[Mick]

In 2004, I sat through a 357-slide PowerPoint on knowledge management from a BCG consultant. 80% of the slides were densely written flow charts. Took a day and half to complete, and he glossed over much of it. I had no choice, I had to implement the strategy. My boss, the Vice Chair of a Big 5 firm sat through about an hour, then begged for mercy. He called me up afterward "Did I need to know any of that sxxt?" Told him I would summarize it for him.

My general rules on PowerPoint slides are (1) four lines, four words per line, (2) don't read off the slides; slides support your points, they don't make your points, (3) use multimedia when and whenever possible, extra points if it involves video of either clients or people in the room, (4) break the rules selectively and (5) save the attorneys from themselves. Attorneys loooooove treating PowerPoint like Word. Seven of my former employees are now CMOs/CMBDOs/CBDOs and they stick to those rules, generally speaking.

In 2010, I was asked to deliver a social media best practices presentation back when it was a hot topic in the legal profession. It was at an industry gathering of clients in New York when I was based in Silicon Valley. As was typical, the presentations ran long, and neither the sponsor nor the emcee kept the program on track. The main sponsor gave me about a half hour notice that they would have to cancel my presentation (no, I wasn't happy). I said, well if there's a few minutes left, let me just put up a slide or two. Instead, I apologized for the lack of time on behalf of the sponsor and moderator, I ran through my slides, hitting on the high points, and told the room, "if you're interested in seeing the full presentation, give me a call." I heard from 60% of the attendees.

[Mick]

In 2004, I sat through a 357-slide PowerPoint on knowledge management from a BCG consultant. 80% of the slides were densely written flow charts. Took a day and half to complete, and he glossed over much of it. I had no choice, I had to implement the strategy. My boss, the Vice Chair of a Big 5 firm sat through about an hour, then begged for mercy. He called me up afterward "Did I need to know any of that sxxt?" Told him I would summarize it for him.

My general rules on PowerPoint slides are (1) four lines, four words per line, (2) don't read off the slides; slides support your points, they don't make your points, (3) use multimedia when and whenever possible, extra points if it involves video of either clients or people in the room, (4) break the rules selectively and (5) save the attorneys from themselves. Attorneys loooooove treating PowerPoint like Word. Seven of my former employees are now CMOs/CMBDOs/CBDOs and they stick to those rules, generally speaking.

In 2010, I was asked to deliver a social media best practices presentation back when it was a hot topic in the legal profession. It was at an industry gathering of clients in New York when I was based in Silicon Valley. As was typical, the presentations ran long, and neither the sponsor nor the emcee kept the program on track. The main sponsor gave me about a half hour notice that they would have to cancel my presentation (no, I wasn't happy). I said, well if there's a few minutes left, let me just put up a slide or two. Instead, I apologized for the lack of time on behalf of the sponsor and moderator, I ran through my slides, hitting on the high points, and told the room, "if you're interested in seeing the full presentation, give me a call." I heard from 60% of the attendees.