#20530
Does "New and Improved" Always Mean Better?
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'.
Endicott, Jim. Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Technology>Microsoft PowerPoint
#29380
An Effective PowerPoint Presentation Requires More Skill than Clipart 
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.
TechRepublic (2007). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#18410
An essential aspect of any research project is dissemination of the findings arising from the study. The most common ways to make others aware of your work is by publishing the results in a journal article, or by giving an oral or poster presentation (often at a regional or national meeting). While efforts are made to teach the elements of writing a journal article in many graduate school curricula, much less attention is paid to teaching those skills necessary to develop a good oral or poster presentation - even though these arguably are the most common and most rapid ways to disseminate new findings. In addition, the skills needed to prepare an oral presentation can be used in a variety of other settings - such as preparing a seminar in graduate school, organizing a dissertaton defense, conducting a job interview seminar, or even addressing potential philanthropic sources!
#28067
Embedding Flash Inside of a Powerpoint Presentation
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.
Flashgeek.com (2006). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia>Microsoft PowerPoint
#20525
Engage Yourself, Engage your Audience 
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.™
Hamilton, Jean. Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#20524
Five Fail-Safe Tips When You Forget or Get Flustered During a Presentation
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.
Booher, Dianna. Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Methods>Rhetoric
#18364
For A More Powerful Performance, Say It Short And Well
Centuries ago great orators often spoke for several hours at a time. But today, when sound bites on television news are the status quo and complex sociological problems are solved in an hour on a television drama, audiences are most interested in speakers who get their points across in a short period of time. Today, great speakers are noted for their brevity.
Boyd, Stephen D. Presentations (2003). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#22572
From Uncredible to Incredible: Tips for Speakers 
Suggests ways that speakers can increase their credibility with their audience.
Fritze, Shelley and Maureen V. McIntyre. Intercom (2004). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#18532
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.
Hill, Julie. Presentations (2002). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia>Audio
#20519
Give Participants Something to Flip Over
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.
Traut, Terence R. Presenters University. Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Microsoft PowerPoint
#29384
A Good Speech is Like a Good Relationship: 20 Tips for Presentation Success!
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.
Burton Nelson, Mariah. Expert Magazine (2002). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#20532
How Slides and Transparencies Stack Up to Micro and Ultraportables
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.
Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Technology>Microsoft PowerPoint
#10225
How to Deliver Winning Presentations: Using Your Voice to Connect with the Audience
We've seen that an attitude of appreciation, respect, and enthusiasm is the key to achieving the all-important connection with your listeners. In the last column, we examined ways to express that attitude with your body and face, through appropriate position, movement, gestures, and smile. This time, we'll consider the contribution your voice can make. Briefly, you must be heard and understood; you must talk at the right speed that invites the audience to stay with you; and you must maintain an emotional bond by expressing appropriate emotions.
Reimold, Cheryl. IEEE PCS (2000). Articles>Presentations>Advice>Emotions
#31275
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.
Electric Escape (2003). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia>DVD
#20536
Interactive Digital Presentations
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.
Presenters University (2002). Articles>Presentations>Technology
#15148
Discusses how to prepare a PowerPoint slide show.
Nielan, Cate. Intercom (2001). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#23290
While the cultural scoreboard may be invisible, this much is indisputable: the PowerPoint people are winning.
Keller, Julia. SiliconValley.com (2003). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#20522
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.
Millbower, Lenn. Presenters University. Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#19720
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!
Laurent, J. Suzanna. STC Central Iowa (2001). Articles>Presentations
#25477
Links, Lives, Logs: Presentation in the Dutch Blogosphere
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.
Schaap, Frank. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Presentations>Community Building>Blogging
#25735
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.
Gillette, David. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia
#20521
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.
Millbower, Lenn. Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Audio
#30282
Meeting The Challenge Of Change, Sharing Ideas For The STC 42nd Annual Conference
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.
Armbruster, David L., Deborah L. Baxley Cynthia J. Brock, Steven M. Cascone, Constance L. Kiernan, Deirdre A. Murr, Linda L. Oestreich, Tom Wall and Carolyn L. Watt. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>Presentations>STC
#20534
New Prompters Open New Presentation Opportunities
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!
Fink, Lorin. Presenters University (2002). Articles>Presentations>Technology
#28492
Non-Linear PowerPoint Presentations
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.
Guides and Tutorials (2006). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
