【正文】 ll the information that you might want to include. You will then have a pyramid that enpasses everything you need to convey. Now, play with it. Look at the big picture. See what39。re ready to start creating the materials you will actually show people: bullet points, charts, graphs. Instead of anizing onthefly, you39。t worry: it isn39。s corporate design style, which also influences our advertising and marketing materials. It is straightforward, clean, and simple. ? It39。re recording the audience39。s facetoface munications. The title slide is a straightforward element, and generally requires only that you include your name, IBM anization, and speaking topic in the places provided. However, the template allows for other elements that might be required, and it39。t have much available and you39。s relevance to your audience. A single, wellconstructed graphic, supported by your thoughtful explanation, is more effective than a series of charts that the audience must decipher. ? Projected visuals have severe limits. They are constrained by the resolution of a puter screen, which is far lower than the printed page. They are limited further by being projected onto a screen that people must read from a distance. For this reason, we want to keep visuals simple and bold. More plex graphics are better suited for inclusion in printed materials. Let39。s an example of text poorly used: That isn39。re saying as you explain the points. Of course, even when you reduce your message to a bulletpoint phrase, you can still defeat yourself by cramming too many onto a single page. That39。t fit into five lines. No problem. If you examine your information, you are likely to find that it will arrange itself into groups of details that support more general points. (If you39。t cram it onto this page unless it39。t have as much supporting detail, you might simply show your first page about IBM servers again, perhaps with your next point highlighted: You would then proceed to discuss the advanced management features. Your audience has a clear and quick visual cue that you39。t get carried away: you don39。re intended to municate. Like other tools, they must be used when the task requires them, and with care. Our template calls for charts stripped clean of extraneous clutter, free from such visual gimmickry as threedimensional effects, and restrained in their use of color. If your information is relevant to your audience, it shouldn39。t convey information, but rather present it in a visual way that makes understanding it easy. Still, your audience is going to have to extract the message of a chart by looking at it, by reading it, possibly with your assistance in pointing out its key aspects. The simpler a chart is, the more clear and direct its message will be. Complex charts of simple information are failures. Simple charts of plex information are achievements. ? When data demands plex charts, they are nearly always better presented on a printed handout. We will work around these limits as best we can, but you must be aware of them and strive for simplicity. ? In the hands of skilled people trained in presenting information visually, there are software tools capable of transforming plex data into elegant and effective charts. But these often require specialized skills. You39。t change however: ? The color or size of the blue bands, except between the two variations given as options in the template and for the style of the bands in the printable blackandwhite version. ? The font, which is Arial. (Arial is one of the sansserif fonts, which are generally considered easier to read projected on a monitor or screen, or when printed on dark backgrounds. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman and Bodoni, are generally considered easier to read in print on white or lightcolored paper.) ? The size, position, or other attributes of the IBM logo in the upper right. ? The color palette. ? The minimum point or font size of the various text elements. ? The position of such elements as IBM Confidential, the title of the presentation, the page numbering if you use it. When you use the template, you39。t Just Play It It39。ve pared all the nonessentials from your visuals so that only the most important elements are displayed, and they truly support your presentation instead of bee your presentation, then it probably isn39。t record it, or that adds too much to the file size for ing, create a second, similar presentation and use the speaker notes function. Then you can encourage your audience to print out the presentation with your speaker39。t know the topic very well and have nothing to add, or else that you39。re looking at: Look here our software is more powerful. Instead, use that as your cue to explain why it39。ve just seen, the United States holds tremendous potential for . Ltd. 2. Hold the eye contact as you make the transition to the next slide. But will . be able to enter the . market? In fact, there are no insurmountable barriers to entry. 3. Be quiet stop talking as you replace the old visual with the new one. 4. Make eye contact once more as you begin to tell the story of the new visual. Here are the barriers you39。re saying in the middle of it. Finish early, follow up There have been no studies to determine what percentage of business audiences are left wishing a presentation had continued longer. Possibly this is because so many run long that there39。s equally important to learn from the experience and improve your skills. One way is by recording yourself and listening to it afterwards — probably several days or a week later, when the experience is less fresh in your memory, and you can listen to the recording more objectively. It might also be useful, depending on the audi