Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes and how to ensure they won’t happen to yours.Written, Designed and Published by Andy Goodman & Cause CommunicationsCreators of Why Bad Ads Happen to Good CausesWhy Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes was written by Andy Goodman. This edition was designed and published by Cause Communications (R. Christine Hershey, President).Survey design and analysis were supervised by Pam Loeb, Principal, Edge Research.Interviews with expert commentators were conducted by Andy Goodman and Lindsey Pollak. All text was edited by Bud Pollak.Copyright © 2006 by Andy Goodman and Cause Communications. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.ISBN 0-9763027-2-1Library of Congress Control Number: 2005935487This book was made possible by the generous support of:The California EndowmentThe California Wellness Foundation The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation The Harbourton FoundationThe William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Open Society InstituteThe David and Lucile Packard Foundation The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland Surdna FoundationWhy Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes and how to ensure they won’t happen to yours.Written, Designed and Published by Andy Goodman & Cause CommunicationsCreators of Why Bad Ads Happen to Good CausesThis book is dedicated to Anita S. Goodman, who always taught her children to present themselves well.Table Of ContentsAcknowledgements ...................................................................................................1Overview ................................................................................................................. 2 • Such Good Causes, Such Bad Presentations • Had the Stories. Needed the Numbers. • Now Add the Best and the Brightest • What You Will Find Inside • So, Is This Book for You?Chapter 1: The Sorry State of the Art ...........................................................7 • The Average Presentation Defined • Common Problems: The Fatal Five • Excellence Defined: The Three Most Wanted • The Link Between Excellence and Learning • Why Do Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes? • Five Glimmers of HopeChapter 2: Building Better Presentations .................................................... 17 • The Audience: Start Here • Length: Why More Isn’t Necessarily More • Don’t Download – Synthesize • Keep It Interactive • Appeal to Different Learning Styles • Tell Stories • Opens and Closes: Work Hardest Where Attention Is HighestChapter 3: Improving Your Delivery ............................................................. 37 • Eye Contact: Read the Audience, Not Your Notes • Vocal Control: Know Your Knobs • Body Language – What Is Yours Saying? • Humor: The Funny Thing About Being FunnyChapter 4: PowerPoint Is Your Friend .........................................................47 • First, Accept What PowerPoint Is Not • Say the Words. Show the Pictures. • Design Outside the (White) Box • Use Style to Convey Substance • Use Animation to Control the Flow of Information and Convey Meaning • Unify Elements to Create a Visual Hierarchy • Discover the Little MiraclesChapter 5: The Small Stuff (It’s Worth Sweating) ..................................... 63 • Logistics • How You Are Introduced • Handouts • Preparing for Panels • EvaluationsBad Presentations: Our Tipping Point? ........................................................ 71Resources ......................................................................................................... 72 • Recommended Reading • Checklists to GoAppendix ................................................................................................... 79 • Survey Methodology and Results • Meet the ExpertsAcknowledgementsThis book would not have been possible without the support and cooperation of the following individuals and organizations:• The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, The Harbourton Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Open Society Institute, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, and Surdna Foundation. Special thanks to Dennis Hunt, Magdalena Beltrán-del Olmo, Michael Bailin, Nancy Roob, Bruce Trachtenberg, Eric Brown, Amy Regan, David Morse, Gara LaMarche, Maria Teresa Rojas, Stephanie McAuliffe, Chris DeCardy, Susanna Krey, Julie Rittenhouse, and Vince Stehle. • Chris Hershey, Andrew Posey, and Joanna Lee – the management and design team at Cause Communications – who have been my partners in this project since its inception. (Now we have two “bad” books behind us!) • Pam Loeb, who helped design the survey and provided incisive analysis of the results; and Edge Research, which hosted the survey online. • Our 20 expert commentators, who generously shared their time and insights: Cliff Atkinson, Max Atkinson, Joel Bradshaw, Geoffrey Canada, Marc Freedman, Dynell Garron, Kristen Grimm, Paul Hawken, Kim Klein, Christina Harbridge Law, Andy Lipkis, Chuck Loring, Nancy Lublin, Holly Minch, Lorraine Monroe, Peg Neuhauser, Eda Roth, Gerry Tabio, Scott Ward, and Jerry Weissman. • Lindsey Pollak, who tracked down and interviewed most of our expert commentators, and managed to elicit a wealth of useful advice in the process. • The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Environmental Defense, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Roca for allowing us to critique their PowerPoint presentations. • The peer reviewers who patiently combed through early drafts of this book and helped make it both a stronger resource and a better read: Parker Blackman, Lisa Brei, Eric Brown, Roberto Cremonini, Chris DeCardy, John Gomperts, Kristen Grimm, Chris Hershey, Dennis Hunt, Brett Jenks, Pam Loeb, Jeff Martin, Terrence McNally, Holly Minch, David Morse, George Perlov, Lindsey Pollak, Amy Regan, Julie Rittenhouse, Maria Teresa Rojas, Vince Stehle, Bruce Trachtenberg, and Stefanie Weiss. • Bud Pollak, who graciously gave up at least one full round of golf to edit this book. • The individuals and organizations – too numerous to list here – who promoted our online survey