Big bang... but no real meaning.
All the Gear and No Idea
I’ll bet you know them – people who have expensive hobbies one after the other… Maybe they are into digital photography but their pics aren’t interesting, no matter how technically perfect they might be. Maybe they have a mountain bike with full-on suspension but don’t do all that much riding.
Why?
It’s all about their AGaNI (Sorry, that’s best acronym I could find! It works well when you say it out loud! :) ) So what does it stand for? All the Gear and No Idea.
Maybe they’ve got the latest version of PowerPoint – or Keynote, or whatever.
They know how do all the magic tricks.
They can do any of the wizz-bang stuff anyone for could ask for.
And still their presentations suck.
Why?
Because they’ve got All The Gear and No Idea!
You see, it’s not about the technology – it’s about the way you use that technology. I’m an Apple fan but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I use Keynote to give the audience what they want – not to show off. Windows fans can use PowerPoint to do almost exactly the same things. (In fact for some of the technical issues, PowerPoint is actually better than Keynote! Not as many the other way around, I’d say, as a side issue. :) )
That’s why I advocate planning your presentation using pen and paper – no technology at all… and then add the technology you need as you discover you need it. Assume you can do the technology and add it when-ever you need to as you design the presentation – but by designing using paper, not software, you avoid the temptation (to a large extent) of using gimmicks because they’re there.
To cite one of the presenters from one of my favorite blogs (preneurcast): “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
- Sound effects? Really?
- Flashy transitions? Oh?
- Super-impositions or animations? Are you certain?
For the sake of your presentations – for the sake of your audience and their will to live – instead of AGaNI, try Get Your Idea Before the Gear (sorry – I can’t figure out a useful acronym for that! :) ).
Of course, sometimes you’ve got to buy the gear to learn how to use it but all too often I see people buy the gear in order to use it! Don’t be one of them.
Can anyone find me the acronym I’m looking for? :)
