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Death by PowerPoint

March 5, 2010 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

This Dilbert cartoon has been making the rounds on all the presentation blogs, so here it is for our readers. The reason for its popularity is, sadly, it is so true.

Hi, I’m from Gen-Y II

January 11, 2010 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

Teenagers and young adults are constantly caught in a whirlwind of socializing via mobile phones, instant messages, online video games and social-networking websites. In my previous blog, you read about the decline of nonverbal communication among Gen-Y today.

Further on this subject, Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal suggests that “there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home.”

Among these new questions is, “how much work can ‘hyper-socializing’ students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?”

According to Zaslow’s article, The Greatest Generation (of Networkers), there are some that argue that this generation can accomplish a great deal because they are gifted with the ability to multitask. Their attachment to technology and willingness to remain connected can serve their employers well.

Ben Bajarin, a technology analyst at Creative Strategies in Campbell, California, argues that “because young people are so adept at multimedia socializing, their social skills are actually strengthened. They’re good at ‘managing conversations’ and getting to the pithy essence of an issue, which will help them in the workplace.”

While their older colleagues waste time stuck in fruitless meetings or engaged in long phone conversations, young people can express themselves in one-sentence text messages. Mr. Bajarin says. “They know how to optimize and prioritize.”

The operative word is “prioritize.” Multitasking is productive, but this new generation of hyper-socializing young adults should take advice from older generations by putting aside electronic connection devices and connect interpersonally. As the Bible tells us, “When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things.”

Multitask and priortize.

Less is More Choice

December 14, 2009 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

It’s that time of the year again when décor shops spring to life with all the glitters and sparkles for the rapidly-approaching holiday season. I don’t know how you react, but as soon as I set foot in such a shop, I can’t help but to perform a full 360 degree twirl on my feet; just as I did when I was a child walking into Disneyland for the very first time. As much as I enjoy taking in all the glory of the holiday season in these stores, the experience can also be a bit overwhelming⎯especially if I am trying to decide what to buy.

Although such holiday shops fill me with delight, I rarely buy anything in them. I found that it was always easier to make my selections at a department store with fewer holiday goods.

A study conducted by Sheena S. Iyengar of Columbia University and Mark R. Lepper of Stanford University helps explain my behavior. The authors believe that it is difficult for people to manage complex choices with numerous options.

In their article, When Choice is Demotivation Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?, Iyengar and Lepper argued, “Consumer research suggests that as the number of options and the information about options increases, people tend to consider fewer choices and process smaller percentages of the overall information regarding their choices.”

Iyengar and Lepper referenced three studies in their article. One took place at Draeger’s, an upscale grocery store in Menlo Park, California, where a table was set up with tasting samples of various flavors of jam. Once every hour, researchers at the sampling table switched their offering from 6 flavors to 24, and then back to 6.

The study found that more consumers were initially attracted to the table with more offerings. One would think that consumers given 24 choices would sample more flavors compared to those given only 6 choices. But all consumers tasted on average one to two samples regardless of whether there were 6 flavors or 24 flavors displayed.

Researchers also concluded that while 30% of the consumers who were offered 6 flavors made a purchase, only 3% of those offered 24 flavors did.

As a result, “The findings from this study show that an extensive array of options can at first seem highly appealing to consumers, yet at the same time, can subsequently reduce their motivation to purchase the product.”

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Walgreen’s cash flow from operations increased 55% for the quarter ending August 31, mainly because of lower inventories.

A recently remodeled Walgreen’s store in Chicago benefited from the less is more approach:

Shelves were lowered to 66 inches from 78 inches high, so aisles look brighter and less cramped.
The vitamin area has new shelf signs that promote the supplements’ health benefits. Well-
organized displays of mouthwash and paper towels help customers find departments easily.

The store looks so much less cluttered that a few customers discovered for the first time that the
store has windows, said Bryan Pugh, Walgreen’s vice president of merchandising.

This less is more approach also applies in presentations. While an elaborate slide with fancy animations may induce “oohhs” or “ahhhhs” from your audience, it doesn’t necessarily mean they get your point. They are simply doing the same thing as twirling their feet in awe of the beautiful holiday décor in shops. The appeal is temporary.

To prevent overloading your audience, take the less is more route with your presentation.

Hi, I’m from Gen-Y

November 2, 2009 by Pearl · 2 Comments 

In Jerry’s previous blog, you read about a recent Wall Street Journal article titled “When Gen-Y Johnny Can’t Read Nonverbal Cues.” In it, Mark Bauerlein wrote about “the diffidence, self-absorption and general uncommunicativeness of Generation Y.” To better understand why Bauerlein made such a comment, please travel back in time with me to the beginning of the millennium:

It’s close to midnight in the winter of 2000. While catching up on the day over the phone with her friend, a 14-year old girl swivels in a chair with her legs crossed on top of a desk. To the right lay a pile of graphing paper atop an opened chemistry textbook. To the left of the desktop lay a lemon-scented folder and two binders dressed up with the most recent pictures of all things she loved, including M&M’s®, puppies, and all her close girlfriends. Further to the left is a TV tuned to MTV. Directly in front of her is a computer monitor screen flooded with countless AIM windows. As her eyes flit back and forth between the TV and the computer screen, she is communicating with six people and doing her homework at the same time.

That was a glimpse into my early teenage years. Later in college, I would have conversations with my roommate through instant messaging while sitting 25-feet apart from one another. Gen-Y, as my generation is known, is used to handling multiple communication activities simultaneously.

This habit of multi-tasking may lead to a pattern of continuous partial attention among young adults today. Reading and replying to an email in the middle of having a physical conversation is the norm to them. This hurried lifestyle of being connected 24/7 requires them to quickly defocus and refocus from one activity to another.

However, this Gen-Y world of Facebook updates, Tweets, emails, and text messages involves the exchange of words only. Face-to-face interaction has dwindled to a bare minimum. As a result, the opportunity to experience nonverbal and expressive behavior such as hand gestures and eye contacts has declined.

Mark Bauerlein, in his Wall Street Journal article, found this acceptable:

            The next time they face a twenty-something who doesn’t look them in the eye, who slouches and sighs
            for no apparent reason, who seems distracted and unaware of the rising frustration of the other people
            in the room, and who turns aside to answer a text message with glee and facility, they shouldn’t think,
            “What a rude kid.” Instead, they should show a little compassion…

I disagree with Mr. Bauerlein. Now that I am past those teenage years and in the workplace, I value the importance of face-to-face communication. At Power Presentations, we work with all levels of management, from product managers all the way up to CEOs. None of them can exist on text-only communication; every one of them must communicate interpersonally to succeed.

Who Let Qaddafi Out?

September 25, 2009 by Pearl · 1 Comment 

Libya’s leader, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, gave a rambling speech at the United Nations that ran for 90 minutes instead of the allotted 15. The speech drew strong reactions ranging from approval by his supporters to rebuke by his critics to satire from a comic.

Neil MacFarquhar of The New York Times wrote, “At one point in his speech, Colonel Qaddafi waved aloft a copy of the United Nations charter and seemed to tear it, saying he did not recognize the authority of the document.”

On BorowitzReport.com, Comedian Andy Borowitz wrote:

An escaped mental patient broke into the United Nations yesterday, getting all the way to the General Assembly and delivering a ninety-minute speech.

A day after the stunning security breach, U.N. officials were still attempting to sort out how it was allowed to happen.

“We’re trying not to play the blame game here,” said U.N. spokesperson Carol Foyler. “The simple fact is, a legally insane man somehow got all the way to the podium, so how do we keep that from happening again?”

Theories abound as to how the mental patient made it to the U.N., with some suggesting that he may have escaped during a field trip to a county fair.

Reacting to the rambling and incoherent ninety-minute rant, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton echoed the feelings of many: “I was like, where’s Kanye when you need him?”

Please take a look at the embedded video and give us your feedback.

What’s your opinion?

Chris Brown in Denial

September 9, 2009 by Pearl · 3 Comments 

In his first television interview since his arrest last February for assaulting his former girlfriend, Rihanna, pop star Chris Brown told Larry King that he didn’t remember abusing her and that he is still shocked that the incident happened.

When King asked Brown about his reactions upon seeing police reports, Brown replied, “I — I don’t — like, I’ll just look at it and like, wow, like, I’m in shock. Because, first of all, that’s not who I am as a person and that’s not who I promise I want to be. And so I — I just — when I look at like the police reports or I hear about the police reports, I don’t know — I don’t know what — what to think. I just don’t know what to think. I’m just like, wow.”

King asked, “Do you remember doing it?”

Brown replied, “No.”

“You don’t remember doing it?” King asked again.

“I don’t — I don’t — it’s like — it’s crazy to me. Like, I was just — I’m like, wow. When I look at it now, it’s just like, wow, like, I can’t — I can’t believe that — that actually happened.” Brown said.

Chris Brown dodged Larry King’s questions by saying he did not remember. His responses showed no acknowledgement of wrong-doing.

William Routher of examiner.com responded to the interview in his article, Chris Brown and the Strategy of Denial, “In the cases of Chris Brown and Mel Gibson, there’s no indication given that they learned anything, except that they’d better say something quick or their career will be over. And what they say is, ‘That’s not me. I don’t know who that was, but it wasn’t me.’ If there’s no self-reflection, no admission of responsibility, no self-knowledge in someone’s apology, what’s it worth? Nothing. My question is, ‘What’s so hard about just admitting to the truth? Everybody already knows it.’”

Routher further recommended that Brown could’ve made the following statement instead, “I obviously have a serious anger management problem. What I did to Rhianna was unforgivable, out of control, cowardly and not worthy of anyone who calls himself a man. This incident has shown me that I need to take this problem very seriously, and now I am. I’m getting professional counseling and praying about it. I ask everyone to please forgive me. I have resolved never to allow myself to do anything like this again. I deeply apologize to Rhianna, all women and all my fans.”

In the comments following Routher’s article, his readers supported his recommendation. The statement would satisfy viewers of the interview by providing an acknowledgement of fault and a call to action. Lack of recollection is not an excuse to avoid answering a question.

It has become more and more common for celebrities and politicians to dodge tough questions by claiming poor memory. It didn’t quite work for Alberto Gonzales. In April 2007, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing investigating the firing of federal prosecutors, the former Attorney General invoked the phrase, “I don’t recall,” 64 times, according to the Washington Post. Four months later, Gonzales resigned his position.

That same tactic in the business world, will quite likely lead to equally undesirable results. “I don’t remember” will not help your company raise financing, sell a product, or win a customer.

When you are guilty as charged by a tough question in business, honesty is the best policy. Adopt William Routher’s advice. Take responsibility for your actions; and once you’ve done that, go on to end on an upbeat note by saying that you have also taken action to make amends and correct the issue.

Time Traveler’s Audience

August 28, 2009 by Pearl · 3 Comments 

The Time Traveler’s Wife, currently in movie theatres, is a romantic drama based on Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 bestselling novel. Henry, the main character has a genetic anomaly that throws him into time travel without choice. The story explores the complications created by Henry’s unpredictable leaps in time between him and his lover, Clare.

The couple meets when 10-year old Clare is playing in a meadow, and 36-year old Henry calls to her from behind a bush. The plot follows the two through different time periods as Henry jumps in and out of different decades, running into his past, present, and future self. The result is a life that unfolds in fragments.

Since the novel’s release in 2003, it has sold more than 2.5 million copies in the United States and United Kingdom. Although the novel was a huge success, the film version, released in mid-August was not very well received.

Joanne Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal titled her review of the film, “No Time’s Right for Traveler’s Wife.”

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “The film should have swept in and swept us off our feet with its grand romance… Sadly, McAdams’ facility as an actress is mostly wasted, and you wish that Bana could have borrowed some of his haunting intensity from Munich.”

On RottenTomato.com, the film received only 36% positive reviews, with a consensus that said, “Though it may satisfy fans of the novel, Time Traveler’s Wife’s plot contrivances and illogical narrative hamper its big screen effectiveness.”

So why, when the novel was such a huge success, did the film suffer such negative reviews?

Pam Jackel, a reader of Kaufman’s review, wrote in defense, “… if you’re traveling back and forth in time, time does not flow in the same sequence for you as it does for those around you. So the chapters of the book/movie really have three sequences⎯his timeline, hers, and the reader/viewer’s⎯the order in which the scenes are presented to the reader.”

As a reader of the novel myself, I agree with Ms. Jackel’s explanation of the three timelines. While reading the novel, I admittedly flipped back to prior pages multiple times to understand where the story was in time.

Consider the book a document and the film a presentation. A document allows its readers to venture back and forth to re-read prior content and references. On the other hand, a presentation does not allow the audience to pause and riffle back to review previous material.

While the plot of this timeless love story is intriguing, viewers of the film simply cannot follow the illogical path of the timeline(s). As in presentations, the audience must be given a clear flow structure.

Creating a well-structured flow for disconnected material is not impossible. The screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire was able to string many fragmented events, past and present, into one coherent story. Jerry discussed the importance of a road map in two of his recent blogs, This is Your Pilot Speaking Part I and Part II.

Provide your audience with a logical flow for your presentation or they will start time traveling on you.

How Much Enthusiasm is Too Much?

August 3, 2009 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

The New York Times recently ran an article, In Pitching to Angel Investors, Preparation Tops Zeal, by Brent Bowers. For the most part, we agree with the concept of the title of the article. Let’s take a look at what can make or break an entrepreneur’s pitch to angel investors.

The article focuses on a study recently presented at an entrepreneurship conference at Babson College. This study found that entrepreneurs who got carried away with their pitches to angel investors were less likely to succeed.

When entrepreneurs pitch to angel investors asking for financing, preparation is key. Entrepreneurs must be armed with arguments as to why their products or services are highly marketable. They also need to show the right level of passion and enthusiasm.

When it comes to enthusiasm, Richard Sudek, an angel investor and assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and one of the three authors of the study suggests, “We like you to show some excitement, but don’t force it. Being authentic is much more important. There is such a thing as quiet passion. Anything that comes across as slickness is a negative.”

Another author of the study, Cheryl Mitteness, a doctoral candidate in entrepreneurial studies at the University of Louisville added, “Show your passion, but don’t try to be somebody that you’re not. Angels are very leery of too much enthusiasm.”

According to the study, forced excitement or fake enthusiasm from presenters resulted in negative perception from the audience.

The most natural way a person communicates is during one-to-one conversations. Speakers think about what their listeners want to know. They do not think about what to do with their hands.

Our advice is to consider every presentation, including pitches to angel investors, as a series of one-to-one conversations. What could be more natural than having a casual conversation with a friend? Everyone is most comfortable in one-to-one conversations.

In a presentation, let your real personality shine through as in one-to-one conversations. The audience doesn’t need you to be a performer. That’s Robert De Niro’s business.

Pixar Speaks Louder than Words

July 10, 2009 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

A silent film is defined by Wikipedia as “a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue.” The great stars of the silent era, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, performed their stories without uttering a single word. Popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these black and white silent films were screened in theatres accompanied by live music providing the atmosphere.

During recent years, a fresh and modern type of silent film has surfaced. Unlike those classic silent films, this new generation is created with vibrant colors and three-dimensional imagery. Many of these memorable and entertaining pieces of art are produced by Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios.

Pixar places these short films at the beginning of each of their innovative longer films. In a signature of their creative strength, most of these shorts have no dialogue. Much like those early silent films, Pixar’s short films feature the expressiveness of the characters accompanied by the emotional effect of music to tell a story. Please click below to see one of their best, For the Birds.



Presenters and speakers alike spend most of their effort and time preparing the content of their verbal story. They then spend a second chunk of their effort putting their story in text form on PowerPoint slides. With these as their main concentration, they lose focus of their body language and voice during the presentation.

Keep in mind that a successful presentation should have equal focus on the context of the verbal story as well as the body language and voice of the presenter.

As we see with the success of Pixar short films, actions speak louder than words.

A collection of Pixar Short Films may be purchased here.

See the Unseen

June 17, 2009 by Pearl · Leave a Comment 

The Discovery Channel has once again changed the way we perceive our world. Their new television series, Time Warp, uses a new technology to bring a never-been-seen world to the viewers.

MIT scientist, teacher, and artist, Jeff Lieberman and digital image expert Matt Kearney have created a new television series (Wednesdays at 8PM ET/PT) in which they use ultra high-speed cameras to shoot everyday occurrences that, when shown at normal speed, produce super slow motion images previously inaccessible to the human eye. The producers focus their special cameras on natural events—a pin bursting a water-filled balloon, a cat licking its paw, a champagne bottle popping open, a dog drinking water, a bullet hitting an apple, a bike rider performing a stunt—and turn them into a thing of both beauty and learning.

The human brain processes approximately 30 frames of images per second. Videos on television are normally broadcast at the same speed. The high-speed cameras used by Time Warp’s team can record up to 325,000 frames per second.

In some ways, the human brain is similar to Time Warp’s technology. As you read in my previous blog, when our brain detects a threat, it quickly alerts our body to react with the fight-or-flight reaction. Under stressful circumstances, the human brain takes in more images in less time to create precious moments for escape. The result is a slowing in the perception of time.

The stressful situation of speaking in front of a large group may produce the same reaction in the brain.

The slowing of time by high-speed cameras may have won Time Warp entertainment points, but it won’t work well for the presenter on stage. A presenter in time warp may loose track of time and end up rushing through the information.

To avoid getting sucked into time warp during your presentation, be prepared. Know your subject thoroughly and verbalize it several times before you deliver it. When you do, you will be able to control your own time warp; perhaps not as much as the Discovery Channel cameras do, but enough to make your presentation a success.

If you have a personal time warp experience, please share it by leaving a comment.

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