In 2009, the year when TED decided to launch its TEDx license program, Prezi was born out of the desire to overcome the limitations of tools like PowerPoint and Keynote. With its dramatic zooming and panning effects, it certainly did catch the eye of audiences worldwide when it was introduced. But its over-reliance on movement effects quickly became a visual nuisance, making the audience feel as if they had been on a boat caught in a category 10 hurricane. During the first three years after its launch we got requests for Prezi presentations regularly, but it’s not the case anymore. So what went wrong with Prezi? The core problem of Prezi is simple: it does not address the real problem of PowerPoint. Audiences are not bored because of PowerPoint, but because of how PowerPoint is misused by presenters, and adding more zooming in and out ad nauseam is not going to solve anything. The true remedy to bad PowerPoint presentations lies somewhere else:
By now, the last episode of the cult show Game of Thrones has aired. I haven’t seen it, and I didn’t want to see it before writing this article. Whether it accurately follows the storyline of the books or not is a moot point, because said book hasn’t been written yet. And it shows. I won’t spoil anything, don’t worry. But everyone noticed that the screenwriting of the seasons that could rely on George R. R. Martin’s material was much better than the seasons that had to rely on external writers. And I will use that as an example of how important a great storyline is for a great presentation.
Most conferences are fairly boring. Even well-known tech conferences fail to engage their audiences all the time. But medical conferences can be among the worst. Check out this quick interview between Ideas on Stage, new partners with Doctors 2.0 & You, and Denise Silber to find out how to take medical (and other) events to the next level.
Our friend Ross Fisher, a paediatric surgeon based in the UK, has had enough of poor medical communication, and when he’s not operating, he spends time educating doctors about a better way to present. There is a clear need, and Ross is making progress.
Case study of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ 2018 General Managers conference in Regensdorf, Switzerland.
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The Story It was a cool September morning in Paris when my colleague and I sat down in a stylish hotel dining room to meet a Mr. Olivier Chavy, President of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.
Before 8:00am we jumped right into business: Olivier’s vision and objectives for the spring 2018 general managers conference. “We want people to leave with the sensation ‘wow, I am really proud to work for this company’,” emphasized Chavy.
A big part of the way many companies sell is to create a presentation that shows the complex benefits of the solution they are offering.
But even great businesses — which are very good at what they do — often lack the ability to clearly share their message to their target audience using presentations.
There are many reasons why people and companies want to improve their presentations but at the heart of it what they really want is to win more deals, get more customers and sell more.
Why would people care about your product?
Why would people care about your service?
Why would people care about your project?
Why would people care about your career?
Why would people care about your investment?
Why would people care about your discovery?
Why would people care about your research?
Why would people care about your videos?
Why would people care about your book?
Why would people care about your ideas?
“You have to speak slower!”
This advice is a staple of oratory coaching. But I think it is sometimes given by coaches without thinking about the consequences, and that it can actually do more bad than good. Let me explain why.
The first reason is simply that not every speaker needs to speak slowly. Speaking slowly is done for several reasons, such as increasing the perceived gravitas (authority) or allowing the public to digest complex information more easily. But sometimes it’s simply not necessary and may actually reduce the effectiveness of the speech. If speaking fast is not detrimental to the clarity of the speech—that is, every word is easy to understand—and as long as the speed doesn’t make the amount of information unbearable for the listener, the first priority of a coach may not be to force a speaker to consciously slow down.
Gizmodo wrote this rather funny piece about Elon Musk’s latest rash of announcements, such as fully autonomous cars and a million robotaxis by 2020. Now, Gizmodo is not exactly known as a staple of great journalism, but sometimes they have a knack to hit the nail on the head. In this case, the fact that for several years Elon Musk repeatedly promised—and failed to deliver—full autonomous driving. Honestly, s eeing how hard it is to achieve full autonomy, and how many problems are left with Tesla’s current autopilot system, it is hard to believe these new promises will actually materialize.
