25. The Presentation-as-Document Syndrome: Never the Twain Shall Meet

In the many years since the publication of the first edition of Presenting to Win, I am proud to say that it has made a significant impact upon readers, selling more than 100,000 copies in 12 languages and named by Fortune Magazine as one of eight “must read” books. By the same token, I am surprised to say that the book has not had as great an impact upon the presentation trade. Despite the book’s extensive reach and the continuing stream of clients who take the Power Presentations program upon which the book is based, most presenters, after reading the book or taking the program, default to a practice counter to the main theory in its pages.

Simply put, that theory is stated in the subtitle: The Art of Telling Your Story. True to its promise, the book offers techniques about that classic art of rhetoric, but it does so for only two-thirds of its total pages. The other third of the book is about graphic design in presentations, yet that aspect is not even mentioned on the cover. The imbalance is intentional.

This emphasis on the story—which includes sharp audience focus, clear structural flow, strong narrative linkages, persuasive added value, and even specific positive verbiage—is because the story is more important than the graphics. No audience will react affirmatively to a presentation based on graphics alone. No decisions are made, no products sold, no partnerships forged, no projects approved, and no ships of state launched based on a slide show. Witness the powerful speeches that move hearts and minds: State of the Union addresses, inaugural speeches, nominations, eulogies, sermons, commencements, keynotes, and even locker room pep talks. None of them uses slides.

Therefore, what presenters say and how they say it are far more important than what they show. Does this mean that you should abandon all slides, ye who enter the podium area? Not at all. PowerPoint has become the medium of choice from grade-school classrooms to corporate boardrooms, and far be it from me to advise a sea change as radical as complete rejection of all slides. All I ask—no, urge—is that you use the software properly. Apply the repertory of techniques provided in the other third of the book; the most essential of which is the overarching principle of relegating graphics to a supporting role. Make the presenter—you—the primary focus of the presentation.

Unfortunately, this seemingly simple plea for a shift of emphasis has garnered very few converts. Presentations are still universally defined by and equated with the slides. This forces the slide into two unrelated functions: as a display during the presentation and as a record for distribution before or after the presentation, as handouts. In this fowl/fish (pun intended) double whammy, known as the Presentation-as-Document Syndrome, neither version serves its intended purpose, and each version is severely compromised.

If you need a document, create a document and use word-processing software. If you need a presentation, create a presentation and use presentation software. Microsoft Office provides Word for documents and PowerPoint for presentations. Both products are bundled in the same suite, but they are distinctly separate entities. As Rudyard Kipling said about East and West, never the twain shall meet.

Use the right tool for the right job. You are the storyteller, not your slides.