Have you ever been trapped in the unfortunate situation of presenting something technical to a non-technical audience, and watching your audience fade away into a dreary state of confusion and frustration? Well, then read on…
As an architect, and/or IT project manager, you are often challenged with the responsibility of having to often communicate technical problems/solutions to an audience that is much further than arms-length from understanding the technical diagrams you present. To facilitate and improve this process, below are some key areas to consider so as to help captivate and engage your audience.
Bullet Points
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Bullet point-type slides are often too wordy, lacking keywords and highlights that are relevant. Remember that your audience is there to absorb what you are saying, more than what your projecting; use your slides to set context for your presentation and highlight key points and phrases that are relevant to.
Colors and Fonts
All Helvetica fans say “We Love Helvetica!”.
When it comes to keeping it clean and simple, Helvetica (and its very distant cousin Arial), tends to be an ideal font for a powerful presentation. However, it’s very important to consider the spectrum of your audience and keeping in line with the branding of your company etc. Typically using two different fonts (maximum) creates a favorable viewing experience; one font for titles/headings and possibly text, and a second font for diagrams/processes etc.
Very simply, colors should be clean, soft and simple; keeping in line with company/project branding is also a simple way to keep things clear and organized. Using relevant colors such as greens to signify success/starting-points, and oranges for in-progress elements, and reds for elements delayed/stalled, is also very useful to maintaining engagement with your audience.
Layout
One of the main reasons it takes a good 30 minutes on average to finalize a slide is layout/organization of content. A great exercise you can do prior to creating a slide is to consider and decide on the following:
> Who are you conveying this slide to specifically and what are their interests?
> What content would be most relevant to your audience?
> How has your audience best absorbed this content in the past and how can you best convey it now?
> When are you presenting the slide and how could that affect attention span?
Readability and simplicity are also key when it comes to layout:
> The presentation overall should follow a logical timeline (e.g. first the purposes/summary, then the issues, then the solution, then the actions etc., or a slight blend in between)
> Bullet points should cycle in one (or a group) at a time to maintain engagement and focus
> Diagrams and processes should follow a left-to-right or top-to-bottom layout
Shapes
Almost every PowerPoint created since the beginning of time has been plagued with squares, triangles, circles and enough hexagons to drive someone insane. Below are some tips to help avoid this pitfall:
> Stick with flowchart elements and avoid pictures/clipart to designate something that is clear enough as a flowchart shape
> Use pictures/clipart for objects that are relevant and more people-oriented (e.g. warehouses, offices, departments etc.)
> Leverage some of the more “fringe” PowerPoint features that you don’t often use (e.g. shadows, gradient fills, embossing etc.); lighter colors and subtle uses of these are always more effective (avoid bright/strong colors)
> Simple/clear arrows and lines are often best when keeping things “connected”
> Include clear and simple text in your shapes to help identify; if they require further descriptions, tag them with a number and use a legend
As a reference, here is an example of a presentation that utilizes many of these points.
Terms
Last, but most definitely not least, are a set of useful terms you can use to strengthen the way a technical action and/or statement is made. Below are some specific examples:
> Absorb
“Our technical team would need to absorb this work as part of the development effort”
> Augment
“Augmenting the system to meet these requirements will require engagement of the project team”
> Bake
“The functionality outlined is currently baked into the system”
> Blend (good alternative to the more hip term “mashup”)
“This is a blended solution using the two best-of-breed products”
> Close the Loop
“Our teams need to engage and close the loop on this topic”
> Concessions
“Despite the difference of opinion, concessions need be made to reach our goal”
> Concrete
“These technical requirements necessitate being concrete and confirmed before we progress”
> Confluence
“The confluence of these technologies is paramount to creating a unified system landscape”
> Congruent
“The technical solution being proposed is congruent with architecture principles and best practices”
> Contention
“A common point of contention is which technology best implements our requirements”
> Demarcation
“To achieve a controlled technical landscape we must have a clear demarcation of systems between our financial and operational systems”
> Dichotomy
“Emerging out of a dichotomy of software systems and into a unified platform is our vision for change”
> Engage
“Successful implementation requires active engagement with other team”
> Hallmark
“A hallmark in our architecture is our database design”
> Holistic
“The goal is to create a holistic system landscape by leveraging the integration capabilities of this product”
> Intercept
“We must identify and intercept technical constraints effectively to avoid roadblocks that stall our timeline”
> Pillar
“The three pillars of our technical architecture are: stability, security and performance”
> Pragmatic
“Pragmatic approaches to this complex problem are not optimal; we must be proactive and detail focused”
> Remediation
“Our plan for remediation is to engage the backup systems during the first cycle”
> Resilience
“Creating a resilient environment is paramount to the needs of our client systems”
> Traction
“We need more traction in our testing efforts to meet our deadlines”
Finally, take a look at a video of Al Gore presenting at the TED conference; engaging, captivating and to the point. A Very well done presentation.