Free Yourself from the Ball and Chain
by
Melissa Schwartz, VP of Training
&
Dan Farley, Senior PowerSpeaking, Inc. Trainer

When delivering our Speaking Up®: Presenting to Executives (formerly Speaking to the Big Dogs®) workshop, we often hear participants talk about the fact that their slides have become nothing short of a "ball and chain" for them. Presenters intuitively know that they shouldn't over-rely on slides when presenting to executives, but at the same time, they have an emotional and mental connection to them.

According to Dan Eilers, former CEO of Claris, Corporation, "The most powerful slide is no slide... because slides numb the mind at some level. If you want to get people to engage, engage with people." Now, we know that many presenters will not buy into using no slides at all, but perhaps this list of "rules" will resonate with you.

1. Front load (put the most critical slides up front).
2. Do not make slides for the agenda and summary (unless they are complicated and you can't easily verbalize them without a slide).
3. Do not use your slides as a script.
4. Put less words on your slides and don't read them to the executives. (It's irritating).
5. Categorize your concepts into "buckets" for a logical flow. With systematic flow, comes easier conversation.
6. Most of the executives we interviewed said in a thirty-minute time slot, you may only get through three slides (What?!? Only three slides? Yep, that's why it's critical you front load and bring the rest as back up.)

In addition to the above rules, rehearsal will greatly impact your flow and flexibility with the material. An up-front investment of time will pay big dividends in the end.

Slides are a security blanket for most presenters, and when you combine that with the terror of an executive presentation, the attachment intensifies. For those of you who are graduates of our Speaking Up® program, you know that speaking at this level is much more about improvisation and much less about presenting. So follow a few of the rules above, and you will be able to free yourself from the ball and chain of PowerPoint slides.