Freedom = Death by PPT (Pt 2)

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗘𝗽𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 & 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝐓𝐰𝐨)

“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self.” – Igor Stravinsky
David Epstein shares this quote in his new book, “𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘅: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗨𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.”

On the surface, it’s a paradox.

How could imposing constraints—purposely using less than what’s available to you, be it content, structure, time, etc—produce a better presentation? But it’s true, and in last Friday’s post, we explained how “freedom” makes you a terrible presenter. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫P𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.

How do we fix this? Epstein shares a strategy called “𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬,” a two-phase process developed by Barnard psychology professor Patricia Stokes:
1️⃣ Use “𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲” 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 to stop using your typical or familiar approaches to creating presentations
2️⃣ Use “𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲” 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 to force you into creating presentations using a new, better method

𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 “𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞” 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬:
1️⃣ Never make your company/business/solution/proposal or you personally the primary focus of the presentation: 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫”
2️⃣ Follow the “𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐧𝐞-𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝:” cap your content quantity such that you can explain it thoroughly in no more than one-third of total meeting time
3️⃣ Forbid yourself from using jargon or from failing to explain every meaningful term (including abbreviations) and 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, not yours
4️⃣ Put your presentation content to bed—finish it—𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 before the date of your presentation (even further in advance for very important presentations)

Then, 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 “𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞” 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬:
1️⃣ Structure your content into a “𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲” (see graphic). It liberates you to focus on great content—as Epstein writes of the haiku form of poetry, “The form itself is the engine of creativity”
2️⃣ Use 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (1-2 for 1st movement, 3-4 for 2nd movement, 1-2 for 3rd movement)
3️⃣ 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Don’t just give them facts & data: tell them what it means
4️⃣ Budget at least 30 minutes per day, for at least three consecutive days, to 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, out loud, your presentation

* “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀” addresses destructive, common mistakes in messaging (presentation) design & delivery. Oratium helps executives avoid these mistakes, thereby improving their effectiveness not simply as speakers but as managers & as leaders.