide can be made better
by incremental refinements, especially those displaying data. Take the time to develop a few iterations and increase the
signal to noise ratio.
38. Less is more
17
Amplification through simplification.
39. 1) Distill
2) Design
3) Deliver
18
Practice your presentation. Use a mirror, use a friend, use a friend!s
mirror - It doesn!t really matter how you do it, as long as you go
through your presentation a number of times before presenting it to an
audience. Solicit feedback from others. What parts are confusing? Is it
too long? Too boring. Be honest with yourself. Your audience will thank
you for it.
40. Be passionate
19
Capture the attention of your audience - if it doesn't seem like you're
excited about the content, no one else will be. Don!t be afraid to show
your enthusiasm.
41. Leave listeners
hungry for more
You don!t have to cover everything in your presentation. Leave time for
questions, comments, discussion.