We MOVED!!

Get with the times, folks! My Preso Sucks has a brand spanking new, legit home at http://mypresosucks.com. See you there!

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Rule 7: Presos Do Not Require Projectors

I’m actually kind of ashamed that this rule hasn’t come up until now. Through many conversations with other preso advocates it has become increasingly evident that the root of many of the frustrations had in the worst of worst presos is that the preso (i.e., PowerPoint) is simply a crutch. With the slides handling the brunt of the preso, it is becoming less necessary for the presenter to actually present. Here is a quote from Rule 2:

Remember this: You are the presenter. The presentation is not the presenter. If the presentation has all of the information, you are not needed. Don’t let this happen.

I think that is what I’m trying to get at here. For illustrative purposes, I would like to present two cases.

But first! If anyone in your audience EVER looks like this… you’re doing it wrong.

1. Live Presenting - I know sometimes there is a debate about whether the “live” in question is the “live” as in, “I live just down the street,” or the “live” as in, “live band playing at seven!” I’m going to go with the latter. That is, this preso is happening in this life. In the preso, you (as the presenter) should be the main attraction. If your dashing good looks don’t carry you all the way to a stellar preso, you’ve got your witty humor, your ability to connect with the audience, and (often overlooked) something worth hearing.

Now, if the last point gave you a shutter, I need you to know one thing: IF YOU DON”T THINK THAT YOU HAVE SOMETHING WORTH HEARING, STOP NOW.

In LIVE PRESENTING, it is more important for you to connect with the audience than having them connect with your slides. If the audience is only connected to the slides, then not only must you have the most explicit slides ever, but you should probably bring some pillows as props.

Finally, if you are presenting LIVE, please let the world know that you are ALIVE. Machines can now read text aloud and sound pretty normal. Separate yourself. At this, I will simply say, slides are not, and never should be, the focus.

2. Dead Presenting - I bring up this type of preso to show the opposite point where slides are necessary. However, I am naming it ”dead” because I think it further illustrates my point that in this type of preso, the presenter could actually be dead and the preso would still work! Unfortunately, this type of preso is often used in a LIVE situation! Can you believe it? (yes…)

In this case, you probably do want a preso with plenty of text…maybe even notes to go along and supplement what is being conveyed. Maybe even a short narrative… Here, the question is not about you in the sense of how much does Suzie Q know and can she capture my attention? But, it is about whether or not Suzie Q can make a logical argument fit in a preso?

My point? If you are going with the Dead Preso model AND you are actually going to be in the room… you are mixing oil and water, my friend. Steer clear.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one.

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Rule 6: Low Contrast Text Sucks

Here’s the deal. You suck if your preso cannot be seen. I know. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “but the yellow text looks so good on the picture of the blue, green, and red balloons, and the sun shines through them so nicely…”

Well, folks. Not only is that bullsh, but your preso sucks.

The fact is, if the picture is busy and the text can’t be seen, nobody can appreciate your photography selection skills or your whimsical, yet profound textual musings.

Here’s an example of pure, low contrast suckiness:

You think I’m being ridiculous. Wrong. This happens all. of. the. time.  What’s the fix? Three options from my perspective.

1. Ditch the Pic - No explanation needed. see previous Rules about how else to not suck…

2. Text Box that Mess – Get yourself a shape that looks good behind the text, make it a bit translucent (see-through) and then check your self… and your text for good contrast choices.

3. Make the Background the Frontground - Slim down the picture, throw in a nice reflection and bam! you’ve got yourself a classy slide and, hence, a less sucky preso.

And just like that, your preso has been de-suckified.

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Rule 5: PowerPoint Is Not the Only Option

Please take a few deep breaths if the air just got sucked out of your lungs.

Don’t get me wrong. I am fully aware that Microsoft has more than the lion’s share on the operating system market (1). But even with their design prowess and clever marketing strategies, sometimes I’m just not in the mood to be a PC. PowerPoint definitely has its advantages (namely, accessibility), but if you aren’t aware of your options, then you’re just being mindless and your preso might be destined to suck.

So. Before getting to some other options that don’t suck, I want to make a quick point: Not only is PowerPoint not the only option, you don’t even need an actual presentation. Some of the best presentations I have ever witnessed were simply incredibly captivating people. The intellectual conversation and the manner in which they assured me that they were an expert on the topic was all I needed to be utterly engaged. If you know your stuff (and I mean really know your stuff) you should be able to do your thing without a presentation on PowerPoint or anything else.

But, if you’re not convinced, read on!

I’ll start off with one of my favorite options that anyone can use now and for free.

1. Prezi – I like Prezi for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that is the basic version is free and the next step up is free if you’re in education. My “.edu” e-mail account gets me access to the “Enjoy” level (normally $60/yr.) for free! You can check out the My Preso Sucks Prezi at http://prezi.com/1gvna0veg3mb/.

2. Keynote – Obviously I’m not going to go into a bunch of detail on Keynote. The fact is most PC users have weathered the Windows storm for many years and cannot imagine anything different. I get it. Either way, Keynote is more capable, easier to use, and flat out classier than PowerPoint. All you need to do is visit their site and check out their videos. Unfortunately, better software does not necessarily imply better presentations… there is definitely plenty of room in Keynote to suck.

I know there are other options, but these two (+ presenting w/o a PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote) are the most available and the most likely ones to replace your sucky PowerPoints. Also, there is a small sector of presentations that only need one interactive site to help the presentation reach its potential. A really great example of this can be seen below as Hans Rosling gives an excellent talk at TED|India 2009 using GapMinder.

I’m not saying this is the best preso ever, but it has some really excellent visuals that are crucial to the story.

At a point in the future, we will also have to explore options for creating un-sucky group presos and presos that are cloud-based. Until then, do what you can do not suck.

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Rule 4: Blurry Images Suck

Here’s the thing. If you are going to use an image, make sure it doesn’t suck.

There are some great tools to help you find images that are worthwhile. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Your Eyes – That’s right, your eyes. If it is blurry, don’t use it!

2. Your Brain – Let’s do some problem solving here, folks. Once you recognize that an image is blurry, decide that you are not willing to let your preso suck over one blurry image. Find a better image!

3. The Internet – Sounds too easy, right? Well, in my experience it is. Too many people are literally thinking to themselves, “man, finding a clearer image would be so easy, it would just be silly to even try!” That’s where they, and you, are wrong. It is worthwhile! Here are a couple resources:

• Bing.com – This is my favorite. Just search a term, find an image you like, search for similar images or other sizes. It’s that easy!

• Google.com – Less sexy, but still gets the job done if you know what you’re looking for. Go to Google. Go to Even More. Choose Labs. Select “Image Swirl.” Begin.

• Flickr.com Creative Commons –  Pretty basic. Go here. Search. Succeed.

• sxc.hu – This my favorite, even though I said Bing was my favorite. This is a little more professional grade. You have to create a free account, but it is worth it! You can thank me later.

Alas, we have explored a few of the most important ways to ensure that your blurry images don’t make your preso suck.

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Rule 3: Practice What You Present

This one is basic, but very important. It may be more crucial for those presentations that are related to education or other type of leadership/practitioner related presentations, but it is crucial for everyone.

If you are presenting and you say, “Such and such is important. If you don’t do this then you suck,” but you don’t actually do that thing… then you suck.

Here’s a great example of a good preso:

I’m listening to internationally recognized leader in education, Alan November, and he says, “If you’re teaching and you’re not taking advantage of the huge amount of resources on the Web, then you suck.”

Well… it was something like that. But, the point is that Alan then said, “Let’s do it.”

In an instant, an entire room full of folks that aren’t willing to respond to a general question by raising their hands, pulls out their phones and texts their answer. Bam! Now we’ve got 500 responses and a better idea about what we know.

Here’s the page:

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Rule 2: Too Much Text Sucks (w/o Graphics)

Okay. This is so important, it is the 1st and 2nd rule. Too much text sucks… even if you don’t have a graph or some type of figure.
i.e.,

How do you make this type of preso not suck? Easy. Remember this: You are the presenter. The presentation is not the presenter. If the presentation has all of the information, you are not needed. Don’t let this happen.

Reduce the text to get attention focused on the main point. Then, with your mad presenting skills, do your job!

Capisce?

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Rule 1: Too Much Text Sucks (w/ Graphics)

If your preso has more than 30 words on a page, it sucks. That’s the fact. For example, this sucks:

However, the graph/image can (and should) do the talking for you. So, consider what you are really trying to convey. Let the graph speak for itself, if it doesn’t, make a better graph. If you need to comment about the graph, then do. DON’T MAKE PEOPLE READ ABOUT IT!

Now that’s more like it.

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The Adventure Begins

The Goal: Post 1 sucky preso solution every week.

The Cause: Presos suck. People suck at presenting. The world is filled with presentations that literally suck the life out of the room. This is unacceptable.

The Contenders: Fibo, Zodzilla, Se7en, and the Ros.

Bonus: Eventually, sucky presos can get a makeover by our team. Keep your eyes open for this feature!

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