SlideMagic Blog

Jokes can be great ice breakers in presentations. Jokes can also be incredibly awkward when introduced in the wrong meeting, at the wrong time, with an audience who is not ready for them.

Here is my advice: do not hardwire risky jokes into your slides, but rather, keep the option to tell them verbally. If the mood is right, go for it, if the audience vibe is not right, you can bail out at the very last moment.

Borat bathing suit slides cannot be unseen, even when double clicked really quickly…

Most infographics are a bombastic compilations of overcomplicated, trying-too-hard, visualisations of facts that are not always that insightful. These simple graphs by Danish writer/artist duo Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthale are well executed and actually pretty funny.

A compilation of charts here on the Zero Hedge blog, and here is the web site of the original creators Wumo.

Reading this column about Story tellers have more fun led me to an old Seinfeld episode where he is pitching a new TV show to NBV about, well, nothing.

A weekend post. Talking about cramming in a lot of information in 5 minutes… This entertaining video by Oliver Humpage manages to remind me about lots of math I forgot about a long time ago. I think the speaker could actually have done a better job by cutting out even more content from the story. Maybe it would have been possible in 4 minutes…

Can I use humor in an investor presentation? (Well, the question applies to all serious presentations). I would be careful. Humor is a great ice breaker when it comes naturally, even in serious presentations such as a pitch to investors. However, making it come naturally is hard to plan. That rehearsal in front of your friends in the living room sofa is a different environment from the corporate conference room.

If you used a joke spontaneously in a previous presentation, you could try to use it again (i.e., program it), in another one if you feel that mood and energy in the room is right. But only then. And never put jokes in writing on slides or in images, you lose the option to pull them out at the last minute. Also, you do not control the digital after-life of the presentation file after the live presentation.

This image tells 2 things:

1. Have the courage to deviate from standard visual cliches
2. Simple shapes can still convey a powerful message

The image was added by Robin Benson and taken from this book:  Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design (affiliate link)

Highly amusing video of a fund raising discussion. In many pitch discussions, people talk at each other, but are not really listening, talking to each other. Created by ITHAYER.

Weekend reading. I was reading some stories of George and Martha this weekend to my children, and was reminded of a great blog post by Nancy Duarte about leveraging your audience’s anticipation in your presentation. Let them do a bit of the work as well, rather than just sitting down while being spoon-fed with content.

The “slide” with the grinning George is a more powerful one than Martha walking away to get a towel while the information conveyed is the same.

The images are scans from this book. Recommended for any parent.

I am continuing to post some “lighter” material during this holiday week here in Israel. Gary Vaynerchuk shares my passion for (great) wine. Here is an entertaining 2 minute video encouraging you to go off and do great things. Watch how he builds his point up and pauses before he gives his recommendation how to stand out in the noise of social media. [Spoiler alert]. Writing “do great stuff” on a PowerPoint slide would not have created the same impact as this video.

Less is more. Resist the temptation to overdo slides. Like putting too much bass and treble in your HiFi system. Like a rich chocolate dessert. Like an oaked Chardonnay. Nice on first “attack”, but then it starts to overpower you.

It is a holiday here in Israel, people are relaxing on a beautiful spring day. A bit of humor: artists commenting on when they consider their art work finished.

Via Wooster Collective, a street art blog that is worth following. Things (language, images) sometimes get a little bit more rough over there than you will find here, but hey, it’s art and there are some interesting visuals being discussed. (See a previous street art post on this blog)