Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 40 of 58

Garr Reynolds at KLA-Tencor Japan

Tuesday, February 16th

Learning Moment: Yokohama, Japan

We had a big day today.

I conducted the slide:ology workshop at our Japan office, where I was joined by Garr Reynolds - the author of Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design. Garr was, as expected, brilliant.

He spoke about Simplicity, Restraint, and Naturalness - three design criteria that are too often absent in the high-technology world. Garr models all three, making it easy for anyone to understand and identify with him and his message. He's also, by the way, a lot of fun. We had some good laughs throughout the day.

If you're ever fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hear Garr speak, take advantage. If you can't hear him speak live - order his DVD. It's the next best thing.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 38 of 58

Streets of Yokohama

February 14th, 2010

Learning Moment: Yokohama, Japan

Spent the day catching up on music (I bought the latest cds by Cocoo, Anna Tsuchiya, Mizrock, and Chara), picking up some stationary supplies, and soaking in all that is Yokohama.

Angie and I then had a traditional kaiseki dinner at Minokichi in Landmark Tower. Along with three carafes of sake, it made for an excellent Valentines Day dinner.

Finally, I spoke with Garr Reynolds tonight. I'm beyond excited that Garr - author of the amazing Presentation Zen books and website - is joining me on Tuesday for a slide:ology workshop. It's pretty intimidating to be leading a workshop when Garr, a truly great presenter, is both watching and speaking. The good news is, he's on my team!

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 4 of 58

proof that you shouldn't drink and drive powerpoint

Monday, January 11

Learning Moment: Singapore

Yeah, I admit it. This is bad. But I couldn't help myself.

Angie and I were eating dinner at Prego, a favorite Italian restaurant of ours in Singapore.

At the table next to us, a woman was sipping a glass of wine while creating an awful PowerPoint presentation.

I had to sneak my camera out and take a shot of it.

Just about everything is wrong with this slide:

• It's got a terrible, noisy background
• The title is meaningless
• Baaaad clip art
• Red lines that are hard to see against the dark blue background
• And you can't see it, but don't get me started about the animation (everything flew in from somewhere)

The worst part of it?

She spend two hours of her life making small adjustments to this, as if the small adjustments would improve the presentation! That doesn't count the hours she spent before I saw her.

There really isn't any excuse for this. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and command her to buy "slide:ology" or "Presentation Zen".

On the other hand, ever crappy presentation out there makes me look better.

So, let others keep making bad presentation, I say.

As long as I don't have to watch them...

Crappy Presentations...

I work with some of the smartest people on planet earth, and yet...

And yet, the presentations that I have to sit through can only be described as torture. Well, not for everyone. Most people just look away and tend to their computer or blackberry.

But for anyone who makes an effort to stick through the presentation, it's somewhat akin to that scene in Clockwork Orange where Malcolm McDowell gets his brain pummeled with degenerate images.

Wait... did I say 'somewhat akin'? Umm, no - it's exactly like that. Or worse?

Please don't do that to anyone, I beg you.

Buy slide:ology, Presentation Zen, and Beyond Bullet Points -  and then practice their theories.

Promise me... please?

The Modern Art of Presenting: Presentation Reboot

Nancy Duarte shows the power of design grids

Last week, I attended "Presentation Reboot" - an event that featured Nancy Duarte (author of Slideology) and Garr Reynolds (author of Presentation Zen). Nancy and Garr are the two leading proponents of a new and quickly growing school of presentation design.

If you don't own their books, you should buy both immediately.

Nancy discussed her passion for story before having us do an audience analysis and then determining our story arc. Story is the root for most design decisions, in Nancy's view, and I agree.

Cognitive science show us that the brain loves story. In fact, the brain loves story so much that it will make one up if it doesn't exist. 

Think about that - if you don't determine your story, your audience will... and it might not be the story you want!

Garr Reynolds models Presentation Zen

One look at Garr Reynolds' slide set tells you that he isn't your usual business presenter. Garr lives and works in Japan and has clearly embraced the aesthetics of the culture.
Having spent 8 years in Japan myself, Garr's work resonates with me. I've read his blog for a few years and loved his book. Seeing him model the principles he preaches energized me and the rest of the audience.

While Garr isn't an ideologue, he definitely comes from the "Tee-shirt" school of presentation.

The "Tee-shirt" school says that a slide should look like a tee-shirt - one sentence, one picture.

My table mates practice the art of contrast

The folks at the workshop were buzzing from the start and kept buzzing to the end.

We did a number of exercises that allowed us to practice some of the principles that Nancy and Garr covered.

My key takeaways:

• Any presenter can connect with any audience, if they try (as our exercise showed - yes, even Richard Simmons with Mafia hit men).
• That slides, like billboards, should be a 'glance' media.
• Slides are slides - not 'slideuments'.
• A grid system will add power and coherence to a presentation.
• The importance of 'naked' presenting - both Garr and Nancy share themselves on the stage, and their presentations are much stronger for that.
• See more at presentationzen and duarte design.