99% Perspiration, 1% Visualization

The inventor of the motion picture camera is quoted as saying, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” When it comes to our current PowerPoint approach, we need to set aside the fonts, colors and templates and learn from Hollywood that a good film is 99% perspiration and 1% visualization. The 99%, of course, is figuring out the story.

Hollywood has learned from a century of experience that you have to have a script before you pick up a camera. It’s the story, after all, that determines the mood, the structure, the substance and the style of the communication experience.

When it comes to PowerPoint, we do the opposite. With our standardized corporate templates, we lock in the mood, structure, substance and style of a communication experience before we even consider the story, if we consider it at all.

This article comes from www.beyondbullets.com which is a great site.

At Grass Shack we follow Cliff Atkinson advise:

Instead of opening PowerPoint and diving right into the graphics, spend time working on your story. What is the setting, who is the main character, what conflict has happened to bring your audience there, and what do you propose they do about it? The more time you spend thinking about your story, the more interesting and engaging your visuals will be when you get around to bringing your own script to life.

Recently Grass Shack helped MySQL CEO Marten Mikos bringing his presentation visuals to life. Marten has a great grasp of the story of MySQl open source servers and he is a terrific speaker. The one thing he did need was a look and a feel for the presentation. Thats where Grass Shack stepped in. It was a complete success at last months Linux world keynote Marten delivered!!!