p1

p1 is the basis of the presentation. It is the data, the story, the message that the presenter wishes to deliver to the audience. This section covers blog posts that address any part of the construction of p1; taking the “what” of the data and converting it into a “so what” for the particular audience. In particular, this covers audience needs, the value of a single, identifiable message, an elevator pitch, the arc of the story and development of sparklines.

The cornerstone articles on p1 are below but please surf through the links to gain a deeper understanding of why p1 (the story) is the basis of your presentation and must be the starting point in construction.

1.Hysteron proteron – the place to start with a presentation is the message.

2. It is not acceptable or valuable to just talk, you must have a message.

3. The aim and objective of a presentation are not the same thing.

4. The best presentations are planned analog. Shut the laptop and be creative.

5. Consider principally “why” you are presenting, not what to present.

Where, precisely are you going?

The key mistake made in preparing a presentation is in failing to identify purpose. “What is your objective, relative to this subject, in talking to this group, today?” The answer to that question can usefully be quantified in the elevator…
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Increase signal to noise ratio

One of the key concepts in improving your presentation is to increase the signal to noise ratio. This applies to all parts of the presentation; p1, p2 and p3. It’s like tuning the radio properly, the clarity of the message…
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One Hundred Posts!

Way back in March 2013 I published my first post on this blog site; “Your presentation is the product of its parts.” In it I discussed the p cubed concept that the best presentations are made up of a good…
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The 5 Ps of Presentation

In order to improve the value of a presentation one must construct an excellent story (p1), design appropriate and supportive media (p2) but ultimately all of this will come to naught if you fail to deliver it (p3). For many,…
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Trees, not chains.

Organising knowledge requires a conceptual tree of information, not a chain.The structure of a concept is complex, not linear. Presenting knowledge in a linear fashion limits the ability of an audience to process this structure and therefore limits understanding. Linkage…
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What’s it all about?

Can you tell me, in ONE sentence, what your presentation is all about? if you can’t you don’t know what it is about.This picture shows four of the riders on The Tour de France yesterday. We can see King of…
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It’s just not scientific…

Recently I shared ideas with a colleague about presentations and she significantly altered the supportive media (p2) of her upcoming presentation. She was very pleased with her performance and the reception of the presentation by the audience (p cubed) but…
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So what.

so what

The purpose of your presentation is to turn the “what” of your information into the “so what” of your message (p1). Sadly, most presentations leave the audience adding a question mark to that sentence. Information in and of itself may…
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What is the best, new tool in presentations?

An interesting post at The Harvard Business Review on Presentations discusses other new and exciting tools that may help in effective presentations. Sadly, I think they miss the point completely. “Guns don’t kill: bulletpoints do” is a tagline I use…
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The maximum number of words on a slide is zero.

A recent question on twitter to me was, “What is the maximum number of words you can put on a slide?”Easy, the maximum number is zero!Seriously, asking the question shows that the purpose of your supportive media (p2) is for…
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