The right medium is part of the message ©Kobal Picture perfect: former US vice-president Al Gore was lauded for his use of images in "An Inconvenient Truth," above, but Garr Reynolds, a presentation expert, says when visuals are not used well, it can complicate the message The Apple Store on London's Regent Street is busy as always. To anyone passing through, the man giving a talk on the first floor stage might seem like just another Apple employee. But Garr Reynolds is a former executive of the company who is here in his new role as an expert on giving presentations. As an associate professor of management at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka and author of the book and blog Presentation Zen , he teaches executives how to make presentations, working with organisations such as Amazon and Microsoft IN Management Presentations remain one of the most used business communication tools, yet in boardrooms, conference halls and meeting rooms around the world audiences are still being subjected to uninspiring and unengaging talks. The result is not just "death by PowerPoint" but a failure among speakers to get their message across, whatever the technology. Prof Reynolds says the first rule is to keep it simple. Only put in what's necessary. Before you sit down to write it, work out "What is my message here, what is the point?"" To this end, he advises that when preparing a presentation you should move away from the computer in order to focus on the purpose of your talk - perhaps a good reminder when you consider the surroundings. A similarly reductive approach applies to how executives use PowerPoint. Prof Reynolds believes many use the program because it is the default presentation software, encouraging users to follow a template aimed at making it easier for busy people to create visuals. In fact, he argues, it can do the opposite. "It says "title," "click to add title," "click to add bullets" and that's what everyone does," he says. I tell people to ignore 96 per cent of the features. You don't need all that stuff. Prof Reynolds may have been preaching to the converted at an Apple Store, but the underlying message is not so much to avoid visual devices but more to be smarter at using them. Nancy Duarte, founder of Duarte Design, a Silicon Valley-based design-to-coaching presentation company that has created more than 250,000 presentations for clients, says one of the best ways to tell a story is through images. Keep in mind who the audience is and what you want them to think, feel and do when you're done. Then choose the visual tool that's most effective to convey your idea," she says. Among Ms Duarte's collaborations was helping Al Gore, the former US vice-president, to develop the presentation that became the basis of An Inconvenient Truth, the 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming. Echoing Prof Reynolds's advice to step away from the computer, she says executives should focus on what response they are looking for: maybe it is to change opinions or to persuade people to buy your product. Ms Duarte's experience is that when executives are told to deliver a presentation many simply reach for slide software, which then dictates the format; instead, they should be thinking about where they want to lead the audience. Presentations are really about persuading people to think and act differently. And to do that you have to connect with your audience," she says. Ms Duarte even suggests that drawing on a whiteboard or flip chart may be more effective than creating a deck of slides. She cites a client - a non-profit provider of fair-trade products from Central America - who saw a dramatic increase in donations by using visual storytelling techniques that elicited an emotional response. Ideas on Stage is a Paris-based presentation design and coaching company founded by Phil Waknell, a former sales director for Hewlett-Packard. His first rule for executives is to resist the temptation to turn their speaking notes into a deck of slides. "People can't read and listen at the same time - we have to stop putting lines of text on a screen and forcing the audience to choose to read or listen, or try doing both and fail," he says. Tips to reinvent your presenting ● Use slides to communicate words but instead use them as a complement rather than a carbon copy of your text. ● Prepare your presentation at the last minute. "Don't write it at 2am in the morning of your presentation," says Garr Reynolds. ● Forget to practise as a good rehearsal is the difference between a good and a bad presentation. You need to practise until you come across as conversational or improvisational. Don't memorise, improvise," says Ms Duarte. ● Make your presentations entertaining as well as informative. "Even if it's financial stuff, it still needs to be meaningful," says Garr Reynolds. ● Think about the action you want your audience to make and work back from there. Build your presentations so that you guide them to where you want them to be, says Chris Baréz Brown. ● Use storytelling to engage with your listeners. The business works with management teams at big companies but also provides pro bono coaching for technology entrepreneurs at Le Camping, a Paris start-up accelerator. Mr Waknell says organisations should encourage employees making presentations to treat slides - the visuals - and handouts - the words - as two separate formats. Some executives make the mistake of pasting their script into slides rather than keeping it as speaker notes to sit on a lectern. Any detailed information can go in an audience handout rather than be projected on to a screen. Slides should only exist to be projected, never printed and never shared. Asking for a copy of slides should become a sackable offence," he says. Chris Baréz Brown is the founder of Upping Your Elvis, a creative leadership company that advises clients including Nike and Coca-Cola. As a former brand manager at Bass brewers and a consultant at WhatIf Innovation, he has also spent much of his professional life making presentations. Instead of trying to capture a message in a deck of slides, he says executives should focus on themselves. "It should all be about them - they're the show," he says. If you're going to communicate with input and energy, you've got to show up. You can't hide behind a deck. It has to be about you. Presentation software should be used to express your message with images in a way that complements the text rather than simply mirroring it. "Most of us want big pictures, it's the "eye candy" that brings things to life. The worst PowerPoint is just words, it can get misread, it needs emotion," he says. Back in London at the Presentation Zen seminar, Steve Tongish, vice-president of marketing at Aveva Solutions, the Cambridge-based software company, says that the key to marketing is the quality of the storytelling. Our company sells very technical software products to engineers, so our presentations are typically complex. We recognise that this is not the most effective way to communicate," he says. After listening to Prof Reynolds, he says his presentations will now focus on fewer points while aiming to entertain those listening. "If done properly, you can entertain as well as inform an audience," he says. It may sound strange, but it's really necessary in order to communicate with people. This is simply the way we are wired. You can't fight this with a bunch of bullet points," he says.