Presentation Advisors Blog

5 Presentation Tips to Increase Sales Tomorrow

If there's one thing I've learned while engulfed in the world of marketing communications the past few years, it's that you are ALWAYS presenting - especially when it comes to business. 

Every interaction you have with prospects, customers, vendors, or even just a random passer-by has the potential to change the course of your business, for better and for worse.  Every interaction is a presentation.  You don't need a projector or WebEx to conduct a presentation.  That irate customer you just dealt with for 30 minutes?  That was a presentation.  That voicemail you just left for a prospect?  That was a presentation.  The way you conducted yourself at the last industry convention afterparty?  Yeah, sorry, that was a presentation too.

Now that we know every interaction is a presentation, how can you use presentation skills to improve sales?  It's simple, but remember, simple does NOT mean easy.  You may understand these tips, but you'll have to work hard to master them.

1. Practice...a LOT (Don't ever wing it) - Larry Bird wasn't born to play basketball.  And you, sir, weren't born to present (nor was I).  It takes practice, and a lot of it.  Larry Bird was an 88% free throw shooter in his NBA career.  Do you know how he did it?  As a child he used to shoot 200 free throws before school, every day.  If he took the weekends off (which he didn't), that's 52,000 a year.  You get the point.
   
   You can't "wing" a presentation.  The audience will see right through you.  Everyone who ever told me they were going to wing it has done poorly.  Whether it's a sales call or just your elevator pitch at a conference, make sure you practice.  In business, you often only get one chance - make it a good one. 


2. Tell a Story - I tweeted recently that "Those who tell the best stories win."  I firmly believe that.  In sales, the prospect doesn't want to hear about your new features or how your service reduces throughput by 12%.  They want to hear how your product or service will solve their problems, and rightfully so since it's their money they're spending! 
   
   Instead of talking about your company, your features, or your recent awards, tell them a story. One of the greatest "stories" I've seen is the "Will it blend?" campaign on YouTube.  Instead of telling everyone how much power their blenders put out or how sharp their blades are, they started putting ordinary objects into the blenders to see if they would blend (and most did!).  This campaign helped BlendTec increase sales by 700%.  Instead of a list of blender features, wouldn't you rather see if it could blend an iPhone?


3. Have a Conversation - A truly great presentation that engages the audience and is easily and often recalled is one that is a conversation between the presenter and the audience.  It's not a lecture, nor a one-way street.  You're not speaking AT them, you're speaking WITH them.  Ask questions.  Learn about your prospect.  Find out what keeps them up at night (with regard to business, of course) and talk about solving those problems.  This is nothing new in sales, I know.  But I still often see salespeople and presenters alike talking so much that the prospect/audience feels disconnected.  It's ALL about them, not you.  Make sure you keep them engaged and included. 


4. Respect their Time, and their Questions - In sales and presentations alike, the audience is sacrificing THEIR time to hear YOU talk.  You must be ever-so-respectful of it.  If they give you 30 minutes, don't simply make sure that you're off the phone in 30 minutes.  Make sure that you have told them your story, had a quality conversation, and answered ALL of their questions within that time-frame.  Thus, this means you're going to have to make sure your presentation is timed out perfectly (see tip #1).  There's nothing worse than watching audience members walk out of a presentation annoyed. 


5. Design Visual Communications Effectively - It's rare you see a presentation not utilizing PowerPoint (or Keynote).  With technologies that allow real-time visual meetings like WebEx and GoToMeeting, many sales calls utilize the screen-sharing capabilities to show some sort of visual aid.  Unfortunately, nearly all of those PowerPoint presentations suck.  They utilize an ugly template which wastes space with a logo and some colored header/footer bars on every slide.  The product/service information is dumped in bullet-point format onto the slides, with a few slides about the company background.  This is terribly ineffective and is costing you sales - I promise that. 
   
   Instead, make an effort to design your visuals effectively.  There are a number of free resources out there, including my free eBook entitled "10 Tips and Techniques for More Effective Presentations."  If you have a presentation that needs and expert's touch, why not hire a presentation designer?  Effective visuals will enhance and amplify your message, allowing the audience/prospect to focus on YOU instead of the text on the slides.  Through the use of images and text, effectively designed visuals also improve recall, which is extremely important when it comes to sales. 

Effective communications is the lifeblood of selling.  A quirky tie and a flashy grin won't get you too far anymore.  Consumers are more educated than ever and don't want to be "sold".  Employ the tips I mentioned in your sales department and you'll find your prospects and customers more responsive, engaged, and ready to sign on that dotted line.

Telling Your Story in the Current Age of Marketing

Storytelling is a concept that I've continually bumped into in the last few months.  In December I wrote about the power of storytelling in presentations for engagement and recall.  Just recently I noted the incredibly creative and funny comics of Matthew Inman at The Oatmeal.  Again I've found myself recently engaged in a number of conversations about the role of storytelling in marketing what it takes to truly get your story across.

Like in presentations, storytelling is paramount in getting your brand's message across.  Consumers are no longer willing to be interrupted.  Those days are over.  They've been over for a while now.  Gone are the days of actually selling someone during a cold call, grabbing their attention during a commercial (thank God for DVRs), or slapping an ad in a magazine.  They're gone, and good riddance.

The new rules of marketing and PR are upon us, and I welcome them with open arms.  I love being in the marketing field in this day in age.  In order to be allowed to tell your story, you are required to be and do all the things that I enjoy being and doing:

Are you willing do to and be all these things to tell your story?  Are you willing to lose some control?  Many marketers aren't, and their companies are sinking.  Those who are willing are doing great things. 

No Presenter is Perfect, Not Even Steve Jobs

I've written a post about being the perfect presenter before, but while reading "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" by Carmine Gallo, I read a great excerpt about Steve's perfection, or rather lack thereof, that I wanted to share with you.  I edited some of it for brevity's sake.

"No matter how much you prepare, something might, and probably will, go differently from how you had planned.  Notice that I didn't say something will go 'wrong.'  It goes wrong only when you call attention to the issue or you let it ruin the rest of your presentation. The difference between mediocre presenters and a true master such as Jobs is that when demonstrations do not turn out as planned, Jobs reacts with a cool confidence."

Steve Jobs is widely considered to be one of, if not the, best presenters alive today.  Steve Jobs makes mistakes too.  Take a look:

Nobody prepares like Steve Jobs.  He practices for hours and hours and hours to make sure his presentations are perfect.  He'll go through multiple full dress rehearsals of his Keynotes.  The key difference, aside from the fact that he prepares more than anyone out there, is that while Steve Jobs strives for perfection, he doesn't expect it.  Don't get me wrong - I'm sure he's frustrated when something doesn't go as planned.  But as Carmine said, Jobs doesn't lose his cool nor does he draw any undue attention to the hiccup.  He just moves on.  That's all you can do. 

I said it before and I'll say it again - Nobody is perfect.  Not you, not me.  Not Steve Jobs either.  So when your presentation doesn't go as planned, just try to continue having fun and move on.

3 Great Presentation and Speaking Tips in Four Minutes

We've all heard/used the phrase, "I couldn't have said it better myself."  Well recently I came across a video with some speaking and presentation tips that I literally could not have said better myself.  Speaking coach Mike Landrum, better known as "Coach Mike", shared some of his best presentation and speaking tips with Mark Ragan, CEO of Ragan Communications, including the biggest stumbling block of speakers, how video can improve their performance, and the problem with using PowerPoint incorrectly in speeches.

I've seen a number of videos containing presentation tips, but this was one of the best, as I tweeted last week. In less than four minutes Coach Mike answers all three questions in a manner that anyone can understand. I'm not perfect (not even close) and have a tendency to be verbose at times, so whenever I see someone get to the core of an issue in such a short amount of time, I'm always impressed.

Check out the video below and please let me know your thoughts in the comment section:

There were some problems with the embedded video. You can watch it on the RaganTV.com site here.

Cooking Up a Healthy Presentation for Your Audience

Everyone likes to eat.  Well, nearly everyone does.  It’s certainly an enjoyable pastime for my wife and me.  But we also take our diets and exercise (fairly) seriously as well.  I often draw similarities between eating and presenting.  I mean, why not join two of my passions?

Your brain, like your stomach, can only accept a finite amount of information.  So when you deliver your presentation, you have to keep your audience in mind.  If a chef wants to give her diners the best meal they’ve ever had, she has to offer an amount of food that they can handle, in increments they can handle, using only the best ingredients presented in a delectable way.  A slide full of text with granular information is like serving them the entire chicken instead of just a 4oz portion.  There’s no possible way they could consume it (or enjoy it).  Even if they do, miraculously, consume the chicken, how are they going to finish the sides?  What about dessert? 

A presentation becomes ineffective not only when the information isn’t presented in an appealing way, but when there is too much information for the audience to handle.  I often see it in corporate presentations.  The “corporation” sees the presentation from their perspective.  “We want the audience to remember points a, b, c, d, e….x, y, and z, because those are important to us.”  Of course, the audience can only handle (and are only interested) in maybe a few of those points. 

Imagine if a chef served you mountains of food?  Trust me.  I know you smiled for just a second, but think of the reality.  You couldn’t consume it all.  It would overwhelm you.  It would disgust you.  You would ignore much of it because it’s an impossible task. 

An effective presentation delivers the information like a healthy meal should.  Small, manageable increments of information delivered in a simple, clean way. 

Image courtesy of Mait Jüriado on Flickr

No Bullets? No Agenda? No Question and Answer? Oh My!

This is Part 3 of a 3 part series, wrapping up my thoughts about Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in NYC on Friday, January 15th.

Yesterday I reviewed Seth Godin's Linchpin presentation, but promised to continue the discussion today.  I had mentioned that Seth did a few things that some people in the presentation community may find taboo. Here are three that stuck out to me, although just because I list them does't mean I necessarily think they're taboo.  I hope they'll be more of discussion items than anything, since most of these have good viewpoints from both sides.  I'll give my opinion, but PLEASE feel free to disagree!

1. Seth didn't use a single bullet point
   Okay, I realize that those "in the know" will wonder why I'm even listing it because it's obviously not taboo, but we're the minority, not the majority.  The majority of presentations today still use bullet points in mass.  They're all over the place, so I never miss an opportunity to talk about them. 
   
   Bullet (points) can kill, and often do.  I would venture to say that the reason most presentations are designed with bullet points is because the presenter simply doesn't know the material well enough.  There are definitely other reasons, but I believe that's the #1 reason.  Seth obviously knew his material in and out (he just wrote a book about it), so the necessity of him depending on bullet points to ensure he doesn't forget an important point is laughable.  I'm sure he forgot to mention a thing or two, but that didn't hurt his presentation one bit.
   
   The Takeaway: Preparation is the key to success.  If you give yourself enough time to prepare, you won't need bullet points to be your crutch.  Also, be confident in yourself.  Most presenters don't need bullet points, but leave them in there just in case.  Trust me, the audience definitely doesn't need them and chances are (if you prepared properly) you don't either.  Keep the faith.


2. Seth didn't use an Agenda slide
   Where is it in the presentation rule book that an Agenda slide is necessary?  I get the feeling that sometime, somewhere, someone proclaimed that it was necessary.  Now, I'm not being an "Agenda" hater.  One of my more popular posts highlights a redesign of a typical Agenda slide.  Even Garr Reynolds, the presentation guru, uses an Agenda slide (although way cooler than any standard slide).  Even some audience members get perturbed when they aren't presented with an Agenda slide.  However, Seth didn't use one and he did just fine.  I didn't need to know what was coming next.  Actually, I didn't want to know.  I feel as though he gave me 30 seconds of my life that would have been spent staring at an Agenda slide.
   
   The Takeaway: An Agenda slide isn't necessary, simply optional.  Like most elements, they add some good and some bad.  No way around it.  Some of your audience members will appreciate it, and some will be annoyed.  As long as you've structured your presentation in a way where the audience has a good feel of the pace and knows when it's going to end, you can get by without giving away the Agenda.  But if you do use an Agenda slide, please make it interesting to look at!


3. At first glance, Seth's presentation was completely one-way
   On paper, Seth's presentation looks like it was one-way.  I've written many times before that presentations are a conversation; a two way street where both the presenter and the audience participate.  Seth seemingly didn't interact with any of the audience members (other than asking who read the book) and didn't allow for any questions to be asked afterward.  Granted, he did stay after to sign everyone's books, so you had a few seconds of one-on-one time, and if you bought a VIP ticket you could be part of the 2-hour Question and Answer session which is far more than the average 5-10 minutes of Q&A most presentations allow for. 
   
   On paper, this is a one-way street.  But when you look deeper, and certainly from experience as one of the audience members, Seth's presentation had a two-way feel.  He certainly wasn't on the Gary Vaynerchuck side of the spectrum where he presents for 15 minutes and allows for a 45 minute Q&A, but he wasn't as one-way as a presidential address either (sans Joe Wilson).  Seth has a demeanor and a way of explaining his point that makes you, as an audience member, feel like he's talking just to you so you can understand.  He used comedy (and timing) very well to get some great audience reactions.  When you laugh, you feel like you've made a connection with the presenter.  They deliver a joke, you react (two-way).  Comedians give you the same feel.  They deliver a 15 minute set but you feel like you were part of it, not just being spoken at. 
   
   The Takeaway:  If you find yourself in a situation where actual two-way communication isn't prudent (asking the audience questions, answering questions, breaking into group activities), there are still ways to engage the audience.  Using humor and developing a solid story always makes the audience feel involved, similar to the way you feel while watching a movie.

I also had a 4th point written about Seth's request for no pictures or video, which while understandable was a slight bummer.  I removed it because I think it was more about me whining and there are pretty solid reasons why a presenter wouldn't want cameras flashing every 5 seconds and the talk was being professionally recorded (although I don't know where, if at all, that will show up). 

What do you think?

Image courtesy of •●pfaff on Flickr

Presentation Review: Seth Godin's Linchpin Session

This is Part 2 of a 3 part series, wrapping up my thoughts about Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in NYC on Friday, January 15th.

On Friday, January 15th, I was lucky enough to join my wife (@weddingistas), Emily (@emilyspearl), Susan (@trueblindfaith), and David (@davidwakeman) for Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in New York City.  It was an amazing experience and I am so happy to have shared it with such great people. 

I'll break down his presentation into three parts so it can be more easily digested. 

The First 30 Minutes:
As long as you got there at the suggested time of 9:30am or prior, you were able to get a great seat.  We were about 7 rows back on the right side of the auditorium.  As we sat, we noticed a bunch of instruments set up directly in front of us on the far right of the stage.  To the entire audience's surprise (and ultimately delight), The Ebony Hillbillies, a bluegrass band, came out and played about 3 songs.  Especially since it was so early in the morning, this was an incredible way to start the day.  They got everyone clapping and dancing in their seats, energized and ready for Seth. 

Getting presentations going is like pushing a car - very hard to get going right off the bat.  This was a way to get the crowd excited and smiling so Seth could hit the ground running.  It was pure genius.

Seth's Presentation:
First, I can honestly tell you that I haven't a clue how long Seth spoke.  I never looked at the time.  I rarely ever looked away.  That's how engaging he was.

Second, I won't be explaining exactly what he spoke about.  I'll simply be outlining some parts of his presentation that I found interesting from a presentation skills and design perspective. 

Seth began his presentation standing beside a podium with the curtains closed behind him.  His wireless mic actually wasn't working - a bad thing when the auditorium was filled with about 500 people.  Instead of freaking out, Seth simply stated "It's not working?  Okay, well, it will be working in a minute."  He then began to project his voice as well as possible until the lavaliere mic was turned on/up after about 10 seconds.  Most presenters would focus on fixing the problem, but Seth just marched on.  Like a pro, he didn't let a little hiccup slow down his presentation. 

After about 10 minutes of speaking, Seth broke out the slides!  I was pretty excited because I thought he may not be using them.  I was also excited because I know how great Seth is at presentation design.  Even better, Seth dispels the myth that only people with artistic skills can create effective PowerPoint presentations (from what I could tell, Seth designed his slides using Keynote on his Mac).  Unfortunately, Seth asked that we not take any pictures.  I was able to snap one from my phone, but that was it.  They mostly consisted of images and minimal text.  Seth's slides were wildly effective and the creation of them took very basic design skills.  Of course, the ability to actually create the presentation from a framework and storyline perspective took immense skill.  I was greatly humbled.

The Number of Slides - Seth used a ton of slides.  Easily over 100.  I won't comment on whether or not this was the "right amount" because I'm a firm believer that there is no optimal number of slides.  It has everything to do with your presentation style, preparation time, dedication, and story.  Seth's choice of number of slides was right on, because you felt like you were watching a movie.  He moved briskly from slide-to-slide, never letting one get too stale.  I'm sure it's because I'm a presentation geek, but I couldn't wait for the next one.

Slide Design - As mentioned previously, from a technical perspective, Seth's slides were basic.  That's not a critique.  Merely a statement of fact.  While I'm not saying it hurts, being artistically gifted and well versed in the Adobe Creative Suite isn't a prerequisite for effective slide design.  Seth merely imported images and, while sparingly, used small amounts of text in large fonts. 

What was more impressive was Seth's choice of images.  I have seen thousands of photos on iStock.  So many that I can often pick out when a photo is from iStock.  Trust me, it's a lame skill and no fun at parties.  I recognized less than 3 iStock images in Seth's presentation.  This means Seth 1) knew what he wanted to represent on the slide and 2) took vast amounts of time and effort to seek out the perfect image.  I wish I knew what resources he used.  (Tip: I'm a big fan of Flickr instead of iStock)  Image searching is a tedious and frustrating endeavor.  One can often get caught up looking for the Unicorn (an image that doesn't really exist) and waste hours of precious time.  But it's also an endeavor that can be incredibly rewarding when you do happen upon a great image.  

Finally, Seth did a great job designing his slides to only slightly corresponded with his point.  In other words, you couldn't just look at his slide and know what he was about to say.  But once he explained his point, then came the "Ah Ha" moment (a.k.a. Oh, I get it now!).  Great presenters only give part of the information on the slide (most often sans-text), filling in the blanks with the words coming out of their mouth!  Thus, the presentation couldn't exist as a slide deck on its own.  Without the presenter, it's just a bunch of seemingly unrelated images.  The living, breathing presenter is the Star!  And with Seth's words the slides became a perfect visual backdrop. 

Concluding Seth's Presentation
Once it was over, Seth deservedly and graciously received a standing ovation from the packed auditorium.  He quickly jetted to the back where he sat and signed everyone's books (which were free to each person who bought a ticket) and/or posters (also free).  I realize it's standard business to sit and sign autographs after speaking about your book, but I still think it's a nice gesture.  Nothing creates evangelists better than personal connections.  I tried to avoid acting like a fanboy and simply told him the presentation was great and thanked him for commenting on my blog.    

So that's it?  It was perfect?
That's up for debate, but Seth definitely did a few things that many consider "taboo" in the presentation world.  I'll cover those in the final part of this 3 part series.  Stay tuned!!

Why are you afraid of sharks? Honesty and the Fear of Presenting

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series, wrapping up my thoughts about Seth Godin's Linchpin Session in NYC on Friday, January 15th.

Who is afraid of sharks?  Raise your hand.  Are you raising your hand?  Probably.

Okay, who is afraid of deer?  Raise your hand.  Are you raising your hand?  Probably not.  Deer are cute.  I'm lucky enough to be able to watch them often out my office window. 

Deer cause far more deaths per year than sharks.  It's not even close.  Yet if you ask the average person I'm sure they'd say they sharks frighten them the most.  Shouldn't you be scared of deer then?

During Seth Godin's Linchpin Session, Seth spoke about this interesting observation.  It certainly relates to the fear of public speaking.  I've spoken about managing the fear of public speaking before, but I don't claim it to be a fail-safe solution (that's why I say "managing" instead of "overcoming" or "beating").  It's a difficult process because public speaking, by nature, is terrifying.  It takes a lot of work, and I'm the first one to say that I definitely get scared before speaking.  Heck, I'm scared of sharks!

So what are we afraid of when it comes to public speaking and presenting?  What is honestly the worst that can happen?  Are you going to get booed off the stage?  Are they going to throw tomatoes at you?  Are they going to get up and leave in mass?  Are they going to laugh out loud?  (I ask myself these questions ALL the time).  Why am I scared of sharks and not deer? 

Why are we afraid of things that rarely, if ever, happen?  Shouldn't we be scared of the things that may ACTUALLY happen?  Shouldn't I be scared of stubbing my toe?  I do that on a weekly basis, yet when I walk down the street I'm constantly preparing for an attack by a group of hoodlums (which is not likely).  In my unscientific opinion, it seems that by nature we, as humans, tend to fear the worst case scenario.  It's not a personal shortcoming.  It's nature.  Thus, it takes work to overcome it.  

When preparing for a presentation, try to quell the nerves by being honest with yourself and the probabilities of your worst case scenario.  What is in your control?  What is out of your control (and thus ignored)?  Often many of these fears can be quelled when your honest about your preparation.  If you prepared correctly, they won't laugh at you.  If you prepared, they won't walk out on you.  If you are truly passionate about your topic, then they won't fall asleep.  It may not cure it, but if you are truly honest with yourself then you'll be able to reduce the fear of public speaking and presenting.

Bill Cosby and why the Presentation is so Important

One of my all-time favorite sitcoms is/was the Cosby Show.  I'm a child of the 80's, so I grew up on the parenting of Cliff and Claire Huxtable. 

While there were 200 episodes, a few moments stick out in my mind: Cliff getting pelted with snowballs on the front stoop, Cliff and Theo learning economics with monopoly money where having a girlfriend takes all of Theo's remaining money [first episode], and of course, the Gordon Gartrell shirt.  I often find myself thinking of one particular episode where Vanessa introduces the family to her new boyfriend, Dabnis Brickey, who happens to be significantly older than her.  Not only that, but for the first time Vanessa divulges they've been engaged for six months.  You can watch the introduction here.  While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, Vanessa doesn't do that great of a job with the presentation of Dabnis, thus Cliff proclaims to Dabnis, "We just don't like you."

Watch this video to see how Cliff explains why the presentation is so important.  Click here to watch it on Youtube [embedding was disabled], but make sure you come back!.  If you want to go directly to the quote, fast forward to 1:15.

"You see, it's in the presentation.  That's the way she brought you here...on a garbage can lid"

Many people have messages or stories that they want to share.  They are passionate about their message and can't keep it inside anymore.  Like the porterhouse steak, they love it and know you'll love it too.  Unfortunately, too often these messages are presented on garbage can lids.  The presentation can change the viewpoint of the audience.  While Dabnis seemed like a great guy, the engagement didn't go over well because of Vanessa's presentation of their new found love.

Some presenters may spend countless hours crafting and developing their story (and rightfully so!).  Unfortunately, they leave the practice and the presentation design to the last minute.  They may feel that they can throw the slides together the morning of the presentation and "wing it" since they know the message inside and out.  This leads to poor presentations that lack anything interesting, fail to engage, and are quickly discarded by the audience.

It's tough to sell, educate, inspire, or spread your message if you're presenting it on a garbage can lid.  Even if you're as eloquent as Obama or as funny as Bill Cosby, poorly designed slides, minimal practice, and a general lack of concern for the actual delivery of the message can quickly sink your presentation.  Make sure you dedicate enough time on the presentation to ensure that your "porterhouse" is delivered on a silver platter, not a garbage can lid.  It could make all the difference.

Choosing the Right Number of Slides in your PowerPoint Presentation

Choosing the right amount of slides for your presentation is a difficult thing to do.  You can check out some well known methods of presentation design to help you decide what the right amount of slides are, but those are simply "methods."  Thus, there is no correct method.  For example, when I tie my shoe, I'm a loop, swoop, and pull guy.  Others make the bunny-ears method.  They are both correct and are simply a matter of preference.  

That is not to say that you can simply use any amount of slides you like and you'll have a great presentation.  There are many factors that determine number of slides, like your own affinity for slide design, your delivery style, your audience's expectations, amount of content, time constraints, type of presentation (keynote or teaching a class), material, and location, just to name a few.

If you have a slow delivery and hate designing slides, then using a multitude of slides is a living hell for both you and your audience.  If you have a quick, storyteller delivery, you may be doing yourself and your audience an injustice if you only use a few slides.  Taking an appropriate inventory of the elements that surround your presentation might just make or break your presentation.

If you find yourself struggling with your number of slides, ask yourself these questions: 

• What's my presentation style?  
• What is my speaking style?
• What's my audience like? 
• What type of presentation are they expecting?  
• What does my audience know about me?  About my prior presentations?
• Does my material lend better to more or less slides? 
• Does my material need PowerPoint at all?
• How much time do I have?
• How quickly can I present the number of slides I have currently?
• Do I cover all the points I want to?
• Do I cover more information than I need to?

Don't ever listen to anyone who claims their method is the right one.  There is and will never be a "perfect number" of slides in a presentation.  I've sat through presentations with hundreds of slides and was totally engaged throughout.  I've also sat through presentations with few (or no) slides and was totally engaged throughout.

Maybe I've unleashed more questions than answers, but hopefully this helps you approach the decision of size in terms of your presentation.  

Oh, and have a wonderful new year!!

Image courtesy of troutfactory on Flickr