image

Br Headline Con

August 14, 2009

Sometimes Less is More… Like in a PowerPoint Presentation

Filed under: Positioning, Presentation — karen @ 11:12 am
I recently attended a life science industry event. The keynote speaker began at 8am. I had a cup of coffee in hand and was ready to be educated. 45 minutes later and 189 power point slides later I had been teased with a volume of information that I couldn’t possibly have absorbed. I am not exaggerating…. literally 189 slides. I kept watching slides of impressive graphs and statistics fly by at lightening speed (averaging 15 seconds per slide) and thinking to myself, “wait, go back, I couldn’t see what that said!” 189 slides is about 150 slides too many.
PowerPoint presentations are tools to guide a discussion; they are not standalone pieces that tell a story on their own. The most engaging presenters are those that draw you in, that make you feel as though you are a part of the conversation and not a bored student sitting in the back of the classroom listening to the famous Charlie Brown teacher voice drone on (mwahh mwaaa mwaah mwahh mwaaa mwaaa).
Use slides to remind you of key points you wish to discuss and to guide you, not substitute for you. Your listeners will appreciate it and you will be perceived as far more knowledgeable and engaged. When creating a PowerPoint, whether for a client or our own new business presentations, I always try to ask myself, “if the attendees at this meeting read this document on their own, would they know everything I am aiming to share with them?” If the answer yes, then the slides are too detailed and need to be scaled back. Attendees need to consciously or subconsciously assign some value to your physical presence at a presentation in order to feel their time was well spent. If they could have received it all in an email an opportunity to really connect was lost.

I recently attended a life science industry event. The keynote speaker began at 8am. I had a cup of coffee in hand and was ready to be educated. 45 minutes later and 189 power point slides later I had been teased with a volume of information that I couldn’t possibly have absorbed. I am not exaggerating…. literally 189 slides. I kept watching slides of impressive graphs and statistics fly by at lightening speed (averaging 15 seconds per slide) and thinking to myself, “wait, go back, I couldn’t see what that said!” 189 slides is about 150 slides too many.

PowerPoint presentations are tools to guide a discussion; they are not standalone pieces that tell a story on their own. The most engaging presenters are those that draw you in, that make you feel as though you are a part of the conversation and not a bored student sitting in the back of the classroom listening to the famous Charlie Brown teacher voice drone on (mwahh mwaaa mwaah mwahh mwaaa mwaaa).

Use slides to remind you of key points you wish to discuss and to guide you, not substitute for you. Your listeners will appreciate it and you will be perceived as far more knowledgeable and engaged. When creating a PowerPoint, whether for a client or our own new business presentations, I always try to ask myself, “if the attendees at this meeting read this document on their own, would they know everything I am aiming to share with them?” If the answer yes, then the slides are too detailed and need to be scaled back. Attendees need to consciously or subconsciously assign some value to your physical presence at a presentation in order to feel their time was well spent. If they could have received it all in an email an opportunity to really connect was lost.

July 28, 2009

Positioning Depending on your Point-Of-View

Filed under: Branding, Marketing, Positioning — tom @ 9:21 am

For those unfamiliar with the art of positioning, it is a term referring to where each of us “positions,” or ranks a brand. Sure, even people and countries are brands in today’s marketing-obsessed society. But let’s relegate our thinking to more commercial brands like, let’s say, coffee.

In a recent evening class I was teaching on Creativity and the Media, I used Starbucks as a number-one ranked positioned brand. Although other chains had already been around for years like The Coffee Bean, it was Starbucks that captured wide public attention first. And being first makes any brand very difficult to de-throne. Pick up a copy of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout for prime examples of first-to-market brands that endure through the ages. It’s a light read, and is the foundation of all things positioning.

After a few utterances of the Starbucks brand, I was quickly corrected by a student who informed me that Dunkin’ Donuts holds that distinction validated by blind taste tests. Well, here’s where positioning can really become segmented, altered, sliced and diced to your company’s advantage. You see, each positioning is based on a category of beliefs. Who’s ranked higher in position: Nordstrom’s or Wal-Mart? In service, Nordstrom’s. In savings, Wal-Mart. But how many of us would even consider positioning these two brands against each other?

Positioning is best used when comparing and contrasting similar products and services. Coke and Pepsi. Hertz and Avis. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. You and your competition. It all depends on an individual’s point-of-view—our societal prism we develop over the years to judge a brand. Where we grew up. Who we surround themselves with. The lifestyle we seek. We are a product of our environment, and we act accordingly.

The secret to using positioning to your advantage is to know your ranking in the mind of your customer (wishful thinking is prohibited), and then do battle accordingly.

Or jump ship and create you own positioning category like Starbucks did.