Meet Chris Landry- creator of ‘Sustainable Food Lab’ (3rd prize winner)

As some of you might know, we just wrapped up our first contest! I was curious about the winners- who they are, and where they got their inspiration from. I decided to email a few questions to the winners. The first interview we are posting is with Chris Landry, winner of the Third Prize for his slideshow ‘Sustainable Food Lab‘.

1) Tell us a little about yourself? About your background, where you are based, what you do for a living?

I’ve been working in the non-profit field for close to twenty years, originally as a museum exhibit designer but for the past twelve years or so in fundraising and communications. I’m currently serving as Director of Development & Communications for the Sustainable Food Lab, which is an effort to accelerate the movement of economic, social, and environmental sustainability into mainstream food systems. We’re working with many of the world’s leading food companies as well as with respected organizations like Oxfam and World Wildlife to find solutions to complex problems: hunger and poverty issues, public health issues such as obesity and diabetes, land, water, and climate issues, and so on. I live in western Massachusetts and work mostly from home. Once a week I drive up to Vermont to the office of the Sustainability Institute, which is the Food Lab’s parent organization. I have an M.Ed with a special interest in learning theory — and I use that theory all the time as I think about how to design presentations that help people learn.

2) Do you design a lot of presentations?

A fair number. At the Food Lab we’ve been working with to design one basic presentation that any of our staff or organizational members can adapt to their own needs. That ends up being pretty difficult to do, impossible really, so we end up revising it a lot for specific needs and audiences.

3) When and how did you create this presentation?

I’ve been messing around with this presentation since the fall and I’m still tinkering with it. I use Keynote to create the presentations on my MacBook, then convert into PowerPoint so our PC-using colleagues are set to go.

4) Who are your inspirations when it comes to designing presentations?

I love Garr Reynolds’ site, Presentation Zen — it’s a wonderful resource. I also enjoy reading Seth Godin’s thoughts, and Guy Kawasaki’s. Beyond that, I think we need to find our own style that works for us, and the inspiration can come from anywhere. I read a lot of poetry, and write some myself, and I think any creative outlet like that makes you a better storyteller. Read a really good poem by someone like Wendell Berry and you see how a very few words can convey an enormous amount.

5) What advice do you have for SlideShare users who want to design great presentations?

I think the first ingredient is reading. There’s a lot of wonderful information available about how people learn, what makes communication work, what gets in the way. If your goal is to be an outstanding presenter (and why bother if it’s not?), then it’s crazy to be flying blind when our own experience tells us that most presentations are mediocre or worse. Like anything else — gardening, cooking, music, theater — you’re a lot better off if your work is grounded in a theory or philosophical approach.

Then start with blank slides, not pre-made templates. Use strong images, a small number of words, a reason for each slide to exist. Ask yourself why any of the slides need to exist — maybe you’re better off with no slides for a particular talk, or just a few slides to highlight key points. The point is, you have to challenge your usual habits, or you’re going to be sleepwalking, doing it the same way you always have. And if you’re sleepwalking, your audience will fall asleep with you. Finally, always think of your presentation as a work in progress. Revise continuously based on what seems to work with audiences.

6) How long have you been using SlideShare? How did you discover it? Do you have any interesting stories about your SlideShare experiences?

I discovered Slideshare a few months ago via Presentation Zen. It’s been a lot of fun to see what people are creating. Now that downloading is possible, it’ll be an especially useful way to share our work with people from all over.

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Tomorrow- interview with Cheree Moore & Scott Schwertly who created ‘Meet Henry’, which won the Second Prize and the People’s Choice Third Prize.