As you may know, I’ve launched a new web site, www.tellnshow.com, and with it a new project – the Campaign Against Death by PowerPoint. This post is especially to those of you in the presentation/speaking community, but anyone can participate. Since you help people improve their presenting and speaking and I know you’d like to end death by PowerPoint, I’d like to ask you to join me in 2010.
The idea came about after a survey I did on Death by PowerPoint; I discovered that it’s alive and well, unfortunately. I thought, there’s so much great information about good presenting, from you and many others, in the form of blog posts, books, courses, and more. So why are so many presentations still painful?
Although many people are listening, most aren’t. Providing the solution is good, but somehow we need to reach many more people.
It occurred to me that the real power lies in the hands of audience members who have to suffer through Death by PowerPoint. If we could inspire the audience to give presenters a simple tool, presenters might realize they need to improve.
It’s a challenge, because many people don’t want to be critical (and the presenter might be their boss), but I think it’s worth a shot. It’s also difficult to reach audiences; most of them aren’t presenters themselves, so they don’t read our blogs or our books.
Will you help?
I created a free white paper called “From Death by PowerPoint to Life by PowerPoint with the Tell ‘n’ Show(SM) Method.” It’s a mini-course in good presentation skills and offers links to many excellent resources.
The campaign is simple:
- People print out an invitation to download the white paper
- They hand the invitation to the presenter, or discreetly place it nearby
- The presenter downloads the white paper (registration required)
You can read the press release at http://bit.ly/8MSr6L.
So what am I asking you to do? Publicize the Campaign Against Death by PowerPoint. Inform your clients and readers about it. Help me get the word out!
Please reply by commenting on this blog post. Or you can join the Facebook group “Campaign
No More Death by PowerPoint!
Against Death by PowerPoint” and post there. Another idea is to post my “No More Death by PowerPoint” image with a link to www.tellnshow.com. You can get it at http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/images/no_more_death_by_powerpoint.png.
Tell me what you’ll to do, or just wish me luck. I look forward to hearing from you!
If you would prefer to include your own white paper or report, I’m open to that. Please let me know and we can discuss it. In fact, I’d appreciate hearing any suggestions or comments you have.
Best wishes for a very happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year!
Ellen