Death By Power Point - Why are presenters killing us all!

We have all been there, sitting in a meeting or at a conference and we get the presentation from Hades... Tedious and uninteresting, a list of bullet points and pointless, unreadable content. Somebody tell me what is it about presentations that makes us forget how to tell a story.


You see that is the point, if you were in the bar with a pint in your hand you would no doubt be able to regale your friends with a tale of the one that got away or similar. We know from a very early age how to tell a story we are taught at school, but more importantly we are immersed in stories in our life and not just on television and in films.


If I was to talk theory I would start to discuss the 'narrative arc' - it basically means that a story needs a beginning, a middle and an end. We set the scene with some of problem the hero needs to solve, we get to the action bit and then we come to the conclusion (he gets the girl, she drops the diamond in the sea... You get the idea).


So why not use this idea when you next prepare a presentation? As you are story-boarding your presentation... (NO - do not just load Power Point and start typing bullet points - plan to succeed!) ...you should look to plan a story. What is the shared conflict we start with (sales are down, there are other products in the market...) how we will solve this conflict (hard work, new products) and we then reach a shared conclusion (...improved sales, bonuses). 


This may seem difficult, but if you can start to plan to take the audience on a journey you will find that they will relate better to the content you are trying to present and that they will feel more involved with the conclusion.


Give it a try... We will look at presentation planning and how to get rid of bullet points soon... 


Happy story telling


Wilf