http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Presentations A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Presentations in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Presentations http://tc.eserver.org/35733.html http://tc.eserver.org/35733.html From your stance to the amount of eye contact you make, this slideshow walks you through techniques great speakers employ. http://tc.eserver.org/35610.html http://tc.eserver.org/35610.html I’m growing tired of presentations that are little more than lectures, so I’m going to experiment with more user-led techniques like this. Unfortunately, available wi fi at chapter meetings or conferences with participants who have computers or mobile data devices is pretty rare. But if you do have the opportunity, definitely try incorporating Twitter, even if only for Q&A at the end of your presentation. http://tc.eserver.org/35582.html http://tc.eserver.org/35582.html I'm not a fan of PowerPoint. I've sat through too many deadly dull presentations by people who didn't know how to make a presentation interesting. So it saddens me to find out that universities have been infected by the PowerPoint virus. At least the students will be prepared for the real world when they graduate. http://tc.eserver.org/35583.html http://tc.eserver.org/35583.html I’m in my third year of college now, and by this point I have the hang of determining what constitutes a good class and a bad class. In a good class, I have fun and learn a lot; in a bad class, I don’t have a good time and don’t learn very much. http://tc.eserver.org/35358.html http://tc.eserver.org/35358.html Describes the most challenging aspect of creating slides for an oral presentation. Presents two principles for creating informative and persuasive graphics. Explains how to use drawing tools to communicate the schema of the slide and to emphasize important portions of the images. http://tc.eserver.org/35131.html http://tc.eserver.org/35131.html This study explores design presentations that were graded by engineering faculty in order to assess the distinguishing features of those that were successful. Using a thematic analysis of 17 videotaped, final presentations from a capstone chemical engineering (CHE) course, it explores the rhetorical strategies, oral styles, and organizational structures that differentiate successful and unsuccessful team presentations. The results suggest that successful presenters used rhetorical strategies, oral styles, and organizational structures that illustrated students’ ability to negotiate the real and simulated relational and identity nuances of the design presentation genre—in short, they illustrated students’ relational genre knowledge. http://tc.eserver.org/34981.html http://tc.eserver.org/34981.html As digital cameras have become ubiquitous, and cheap (or free) photo websites plentiful, more people than ever are using images in presentations. Images are not appropriate for every kind of talk, but even when images are appropriate (such as keynote/ballroom style presentations), people are still making the same common mistakes. So here are some things to keep in mind if you use images in your next talk. http://tc.eserver.org/34971.html http://tc.eserver.org/34971.html Below are 10 things (plus a bonus tip) that I have learned over the years from designers, things that designers do or know that the rest of us can benefit from. http://tc.eserver.org/34972.html http://tc.eserver.org/34972.html A study published in the April issue of British Educational Research Journal found that 59 percent of students in a new survey reported that at least half of their lectures were boring, and that PowerPoint was one of the dullest methods they saw. "The least boring teaching methods were found to be seminars, practical sessions, and group discussions," said the report. In other words, tech-free classrooms were the most engaging. http://tc.eserver.org/34916.html http://tc.eserver.org/34916.html Each time I sign up a CIO speaker, I hopefully suggest the option of going slide-free. From the reaction I get, you'd think I suggested walking on stage pants-free. http://tc.eserver.org/34865.html http://tc.eserver.org/34865.html I still get nervous when I have to present in unfamiliar situations. I’m very used to presenting to small groups of people on a course. That’s my comfort zone. But take me outside of that familiar situation, and I’ll get nervous. If I were to get upset about being nervous, I would make it worse. I don’t fight my nerves, I use them. Here are three specific ways in which you can use your fear of public speaking to make you a better public speaker and presenter. http://tc.eserver.org/34839.html http://tc.eserver.org/34839.html One privilege enjoyed by new-media authors is the opportunity to realize representations of Self that are rich textual worlds in themselves and also to engage the wider world, with a voice, a smile, imagery, and sound. Still, closer investigation of multimedia composition practices reveals levels of complexity with which the verbal virtuoso is unconcerned. This article argues that while technology-afforded multimedia tools make it comparatively easy to author a vivid text, it is a multiplicatively more complicated matter to vividly realize and publicize an authorial intention. Based on analysis of the digital story creation process of a youth named 'Steven,' the authors attempt to demonstrate the operation of two forces upon which the successful multimodal realization of the author's intention may hinge: 'fixity' and 'fluidity.' The authors show how, within the process of digital self-representation, these forces can intersect to influence multimodal meaning making, and an author's life, in consequential ways. http://tc.eserver.org/34799.html http://tc.eserver.org/34799.html One of the criticisms leveled against technical PPT slides is the overuse (perhaps abuse is a better descriptor) of the topic/subtopic organization structure. One of the simple ways PPT presentations can be improved is to follow the BLUF principle. Bottom Line Up Front. http://tc.eserver.org/34758.html http://tc.eserver.org/34758.html PowerPoint is not a neutral tool — it is actively hostile to thoughtful decision-making. It has fundamentally changed our culture by altering the expectations of who makes decisions, what decisions they make and how they make them. While this may seem to be a sweeping generalization, I think a brief examination of the impact of PowerPoint will support this statement. http://tc.eserver.org/34690.html http://tc.eserver.org/34690.html Top 10 tips for a winning pitch by David McDermott, MD of Edomidas. David McDermott is MD of edoMidas Ltd and is an advisor and international speaker on competitive pitching. His success is founded on thoroughly researched pitching strategies, drawing from experience of the most successful global business pitches. http://tc.eserver.org/34521.html http://tc.eserver.org/34521.html Adobe’s Captivate application allows one to create Flash based interactive demos and presentations. PowerPoint materials can also be converted in Flash using Captivate. Captivate has a number of accessibility features in version 3 and 4. http://tc.eserver.org/34324.html http://tc.eserver.org/34324.html The PowerPoint tips featured here are not about creating better or more effective presentations, instead they help you avoid any last minute surprises that may crop up when an eager audience is waiting to see your slide show. http://tc.eserver.org/34283.html http://tc.eserver.org/34283.html You will not draw any slides—in fact do not even launch PowerPoint—until step eight, 80% of the way through the process. Typically, when you want to create a presentation, you open PowerPoint and start creating slides. Slide one, slide two, … slide seventeen… what I am trying to say again? Am I making my point? http://tc.eserver.org/34196.html http://tc.eserver.org/34196.html Defines basic sales terms. Explores ways to use text and illustrations to create engineering marketing slides. Examines six methods of strengthening the persuasiveness of engineering marketing slides. http://tc.eserver.org/34197.html http://tc.eserver.org/34197.html Reviews the extreme claims that have been made about PowerPoint. Sets forth practical design ideas that are especially applicable to technical presentations. Explains three ways in which PowerPoint can subtly influence the intended meaning of deck authors and shows how these problems can be addressed. http://tc.eserver.org/34128.html http://tc.eserver.org/34128.html Some Web entrepreneurs have made strides by developing Web-based tools for creating slides. The four that this TechTip highlights have a number of things in common. http://tc.eserver.org/34138.html http://tc.eserver.org/34138.html As a presenter, I feed off the energy of the audience. I used to think that the audience determined the energy in the room, but after applying some of Jerry Weissman’s principles, I learned the presenter has more control over the room than I previously thought. http://tc.eserver.org/34043.html http://tc.eserver.org/34043.html I presented a session remotely at the Presentation Camp at Stanford University, California. My session was on “How to engage your audience with Twitter” and I tried to do exactly that during my presentation. Here’s what I learnt from my experience. http://tc.eserver.org/34016.html http://tc.eserver.org/34016.html You may not have known your presentations have protagonists, but they do (or should). And whether the protagonist is you, your product, your cause or even your audience, IT must be primarily responsible for the major benefit or crisis you are trying to convey. If you’re selling a product or service, let it demonstrate exactly what it does. If you’re asking for funds, the audience may be the protagonist. Make it clear that they are the key to making it all happen. http://tc.eserver.org/33876.html http://tc.eserver.org/33876.html I'm definitely not the greatest presenter around. While I like to think I’m improving in this area, there are still holes in my game. Still, I was somewhat flattered. And it kind of fed my then-depleted ego to be asked this question, and the others that surrounded it. What follows are the points that I tried to get across. http://tc.eserver.org/33878.html http://tc.eserver.org/33878.html People perceive someone who speaks up as a competent leader - regardless of whether they actually are competent. That’s the finding of a fascinating research study that has just been reported online at Time. http://tc.eserver.org/33860.html http://tc.eserver.org/33860.html Because the nature of ethics information is highly abstract and related to integrity, it is based upon judgment and therefore subject to varying interpretations by employees. To increase common understanding and consistent interpretations, the use of language, choice of words, sentence formation, and presentation style are important. http://tc.eserver.org/33790.html http://tc.eserver.org/33790.html Microsoft PowerPoint is ubiquitous, and therefore controversial. Most critiques, both of the software and of its widespread adoption in educational settings, express concerns that are not particular to PowerPoint alone, but apply to “slideware” presentations generally. The reliance on sequences and hierarchies of bullet points (a poor means of presenting some kinds of complex information), the foregrounding of visual gimmicks over content, the displacement of attention from the speaker and her message onto summary arguments presented dumbly on screen: far from being necessary features of presentation technology, these (according to the critics) prove to be shortcomings that interfere with, rather than enhance, a presenter's ability to communicate. This paper presents an alternative to slideware, in the form of SVG graphics used for presentation. http://tc.eserver.org/33541.html http://tc.eserver.org/33541.html When I was asked to write about the process in which I show demos of my company’s work, I initially thought of what I used several years ago to show clients my samples—a time when DVDs didn't even exist and my home office setup was not such that I could do demos effectively there. Those were days when I had to travel to a meeting with a VCR deck, a tube-style TV, a bunch of cables, a cart to carry everything on, and, of course, VHS tapes, all properly rewound to the correct starting points. http://tc.eserver.org/33328.html http://tc.eserver.org/33328.html I’ll discuss how Aaron and I get ready to give a presentation, how we actually deliver one, and what happens afterwards. http://tc.eserver.org/33341.html http://tc.eserver.org/33341.html A look at how two technical communicators plan and prepare presentations. http://tc.eserver.org/32654.html http://tc.eserver.org/32654.html Never dive into creating your presentation without knowing the constraints within which you are working, as they can really alter how you present. When I started to prepare for my presentation, I had to ruthlessly narrow down what my goals for speaking were before I tackled the nitty gritty. http://tc.eserver.org/32380.html http://tc.eserver.org/32380.html PowerPoint is standard… …but bad. Why? http://tc.eserver.org/32370.html http://tc.eserver.org/32370.html Lecture capture has been gaining momentum in recent years, but that momentum is being outpaced by student demand. According to new research released this week by the University of Wisconsin-Madison involving about 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students, an overwhelming 82 percent of students said they would prefer courses that offer online lectures over traditional classes that do not include an online lecture component. The researchers also pointed out the implications for these findings extend well beyond the classroom. http://tc.eserver.org/32347.html http://tc.eserver.org/32347.html More and more people are asking how to burn their Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 presentations to DVD. Using PowerPoint and a DVD, you have an easy method of getting your message out, whether as a training video or a digital business card promoting your products or services. And your audience can view your material at home as well as in their offices. http://tc.eserver.org/32015.html http://tc.eserver.org/32015.html The use of PowerPoint (PPT)-based lectures in business classes is prevalent, yet it remains empirically understudied in business education research. The authors investigate whether students in the contemporary business classroom view PPT as a novel stimulus and whether these perceptions of novelty are related to students' self-assessment of learning. Results indicate that the degree of novelty that undergraduate business students associate with PPT-based teaching significantly relates to their perceptions of PPT's impact on cognitive learning and classroom interaction. Students' views of PPT as a novel stimulus are also associated with their perception of specific constructive and dysfunctional classroom behaviors and attitudes. The authors discuss their findings and offer implications for instructors and researchers in business education. http://tc.eserver.org/31783.html http://tc.eserver.org/31783.html Technical communication instructors want to help students, as well as professionals, design effective PowerPoint presentations. Toward this end, I compare the advice of academic and industry experts about effective PowerPoint presentation design to survey responses from university students about slide text, visual elements, animations, and other issues related to PowerPoint presentation design and delivery. Based on this comparison, I suggest some topics, such as PowerPoint's Slide Sorter view, that technical communication instructors and other presentation instructors might address when they cover presentations in their classes or seminars. http://tc.eserver.org/31759.html http://tc.eserver.org/31759.html What’s the best way to handle questions from the audience when presenting? This podcast examines key things you can do to deal proactively with audience questions. http://tc.eserver.org/31651.html http://tc.eserver.org/31651.html Criticisms that Tufte and others have leveled against PowerPoint are not insurmountable defects of the programs themselves. These defects are generally due to an orientation, shared by program designers and users alike, and toward images rather than diagrams, toward perceptual decoration and object indication rather than toward visually mediated, iconic representations of verbal information. Using Peirce's theories of visual rhetoric, we show that improvements in visual communication generally - and PowerPoint slides in particular - depend on shifting our orientation away from image-driven thinking and toward diagrammatic modes of presentation. http://tc.eserver.org/31565.html http://tc.eserver.org/31565.html "You have two options when you walk into a room," says public speaking expert Richard Levick about the art of giving speeches. Most entrepreneurs find speech making to be either terrifying or a waste of time. Too many CEOs see dealing with the media or making presentations as an interruption, but it's as essential to doing business as customers. If you can't deliver energetic and commanding speeches, or polished and articulate interviews, then you're short-circuiting your company's future. It's time to do something about it. http://tc.eserver.org/31492.html http://tc.eserver.org/31492.html I am trying to evangelize the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/31448.html http://tc.eserver.org/31448.html A speech generally needs personal language because it is delivered by a live human being whose words should not sound, as Wabash College Professor William Norwood Brigance put it, "like an essay standing on its hind legs." http://tc.eserver.org/31349.html http://tc.eserver.org/31349.html The importance of oral presentations in professional environments related to Computer Science is unquestionable. Therefore, oral and writing skills are included in the set of competences to be developed by students through the application of recent academic initiatives for Computer Science degrees in an international context. This article describes activities performed at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid aimed at the development of presentation skills in students. This initiative is based on the application of learning activities in combination with the delivery of different presentations that the students themselves evaluate. Results show a significant competence improvement and very satisfactory acceptance results from the students. http://tc.eserver.org/31275.html http://tc.eserver.org/31275.html Hardware is easy to talk about, test, evaluate, review and sell. Software takes a little more study. Which is why we remain one of the very few imaging publications to review software in any depth. Most people find software is a solid that must be chewed to derive any nutritional benefits. And so they chew and chew and chew. But, no matter how much they chew, the stuff is still pretty hard to swallow. http://tc.eserver.org/31188.html http://tc.eserver.org/31188.html This tutorial is based on the PC version of Microsoft PowerPoint 2003, but the principles explained here should be similar for older versions of the program and for Macs. http://tc.eserver.org/30433.html http://tc.eserver.org/30433.html Both old hands and newcomers can create a plan to do a presentation at the next STC Annual Conference. Simply follow this 5-step process: (1) Understand the call for papers. (2) Discover possible topics to develop. (3) Identify gifts—something of value—to give your audience in your presentation and in your paper (if you do one). (4) Think of interesting gift wraps to attract your hearers and readers. (5) Prepare a complete proposal for the Program Committee. This process works best in a workshop where the participants can form a critical muss for creative excitement, help one another generate ideas—and have fun! http://tc.eserver.org/30282.html http://tc.eserver.org/30282.html In this panel discussion, the program manager and stem managers for the 42nd STC Annual Conference (scheduled for April 23 through 26,1995, in Washington, D. C.) will be available to share their ideas for the upcoming conference program and to hear your suggestions and ideas for meeting the challenge of change. Only issues related to the program will be discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/29700.html http://tc.eserver.org/29700.html The relatively new and controversial medium of PowerPoint presentations has generated much casual commentary but little careful analysis or empirical research. This rhetorical study attempts to advance our understanding of the medium and provides practical guidance regarding deck design, rehearsal, and performance. The study considers the reasons for the controversy surrounding PowerPoint, offers a taxonomy of the kinds of content that appear in decks, and looks closely at how presenters interact with individual slides, in particular the way in which they 'synch' to each bullet point and then 'launch' an oral gloss of that point. In addition, the study provides criteria for writing bullet points and suggests reasons why presenters include excess text on their slides. http://tc.eserver.org/29380.html http://tc.eserver.org/29380.html PowerPoint is the jacks-or-better of the corporate world--you've got to have it in order to stay in the game. Just try giving a seminar without PowerPoint or showing up at a meeting with, gasp, paper handouts. I live in mortal fear that my eulogy will be delivered as a broken PowerPoint stack. http://tc.eserver.org/29384.html http://tc.eserver.org/29384.html Contrary to what many people think, a speech is not a performance. Rather, it's a relationship -- ideally a meaningful one -- that you create with a group of people. Like any good relationship, a speech requires caring, trust, openness, accessibility, and two-way communication. http://tc.eserver.org/29331.html http://tc.eserver.org/29331.html Recently, much criticism has arisen about the design of slides created with Microsoft PowerPoint. This web page challenges PowerPoint's default design of a single word or short phrase headline supported by a bullet list. Rather than subscribing to Microsoft's topic-subtopic design for slides, this web page advocates an assertion-evidence design, which serves presentations that have the purpose of informing and persuading audiences about technical content. http://tc.eserver.org/29146.html http://tc.eserver.org/29146.html This study analyzes the performance and attitudes of technical writing students in PowerPoint-enhanced and in non-PowerPoint lectures. Four classes of upper-level undergraduates (n = 84) at a mid-sized, Southern university taking a one-semester technical writing course were surveyed at the beginning and end of the course about their perceptions of PowerPoint. Of the four sections, two classes were instructed using traditional lecture materials (teacher at podium, chalkboard, handouts); the other two sections were instructed with PowerPoint presentations. All four classes were given the same pre- and post-test to measure performance over the course of the semester. Traditional lecture or PowerPoint presentations consisted of at least 50% of the course, with the remaining time spent on exercises and small group work. Results reveal that while most students say they preferred PowerPoint, performance scores were higher in the sections with the traditional lecture format. http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html http://tc.eserver.org/28714.html Jared Spool led the NYC UPA membership in an energetic discussion of user experience successes and failures. Comments ranged widely but centered on three main questions. http://tc.eserver.org/28638.html http://tc.eserver.org/28638.html If you have ever wondered why your eyes start glazing over as you read those dot points on the screen, as the same words are being spoken, take heart in knowing there is a scientific explanation. It is more difficult to process information if it is coming at you in the written and spoken form at the same time. http://tc.eserver.org/28545.html http://tc.eserver.org/28545.html This tutorial presents a brief overview of the process for preparing presentation slides, introduces you to important design principles to consider as you prepare your slides, and helps you analyze the design of sample presentation slides. http://tc.eserver.org/28492.html http://tc.eserver.org/28492.html This non-linear PowerPoint tutorial will help you plan and create a presentation using some of the advanced branching and linking tools. You'll be able use the common drawing tools to design a simple user interface and navigation scheme. http://tc.eserver.org/28491.html http://tc.eserver.org/28491.html This PowerPoint tutorial is just what you need to get up to speed using PowerPoint to create engaging and effective presentations. Whether you're creating a presentation for an informal gathering, a school or classroom assignment, or one for your business partners or associates, PowerPoint is a powerful tool that will help get the job done. Each PowerPoint tutorial features text and screen shots, and some include narrated multimedia tutorials in Flash. http://tc.eserver.org/28065.html http://tc.eserver.org/28065.html Before there were presentations, there were conversations, which were a little like presentations but used fewer bullet points, and no one had to dim the lights. A woman we can call Sarah Wyndham, a defense-industry consultant living in Alexandria, Virginia, recently began to feel that her two daughters weren't listening when she asked them to clean their bedrooms and do their chores. So, one morning, she sat down at her computer, opened Microsoft's PowerPoint program, and used it. http://tc.eserver.org/28067.html http://tc.eserver.org/28067.html Whenever people talk about "jazzing up" some of the Microsoft Office tools, PowerPoint always rises to the top of the list (but you can use this technique for any Office applications). We've all seen the presentations with that pat clip-art, the checkered fades, and those bullets that slide. Why not add some interactivity and exciting animation? Thanks to Microsoft's ActiveX technology we can. http://tc.eserver.org/28066.html http://tc.eserver.org/28066.html Embedding is based on the Shockwave Flash Microsoft ActiveX component, an ActiveX component created by Macromedia that allows its content to run in Microsoft Internet Explorer. http://tc.eserver.org/27592.html http://tc.eserver.org/27592.html Presentation software has been stuck in neutral forever. Web applications, however, are firing on all cylinders. Some say Word and Excel are about to be Web 2.0 roadkill. Not me. The browser can’t yet substitute for those applications. But for PowerPoint? Any day now. http://tc.eserver.org/27351.html http://tc.eserver.org/27351.html Communicating efficiently when giving presentations relies on a superb blend of technique and knowledge. Knowledge is gained through research and experience, the techniques are learned by observation, deliberately reading topic specific books, or by attending relevant workshops. As you progress and you become increasingly proficient in delivery, your own unique style will ultimately evolve. http://tc.eserver.org/26722.html http://tc.eserver.org/26722.html An audience, whether it is one person or many, wants speakers to provide maximum relevant information, delivered in minimum time and in the clearest possible terms, centered on the needs and concerns of the audience. http://tc.eserver.org/26588.html http://tc.eserver.org/26588.html Edward Tufte (2003) argues that PowerPoint is so flawed that it is impossible to communicate anything meaningful using it. The medium is not flawed; the users are. Instead of condemning PowerPoint, we owe it to the MBAs to teach them how to use this powerful communication tool. Knowing how to use PowerPoint effectively can give MBAs a leadership edge. This article discusses what we should be teaching the MBAs to allow them to take advantage of PPT and use it to deliver powerful presentations. http://tc.eserver.org/26457.html http://tc.eserver.org/26457.html The traditional design of presentation slides calls for a phrase headline supported by a bulleted list. Recently, many critics have challenged the effectiveness of this design. This article argues for a significantly different design that offers numerous advantages in most communication contexts but that is particularly well suited to technical presentations. Originating at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and refined in more than 400 critique sessions at Virginia Tech, this alternative design is characterized by a succinct sentence headline supported by visual evidence. What distinguishes this design from other visual -evidence designs are its specific layout and typography guidelines, which were chosen to make the communication efficient, memorable, and persuasive. Although more difficult to construct than the traditional design, the alternative design shows much promise as a more effective means of conveying technical information to various audiences. This article outlines the key advantages and challenges of using this design, and concludes by assessing attempts to disseminate this design through lectures, workshops, and the Web. http://tc.eserver.org/26432.html http://tc.eserver.org/26432.html An article featuring steps on how to create a traditional countdown using custom animations in PowerPoint. http://tc.eserver.org/26435.html http://tc.eserver.org/26435.html In this presentation, you will learn how to create an explode effect on pictures. http://tc.eserver.org/26433.html http://tc.eserver.org/26433.html Tutorial by tohlz, PowerPoint Heaven. Scenario #1: You wanted to fade in a picture, but not completely. You wanted the picture to fade from 0% until 50% and stops at there. Scenario #2: You wanted to fade out a picture, but not completely. You wanted the picture to fade from 100% until 50% and stops at there. http://tc.eserver.org/26436.html http://tc.eserver.org/26436.html You need to make some delay so that all your slides will pause for a while before going to the next one. There are few ways to achieve this. This tutorial will cover two simple methods. http://tc.eserver.org/26434.html http://tc.eserver.org/26434.html I have experimented many ways to create a spiral effect on text. This requires the overlapping technique. The simplest way is to make use of Pinwheel Entrance effect to do the job, while the best way to create the most realistic impact is to have combination of different effects. http://tc.eserver.org/26315.html http://tc.eserver.org/26315.html An article discussing how to use the Opera Web browser as a presentation tool. http://tc.eserver.org/26114.html http://tc.eserver.org/26114.html Building a basic presentation that records and uses voice may be an important tool for communicating information. This project is based on employing two programs, Impress, which is the presentation program with OpenOffice, and Audacity, an easy to use sound editor, for building a voice presentation. http://tc.eserver.org/25963.html http://tc.eserver.org/25963.html In Photoshop CS there's a new feature that takes a folder full of images, creates a slide show (complete with transitions), and compresses it into PDF format so you can e-mail it easily to a client for proofing. This is perfect for showing your portfolio to clients, sending clients proofs of wedding shots or portrait sittings, and any of a dozen other uses, none of which I can happen to think of right at this particular moment, but I'm sure later today, when I'm at the mall or driving to the office, they'll come to me. http://tc.eserver.org/25766.html http://tc.eserver.org/25766.html On the basis of both established theories of the differences between cultures and recommendations in advice literature from different cultures, we believe that it is likely that cultures will differ in what they consider to be an effective introduction to a presentation. In this article, we report on an exploratory experimental study with 300 respondents in the Netherlands, France, and Senegal regarding their appreciation of and response to three introductions to a presentation about a mobile phone. The results show that the cultures differ with respect to the introduction they prefer. The Dutch respondents appreciated the overview most, while the French respondents preferred the ethical appeal, and research participants from Senegal preferred the anecdote. It is likely that the introduction that gains greatest attention and that best increases the ability to listen in a culture will be most appreciated in that culture. http://tc.eserver.org/25735.html http://tc.eserver.org/25735.html To help technical communicators become better informed producers of interactive new media productions, this article examines how motion can be used properly to create effective interactive information systems for the computer screen. This article provides a brief analysis of how cinema works and then demonstrates how a number of cinema techniques influence new media production. The article then concludes by offering suggestions for how to effectively apply a few basic cinema techniques directly to technical communication practice. http://tc.eserver.org/25477.html http://tc.eserver.org/25477.html Few native English weblogs link to non-English weblogs in their blogroll and those English language weblogs that do link to non-English weblogs are usually written by non-native English speakers. The Internet may be transnational but many communities remain bound by barriers of language. http://tc.eserver.org/25324.html http://tc.eserver.org/25324.html What does one of the world's leading authorities on usability say about PowerPoint? As cofounder of the Neilsen Norman Group and author of the classic The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman is a strong advocate of user-centered design and simplicity. Surprisingly, Norman disagrees with PowerPoint's most vocal critic, information design guru Edward Tufte. http://tc.eserver.org/24782.html http://tc.eserver.org/24782.html One of the biggest complaints about presentations that has been voiced far too frequently is 'The visuals were terrible.' This demonstration will show presenters that if they have visuals at all then they should be good visuals. It is as easy to make good visuals as it is to make poor ones. http://tc.eserver.org/24783.html http://tc.eserver.org/24783.html Modern exhibit design and conventional technical communication are both concerned with verbal and visual presentation of information. Another aspect, not relevant to written technical communication but fundamental to exhibit design is the use of 3dimensional space. This paper examines two spatial elements in exhibit design: Visitor circulation patterns and the scale of displays. Circulation patterns are the paths taken by visitors through the exhibit area. Scale refers to the size of exhibits and architectural features in relation to the size of the average visitor. By comparing two visitor center exhibits that take very different approaches, I will argue that these spacial elements carry meaning and, like any other message, they can influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of spectators. http://tc.eserver.org/24433.html http://tc.eserver.org/24433.html Discusses some principles for choosing appropriate graphics for instructional materials. http://tc.eserver.org/24333.html http://tc.eserver.org/24333.html Your ability to construct and deliver a powerful presentation is one of the most important facets of your career. Without that ability, you will never be able to sell your ideas, projects, and yourself. Keeping these six main principles in mind and following this effective 8-step process will allow you to develop a presentation that anyone would be proud to deliver. Once the presentation is written, concentrate on watching body language, making eye contact, modulating your voice, and breathing properly as you deliver a dynamite presentation! http://tc.eserver.org/24192.html http://tc.eserver.org/24192.html Vinton Cerf, one of the founders of the Internet, reportedly parodied the well-known quote about the cost of attaining power, observing that if power corrupts, 'PowerPointcorrupts absolutely.' Pointed though Cerf’s statement is, it places far too much blame on the software. After all, speakers must take some responsibility for their presentations. As in any other form of communication, you must decide what you’re going to say and how you plan to say it. But once that’s done, you need to use all the skills at your disposal to make the chosen medium work for you. http://tc.eserver.org/24080.html http://tc.eserver.org/24080.html Watch your nonverbal communication and vaccinate against 'um' disease by submitting to videotaped coaching before media contact. http://tc.eserver.org/23990.html http://tc.eserver.org/23990.html Developers want details. They want information they can take back and talk about on their own. They want the space to decide, based on their own criteria, what is valuable and what is not. They make use of the divide between designers and developers to help maintain their boundaries. http://tc.eserver.org/23827.html http://tc.eserver.org/23827.html PowerPoint: the software we love to hate. Has there been any other software since the dawn of the personal computer that has earned so much criticism? The question at hand is not, 'Does PowerPoint suck?' The answer to that, as we all know, is yes. The question is, in fact, 'For information architects, does PowerPoint suck?' Or, more to the point, 'Even though PowerPoint sucks, should I use it for my deliverables?' http://tc.eserver.org/23666.html http://tc.eserver.org/23666.html Summary, models, and templates of a new design of slides for technical presentations. This design is fully documented in Chapter 4 of The Craft of Scientific Presentations (Springer, 2003). http://tc.eserver.org/23609.html http://tc.eserver.org/23609.html Natural resource agencies and other technical and scientific organizations face an immense challenge of when communicating complex technical information to diverse publics. The laptop computer, presentation software, and projection unit have emerged as one of the primary presentation tools in many technical and scientific fields. Advances in software functions enable presenters to capitalize on a wide range of multimedia functions thought to make presentations more appealing, interesting, and effective. Our presentation reports on a specific research project and then provides guidance for enhancing their presentations. http://tc.eserver.org/23397.html http://tc.eserver.org/23397.html Why is the default color of PowerPoint dark blue? People prepare the best slides man can create - and yet they leave the default color stay dark blue. http://tc.eserver.org/23367.html http://tc.eserver.org/23367.html To improve university-level presentations, students need rhetorical, design, and usability strategies and tools to create effective, professional presentations. By developing a series of three to five modules for science and technology students, Professional Writing faculty could polish materials for use as one-day professional development workshops in the workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/23290.html http://tc.eserver.org/23290.html While the cultural scoreboard may be invisible, this much is indisputable: the PowerPoint people are winning. http://tc.eserver.org/22885.html http://tc.eserver.org/22885.html Skills of developing and delivering presentations are valuable for both personal growth and professional development. http://tc.eserver.org/22781.html http://tc.eserver.org/22781.html When I convert my PowerPoint presentations to PDF, why do they become so huge? How can I get around this? http://tc.eserver.org/22572.html http://tc.eserver.org/22572.html Suggests ways that speakers can increase their credibility with their audience. http://tc.eserver.org/22255.html http://tc.eserver.org/22255.html At many conferences we encounter speakers whose sole reason in presenting is to entice customers for their products or services. The goal is not, in itself, a bad one -- except when the speaker presents information that is biased. http://tc.eserver.org/22252.html http://tc.eserver.org/22252.html As the word craft in the title of the book suggests, the ability to give good presentations is not a genetically linked trait but a craft that can be learned. http://tc.eserver.org/20999.html http://tc.eserver.org/20999.html PowerPoint is the world's most popular tool for presenting information. There are 400 million copies in circulation, and almost no corporate decision takes place without it. But what if PowerPoint is actually making us stupider? http://tc.eserver.org/20540.html http://tc.eserver.org/20540.html There are many sites where you can download or buy MIDI or Audio files on the web. Many of these sites offer illegal sound clips. Finding sound clips on the Web is very easy--simply do a search for sound clips, and you'll be directed to many different web pages. Just be sure that you can legally use these sound clips before putting them on your site. http://tc.eserver.org/20526.html http://tc.eserver.org/20526.html In a memorable scene from the movie “8 Mile” the character played by rapper Eminem enters a competition and gets on stage to prove his prowess in front of a rowdy crowd. Using rhyme and rap, he must show his skill at cleverly putting down the reigning champion. Winning the contest could mean fame, fortune and a way out of his grimy, dead-end life. We know he’s up to it. In the preceding scenes he’s brilliant in front of his friends and the bathroom mirror. But when he faces the jeering crowd on the big night he freezes and is unable to speak. As the crowd chants “Choke! Choke!” he leaves the stage in shame. Freezing in front of an audience is every speaker’s worst nightmare. Eminem was clearly facing a hostile crowd. But why do some speakers freeze even when they are in front of an audience that is friendly and receptive? http://tc.eserver.org/20533.html http://tc.eserver.org/20533.html What are the reasons videoconferencing seems to be flourishing when so many other technologies are being challenged? The following will be the world according to Max and five reasons why I think videoconferencing is having its heyday. http://tc.eserver.org/20530.html http://tc.eserver.org/20530.html A few years back a Canadian company asked me to review their corporate presentation. They seemed pretty pleased with what they had created but asked if I could take a look at things with a professional eye and provide them with some constructive feedback. I rarely turn down these types of requests because every one of us can benefit from some objective perspective from time to time. They went on to tell me that they had been working hard over the years to improve the quality of their presentations and they even went to the extent of purchasing Macromedia Action (no longer available). This high-end presentation design package featured timeline-based slide orchestration, a boatload of new effects, easier media integration capability and a host of other features to be able to create `professional results in minutes'. http://tc.eserver.org/20525.html http://tc.eserver.org/20525.html Do you wish you were a more dynamic and compelling speaker? Do you want to know how to effectively engage your audience? In this article I identify 4 elements that enable you be at your best when speaking. The four elements are: Passionate, Analytical, Confiding and Extemporaneous or P.A.C.E.™ http://tc.eserver.org/20524.html http://tc.eserver.org/20524.html If you haven’t yet experienced your point of embarrassment or memory lapse, you will. When it happens, consider these fail-safe ways to regain your memory and retain your poise. http://tc.eserver.org/20532.html http://tc.eserver.org/20532.html Microportable and ultraportable projectors are changing how Corporate America presents information, sells products and trains employees and customers. Small enough to fit in a brief case, light enough to carry from appointment to appointment and easy enough to use without extensive training, these projectors deliver big, brilliant video, graphic and data images that are sure to grab and hold the attention of audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/20536.html http://tc.eserver.org/20536.html As we enter the millennium, more and more people are learning how to utilize technology in their presentations. We are no longer limited to a laptop, projector and screen. Digital whiteboards are becoming more widely used in a presentation environment and this course will explain how to utilize this technology. http://tc.eserver.org/20534.html http://tc.eserver.org/20534.html Using a prompting system is not something reserved for just Presidents and CEOs. Many people have avoided using prompting because they felt these systems were too ugly and distractive to have at a presentation or perhaps too heavy to take on the road. Whether in the field or on stage, many people objected to using prompters because they made the speaker's presentation style too constrained and contrived. The new generation of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)-based prompting systems have changed all that! http://tc.eserver.org/20531.html http://tc.eserver.org/20531.html It was simply a matter of a web link or two and literally hundreds of trainees joined me online from all around the country. All in all, pretty easy and convenient and the price was right-- free. The topics were related to presentation design concepts and I knew going into it that the medium would be right for some, but unfortunately, dead wrong for others. Contrast that with another training venue coming up in a few weeks. Three presentation team members from a large consumer products company will be flying into Portland, Oregon for a day's worth of hands-on presentation design training. End of year budget utilization issues made that possible and I absolutely know that they will walk away with highly practical skills. So who got the best training value? The answer just might surprise you. Training is a personal matter but also a very practical one. When we approach training topics related to presentation design, message development, delivery skills and technology, the venues available for training are numerous. The bigger question is which ones are right for you and your learning style and of course, which options will your budgets support? With a rush to slash travel and off site training, the web is being viewed in overly glamorous terms for meaningful training deployment. Here are the trade offs. http://tc.eserver.org/20527.html http://tc.eserver.org/20527.html It is important to focus on one’s thoughts when approaching presentations. Often these thoughts can be based on myths: widely held beliefs that just are not true. http://tc.eserver.org/20537.html http://tc.eserver.org/20537.html Even if you are a confident, seasoned speaker, you still need to connect with your audience with terrific content and visual aids. Knock `em dead with your words and the visual aids you use in order to truly have audiences on the edge of their seats! How can you get a crowd of hungry or tired conference attendees interested in your presentation? How can you stand apart and be remembered out of a series of speakers? Be daring and different. Seek untraditional methods to relate your information. Investigate all your options and all resources. Never rule anything out. http://tc.eserver.org/20523.html http://tc.eserver.org/20523.html It was my first year in business and I was 20-minutes into delivering a one-hour presentation skills seminar when it was becoming painfully clear that I was losing my audience fast. With this particular group, the early warning signs were all there. It started with some subtle multi-tasking activity followed by a pronounced loss of eye contact by a few individuals at first and then half the group. If you’ve ever had that experience you know that you only have a couple of options at that point. You can try to pump up the energy level and occasionally re-energize an audience; but, let’s face it, the odds are pretty slim. Or you can always start summarizing, cut your loses and go for a well-scripted close. At least there’s some hope that your audience will, at a minimum, hear a few crisp closing points and an interesting story to tie it all together. On that particular day, I didn’t have a chance to do either. The bell rang at precisely 11:22 and Cheryl Bailey’s third period PowerPoint class darted for the door and I was left standing there (unplugging my projector and laptop) wondering what the heck just happened. It was my first time presenting to a group of kids and since then I’ve had to revise my technique considerably for this unique audience. http://tc.eserver.org/20538.html http://tc.eserver.org/20538.html Using videos to sell a service or product or to inspire and inform associates is becoming common for all kinds of organizations. The latest technologies offer endless opportunities at reasonable cost and with professional results, yet nothing can replace the drama and warmth of a live presentation. It's like the difference between live theater and television- no comparison! http://tc.eserver.org/20535.html http://tc.eserver.org/20535.html Einstein said, If I can't 'see' it, I don't understand it. When visuals are used, you are more persuasive, you can cover more ground in less time, retention and comprehension are greater and, your presentation is more interesting and involving. http://tc.eserver.org/20528.html http://tc.eserver.org/20528.html It is known by many names: Visualizer, Visual Presenter, Visual Copy Stand even the misnomer, “Document Camera.” “Document Camera” is the most commonly used name, however they are much more than just a “Document Camera.” And, it is not an overhead projector where you can show documents either. It is truly much more than this. A Visualizer is a 'live' camera that picks up live images and allows you to view them over any display device. The true beauty of Visualizers can be summed up in one word – flexibility. It can be a piece of paper, a transparency, a 3-dimensional object, a 35mm slide, an x-ray or even a large item or person in a room. Quite an amazing and versatile device, and all in live motion. http://tc.eserver.org/20529.html http://tc.eserver.org/20529.html You have just been asked to to give a 30-45 minute speech at a conference and there is absolutely no time to put visuals together for it. You're panicked at the thought of boring these people to death. What can you do? Use Word pictures. http://tc.eserver.org/20539.html http://tc.eserver.org/20539.html There are many different ways you can deliver a presentation. You can make an on-screen presentation using a laptop or desktop computers and a multimedia projector, you can use an overhead with transparencies, you can generate paper printouts and use a flip chart, or even present using 35mm slides. But, with the amazing growth of the World Wide Web, more and more people are opting to copy their presentations to the Internet. PowerPoint has built in facilities that allow you to convert your PowerPoint presentations to a series of web pages that can be published to the Internet or an Intranet then viewed by anyone with a Web browser! http://tc.eserver.org/20518.html http://tc.eserver.org/20518.html Have you ever attended a successful dinner party? Do you remember what it was that made it so enjoyable? Was it the great food, the company, the entertainment? Chances are it was all these things. You can use these same ingredients to create and deliver an unforgettable presentation. http://tc.eserver.org/20519.html http://tc.eserver.org/20519.html Let me start off by saying that I do NOT like toys or other distractions in training. I’m NOT one to provide little widgets to keep participants’ hands occupied or provide cutesy pens or such trinkets. I’ve always viewed them as distractions that shouldn’t be necessary if your training is engaging and relevant. http://tc.eserver.org/20522.html http://tc.eserver.org/20522.html Laughter is an important component in any presentation. Even when presenter ignores humor, the attendees find it, sometimes at the presenter’s expense. The need for laughter is so strong that participants seek out opportunities to laugh throughout every seminar. They do so with good reason. It is natural and appropriate to use humor in learning situations. It is, for a number of reasons, also demonstrative of solid instructional design. http://tc.eserver.org/20521.html http://tc.eserver.org/20521.html Bulgarian Psychologist Giorgi Lozanov, the father of Accelerated Learning, once commented, 'The language of music, rhyme and rhythm reach not only the ear, but the mind as well, via a much shorter path than logical facts and arguments.' Music’s ability to reach past the logical regions of the mind and into its emotive centers makes it a powerful learning tool. And yet, owing to a lack of familiarity with the different musical styles, many trainers do not use it effectively. This article overviews some musical styles and suggests possible applications for those styles. http://tc.eserver.org/20517.html http://tc.eserver.org/20517.html The new features of PowerPoint 2003 are both prominent and subtle, but before we start discussing PowerPoint further, there is some thing important you need to know about Office 2003: Office 2003 requires a minimum operating system of Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3 or later), or Windows XP (preferred). For the Package to CD feature in PowerPoint 2003, you need Office XP to be able to package direct to CD from within PowerPoint. Okay, now we can get down to busi ness... http://tc.eserver.org/20520.html http://tc.eserver.org/20520.html Andy Warhol once said that everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes. So when that time comes don't screw it up - follow these 10 tips for broadcast success, whether you're talking to Matt and Katie via satellite uplink or your employees via a Webcast. http://tc.eserver.org/20491.html http://tc.eserver.org/20491.html Why just get by with a boring presentation when you can create a dynamite Microsoft Office PowerPoint® presentation or a colorful Microsoft Office Visio® diagram? Get ready to impress the big boss or the new team with simple ideas that go a long way. http://tc.eserver.org/20361.html http://tc.eserver.org/20361.html Imagine a widely used and expensive prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn't. Instead the drug had frequent, serious side effects: It induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded the quality and credibility of communication. These side effects would rightly lead to a worldwide product recall. Yet slideware--computer programs for presentations--is everywhere. http://tc.eserver.org/20027.html http://tc.eserver.org/20027.html Americans in general are more afraid of speaking in front of others than they are of snakes, heights, or death itself. That's the finding of one widely cited survey and, asked to step outside the written word, many writers, editors, and publications managers certainly would say they share that fear. Communication expert Nusa Maal Gelb says there is 'a culture of fear' surrounding public speaking. It's almost as if we believe we're supposed to be afraid. Yet it's clear that effective interpersonal communication -- and that mostly means speaking -- correlates highly with personal and professional success. http://tc.eserver.org/19720.html http://tc.eserver.org/19720.html Quite often I hear people make the comment 'I just can't get up in front of a group to speak; it bothers me too much!' Of course, the problem is more intense for some than for others, but remember that our attitudes, mannerisms, body language, and the voice that we use in private all go with us into public settings. Unless we speak up, persuade and convince, unless we have the power of speech, and unless we have a say in what goes on, we are not in control of our lives. That's an awesome thought, isn't it? Yet, the fear of public speaking is still the number one phobia in America today! http://tc.eserver.org/18526.html http://tc.eserver.org/18526.html We dream of presenting in the ideal auditorium or conference room – one that has the latest audiovisual equipment, excellent acoustics, good lighting, comfortable seating and unobstructed views. But such dream rooms are rare, and we've all been saddled with locations far from this ideal. It's at this time a speaker needs to think fast and make the best of a bad situation. http://tc.eserver.org/18532.html http://tc.eserver.org/18532.html For a presenter, a high-quality microphone, combined with the right sound system, will give your voice a rich sound that can be heard throughout a room. Here are some things to consider if you want to add a microphone to the company conference room or your presentation traveling kit. The basics A microphone is essentially an energy converter that takes in sound waves and converts them into electrical energy. Two main types of microphones are available: condenser and dynamic. A condenser mic uses a power supply to provide a charge that works with a thin diaphragm inside the unit to create a signal. A dynamic mic creates a signal when the sound pressure moves a coil or ribbon across a magnet. Because they usually produce a richer sound, condenser mics are the more popular of the two; however, they require batteries or a power supply and are more expensive and more fragile than dynamic models. Dynamic mics are usually considered less accurate in sound quality, but they are generally more rugged and can withstand varying temperatures, humidity levels and a lot of abuse. These qualities make dynamic mics ideal for use outdoors or on the road. http://tc.eserver.org/18528.html http://tc.eserver.org/18528.html Though most presentations are delivered live, sometimes you need a prerecorded segment to use as narration for a video or a PowerPoint slideshow. If sound quality is your primary concern, it's best to use a professional sound studio. But if time and budget concerns are also part of the equation, it's possible to create high-quality narration yourself by adding some inexpensive recording equipment and software to your computer and following some basic recording guidelines. Assuming you already have a computer with a sound card (which acts as a digital recorder), what other gear do you need? http://tc.eserver.org/18529.html http://tc.eserver.org/18529.html It may be a bit hasty to declare the end of the CD-ROM era, but the signposts are pointing in that direction. Although the CD provides a convenient way for presenters to store multimedia, distribute data and back up hard drives, the medium's space limits in the coming era of 100GB and larger hard drives and ever more ambitious multimedia projects will become increasingly evident. Indeed, many see the recordable DVD as the next killer app in computing – the one that makes the most compelling use of all that digital horsepower sitting idle on desktops everywhere, at home and at the office. More than a million recordable-DVD drives were sold in 2001, and the market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) predicts that number will grow to more than 30 million by 2005. Apple, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and other major computer manufacturers already ship recordable-DVD drives with their top-of-the-line models. Drives supporting the highly anticipated DVD+RW format (a format presenters should like because of its greater flexibility and superior write speed) have finally hit the market. And, as with almost all digital technology, recordable-DVD drives and media, not to mention video camcorders and software, are getting cheaper and more widely available by the day.