How you can animate your audience not your slides using these free ideas.

And how do you say hello in Italian, Andrea?

Well, it's very easy, Jim. We say ciao.

You say ciao, or it's coming not home, it's coming, it's coming to Rome. Andrea Piccini joining me today on the Unknown Show.

Hi, Jim. Great to see you.

Great to see you too. And Andrea, you are a coach. You have a company called Ideas on Stage. And you're a presentation coach, especially for entrepreneurs. Tell us, how do you get entrepreneurs to get noticed through presentations?

The way you do that is if you are an entrepreneur and you want to get noticed through presentations, then you need to look at 3 key areas. Now, first of all, you need to have the ability to develop a compelling message, a captivating message for the audience. And that's the most important thing. Now, you don't have to use slides, but often, especially when we're talking about business presentations, if you're using slides, then you need to avoid the typical death by PowerPoint with lots of text and bullet points. It doesn't work. So that's another skill that you need to consider. And then the third one is your delivery skills. So say that you have a great message. It's not enough. You also need to be able to deliver the message in a way that's comfortable and convincing. And so when we work with entrepreneurs, business owners, we look at these 3 key areas for them to be able to improve their ability to pitch and present and communicate their ideas.

Andrzej, that's nice and logical with 3. Do you start with the first one or do you start with the last one? Tell us, when you first meet that entrepreneur who's probably full of ideas and thoughts, how do you help them to structure?

Yeah. Always start with the first one, with the message. And I would say, Jim, even before that, if you think about presenting, presentations in general, actually, you always want to start with the audience. Now, a lot of people, most people, believe it or not, they just start with PowerPoint. They just open up PowerPoint and put together something. But actually, what you— if you think about it, when you give a presentation, It's their presentation, not yours. It's always the audience's presentation. Think of a presentation as a present. If I want to give you a present, Jim, it's your present, not mine. And so I need to make sure that I know you so that I can buy something that you like. A presentation is very similar. When you give people a presentation, it's their presentation, not yours. And so you need to make sure that your audience, their needs, the context—

Yeah.

Definitely, before you open up PowerPoint, but also before you start thinking about your message. So we always start with the audience, Jim. That's always the first step.

Okay, so that's a wonderful way of thinking about it, Andrea, that really you're giving a present and you wouldn't buy just a generic gift for someone you care for. So what do you then do in terms of profiling that audience, Andrea? Let's say it's a really big audience. Does it get too general to be a valuable gift for everybody? How do you Manage that? Because different audience sizes are structured differently from composition, aren't they?

Of course, yeah. And what you need to do is you always need to start with what we call the ABC of preparation. And ABC stands for audience, burning needs, and context. So you need to take some time to ask yourself some questions about the audience. Who are they? Who are the key people in the audience? Not just about that, but also what about their burning needs? What do they really need? What do they expect from your presentation? What challenges do they have? How do those challenges relate to your activities, to your topic, to your subject? And then also the context. For example, at what time of day will you be presenting? In what kind of room? Do you want to show some visuals? Can you do that? Is there a screen or a projector? Or is it an online presentation? At the moment, most of the time, we are presenting online. Perfect. What tool are you going to use? How are you going to use it? How and when are you planning to interact with the audience? Now, don't get me wrong, Jim. I'm not saying that if people don't do that, then they can't create a great presentation. They can. But the risk is that they develop a fantastic presentation but for the wrong audience.

I think that's absolutely well said because often in media relations, for example, people present what is in effect a corporate sales presentation to the journalists who are entirely different in terms of skill set and knowledge. In terms of the content, Andrea, can you walk us through what makes great and what makes bad content? I mean, the old Apple, it's just a picture and someone speaking, that's one extreme. Lots of text and lots of narration is another. Any guidance there on what's correct?

Yes, so you mentioned Apple, just a picture. Now, from a visual perspective, I always encourage our clients to to follow a very simple and visual approach. So if you think about slides, although that's not the main thing, but if you think about slides, you always want to use them as something that reinforces your message.

They—

whatever you show on the screen, it doesn't have to be there to replicate what you say because people can't read and listen at the same time. So from a visual perspective, yes, keep it simple, keep it visual. Now, from a message perspective, you also want— one of the key success factors that you want to consider is your ability to simplify your message. Now, often what happens is that because we know so— if you think about entrepreneurs, Jim, we know so much about our subject and we are so close to it that we think that everything is important. Isn't that true?

Absolutely.

And so often we think that we need to communicate everything. But then, let's put ourselves in the audience's shoes. If everything is important, then nothing is important for them. So one key thing to consider is the idea of simplifying the message. If everything is important, then nothing is. And then maybe just one thought, Jim, is also the ability to develop a clear storyline, a clear structure when presenting. Now, what I mean by that is, for example, how do you hook your audience at the beginning? How do you capture their attention? How do you develop your key messages? How do you end your presentations with a very clear conclusion or a clear call to action so that they actually do something after the presentation? So it's also about structuring the presentation in a way that makes it easier for the audience to follow you, remember what you say, and why not even do something sometimes if that's your objective.

So a couple of key things in there. One is simplification. The other is creating a narrative, isn't it? How do you help clients to, if you like, start at A and then go to B and to C and to D, or however many stops there are in the presentation with the audience? Because helping them to create the narrative that's logical and compelling seems to be one of the key challenges for most people. How do you help with that, Andrea?

Yeah. So here is the process. For me, as I said before, we always start with the audience. So that's the first step. Then we also, when we work with our clients, we need to make sure that the objective is also very clear. And the objective when presenting should not be just to share some information. That's another mistake I often see. We just want to share some information. And if that's the case, I'm not saying that can't be your objective, but if that's your only objective, just sharing some information, there is no need to give a presentation. So the objective has to go beyond sharing some information. And then the, the other step, Jim, is brainstorming. So people also need to be able to brainstorm effectively using simple but powerful creativity techniques for them to be able to identify lots of interesting ideas that then they might include in the content of their presentation. So it's a brainstorming session. After that, you need to take all these ideas and create a clear structure. And for example, one of the simplest but most powerful principles in communication is the rule of 3, which tells us that the human mind likes groups of 3. In short-term memory, all of us, we find it very hard to remember and process more than 3 pieces of information. So Even if you have— and I say you, Jim, I'm talking about— I'm talking to our listeners today.

Yeah, of course.

If they— maybe they think that they've got 10 things, 10 important things to say, or maybe 20 important things to say, or 1,000 things to communicate, it doesn't matter. Just tell them 3. Group your ideas in 3 key messages. So going back to your question, the simplest and most effective presentation structure is you've got an introduction where you need to be able to capture the audience's attention. Then you communicate your 3 key messages. Maybe you want to summarize if the presentation is long enough. If not, there is no need to summarize. And then a powerful conclusion, making it very clear to your audience what was your point and why they should care about it. And that's how you want to structure your presentations.

You've raised a couple of points there that I'd love to just pick up with you. One is, Andrea, how long is the optimal presentation? Because you've got 3 points, 3 key points, and I hope we're not getting back to the penalties again here where we don't We've got 3 key points. Is there a duration? The TED Talks, which I know you coach people on, uh, TED Talk performance presentation skills, share with us because some people aren't sure about the duration.

Yeah, yeah. So now on the one hand, I don't think that there is a magic number, although yes, there is a reason why you're right. Since 2010, we've been working with more than 500 TEDx speakers, and it is true if you think about TED Talks, It doesn't matter if you are Andrea Pacini, Like No One, or the Pope, or Bill Gates, you will be given no more than 18 minutes. And they do it because they know that it is very hard to keep the audience's attention high for more than that amount of time. So if you can keep your presentations within, let's say, about 20 minutes, that's good. Now, sometimes I understand that it's not possible. It could be Maybe you've got— it's a business meeting, you've got an hour. Although even if you have an hour, it doesn't mean that you need to present for the full hour. So if we want to have an indication, I like the TED approach. So let's say around about 20 minutes seems to be a good duration that allows most people to be focused.

Yeah, one of the things that I do when I have an hour allotted for a presentation is I'll have a 10-minute warm-up, a 20-minute presentation, and then a half an hour Discussion as a way to bridge that. Andrea, what about presenting without PowerPoint? I was on a pitch presentation seminar the other day and there were some chaps dialing in from Africa, for example, terrible technical problems. And it just seems that we can get too hung up on the need for PowerPoint. What's your experience and your guidance for people that maybe just aren't with this, with the infrastructure? It doesn't mean they can't present. How would you help coach people that don't have computers?

Yeah, Jim, look, what I would say is that you don't have to use slides. You don't have to use PowerPoint. The ability to create and deliver a powerful presentation, a powerful message, has nothing to do with PowerPoint. It has nothing— we say PowerPoint, it could be any other presentation tool. Now, PowerPoint or other presentation tools can help in amplifying your message. So from that perspective, it can be useful, it can be powerful, but we don't have to use slides all the time. If you have a compelling message, a message which is simple, a message which is clear for the audience, a message— and we can talk about it if you're interested— which is also original and enjoyable, it has to be memorable, even or especially when it comes to business presentations. And if you also know how to deliver the message in a way that's comfortable and convincing, whether it's a face-to-face presentation or online, then PowerPoint doesn't really matter. Then, of course, the thing is, if you— once you've developed your message, you should ask yourself a question. And the question is, okay, would it help to amplify a message if we use some slides? If the answer is yes, and only if the answer is yes, then it makes sense to start thinking about, okay, how can we illustrate a message in the most effective way. But otherwise, if you think about TED— now going back to TED Talks, Jim, some of the best TED Talks, they are like, they're not using slides at all. So it is definitely possible to deliver fantastic presentations with no technology and no slides.

Andrea, I want to come back to that point you made about having an original presentation because I think that's really key, isn't it? Because people rely on PowerPoint almost as a substitute, don't they? Because they spend a lot of time on animation and importing pictures. Tell us, how do you help a client to identify for that specific audience what would be a compelling topic or narrative?

Absolutely. Before I answer, you mentioned animations, and we always tell our clients, look, you need to animate your audience, not your slides.

That's a really nice one.

Yeah, absolutely. Now, in terms of communicating a compelling message, which is also, even in business, especially in business, original and enjoyable. Now, from a very practical perspective, a few tips. Now, one of the things that work really well is to always think in terms of stories and anecdotes and examples. So every time you have an important message to communicate, then ask yourself, okay, is there a story that I can tell that illustrates that particular point? Because it's very simple, people remember stories much more than just facts and figures. And in business, it doesn't have to be a once-upon-a-time type of story. It could be like something, it could be a personal story, something that happened to you that made you interested in that particular project. It could be an example, it could be an anecdote, stories of other people, it could be a story of brand success. Maybe an organization, a company that's already doing something, the thing that you— the strategy that you are suggesting, and they're doing it in an effective way. If we think about it, there is always a story to tell. So that's one thing. The other thing which is super powerful in communication is analogies. Analogies are very powerful. Now, an analogy is a comparison between 2 things. When we compare something that the audience is not yet familiar with, which could be our message, our idea, our product, our service, our business. When we compare that to something that they already understand, that they already know, that's an analogy. When we make that connection, that's when learning happens. A super quick example. Now, Steve Jobs, when he launched the very first personal computer, what was it, I think 1984, he used the analogy of— he said, to me, a personal computer is like a bicycle for our mind. Because if you think about humans, then we are not the fastest animal, but then if we have a bicycle, we become very fast. And he says, that's what a computer is to me. It's like it helps you become faster, more productive. So it's like a bicycle for our mind. He could have used a lot of technical details to introduce the new technology, but nobody would have remembered and understand— understood those details. Whereas if I tell you, look, this is like a bicycle for our mind. Ah, okay. I understand what a bicycle is, so I can make the connection. And perhaps, Jim, one more tip, if it helps.

Yeah.

A lot of people, again, in business, they need to communicate data. Now, the mistake that I see is that often we assume that data and numbers are meaning— are intrinsically meaningful. Just because they are data numbers, here is my number, take it, use it, understand it, remember it. But that's not how our brain works. So what you want to do when you communicate data, you need to put it into perspective. Again, to use— because you mentioned Apple before.

Yeah.

When they launched the first iPod, the capacity of that product was 5 gigabytes. Now, they didn't say this product has 5 gigabytes. They said, look, 5 gigabytes is the equivalent of 1,000 songs in your pocket. 1,000 songs in your pocket is universal. It means the same thing to everybody. So to recap quickly, stories, Examples, anecdotes, also analogies. And when it comes to communicating data, always put it into perspective.

Well, that's wonderful. Really fantastic, Andrea. Is there a presentation person or a particular story— you mentioned Steve Jobs— that you go to for inspiration, that you think was masterful as a storyteller online?

Yeah, so a few people come to mind. One is And nothing to do with business in a way, Garr Reynolds is the author of Presentation Zen. He's a great presenter and he's the father of effective presentation design. Many videos on— there are many videos on YouTube. Also, like somebody I guess nobody knows, but because I've been talking about Apple, now Microsoft has a guy, his name is Panos Panayotou. I think nobody knows him. And Panos, he's an amazing presenter, again, from a business perspective. There are videos on YouTube. And then I have to say, of course, I'm biased, but I have a colleague of mine, Phil Waknell. Again, there are many videos on YouTube. Phil Waknell, who is my business partner, he runs our operations, Ideas On Stage in France. He's also an amazing presenter.

Andrea, thank you so much. And I'll put those in the show notes as well. So, Andrea Piccini, Obviously, once you've all finished celebrating taking a trophy back to Italy and giving out free pizza, I think, to everybody that was watching the match, how can people find you once we've got over looking at—

Yeah, a couple of things. You find me on the usual suspects, mainly LinkedIn and Instagram. A couple of things that might be useful, Jim. We've got an online tool which is called the Impactful Presenter Scorecard. People can— if you Google Impactful Presenter Scorecard, you can find it and you can assess your own presentation skills in less than 3 minutes. So that's an interesting thing for people to assess themselves. And also, I run a free weekly web class on all things presentation skills. And you can find it on Eventbrite. If you type my name, Andrea Pacini, on Eventbrite, then you can find it. And these are free sessions, less than an hour. packed with tips and advice from a presentation skills perspective.

And you've obviously got so many of them. Andrea Piccini from Ideas On Stage UK, thank you so much for joining me today on The Unnoticed Show.

Thank you very much, Jim. I really appreciate it.

So you've been listening to Andrea Piccini, who's in the UK, watched the match last night. We've had a little bit of banter, but obviously we're very proud and wish the Italian team well done and congratulations. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Unnoticed Show. I hope that you found this of use. And if you do, Please do subscribe and leave a comment in the show notes so that you can let me know what else you'd like me to cover on this up-and-coming show. Thank you so much for listening.