http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/Presentations A listing of works published by 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/Presentations 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/18530.html http://tc.eserver.org/18530.html Although electronic whiteboards come in several sizes and shapes, their main function is the same – to capture written annotations, notes and drawings and store them for future reference. This is accomplished with infrared sensors, radio-signal-emitting pens, plasma overlays and other technologies. The end product is a file of digitally stored notes that can be e-mailed, posted online, or printed and handed out to an audience immediately after a presentation or training session. Beyond these basic features, some electronic whiteboards are interactive – letting you connect a computer and projector to the whiteboard to combine its features with common software programs. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, for example, can be projected onto an interactive whiteboard where it can be marked up with colored pens to highlight important numbers or trends. Or, using an interactive whiteboard's touchscreen feature, a presenter can navigate the Web using a finger to move the cursor and double-clicking with taps on the screen. Even videoconferencing functions have been integrated into electronic whiteboards in the past year. 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/18525.html http://tc.eserver.org/18525.html Working in your new layer, and on the item you wish to keep in focus, find a starting point, click the mouse once and begin slowing tracing around the object. Once it has been entirely traced, return to your starting point and double-click to select your object. Under the SELECT menu choose INVERSE. Then under the FILTER menu choose BLUR » GAUSSIAN BLUR. When the Gaussian Blur window appears, use the radius slider bar to choose the amount of pixels to blur. I chose 4.5 for my example. When you are satisfied with the preview, click OK. 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. http://tc.eserver.org/18531.html http://tc.eserver.org/18531.html Quit using PowerPoint? But why? After all, you're used to PowerPoint, it does the job, it's the corporate standard, and you're not a techie trying to impress an audience with your know-how. All you want to do is create and deliver a good presentation with the least amount of effort. Which is precisely the point. If the objective of a presentation is to train, teach, sell or motivate, then good may not be good enough – PowerPoint may not be good enough. Other programs may have better options for illustrating specific processes or techniques, or they may have advantages when it comes to re-purposing the content for distribution via print, CD or the Web. Your time is also valuable, and there may be times when PowerPoint is not the most efficient way to create the visuals you need. http://tc.eserver.org/18524.html http://tc.eserver.org/18524.html Photoshop's Actions utility is a great way to speed up repetitive image-editing jobs or quickly perform commonly used edits. This tool lets you assign a sequence of commands to a single key. Rather than going through a number of steps, the program records a set of actions and allows you to recall those same actions with a single keystroke the F12 function key, for example. http://tc.eserver.org/18527.html http://tc.eserver.org/18527.html Two years ago, a rather disconcerting thing happened to Mike Dunn, president and CEO of PolyVision, one of the world's leading manufacturers of electronic whiteboards. From his office Dunn could see into the meeting room across the hall, where one of the company's large-format whiteboards was mounted on the wall. What Dunn observed (or didn't) was that even though meetings were going on all the time, the whiteboard itself hardly ever got used. When he asked his staff why, they responded a bit sheepishly that the whiteboard was too much of a hassle to set up. Nobody wanted to go through the bother of up hooking their computer to it, and to use the board's interactive features, they'd have to bring in a projector as well. It wasn't worth the trouble, they confessed. This is not the sort of feedback the president of a company that makes electronic whiteboards likes to hear. In response, Dunn dedicated a computer to the whiteboard and installed a permanent projector in the room. Then he himself tried to give a presentation using this same equipment, the benefits of which his sales force was busily touting in the field. After 20 minutes of futzing he gave up – and had an epiphany instead. 'I thought, if the president of the company can't get his own products to work, what chance does the average person on the street have of getting them to work?' recalls Dunn. His conclusion: Almost no chance at all. http://tc.eserver.org/18371.html http://tc.eserver.org/18371.html These days, there are more ways to communicate a message than there have ever been – in the history of civilization. That's not an overstatement, it's an inescapable fact, one with which executives, educators, meeting planners, presenters and professionals of every stripe must grapple every day, whether they want to or not. After all, there was a time not so long ago when choosing the best way to inform, persuade or educate employees, prospects or customers was no more complicated than selecting from a modest appetizer menu: although some discernment was necessary, the options were hardly paralyzing. If you were holding a critical meeting, delivering a sales pitch or launching a training initiative, you'd gather the troops in a central locale for presentations by executives or instructors toting flip charts, transparencies or 35mm slides – or send a battalion of presenters into the field. If the objective was to communicate without forcing people to come to you, or you to go to them, you might select from a handy but hardly overwhelming number of choices that included videotape, CD-ROM or a workbook. But like the restaurant regular who arrives one day to find that his single-page menu has mushroomed into a constellation of new and beguiling food choices, today's presenters find themselves with far more options for interfacing with audiences, whether it be face to face or across time zones. http://tc.eserver.org/18372.html http://tc.eserver.org/18372.html We all bend the rules and shade the truth in various ways. Presenters do it for all sorts of reasons: to inflate the importance of their work, to get people to like them, to make a story funnier. Tad Simons suggests there's a line in there somewhere that may not be wise to cross. http://tc.eserver.org/18370.html http://tc.eserver.org/18370.html Anyone who has ever sat in an audience knows it's all too easy to watch a presentation and come away with – not much. The problem might be the content, or perhaps the technology used, but most likely the fault lies with the presenter. Although all speakers strive for brilliance, it's all too easy to be seen as dull or arrogant. So how does one avoid these labels when presenting? By continually looking for ways to change your presentation style. This is not always easy, since frequent presenters eventually develop a style that works for them in just about any setting. But it never hurts to re-analyze your skills and incorporate new ideas to keep fresh and in touch with your audience. Here are a few suggestions to consider when your style needs some dusting off. http://tc.eserver.org/18373.html http://tc.eserver.org/18373.html The next time you give a presentation and everything in the room works the way it is supposed to, there are thousands of people you should thank before patting yourself on the back for a job well done. Because if your presentation goes off without a hitch, it means that the people who designed the room, built it, integrated it, furnished it, lit it, developed the technology for it – not to mention the folks who manufactured and distributed the light switches, bulbs, wiring cables, marker pens, paper clips, coffee, cookies and everything else that goes into a successful presentation – all did their jobs, so you could do yours. http://tc.eserver.org/18365.html http://tc.eserver.org/18365.html Chances are you have watched your best intentions evaporate under pressure, to find yourself tweaking PowerPoint slides in the desperate hours or minutes before your presentation, scrambling to make time for a quick rehearsal and hoping against hope that you'll be able to pull off a miracle. Indeed, if good intentions paid dividends, plenty of presenters would have tidy sums to add to their retirement nest eggs. Procrastination being the force of nature it is, however, no matter how much lead time presenters give themselves and no matter how many resources are at their disposal, more often than not, the presentation-development process devolves from noble ambitions to utter chaos. http://tc.eserver.org/18364.html http://tc.eserver.org/18364.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/18366.html http://tc.eserver.org/18366.html Julie Hill shows you a quick and easy way to enhance a photograph's point of interest using Photoshop 7.0. http://tc.eserver.org/18367.html http://tc.eserver.org/18367.html Nearly every presenter knows the pain of having to merge presentations from different sources. In earlier versions of PowerPoint, such as 95, 97 and 2000, slides copied from another presentation were automatically reformatted by PowerPoint to reflect its current template design. This made it necessary to painstakingly reformat all the new slides, or to program links from one presentation to another, to make everything appear consistent. It was a time-wasting hassle. But with PowerPoint 2002 (also known as XP), the problem can now be easily solved. PowerPoint 2002 offers multiple slide masters, a feature that allows you to copy slides from different presentations and still retain their original formatting. Multiple slide masters also make it easy to design a variety of layouts within one template. http://tc.eserver.org/18368.html http://tc.eserver.org/18368.html Have you ever been in a room that felt strangely uncomfortable? Most presenters have, making comments afterwards about a forebodingly long executive table, a sterile design that put a chill in the air or a frenetic disorganized feeling that seemed to bounce around the room during the talk. It's reactions like these that corporate room designers and architects seek to avoid, striving to use technology and interior design to create a professional yet welcoming atmosphere. That quest has opened the door to fresh ideas, including the Chinese art of feng shui. http://tc.eserver.org/18369.html http://tc.eserver.org/18369.html A comprehensive presenter's resource providing instant access to up-to-date information on technology and techniques for effective communication. Here you'll find articles on industry trends, new-product reviews, best presentation practices and how-to's. Access association information, an events calendar and links to other resource sites, plus the interactive Buyers Guide, to help you locate a presentation-product manufacturer or dealer near you.