Following last week’s article on the difference between political speeches and presentations, I came upon a sound bite during the week that throws further light on the issue. And it goes part of the way towards explaining, given the obstacles to integrity that they face, how politicians will try to sound sincere.

The sound bite in question was on the RTE lunchtime news last Thursday (July 7^th), the politician was Dennis Naughten, and the issue under discussion was the closing of A&E in Roscommon regional hospital – you may have heard the story.

Dennis Naughten refused to vote with his party on a bill to downgrade the A&E department to an ‘urgent care centre’. The TD himself explained, ‘There were firm commitments given before the election in writing to the people of Roscommon. I had campaigned on those issues in good faith and in all honesty, I couldn’t now tell the people that I was going back on those commitments.’

Then came the bit that caught my attention. The RTE reporter suggested that the decision to vote against the party could be seen as a selfish one, an irresponsible act that would damage the government that Naughten was elected to serve. The TD replied, ‘I have to try and do my best for the people I represent, my family and my community. I have to remember that I am a father – my three-year-old came into me this morning and the first thing she asked me was, “Daddy, is casualty going to close?” Now that’s the type of pressure that I and my family have been under over the last couple of weeks.’

If I were a cynic, I might question whether a three-year-old could really understand – or more to the point care about – the  downgrading of services in regional hospitals, even local ones. However, that wasn’t what intrigued me.

I am actually inclined to believe that the quoted remark was genuine. Why else, off the cuff, would an elected representative quote something that sounded, at best, irrelevant and, at worst, untrue. It is likely the child would have been given a simplified explanation of why her father was appearing on the news and would thus take in an interest in the outcome – was this thing closed or not? But what is interesting is the way even politicians reach for the familiar and the anecdotal when speaking off-script.

How many times have you heard guests on the radio say, ‘I was just telling your researcher’ or words to that effect. Obviously guests speak to the researchers before they go on air, but the listener doesn’t need to hear about this, surely. And yet, in a myriad of ways, we do the same thing in conversations all the time – ‘A friend of mine was telling me...’, ‘This guy...’, ‘My mother always said...’

The truth is that we don’t just exchange pieces of information when we tell stories, we exchange sponsored pieces of information. The person who tells the story, or who features in it, is the reason the story is interesting and has merit. Assertions without active agencies seem, by contrast, empty and trite, the difference between saying, ‘I believe...’ and ‘I know...sure didn’t it happen to me.’

The lesson is that you should include stories – relevant to the topic of the talk, of course – in every presentation that you give. Information is one thing but experience is much more valuable. It is this experience that you are selling when you give the presentation, the insight that bring the facts to life. The bare facts? – anyone can lay their hands on those.

On the first course that I ever gave, a woman made a short presentation on Puerto Rico. She talked us through its location, population, climate, culture and history, and at the end was asked the not unreasonable question, ‘Why did you choose this topic?’ She replied, ‘Oh, I was there for ten days last month.’ She might have mentioned that.

Politicians often try to use the story device in a calculated way. How often have you heard campaigning politicians say things like, ‘That’s not what voters are saying to me on the doorsteps,’ or more specifically, ‘I met a woman in Sligo town, only last week, and she was telling me...’ etc. It is important to note, by the way, that stories of this kind are impossible to refute.

Many people, particularly when presenting technical material, feel that it is inappropriate to include themselves, or stories relating to their own experiences, in the talk but this is about as wrong as you can get regarding how presentations work. When that woman came back from her holidays in Puerto Rico, I am sure the first question put to her was along the lines of, ‘How did you get on?’ and almost certainly not, ‘What is the capital city? What language do they speak? and, How much does a pint of beer cost?’ Well....maybe the last one.

I am currently interviewing people for a book on communication but finding experts is not easy because despite always championing the use of examples when explaining something, citing examples of good presenting is actually quite difficult to do.

There is a word association website and when you type in the word ‘presentation’, you get the following five words in return: display, feature, academy, show and speech. These are for any connotation of the word ‘presentation’ but if you ask someone to tell you what comes into their mind when they think specifically of an oral presentation (and I have done this) you will also get things like: podium, microphone, lecture, audience, spotlight and of course nerves.

Which all points to what is misleading in citing examples of good presenters. It is natural, when tackling the daunting task of speaking before a group of people, to look at others who have spoken in front of groups of people and done it well. It is also natural to look at the more famous exponents of the art but when you do this, you end up with examples like that of Barack Obama (or even Enda Kenny) speaking on College Green.

This, however, is a far cry from the presentations you will normally be asked to make. And I am not talking about the size of your audience, the fervour with which they greet you or the cost of the dress your wife will have to wear to make you look good on stage. A political speech is different to a presentation in a number of ways.

Firstly, it is recorded. You have to be able to stand over every word you say so the content has to be set out in advance and thus read word for word. Secondly, it rarely has a tangible aim. Instead, it is usually part of an ongoing process of garnering support or simply saving face. Thirdly, it is often riddled with lies. And I am not being cynical when I say this but the pragmatism of having to toe the party line or simply observe political correctness, curtails what any politician is allowed to say. By contrast, the best thing about a presentation is that it can be honest and convincing. If you allow it to be, that is.

The key thing to focus on when preparing for a presentation is not the setting (podium, microphone, that damn, nerve-inducing audience) but on the intellectual process that is taking place. Imagine you had to communicate with just one person in that audience and construct a plan based on that. Then work outwards.

If you do it this way, you will come to realise that a lot of the presentation trappings are not much help, namely: a room of banked seats that discourages interaction, a microphone that turns you into a newsreader, a podium which hides you and restricts motion, a laser pointer that is more irritating and less helpful than a wasp on the screen.

As an example of how a presentation can follow the lead of a functional conversation rather than a political speech, consider my recent purchase of an iPod docking station (a speaker for an iPod, basically).

There was the expert (the shop assistant) talking to an interested audience (albeit an audience of only one). There was an aim to the communication (to enable me to make a decision) and the expert chose only that portion of his knowledge which was relevant to this aim instead of filling endless slides with listed information. There were no slides either, of course. There were examples, demonstrations, anecdotes, visual aids and interaction. And best of all, it had a conclusion – I got something.

This short trip to the shops had all the ingredients of a presentation and provides a more useful example of the process than Barak Obama did on College Green. Which brings me back to where I started.

For the book that I am writing, I am looking for people who are famous communicators (essentially good at explaining stuff) or are associated with enterprises (publications, museums, TV channels, radio programmes) that are renowned for the same thing. And I would like the scope to be as broad as possible – I am not just looking in the areas of science and engineering. So if you have any suggestions at all, please let me know.

And when you are giving your next presentation, focus on what is going on in your head and in the heads of the audience, and not just on the auditorium in which it is taking place. Be a shop-assistant, not a head of state, because when I go to buy an iPod docking station, I don’t want Barak Obama or Enda Kenny wasting my time with oratory. What do they know about music, anyway?

This is the final of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs require them to communicate on a regular basis. For this feature I have turned the spotlight on the contributors themselves and used excerpts from the interviews to demonstrate how sophisticated our conversational skills are, and how best we can bring these skills to bear when making a presentation.

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Interviewees:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

This is the fifth of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs require them to communicate on a regular basis. Here, the contributors explain how specific examples can be used to explain general concepts, and how stories can hook the memory of the audience while also breathing life into the presenter.

Click here to subscribe to these podcasts

Interviewees:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

This is the fourth of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs require them to communicate on a regular basis. The poorly understood art of matching the visual and verbal arguments is discussed as well as the hazards of graphs and and in particular text-laden PowerPoint slides.

Click here to subscribe to these podcasts

Interviewees:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

This is the third of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs require them to communicate on a regular basis. Here, the contributors agree that the vital ingredient in any presentation is enthusiasm, which is not an overbearing zeal but a much simpler conviction, honesty and belief in what you are saying.

Click here to subscribe to these podcasts

Interviewees:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

This is the second of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs require them to communicate on a regular basis. In this feature the importance of setting a clear and realistic aim is discussed, as well as the tricky business of finding out if you have achieved what you set out to achieve.

Click here to subscribe to these podcasts

Summary of contributors:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

This is the first of six podcasts in which I interview people whose jobs - among them an entrepreneur, an industrialist, a music promoter, and a television producer - require them to communicate at the highest level on a regular basis. In this feature the focus is on bypassing your own preoccupations as presenter and placing the emphasis where it is most needed, on the audience.

Click here to subscribe to these podcasts

Summary of contributors:

John O’Sullivan, Eirgrid, was the manager of the single electric market project in Ireland, during which he was required to present at large stakeholder meetings on a monthly basis

Neil O’Gorman is owner and manager of Bespoke PR Agency. In Neil’s own words, ‘Everything we do is communication’.

Bob King is head of Operational Excellence with Premier Foods in the UK. He is often invited to make presentations at international management conferences.

Jacintha Griffin is a senior director with Wyeth Medica in Newbridge and is required to communicate, not just internally with the people in her division, but also externally with senior management from other companies.

Elaine K is a television producer based in New York. She specialises in factual programming using interviews with real people.

John Dunne is co-founder of Intune Networks. Since 2000, the company has grown from 2 employees to over 80, largely on the back of the presentations John has made to telecoms companies world-wide.

Leagues O’Toole is a music writer and promoter. In managing events, he often has to negotiate with different interest groups.

Seán McCallion is a senior manager with P Elliot, one of the few developers to actively engage with the public during the planning process. In this role, Seán is often faced with the intimidating task of presenting to hostile audiences.

Ronan Roberts has run a successful architecture practice in Dublin for over fifteen years. He is required to tread the fine communication line between the aspirations of clients and the practicalities of engineers.

I was recently told about a wedding speech that was delivered in the form of a PowerPoint slideshow and which, apparently, went down a bomb. But this made me think: PowerPoint? Going down a bomb? In my ongoing study of presentations, it is a surprising finding, and like Alexander Fleming spotting a curious mould on his Petri dish, it demands further scrutiny.

The first thing I wondered was what was on the slides? I put this question to the groom’s sister who had brought the example to my attention. She had also helped to put the presentation together and she sent the PowerPoint file on to me. Of course, the presentation was mainly pictures, and pictures, in fairness, is what PowerPoint does well.

There were 25 photographs in all, spread over 22 slides. In all but a few cases, there was a single picture per slide, which is a design principle not often heeded in business presentations. Frequently slides are more like posters than slides, with several thumbnail pictures competing for space with bullet points, titles, company logos and coloured templates. Not so in this wedding presentation, which was mainly large pictures on clear backgrounds.

So what about the bullet-points? You can’t have PowerPoint slides without bullet points, can you? I decided to count the number of words used throughout the presentation (interestingly there is no word-count tool in PowerPoint, despite the verbiage often present), and there were 77 words in total. If you do the sums, this works out at an average of 3.5 words per slide.

To put this into context, I examined five random presentations that I happened to have on my hard-drive, including one of my own from some years back. The average word-per-slide counts for these presentations came out at 20, 21, 25, 39 and 62. These figures are all a lot higher than 3.5.

Of course, that’s not to say that words have no place in presentations, but where possible, I’ve adopted the principle that the presenters should take care of the verbal, and the slides should take care of the visual, and by ‘visual’ I mean pictures, graphs, diagrams and animations, not words.

Indeed, there is a further point that should be remembered regarding the punctuation of verbals and visuals. You should never show a slide until you need to, and you should remove it when you are done with it. Most people have PowerPoint projecting onto a large screen for the entire duration of their presentations.

There is a PowerPoint-first attitude in mnay presentations, but it is preferable to introduce slides only when necessary, to compliment what you are saying. Apparently this is how it was done in the wedding speech which was a series of stories, with the pictures in most cases acting as the punchlines. Obviously in most business presentations precise (comic) timing of this sort is not important, but it does illustrate the as-and-when-you-need-them principle when using visual aids.

Length is another important factor in a presentation, and again, there were lessons to be drawn from the wedding speech. Accurate figures are available here (the groom’s sister was among many taking bets) and after a sincere 5 minute preamble, the PowerPoint part of the speech lasted for about twenty minutes.

It may be pop-psychology, but it is generally accepted that people’s attention wanders after about fifteen or twenty minutes (lecturers take note). Again, the wedding presentation was, it seems, spot on.

Of course one of the main reasons why the wedding presentation probably went down so well was due to the way it played on a well known format with a novel twist. This is the staple of nearly all TV comedy sketch shows: set up a familiar, everyday scenario (a date, a job interview, a church service), portray it in minute detail, and then subvert it with something absurd at the last moment.

The wedding-speech-as-business-presentation conceit is funny partly because most people expect business presentations to be dull. This highlights an interesting paradox. As a chance to hear useful insights from, and ask questions of, an expert in something in which you require knowledge, presentations should be riveting. However, tell the average punter to expect an afternoon of presentations, and you’ll probably receive a response along the lines of: ‘Do I have to stay for all of them?’

Obviously most presentations aren’t going to be like wedding speeches, but if one lesson is to be taken from this example, then it is to look at presentations that work, observe the features that make them work, and then try to make them work for you. Even something as oft-maligned as PowerPoint can be used to great effect.