PowerPoint and presentations are a hotly debated topic. Tom Peters has some great insight into presenting here.

But, who is a great presenter? Who do you look to? An interesting point comparing Steve Jobs to Bill Gates is made here (With some good tips), but I am not sure that I agree that Jobs is better than Gates. Jobs takes the ‘simple’, ‘jeans and running shoes’ folksy approach, which resonates well with the Apple market (To use a stereotype that has more than a few grains of truth). Below is a Jobs slide ..

Note the simplicity. Now, one could argue, what else would he put on the slides? The Apple market play is pretty limited.

Gates takes a much different approach, while addressing a much broader audience (consumer, small/medium and enterprise businesses). Below is a slide from CES.

I have seen both present and both have an impact. In the end, it is about style. Jobs resonates with one crowd, Gates with another. For those who have seen me present, I have a specific style and I connect with crowds in a specific way.

Each presenter must become comfortable with their style and then make that style the best that it can be. In my mind, the questions that each presenter should ask themselves is:

1. What is my style? Forceful, analytical, etc.

2. How can I improve it? (Who can you learn from, does it resonate with your target audience)

3. Am I bound to only one style? Do I have the ability to morph to meet the requirements of different audiences?

A few weeks ago, I was asked to do a presentation to a group of about 50 people. I had to cover 2 topics with a 3 hour slot.

The first topic was my business. I know my business. This was the ‘easier’ of the two. The second topic was on the future of the home, entertainment and new business opportunities. This is not my area of expertise.

Many people would have done a bad or mediocre job of this, it had all trappings of a potential train wreck. I knew this could happen, and applied the following ‘personal presentation tenants’ to ensure that it was successful:

1. I practiced. I stood in my hotel room the night before and dry ran the presentations for about 6 hours. When I dry run, I stand up and run the content as if I am presenting. Every time I ran through it, I grew more confident with the content and with my ability to deliver. My advice is that for an important meeting or a presentation, dry run it to increase the likelihood of success and your confidence. Talking out loud in the car, or in a hotel might seem silly at the time, but it works.

2. I made the content mine. I have seen many canned (pre-built) decks delivered in a very wooden way. These deliveries are significantly different than ones where the speaker is passionate and took the time to customize the deck to their own message and for their audience. I brought together several decks to build the messages that I wanted to deliver. Most people take a deck, and deliver it verbatim. If you make the deck ‘yours’, it is apparent to the audience.

3. It was a show. Anyone can read from a slide. The talented presenter knows the content cold and makes the deck ‘come alive’. Use humor, videos and personal anecdotes to connect with the audience, to entertain and make the presentation stand out from others. That is what makes it memorable, your delivery – not the slide.

4. Jazz it up: Take a look at the templates  and clipart that you can get free from the Microsoft site. Now, do not focus on glitz over content – but if you put the effort in, it shows.

5. Keep it simple: A slide should not be 42 points.

I use the rule of thumb: What is the single point I am making on a slide? Anything else on it should drive to that point. You do not need to squint to see the content of my slides because they are not cluttered.

Back to that event, it went off without a hitch and people found the presentations interesting and helpful. A plan came together.