Making Presentations Better<br />Helpful pieces
I’ve learned over the years giving several hundred presentations to a wide variety of audiences.<br />http://bit.ly/randsprestips<br />By Rand Fishkin, September 2011<br />

Getting Good at PresentationsTakes Serious
Time<br />Rand really sucked when he started out.<br />

I was at least this
scared<br />

Rule #1:No Bullet Point Slides!<br
/><ul><li>Bullet

Points

Kill

Kittens</li></li></ul><li>Look at this Lovely Slide.
Amazing, right?<br /><ul><li>Do this one thing

Then do this other thing

Now do thing #3

And, finally, thing #4!</li></ul>http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />So
painful! Why do you hate kittens?<br />

Actually, you just pulled this
trigger<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />You monster!<br />

Next time, go with 4
separate slides<br />like these next 4:<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Do This One Thing:<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br
/>Screenshots of relevant tweets that illustrate your point are an easy way to add a visual<br />

Then Do This Other Thing:<br
/>vs.<br />Comparing a “right” vs. “wrong” way on one slide (or two) is another great visual way to explain your points.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Now Do Thing #3<br />Long
tail of video sites get 50% of all online video traffic/views!<br />Marketers love charts and graphs, particularly if you’ve made them personally but EVEN IF you just use something off the web! Screenshots of Google Analytics, for example <br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

And, finally, do thing #4<br
/>This Other Thing<br />This thing<br />A Third Thing<br />Using just the visuals of Powerpoint itself (boxes and arrows) still make for better, more informational slides than bullet points.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Rule #2:Make It Actionable!<br />Give
me something I can do after seeing your slide that will improve my site/rankings/traffic/marketing<br />

Who’s Mentioned You on Google+?<br
/>STEP 1: Click Notifications<br />STEP 2: Click Mentions<br />The action here is obvious – to find your mentions on Google+, you can follow the two arrows and get the list.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

True Reach of RSS Content
via Feedburner<br />On average, this many people actually read a post via feed<br />Again, an obvious action – use the “reach (on average)” number as a KPI for tracking your feed’s success (or lack thereof)<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Rule #3:Make the Content Fit
the Audience<br />When in doubt, always go for too advanced over too basic (but make sure to research attendees before you make your outline).<br />

Beginner Audience? Walk Them Through
Step by Step and Don’t Assume Knowledge:<br />Paid<br />Organic<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Advanced Audience? Share Stuff They
Haven’t Heard/Seen Before:<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />Many social marketers won’t yet have seen http://www.findpeopleonplus.com/<br />

Rule #4:Craft a Narrative Arc<br
/>Loss -> Journey -> Test -> Return.<br />Just like middle school humanities class.<br />

The Outline is the Place
to Start<br />Inbound Marketing Outline<br /><ul><li>How Things Used to Be Sold

How Things are Sold Today

Marketers Have Been Left Behind

Why Inbound Rocks

Inbound Tactics

How to Measure

Story of Inbound Combining to
Work</li></ul>Loss<br />Journey<br />Test<br />Return<br />Another Narrative Embedded by Way of an Example Story<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />I like to make my outlines directly in Gmail, so I can access and edit anywhere.<br />

Rule #5:Speak from the heart.<br
/>When you’re passionate about a topic, and have real emotion behind your data/tips, it shines through!<br />

When you’re excited, they’re excited!
(and no, you don’t need to wear a suit)<br />

Rule #6:Making fun of the
English = OK<br />Bollocks me MugglesHogswollop<br />

Proper Tailoring<br />Sewn by Fashion
Philistines<br />Necktie w/ Windsor Knot<br />Pasty white neck skin<br />Matching WaistCoat/Vest<br />Squishy Pinkness<br />Appropriate Sleeve Length<br />Coatsleeves that ends mid-forearm<br />

My Personal Presentation Hacks <br
/>Warning: These may not work for everyone<br />

Create Presentation Outline in Gmail:<br
/>I can now access my outline anywhere, even on my phone, and edit anytime I have a good idea for a topic or slide.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Build Empty Slides w/ Titles
Only, Then Add Images, Screenshots or Text-Based Visuals<br />Empty just like this!<br />This gets the whole thing into Powerpoint, and then it’s merely a matter of finding the right images. Sometimes Geraldine even helps me find graphics!<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

My Slides Follow this Format:<br
/>Branding<br />Large Title<br />Visuals<br />Callouts w/ Arrows(omg, this is so meta!)<br />Roger’s words of wisdom (or a link)<br />

Put My Slides on Slideshareand
Tweet the Link Just Prior to Getting on Stage<br />Now, the retweet amplification from audience members can help to get the slide deck to go “hot” on Slideshare and make the homepage.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Create an easy-to-remember bit.ly link
and put it on the front and last page of the slide deck.<br />Download this deck:<br />http://bit.ly/randsprestips<br />This way, the audience can easily get to the slide deck without having to search (and I have analytics about how many people clicked the link).<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Re-use Presentation Content on the
Blog<br />If it was good enough to present, it’s good enough to share. Plus, it keeps me disciplined to create useful, self-explanatory slides.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Never, Ever Practice<br />Via http://www.markstivers.com/wordpress/?p=291<br
/>This means my slides have to help carry me through the narrative arc and provide structure to the talk. It also eliminates any need for memorization.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Wait Until the Last Minute
to Make the Deck<br />11:26pm last night <br />Weird? Maybe, but if I leave myself 6 hours to create a slide deck, the maximum time it takes me is… 6 hours! If I start 3 weeks early, it might take dozens of hours.<br />http:/googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html<br />

Go Forth and Present!<br />And
don’t worry if it takes you a few years to get good at this stuff.<br />Beep! <br />Download: http://bit.ly/randsprestips<br />