My posting’s been a little light recently but I’d like to welcome Will (whom you all met earlier in the week) who’s going to be keeping you up to date on the Tulane MBA from a different perspective than mine. This is a welcome change for everyone, including me, as the more opinions and information we can disseminate to you about the Freeman School experience the better.
Now, onto the lazy Sunday posts:
Harrah’s is finally going to be sold, PeHub reports. Harrah’s is a huge anchor on one end of the New Orleans downtown strip, and hopefully the privatization will bring about some positive changes.
I read Guy Kawasaki’s blog on a weekly basis. He always has something interesting to impart or interviews a new & different individual in the world of tech/efficiency/what’s new. Earlier this week Guy interviewed Garr Reynolds about making great presentations. This is something we do a lot of in business school, but the skill itself isn’t really taught that much, or that well. There’s definitely an art to a good presentation, and simply picking the default template from Powerpoint isn’t going to cut it.
Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite:
Question: How did we get to this place where most presentations suck?
Answer: There are many reasons. First of all, presenting exceptionally well isn’t easy. In fact it’s hard. That’s why we find great presenters—and great communicators in general—so remarkable. They are all too rare. Many professionals simply have never had much practice and just follow conventional wisdom and do it “like everyone else” instead of doing it effectively.
PowerPoint and Keynote are both pretty simple tools, but there has been too much focus on the tools themselves. If people want to learn how to make better slides they should study good books on graphic design and visual communication to improve their visual literacy.
When it comes to designing appropriate visuals, there is a hole in our education. Concerning quantitative displays, for example, very few people have had proper training in how to design graphs and charts, etc. The great master Edward Tufte has written many useful books in this regard.
Once you’ve mastered the Powerpoint, you’ve gotta figure out an effective way to impart that information. 10 Fail Proof Tips for Delivering a Powerful Speech has the answer! Or some of them, like:
6. Practice. Show of hands: how many of you prefer to "wing it" when making a speech? Ok, you're not alone. Now another show of hands: how many of you get up the podium and think "Oh crap, I should have practiced?" Yeah, ok, so you know where I'm headed with this. Practice. The goal is not to be able to deliver the exact words verbatim. The goal is to be able to memorize your outline, to sound natural, and feel relaxed while delivering your speech. Practice your speech at least 5 times with at least one of those times recording yourself. This will help you to edit your delivery.
Have a great MLK day (for those who celebrate) and a productive Monday for everyone else.
-Joel Yarmon
joel@tulanemba.org
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