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\f0\fs32 \cf0 Around the world every day, thousands if not millions of people give presentations.
Some are great, and have a powerful impact on their audiences. Others...well, let\'92s
just say they\'92re works in progress. This is Powerful Presentations: Simply Stated.
Meet Jim, an aspiring professional trying to make it in the world. Jim used to give
presentations like just about everyone else he knew. PowerPoint was his tool of choice.
He\'92d use it like an outline, with a header followed by bullet after bullet, and sometimes
even sub-bullets! When he wanted to be fancy, he\'92d add what usually turned out to be
an ineffective chart or sometimes a table. And when Jim wanted to really spice things
up, he\'92d add...yep...clip art. Unfortunately, Jim\'92s approach would often confuse and
bore people. This was a problem because he had important things to say. And because it
was dimming his prospects for success. Fortunately, Jim learned a better way and didn\'92t stay
in the dark for long. \f1\fs48 \
\f0\fs32 Perhaps most importantly, he now focuses on the story he wants to tell. In
doing so, he tries to follow a simple structure, with a clear beginning, middle, and end that
links together his various points and builds to his conclusion. When formulating his story,
Jim uses a simple pad of paper or sicky notes. Staying low tech at this stage helps him think
more creatively and stay outside the box. He then considers what tools will help him
best tell his story. Jim sometimes opts to use a whiteboard, flip charts, handouts, or
even no props at all. When it makes sense for him to use PowerPoint, he tries to remember
the adage that sometimes \'93less is more.\'94 He doesn\'92t dumb down his presentations,
but he does try to limit each slide to one key idea. Or, depending on the content, he
sometimes builds an idea incrementally so it\'92s easy to follow. He looks for visual
ways to tell his story, with minimal text, photos, and clear charts and graphs. Sometimes
he\'92ll use quotes, but he tries to remember that people can\'92t read his slides and truly
listen at the same time. \'a0Jim still uses plenty of text to help him remember what he
wants to say, but he hides it in his notes that only he sees (show view notes screen).
Jim\'92s new approach takes more time, energy, and rehearsal, but it\'92s been well worth
the effort. His audiences are now much more engaged and better understand and remember
his presentations. And, as if that weren\'92t enough...(congrats on the promotion)...his
pocketbook doesn\'92t mind either. This has been Powerful Presentations: Simply Stated.
}