Simplify Data in Presentations

00:00 The problem is, they turn their speech into a massive data dump.

00:04 It's like they were told, you've got to give this presentation a month.

00:07 So they grab a wheelbarrow, start going around the office, gathering every stack of paper, every stack of books, going to people's offices, saying, Give me all your PowerPoints on a similar subject from a month ago.

00:19 They walk into the boardroom the day of the speech, and now the wheelbarrow is stacked ten feet high, and they're thinking, Hmm, what do I leave in? What do I leave out? If I leave this out, Smithers may complain.

00:33 If I leave this out.

00:34 Well, Mary could accuse me of leaving something out.

00:37 You know what? Why don't I play it safe and just dump everything in? And if I speak really quickly, I can get it all in? How does that make you feel when someone does that, and they're just speaking quickly, fact after fact, maybe a whole bunch of boring PowerPoint slides.

00:55 It just doesn't work.

00:57 It's overwhelming, and most of us tune out.

01:01 So what do we do? We check our email and the latest movie review.

01:06 Or if it's our boss, and we're on the front row, we've perfected the technique of appearing to be looking right there at the boss paying attention.

01:15 But really, our mind is thinking, Hmm, Halloween is tonight and do I have my costume set? What time does it get? Our mind is a million miles away.

01:25 That's the problem with doing a data dump.

01:28 It simply does not work.

01:32 Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses.

01:34 A book, a textbook, a newspaper can be a great way of communicating lots and lots of data.

01:42 When you're speaking, it's a great way of showing your importance.

01:46 You're feeling your emotion for something, putting a spotlight on it.

01:48 But it's not particularly an effective way of creating lots and lots of data and having it stick in your audience's brain.

01:59 So you simply can do it whatever you do.

02:01 You've got to avoid the data dump.