Ymag - Window for Action Loving Professionals A monthly eMagazine focusing on igniting thoughts for actions amongst professionals of all kind.

1. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
Dear Readers
We all present our ideas before
others in smaller and larger
gatherings. In business situations,
tools become important to create
the right impact. Luxury of tools
often leads to lethargy of
packaging thoughts and designing
impact. Instead of auctioning our
ideas towards persuading for
impact, we invariably become
reader of data.
PowerPoint is a tool; it isn’t
content. Microsoft word doesn’t
tell beautiful (or awful) stories, the
author does. And so it goes with
PowerPoint presentations: if you
fill them with bad content and
design, your presentation flies
right out the window.
Time to reflect, ask questions and
take charge of the way we
present.
Cheers,
Rajiv Khurana
Editor
rajiv@rajivkhurana.com
9810211256
Coaching Learning Advancing Sharpening Smartening ©
Advt.Pages11
The Interesting Art of Boring
Presentations
2-4
Check it out! 5
Presentation Tips 6-8
Ten Ideas for Becoming a
Better Presenter
9
Presentation – Quotes 10

2. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
2
The Interesting Art of
Boring Presentations
-Rajiv Khurana
Bores are a blessing. If they were not there,
dozing off in the post-lunch session of any
conference would be quite embarrassing for
the thorough fed … (oops!) bred professionals.
A bore is a person who talks when others wish
him to listen. He tests your patience. You know
that it is too late when he says, “Well, to make
a long story short…”.
Bores are the people who are here today and
remain here tomorrow. Many bores are so
obviously happy that it is a non-boring pleasure
to watch them. Robert Quillen in his wisdom
said, “As we grow older, our bodies get shorter
and our anecdotes longer.” Aging brings
experience and wisdom. Who else can wrap up
a two minute idea in a two-hour vocabulary?
These days even the young claimants of high
intellectualism can also beat the big bores in
their game through obsessive love of hearing
their own voice.
If reading so far has not bored you, welcome to
the highly accomplished world of the celebrity
bores. Get some inspiration on how the mighty
and accomplished bores demonstrate their
skills in front of the organizationally &
occasionally bored professionals who throng to
the big and small conferences. This ‘deep
boring’ exercise may not be boring instantly but
can lead you to the path of being an
unshakable bore.

3. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
3
-Avoid looking at the audience. Remember the
cough syrup advertisement when you forcibly
clear your throat. Apologize for 90 seconds
about not being the right person to deliver the
talk. Take the next 120 seconds to place on
record your un-conditional appreciation for the
organizers for giving you the chance. “You pat
me and I pat you” is in vogue these days.
-Refrain from smiling. Avoid using humour. You
never know whether the audience will feel bad
about your joke or your way of cracking it.
Besides, smiling can dilute the seriousness of
your topic.
-Keep your hands in the pocket when you stand
up to speak. It will help your audience to do a
betting on the kind and amount of coins you
are playing with. Good enough to distract
them. They will avoid weighing the contents of
your talk.
-Carry at least 40 slides for a ten minutes talk.
Impression is more important than expression.
You have to wake the audience out of their
slumber through your 0-100kmph pick up in
just 6.9 seconds. So what if they lose the track
and see the dust of your fast paced ideas from
a distance. This will also convey that you are
miles ahead of them.
-Use small font size. Put big tables. Use line
diagrams. Display dull colours. If the audience
fails to bring their binoculars, it is their fault,
not yours. You can’t keep adjusting your font
size as per the big or small screen or the big or
small hall provided by your orgnisers. It is also
the duty of the organizer to arrange for
magnification tools. You are only trying to
provide a holistic picture on a single slide. It’s
tough job to cramp up the slide with so much
of information. It takes a master like you to do
it.

4. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
4
-Speak in low tones. This can also cover up for
your lack of confidence. Try to make your voice
soft. Even if the contents don’t make sense,
your low and soothing voice can act as the
intoxicant and will succeed in putting the
audience to some moments of peace with self.
How often do you so people demonstrating the
art of singing lullabies in management? Ensure
that you speak in monotone voice. A variation
can be quite disturbing to the audience.
Experiment in long pauses. If it suites our
national leadership, you can play with it too. It
would also give you enough time to think,
“What next?” while it will give your audience
enough time to relax “until next.”
-Keep a set of stories, anecdotes or examples.
Learn the art of fitting them into any situation.
If Bollywood can survive on this format,
nothing will happen to your presentation. This
will only bring in some level of predictability for
the audience to guess – “If the topic is this,
that story is coming up soon”.
-Use long sentences. Conferences are the place
where you can test your bombastic overflow of
English vocabulary. This will certainly make the
serious listeners start using the highly ignored
book lying at their home under thick cover of
dust called – English dictionary. The non-
serious will de-link quite soon so you need not
wait for them. They would only be waiting for
the next break.
-Don’t worry, If you do become a bore
presenter. No one will doubt your intention.
Oscar Wilde gave a good definition of a bore: a
man who is never un-intentionally rude. Ignore
what Cecil Beaton said, “Perhaps the world’s
second worst crime is boredom. The first is
being a bore.” The best way to be boring is to
leave nothing out. This requires a lot of caliber.
Sir Walter Scott once said, “It requires no small
talent to be a decided bore.” What have you
decided?

5. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
5
P
Poor content and time
planning
R
Research limitations vis-à-vis
theme and objectives
E
Excessive packaging of ideas
and words
S
Staying aloof to the needs of
the audience
E
Easy options of ‘copy and
paste’
N
No attention to body
language
T
Typical boring PowerPoint
designs
A
Absence of persuasive inputs
and storyline
T Technology handling goof-ups
I
Inadequate confidence to
deliver
O
Overlooking the power of
feedback
N Nil practice
How would
you assess
the next
presentation
you attend?
What kind of
assessment
you may
receive?
THINK.
DELIBERATE.
EVOLVE.
Intellectualproperty:RajivKhurana

6. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
6
Speaking
to a group
41%
Heights 32%
Insects &
Bugs
24%
Financial
Problems
23%
Deep Water 22%
Sickness 20%
Death 19%
Flying 18%
Our fears…
-Book of lists 1977
PREPARING YOUR
TALK
Research & Analyze
• Define the purpose
• Know your audience
• Define objectives
• Know the setting and
conditions
STRUCTURING YOUR
TALK
The Framework
• Identify the main elements
and sub-
elements of the topic
• Choose a starting point
• Find the “best” route
through the
material
Movable parts
• Find analogies to clarify
unfamiliar
ideas
• Use examples and
illustrations to
support the message
Presentation Tips

7. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
7
Presentation Tips
YOU AND THE AUDIENCE
Aims and expectations
• Know the audience’s requirements
of you
• Try to inform, persuade and
entertain, not impress
Tailor your presentation
• Use appropriate language
• Use examples from your own
experience and analogies from
theirs
• Involve the whole audience
MEMORY AIDS
• Prepare a “route map”
through the topic
• Identify key words
and phrases
• Prepare your notes
• Prepare support
materialsSUPPORT
MATERIALS
Preparing the material
• Have a clear purpose for the material
• Make sure that the material is clear and
legible
• Use layouts as part of the message
Using the material
• Know when to use the material
• Make sure that everyone can see
the material

8. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
8
Presentation Tips
MANAGING NERVES
Step 1: Examine your fears
• What precisely is the fear?
• How likely is to happen and what
will you do if it does?
Step 2: Prepare yourself
• Know your role and your reasons
for talking
Step 3: Starting to speak
• Regulate your breathing?
• Relax your face and neck muscles
• Establish eye contact
• Occupy your hands
• Start your opening ritual
STARTING YOUR TALK
Before the presentation
• Check location of power connections and extension leads
• Check that all equipment works and that there are no
trailing leads or other hazards
• Get spare bulbs, pens, pads, markers, etc.
• Arrange seating
• Check the presentation notes
• Check all samples, diagrams and handouts are available
• Check location of the fire exits and toilets
• Check lunch/coffee/tea arrangements
• Make final preparations
First impression
• Take control from the outset
• Establish contact with the group (immediately)
• Go through your opening ritual

9. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
9
1. A laugh is the shortest distance between two people, so challenge
yourself to include humor or light comments at least once in your
talks. It makes you more approachable and creates energy. The only
exception is when you are announcing bad news.
2. Ask yourself, “So What?” Is this slide or piece of information really
relevant to my main message? So often what we need to get across
can be expressed in far fewer words or slides. More is often less
when it comes to making your message memorable and
understandable.
3. When you practice, stand up and verbalize what you will say. Too
often we run through our presentation in our heads instead of
actually standing up and saying it out loud.
4. Don’t just give a presentation, start being the presentation. Too
many speakers come across as talking heads. What do you uniquely
bring to this presentation? What are your unique opinions, ideas,
experiences and reflections? I can read your slides – tell me
something I can’t read.
5. Create a key message that you repeat at least three times during
your talk.
6. Author and accomplished speaker Liz Carpenter once advised,
“Begin as though you are taking off a pair of long kid gloves. You
can’t do that in a hurry.” The point here is: warm up to your
audience, create a personal connection and provide an attention-
getting opener before you launch into the body of your
presentation.
7. Before you put pen to paper (or text to slides) take a moment to
analyze your audience and ask yourself, “What is their point of view
on this subject?” This will help you develop a presentation that
focuses on what is in it for them. Always develop content with your
audience’s interests in mind. Don’t write for you, write for them.
8. Watch out for execution by bullet point. Too many points will kill
your audience’s interest. Whenever you have an important point to
make, be sure to support it with one or many examples. Examples
can be analogies, stories, demonstrations, activities or case studies.
9. Learn to tell stories and include at least one in your presentation.
Stories have the greatest power to create connection.
10. Join a Speaking Group for practice. There is no better way to
improve your speaking skills than to regularly get up on your feet.
spokenimpact.com
Ten Ideas for Becoming a
Better Presenter

10. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
10
We have met
the Devil of
Information
Overload and
his impish
underlings,
the computer
virus, the
busy signal,
the dead link,
and the
PowerPoint
presentation.
James Gleick
Nothing will teach you more about perceived
value than taking something with literally no value
and selling it in the auction format. It teaches you
the beauty and power of presentation, and how
you can make magic out of nothing.
Sophia Amoruso
I try to deal with the complexities of
power and social life, but as far as
the visual presentation goes I
purposely avoid a high degree of
difficulty. Barbara Kruger
When I was 14 -years-old, I made
this PowerPoint presentation, and I
invited my parents into my room and
gave them popcorn. It was called
'Project Hollywood 2004' and it
worked. I moved to L.A. in January of
2004.
Emma Stone

11. Y#49 April 1, 2016
Window for action loving
PROFESSIONALS
©Coaching Learning Advancing Sharpening Smartening
Make
Your
SMART
People
SMARTER
Periodic learning investments
do wonders to people and
business. Take your people to a
new orbit of awareness and
equip them with SMART skills
they need. Start catapulting
your business to the level next.
Each programme shall be
tailor-made to your
organization’s specifications
and nuances. You are
different. Your programme
should be different too.
Call us for a dialogue.
+91 9810211256
+91 9013698960
rajiv@rajivkhurana.com
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