Information is best presented in bite-size chunks

Here is another good reason why you should not jam 10 bullet points on a single PowerPoint slide:

Multi-media research has shown that people learn more and retain more when information is presented to them in bite-size chunks.

Quickly – What do you make of this: WIFIIBMCPAIRSCIAKGBYMCA? This is what happens when you lump too much information on a single slide.

Now what if you separate them into bite-size pieces like this:

WIFI IBM CPA IRS CIA KGB YMCA.

I rest my case.

How to manage a three-ring circus

At our last webinar, someone mentioned during the Question and Answer period that sometimes his firm has over 10 people on their presentation team to their potential clients. With this large number of speakers, you really need to do a good job in coordinating the presentation to prevent it from turning into a 10-ring circus.

I would spend no more than a few minutes introducing the team members specific background and expertise that are RELEVANT to sloving your clients’ problems. Do not allow them to talk ad nausea about themselves when they get their turn. The only time they talk about their past would be somethign like:”I just finished a big project that is very similar to yours and our clients ars saving millions of dollars as a result of our work.” 

There will have to be a leader in your group to direct questions from the audience to the one with the most experience and best oratory skill. Jump in any time when the answer is not heading in the right direction and re-direct it or answer it yourself. Sometimes you may have to speak to the overall understanding of the question and ask the most technical person in your team to supply the nuts and bolts portions of your anseer.

Another thing to watch for is continuity of lack of it in most presentations with multiple speakers. There is nothing more irritating and disjointed to hear five persons speak to the  point of their expertise without makign reference to one another’s presentation. As the Master of Ceremony, you must make sure Speaker A explains how his topic relates to what Speaker B is about to say. 

Rememvber: Every presentation is a story. You must have Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 relate and feed to the main thrust of your story.  Instaed of spending you time rehearsing each speaker’s talk, spend your time rehearsing the transition.