by Lisa Wedmann | 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.
by Lisa Wedmann | 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.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jun 12, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest
I looked up and high on the shelf in the Dollar Store was a giant eraser with the words “We Make BIG Misteaks”. I thought it was funny and not so funny.
Not so funny when you are the one making those misteaks.
I bet Lululemon doesn’t think making misteaks is funny after their recall of yoga pants in March because you could see through them. The recall amounted to approximately $67 Million in sales, a big chunk of change but small change when last year’s revenue was close to 1.4 Billion.
The supplier said they followed specifications so what happened?
Maybe the Chief Product Officer knows. He was fired immediately.
Then, three months later after the excitement settled down it was announced that the CEO, Christine Day would step down. She gave no explanation for leaving.
Looks like that was a big misteak somewhere. But where: Lululemon or the supplier? The Product Officer or the CEO? We may never know.
We can only hope it doesn’t happen to us.
If don’t want to make big misteaks like Lululemon I have two recommendations to help you ensure product quality control.
Define Guidelines
An important way to ensure quality control is to have specific written guidelines for your product. These standards must be followed at all times. Do not turn a blind eye and make the excuse to let it pass just this one time. If you turn a blind eye to quality you are on a slippery downward slope.
Teach your vendor about your products
Having a good relationship with your vendor will go a long way to getting good results. Help them understand and teach them what is important about your product . Regularly rank your vendors so you can determine which of them needs improvement and work on getting that improvement.
By making these recommendations I am not meaning to act like I know better than Lululemon. I’m not. It’s hard to beat a Billion dollars in revenue. But what I do know is I can protect my business ….and with all pun intended … that’s the bottom line.
by Stephanie Fasulo | Jun 12, 2013 | Branding, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
As most people have heard, former CIA technical assistant Edward Snowden became an overnight household name and acclaimed “whistle blower” when he decided to inform the public about a government database that collects our private information.
Any analyst at any time can target anyone,” Snowden said. “I, sitting at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email.”
A million different thoughts ran through my mind. But mostly, I wasn’t surprised at all. The government has always been one step ahead, collecting our information for years to protect us.
But you can’t deny that social media helps government agencies collect our information much more efficiently as we give it right to them. But it’s not only government officials whom have our seemingly private information at their fingertips.
Private companies – big online businesses – Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have our information because we are freely giving it to them. At any time these multi-million dollar companies know which cities we live in, what we’re interested in and who our friends and family are. Oh, and that picture of your meal you posted from the restaurant down the street? You just told them where you are.
Everything is uploaded to a giant server in a private company where we only assume the information is protected and our lives are private, as possible.
But as people working in a social media environment, making our money influencing each other on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn – is it too late to turn back? Could you give up the social influence you’ve built on the Internet? The businesses we’ve built, the reputations and our clients? Would we be okay giving up social media if it ever inflicted on our overall privacy and wellbeing?
A part of me thinks it may be too late. Too late to step back and unplug social media from our lives even though we know it brings a sense of danger to our personal security. There are start-up companies every day, building and being inquired, all promising to bring social media to corporate environments. As ethical as these practices may be, we have to at least be aware of the possibility of every company dipping into social media our private information is being spread further and further away from us.
CNN reported some social media reactions to the CIA whistleblower: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/tech/social-media/snooping-web-reaction/index.html
@mattdizwhitlock #NSACalledtoTellMe that after 4 trial memberships on eHarmony I probably should just give up.
@IIzThatIIz #NSACalledtoTellMe What Happens in Vegas, stays in our Utah data center.
@andishehnouraee The most important question: How will my presence on #PRISIM affect my @klout score?
It’s a scary thought to think that it may be too late to turn back from the social media presence we all work towards daily. If we monitor what information we put online, maybe you can better protect yourself but it’s always best to stay informed. So, what do you think?
by Miriam Hara | Jun 4, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest
What makes for bad advertising? The answer is simple.. and often it’s not in the brief, because there wasn’t one! Ultimately what consumers see as the result is often the cumulation of poor direction, bad decisions and no creative brief outlining the brand’s basic position, the reason to believe and competitive landscape.
Way too often I find print ads selling their features and not educating and concentrating on benefits; or billboards featuring paragraphs rather than clever succinct statements and visuals inspiring curiosity…. and my all time favourite, TV ads way too concerned on providing entertainment value at the expense of the brand and benefit. When ever I see any of these, I always wonder what the brief looked like to begin with.
Before going any further, let me acknowledge that I can hear it from here…. the outcry… “but it’s what the client wants!” Well, that may be true, but as Creative Professionals, I believe it is our role to accommodate our clients’ wishes but also to advise them in making the best marketing decisions possible to avoid some of the symptoms of bad advertising. If a brief isn’t provided, then provide one…before you start on creative. Only then can you direct any creative discussion rationally.
Let’s face it, bad advertising only results in unsuccessful marketing and very poor ROI. It has been my experience, when presenting to clients, that once you explain the reasons why you shouldn’t do something and yes, even invest in showing them what is being compromised, clients really do get it.
Throughout my career I have often been asked by marketing professionals what I think of an ad (no matter what channel) that they or their organization just created. My answer is always the same,“what was the brief?”. Creative must come from the brief. The brief must be accurate, clear and pertinent… If a brief was not written, the ad assessment will be dependent on a number of criteria, many of them subjective…and a moving target. When I see ads that actually get to the marketplace without a clear single focused message…. I really wonder who did it…and what happened….and why.
Advertising isn’t about pretty pictures and for it to work there are certain protocols that need to be followed. At times it can be challenging, I get that…. but isn’t that very challenge the reason we as Creative Professionals are in this particular industry… Am I right?
As Creative Professionals we are often faced and given mountains of information to decipher and create a single succinct statement that speaks to the end benefit, the reason to believe, the unique selling proposition. As designers, we are given too many visual elements AND the logo (if there is only one!), along with too much information…all to be incorporated in a layout that has to have a visual flow directing the consumer’s eyes to make sure that the main message is delivered. The challenge remains the same in each one of these instances…a single focused message.
Great creative needs a very clear message. Bad ads don’t have one… they have a few… all shouting for attention. Great ads are those that increase brand and service awareness, increase the knowledge of the brand or service benefits and inspire confidence as well. They inspire confidence because they are presented professionally and well. When a client wants to throw in the kitchen sink into the ad…. as creative professionals you do have 2 options. 1) Give in without a fight and create mediocre advertising, or 2) go the extra mile, show them the ad with the kitchen sink… and show them the single focused ad . More often than not, they will side with the value…the single
I invite you to talk to me…. Share with me your stories… the brilliant, the bad, the ugly and the win! I’d love to hear about them.
