Blue Ocean Presentations, part 2

   

THE KEY TO BLUE OCEAN STRATEGIES is to get out of the fierce, red waters of typical competition and pursue clear, blue, uncontested waters where competition is non-existent. Sounds simple, huh?
        Okay, it’s not. That’s why you need to read the book and go through all the exercises and maybe even spend big bucks on their consulting services. But suppose you do get a flash of inspiration and you do develop a bold new approach to your market (the way Cirque du Soleil and Starbucks have). When you go out to pitch this, do you think a typical presentation is going to carry the right impact?
        Let me answer for you: NO!
        Even if you don’t yet have that startling, blue-ocean vision, you can still render your competition irrelevant (or nearly so) — but you can’t do it with a typical, “Me”-focused presentation. You need an approach that is boldly different, yet perfectly on-target and focused on the needs, issues, or goals of your audience.

What does a Blue Ocean Presentation Look Like?

It could be anything actually — except the typical PowerPoint deck with lots of bullets and recitation and obtuse graphics and <fill in the blank>. Let’s look at three possible approaches.

1. No Slides
Just imagine if you walked out on stage or to the head of the conference table — and just began to talk. And you gestured to emphasize key points, the same way you would at home or in a casual conversation. And, perhaps, at a critical moment, you pull out a prop to illustrate your main idea or vision. Your prop could be anything smaller than a horse — a hammer, nails, and a board? A broken wheel? A golf ball? Or maybe you pass out cocktail napkins and pens, and have everyone write down their key issues? Or Post-It Notes? Or you haul out a BIG CHECK?

The possibilities are endless. Just make sure whatever you use (if you choose to use props) relates to your message. If you just pull out a pair of tap shoes and bang out time steps on the table, you’ll probably blow the opportunity.

2. Five Slides
You’ll never hear me say that PowerPoint is evil, but we all know how easy it is to abuse that tool. So what if you only had FIVE SLIDES. That’s it. Only five. AND, instead of cramming 30 slides worth of content onto those five slides, you had one key idea on each — maybe even just one word! (Garr Reynolds has a great post on this — The Takahashi Method — in Presentation Zen.)

Why only five? Because it forces you to be concise. And the more concise you are, the greater is the likelihood that your message will hit home with your audience — and stay with them long after your presentation is over. There’s also less chance of you lumbering along on “Me”-focused topics (like an extended riff on your company’s background) if you only get five slides. Finally, having only five slides means you’ll spend a lot of time interacting with your audience, which is how all presentations should be.

3. A Stream of Slides
This one is not for the faint of heart or for those who need the prompting that bullet slides provide. [Wait a minute! None of these approaches work for those who need bullet point prompts. Sneaky, huh?]

This third approach is high on the entertainment scale (and takes a lot of time to put together), but — done well — can make an incredible impact. Rather than my trying to explain it, check out this video of Dick Hardt giving his keynote at OSCON 2005. It’s a tour-de-force.
   

What does it take to pull these off?

Insight.
Inspiration.
Confidence.
Preparation.

Sounds simple. And, of course, it isn’t. But maybe, if you don’t think of it as a “PRESENTATION!” — some overly formal, stultifying, THING that strikes fear in presenters’ hearts and dread in audiences’ heads — then perhaps you can just have a conversation with your audience, be they one or a thousand in number. And, where relevant, throw in a tactile or visual bit (or 500, as in Dick Hardt’s case) to help illuminate your ideas. This will definitely transform your presentations — and your results.

As Hugh MacLeod says in his popular post “How to Be Creative” (item #11):

Don’t try to stand out from the crowd — avoid the crowd altogether.

We should all follow this advice.

<note>
You can find the first Blue Ocean Presentations post here. It’s not the prequel to this post, just a different riff inspired by this compelling book.