The thrills and spills of presentations and workshops

@felderston (I never use it anyway)

Hello

Hi…

I’m oli… I spend a lot of time writing and

presenting half-baked presentations and running poorly planned workshops

A d iscla imer

A lot of this might be massively patronising, but it’s not meant to be

Just hopefully a couple of useful points to ignore or borrow from

Th is presentat ion includes…

Some fun tips on writing

presentations

A couple of pointers on how to

present them (well?)

A couple of tips for setting up and

running workshops

Some goofy workshop

techniques you can steal

F irst up , presentat ions

How to write them so they don’t suck

How to present them like a

badass+

F irstly , I d isagree with th is :

Sex Presenting

You’re naked

You’re turned on

You’re doing it with a roomful of colleagues

You have a clicker

*If you love present ing as much as sex , you ’re doing one , or both of them wrong

T ip #1

Don’t start writ ing the

damn th ing at 7pm the day

before it ’s due

Source: Me @ 19:15 yesterday

But , overall , I th ink there are some s imple th ings to bear in mind

1.

who the hell are you writ ing it

for and how will they

rece ive i t?

2.

What are you try ing to say? And

how will you say i t in a way that makes

sense?

3.

How will you make it sexy and not dull and

horrible?

Why the context you are writ ing for matters

1.

who the hell are you writ ing it

for and how will they

rece ive i t?

What ’s the seniority and att itude of the audience?

CEOPerson doing all the work

“I need all the detail because i’m actually making this happen”

“This is my life, please keep going”

80+ charts Fewer than 10 charts

“Yay another meeting” “What are the key decisions I’m making”

“Hang on, I’ve got an important call”

“Who the hell are you and why are you still talking?”

We aren’t pa id by the chart

CEOPerson doing all the work

“I need all the detail because i’m actually making this happen”

“This is my life, please keep going”

80+ charts Fewer than 10 charts

“Yay another meeting” “What are the key decisions I’m making”

“Hang on, I’ve got an important call”

“Who the hell are you and why are you still talking?”

Focus on what is important for the people in the room Don’t throw in the kitchen sink for the sake of it What do you want actioned? Why is it happening?

Are you present ing it? Does it need to be a leave-behind?

Is it a prop or fun visual to make a point?

Or is it an idiot proof explanation of what you

need to do?

What do you want out of i t?

Are you sell ing something?

There are probably 3 main roles for a presentat ion…

Are you start ing a d iscussion?

Are you expla in ing something?

• “Miss World Order • Subtle crescendo • Hints to call back to - leave

breadcrumbs • Shape the discussion • Whatever you need to bring it

to life

• Clear signposting • Summary charts and executive

summaries • Short, simple accompanying

text • Provide supporting links and

examples

• Frame the question and discussion clearly

• Pause for discussion, and direct it

• Force the question and bank the answers

• Just enough stimulus

* I completely made th is up

How to be clear in presentat ions

1.

who the hell are you writ ing it

for and how will they

rece ive i t?

2.

What are you try ing to say? And

how will you say i t in a way that makes

sense?

Have a narrat ive , and tell people what it is

People don’t (usually) l ike surprises

They also want to know where it ’s go ing

(And when they can go to the to ilet)

Source: Joyfully stolen from Russell Davies

Map it out , don’t just throw charts at i t

Know where you’re going

Th ink ing through at a bullet po int level

Go macro f irst

Say what you need in the headl ines…

See Above

… And tell a story with them

(Although, know your audience… Some corporate organisat ions don’t l ike them to be too conversat ional)

I t ’s also a balancing act

as l ittle as you can get away with As much as you

need to get your point across

“ If in doubt , less is more”

Be a human

write l ike a human

Imagine your audience is human

Try to engage them as such

But also be a ruthless ed itor

When writ ing a presentat ion , the temptat ion is to

overexpla in everything . You would do best to ed it every

unnecessary word, avoid leav ing chunks of prose in , and make it as clear and precise so

you can talk around it when you’re present ing it

Don’t overexpla in

ed it every unnecessary word

No chunks of prose

Be clear and precise

Talk around it when present ing

But you st ill need space for charm

1.

who the hell are you writ ing it

for and how will they

rece ive i t?

2.

What are you try ing to say? And

how will you say i t in a way that makes

sense?

3.

How will you make it sexy and not dull and

horrible?

A p icture cannot tell a thousand words

Pictures are tricky

They can make the most boring shit interesting

BUt they can also distract you from making sense

i llustrate , don’t decorate

A POWERFUL POPOSITION

*PROUDLY Stolen from russell dav ies

Both terrible and lazy

A springboard, an evocat ion , or an i llustrat ion

Bring an anecdote to l ife

Add emotional context to a po int

Carry information in an engaging way

A couple of “don’ts”

If you 're talk ing about budgets you don't need a p icture of some money

If you 're talk ing about having ideas you don't need p ictures of l ightbulbs

If you 're talk ing about teamwork you don't need a p icture of some brightly coloured people holding a

p iece of j igsaw

Don’t use full-stops on every s ingle point l ine

Even more specif ically , never, ever use cl ipart

*Because We hate ourselves enough already

“Say it with boxes”

Even the most boring wall of text or replay ing of a s imple brief can be improved by breaking it into boxes because it makes it eas ier to d igest , clearer to talk around, and creates (the i llus ion) of th ink ing . I t also g ives you some k ind of framework to work around, even if i t ’s nonsense .

The most boring of text or s imple brief can be improved by :

Breaking it into some boxes , or a s imple framework

Easier to d igestClearer to talk

around

Creates (the i llus ion) of

thought

It also makes it look less boring

Have fun with it

I t shows

And then, how to present i t ( WELL)

1.

Own IT (you are a strong and

powerful ind iv idual)

2.

Don’t read read the charts , tell a

story

3.

I t ’s not all about you (AK A SHUT UP)

Embody the presentat ion

Behavioural psychology tells us that body language can lead how

you feel

If you look, feel and act like a badass, you will present like one

Rehearse it , know it , do it

Some people like to rehearse it solo

Or with an audience

Or in your head

But whatever you do… internalise it

But do whatever makes you feel comfortable

Everyone is different

Don’t listen to anyone telling you how to do it

Just feel how you like to do it

Feel free to go off p iste

Detours are fun

it makes you seem human

It show’s you know your stuff

Run with it

But be the tour guide , don’t let them get lost

Bring them in to land

You’re in charge

Don’t let them stray or get lost

Please… Shut up

Pauses give you time to breathe

They also give people time to think

ANd sometimes ask questions

So… Onto workshops…

I love workshops

But I also hate workshops

A couple of t ips for running workshops

1.

PlanNING PLanning planning

2.

Trust the process

3.

Be the energy

Rules help us all have fun

No No’s Quantity not quality Reserve judgement Park it No pet projects Follow the leader

Be crystal clear on what you want to achieve

Learn / Create / Develop

People / Purpose / Process

Fuck seniority

Everyone is equal

It’s not just a chance for the most senior people to say their piece

It’s your job to make it feel equal

Don’t speak

A workshop should be participative

No more than 1/3 should be presenting

Shut the hell up

Trust the process

It should feel chaotic

If you follow the right process it will get the right idea

Help everyone trust together

Take everyone on the journey

Get consensus

Sort, cluster, improve and vote

The process matters as much as the output

Avoid groupthink

Get people working solo and sharing back

Break people into small teams

Minimise ‘full group’ time

icebreakers and energisers work

They seem naff

But they make a real difference

Build them in and take them seriously (even if they feel stupid)

Make it a safe space

It should be playful

Stupid ideas are the path to good ideas

There are really no bad answers (at least at this stage) Only boring ones

Lastly , some l ittle exercises to steal for workshops

Nearly there…

have a goal - 40 in 20

Studies show, if you don’t give a target, people come up with about 8 ideas in 20 minutes

If you give them a goal of 40 ideas, they come up with 24

*I made these numbers up because I can’t find the source

Make it a race - get to the end of the table

Post-it note race

Fun, gives everyone a target

Visual and uses the space

What would x do?

A fun projective to push people in new directions

What would apple / amazon / facebook / gandhi / corbin do?

Get outs ide of the norm - what would get you f ired?

challenge everyone to come up with a good idea that would get them fired

Prize for the best

Speed dat ing

Get different people to own different products / problems / areas

Get them to speed date with other people for 2 minutes and see what sticks

project ive - imagine you’ve na iled it

Imagine it’s 2020

What went well What’s the headline What are customers saying What did you have to do to get there? What did you have to stop? What was the biggest investment?

map out the consumer journey

What do they do throughout the day?

Pain points? Touch points?

Where can we make a difference?

What would a better / the opposite company do?

Imagine you are launching the opposite company in the same category

It does all the stuff you wish you could do but can’t

It makes a fresh start and is massively successful

SOGRA EKIN IDUA

Lastly , have a th ink , make it up , have fun

It’s not rocket science

BUt it should be fun

And it should be creative

What will get the best results?

In summary

1.

Know your audience , know yourself , and

break the presentat ion down

into a structure

2.

Have fun, make it part ic ipat ive , keep it interest ing and

ta ilor it to the purpose and the

audience

3.

Be creat ive , use a range of techniques ,

don’t just make it “another presentat ion

/ workshop / brainstorm / snooze-

fest”

Quest ions?

*22:23, half a bottle of wine and 57 charts later