By the Numbers: Two Killer Tips for PowerPoint Presentations

by | Jun 26, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative, Latest

Some guy in a suit is yawning, another guy in the back is asleep, a woman in the front is reading notes, another looks at her nails and everyone else is checking their phone.

And then there’s you, standing at the front of the room, nervous and starting to sweat, trying to hang on to their attention.

You’re feeling frustrated and don’t know whether you should speed up your presentation or slow it down. Maybe you need to add a little humour? You could tell a few jokes, but maybe the topic of your presentation can’t be made light of.

Is it you? Is it your subject matter? Or is it your PowerPoint? You rack your brain thinking about what could you have done differently to be more effective?

All this to say, if it’s your delivery, well that’s an issue for another blog. If it’s your subject matter, there’s not much you can do about that. But if it’s your PowerPoint presentation, I can help.

In fact, I can provide you with two killer tips for powerful PowerPoint presentations.

All you have to do is follow these two simple rules when you create and design your material and your PowerPoint presentations will not only look better, your audience will be more interested and more engaged.

ONE, ONE, TWO
It’s an easy rule of thumb: One idea, one slide, two minutes.  It’s the most basic formula. 1+1=2. Simple to remember, easier to use. The reason for this is also simple. When you create content heavy slides with more than one idea per slide, your audience is unable to determine what message you want to deliver. Your slide is high in noise and low in message.

Your audience is thinking to themselves, “And the point is…?”.  The result: Yawning and nail inspection.

Ideally, you need to design your presentation so that you spend approximately two to three minutes per slide. Yes, that means you must know your subject matter well. Any more than three minutes and your audience will get bored and end up losing interest in your presentation.

THIRTY-SIX OR TWENTY-FIVE
I can’t count the number of times I have seen PowerPoint slides with far too many words. Oh yes, I can count. More than 36 words per slide is too many.

The slides are there to support your comments, to act as reinforcement and to keep you on track with your presentation; they are not there to chronicle your entire speech. No, they don’t replace the index cards of the past.

I know we all hate presenting, but If you’re reading this it means your career is dependent on giving presentations at some level – so you’re going to have to get over it. I digress, back to the presentation and the number of words…

There are various rules for the number of words per slide but one of the easiest to remember is 6 x 6. That means six bullets each with six words for a total of 36 words. Some will even say 5 x 5. You can decide which makes the most sense to you. So, another simple formula: 6×6=36 or 5×5=25.

If you must have a slide with more than 36 words, take a few well chosen words from that slide and consider putting additional information in the Appendix that you leave behind. The audience can read about it more in depth at their own convenience and without yawning in your face.

THOSE WHO CAN COUNT
These two rules are very simple, but rarely will you find anyone who follows them. But as I always say, there are three types of people in this world, those who can count and those who can’t.

Brand Persona: It’s not About you

by | Jun 25, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest

It’s hard to separate personal persona from your brand persona. If you are in charge of marketing for a brand or business you are probably passionate about what you do and how you do it. Being in charge of a brand and its performance can be intoxicating. However, like everything else in life, too much of one thing may be counterproductive. (Who said that?)

Having such a strong connection with the Brand, or as you see it your Brand, can make it very difficult to separate yourself. But you must. As a Brand Manager you are responsible for a brand’s marketing strategy by deciding what makes the most sense. You are the keeper and caretaker for brand character which involves everything from brand and logo guidelines, brand tone, brand voice and brand style… including brand body language. SO… the big question is, how do you as a brand manager separate yourself from the Brand? Chances are, during the course of your marketing career you will be fortunate enough to handle many different brands, even competitive brand. They can’t all be you! Here’s a quick checklist on how to separate yourself from your Brand.

Pleased to meet you: I have always thought of a Brand as a person. When my team and I first come on board to develop campaigns for a brand that we don’t know, we get to know it. We are respectful. We learn about its past, how it came to be, how it evolved, who its friends are and who its foes are (competitors). We discover where it lives and where its market is… and where the Brand needs to be.

Not all change is good: Understand the Brand’s character and its potential to evolve within that character and tone. Too often I have seen new Brand Managers come into an organization and change everything without any thought to the Brand’s franchise, community, marketplace or its potential. Remember it’s easy to judge what you think is right or wrong when you are new to a Brand. But making changes too soon can lead to market confusion. It takes time to nurture a Brand and for it to attain its rightful place in its community and market space. Brand making isn’t cookie cutter… sure, tactics can be interchanged, but brand personality and character need to stay the course in order to prevail and be a Brand.

Brands evolve: Take a very open view of a Brand that you’ve lived with for a long time. Just because you’ve tried a tactic in the past that hasn’t worked, doesn’t mean that same tactic with some tweaks, won’t work today. By the same token, keep your eye on the future. Find out what’s new and what’s exciting, maybe it’s just the thing to rejuvenate your Brand. Make sure you always place the Brand first and always evaluate. If a Brand is its own entity then it has its own style.

Be impartial: Separate your own likes about colour and style from those of the Brand… especially when working on brand creative. Ask yourself if the concern you have is really going to make or break the communications. Don’t strangle the creative process… and don’t confuse what you like with the Brand’s style… you will doing it a big disservice.

Be passionate. Be respectful. Be mindful.

After all, it’s all about the brand persona, Brand’s success… and yours.

Suffering From Brand Intimacy? Wear Someone Else’s Hat.

by | Jun 21, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Latest

Attention all Marketing and Brand Managers: We know our marketing and we know our brand. More importantly, we know who our target buyer, audience and groups are. That’s important and is what makes for great creative. But there’s a catch – we suffer from brand intimacy. By knowing so much through living our brand, day in and day out, we forget that our target doesn’t know our brand intimately and probably couldn’t care less. We need to make them care. The only way I know how to do that is through good advertising and communications for them… not for me. Too often in a boardroom environment decisions are made about what works and what doesn’t without market research (but that’s a post for another time!). More to the point, many day-to-day decisions or the way to go ahead on smaller projects are based on what I refer to as “internalized judgment”. Whether you’re developing a full-scale advertising campaign, billboard creative or just doing a one-off brochure, the question you need to ask when assessing your advertisement is: “Does it makes sense to someone other than myself?”

Here’s a quick checklist to make sure that your ads and communications are not a victim of brand intimacy!

Have ad sense: In other words, is it clear? Clarity is very important in any communications piece. By being brand intimate, sometimes we feel that we don’t need to “spell it out” to our audience… or we just skip the details, leaving the message too vague for our target to decipher.

Don’t talk to yourself: Take a step back and remember the first time you walked in the door to your new job and had to get to know and understand your brand. Remember how you thought about it… before intimately knowing it. This applies to judging creative ads, headline copy and even segmentation. Often companies refer to their business segments in categories driven by manufacturing or by organization divisions. Consumers don’t see these segments how business sees them. Be very cautious of this because it can make or break your brand’s success.

Fatigue syndrome: Admit it. Whenever you see your brand initiatives, whether it’s a TV ad, a billboard or a social media campaign, you pay attention. Of course you do! As you should! But understand that your niche market or mass target groups don’t. It takes time for them to even acknowledge your ad, even though they’ve seen it once or twice already. Remember, the ad fatigue syndrome effects Brand Managers, Marketing Directors, Marketing Managers and Vice Presidents of Marketing and Sales… and everyone else in the organization. But, it doesn’t affect your consumers.

So the next time your brand agency asks for your opinion on communications… don’t leave your hat on… put on your target market’s hat instead!

How to Avoid Procrastination

by | Jun 20, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest, Social Media

I finally got a “round twit”.

Sure it’s an old joke, I hope that it’s so old nobody has heard it and it seems fresh again and people will think I’m incredibly funny.

But even if you don’t think I’m funny you may have guessed it’s a joke about procrastination.

There are two types of people who procrastinate.
Those who fear failure and those who fear success.

Afraid of Failure
Those who fear failure think of all the things that could go wrong. They worry about what people will think when they fail and as a result of their worries; they think it’s better not to try.

Afraid of Success
On the other hand there are those who fear success. To me, it seems counterintuitive to fear success. What is there to fear in success? Isn’t that what we want – to be successful? I wish I was successful in everything. That would be great. Sadly I am not. But I am fortunate to say I am not afraid to try.

People who fear success may be overwhelmed by the fear they will have new responsibilities. They may be afraid they can’t handle these new responsibilities and people will expect more of them.  Consequently they don’t try.

Procrastination can be serious and could require professional help. But for those who simply need a bit of a push following are my top 3 tips on how to avoid procrastination.

Take the first step
We’ve heard this before. Break it up into tiny pieces. Focus on the first piece only. Once you complete the first piece, go to the next.  Do not think about anything other than that first step. As soon as you begin to take action you are changing your mental attitude and you will become more positive and open and willing to try.

Set Appropriate Goals
There are tough jobs and there are even tougher jobs. Sometimes the job may seem impossible. Sometime we may feel there is no chance of success.  To overcome this resistance, be realistic about what you can do and then set achievable goals. When you successfully achieve your first goal you can set the bar a bit higher.  Each accomplishment will bring you closer to success.

Start with the Hardest or the EasiestJobFirst
This is a tough one. It’s tempting to start working with what we know is simple. But if we start with the hardest task and get it out-of-the-way we feel relieved and the rest seems easy.

Some people say to start with the easy things first so that you have confidence and this will move you forward. If that works for you then go for it but I find starting with the most difficult task works for me.

Procrastination is complex and it can take many tries to break you of bad habits. In the meantime if you would like to know more about procrastination … I’ll tell you later.

Juggle not Struggle: How to keep your work and life in balance

by | Jun 18, 2013 | Business Success, Latest

Are you finding it rough juggling your job with your home life? Do you struggle with your basic commitments, miss doctors, dentists, optometrists, appointments because you can’t seem to get the time off work?

Even worse do your kids miss their doctor’s dentists, optometrists because you don’t have the time to take them? And what about your aging parents? Who is there to help them? Where do they fit into the schedule?

Cutbacks, technology, efficiencies, aging population, our commitment to putting our children into a zillion different clubs and activities, it doesn’t matter the reason, balancing work and home life is causing Canadians stress.

And if you are like most Canadians you are taking more days off work, using up your company benefits, turning down promotions, being less productive and working fewer hours according to a major Canadian study by Carlton University in partnership with Desjardin Insurance.

This stress is serious stuff. And if you think it’s not that bad, ask yourself, why a major insurance company is paying for this study? Does it have anything to do with the fact that stress increases the risk of heart disease,  asthma, obesity, diabetes, headaches, depression and anxiety just to name a few. Does it have anything to do with the fact that health issues like this increase the risk of death and increase payouts from insurance companies?

I can’t answer these questions but they do make me wonder what I can do to achieve work life balance in my own life.

Here are a few important tips I have found:

“Above all, to thine own self be true”
Take care of yourself and you will be able to care for others. Take time out for yourself. You will clear your mind, become refreshed, invigorated and more effective in all your walks of life. Allocate a specific time each day that is your time. It doesn’t have to be long. It could be that morning cup of coffee, walk around the block or a brief break with a cup of tea and a good book. You pick it and control it. And as the Shakespearean line continues, … “thou canst not then be false to any man”.

Prioritize
Rank everything you need to do. This includes at work and at home. Break them into 3 categories. Must, Maybe and Mmmmmmmm that would be nice.  It stands to reason you will do the Musts first. The Maybes come next but chances are the Mmmmmmmms will fall off the radar.

But not in isolation
But what is most important about prioritization is do not prioritize in isolation. Ask your boss what is important; ask your family what is important.  What you think is important to them may not be important at all.

Conquer the challenge
Creating work life balance is a challenge but like any challenge we face, we can take steps to overcome or we can run away.

Me… I’m not much of a runner. How do you balance work and life? Do you think work/life balance is attainable?