Persuading with Powerpoint

Persuading with PowerPoint A workshop for the Haas School of Business by Seth Familian :: May 6, 2008 The seven habits of highly effective PowerPoint presentations

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Presentations [ 1 ] Start with a structured story [ 2 ] Standardize your design language [ 3 ] Standardize your written language [ 4 ] Animate to narrate, not exaggerate [ 5 ] Show with images, tell with voiceover [ 6 ] Build slides around the transition [ 7 ] Learn to love the presentation remote

[ habit #1 ] Start with a structured story

Story-based structure: an example

Structuring your story Find a focus Outline the flow of ideas Storyboard complex narratives Divide longer presentations into sections

[ habit #2 ] Standardize your design language

What’s wrong with this slide?

What’s different in this version?

Let’s compare the two… What do you notice about fonts, spacing, colors, sizing, and layout?

Elements of a standardized design language Consistent fonts Serif (e.g. Times New Roman ) OR sans-serif (e.g. Arial ), not both A limited palate of complementary colors Focus on muted tones, not bright colors Use “transparencies” of the same color for variety: Consistent spacing between lines of text More spacing between bullets of the same “level” Less spacing between “child” bullets and their “parents” Simple and uncluttered layouts Use “align” “distribute” and “master pages” to maintain consistency 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

A standardized design language in action

Indispensable tools of the trade Grouping To apply animations to sets of shapes/text Right Click > Grouping > Group Cropping To manipulate imported images View > Toolbars > Picture > Cropper Print Screen To capture web pages or screenshots Prt Sc key (computer-specific) Also consider Snipping Tool 2.0

Indispensable tools of the trade “ Transparency” settings Easily create different tints on a color Double-click shape > Colors and Lines Line & Dash styles For designing better lines Double-click shape > Colors and Lines “ Tables and Borders” toolbar Easily adjust table text & borders View > Toolbars > Tables and Borders

Indispensable tools of the trade “ Align or Distribute” toolbar For creating clean and balanced slides View > Toolbars > Align or Distribute “ Line spacing” Infuse text-heavy slides with balance Format > Line Spacing Text Box properties Manage those unwieldy text boxes! Double-click on box border > Text Box

Indispensable tools of the trade Keyboard Shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + g = group 2 or more selected elements Ctrl + Shift + >/< = increase/decrease font size of selected text Shift + Drag = move element along X or Y axis Ctrl + Drag = copy element Ctrl + Shift + Drag = copy element and move copy along X or Y axis Alt + Drag = move element more precisely Shift + Resize = resize element proportionally Ctrl + Resize = resize element from center Ctrl + Shift + Resize = resize element proportionally from center Alt + Resize = resize element more precisely

Let’s put these tools into action! Here is some sample text we can work with. It’s long enough so we can play with the spacing, font size, etc…

Master pages are great for maintaining consistency

[ habit #3 ] Standardize your written language

What do these slides have in common?

Best practices for writing slide text Be concise! The less text the better Start bullets with active verbs whenever possible Make sure all language is grammatically consistent For longer bullets emphasize a key word or two with larger text at the beginning, then do a “soft return” (shift + enter) and continue with smaller text below Use titles as an opportunity to reiterate the story The audience should be listening to you, not reading your slides!

[ habit #4 ] Animate to narrate, not exaggerate

Static, complex slides are tough to narrate

WebPress Revenues & Profitability Year 5 Year 4 Year 3 Year 2 Year 1 Cost to Cash Flow Positive ≈ $2.4M $7,150,000 $50,449,000 $86,000 $21,496,000 $38,551,000 $10,000,000 $20,000,000 $30,000,000 $40,000,000 $50,000,000 $0 Subscription Revenues Advertising Revenues Operating Expenses Operating Profits Cash Flow Positive Breakeven

The bottom line on animation in PowerPoint Good Animation… Helps tell a complex story Always makes sense within the slide’s context Uses subtle effects Takes a backseat to the content of the slide Is never too flashy Is quite rare Bad Animation… Adds nothing to the story Usually makes no sense within the slide’s context Uses dramatic effects Strives to be at the center of the slide Is almost always too flashy Is painfully common

Fundamentals of animation in PowerPoint Three key animation attributes The type of effect Its speed and direction of entry When it enters (timings)

Effect Types: Only four worth knowing Appear Fade Faded Zoom Wipe Very Slow Slow Medium Fast Very Fast Very Slow Slow Medium Fast Very Fast From Left From Right From Top From Bottom

Effect Timing: Three different “start” types On Click effect starts when you click the mouse With Previous effect starts at the same time as the effect before it in the list See how this animated at the same time? After Previous effect starts only after the effect before it has fully animated See how this started to animate only after the box above finished animating?

Animating bullets and other text Have the first bullet appear “with previous” This helps you avoid an unnecessary click at the beginning of the slide Animate one bullet at a time Helps focus the audience on the point at hand and prevents “reading ahead” Animate “groups of bullets” together This will avoid unnecessary clicking on your part Use the “Appear” effect as much as possible “ Fade” also works, but prevents quick clicking through slides To add emphasis to a concluding point, use “Faded Zoom” This is an example of a Faded Zoom concluding point. Notice the box, too!

Let’s practice! This headline should appear immediately This first bullet point should appear on a click This second bullet point should appear on a click And this “child” bullet should appear with its “parent” above This third bullet should appear on another click And this conclusion box should appear on a click as a faded zoom

Animating tables: text with a twist      Pure Players (Findory.com, Topix.net)       WebPress     RSS Readers     Content Portals and Aggregators (Google & Yahoo)     Traditional Media Websites (LaTimes.com, CNN.com) Portable Print Format Mobile Device Delivery Hassle-Free Preference Collection Targeted Ads Intuitive Interface Personalized Content Strong Offering  ---------------------  ---------------------  Weak/No Offering       

Animating charts and graphs Deconstruct the graph in PPT to get the best results This can be tricky. First, copy the chart from excel into PPT Make sure you treat the image as a “picture of a chart” Ungroup multiple times to get at individual elements Then format and animate to your heart’s content Use the “Wipe” effect to bring in individual elements “ Bottom to Top” wiping works best for bar charts “ Left to Right” wiping works best for line charts Synchronize legend elements with builds Use different “start” types for more elegant builds Use “timings” to create even more nuanced effects

Let’s practice animating a chart! First, we need to paste in a chart from Excel…

Additional notes on timings Timings are the key to gorgeous animations They facilitate better customization of individual elements They enable you to create faster and more elegant builds But they also require lots of time to optimize, so be patient! To create a cascading bar chart with timings: Make sure all elements within a given group start “with previous” A delay of 0.2 seconds usually works well to create a cascade Play with the “pacing” of other builds to match the timing of a group

Key Development Milestones Year 3 Year 2 Year 1 $0 Cash Flow Positive Breakeven Pilot Partner Beta Site Article Recommendation Functional Web Interface Functional $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 ($1,000,000) $1.5M First Round $1.1M Round 2 Partner #2 WebPress Profitability

Final thoughts on animation Focus first and foremost on the story you want to tell For effects, you usually never need anything more than Wipe, Fade, and Faded Zoom—it’s all about how you use them The one exception is “Circle Out,” which works well for animating 2x2 lines Always build printer-friendly animations! Any slide with animation should be totally legible in “normal” & “slide sorter” view If you can’t do this and the printed page looks cluttered, use multiple pages The “disappear” command can be especially helpful when trying to reveal elements of a table one row or column at a time Simplicity is always your best option. Don’t overcomplicate!

How WebPress Works Assess individual reader tastes & preferences Deliver relevant content to preferred platform(s) WebPress’s personalization algorithm dynamically identifies individual preferences and adapts to changes over time WebPress matches individual preferences with relevant articles and targeted advertising WebPress delivers content to the individual’s preferred platform(s) and provides custom layouts that emulate the look and feel of print newspapers Personal Content Bundle Match personal preferences to relevant content & ads Content Preferences Profile Segmentation Relevant Daily Content Relevant Advertising Mobile Devices Printer-Friendly Mini Newspaper Customized Web Interface D A I L Y C O N T E N T Platform Specific Advertising

[ habit #5 ] Show with images, then tell with voiceover Let’s start with an example…

What kinds of content do they consume? Short-Format Peer-Driven Aggregated Consider the service StumbleUpon: User selects from an initial list of topics & categories Stumble tool is added to user’s browser toolbar Clicking “stumble” takes user to a random site which coincides with their interest For example: a virtual “magnetic poetry board”

What kinds of content do they consume? Short-Format Peer-Driven Aggregated

Where are they consuming this digital content? Marumushi Metro NY Wash Post LA Times CNN Digg NY Times Fox News Drudge 2 Screens 3 Screens 4 Screens 6 Screens 5 Screens 7 Screens 1 Screen

Times to consider using images instead of bullets Timelines & sequences of events Competitive landscapes (use logos) Consumer segmentations (faces show emotion) When discussing any website (screen shots) When selling a product or vision (mock-ups) To inject humor or a “break” in an otherwise text-heavy presentation (editorial cartoons)

Sources for high-quality images www.gettyimages.com www.corbis.com http://images.google.com

[ habit #6 ] Build your slides around the transition

Newspapers are Suffering Print Editions Online Editions As print circulations decline and readers move online, revenues suffer: Source: eMarketer 2006 Online Publishing Report and Newspaper Association of America why the difference? Annual Revenues $55B $2.5B Annual Revenue Per Unique User $500 $50

Explaining the Disconnect Stakeholder Attitude Result Demand precise targeting online Advertisers Pay minimal CPMs Lack loyalty and willingness to pay Feel entitled yet dissatisfied Readers Can’t fully monetize their content online Are risk averse Publishers

The WebPress Solution WebPress enables newspapers to give their readers Assess individual reader tastes and preferences Match personal profiles to relevant content and advertising Deliver personalized news to a reader’s preferred platform(s) What they want. When they want it. How they want it.

Good transitions are about good story telling! Think about the story that links slides together Write your slides so the conclusion from one provides a bridge to the slide that follows Good transitions are usually just a few words The contrast: “In contrast to X, let’s now consider Y” The build: “Here’s another example of X” The break: “I’ve told you about X, now let’s talk about Y” Practice delivering slides out loud to nail the transition There should always be a bridge from one slide to the next If you can’t crack it, you may need to rethink the presentation’s structure

[ habit #7 ] Learn to love the presentation remote

Why use a presentation remote? You’ll seem more professional as a presenter You’ll present with more elegance, since you won’t need to pause briefly for each click You won’t be anchored to your computer, and will be able to move around more freely You’ll be able to focus 100% of your attention on your audience—which is what really matters

To review… [ 1 ] Start with a structured story [ 2 ] Standardize your design language [ 3 ] Standardize your written language [ 4 ] Animate to narrate, not exaggerate [ 5 ] Show with images, tell with voiceover [ 6 ] Build slides around the transition [ 7 ] Learn to love the presentation remote

Thank You! I hope these PowerPointers prove helpful in your professional endeavors For a copy of this presentation, visit: www.sethfamilian.com/persuading2.ppt Further questions? Feel free to contact me: 415-615-2225 // seth.familian@mba.berkeley.edu

Persuading with Powerpoint

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