Think Outside the Slides
Oh, the last month. Preparing for a presentation that could determine the fate of a 2+ year long project required a ton of preparation. When preparing for a presentation of that magnitude, all of the best practices for effective slide design become that much more important. The hard work of several people over many months was on the line.
Of course, the slides aren't the presentation, but with as much riding on the line as it was, every little detail mattered. One detail that I had to contend with was how to convey to the audience that we had evaluated 24 products against our requirements. Most people in my building tend to stop at 3; 5 at most. We evaluated 24. The reason was simple: Ensure we find the best product, period. Our plan was to be so thorough that when we presented our proposed solution, the forces in the room that wish to default to their favorite company's product won't have an argument to use against us.
So, how do you convey the magnitude of the work we had done? Many would list the 24 products on the slide. The problem there is most people would try to read each bullet and in the time that they're spending on that effort, they're not listening to you at all.
Another approach would be put a big 24 on a slide along with "products reviewed against our requirements" in smaller, though legible text. That approach is better, but I used that on other slides where that would have maximum impact. What I needed was more punch and creating such a slide would just dilute the impact of that kind of visual.
Instead, what I opted for was a visual that was not on a slide. What I did was I printed the row in our spreadsheet with all of the names of the products reviewed on our office plotter. The sheet of paper was 22 inches by 5 feet. Even then, you had to have the paper right in your face in order to read the text. Yet that's the thing. I didn't want any distracted by reading this long list of products. What I was going for was the visual impact of me holding this monster piece of paper with this list of products we evaluated.
When I was done showing the audience that paper, I placed it on the ground in front of me, out of reach of anyone who might be tempted to pick it up and try to read the list. Not only would they be distracted, but they'd pass it around the room and I'll have lost everyone.
I didn't stop there. Oh, no. I also printed out the matrix of all those 24 products scored against each requirement. This time, instead of printing in landscape, I printed in portrait mode. This time, only if you worked at it with the paper in your hands, could you have a hope of reading it. Again, that didn't matter. It wasn't meant to be read. It was meant to be seen. The visual impact obtained through these two monster print-outs could not have been obtained on a slide.
When it was over, everyone remarked on how thorough we were with this project and I even received comments about how powerful a presentation it was.
When presenting, don't be afraid to mix in some low-tech visuals if it will help you drive your message home. And to think, I didn't even mention the effect it has refocusing the audience's attention on you.
