{"id":4000,"date":"2016-11-29T14:54:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T14:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/24slides.com\/blog\/?p=4000"},"modified":"2021-12-23T12:15:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T12:15:26","slug":"24slides-4-years-countless-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/24slides.com\/blog\/24slides-4-years-countless-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"24Slides, 4 years, countless lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

It all began four years ago with no funding, a small office in Malang and an idea. Back then, we rented an office space furnished with not much else than an office table big enough to be shared by a handful of designers. In four years, our team of designers<\/a> in Malang have grown from five to fifty; our Copenhagen team from one to five. That means four years of 24Slides and countless lessons celebrated in a few hours of cake, bubbles and talks on visual design and presentations<\/a> during one fine evening in Copenhagen, Denmark.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"24Slides<\/a><\/p>\n

With champagne and birthday cake came presentations on Corporate visual identity by Kasper Lynge, Creative Manager of Novozymes; and on Presentation best practices by Kenn Hansen, Powerpoint presentation specialist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the rugged yet whimsical Dare2Mansion in Copenhagen was the perfect backdrop for our story, an old auto parts retailer transformed into an event space: rough around the edges but with a creative center\u2014like us, in a way.<\/span><\/p>\n

On four years and lessons learned<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our CEO Tobias Schelle kicked off the event with his account of the past four years, summarizing the lessons he learned<\/a> neatly in three points: <\/span>(1) Invest in meeting people<\/a>; <\/span>(2) Make sure everyone understands \u201cthe why\u201d; <\/span>(3) Organize to scale.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tobias<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know the feeling of knowing someone for years and yet still feel like you\u2019re constantly growing your relationship with them? It\u2019s the same in business,\u201d he said, introducing his first point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very important when working with a distributed team. Three times a year I go to Malang, Indonesia. I get the same feeling when I go there and when I leave: there are so many things happening and the relationship with the local team just grows.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With investing time to meet people comes investing time in making sure that everyone understands <\/span>the why<\/span><\/i>, the second point in Tobias\u2019 learnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t understand the why, you take away the creative thinking from people and it\u2019s the same thing in business,\u201d Tobias explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one mistake I see people do when they with people remotely is that they just start with the directives instead of starting with the why as in, \u2018Why is it that we are doing this presentation? What are we trying to achieve?\u2019,\u201d he continued.<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps the most important learning Tobias shared is the third and final one, if not for the picture it paints of where we are going as a company: <\/span>Organizing to scale<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne solution that I see many companies do is say \u2018We need managers to tell people what to do and to make sure they do things right.\u2019 For some reason, I didn\u2019t like that, I wanted people to be self-motivated. What we did was organize everyone into small teams, who was responsible for their own portfolios,\u201d Tobias explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have a very good business configuration and now we are ready to scale. Today we also celebrate that now, we are ready for the future,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

What future, you ask? From 50 jobs, we\u2019re setting the bar up to 1000 jobs created for the people of Malang; from a small office for 50 to a huge warehouse-turned office space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"24Slides<\/a><\/p>\n

The art of the presentation<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tobias\u2019 welcome speech was met with a bit of playful heckling and in the end, a warm round of applause. As we reached the break, the room was buzzing with curiosity and excitement. Chatter filled the walls of Dare2Mansion as ideas poured in as generously as the champagne. And then it was Kasper Lynge\u2019s turn to take the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kasper<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you sit in sales, it\u2019s not the look of the presentation that\u2019s important, it\u2019s the content. But sometimes you can\u2019t see the content because it looks so ugly,\u201d he began, inviting chuckles from the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTobias approached me about a year ago to present his idea and what his company can provide. It didn\u2019t take us long to decide that this is a good idea, that this is what we want to do,\u201d Kasper shared.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kasper Lynge has an impressive portfolio to boast, having worked with companies such as LEGO. As a speaker, he is just as engaging as the work he has produced, getting the audience talking and brainstorming during the short exercises he introduced and the food-for-thought questions he asked: \u201cIf your company were a person, what kind of a person would it be?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRedesign the logo of 24Slides,\u201d Kasper asked the audience at some point, getting them to doodle on small sheets of paper. Well, If we ever change our logo one day, you know where it came from.<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps the most interesting thing that he brought to the table was his take on visual identity. After all, his presentation is entitled \u201cCorporate visual identity \u2013 how much can it bend without breaking?\u201d. How much <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> it? A lot, apparently\u2014Kasper illustrated with examples from Mickey Mouse and Coca Cola.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, to be recognized for something, to be recognized for a shape, a color, a nametag\u2014think \u2018How can we use this even if you don\u2019t see our name?\u2019,\u201d Kasper shared.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making good presentations<\/b><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the other end of the spectrum was Kenn Hansen, whose presentation covered \u201cPresentation best practices from a research point of view\u201d, highlighting the aspects of presentation that go beyond the visual.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kenn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is an even bigger problem than finding the right template and so on. The problem is that people don\u2019t know how to use PowerPoint. Speakers have never been trained in what PowerPoint is for and they more or less give all the attention to the slide, as if saying \u2018Don\u2019t look at me, look at the slide.\u2019,\u201d Kenn explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

You look at the slide, we look at you and at the slide, the slide is muddled with words and pictures and the process becomes a confusing push and pull, like monkeys fighting for the rope in a tug-o-war. Whew! Kenn explained that it\u2019s all about striking a balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are three elements to a presentation: the audience, the speaker and the slide. Of course it\u2019s important that you have a neat visual identity<\/a>. But I would say that you also need to learn and understand how to use the PowerPoint. We can agree on the right Pantone color <\/a>but you really need to build in really good content because I think you give a presentation to give information, make people understand something<\/a>, inspire them or help them move to a different direction, teach them or whatever you do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kenn identifies three presentation genres: Verbal presentation, bullet presentation and written presentation. But how much to write or not to write on a slide? The question invites differing opinions from the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"24Slides<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all began four years ago with no funding, a small office in Malang and an idea. 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