Life After PowerPoint!

A leader talks about things that matter.

By leader I mean — broadly — anyone, regardless of title or position, who influences or directs others to accomplish something worthwhile.

In troubling times, such as the ones we are in now, there’s all the more need for leaders to speak in a way that provides a sense of hope, of belonging, and of direction.

And yet in times like these there’s always the temptation to cop out. To deny reality. To confirm everyone’s worst fears. Or to offer false hope.

During the depression in Italy, when people were even more shaken by the economy that we are today, movie studios produced a slew of escapist films. They got titled telefono bianco or white-telephone movies. (White telephones were status symbols, something that only the rich could afford.) A white-telephone movie is a film about shallow rich people who have plenty of leisure time, doing trivial things in swank settings.

I learned about white-telephone movies in a film-appreciation class in college years ago. But I hadn’t thought of the term for decades, until it came back to me while I was watching the CEOs from automotive companies asking congress for money.

For an insightful analysis of the CEOs’ performance, see…

An open letter to GM, Ford and Chrysler (Mostly GM!)

Speechwriting and Professional Speaking.

If I can coin a term, I would say that a white-telephone speech is a presentation by people who are leaders in name only, talking about trivial matters in an inflated or pompous manner. White-telephone movies obviously served some need in the 1930s — for diversion, if nothing else — or there wouldn’t have been a market for them. But there is no need or justification for white-telephone speeches. Not now. Not ever.

Leaders speak — or should speak — to make a difference in the lives of the people they are addressing.

If you have an example of a white-telephone speech or of its opposite — a speech that matters — let me know.

Mark Sanborn, author and noted authority on leadership, offers a great little reflection on leaders and their obligation to provide hope. It’s especially pertinent in these days of economic gloom and doom:

John W. Gardner was Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under Lyndon Johnson. He was a great American, advocate for education and wise thinker. Gardner said, “The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive.” His words couldn’t be timelier…

Our leaders today have the opportunity to tell us what they believe is happening and at the same time uncover reasons to be hopeful. Focusing only on what’s broke requires no insight or skill; presenting possible solutions is both an art and science.

I never advocate happy talk, denial or rationalization. I am, however, completely fed up with rampant negativity masquerading as factual reporting.

We need leaders, as John Garndner advocated, that will help keep hope alive.

2008 December | Sanborn and Associates

I believe that leaders speak — or should speak — primarily to influence and to inspire their audiences. To influence = to shape the way audiences think and feel. To inspire = to give them hope, confidence that their actions can change things for the better.

In an earlier post, I reflected on how Abraham Lincoln — in speaking to the alarmist bankers who thought he wasn’t taking the country’s economic crisis seriously enough – did exactly what Sanborn is talking about.

Be real. Acknowledge people’s fear and pain. Show then a different way of viewing the situation. (Telling stories and using images are the best ways to show people what you want them to see.) And give them reason to hope.

Stories are a speaker’s — and a leader’s — greatest resource.

Stories build a bond between the storyteller and the audience and among the audience members themselves. Stories engage the audience’s imaginations and emotions. Stories open up a world of meaning.

But many people these days doubt or dismiss the usefulness of stories. They seem to think that stories have little or no place in this post-modern, interactive, web 2.0 world.

I think the opposite is true. We need stories precisely because our world and our way of understanding it are in such a state of flux. 

For a great article on the everlasting — and still pertinent — power of stories, read what Sam Leith has to say in a longer piece in the Telegraph. Here’s how he starts… 

“Tell me a story.” It’s a plea that echoes through the ages: not only the ages of human civilisation, but the ages of man. As a child, tucked up and ready for bed.

As an adult, settling deep into a popcorn-scented cinema seat as the house lights go down. In old age, becalmed, combing your memories. Telling stories is as old a game as language itself.

So it’s odd – not to say alarming – to read reports that some people seem to think we’re on the verge of running out of narrative.

Grand Theft Auto, Twitter and Beowulf all demonstrate that stories will never die – Telegraph.

One of the best storytellers and speakers I had the pleasure of hearing was the late George Plimpton. Who is your favorite?

Here are some of my favorite quotes that are suitable both for end-of-the year reflection and for thinking about public speaking.

“You can waken people only by dreaming their dreams more clearly than they dream them themsleves.”  Alexander Herzen

“It takes two to speak truth: one to speak, and another to hear.”  Henry David Thoreau

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”  Mark Twain

“If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”  Ray Bradbury

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”  Seneca

“Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Fail again. Fail better.”  Samuel Becket

Do you have any favorite quotes to add?

A client asked me to write a speech for him to give at his company’s holiday party.

It was going to be a festive celebration. Lots of insiders and their guests. Lots of drink, food, music, and dancing. He thought it was a perfect occasion — when else would there be so many people in the same place at the same time? — for him to talk about the company’s past year and its prospects.

I told him not to do it.

Speeches — serious speeches, at least – and parties don’t mix. People go to parties to have fun and to socialize. Asking them to simmer down, stop talking, and pay attention is just not right.

I told my client to propose a toast instead. Save the more serious and thoughtful remarks for some other occasion.

I suggest you do the same thing. Proposing a toast allows you to “say a few words” while maintaining — maybe even enhancing — the spirit of the party.

Check out my earlier posting about how to propose a toast here.

There’s a number of examples of Christmas toasts here. And if you’d like some recipes for hot drinks (alcoholic and non-) for cold wintery nights, check out this site.

Max Atkinson, author of one of my favorite books on speaking (Lend Me Your Ears — All You Need to Know About Making Speeches and Presentations) is taking a poll on his site.

I’ve already voted. Why don’t you?

If you haven’t noticed it yet, there’s now an end of year poll with one simple question:

How many inspiring PowerPoint presentations have you attended during 2008?

If you’d like to vote, you’ll find it on the left, just below the Blog Archive.

Max Atkinson’s Blog.

I work with a lot of technical experts — scientists, researchers, engineers, programmers, architects, financial wizards, and the like. Most of them struggle with one thing: they have a hard time presenting sophisticated material to a broad — i.e. non-technical — audience in a way that can be understood and put to use.

They’re frustrated that their ideas don’t get the hearing they think they deserve.

Here’s how to plan a technical presentation that stands a better chance of winning people’s attention and cooperation. (I’m breaking this post into a number of pieces, to give you all some breathing space.)

Rule #1: Focus

The main complaint of most people about most technical presenters is TMI. Too much information. They feel swamped by a tidal wave of data.

So begin with the assumption — and this is going to hurt — that you can’t say everything you know about the subject. You probably can’t even say everything that needs to be said about it. You have to limit what you’re going to say in order to fit the time you have available and to suit the attention span of your audience.

The operative words are prioritize and eliminate. It’s your job to know what to say and, just as importantly, what not to say.

Here’s my rule: when in doubt, leave it out. If the audience is really interested in knowing more, they can ask questions.

You may not be able to talk about, say, “nanotechnology.” But you might be able to address “the latest trends in nanotechnology” or “how nanothechnology can revolutionize pharmacology” or “federal regulation and nanotechnology.”

Focus. Focus. Focus. The more focused your presentation is, the more interesting and enlightening it will be.

Do you agree?

I love listening to great speeches. (And I’m pained somewhat awful by bad speeches.) If you’d like to see and hear or sometimes only hear great speakers in action, check out these sites:

American Rhetoric
This is my favorite site. You can get lost in it for hours. It has a bank of the “Top Ten Speeches,” “Movie Speeches,” and “Speeches of the Week.”

The History Channel
The history channel provides clips of historical speeches. The site is somewhat cluttered and you have to put up with annoying advertisements, but it’s still worth checking out.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville
You can find 20 “sample speeches” here, including Stokley Carmichael’s “We Ain’t Going” and Ronald Reagan’s “Barry Goldwater.”

The History Place
Here are speeches (transcripts and audio, when available) from the last several centuries, including ones by Susan B. Anthony, George Marshall, and Elie Weisel.

Miller Center of Public Affairs 
If you’re looking for presidential speeches (all the inaugral addresses and many of their most important speeches), this is the place to go.

Do you know of any other resources? I’d love to add them to my list.

I’m mostly against leaders using PowerPoint, because I think they should speak more to influence and inspire audiences than to give them information

But I work with a lot of high-tech experts who, by the nature of their presentations, want to present a lot of information. They almost always use PowerPoint. And I keep having to remind them that PowerPoint is only an aid. It is not their presentation. It is not their script.

That’s why I absolutely agree with Dave Paradi:

No matter how flashy your slides are, the audience won’t leave excited if your message lacks substance. But I am not sure it works the other way around.

If your content is great but presented with lacklustre visuals, the audience will still leave enlightened. They just may not be as informed or inspired as if you had also used great visuals to drive home your points.

That’s why I start almost every presentation by talking about the importance of properly structuring your message before you even consider your slides. Without a good structure, making sure that you have points that move your audience from where they are now to where you want them to be, the rest doesn’t matter.

Dave Paradi’s PowerPoint Blog: Does great content trump poor visuals?.

Start with your strategy, determining what you want the audience to do as a result of listening to you. Decide what they need to know and feel in order to do that. Figure out why they would want to do what you want them to do. Then create a structure, an outline that organizes your content as clearly, cohesively, and simply as possible. Then, and only then, start creating your slides.

Agree or disagree?

Leaders speak during times of crisis, change, and opportunity.

During these critical times leaders could do well to emulate Lincoln, who knew the need to reassure, comfort, and encourage people.

He told stories for many reasons. (He was called at the time “the storytelling President.”) But one of his main reasons for telling a story was to give hope to a disheartened people.

This story seems particularly appropriate these days.

During one of the gloomiest periods of the Civil War, a delegation of bankers called on him. They warned him of the nation’s perilous finances, hammering away at the bad news as if he were unaware of it.

“That reminds me of a story,” he said, as he often did. Then he told the bankers of a time he boarded with a Presbyterian deacon.

“One night I was aroused from my sleep by a rap at my door, and I heard the deacon’s voice exclaiming, ‘Arise, Abraham, the Day of Judgment has come!’ I sprung from my bed and rushed to the window. And there I saw the stars falling in a shower.

But I looked beyond those falling stars, and far back in the heavens I saw—fixed and immovable—the grand old constellations with which I was so well acquainted. No, gentlemen. The world did not come to an end then, nor will the union now.” 

I often hear business leaders say they’re afraid of telling stories. They think a story might be too personal. Or too frivolous. What do you think?