Ep 210 Should I Use a Laser Point with My PowerPoint July 28, 2016

What's the best way to use a laser pointer during a presentation?

Speaking the show about effective speaking in public, to the media, at work and in Life. Speaking with TJ Walker.

Tom Allen writes in from Opango and says the following. TJ, I listened to your YouTube video about the number of bullets. I knew you were going to say zero. And I agree. How about the use of a laser pointer? I haven't used one, but I'm thinking about it now. We had a bit of an exchange. I'll share that with you. I wrote back to him. Why do you want to use one now if you haven't been using? Here's what he says. I have this one slide. It's an idea funnel. I was going to use the pointer to say, ideas start here, point with the laser, revenue comes out the other end and point with it. And so I would use the laser to accentuate a point. Here's my thought about lasers in general. Most of the time, anything you're pointing at with a laser on a PowerPoint slide, give that thing its own slide. If you want everybody's eyeballs to be focusing on one thing, blow that one thing up and give it its own slide. It doesn't cost you any more money. It's just going to be much easier now. So often when I see people using a laser, they're sort of spinning it around. Half the people in the audience, their eyes hurt, they're looking away. They can't really see what it is because it's some small number or something really small on the screen. Anyone in the back half of the audience, or even maybe the back 2/3 of the audience can't see it. So it's really kind of a lazy, lazy way of doing things that isn't productive. Now, there are some exceptions. If you are, for example, showing an architectural drawing and you're showing the whole big house or factory, whatever it is, and then you want to show something that's really, really important that you want people to focus on that visually doesn't make sense outside of the context of the whole structure to then show a laser for a second to show where it is. I don't have a huge problem with that. But then I would quickly go to the very next slide that has a blow up of that thing you're looking at. So a laser is no longer needed. But that's an exception. I really don't see it used that way very often. For the most part, it's just an incredibly lazy, sloppy way of going through a presentation where someone has Put up a bunch of bullet points with words or maybe words, and some are in a triangle and some are in a decision tree and they're going through it. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. You really cannot go wrong with the following advice, which is anything that you're pointing to with a laser, get rid of the laser, blow that thing up and give it its own slide. Do that and you'll be in much better shape. Tom, thanks so much for writing. Appreciate your questions as always. Again, this program is about your questions. It's not about me. It's not about a big agenda. It's about you have questions related to public speaking, speaking to the Media, speaking using PowerPoint, speaking using any other tool, speaking during a crisis, and we answer your questions.

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From time to time, I like to put a spotlight on both good ideas, good information from other sources around the web. Also bad ideas to help you avoid it. Fortunately, the folks at Fast Company have done this for me in the last month. I want to point out a particular article. This is from Annette Grant and she puts out a story on Fast Company. Check out their website, fastcompany.com she puts out an article on 6 Myths on Public speaking that really need to vanish. And some great insights here. I want to share with you one of them. Myth number five is this idea that you should take a deep breath before you start to speak, ostensibly to calm you down. And here's the point that Annette brings out. What happens when you take a deep breath. You hold your breath, you can get tense and your voice gets tight. I have to confess, I never really thought about it that way. But she brings up an excellent, excellent point. So first, forget with a deep breath. Breathe normally. Now, it's certainly possible that if you're nervous, you're breathing extra quickly. So you may have to breathe a little deeper than you feel like at the moment just to get you back to a normal breath pattern. But the idea, big gasp, holding it can make for a very awkward start. So forget the bad advice about the deep the deep breath. The other piece of advice, which I have to confess I had not really thought about that much in the past, is this idea that buy a big new fancy outfit before your big presentation. You'll feel more comfortable, you'll feel much more confident knowing you have that perfect Chanel or Brioni suit. And Annette Grant points out that this is actually horrible advice because what if You've never worn this outfit before. It might be too tight, it might be too loose. As she points out, you wouldn't wear brand new boots that you've never worn before on some big hike. Instead, wear clothes where you are comfortable. And I might point out that don't distract from your audience and that are consistent with your image because if you're wearing new clothes, they could rub you the wrong way. It could distract. I'm thinking, because I'm a man, I'm thinking, well, if you're wearing a new suit and what if it's not tailored properly and the button is too tight? That could be awkward. And then you're thinking the whole time, uh, oh, my button's too tight. It's going to make me look fat. And what if it pops off in the middle of the speech and pops into somebody's eye? You don't want to have to think about stuff like that. I would go a step further. When you're giving a presentation, that is the last worst time to ever try something new. Now, I'm not suggesting you phone it in and just do the same old, same old. What I am saying is when you are in front of the audience, that's the time to give your audience the best. Best you have, that you have already vetted, that you've edited, that you've reviewed, you've critiqued. So this applies to not only your clothes, but your remote control clicker. There's nothing worse than having someone get up and their first thing is, let's see, how does this remote work? It's not like the one I have back at the home office. Does anyone know how this thing works? Don't try anything new. Don't try new technology for the first time in front of people. Practice in advance when there's nobody around. If you're wearing a brand new outfit and it's somehow something a little different out of the norm, then try it on for size and literally give your speech in the venue and videotape it and look at it. Typically, my suits are tailored by the same tailor. I know how it's going to fit and it's not something I think about as much. But if you're wearing something that is a completely different style and you're not completely sure, also if you. And this does apply more to women. I don't mean to be sexist here, but it is simply a reality that women are given more options for shoes, trickier options. I've never walked in high heels, but it cannot be as easy as Walking in men's flat shoes. So certainly if you have brand new shoes, I would be extraordinarily careful about ever giving a speech in that yes, you want to look your best, but I can tell you no business person ever gave a great speech and sold a contract or got a deal because the audience was thinking great shoes. Unless you happen to be a shoe designer, then it's completely different. You want people focused on what you sure, you want to come across your best and look professional, but that's not the time certainly to try new shoes that could give you a blister while you're speaking. If it's 60 minute keynote and you're walking around the stage and if it again, I have very little experience ie no experience walking in high heels, but if you're walking in a different height of heel than you're used to, that could be different and it could look uncomfortable. So be very very careful about that. I would stick with something that looks relatively new in the sense is not worn down, but that you're completely comfortable in and you know how you're coming across. You don't have to think think about it when you're on stage. I'm TJ Walker. As always, may all of your presentations in life be a huge success.

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