Briefing Charts Redux

I keep coming back to this topic of presentations. I really think that if we could just have the guts, imagination and will to improve the way we give presentations, we'd find that we could fix all sorts of other problems. If we would spend the time necessary to communicate clearly & accurately, and if we valued telling the truth over making sure the charts are consistent with everyone else's format, not only would a lot of problems be easier to solve - I think many wouldn't even occur in the first place.

But it's tricky, isn't it? If your charts don't look as dense, complex and convoluted as everyone else's, it'll look like you didn't really do any work, 'cause everyone knows complexity is a sign of effort, right? Actually, a simple, clear message takes more understanding, more time and more skill than the jumbled messes we call "finished products."

So, to help get things started, here are a few thoughts and guidelines, in case you haven't picked up Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen yet:

1) You don't need your logo on every chart. Honest!

2) You don't need a redundant title on each chart either. Really, you don't!

3) Use hand-outs to present details. Use PowerPoint charts to present main topics

4) Limit yourself to somewhere between 1/2 an idea and 1 full idea per chart.

5) Time is always (always always always) the limiting factor (the only limiting factor). It's not about how many charts you use.

Bad Power Point

Holy cow there's a lot of bad PowerPoint out here. In fact, there are almost no good presentations.

It's not a new problem. I found an article from 1985 titled Let There Be Stoning, complaining about boring presentations and suggesting that such people should have rocks thrown at them. I wouldn't go quite that far, and I dislike the part in the article where the guy describes his public criticism of a particularly bad presenter. But seriously, something needs to be done.

Nobody likes to sit through a dense, convoluted presentation, do they? And yet, the standard approach is exactly that. It hit me the other day that we design our presentation slides the same way we design weapon systems - complex, endless and ineffective.

I think a big part of the problem many of us never got any training on how to create good presentations. It just wasn't part of the curriculum when we were in school. And yet, that's a big part of the job. It seems to me that it's incumbent on us as professionals to educate ourselves on how to communicate effectively.

And I nominate Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen book & blog as a great starting point. If you give presentations, please please please read his blog, get his book, and start doing things differently...

Dan's FIST

Returning the favor, here's a shot of Dan prepping for the brief at DAU last week.

Gabe, with magnets

I whipped out my handy-dandy camera phone and snapped this picture of Gabe last week, at our FIST presentation. The whiteboard behind him is covered in little FIST magnets. I still have a hundred of those things - send me your mailing address if you want some, and I'd be glad to send you a handful.

FIST Presentation

Gabe and I recently had an opportunity to do our FIST (Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, Tiny) presentation for the Defense Acquisition University. It was a fun time and a great audience. They even let us take home some of the cool posters they made to advertise the show.

The more time I spend in DC, the more convinced I am that this message needs to get out there. There is such an infatuation with complexity among military technologists, and there's a widespread belief that things would be better if we just had more money, more time, and bigger teams. And don't get me started on the preference for formal processes, control and mandatory activities.

While the FIST ideas generally get a good reception and seem to resonate with our audiences, I'm coming to see exactly how counter-cultural these ideas are. We've got quite a fight ahead of us if we're going to try to get wider acceptance of the FIST approach. Wish us luck!