Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Personal Development

We all need a little personal development mixed in with our professional and career development. Read blogs in this category for stories and best practices for personal wellness and wellbeing, skills improvement, and more.

Do Only the Really Smart (or Stupid) Fly Without PowerPoint?
When I get ready for a training or a speech, the first thing I do is outline content in PowerPoint slides. It helps me frame my thoughts and gauge for flow of material. Then I go back and provide content for a supporting document like a handout. And I’m lucky, I hand it off to someone else to make it all look pretty, cohesive, and professional before it ever goes live.

I’m working on a pitch now for some seed funding, and my first thought is how do I organize the pitch through PowerPoint slides. The information on guidelines for the pitch session even specifically references using “supporting slides.”

PowerPoint seems to be the default when we want to present ideas to a group. Whether there are words on a slide or just graphics, it seems to be the way everyone thinks when it comes to sharing ideas. Even the more innovative talk formats like Ted and Ignite talks almost always use slides. I’ve written some do’s and don’ts based on experience for creating a winning presentation, but what if we ditched the slides all together in favor of another way?

It’s well known that Jeff Bezos at Amazon called for just that in 2004. He deemed presentation slides out and narrative text in. Why? From his email announcing this:

“A little more to help with the questions ‘why.’

Well structured, narrative text is what we’re after rather than just text. If someone builds a list of bullet points in Word, that would be just as bad as PowerPoint.

The reason writing a good 4-page memo is harder than ‘writing’ a 20-page PowerPoint is because the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what’s most important than what, and how things are related.

PowerPoint-style presentations somehow give permission to gloss over ideas, flatten out any sense of relative importance, and ignore the interconnectedness of ideas.”

He went on to say at another time:

“Great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind. They simply can’t be done in a day or two.”

To summarize, Bezo (and I would agree) believes that this version of presentation style:
- Increases thinking and clarity of thought
- Increases collaboration
- Requires and builds patience
All this leads to better communication.

Great narrative written format, like someone who can fly without PowerPoint in a pitch or presentation and opts only for narrative verbal prose to make a lasting point(s), is hard. It’s really hard.

I think Bezos also would say, ditching the PowerPoint helps me see who is smart, really smart. And also, a really hard worker.

So, if you are going to fly without the slides, you need to be a very good storyteller in written and/or verbal prose and know if your audience is geared well towards the shell shock of another format. Amazon created an environment where no PowerPoint was the norm. Almost everywhere else this isn’t.

So, should I fly solo with no PowerPoint in my pitch in June? You tell me. Could it show that I am smart, hardworking and different or will I crash and burn given that the instructions for format already tell me my audience is expecting slides?

Am I smart or just plain stupid ditching PowerPoint?

Like this post, you may also like:

The Most Popular Slide in All My Leadership Trainings

7 Pieces of Advice for Becoming a Great Speaker

3 Ways to Create Insights for Learning

Why? Again.
May 26, 2020
The Most Popular Slide in All My Leadership Trainings

I often glance at what people take note of when they are a part of one of our training sessions. Not the notes or handout questions we make them fill in, but the notes where they turn over to a blank handout page or pull out their own notebook and jot things down. The notes people take because they want to make sure they remember something.
The times when people say, “Can you go back to that slide for a minute please?” And then they start furiously writing.

We also get feedback from all participants at the end of each session in order to see how the training will affect their behaviors at work going forward. What will they do differently we ask? What will they use?

After gathering this feedback and paying attention to what people take note of, I think this slide is the most meaningful slide in all of our trainings:

I think this slide is even more meaningful given our current situation with the COVID-19 crisis. I’ll be covering this slide as well as others and the tools that go along with it in a webinar: Leading in Crisis hosted by our friends at the Huntsville Madison County Chamber tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6^th from 9 am- 11 am.

Click here to register. Click here to download the handout for the webinar. It has tools that go along with this information.

I hope you can join us as we learn more about leading in crisis, especially through employing the bright spot philosophy and the accomplishment list.

What do you to help you lead in crisis? What has been the best training takeaway you’ve experienced?

May 5, 2020
DWYSYWD- Lessons from the Elementary School Guidance Counselor

One of the first things we teach in our personal leadership course is the concept of DWYSYWD- Do What You Say You Will Do. It involves committing to what you can do, or as Covey would put it, committing to your circle of influence and focusing on being accountable with what you can do instead of worrying about things that you cannot do something about. For example, I cannot do anything about whether or not a stay at home order is extended or relaxed this week in my state, but I can wash my hands, not touch my face, and wear a mask when appropriate to help stop the spread of the virus.
As Covey states, this then allows us to be better leaders by helping our circle of influence grow. If my kids watch me wash my hands regularly, then maybe they will too. If we can’t influence our own behavior, then how can we expect to influence the behavior of others?

During times of uncertainty like we are in now, it is easy to de-commit to anything and to not hold ourselves and others accountable.

I’m thankful for the staff at my son’s school for creating routines in their work and for guidance counselors like Jan Mendenhall who send out notes of encouragement, linking the current situation to leadership lessons for my children. This helps them (and me) stay committed during uncertain times.

Here’s her note to the students from last week. I hope it brings you the perspective and motivation to DWYSYWD this week to better lead yourself and others. And to hit the reset button if you need to.

Wednesday, April 22, 20/20

Week 3 of Virtual Leon

Do you all remember way, way, way back in August when we were actually all in the school building together and were able to have conversations in person? We talked about goals and accountability, which means we should do what we say we’re going to do. I’ll be honest with you all: Last week I did better with my attitude, and it helped to daily write down three positive things. I tried to complete my daily to-do list, but I was beyond pathetic with my physical fitness goals. I didn’t do what I said I was going to do. Guess what? I hit the reset button Monday and have been much better about walking, exercising, and riding my bike – even when I’d rather lounge around, play Spider Solitaire, and eat donuts! What do you need to do better on? Be accountable to yourself, and ask someone at your house to hold you to it. One of my favorite authors is coming out with a new book next week, and that – not a donut! – is going to be my reward IF I DO WHAT I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO! Stay tuned for next week’s email because there may be a really cool prize involved! Until then, take care. Wash your hands. Be safe. Be well. Choose kind. Love you!

What is one thing this week you can do to follow through on DWYSYWD?

April 28, 2020
How to be Authentic with Your Appreciation at Work

What is your most desired love language- or language of appreciation- at work? The Motivating by Appreciation (MBA) Inventory assessment can help you and your colleagues discern this.

What makes giving and receiving appreciation at work so hard? Often, it is the simple fact that we’ve been conditioned to follow the golden rule instead of the platinum one.

The golden rule says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So in context, if my language of appreciation is quality time, then the way I live the golden rule is to give you quality time because it is what I desire.

By contrast, if I’m living the platinum rule at work, I’m doing unto you as you want to be treated, not as I want to be treated. Therefore, if you desire acts of service as your primary love language at work, showing my appreciation to you in this way is how I will treat you instead of giving you quality time as my default.

Research cited in The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace notes that 75% of people predominantly speak the love language they want to receive. This is true of the assessment of love language outside of work for romantic relationships and kids and teens as well.

And it makes sense that we do this, because it takes less energy to give what comes naturally to us, and what comes naturally to us is what we want and need ourselves.

The best leaders and colleagues (and spouses and parents) however, take the time and energy to know people well and customize their behavior towards what others need or what the situation best requires. This is called self-monitoring. Some people call it emotional intelligence. Others simply call it exhausting.

And it is exhausting. But what often wears us thin, wears us less thin the more we do it. And the more we do it, the more people feel appreciated, and the less they crave it if they are getting it regularly enough. They become less needy and we become less exhausted. And they give more back to us and others when they are less needy too.

So the next time you get frustrated with someone acting like they are unappreciated at work or simply acting in a way that is so foreign or different than you would ever behave and they are wearing you out, take the time to reflect on what makes them tick.

And if you’re frustrated no one is taking the time to appreciate you, reflect on why that is as well. You’d do well to notice how others are trying to appreciate you and realize that is probably how they want to be appreciated themselves.

Having a discussion about what kind of “love” we all want and need, and recognizing we are all are different I think was the intent of the person who spoke of the need for the golden rule, to begin with. Simply follow the example of meeting people where they are with what they need.

How do you best show people appreciation at work?

February 25, 2020
What Does Your Resume Say About You?
As I was proofreading my son’s book report last night, I thought about how written communication is a window into our personality. My son had a few misspelled words and a word or two that was missing a letter altogether. It wasn’t the neatest either. He’s 13 and always does things in a hurry, just like his dad. This is evident in his book report and most areas of his life, including his messy room.

On that note, I thought about resumes and how they also provide a glimpse into who we are. I facilitate an online career development class and review resume assignments on a weekly basis. I also do some contract career coaching and resume writing on the side. Often, I also receive resumes from colleagues asking me to pass them along. It amazes me the difference from one resume to the next and not just the content. Some resumes are flashy (too much) and others need a little extra formatting to stand out.

Stellar written communication can have an impact on your career opportunities. Here are a few musts when it comes to doing just that when preparing your resume:
- Avoid misspelled words! Utilize spell check and have at least one person proofread before you send or upload your resume.
- Use the correct verb tense. Current job responsibilities should be represented in the present tense. All previous job responsibilities should be in the past tense.
- Make sure formatting is neat and allow for plenty of white space to make your resume more aesthetically pleasing.
- Only include the most relevant information. Resumes should be no more than one page if you have less than five years of experience, and they should be no more than two pages if you have more than five years of experience. There are some exceptions to this rule depending on your career field.
Check out The Point Blog for more insight into effective communication.
February 20, 2020