What is the Modern Presentation Method?

Six years ago, when I first started doing executive level presentations I was stunned to find out that there was no easy to use process for building a great presentation!  For the first year or so I muddled my way through as best as I could.  Luckily, I had access to two resources that most presenters don’t. 

• First, within my community of professionals at Microsoft and in the tech community as a whole there are some great resources and best practices.  The experts taught me how they were continually successful and what worked or didn’t.  I was able to cherry pick from their diverse points of view and integrate their experience into my own unique process.  This “tribal” knowledge was invaluable and was hard won as a result of thousands of presentations to millions of people across the world.
• Second, I brought in and worked closely with great speech coaches who helped me further refine my process.  Their frank (read brutal) guidance about whether my presentations were well crafted put me on a good path and added the perspectives required to not only build great content, but also to give it voice.

One thousand presentations later, I have refined my process into a tried and true method.  But I’ll let you be the judge.  Here is the Modern Presentation Method.

 

So what is the Modern Presentation Method? 

The Modern Presentation Method or MPM is an easily understood five step process that when learned is natural to use   One of the advantages of MPM is that it works well for presenters who have lots of time to put together a presentation and also for those who are in a rush.  This is especially important for those of us who work in real time environments and have precious little spare time. 

Here are the five steps.

1. Visualize – So you’ve been assigned a presentation and need to get started.  In this step, presenters learn how to define what their audience needs, the presenter’s needs, and how to build a great story framework.  Perhaps most importantly they get the guidance to help them decide which presentation vehicle (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc…) is best suited for the type of presentation they are doing!
2. Storyboard – Next, the presenter puts together a simple storyboard.  This is not the big Hollywood storyboard that many presentation experts advocate but rather a simple, clear overview of the presentation that is easy to understand and really helps the presenter refine the story.
3. Build & Refine – Now that you’ve roughed it out, it’s time to build it.  The devil is in the details and this is where we add the data, personal stories, demos, videos, and of course the graphics.  Again the emphasis is on speed so that the presenter can efficiently use their time.  The end result is a well-crafted and relevant presentation.
4. Rehearse – Every presentation needs to be rehearsed.  Sometimes you can only do it in your head as you wait to go into the conference room.  Other times it’s more deliberate.  Either way, MPM has some great ways of getting you from first run through to polished perfection.
5. Deliver – So you’re ready to go.  But wait, what do you do for notes during the presentation?  What happens if egad your demo fails!  MPM is there to help you take your polished presentation and deliver it regardless of what happens while you are standing and delivering to your audience.

 

Training

If there is one thing that every presenter needs it’s some training.  MPM has 100, 200, and 300 level training that helps presenters of all levels build their skill set.  The best part is that unlike training offered by other presentation experts, in MPM you actually get your hands dirty and build presentations. 

 

Tools and Resources

One of the most daunting problems I faced early in my career was what tools should I use to create great presentations.  For example, how do I get great graphics that don’t cost a lot of money?

Well, MPM has some unique tools and resources to fill this critical gap.  Templates, graphics libraries, how to quickly and cheaply source photos, etc.  Just too many to list here.

 

Summary

So there it is.  MPM is an end to end method that is the result of a tried and true process.  It provides best practices, tools, and resources that have all been through the crucible of thousands of presentations and codifies them into an easy to use method.  It is easy to use and easy to learn.  It works well for both carefully planned and hastily put together presentations.  In short it works and it works well. 

Over the next 117 days I’ll be introducing you to MPM so stay tuned!

DK