“The sweet spot for designers is understanding content, and how to organize information.” What a good reminder. As a designer I sometimes tend to overdo on the graphics and alignment, this is such a good reminder to go back to basics and focus on the main thing - content!
EVERYTHING I teach my high school and college kids. Preparation & Practice are key to getting really good at presentations. My 2 rules: Don't waste time, Don't be boring! Awesome work Christine!
This is great. I work with college students who make slide decks (bad ones) all the time, and this is such a clear, concise resource for them. Thanks! And for the future, I'd love to hear you tackle "professionalism" and what that looks like in 2021.
Yay, a new video! I am really enjoying this series and look forward to watching new videos. Seriously, I keep this TH-cam tab open on my computer and refresh the page (at least) once a day. Thank you, Christine! You are a bright spot in my work-from-home-by-myself existence.
Agree. I love finding a simple visual to get the message across. I often see meaningless icons just to be there. Duarte’s Slideology is a good reference. A good check “would you want to sit through this presentation?”
Great video! Since you asked for feedback on your presentation at the end -- I liked the yellow/black/white colour scheme but felt the pink title slides jarred with it a bit.
Thank you! Great presentation, by the way. Previously, I thought animated presentations were better. My presentation lasts 5-10 minutes per slide. This video indeed shows me how to make basic, straightforward, non-boring presentations.
Nice one! Good basic set up. One addition: practice makes perfect, always train you presentation in private or save home setting before you go for an audience!
Like this. Sent this by the organizer of the conference I'm speaking at. Listen to it just before a group call on putting together the presentation! Told them to all go view.
Very well done! Much of this advice is reminiscent of taking speech 101. It’s the advice rolling in my head when I have to talk to a group on a subject. Thank you so much for this engaging advice!
Brilliant presentation, Christine! It would be super helpful for my upcoming presentations - have been staring at the blank screen for quite a while now... Would love to hear more from you on managing office politics, speaking truth to power with authenticity in your future sessions!!
me too she is funny and bold and i think i am really enjoy the straightforwardness and no any so called covering up shit among all the others haha. is like a friend talking to u :-P thx christine
I think we all start with slides that are full of text and we're reading off the screen. No eye contact with the audience! Aaaah! But I think we soon find ways to improve on our presentation ability and slides as well. This video certainly has a lot of helpful tips that will improve my slide decks for my future workshops (when we can go back to in-person workshops :)
I always start with pen and paper and sketch out my storyboard before ever even opening PowerPoint. And after I make my slide, I close my eyes eyes and when I open them I see where my eyes bounce around.
This is a very helpful topic, thank you for covering this. I actually enjoy creating slide decks but would not consider myself an expert. Your great tips will help me improve. The bright colors of your final presentation seemed overwhelming and busy.
This is so good! Thank you! I am in L&D and create a lot of presentations. You asked about areas help is needed...how nice of you! Here is my ask...we are all awkward right now returning to face to face life. The handshake has always been a cultural norm for the US. There is information out there about the foot tap, elbow bump, etc., and feedback I have received is people don't like the alternatives, and they are not comfortable shaking hands any more. What do we do? Thank you for your consideration!
Solid presentation. Simple and clear. Another thing I like to do is a quick setup, to get the audience nodding and all on the same page. Could be something very obvious (“We all want to present well”), but ultimately it kinda sets up the premise.
Hi Mohamed, thanks for watching! I found the image on Unsplash (great resource, btw) using the query "art gallery": unsplash.com/photos/5K98ScREEUY -Christine
Great Advice! If your audience wants/needs/requires content in the presentation, here is a good rule I like to follow: No more than 6 bullet points per slide and no more than 6 words per bullet point. And you are right…Never, ever read your slides to your audience! Thanks for this fun video! I’m going to share it with our team members.
In my little experience, the idea of a presentation in a physical environment is vastly different than one in a digital environment, say while having virtual pitch meetings. I often use the PechaKucha style of presentation. While it works wonders in a physical environment, it has been counter intuitive in a digital environment since the latter is relatively passive in nature. Would you have any workarounds about improving a digital presentation experience from a viewer's standpoint?
What I struggle with are presentnations that are not just presentations - where on one hand it's supposed to be a compelling presentation, but on the other hand it's a detailed strategy document with timelines, project plans, business analysis, etc. All the typical presentation guidance says not to combine the two, but in modern businesses that seems to be the rule, not the exception.
As a professional speaker for 40 years, you shared the major points that I teach, too. One thing I'd add is to bump the font size. Seriously. You have to think about the many, many people who are watching on their phones. Nearly all presenters have way too small fonts. Some of mine are 250 pt. Really. Design for the worst possible viewing scenario and those watching on larger screens will be fine, too.
Hi Rebecca, I love that tip! Can't ignore the mobile audience. I can't wait to try on 250 pt font on my next slide deck and see the BIG impact it makes! Thanks so much for stopping by. -Christine
@@harvardbusinessreview Thanks Christine! Of course, the actual size will vary with the font, as 250 will be bigger or smaller than mine. :-) I'm happy to be interviewed when you're ready to do part 2 of your story. :-) (You'd be in good company as I've been interviewed by Oprah, Steve Kroft, USA Today, Forbes.com, WSJ, among many more.) :-)
Nice job , this is very simple and easy and made in a modern method for relevancy for me to teach and share. Other topics please - First Time Managers, Influencing, Finding Your Voice (confidence, introverts, and self-doubt), Giving Feedback to Peers (value why, and tips on how to do it authentic style)
I loved this, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the cardinal rule for research vendors- remember that report decks are not presentation decks! None of these rules apply for a read deliverable or vice versa, but because they're in the same format I've caught myself confusing them. My best tip for turning a report deck into a presentation deck? Appendix! Keep the detailed research in the back and flip to it if a question addresses a chart or data point you decided didn't support your story but might be important to convince your audience to act.
This is a valuable information, thank you. I need to do a presentation slides for upcoming group presentation. But the problem is I have no knowledge on what is good for a presentation. I always start with a background decoration, pictures then text and lastly designing the slide. Your slide looks simple yet beautiful and eye-catching so opposite of my slides. My work always look tight with design it does not suit for a formal presentation.
soooooo true!!! Be yourself! dont be sacred! they invited u! they wanna listen to u! be confident! thank u this is useful and super precise! PS. honestly, i hate make PPTs but i should start practice more by using ur simple tips :-D
Um, after watching your video (which I loved), I decided that we don't always need a slide deck. Nothing wrong with the portions of your video that didn't have a slide deck. I'm going to do some presentations upcoming and I think I will have a go at least once of going with just speaker notes and not a deck but perhaps some other props...
Thank you for the overview! Helpful. We are working to build language proficiency in our organization. Should I be using italics or leave it in plain text as we have had mixed feelings about the use of our mother language with English really being the introduced language?
This is a great video. I was thinking if you can explore how to present data & insights for business presentations? Most importantly, how to avoid overwhelming subsequently bore the audience (C-level).
Idea/question : How best to give comments and feedback to the teammates? I’m working as Product Owner with a dedicated dev team and we have a good culture but from time to time I feel that I need to give one of my team member a feedback, say they did not finish something but they said it’s done or they sent an email to customer that they shouldn’t. I want to have my feedback taken seriously with out hurting the good team dynamic and it’s hard thing to do. If you say it causally they might not take it, if you express it too hard this may break the relationship, and also the context and the medium of the feedback matters a lot. I’m reading radical condor, hoping I’ll get good lessons out of it.
Hi Omid, thanks so much for watching. And giving feedback to your team, especially if you're conflict averse, can be challenging. I also had similar questions, so we tackled it in this recent video, which follows a clear step-by-step formula: th-cam.com/video/jhtwqK3iOV8/w-d-xo.html Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes. -Christine
Hey you clear my presentation skill as well as In the last minute you Increase my confidence also. ❤️ In Indian languages I will tell tou "Maza aa gya"
How do you balance a deck for presentations with a deck that is often the deliverable to a client? The former ought to be less wordy and more visual, but that style doesn’t work well as a deliverable. Also assuming there isn’t enough time to write a report and a separate presentation.
Good tips! Although I agree with Jeff Bezos that power points are redundant. Like ‘shooting jello on wall’. Too much depends on the presenter’s charisma, and too much time for stylising. Will rather read a proper memo with substance.
Hi Hind, it's one of the built-in templates. If you're in Google Slides, hit "Slide" from the menu, go to "Change theme," and browse (the one I used is named "Pop"). Hope this helps! -Christine
So, just going to point out from one person's experience: In international contexts, when the majority of your audience speaks English (for example) as a second language, it helps to have a little bit more text written out on your slides. Many of them won't understand your spoken message, but will when they read it on the screen. This also saves you time from having to re-explain later and save them the embarrassment of not understanding what you said out loud.
this will probably work for creative/media industries. But for the majority of conventional industries, there will be a lot of data and details required to show
The best talks have nothing to do with slides - really, the best ones HAVE NO slides. A few years ago, I went to an event with a keynote speaker who said, "Each slide should have one word on it." He gave a great keynote, and everyone listened to him. Slides are just a distraction. My Dad was a brilliant materials scientist, and when he "presented a paper," the talk consisted of him discussing the subject matter. He might have a viewgraph or two (e.g., a diagram of a crystal structure, in black-and-white on an old-fashioned overhead projector), and the paper itself was published in the conference proceedings -- but there was none of his Death By PowerPoint that you get nowadays. When I got my MBA (from a good school -- not Harvard, but a solid institution) in 2014, I thought it was ridiculous that a PowerPoint deck was considered acceptable as a deliverable for a "paper." Slide decks suck eggs -- just know your material and tell the audience why you care about it (and why they should, too)!
I'm using a paper for a presentation, but my friend didn't know how to design the paper :/ so I'm just searching this type of video abt what to put like designs.
How to take my boss' feedback? She doesn't like how I write email (which can also be a topic). I'd prefer to engage with customers through Slack, but for some reason she wants to stick to email communication with the customer (which is yet another topic)
Hi Lucas, these recent videos should help you out! Good luck with working things out with your manager. I'll be rooting for you. -Christine How to Handle Feedback: th-cam.com/video/SsaYA6biO6Q/w-d-xo.html Email Etiquette Tips: th-cam.com/video/1XctnF7C74s/w-d-xo.html
@@harvardbusinessreview Wow! I'm impressed! Thank you! To keep you up to date, what I started doing was to send her screenshot of the email before sending to get her appoval. She quickly got tired of it and decided to give me more freedom haha. I think now we are better off. I still do send her screenshots in more delicate situations and we talk the case through 😀
Making slide decks! Love 'em? Hate 'em? -Christine
I am loving it right now!
@@mohamedaminebennouna8591 haha after watching this video? good luck! ;-D
“The sweet spot for designers is understanding content, and how to organize information.” What a good reminder.
As a designer I sometimes tend to overdo on the graphics and alignment, this is such a good reminder to go back to basics and focus on the main thing - content!
As someone who teaches presentations, this is on the money.
Thanks for the kind feedback, and also for ushering in the next generation of clear and crisp presenters! -Christine
EVERYTHING I teach my high school and college kids. Preparation & Practice are key to getting really good at presentations. My 2 rules: Don't waste time, Don't be boring! Awesome work Christine!
This is great. I work with college students who make slide decks (bad ones) all the time, and this is such a clear, concise resource for them. Thanks! And for the future, I'd love to hear you tackle "professionalism" and what that looks like in 2021.
“How to organize content and consider the audience who is key” so helpful as a first step.
Yay, a new video! I am really enjoying this series and look forward to watching new videos. Seriously, I keep this TH-cam tab open on my computer and refresh the page (at least) once a day. Thank you, Christine! You are a bright spot in my work-from-home-by-myself existence.
OMG! I love this! I feel the exact same way!
I am literally making a deck for work right now. Well done TH-cam..you’ve outdone yourself!
Great minds think (and watch videos on TH-cam) alike. Good luck prepping!! -Christine
@@harvardbusinessreview haha :-D
You’re awesome Christine ! Thank you for being you and being a great help with your videos . So grateful for you !!
Great information. I have a presentation for a big client in a couple of days and I was obsessing over it (hence my being here). This really helped!
Agree. I love finding a simple visual to get the message across. I often see meaningless icons just to be there. Duarte’s Slideology is a good reference. A good check “would you want to sit through this presentation?”
Great video!
Since you asked for feedback on your presentation at the end -- I liked the yellow/black/white colour scheme but felt the pink title slides jarred with it a bit.
Thank you! Great presentation, by the way. Previously, I thought animated presentations were better. My presentation lasts 5-10 minutes per slide.
This video indeed shows me how to make basic, straightforward, non-boring presentations.
Nice one! Good basic set up. One addition: practice makes perfect, always train you presentation in private or save home setting before you go for an audience!
so true. i guess this gonna be my summer homework :d
Like this. Sent this by the organizer of the conference I'm speaking at. Listen to it just before a group call on putting together the presentation! Told them to all go view.
Very well done! Much of this advice is reminiscent of taking speech 101. It’s the advice rolling in my head when I have to talk to a group on a subject. Thank you so much for this engaging advice!
Brilliant presentation, Christine! It would be super helpful for my upcoming presentations - have been staring at the blank screen for quite a while now... Would love to hear more from you on managing office politics, speaking truth to power with authenticity in your future sessions!!
i am looking forward to those as well!!
Very informative. The way you explained is also very good. I like it.
me too she is funny and bold and i think i am really enjoy the straightforwardness and no any so called covering up shit among all the others haha. is like a friend talking to u :-P thx christine
Thank you so much for making this video, its so helpful!
Your talk is clear and the pacing is awesome.
I think we all start with slides that are full of text and we're reading off the screen. No eye contact with the audience! Aaaah! But I think we soon find ways to improve on our presentation ability and slides as well. This video certainly has a lot of helpful tips that will improve my slide decks for my future workshops (when we can go back to in-person workshops :)
I always start with pen and paper and sketch out my storyboard before ever even opening PowerPoint. And after I make my slide, I close my eyes eyes and when I open them I see where my eyes bounce around.
This was great! The actual presentation was so seamless.
Good videos and tutorials, thanks Christine
This is a very helpful topic, thank you for covering this. I actually enjoy creating slide decks but would not consider myself an expert. Your great tips will help me improve.
The bright colors of your final presentation seemed overwhelming and busy.
Thanks, this was REALLY helpful!
This was great!! Thanks so much.
This is so good! Thank you! I am in L&D and create a lot of presentations. You asked about areas help is needed...how nice of you! Here is my ask...we are all awkward right now returning to face to face life. The handshake has always been a cultural norm for the US. There is information out there about the foot tap, elbow bump, etc., and feedback I have received is people don't like the alternatives, and they are not comfortable shaking hands any more. What do we do? Thank you for your consideration!
Solid presentation. Simple and clear. Another thing I like to do is a quick setup, to get the audience nodding and all on the same page. Could be something very obvious (“We all want to present well”), but ultimately it kinda sets up the premise.
Love this video. It really helepd me understand the purpose of a presentation deck and how to build one effectively! Cheers!
Good advices and also good presentation at the end :)
It’s like you were reading my mind. Thank you!
Simple, great reminders, thank you!
Again, OBSESSED! 10 min video that teaches you a whole lot. But! I wanna know! What did you write in Google to find the photo you used in 8:23
Hi Mohamed, thanks for watching! I found the image on Unsplash (great resource, btw) using the query "art gallery": unsplash.com/photos/5K98ScREEUY -Christine
haha
nice slide deck presentation, went so smoothly, thanks
Thank you 😊 very informative.
Great Advice! If your audience wants/needs/requires content in the presentation, here is a good rule I like to follow: No more than 6 bullet points per slide and no more than 6 words per bullet point. And you are right…Never, ever read your slides to your audience! Thanks for this fun video! I’m going to share it with our team members.
In my little experience, the idea of a presentation in a physical environment is vastly different than one in a digital environment, say while having virtual pitch meetings. I often use the PechaKucha style of presentation. While it works wonders in a physical environment, it has been counter intuitive in a digital environment since the latter is relatively passive in nature. Would you have any workarounds about improving a digital presentation experience from a viewer's standpoint?
Nicely done! Some great tips. I would add one and that is brevity.
What I struggle with are presentnations that are not just presentations - where on one hand it's supposed to be a compelling presentation, but on the other hand it's a detailed strategy document with timelines, project plans, business analysis, etc. All the typical presentation guidance says not to combine the two, but in modern businesses that seems to be the rule, not the exception.
sadly true !
As a professional speaker for 40 years, you shared the major points that I teach, too. One thing I'd add is to bump the font size. Seriously. You have to think about the many, many people who are watching on their phones. Nearly all presenters have way too small fonts. Some of mine are 250 pt. Really. Design for the worst possible viewing scenario and those watching on larger screens will be fine, too.
Hi Rebecca, I love that tip! Can't ignore the mobile audience. I can't wait to try on 250 pt font on my next slide deck and see the BIG impact it makes! Thanks so much for stopping by. -Christine
@@harvardbusinessreview Thanks Christine! Of course, the actual size will vary with the font, as 250 will be bigger or smaller than mine. :-)
I'm happy to be interviewed when you're ready to do part 2 of your story. :-) (You'd be in good company as I've been interviewed by Oprah, Steve Kroft, USA Today, Forbes.com, WSJ, among many more.) :-)
amazing. well done. thank you!
Great presentation !
this is fantastic content! keep it coming!
Nice job , this is very simple and easy and made in a modern method for relevancy for me to teach and share. Other topics please - First Time Managers, Influencing, Finding Your Voice (confidence, introverts, and self-doubt), Giving Feedback to Peers (value why, and tips on how to do it authentic style)
Great presentation.
Brilliant presentation! (And another fantastic video!)
Thanks Christine, love your videos, especially this one 😊, my life, some people outsource this… not sure if it works better
Great simple presentation!
Who needs Netflix when we have your tutorials?
Very useful. Thank you HBR!
I loved this, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the cardinal rule for research vendors- remember that report decks are not presentation decks! None of these rules apply for a read deliverable or vice versa, but because they're in the same format I've caught myself confusing them. My best tip for turning a report deck into a presentation deck? Appendix! Keep the detailed research in the back and flip to it if a question addresses a chart or data point you decided didn't support your story but might be important to convince your audience to act.
Not me putting off making a deck while watching this video.
This is a valuable information, thank you. I need to do a presentation slides for upcoming group presentation. But the problem is I have no knowledge on what is good for a presentation. I always start with a background decoration, pictures then text and lastly designing the slide. Your slide looks simple yet beautiful and eye-catching so opposite of my slides. My work always look tight with design it does not suit for a formal presentation.
You made my day, and it's Saturday.
Yeah. Totally agree. Most of the time, they only read from the slides.
Thank YOU! Love this!
Thanks for sharing!
soooooo true!!! Be yourself! dont be sacred! they invited u! they wanna listen to u! be confident! thank u this is useful and super precise! PS. honestly, i hate make PPTs but i should start practice more by using ur simple tips :-D
Thank you! Solid advice
Um, after watching your video (which I loved), I decided that we don't always need a slide deck. Nothing wrong with the portions of your video that didn't have a slide deck. I'm going to do some presentations upcoming and I think I will have a go at least once of going with just speaker notes and not a deck but perhaps some other props...
To people who made this video: It’s possible to give good ideas without shaming other ideas.
This is so cool!!
Very good! I liked it.
I would love you to explore how to develop a STORYTELLING skill.
awesome thank you!
Hi. Slide decks really helped me. I mean your inputs. Next i was thinking how about dashboards?
Sidenote: where did you get your shirt? :) I love it.
Thanks for the tips. I agree that less is better.
Great advice! Thanks!
Thank you so much ! Very useful tips :)
Thank you for the overview! Helpful.
We are working to build language proficiency in our organization. Should I be using italics or leave it in plain text as we have had mixed feelings about the use of our mother language with English really being the introduced language?
This is a great video. I was thinking if you can explore how to present data & insights for business presentations? Most importantly, how to avoid overwhelming subsequently bore the audience (C-level).
Can u make videos on Communicating with senior management ?
It's so useful and great!
Thanks. ❤️
This was great. Thanks for the candour. Could you do something on collaborating with others?
Idea/question : How best to give comments and feedback to the teammates? I’m working as Product Owner with a dedicated dev team and we have a good culture but from time to time I feel that I need to give one of my team member a feedback, say they did not finish something but they said it’s done or they sent an email to customer that they shouldn’t. I want to have my feedback taken seriously with out hurting the good team dynamic and it’s hard thing to do. If you say it causally they might not take it, if you express it too hard this may break the relationship, and also the context and the medium of the feedback matters a lot. I’m reading radical condor, hoping I’ll get good lessons out of it.
looking forward to seeing Christine tackle this, Thanks
Hi Omid, thanks so much for watching. And giving feedback to your team, especially if you're conflict averse, can be challenging. I also had similar questions, so we tackled it in this recent video, which follows a clear step-by-step formula: th-cam.com/video/jhtwqK3iOV8/w-d-xo.html Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes. -Christine
Amazinggg
Hey you clear my presentation skill as well as In the last minute you Increase my confidence also. ❤️ In Indian languages I will tell tou "Maza aa gya"
any tips to build rapport in this era where you are working from home and everything is virtual?
How do you balance a deck for presentations with a deck that is often the deliverable to a client? The former ought to be less wordy and more visual, but that style doesn’t work well as a deliverable. Also assuming there isn’t enough time to write a report and a separate presentation.
resonate !!! feeling the same!!
Good tips! Although I agree with Jeff Bezos that power points are redundant. Like ‘shooting jello on wall’. Too much depends on the presenter’s charisma, and too much time for stylising. Will rather read a proper memo with substance.
From where did you get the template?
Hi Hind, it's one of the built-in templates. If you're in Google Slides, hit "Slide" from the menu, go to "Change theme," and browse (the one I used is named "Pop"). Hope this helps! -Christine
So, just going to point out from one person's experience: In international contexts, when the majority of your audience speaks English (for example) as a second language, it helps to have a little bit more text written out on your slides. Many of them won't understand your spoken message, but will when they read it on the screen. This also saves you time from having to re-explain later and save them the embarrassment of not understanding what you said out loud.
PowerPoint - the power is in the point as it says 😃
this will probably work for creative/media industries. But for the majority of conventional industries, there will be a lot of data and details required to show
The best talks have nothing to do with slides - really, the best ones HAVE NO slides. A few years ago, I went to an event with a keynote speaker who said, "Each slide should have one word on it." He gave a great keynote, and everyone listened to him. Slides are just a distraction. My Dad was a brilliant materials scientist, and when he "presented a paper," the talk consisted of him discussing the subject matter. He might have a viewgraph or two (e.g., a diagram of a crystal structure, in black-and-white on an old-fashioned overhead projector), and the paper itself was published in the conference proceedings -- but there was none of his Death By PowerPoint that you get nowadays. When I got my MBA (from a good school -- not Harvard, but a solid institution) in 2014, I thought it was ridiculous that a PowerPoint deck was considered acceptable as a deliverable for a "paper." Slide decks suck eggs -- just know your material and tell the audience why you care about it (and why they should, too)!
I'm using a paper for a presentation, but my friend didn't know how to design the paper :/ so I'm just searching this type of video abt what to put like designs.
Luv it :D
Could you also make a video on how to advocate for yourself at work when you keep getting interrupted every time you speak.
i think the music in the background also has big part in that presentation and make the presentation more enjoyable
much better deck
Could you please suggest ... how to make appealing one pager tax updates for sharing on LinkedIn. Thanks
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SLIDE DECK AND POWERPOINT???
IS IT THE SAME THING
Yes, they’re the same thing. They just call them slide decks in the corporate world.
@@DoomClaw2AQW thanks
How to take my boss' feedback? She doesn't like how I write email (which can also be a topic). I'd prefer to engage with customers through Slack, but for some reason she wants to stick to email communication with the customer (which is yet another topic)
Hi Lucas, these recent videos should help you out! Good luck with working things out with your manager. I'll be rooting for you. -Christine
How to Handle Feedback: th-cam.com/video/SsaYA6biO6Q/w-d-xo.html
Email Etiquette Tips: th-cam.com/video/1XctnF7C74s/w-d-xo.html
@@harvardbusinessreview Wow! I'm impressed! Thank you! To keep you up to date, what I started doing was to send her screenshot of the email before sending to get her appoval. She quickly got tired of it and decided to give me more freedom haha. I think now we are better off. I still do send her screenshots in more delicate situations and we talk the case through 😀
Solid B
I don't know if I agree....
I thought the information was great but the pace was too slow. Ironically, I lost focus around 4 mins and now am going to watch something else.
Wait are you changing your clothes in between the interview 🤣
Fzking A