There are more font colors than black

When working on a white background:

Using very dark shadings of one of your color scheme colors as the standard font color, can give your slides a much nicer feel than using high contrast but boring black. 

Especially true for title lines.

3M will launch a pocket-sized projector soon

I wonder whether this gadget will change the way we conduct presentations. The overhead beamer has just been resided to something that actually could fit in your pocket. Rather than looking in a coffee shop for a socket to plug in your laptop, now you also need to find a decent surface of white space on the wall... Photo by 3M. Source: Popular Science

The strategy consultant's review of The back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

We talked about sketching chart ideas on paper before, but Dan Roam takes visual problem solving to the next level in his book The back of the Napkin. This book was an interesting read for me not only because of the presentation concepts discussed, but also because The back of the napkin aims to provide a complete framework to solve business problems. (The key frameworks can be downloaded here for free). I think the book did really well on the presentation front, the goal of a generic strategic problem solving kit is not really reached. Dan does a great job convincing us that we should use our drawing/visual thinking skills that most of us have been neglecting since we started formal education. On top of that he provides practical guidelines to get going

• Have the courage to use a more informal drawing style (away from the computer) to get to the essence of problems, focus not on form but on content
• Help us think about what type of drawings are best to be used in which situations (who, what, when, why, etc.) and to what audiences (the visionary CEO, the detailed operations manager)

As a problem solving tool kit, he provides useful tools but falls short of providing a generic solution framework for all business problems (which impossible anyway I think).

• Dan takes the "S-type"/"sensing" approach to problem solving, spread out all data, put in on the walls, digest it all to see the bigger picture. A way of data processing very similar to the human brain sizing up a new environment. This is actually a useful and fresh approach compared to for example strategy firms such as McKinsey, that apply a very targeted data gathering approach focussed on key questions/issues that have been identified earlier. 
• Another take away for me were diagrams that try to summarize all relationships in a problem. Plot a variable on the x axis, one on the y axis, start adding bubbles in different sizes and different colors to analyze 5-6 dimensions in one diagram. Useful for solving problems, less for communicating results to a "cold" audience that is confronted with the material for the first time.
• I do think however that the book does not provide a simple step-by-step guide to solve problems, you need guidance for this. Running problem solving brainstormings around a white board requires a strong moderator, and picking the right diagrams requires experience. Hiring Dan's firm would probably do the trick, but the novice will find it difficult to apply the techniques after having read the just the book.

As a presentation tool, Dan's ideas are highly valuable in a smaller group setting, where everyone can gather around a white board while the presentor draws the story "live" in front of the audience without any help of PowerPoint. For the big audience however, this approach is high risk.

Sometimes cramming lots of detail in a PowerPoint slide looks great

It is clear that good charts address one idea only, and use minimal text and data. Still, I sometimes make charts that have an enormous amount of information in them. The smart use of graphics and colors makes sure that the message comes out. The trade-off heat map we talked about earlier is an example. Here is another one of my favorites: all market shares for all products for all channels in one chart (random data without a clear message I must admit here).

• Create the chart as 1 PowerPoint bar chart with "white" data series to separate the graphs so they are exactly lined up
• Use contrasting colors for the data you want to focus on, plus a pale one to fill up the chart to 100, reinforcing the grid structure of the slide
• Group rows and columns with similar numbers together so the become stronger visually when looked at from a distance
• If necessary add a message with a bright red circle

Strangely enough: the more products, the more channels, the better the chart looks.

Present data in clean 2D

The fact that PowerPoint can apply a lot of 3D graphical effects on charts does not mean you have to use them. Simple 2D looks better and is easier to read

Classic McKinsey business frameworks

The McKinsey Quarterly added another framework to a series that discusses historic business analysis frameworks: the GE-McKinsey 9 box matrix, developed in the early 70s. Glancing over the article and hearing the audio explanation made me realize: things have moved on. Managers have become much more skilled in absorbing diagrams, and business portfolio analysis is more than plotting industry attractiveness and competitive strength. The elaborate explanation of the 3x3 would almost be an "insult" to a sophisticated management audience in 2008. Still, today I constantly invent "frameworks" for presentation on the spot: how to present 4 steps, 3 distinctive factors versus the competition, 6 phases to launch, the best of both 2 worlds, but none of them are standard. Also, I am increasingly moving away from the urge to summarize all factors and aspects of a solution on one (the first) page. Rather, I take an audience through a step-by-step story to the final answer. The difference between a concise document and an engaging live presentation. For more nostalgic reading:

• Classic frameworks by McKinsey & Company (7-S, Structure-Conduct-Performance [SCP], others)
• Classic frameworks by the Boston Consulting Group (Growth-share matrix [Stars, cash cows, dogs, question marks], others)

Avoid shape outlines if you can

I think PowerPoint shapes just look better without a dark line around them. A fill color that stands out from the background is enough. If you have to use a contrasting line, use either white or a dark shade of the fill of the shape rather than black.

Heatmap - visualizing complex trade-offs

Often the key page in a presentation is the one that makes the trade-off between a number of alternatives. Examples are selecting a new strategic direction for a company, or explaining why your product is better than all alternatives in the market. It is "easy" to write down this information in document: a big table with all the pros and cons explained. However this approach is too dense for a presentation slide. I often use a "heat map" in these situations. Options on one axis, criteria on the other, and use shades and tints of the same color to show relevance ("dark = good"). 

• Select criteria in a smart way: group similar items that give similar scores (volume, revenue, profit) across criteria into one
• Use minimal text to describe options, criteria. 
• Group rows, columns in such a way that you create big "fields" of similar color

When presenting the slide, the point is not to discuss all the cells (that should be done in subsequent slides, 1 topic per slide), but rather to highlight the point that "option 4 is the best".

Chart concept - empty billboard

There are many "empty billboard" images available on stock image sites such as iStockPhoto. Many of them are cheesy, but the more realistic ones could be useful. I use them often in presentations as a place holder for information about a major product (re-)launch, or maybe a final slide to shout the key message home. They look best when you use an actual add containing images instead of just text. Make it look more realistic by using grey scales instead of black, make the image semi-transparent and (for the pros) use a blur filter in PhotoShop. Also, changing to a night setting adds more focus to the image. All the effects below were done in PowerPoint (gradient overlays). See an earlier post about pasting text on images here.

The huge screen - McCain's background visuals

Lots of linking to Garr Reynolds this week. After a lively discussion in the press, Garr added his review of John McCain's background visuals. An amusing read, the above image is a PhotoShop of what would have happened if Apple had prepared the visuals.

But it highlights a bigger issue: how to use these huge, huge projection screens? We have moved from the overhead project slide, to the PC projector, which in turn have gotten bigger. Now in a big conference, a video of the presentor and a PowerPoint visual are usually projected on a moderately big screen. We started to learn how to best use these screens.

But these size screens? I tend to think that they are actually too large for any image, graphic. Maybe just a few simple words? Anything else will distract the attention from the presentor.

Book review - Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

I had a big shipment of books coming in recently, hence the stream in book reviews.

I finally had a chance to read Presentation Zenby Garr Reynolds. Garr is a leading authority on presentation design and delivery, advocating his minimalist (or "Zen") approach to presentations. His blog is one of the most visited web sites on the subject.

That's what 50% of this book is about, convincing the army of business managers writing thousands of PowerPoint presentations every day to drop their bullet point slides, take off big corporate logos from their slides and use more images supported by minimal text. It is an important message and I forgive Garr for repeating it many, amny times throughout his book.

The other 50% is focussed around taking the designer approach to presentations. I enjoyed reading backgrounds on Japanese and Zen culture and how they can be applied to good design. I did learn a few things about photo composition.

The book is nicely illustrated with example presentations, and many "before and after" slide transformations. There are a lot of references to iStockPhoto in the book. A great site (I use it a lot), but the suggestions could have been put in slightly more subtle

Having read slide:ology by Nancy Duarte just a few days a go, it is interesting to draw a parallel. Slide:ology contains more practical presentation advice: how to define color schemes, specific examples about slide build up. Presentation Zen adds more on the create design process, esthetics, and photo composition.

All in all, both books are a must read and complement each other

Aligning PowerPoint object around a circle

PowerPoint has useful tools to align and distribute objects. Spreading things around a circle is more tricky though. Here is one solution that works with an even number of objects circling the center.

1. Draw the rough configuration of the diagram you want (something in the middle, an even amount of objects around it, not yet aligned)
2. Align 2 objects horizontally, and fix the distance in between them (left part of the attached illustration)
3. Using the "size" function copy (in my case I needed 4) them, and rotate them in increments you need (in my case 360/8=45 degrees).
4. Center and middle-align all objects until the diagram is finished (right section of the attached illustration)