A POWERPOINT IS A POWERPOINT – HERO AGENDA

Tell them how you gonna bore them

“Tell them how you are going to bore them. Bore them. And tell them how you bored them.”

Honestly: Have you ever heard people say: “I wished there would have been an agenda, so I could’ve estimated how long the talk was going to be?” I have. Very unpleasant. Is it really the case that every presentation should have an agenda? Do you really know when it’s useful to create an agenda in PowerPoint? I am not so sure you do. Let’s look at the following points:

Agenda in speeches
Agenda in meetings
Agenda examples

Was this intro “Agenda enough” for you? OK, let’s move on then.

In my opinion there is no room for a scripted agenda in a speech. Why on earth would you want to know where a speaker is leading you? In most speeches a well-planned dramaturgy, a storyline will guide you through the motions exactly as the speaker intends to. But how do you create such a story outline? Let’s find out!

I NEED A HERO 💃

Have you ever noticed that nearly all good books, movies or fascinating presentations are built up on a similar pattern? There is always a situation, then an issue occurs and then there is the phase where the search for the solution begins. This my friends, is a millennia-old structure, called the “hero’s journey”. It describes a clear dramaturgical contour, it takes the audience on a journey with the topic, excites them and keeps them engaged and connected.

HiLo_Agency_a_heros_journey

This pattern can be used in presentations not only for a person who promises a solution. Depending on content and the target of the presentation it can be a company, a product, a service, the consumer or even an employee.

Like in every good story the details to your respective issue are crucial. Look exactly at the features of the current situation of the hero and describe as well as possible, look exactly at the details of the issue and describe as well as possible, look in the same way at the learnings along the journey and your story line will be perfected.

Wouldn’t it be boring then to see on the slides an agenda before the content? Would you like to see this when you open the page of a Steven King book?

Agenda Point 1 – Introduction of the protagonist

Agenda Point 2 – His world is endangered by mysterious events

Agenda Point 3 – He conjures his courage and goes to find out what is happening

Agenda Point 4 – He meets help on the way

Agenda Point 5 – He doubts himself

Agenda Point 6 – The situation gets worse and seems hopeless

Agenda Point 7 – He finds a solution and saves the world

No need to read the freaking book then, right? Now that I hope we have clarified this point, repeat after me: There is no Agenda in Speaker Presentation!
(make this your mantra, it’ll help)

WORKING NINE TO FIVE

There is however a reason WHY Agendas are a thing. Time is money. At least in the corporate world. To Einstein time was relative and it’s only worth depended on what you did as it is passing. And this is probably why someone invented an agenda. If the Agenda point is important enough, you don’t look at your phone during the meeting 😉

Agendas give a meeting an overview. There is no need to make this more exciting than it is. You have topics that are important to different people from different perspectives. Judith from HR probably doesn’t care about the revenue numbers of Johns sales force. It is good to see then relatable points in an overview, so people know what is coming and when the specific topics are up. Not everyone can be on their feet and into each and every topic. Considering that the average attention span of an adult in financial meetings is no longer than 13 minutes according to some British study* where obviously the agenda points were not scripted appropriately.

To be fair. The Agenda is a good thing in a PowerPoint with diverse topics and it holds a solid ground with all presenting students all over the planet in universities, preparing them for the corporate world.

Some advice about the “Expert Advice” on Agendas:

The Agenda must be visible on every slide – False.
-> Co-running Agendas distract from the content and can take up necessary space on the slide

HiLo_Agency_Blog_A_Heros_Journey_Agenden

The Agenda always needs a separation slide- False.
-> There are creative ways to skip chapter slides and save space

HiLo_Agency_Blog_A_Heros_Journey_PowerPoint_Trennfolie

The Agenda overview should be displayed after every chapter…

Oh, please I am not even going to comment on this anymore…

😍THEY CAN BE SO BEAUTIFUL😍

Once you’ve embraced the art of Agendas, there is so much playful stuff to do.
Here the best Agenda Ideas I came across:

1 2 3

You can also find some Agenda Sets in our shop
https://www.hilo-slides.de/Charts-und-Diagramme/Agenda-Toolbox-Circles.html

ABOUT TIME TO COME TO AN END HERE

PowerPoint Agendas are USEFUL but not in every PowerPoint and not in a speech and not the way some people are overdoing them. Sometimes I have the feeling the topic or use of agenda is just so confusing cause someone once said that this is the way to go. Which gets me back to the question: A PowerPoint is a PowerPoint?

*(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/attention-span-average-british-person-tuned-in-concentration-mobile-phone-a8131156.html)