Information Overload Workshops

Posted by
Joni Rose
May 24, 2006

I have been asked to coach senior executives and managers on their workshop presentation skills. The most common mistake I see inexperienced workshop presenters make is that they try to cram in too much information on PowerPoint slides and then proceed to read the slides in front of their audience.

Reading slides is presentation suicide. Your audience will fall asleep, and worse, will not absorb your key messages. PowerPoint presentations are great if used to project bulleted points and are there only to jog your memory so you can speak to those points.

Some presenters are not aware that there is a place for presenter's notes below each slide. When I design a PowerPoint presentation, I create two versions. One is the Presenter's Version and the other is the Audience Version. The Audience Version contains the slides only. The Presenter's Version includes the presenter's notes below each slide. I can then circulate the Audience Version in advance, especially if it is to be presented in a teleconference. I can also use the Audience Version to print and make hard copies for the day of the presentation. I print out the presenter's version using the notes pages format option chosen in the "print what:" menu bar options. This gives me a copy of the slide and my detailed notes below to refer to before I present.

I find that this technique helps me keep only the most important phrases on the slides and move the more detailed information to the notes section. Also, I have a more detailed version to give to participants that miss the presentation or want the full presentation notes as a review tool. I am careful to review my notes prior to the presentation and not read them to my audience.

I also use handouts and create on-line reference libraries (downloadable documents) for information that is too detailed to include on a PowerPoint slide.

Stayed tuned for my next article Workshop Facilitation which will discuss tips and techniques to help you design a great workshop!

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