Point, Click & Wow!: Conversation with Claudyne Wilder

Claudyne Wilder is an acclaimed speaker, coach, published author and creator of two seminars: Winning Presentations Seminar and Creating PowerPoint Presentations That Get Your Point Across. She trains executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals in the world's leading companies on how to coherently and passionately present their messages and share their stories. She brings a unique and invigorating perspective to her work from her years of studying the Argentine Tango.

She discusses her book: Point, Click & Wow in this Indezine exclusive interview.

Geetesh: What did you add to your new book and why did you add it?

Claudyne: I am frequently asked to coach managers who I’m told just can’t speak to senior staff with enough authority and credibility. I added a chapter called “Demonstrate Executive Presence.” This chapter tells you the differences you need to be aware of when speaking to executives. This information is based on my own coaching of clients who spend their days speaking to executives, as well as quotes from executives sharing what they’d like from presenters. The comments by these executives will motivate my readers to focus on the presentation skill set they need in order to convince upper management.

I also included the five paths to persuasion from the book The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message by Gary Williams and Robert Miller. I share their information on what is the best way to present to each particular path, plus provide ideas about the slides that each type prefers.

Geetesh: What’s one key to presenting to executives?

Claudyne: The presenter needs to give an executive summary of the whole talk. This is a one slide summary of the most important content in the talk. Executives do not want to wait until the end of the ten to twenty minutes to hear your recommendation. They want all the relevant information right up front at the beginning of the talk. My clients love this structure. They get wonderful feedback from the executives when they use it.

Geetesh: What three big problems have you seen with your clients that you addressed in your book?

Claudyne:

1. Not doing a rehearsal: My clients tell me they feel so much more confident and do such a better job when they really rehearse out loud.
   
   Presenters, who do not rehearse out loud before a talk do not understand the importance of doing what I call a “real rehearsal.” So in chapter 7 I give them a short and simple process on how to rehearse out loud. I tell them the behaviors to practice. I tell them how to use the rehearse timings in PowerPoint. I provide a rehearsal critique form for the colleagues who listen to the rehearsal talk.
   
   
2. Wasting time trying to put together professional-looking slides: My clients get so excited when they see these images. They start rearranging and cutting their content.
   
   In chapter 4 I provide a library of images that the readers can use over and over again in their actual slide presentations. This chapter shows images to use instead of putting line after line of text. It also shows how to “chunk” or arrange information into meaningful bites so that it can be shown in a more organized manner.
   
   
3. Not using a streamlined process for putting together a talk: A client sent me a note recently telling me that he was able to put a talk together in half the time by using my processes.
   
   I call Point, Click & Wow! The Habits and Techniques of Successful Presenters Your Presentation Coach in a Book. I wrote it in the order of how I coach my clients. I want someone to pick up the book, start at chapter 1 and use each chapter as a guide on how to go about putting together a fabulous talk in the shortest amount of time possible.
   

Geetesh: If you could have a client just do one idea you suggest, what would that be?

Claudyne: I wish my clients would tell more stories and share less data. Stories give something to the audience they can go tell others. When told with enthusiasm, stories are easy to remember. They enable the presenter to speak more dynamically and emotionally and also engage the emotions of those listening. I tell my readers how to create a plot to go with the story. When my clients use the story process, they start to tell relevant and motivating stories to their audiences.

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