The Naked Speaker

How To Present Naked?

By naked, I mean without the whole set of classy and sleeky powerpoint slides, latest projector, remote control, laser pointer, giant screen with latest videos and dolby stereo....This post was triggered by reading the brilliant article written by Martin Shovel, "What Power Point can't show you" in Creativity Works Blog. 

What happens when technology fails?

Commenting on Twitter last week about Peter Senge 's performance, without Power Point, here are the reactions I got from Angie Chaplin, Leadership Speaker and Trainer

Recently, I had to facilitate a TeamBuilding seminar for International MBAs. I had designed a very “Zen like” short and sleek, design & Chic ppt with pictures purchased in iStock photos, few words, big fonts, very “Steve Job” styled…(without the black turtleneck, though)

I was very proud and eager to “make my show", I had rehearsed and prepared carefully.

I had not anticipated I would spill my coffee on my laptop, the day before, ruining my unsaved ppt.(The laptop, a brand new MacBook, is still alive with a mouse and keyboard transplant). Oh, lala! Désastre! Malédiction! (28 days later, it resurrected. I'm a Re born Mac Believer, now)
When I showed up the next morning, after a night trying to bring back my bonniemac to life,apart from my high stage of internal panic and lack of sleep,I had in fact all the presentation ready in my mind and was completely available for the participants.

I felt myself "naked".

Like in naked truth. Simply, naturally,..naked.

I told them many stories, I listened to them and asked them plenty of questions, I was more flexible and available than if I had sticked to my initial plan, which was ,more secretly, to make a Marion show.
Of course, I had integrated the components of the presentation and was in fact making it “Live”.
It was the best presentation ever. I felt free, natural, spontaneous, close to my audience and gave them more space too.

Why do I think Peter Senge is a naked Speaker?

Watch this very short (2.40 min) video "Closing Circle" 

He's speaking with simplicity , he's open and aware of others.  Very natural. He's standing in the middle of a circle and telling us a story.

This is called "presence".
Conclusions?

If you really have to use Power Point
Preparing with visual aids, ppt slides and even better mixing with mindmaps , can be a fantastic way to get sharp and ready . Ready to do without, too...

1.  It enables you to anticipate and structure your presentation, to think about the illustrations you might want to use.Then you use homeopatic dose.
2. You hand pick the best quality slides, the “wow” effect illustrations. That’s all.
3. You rehearse and rehearse, and eliminate. You “prune”
4.  It’s a great discipline and framework, from which one has to free oneself and move out of the ppt box.
5. It’s a means and should be used with only one question in mind: What added value is it bringing to my audience?

A wonderful way to do this is to embrace the Magical Story Frog Prince.

You tell stories, you ask for stories from your participants, you make an imaginary fire and warm yourself around!

As Terrence Gargiulo says “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a Story is worth a thousand pictures.”

Visit his site Making Stories, and his blog.

Comments

[Peg Rowe]

Marion, great story! I greatly admire the Presentation Zen approach ala TED talks and Steve Jobs. I aspire to that, although still have some PowerPoints with more info on them than I would like, inspite of pruning.

I have taken to more facilitated discussions as you described with questions, reflection and sharing from the participants.

This approach really supports the learning!

Thanks for bringing your experience to this topic.
Peg Rowe

[Tanveer Naseer]

Marion,

Thanks for sharing your experience on getting caught without your PowerPoint safety net. As a result of PowerPoint, we've become distracted in making our talks full of animations, colourful text and unusual fonts because we believe this is what's needed to keep our audiences interested in the subject we're there to present.

The ironic twist in the PowerPoint story is that instead of simply facilitating our ability to give presentations, it ended up causing so many of us to forget the key fundamental about giving a talk - it has to be about engaging your audience, drawing them into the message you wish to impart.

Hopefully, stories like yours Marion will get us back in touch with that simple truth.

[twitter.com/DorothyDalton]

Marion - this is a great story and a great lesson -there is no substitute for not knowing your stuff! Research and product knowledge - doesn't matter which sector or activity you're in, presentation, job search, sales - you have to be able to perform "naked".

I experienced this in reverse when I was working with a partner who insisted on a ppt - I felt as if I was on a beach in a ski-suit. Over dresssed and overwhelmed! I was not good and reverted after one more attempt in this mode to a more fluid interactive approach.

Brava for spelling it out so easily for us.

[Kriss]

Maid Marion, it has been a long time since we have spoken on twitter but well worth the wait. Great Blog Post. I very seldom use power point, I find it distracts me let alone my audience. To be fair I'm very familiar with my material but still being "naked" allows one to be immediate, present and alive to the warmth and ambience of the audience. Thanks Kriss

[Becky Robinson]

Marion,

I have not done much presenting or speaking in a long time, but I love this post. The idea of using stories and discussion to engage your listeners is fantastic. Would love to sit in on one of your session! Thank you for sharing this post!