Say+It+with+Presentations

Say It with PresentationsHow to Design and Deliver Successful Business Presentations, Revised and ExpandedGENE ZELAZNY McGraw-HillNew York, Chicago, San Francisco, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New Delhi, San Juan, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, TorontoCopyright 2006 by Gene Zelazny. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-149187-2The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-147289-4.All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. 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Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10.1036/0071472894To Marvin Bower for creating the playground known as McKinsey & Company and to the thousands of friends and colleagues in the Firm who gave me the space to play in it Here it is over 40 years later and Im still running around with sand in my sneakers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Recently I heard the expression, “the gift of feedback.”It meant a lot to me, especially when I thought of the professionals who supported me in creating this book. Thank you all, for being such an important part of this book, and of my life.Sara Roche for your uncompromising standards of quality in editing the ideas, the structure, the words. Sara retired from McKinsey & Company, where she made friends of all those who had the privilege of working with her for 32 years. Sara also edited my first book, Say It with Charts. Vera Deutsch for making me look good. Shes the talented graphics designer who added her magic touch to the look and feel of the book, as she did with Say It with Charts. Dan Nevins for your gift of humor with the illustrations.Zac Enco for giving your dad, Bill Enco, the time he needed to help shape the chapter on selecting media in the next decade.Ellen Lesser and Steve Sakson for your patient, sensitive, constructive advice when I needed it most.Judy Marcus for sharing your professional insights, for bringing out my softer, gentler voice, and for holding my hand as we move through life together.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gene Zelazny is the Director of Visual Communications for McKinsey & Company.Since joining the firm in 1961, Genes primary responsibility has been to provide creative advice and assistance to the professional staff in the design of visual presentations and written reports. This includes planning the communication strategy; structuring the story line; interpreting the data or concepts and recommending the best visual formats in terms of charts, diagrams, and so on; designing storyboards; and rehearsing the presenters. Also, he has designed and led communication training programs throughout the firm.On behalf of the firm, Gene regularly presents his ideas on Making the Most of Your Business Presentation at business schools including Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Darden, Harvard, Haas, Kellogg, Michigan, Sloan, Stanford, Tuck, UCLA, Wharton, Washington, in the United States, and INSEAD, LBS, and Oxford in Europe.His book, Say It with Charts, is in its fourth edition in the United States and is available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.Otherwise, youll find him on a tennis court or on a bicycle, designing chess sets and sponsoring children to do the same (check out his Web site at ), writing essays for his friends, and always holding hands with Judy.IntroductionSO YOUVE BEEN ASKED TO GIVE A PRESENTATIONSo youve been asked to give a business presentation.I stress youve been asked because, for most of us, theres no way we would ever volunteer.“Dont tell me to give the presentation,” the little voice in your head shouts:“You persuade the local city council that we should place the toxic waste dump in their backyard.”“You advise the company founder to shut down operations in two plants and put 2000 employees out of work.”“You tell the business unit leaders why they need to cut costs in their departments by 40 percent.”“You convince the board of directors to approve a 32 percent cut in wages for the 7000 employees from chairman to cookfor the company to survive.”Would you volunteer for assignments like these? I rest my case.So youve been asked to give a business presentation.“What are you, crazy?” the voice persists. “You want me to go through what happened to Jay J.? Remember when he started his presentation with, Todays purpose is to., only to hear the CEO say, No, thats not our purpose.? Or when only 9 of the 75 people Sara R. invited showed up? Or when they didnt have the right cable to connect Michele Z.s laptop to the LCD projector?”So youve been asked to give a business presentation.“And besides,” the voice pleads, “I dont need the sweaty palms, the trembling knees, the butterflies in the pit of my stomach, the embarrassment of an unfortunate ad-lib, the fear of making a mistake, or worse, the anxiety that I wont be able to answer the questions.”So youve been asked to give a business presentation.“And furthermore,” the voice whimpers, “I dont have the time. Do you have any idea of the work thats waiting on my desk? Do you know how much time its going to take to plan the presentation, to get the story line organized, to get the visuals and the handouts produced, to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse? Do you know how much its going to cost?”So youre going to give the presentation. Why fight it? You knew all along youd have to do it. Thats where this book comes in. It offers insights and practical ideas derived from all the presentations Ive designed and given, as well as the experiences of my friends and colleagues at McKinsey & Company for whom Ive shaped presentations for more than 40 years.I do not intend this to be a textbook from which you learn to design and deliver presentations. After all, you dont learn to ride a bicycle by reading a manual. The only way to learn is to get on the bike and fall off and get on the bike and fall off and get on the bike and ride. So it is with presentations. All this book can do is point the way; you have to do the pedaling. A note of caution before getting on the bicycle. Ive assumed that youve thought through the what of your presentationthe contentthat youve thoroughly researched the supporting evidence, that the conclusions are logical, that the recommendations are realistic, and that what stands between you and success is the presentation the vehicle that carries the facts and the ideas to your audience. There is no substitute for the confidence that comes with knowing your material. What this book is all about is the competence needed to design and deliver a presentation.If you have only 2 minutes to spare, turn your attention to the “Audiences Bill of Rights” that follows. You may want to review it whenever you have to prepare a presentation. When you have more time, review the rest of the book to learn how to safeguard your audiences rights. Study the three chapters for how to “Define the Situation,” “Design the Presentation,” and “Deliver the Presentation.” Enjoy the ride. The idea of an Audiences Bill of Rights came to me from a client. At the close of one of my workshops, he said, “In this company, I am the audience. Do I have any rights?” Heres a sampling of what Ive gathered from colleagues all over the world, which may help you the next time you deliver a presentation.ABOUT OBJECTIVES The right to know what you want me to do or think as a result of the presentation.The right to see the reason for my involvement.The right to receive value for the time I devote to attending the presentation.ABOUT RESPECT The right to contribute to the intellectual content, and to share in the outcome.The right to be given time to think instead of being pressed for an instant decision.The right to be spoken neither down to nor up to, but with respect for my experience, intelligence, and knowledge.The right to honesty when you dont have answers to my questions.The right (that few use) to vote with my feet and walk out on poorly conceived presentations.ABOUT TIMING The right to know in advance how much time the presentation will take.The right to have the presentation start and stop on time, as predetermined by my busy schedule.The right to expect breaks once in a while, and not just for biological necessities.ABOUT CONTENT The right to know where were going, how the presentation will progress.The right to know what decisions are at issue, your rationale for your position, and the facts that support this reasoning.The right to get the important information first. Surprise endings are for OHenry.ABOUT VISUALS The right to be able to read every word on every visual without resorting to opera glasses, no matter where I sit in the audience.The right to have complex charts explained.ABOUT FLEXIBILITY The right to stop for discussion, to help the group reach a shared understanding.The right to ask questions at any time and to expect answers when I ask them, instead of being put off with, “Ill get to that later.”ABOUT DELIVERY The right to be able to hear you from the back of the room.The right to absorb the presentation without the distraction of wild gestures.The right to see your face, not the back of your head, as you address the screen with the hope that the message will ricochet and hit me in the audience.ABOUT ENDING The right to enjoy your sense of humor when it helps to make a point, relieve tension, or achieve rapport.The right to a clear view of what has been agreed to and what will happen next.The right Define The SituationOverviewThe most perceptive definition of a business presentationhow it differs from, say, a lecture or a training program or a speechcomes from my friend, Sir Antony Jay. “A presentation,” he says, “is an exercise in persuasion.”1 You want:To persuade the city council to place the waste dump in their backyardTo persuade the company founder to close down the two plantsTo persuade the business unit heads to cut costs by 40 percentAnd, until now, thats what youve been working on around the clockresearching, interviewing, analyzing, and every other-ing that goes into surfacing the recommendations youll want the audience to act on.For now, do yourself a favor and push it all asidethe tomes of data, the spreadsheets, the interview notes, and the charts. Get a cup of your favorite brew, take a blank sheet of paper, and give yourself about 15 minutes to think about, and to record, the situation youll be facing. Ask yourself what makes this presentation uniquedifferent from the one you gave last week, different from the one youll give next week. I promise you, this exercise will help you achieve the results you want from this presentation. It may even indicate that you dont need to deliver a presentation. Thats fine, if you figure out a better way to do the persuading.Here are the questions you want to answer:Why are you giving this presentation?Whom do you want to convince?How much time will you have for the presentation?Whats the best medium to use?Lets discuss each in more detail.1Antony Jay and Ros Jay, Effective Presentation (London: Pitman Publishing, 1996).WHY ARE YOU GIVING THIS PRESENTATION?Surely you can find better ways to spend your time than putting together a presentation. If I were to ask you to list the five things you like to do most, in order of importance, would standing in front of an audience to deliver a presentation show up? I doubt it.Now the insight. Members of your audience HATE sitting through your presentation more than you hate giving it. No kidding. Theyll do anything not to sit through your presentation: Theyll lie, make excuses, borrow a beeper and activate it any time they feel they cant take anymore, tell their assistant to come into the room 10 minutes into the presentation and pass them a blank note so they can decide whether to stay or leave.Its nothing personal, mind you. Its simply that they rank sitting through a presentationanybodys presentation one step lower than giving one. If theyre like me, they rank giving presentations many, many steps lower than, for example, (1) holding hands with Judy, (2) playing tennis, (3) riding a bicycle, (4) browsing through used-book shops, or (5) having a massage. So, please give the people at your presentation a good reason to sit through it. Make them feel indispensable to the success of your project: You need their approval for action, or you cant proceed. You must have their agreement to do something, or you cant move on. You need the benefit of their insights, of their position in the organization, of their experience with the issue, or youre stuck.Thats what defining your objective is all about. The way to a good definition is to write, in one sentence, what, realistically, you want the members of your audience to do or to think as the result of this presentation. There are several subtleties to this task:1. Limit it to one sentence. If you need more than one sentence, youre not clear about your objective. Chances are your presentation will become confused among several objectives.2. Make sure that the objective is realistic. For example, asking for an on-the-spot approval to spend millions of dollars on a new product idea may be unrealistic. The decision makers may need more than just one presentation to be persuaded.I once worked with a couple of entrepreneurs who were putting together a presentation for an audience of interested investment bankers. I asked each of them to write down the objective of their presentation. The first wrote, “I want to impress my audience.” “Thats easy,”I said, “send them tickets to the hottest show in town; thatll impress them.” The second was more specific. He said, “I want the members of the audience to invest in my product idea.” That sounded good. I offered him a single dollar bill from my wallet and asked him if he had accomplished his objective. “Of course not,” he said. “What I want is $1,500,000.” Yeah, sure, rub a lamp! A more realistic request would be for approval of, say, $250,000 to test market the idea, to be followed by a second presentation for approval of additional funds. 3. Make sure that it leads to action. The operative words are: “What do you want the audience members TO DO?”To say that you want to review your progress to date doesnt go far enough. Would you be satisfied if, at the end of the presentation, you heard the audience say, “Thank you, we now know where you are in your work”? Chances are that you want the audience to do something with or about the information, or that you want approval to move ahead with the next phase of your work.To say that you want to inform the audience or to build their understanding about something doesnt go far enough; every presentation serves to inform and to build understanding. The question is what do you want the members to do with the information. Be specific. For example:You want the local city council to agree to sign the ordinance that will legalize placing the waste dump in this new location.You want the company founder to approve the strategy aimed at closing the two plants.You want the business unit heads to proceed with the cost reduction action program. A clearly defined objective has great value. It helps to determine whether you really need to give a presentation. You can find better things to do with your time, and none of us wants to sit through the presentation anyway. So, think hard about your objective. If you can meet it by picking up the phone, dont give a presentation. If you can meet it by writing a brief memo, dont give a presentation. Before you go forward with your presentation, be convinced that the best way to meet your objective is to have all the members of the audience hear the same message at the same time, to answer all their questions, and to give them a chance to exchange views so they can agree on what needs to be done. In short, a clearly stated objective helps you think through your communication strategy. It helps to focus the attention and the energy of the audience. A clearly stated objective brings focus to a presentation and thus uses the energy of the audience efficiently. It allows you to transform your thinking from “What do I want the audience to see and hear?” to “What does the audience need to see and hear to meet the objective?” In other words, think about your objective not in terms of what it means to you, but in terms of what it means to the audience: What do they need to see and hear to say Yes to what you want them to do? Meeting your objective is the only measure of success you have for your presentation. If you havent stated your objective clearly, you have no way of judging if your presentation was worth the effort. If people say youre a great speaker or your visuals are gorgeous, thats nice; however, it hardly justifies the time and effort spent on