Whenever I attend a presentation where the presenter uses PowerPoint, I cringe and my brain goes to sleep. . . for about an hour or however long the presentation takes.

I then look forward to the Q&A section, providing the presenter has planned it in, because believe it or not some don’t even bother and believe that their mission is just to give their message and that’s it!

Because it’s during the Q&A section that I get engaged and my brain wakes up. Up until that moment I have to listen to the presenter, who is of course very passionate about their subject matter but only has their own interest at heart. I am just a ‘listening victim’.

But we also know unless you get your audience involved, they will forget 50% of the presentation within 1 hour and 80% within a month. Research by Ebbinghaus [hyperlink to wikipedia] back in the [insert date] proved that point. In fact I reckon we forget 80% within 48 hours, unless we get engaged with it again in that period of time. OK maybe a bit harsh, we may remember the general gist of it but very little of the details. And forget about reading the PowerPoint afterwards, as very rarely people do.

We all know the saying ‘Death by PowerPoint’, so why do we still do it? There is no better solution I hear you cry!

Yes there is and it’s called you and your ability to engage your audience.

I am on a mission to move presenters towards a ‘Social Presentation’.

3 very simple steps to become a ‘Social Presenter’

1. Create a short video maximum 3 minutes, to get your point across and what you wish your audience to think about. Play that video at the start of your talk. In fact it is your only presentation. Yes that’s it, nothing else to present!
2. Ask your audience to ask questions or make observations on the video and engage with you. This is your opportunity to shine, don’t hide behind your PowerPoint presentation. Your job is to get your audience to remember you and your subject matter, by discussing it with them.
3. Ask your audience also to talk to each other and share stories, experiences and what the subject that is being presented means to them personally. This allows them to engage even further with your subject and now they are living it in a personal way. Makes sense right?

Here are a few examples of different Video presentations that have been created to facilitate ‘Social Learning’.

The first one is by iBDM, who are taking their first step into video.  Please read their blog on the same subject matter via http://www.i-bdm.co.uk/category/blog/

Often sales people have to present a pitch to prospects and equally often they all have different styles, some good some bad, some have success and others don’t.

It doesn’t mean they are poor sales people, they are just not good at doing a memorable pitch. Having a video to play as part of your pitch, allows the client to grasp your proposal in a few minutes and now you can spend the rest of the meeting understanding the client’s needs and requirements, instead of taking up the whole meeting presenting and being left with just a few minutes at the end trying to scramble to get some information out of them and then leaving demotivated and wondering why you didn’t get the business.

So whether it’s a presentation to a large audience or a sales pitch one on one, ditch the PowerPoint and move towards Video.

You know it makes sense, so have a go and witness the results.

Success!!