Friday, May 19, 2006
That 70's Presentation
"I wonder how many joints went into that venture."
I heard this comment muttered immediately following a particularly long-winded, rambling, and utterly incoherent venture capital pitch last week. The ill-fated presenters took Seth Godin's recommendation to not use PowerPoint, immediately opened up the floor to questions -
and well, it was crazy bad.
Disorganized. Disorderly. Disjointed.
But I had to smile at the mumbled comment by the annoyed audience member. I have not heard the snarky "joint venture" reference since 1999 -- before the tech bubble burst. The mid to late 1990’s were an incredible time, when just about 94% of VC presentations seemed to be fueled by some sort of drug abuse.
But as of last night, "That 70's Show" is over. And the 90’s are behind us as well.
The fact is, bad presentations -- and bad conversations -- have existed long before PowerPoint and other slideware. The presentation I heard last week wasn’t bad because the presenters failed to use PowerPoint – the presentation was bad because it lacked structure, a story, a lucid narrative voice, a strong call to action – well, I could go on and on.
Instead of giving “That 70’s Presentation”…take a tip from an excellent 21st century presenter – Guy Kawasaki – and put some structure and clarity into your pitch with his 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. Mr. Kawasaki’s blog post is a short, must-read post for anyone who even dreams of getting a business funded.
Not interested in getting a business funded? Read it anyway. You'll learn more about developing a clear, concise, and more persuasive style of presenting. ¶ 5/19/2006 10:15:00 AM
"I wonder how many joints went into that venture."
I heard this comment muttered immediately following a particularly long-winded, rambling, and utterly incoherent venture capital pitch last week. The ill-fated presenters took Seth Godin's recommendation to not use PowerPoint, immediately opened up the floor to questions -
and well, it was crazy bad.
Disorganized. Disorderly. Disjointed.
But I had to smile at the mumbled comment by the annoyed audience member. I have not heard the snarky "joint venture" reference since 1999 -- before the tech bubble burst. The mid to late 1990’s were an incredible time, when just about 94% of VC presentations seemed to be fueled by some sort of drug abuse.
But as of last night, "That 70's Show" is over. And the 90’s are behind us as well.
The fact is, bad presentations -- and bad conversations -- have existed long before PowerPoint and other slideware. The presentation I heard last week wasn’t bad because the presenters failed to use PowerPoint – the presentation was bad because it lacked structure, a story, a lucid narrative voice, a strong call to action – well, I could go on and on.
Instead of giving “That 70’s Presentation”…take a tip from an excellent 21st century presenter – Guy Kawasaki – and put some structure and clarity into your pitch with his 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. Mr. Kawasaki’s blog post is a short, must-read post for anyone who even dreams of getting a business funded.
Not interested in getting a business funded? Read it anyway. You'll learn more about developing a clear, concise, and more persuasive style of presenting. ¶ 5/19/2006 10:15:00 AM
