This fantastic event blends technology and innovation to create a product in a tight time frame.  The culmination of the weekend [...]]]> “Startup Weekend” recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event building communities, companies and projects.

This fantastic event blends technology and innovation to create a product in a tight time frame.  The culmination of the weekend was shared in 5 minute pitches from each team. Most of the products were mobile applications. The official winners were able to explain their product. If the other teams had tightened their plans, coordination and delivery of their presentation, the results could have been different.

Like a diamond in the rough, a supermodel wearing sleeping bag, or a gift left in the package, we just could not see the value, in the time-allotted. The clouds rolled in and it was foggy to see.

The participants were primarily techies and are not expected to be rock star presenters. That’s why we have sales representatives. However, if you want funding….then, it’s important to throw a small chunk of more effort at your presentation skills.

From what I saw, here are a few tips regarding the presentations. Most of these items were common throughout all of the presentations:

Presenters

The team member with the best communication skills should be the presenter.  They do not need to be the most important person or the

Coordinating

person with all of the knowledge, but  they have to be able to communicate the message. Half of the teams could had room for improvement in selecting stronger presenters.

The presenter should talk – that’s it. Another person should operate the technology, pass out handouts, etc.  Too much of the time the presenter tried to multi-task and mouse and he couldn’t talk at the same time and should not have to. The main communicator should not leave the audience hanging. When the audience has to wait more than 20-30 seconds, the audience is going to entertain themselves by talking or typing. After you lose the audience, it is challenging to pick them up again. If another person operated the computer, the presenter can stall, explain, or ask a question to keep the audience engaged.

On the other hand, several of the teams had an assistant to change the slides, but the presenter and assistant appeared with no coordinated plan.  The disorganization was a distraction and did not reflect well on the team. If they cannot execute basic communication, how will they deal with anything more complex?

Microphone Usage

Use the microphone effectively. If the audience can’t hear you, they can’t invest in your venture or share your message.  I saw one person slowly twirl the microphone around his mouth.  Each rotation we could hear him clearly for a second and had to wait until the rotation met up with his mouth again. The microphone is there to make it easy for everyone to hear your brilliance. Use it, even if you don’t want to. You want your audience’s attention focused on the content, not the audio sound or lack of.

Stance & Positioning

Please keep your body steady or move purposefully. Many of the presenters floated around and drifted about like a bubble in the wind. When a speaker moves in this fashion, they look unsure and not confident decreasing their credibility. Plus, in the audience, we have to concentrate harder to understand your concept with your distracting movements.

Standing in the dark

Presenting in the dark

The lighting was not ideal, but the presenter should find the brightest spot and stand in it.

Most of the time, the front of the room was dark so the audience could see the screen, but the presenters coincidently stood in the dark dead spot. Building a connection with the audience is important, but cannot be accomplished if we cannot see you.

If you want to pitch and be successful, egos must be tucked away and the most logical choice should be made.

Eye contact

Who do you want to communicate with? The projector screen or your audience?   We saw a lot of backs of heads of the presenters.

Confidence

If you are not confident in your product, why should anyone else believe in it?  The tone in the presenter’s voices is a giveaway. The excuse,”We didn’t have time” is not the best answer. You knew the parameters and time constraints perhaps years ahead of time. Everyone else had the same rules. This excuse sounded a bit whiny. Who wants to fund whiners?

Technology

It’s inevitable that technology is going to get in the way. Have a plan B, C and D. Be able to take advantage of the opportunity using low tech if you need to.  One of the teams had a video playing, which was a great illustration, but after we saw the video, it needed to be muted. The presenter was trying to talk over it, but wasn’t successful. It was a little stressful, hoping they get it together before the 5 minutes is up.

Contents

What do your potential investors need to know before they invest? Speak to their values and prioritize these points and omit points that do not advance the sale. Many of the teams talked about how their product works, but didn’t spend much time building awareness of the problem and the solution their product solves. The audience should be in agony, feeling the pain of the problem and begging the presenters to give them the answer to their pain.

Be specific which markets you are targeting and why. Then show us the lifestyle of this target market and you are confident they will buy your product. Ask the audience to think about who they know in this market. We in the audience need to understand, relate and be able to engage in what you are saying.

Many of the products were similar to existing products. More explanation and research was needed to persuade the target market to switch.

If the audience is interested in the product, how do they use it? When would they use it and why would they use it and what would be the results of using the product ?

If you have only 5 minutes, please don’t waste it on talking about your team and how great they are. The potential investors do not care who you are. Get to the point. Thank your team members later.

Overall

All in all, it was great to see ideas formulated so quickly.  A little more planning and thought into the presentation may have propelled others to be in the top 5. Great concepts.

#swred, #startupweekend

See pictures from StartupWeekend Redmond by Total Effects Video

Jolene Jang, The Meeting Maximizer

President, NSA Northwest, National Speakers Association

When you want your audience to focus on the presenter it is necessary to have a clean background.  Windows are the worst and any cluttered backdrop might be more interesting than the [...]]]> Speakers, event and meeting planners and hotel venues, take the time to consider the color of your backdrops. Black backdrops can be dangerous.

When you want your audience to focus on the presenter it is necessary to have a clean background.  Windows are the worst and any cluttered backdrop might be more interesting than the presenter.  The goal is to limit the number of visual distractions, so the audience only has a couple of places to look; at the presenter or at the screen.

Think of a puppet show. What do the performers wear? Black. They are clothed in black so the audience can  focus on the

In this picture what do you see? Three faces and one person’s arms. Do you think this woman wants her arms to be the showcased? That's what's happening.

non-black puppets. If you are doing a puppet show, then by all means camouflage your body in a black suit and use a black backdrop. The audience will see the items on the stage that are not black. Yes, they will see a floating head and hands. It makes for a cool Halloween effect with a drifting talking head.

However, if you are hosting a meeting or event, then don’t let the speakers blend into your background.  The black on black creates the puppet effect particularly prominent if you have a large distance like 100 feet between the speakers and the last attendee.

This is called an “Event Eroder”. By itself it may not seem like a big deal, but you add several of these distractions and your meeting is doomed.

Solutions

Ideally, you want better lighting. Most of the time lighting will be outsourced and a substantial cost. But if you can afford it, than do it.

• Have a back light for the stage, so the audience can see the separation of backdrop and person. The easiest way is to have par can lights on the floor shining up on the backdrop.
• Use lighting to illuminate the presenter

Low Cost Options

• Create a better room set-up to reduce the distance from the speaker to the furthest attendee
• Use a different color backdrop
• Tell your main presenters about the color of the backdrop

The solution is simple, but apparently people don’t think about it. Don’t be that person. Make a change. Make it easy for the audience to get value from your meeting. The meeting distractions are obvious, but why do we keep seeing these occurrences.

Jolene Jang, The Meeting Maximizer

President, NSA Northwest, National Speakers Association

In Oak Brook just outside of Chicago, at the Oak Brook Marriott, I was presenting a session called Maximizing Return On Image to a [...]]]> Wearing my standard silver, big belt buckle, spelling out “FUN” and my thin choker, hematite necklace was not a winning combination. What happened?

In Oak Brook just outside of Chicago, at the Oak Brook Marriott, I was presenting a session called Maximizing Return On Image to a select, top tier of the balloon entertainer group. By the way, this is an incredibly talented group. In my class, I spoke about increasing their professional image by creating a brand that speaks and connects to their target audience. We covered many aspects from the names, taglines, marketing collateral, to their online and physical presence.

I do try and practice what I preach. So I flew out my videographer and brought big lights to do it right. I flew in the night before to prepare the room appropriately to maximize the impact of my class.

The class went well, but was challenging for a front row participant, who flew all the way from the Japan. After the class, she told me my bling was blinding her, but she didn’t want to disrupt the class. Upon hearing this I asked the others to see if it had affected them. Apparently, the reflection from my fun belt and necklace reflected only to her.

Culture

Now, if this individual were American, I hope I would have built enough rapport for her to say something to me.  From the nature of what I was talking about, if she was American and didn’t feel comfortable to tell me, then I need to do a better job making the audience feel comfortable. Because she is from Japan, I wouldn’t expect her to speak up. It isn’t their culture to interrupt.

Problem

• 1) The necklace reflected the light. And the pendant part of the necklaces moves around. If you look closely, the clasp is in the front.  This will distract your audience too. I could have taped the clasp to itself in the back or worn a different necklace. However, with a lapel mic, this is not an appropriate necklace to wear, because it can bump into the microphone.
• 2) My southern bling belt I bought in Atlanta was too much  bling with the spotlight. I was on a 2 foot tall stage, about seven feet away from the one participant. My belt was at her eye level.

This is something that was a first time experience for me.  The bling, bling is now going to go on my Eliminate Distractions Checklist. Speakers need to be aware of this problem. I call this a “Mismanaged Messenger” distraction. To learn more about related distractions see these articles.

By the way, the Marriott Oak Brook gave me great service. At 11pm when I arrived the manager took my requests and assured me they would be taken care of at 6am in the morning and they followed through. Good job Marriott Oak Brook. To learn more about