how to create a great presentation in just 15 …...tips for success. the best way to fill an hour...
TRANSCRIPT
HOW TO CREATE A GREAT PRESENTATION IN JUST
15 MINUTES
Hi, I’m Dan Martell. I coach high performing SaaS founders and I love it!
Some would say that I am a serial entrepreneur. Maybe that’s true, after all I exited three startups and have invested into many more…
• clarity.fm (acquired by startups.co) • Flowtown (acquired by Demandforce) • Spheric Technologies (acquired by Function1)
HOW TO CREATE A GREAT PRESENTATION IN JUST 15 MINUTES
Did you know that the highest paid profession in America is professional speaking?
Speakers can earn > $50,000 for a 20-minute keynote presentation.
PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND
It’s the reason why great entrepreneurs know how to get up and share their message.
They indirectly get “paid” by moving business people to engage with their company in a way that goes far beyond the financial upside.
GET PAID TO SHARE YOUR MESSAGE
HERE’S HOW TO CREATE A GREAT PRESENTATION
IN JUST 15 MINUTES
Yes, 15-minutes sounds ridiculous – but it’s true.
I can sit down, write out the structure outlined ahead and insert the missing elements.
From there, I can present for 20-60 minutes without skipping a single beat.
Read on to learn how to do it yourself.
1. HIGH-LEVEL OUTLINE
Here’s a simple way to provide yourself with a framework to quickly create your next presentation.
I call it the High Level Outline.
The following 7-steps outline the basics of the High Level Outline, so you can do the same for your next presentation.
Photo by Nick Morrison
Want a simple trick to creating a catchy title? Just use magazine covers. Search online for a magazine in your industry and type in the words “Magazine Cover”. Example: Forbes magazine cover.
You’ll see what headlines people in your industry like to click…
TITLE YOUR TALK1
The best way to open is to state your name and the title of the talk.
“The Art and Science of Growth Hacking” @danmartell #growthhacking
YOUR OPENER2
It’s simple, it gets the conversation going, and people will know whether or not they’re in the right room ;)
But if you want to be fancy, here are a couple other ideas …
BE CASUAL …
If you have a funny story about the city, venue or organizer, share it!
Keep it short, but funny - and it possible, relevant to the topic being discussed.
TELL A STORY
Get people involved by asking “How many of you …?” or “How are you doing?”
Either approach is fine and it gets the audience interacting early in your talk to set the mood and to gain the audience participation.
ASK A QUESTION
One of the best ways to engage the audience is to thank them.
Doing this will leave them feeling a sense of respect for you because you appreciated them.
There are two groups you’ll want to thank, and in this order …
SHOW GRATITUDEPhoto by rawpixel on
Thank them for coming out, for their time and participation. Showing gratitude is important!
ATTENDEES
Get the name of the organizers and a few major sponsors.
Thank them and then ask everyone to give them a big round of applause.
ORGANIZERSPhoto by Nicholas Green
No one goest to en event for the speaker, they go for themselves.
Tell them what they’ll get from your talk. This is referred to as the “WIIFM” or “What’s In It For Me?” asked from the attendees point of view.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME (WIIF)4Photo by Maxime Bhm
Never assume anyone knows who you are. Instead, explain to the audience why they should listen to you.
EARN THE RIGHT5
Give Your Own Bio Nobody knows you like you.
Share Accomplishments Tie it into the topic. Don’t be afraid to brag (a little).
Share Your Why What’s your purpose in life? How is that coming along?
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
The best way to fill an hour talk:
Break things up into 10 minute stories or 10 minute teachings.
It makes approaching a big presentation so much more doable. This also works for making a talk much shorter, just distill in 10 minute increments.
TEACHING(S)6
Decide on the best way to frame it, the story you feel best demonstrates the lesson and how you want to end.
FOR EACH TEACHING…
Photo by pine watt
This is usually the point you want to talk about – the lesson learned, trend or belief that you would like to teach.
If you have any powerful stats or examples to reinforce this, then lead with that.
One of my favorite openings I’ve heard recently came from an HR startup: “People don’t quit their companies. They quit their boss.”
THE OPENING
I personally like to share stories about my experiences that help reinforce the topic. The key in my mind is this: The more vulnerable the story, the more universal the appeal.
Regardless of the topic, everyone likes a good story, so don’t bore your audience with facts & figures, instead, weave that information into a relevant story.
STORIES SELL
Photo by Tyler Nix
This is where many speakers mess up a great story.
They don’t bring the story to a resolution, or explain how the lesson they learned helped them achieve or avoid a similar fate in the future.
It only takes a few seconds, but it will help the audience stay engaged.
THE ENDING
Photo by Matt Botsford
THANKS!Twitter/Instagram: @danmartell
www.danmartell.com/rocketdemo
CLOSING7At the end, I always like to quickly go over the topics I covered, then end with either a “Call to Action” or a “Call to Purpose.”
Most of the time I give them a URL to download links so I can collect their email and build a relationship.
If the purpose of my talk was more inspirational than teaching, I’ll end with a call to purpose.
This is more of an “ask” to the audience to live their life with purpose.
I’ve sometimes asked, “Will you make me a commitment to have no small plans?”, or borrowed from my friend Clay, “I have no doubt you’ll all be successful, but will you matter?”
CALL TO PURPOSE
Reduce the stress of an upcoming talk by perfecting the first 7 minutes. That’s all you need.
If you’ve practiced the opening, all the other elements written above, and maybe the first topic, you’ll be fine.
Remember, you’re human. You already know how to tell a story so the key is to remember how you begin and end. The middle will fill itself in.
THE FIRST 7 MINUTES
2. CREATE YOUR SLIDES
If you’re an amazing story teller then you should be able to get away with no slides (in person, not for a presentation like this). I’m not there, yet.
So in lieu of that, I continuously reduce the amount of information on a slide as well as the total number of slides in my presentation. Currently, I have the following slides for my talks…
THE BEST SLIDES ARE NO SLIDES
Photo by Cristina Gottardi
This slide has a strong image with the title of my talk, my Twitter handle and the hashtag for the talk or event.
THE LIFE OF AN
@danmartell #SaaStock
TITLE THE SLIDE1
INSTIGATOR
This is a slide with a picture that represents who I am and allows me to cover the ETR part of my talk.
CANADIAN. ENTREPRENEUR
EARN THE RIGHT (ETR)2
This slide has the topic, relevant image and that’s it. I repeat this format for every 10 minute story I plan to share.
#motivationtrumpsknowledge
TEACHING #13
This is my thank you slide + CTA or call to purpose. It usually includes my Twitter handle, even hashtag and maybe a URL.
#willyoumatter #ThankYou @danmartell
THE CLOSING4
Want to see some full examples of this in action? Check out the following links below:
EXAMPLE DECKS
https://www.slideshare.net/flowtown/hustlin-for-conversions
https://www.slideshare.net/flowtown/web-properties-that-convert-dan-martell-mesh-marketing-102209
https://www.slideshare.net/UTR/dan-martell-the-art-and-science-of-growth-hacking
