David S. Rose: 10 things to Know before you Pitch a VC for Money

David S. Rose provides a practical 15 minute tutorial on how to pitch to venture capitalists (VCs) using Powerpoint. As China's economic growth continues to outpace other nations, many entrepreneurs from the MBA ranks may soon be in front of an audience of VCs. If you're thinking of starting up your own firm and need to learn how to present to win capital then this is a useful presentation.

Ted Bio - David S. Rose "The Pitch Coach" is an expert on the business pitch. As an entrepreneur, he has raised millions for his own companies. As an investor, he has funded millions more.

Oct - Featured Book

Full Title: Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
By: Garr Reynolds
Published: Jan 2008

Garr Reynolds is a former Manager of WW User Group Relations at Apple Computer, and is a currently a Marketing and Multimedia Presentation Design at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan.

In this "How-to" book, Presentation Zen, Garr offers a fresh teaching approach to presentation design. Garr organizes his book into three sections Preparation, Design and Delivery. Within these sections Garr stresses Clarity, Simplicity and Naturalness.

He cautions not to begin writing your presentation in PowerPoint, and instead to get out a notepad or scratch paper and jump into the creative process feet first. Imagine Shakespeare writing Romeo & Juliet in PowerPoint slides, it would have proved creatively impossible. Before digitizing your presentation, write it down on paper, yellow post-its, or a whiteboard. Generate a lot of ideas and then cut away the unnecessary information, then prioritize and organize your main points.

Garr also stresses not to "Data Dump" or simply paste entire excel sheets full of figures into a PowerPoint slide. Instead Garr asks readers to crunch the numbers first, consider the implications and wider relations and sum up the conclusion on each slide. He points out that the slide is not the place for you to walk the audience through a detailed walk through a process, that is better left to an actual printed document with deep explanation. Rather every slide should state a conclusion, a key takeway that the presenter can expand upon during the presentation.

This is a new and valuable approach to presentation design in a digital and information rich society.

External Review
"Please don't buy this book! Once people start making better presentations, mine won’t look so good. (But if you truly want to learn what works and how to do it right, Garr is the man to learn from.)"
Seth Godin, Speaker and Blogger & Author, Purple Cow

References
Garr Reynolds speaks @ Google March 2008 Video
Garr Reynolds Presentation Tips
PPT Review of Presentation Zen
Presentation Zen @ Amazon.com

Dr.Randy Pausch and his Last Lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch, who passed away earlier this year due to terminal cancer, delivered one of the best speeches of all times.

Many professors have been asked the hypothetical question "if it was your last chance to impart knowledge, what would you deliver?" In the case of Professor Pausch, this question was not hypothetical. Though it was a speech designed to pass on knowledge to his children, it is very inspirational to all of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo is the link to watch the lecture on youtube. If the link does not work, go onto youtube.com and search for randy pausch.

On a side note, there is also a novel about Randy, named for those interested. And if you haven't read , I would totally recommend it. It's a must read in my opinion. It discusses much of the same topics as Randy, and it is one of my all time favourites.

-Mo Zhou

Nice slideshow about social media (posted by bastiaan)

What The F**K is Social Media?

From: mzkagan, 3 months ago

What The F**K is Social Media?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing)

SlideShare Link

4'33 & PPT

Incorporating Mr. John Cage’s 4’33 with a PPT presentation was experimented yesterday. In my belief, the sound of silence may be the best sound to convey the simple theme I created, “Life is Beautiful”. It gives the audience a chance to absorb and reflect on the theme. The photographs in the slides should serve as a powerful enough catalyst, and further explanation by the presenter will only take away from the audiences’ imagination.

Unfortunately, the presentation did not deliver the effects intended. Feedbacks generally surrounded, “perhaps more technicalities of the photographs should be discussed”, “Maybe a bit of music in the background would help”, and “the ending was too abrupt…” These were all great comments I appreciate greatly, but I do disagree with a few of the points. Explaining why a photograph is beautiful is like explaining why a joke is funny. Breaking the photographs down to the lighting, shades, etc. murders the life and beauty within the photographs. Moreover, it’s not about the photographs, they serve as a simple catalyst, with the only purpose of inspiring us to think of the theme: “Life is Beautiful”. It’s interesting to hear someone recommend some music in the background may help…In my opinion, a piece of music was played throughout, and it was John Cage’s 4’33. Indeed, the ending was a little abrupt. The original intention was to imitate a live performance of 4’33, where the performer gets up, and walks away in silence. But, I do agree this imitation may be a little too much for a PPT presentation.

In this day and age where silence is perceived as awkward, I remain to believe there are many occasions where silence may better convey a message than words. For example, in today’s commercials, there are too many images, too much noise, and too many words. It defeats the purpose of making the brand/product memorable. By Incorporating some silence and simplicity, an idea may well be better conveyed.

-Mo Zhou

A Good Place to Start In 1984 a conference was founded in California to bring together top experts from Technology, Entertainment, and Design. In 2007, the conference dubbed ‘TED’ released over 200 presentations on the Internet to the public for free viewing or download to your desktop or iTunes. Each week new presentations are added, which feature some of the top global scientists, business experts and thinkers. In more recent times, TED implemented an 18 minute speech limit. Coincidentally a US Navy study found that 18 minutes is the optimal duration for an audience to absorb and remember what a speaker is saying. Websites like TED give you an advantage as a speaker. By reviewing subject matter experts in your field you can gain inspiration and knowledge in your presentation topic. In addition you can incorporate their insights into your presentations, add your own interpretation and analysis, and replicate your own ideas by creating a new ‘meme’. I encourage you to go to www.ted.com and watch presentations that interest you. As you learn new ideas, pay close attention to the speaker’s opening, ending and delivery style. Observe what works and what does not. If a speaker inspires you, ask yourself ‘why?’ While you internalize new speaking, delivery and presentation techniques, take care not to simply mimic or directly imitate. Instead study the most effective elements of each speech and personalize best practices. Think inspiration, not imitation. People are influenced by your words when emanated from the inner you. And remember to tailor your message not your personality relative to your audience.

Case Example: In 2005, a Chinese VP, GM of Lenovo China asked me to deliver a presentation to Haas School of Business MBA students from UC Berkeley visiting Lenovo in Beijing. This request terrified me. Haas is one of the best business schools in the USA, and is located in my hometown – the San Francisco Bay Area. I knew my title and education were far below each audience member. I shakily delivered the presentation and quickly sat down. After the presentation my Chinese Executive boss instructed me, “Never show your fear. I know these guests hold higher titles, more experience, and better education than you. But you are the expert on Lenovo. You know our business better than they do. Focus on your message.” Next a Canadian employee at Lenovo told me some equally strong advice, “I do not know why you are intimidated by high-titled executives – they are just people too! You acted really stiff and serious in front of Haas. But that is not the Cory that people know. It seemed like a different person was up there. You should show your personality, your charm. He paused. People like that guy!” After this experience I confidently focus on my message and act like myself whether or not the audience is the UK Ambassador to China, Chairman of Ericsson or MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

If you are presenting to a group of CEOs, academics or the Press - regardless of your rank or position, avoid the temptation to act higher level than you actually are. Likewise never act insecure in the face of a prestigious audience. Your personality should remain naturally consistent across audiences. This will demonstrate your confidence and add texture to your core message. Focus on your key message, not on yourself. You will improve your chances for success if you provide value added analysis, take a position, and leverage your personality to endorse your message. Observe how speakers from all social backgrounds deliver confident presentations to highly elite audiences at the TED conference. Benchmark their performances and internalize their best practices!

- Cory, Guanghua Professor of Executive Level Presentations and Visual Communication; Photo Credit property of www.ted.com