Writing eff presentations-gsw
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Transcript of Writing eff presentations-gsw
Writing Effective Presentations
An Introduction
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Agenda
• Five Principles
• Creating Quality Documents
• Using a Standard Format
• Presenting Your Data
• Structuring Your Story
© 2000 by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. All rights reserved.
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• Write for your audience.
• Keep it simple.
• Support assertions with facts.
• Stay in the active voice (have actors, use verbs).
• Tell a good story.
• Write for your audience.
• Keep it simple.
• Support assertions with facts.
• Stay in the active voice (have actors, use verbs).
• Tell a good story.
Five principles underpin all good document writing
INTRODUCTION
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Documents are a consultancy’s only tangible product
• Send a message to our clients about who we are—and what we think of them.
• Contain valuable—and expensive—information for the client.
• Often get wide circulation in the client firm.
• Are a direct reflection of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young’s image.
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
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Document quality has an impact on CGE&Y’s image
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
CG
E&
Y
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We want that image to be positive
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
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A first draft will not meet CGE&Y’s quality standards
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
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Each step in the writing process is essential
1. Find a good model
2. Outline your story
3. Write draft
4. Type draft
5. Read to copy
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
6. Edit
7. Revise
8. Type revisions
9. Check revisions
10. Proofread
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Spellcheck can eliminate embarrassing errors
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
To goad people into spellchecking, a colleague of mine coined the non-PC phrase, “Spellcheck or die”.To goad people into spellchecking, a colleague of mine coined the non-PC phrase, “Spellcheck or die”.
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There’s no good excuse for poor quality at CGE&Y
• “The audience doesn’t care.”
• “There isn’t time.”
• “No one complains.”
CREATING QUALITY DOCUMENTS
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Using a Standard Format
• Advantages
• Basic Mechanics
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Standard formats offer several practical advantages
• Audience soon learns where to look for particular kinds of information:
– Format “disappears” so they concentrate on substance.
– A form of repetition that promotes audience comfort.
• Provides you with a ready-made framework:
– Helps you structure your ideas concisely.
– Eliminates the need to make small format and style decisions.
– Becomes familiar across the firm.
• Promotes writing and production efficiencies.
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
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Headline (usually a sentence)
Head (optional)
• Bullet:– Sub-bullet (as needed):
• Sub-sub-bullet (as needed).
RUNNING HEAD
“Tracker”(optional)
A look at the elementsand their names
A look at the elementsand their names
“Kicker” (optional).“Kicker” (optional).
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What this page is about
A key category or idea
• A main point:– A sub-point.
– A second.
• A second main point:– A sub-point.
– A second.
WHERE WE ARE IN THE STORY
How the elements workHow the elements work
Implications: “So what?”Implications: “So what?”
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Follow the “Rule of Two”
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
Limit every element in the format to two lines:
• Report title • Bullets
• Subtitle • Dashes
• Headlines • Kickers
• Heads
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USING A STANDARD FORMAT
• An active title that generates interest:
– Begin with a verb form (e.g. Developing, Evaluating, Understanding, Assessing).
• Subtitle:
– An option that allows you to elaborate.
• Author.
• Date delivered.
Your title page needs a few basic elements
• Name of target audience.
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Good headlines focus attention on the page’s main idea
• Usually a brief sentence:
– One line is best.
– Two lines maximum.
• Say something meaningful that directs attention to the page’s important point, e.g.:
– “ROE varies greatly across businesses”
• Avoid empty statements, e.g.:
– “The next step of the analysis is as follows:”
• Use headlines as the “story board” of your document:
– Reading only the headlines should tell a coherent story.
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
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The work we completed is as follows:
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
NO!NO!NO!NO!
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Each page, like a paragraph, tells a small story
• Create a logical flow from top to bottom.
• Be sure it fits the logic of your overall story.
• Don’t overwhelm your audience:
– By jamming too much information on page.
– With material that is beyond its comprehension.
• Don’t “underwhelm” your audience:
– With too little (or trivial) information.
– By making simple information seem complex.
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
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Too much information can overwhelm your audience
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
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You can make text manageable at the revision stage
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
• Break long bullets into bullets and dashes, which will not only make them look considerably better on the page, but will also make them easier for the reader to understand and remember.
e.g.
• Break long bullets into bullets and dashes:– Better looking.
– Easier to read and understand.
– More memorable.
That is, follow the Rule of Two.That is, follow the Rule of Two.
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The best kickers answer the audience’s “So what?” questions
• Say what the page’s content implies for the audience:
– NOT a continuation of the headline.
• Sometimes used effectively in other ways:
– As exception statement or counterpoint.
– To sum up and end section (signal a transition).
• Good kickers are short and to the point:
– Follow the Rule of Two.
• Optional—use only when needed.
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
Using kickers well can add substantial power to your presentations.Using kickers well can add substantial power to your presentations.
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Your audience comes first
• Create an audience-focused title page with an active title.
• Write headlines that add value.
• Do not cram pages too full:– People cannot absorb too much at once.
– White space is essential.
• Use the kicker option when you want to drive home a key “So-what?” message.
USING A STANDARD FORMAT
Make the information on each page clearly accessible to your audience.Make the information on each page clearly accessible to your audience.
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Presenting Your Data
• Ensuring Accuracy
• Constructing Effective Tables
• Using Graphics to Advantage
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One bad number can destroy the credibility of an entire document
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
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Keep tables as simple and clean as possible
• Highlight key numbers:– Box or circle.
– Boldface.
• Create logical patterns and progressions:– Low to high; left to right; past to present to future; etc.
• Use repetition:– Present similar data in same format from page to page.
– Promotes audience comfort.
• Put “data dumps” in appendix.
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
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Graphics add power to presentations
• A graphic always has more impact than a table of raw numbers.
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
• Gives both a numerical and a visual message.
• Simpler really is better.
• Worst case—audience does not understand your complicated graphic.
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Choose the right graphic for the job you want done
Share Pie charts
Comparisons Bar charts
Trends Line graphs
Degree Booz balls
Position Matrices
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
In general:
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Share = Pie Charts
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
Pie charts start at 12 o’clock and build clockwise from largest to smallest; “other” is always last.Pie charts start at 12 o’clock and build clockwise from largest to smallest; “other” is always last.
Specialty Chemicals
20%
40%
15%
5%
20%
Coal
Commodity Chemicals
Petroleum
Other
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Comparisons = Bar Charts
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
Strategy 1: “Status Quo”Projected 1999 Market Share by Distribution Channel
23%
17% 19%
41%
4% 3%
9%
84%
19%
10%13%
58%
Client Competitor 1 Competitor 2 All OtherCompetitors
Traditional
Non-traditional
Total
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Trends = Line Graphs
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
Client vs. S&P 500 Index 1993–1999
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Client
S&P
0
1
2
3
4
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Degree = Booz Balls
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
Level of SupportRequired Low Medium High
Breadth of Product Line
Delivery Requirements
Order Processing
Training by Client Reps
Financing
Packaging
SidingDistributorsSupport Requirement Retailers OEMs
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Position = Matrices
PRESENTING YOUR DATA
Size of Advantage
Many
FewSmall Large
Number ofWays toCreate
Advantage
Fragmented Specialised
Stalemate
Volume
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Structuring Your Story
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Tell a story your audience can follow
STRUCTURING YOUR STORY
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A good report story has simple, logically ordered elements
STRUCTURING YOUR STORY
Roadmap “Tell them what you’re going to tell them”
What the problem isSet the stage
What we did Outline approach/methodology; build credibility
What we found Present findings
What that means Interpret findings and make conclusions
What we need to doMake recommendations
ElementElement
What happens next Outline next steps
PurposePurpose
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Many people create a storyboard of their presentations
• Develop an active title.
• Create an agenda that establishes the storyline’s sections.
• Write headlines for the panels in each section.
Creating even a rough storyboard will help you generate a coherent story for your audience.Creating even a rough storyboard will help you generate a coherent story for your audience.
STRUCTURING YOUR STORY
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Revisiting the five underlying principles
• Write for your audience.
• Keep it simple.
• Support assertions with facts.
• Stay in the active voice (have actors, use verbs).
• Tell a good story.