2008
Design Like You Care
December 23, 2008 Filed in: Rhyme &
Reason
Being a closet design junkie, I happen to think good
design is an essential part of creating anything – a
website, a resumé, wedding invitations, birthday
cakes, presentation slides, etc. The point is that
design matters in visual communication, whether that
communication be iconic, pictorial, typographic, or
any combination of these. Thinking like a designer
helps you be a better communicator in the long run.
Design, however, is not simply taking something
and making it pretty. Good design is not about good
looks. Good looks may result from good design, but
this is not always the case.
Case in point: The Drudge Report is an example of good design that is not pretty. It's a site that is easy to use. It's visually distinctive, and it quickly communicates various messages through an organized clutter. Do I subjectively like the site? No, but I can't deny the design work behind it. Jason at 37signals has a great post about his belief that the Drudge Report is one of the best designed websites around.
Design is about communication. It's about uniqueness. It's about combining form with content. It's about changing how others think, and it's about connecting with others. Most of all, I believe, design is about caring. You care about the content for which you are designing, it shows.
It may be the snowman.
The difference is more visible when you visit a product page. For Dell, the product page is where they sell you stuff. For Apple, it's where they inform you. In fact, Apple's storefront is a separate part of the site.
Dell's product pages are cluttered with text, ads, and tiny product images. An Apple product page, in contrast, is full of large pictures of the product with small blurbs of text that will take you to more information. Dell's site says, "We care about you buying stuff." Apple's site says, "We care about our products." Of course, Apple wants you to buy their products, but their site allows you to get to know the piece of hardware or software you are buying first. This approach demonstrates a care that makes Apple's site stand out.
As if baiting the Mac/PC feud with the last comparison isn't bad enough, now let's look at the campaign pages for Barack Obama and John McCain. (I know I've been blogging about Obama a lot here lately, and I promise I'm almost done.) The Obama campaign site exudes attention to detail, and that same level of attention has been applied to Change.gov.
The team designing the Obama site pays careful attention to color use and font use. The layout is uncluttered, and the design team pulls off the difficult task of utilizing red, white, and blue without seeming patronizingly patriotic. The McCain site follows many of the same principles as the Obama site, but his site never seems to feel a unified whole. Cartoonish icons combined with a dark color scheme with obvious instance of stock photos. To misuse the Arizona senator's own words, it looks like someone phoned this one in.
Elections are about issues in my book, and the Obama team did a great job making it easy to quickly grasp and investigate the candidate's stances. Each issue page starts with a quick overview of Obama's plan in that area, followed by a table-of-contents and a comparison chat between candidates, followed by an extensive overview of Obama's plan, followed by a synopsis of his career record in that area. On the other hand, McCain's issues are presented as plain blocks of text. There's nothing wrong with this, but the care and work that obviously went into Obama's site makes it stand out.
Case in point: The Drudge Report is an example of good design that is not pretty. It's a site that is easy to use. It's visually distinctive, and it quickly communicates various messages through an organized clutter. Do I subjectively like the site? No, but I can't deny the design work behind it. Jason at 37signals has a great post about his belief that the Drudge Report is one of the best designed websites around.
Design is about communication. It's about uniqueness. It's about combining form with content. It's about changing how others think, and it's about connecting with others. Most of all, I believe, design is about caring. You care about the content for which you are designing, it shows.
A Couple Website Comparisons
Compare Apple's website to Dell's. On first glance, the layouts of their main pages are nearly identical. For me, it's hard to quantify exactly what makes Apple's page better. Is it the typeface? Is it the use of simple product categories rather than usage categories? Is it the absence of stock imagery? From my novice background in design, it's hard for me to say, but the Dell site feels more clinical.
It may be the snowman.
The difference is more visible when you visit a product page. For Dell, the product page is where they sell you stuff. For Apple, it's where they inform you. In fact, Apple's storefront is a separate part of the site.
Dell's product pages are cluttered with text, ads, and tiny product images. An Apple product page, in contrast, is full of large pictures of the product with small blurbs of text that will take you to more information. Dell's site says, "We care about you buying stuff." Apple's site says, "We care about our products." Of course, Apple wants you to buy their products, but their site allows you to get to know the piece of hardware or software you are buying first. This approach demonstrates a care that makes Apple's site stand out.
As if baiting the Mac/PC feud with the last comparison isn't bad enough, now let's look at the campaign pages for Barack Obama and John McCain. (I know I've been blogging about Obama a lot here lately, and I promise I'm almost done.) The Obama campaign site exudes attention to detail, and that same level of attention has been applied to Change.gov.
The team designing the Obama site pays careful attention to color use and font use. The layout is uncluttered, and the design team pulls off the difficult task of utilizing red, white, and blue without seeming patronizingly patriotic. The McCain site follows many of the same principles as the Obama site, but his site never seems to feel a unified whole. Cartoonish icons combined with a dark color scheme with obvious instance of stock photos. To misuse the Arizona senator's own words, it looks like someone phoned this one in.
Elections are about issues in my book, and the Obama team did a great job making it easy to quickly grasp and investigate the candidate's stances. Each issue page starts with a quick overview of Obama's plan in that area, followed by a table-of-contents and a comparison chat between candidates, followed by an extensive overview of Obama's plan, followed by a synopsis of his career record in that area. On the other hand, McCain's issues are presented as plain blocks of text. There's nothing wrong with this, but the care and work that obviously went into Obama's site makes it stand out.
The Lesson
I've been rambling about site design for the past several paragraphs, and you might be wondering what this has to do with presentations. Simply put, if you create your presentations around tired templates and merely plug in the requisite facts, you fail to differentiate yourself from the crowd. Adding care is a vital ingredient to standing out from the crowd. If you are speaking in public, talk about your topic like it matters. Design your slides like they matter. Good design is about caring. Caring is about something that matters, and if your talks mean something to you, they'll mean something to your audience.Related Links
Presentation // Reboot
December 23, 2008 Filed in: News
I should have a new post up later today, but I wanted
to give you a link to a presentation workshop run by
Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds coming up this next
Spring.
Here are the details:
For more info, visit this website: Presentation // Reboot
Here are the details:
- When: March 17-19, 2009
- Where: Santa Clara Techmart 5201 Great America Pkwy # 122 Santa Clara, CA 95054
- Cost: $675
For more info, visit this website: Presentation // Reboot
Visualizing Change
November 17, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
One of the amazing things about the Internet is how
people can spread ideas in unique, powerful, and
meaningful ways. Take a look at these examples below.
(Some of these are from YouTube, so you may not be able
to view them at work. I’ve used alternate
sources where available.)
Generation We
Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.
This video starts dangerously like a pharmaceutical commercial. I keep waiting for the young adults in this video to admit they have genital herpes. After, the initial awkwardness, however, this video gains momentum and power. It’s a great example of how a single message can be threaded through multiple voices.
The Girl Effect
This video makes great use of text and music to present a simple idea in a powerful manner. Even a touch of humor is thrown in at one point.
D-Pan
More powerful stuff. The Deaf Performing Arts Network takes music videos and creates deaf-centric interpretations of the music and lyrics, adding ASL among other visuals. (via Garr Reynolds)
Still Alive
You can even turn something whimsical and niche into an amazing visual presentation through some care and a good sense of humor.
Portal - Still Alive typography from Trickster on Vimeo.
Check out and play the game Portal if you want to know more about what’s going on in this song!
Simply put, the way we incorporate visuals into presentations, multimedia or otherwise, can add power and depth to the presentation. With inspirations like these, why settle for less?
Generation We
Generation WE: The Movement Begins... from Generation We on Vimeo.
This video starts dangerously like a pharmaceutical commercial. I keep waiting for the young adults in this video to admit they have genital herpes. After, the initial awkwardness, however, this video gains momentum and power. It’s a great example of how a single message can be threaded through multiple voices.
The Girl Effect
This video makes great use of text and music to present a simple idea in a powerful manner. Even a touch of humor is thrown in at one point.
D-Pan
More powerful stuff. The Deaf Performing Arts Network takes music videos and creates deaf-centric interpretations of the music and lyrics, adding ASL among other visuals. (via Garr Reynolds)
Still Alive
You can even turn something whimsical and niche into an amazing visual presentation through some care and a good sense of humor.
Portal - Still Alive typography from Trickster on Vimeo.
Check out and play the game Portal if you want to know more about what’s going on in this song!
Simply put, the way we incorporate visuals into presentations, multimedia or otherwise, can add power and depth to the presentation. With inspirations like these, why settle for less?
The Power of Three
On About.com: Grammar &
Composition, Richard Nordquist writes about Barack Obama’s uncanny
ability to stir a crowd. A large chunk of
his article is devoted to a technique called a
tricolon – that is, a series of three parallel
words, phrases, or clauses. Here are some
examples:
It’s a powerful oratorical technique, and, when coupled with repetition and alliteration, the power of three strengthens any argument. It’s a style of speaking that is reminiscent of a pulpit. Think “faith, hope, and love,” “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” “the things we touched, saw, and heard,” etc. How many good sermons follow a three point structure?
Until recently, I didn’t know an official name for this kind of rhetoric. I’ve just affectionally called it The Rule of Three. While tripods are not the steadiest of structures, a speech centered around the number three can be extremely successful at an emotional level, making your message all the more memorable to your audience.
- "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin
- "…Government of the people, by the people, for the people." -Abraham Lincoln
- "We cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow…" -Abraham Lincoln
- "I came; I saw; I conquered." -Julius Ceasar
You might notice that Abraham Lincoln got two mentions above. The tricolon is a repeated theme in Lincoln’s rhetoric, and I don’t think it’s any accident that Senator Obama is emulating his style. Mr. Nordquist writes:
…Rhetoric is an ancient art and a fairly consequential skill. Thomas Jefferson knew how to use words. So did Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. As it happened, echoes of the words of all four men could be heard in Tuesday night's speech.
It’s a powerful oratorical technique, and, when coupled with repetition and alliteration, the power of three strengthens any argument. It’s a style of speaking that is reminiscent of a pulpit. Think “faith, hope, and love,” “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” “the things we touched, saw, and heard,” etc. How many good sermons follow a three point structure?
Until recently, I didn’t know an official name for this kind of rhetoric. I’ve just affectionally called it The Rule of Three. While tripods are not the steadiest of structures, a speech centered around the number three can be extremely successful at an emotional level, making your message all the more memorable to your audience.
What Is Aesthetics?
October 26, 2008 Filed in: Rhyme &
Reason
I haven’t forgotten about this site. The problem is
just one of time. Even for the shortest of posts on
Simply Presentation, I put far more thought and
research into my writing here than I do my general
blog (outside a couple of stray political posts of
which I want to make sure my ducks are in a
proverbial row). Lame excuses aside, let’s jump back
in! Last I checked in with all of you, I left you
with this neat video narrated by Paul Rand via Monoscope:
A marriage of form and content. Both slides by Chris Wilson at slideshare from 1. Rapid Change in Design, and 2. The Brand Gap.
Stand on others’ shoulders in your development as a public speaker, and then add something unique and different to the mix. We learn to talk through imitation. Our individual cultures are forms of collective imitation. Don’t be ashamed to imitate as you try to improve or grow as a speaker.
Similar yet unique. Slide 1 by Clint Edmonson from Organizational Politics - A Survival Guide. Slide 2 by Andy Budd from Architecting Human Behaviour 2.0.
“…Done for some ulterior motive…”
About a minute into the video, Mr. Rand discusses a designer’s motivation. Why does he or she do the work? Is it for the money, or is it for the love of the art? Like Philippe Starck discussed, Paul Rand asserts motivation makes a difference. The same is true for our presentations. If we’re preparing slides merely because we think slides should be a given, they won’t be as good as if those slides come from a vision of how to best illustrate our points. The same is true of topics. We will present better when we present that which we are passionate about. Watch some of the videos at TED, for example. You’ll see some truly awkward public speakers deliver some fantastic presentations. The reason comes down to motive.“A work of art is realized when form and content are indistinguishable.”
Mr. Rand speaks of all visual mediums as being forms of art. “It’s all art,” as he puts it. When we are designing slides for a presentations, we have the opportunity to be artists of form and content. A presentation is truly effective when the slides and talk compliment one another naturally, neither overshadowing the other. Without content, good slides are nothing but pretty pictures. (However, you do not necessarily need words to have content.) Without form, slides become bland and repetitive. The marriage of form and content make for the best presentations.
A marriage of form and content. Both slides by Chris Wilson at slideshare from 1. Rapid Change in Design, and 2. The Brand Gap.
“Everybody has a definition which doesn’t correspond to yours.”
Paul Rand acknowledges that we all see different things when it comes to art and design. What speaks to me may not speak to you and vice versa. This point is abundantly clear when my wife and I go to our local art museum. There are exhibits there that I could look at all day while she wants to move onto other things, and the same is true in reverse. This principle applies to presentation format and design. What works for me as a presenter may not work for you. I’ve encountered numerous presentation methods, and not all work for me. Find what works for you, and run with it.“Don’t try to be original. Just try to be good.”
Paul Rands encourages us to borrow from others in our pursuit of quality, and this is how he defines aesthetics – doing things with quality. I noted that I’ve encountered many different approaches to presenting: the Godin Method, the 10-20-30 Rule, Presentation Zen, the Lessig Method, the Jobs Method, etc. Also, I’ve borrowed from all of these techniques at different times, often combining philosophies. What you read on my blog here is not completely original to me. I merely gather information that I judge is good, useful, and/or inspirational, and I pass it on to you. T.S. Eliot says:Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.
Stand on others’ shoulders in your development as a public speaker, and then add something unique and different to the mix. We learn to talk through imitation. Our individual cultures are forms of collective imitation. Don’t be ashamed to imitate as you try to improve or grow as a speaker.
Similar yet unique. Slide 1 by Clint Edmonson from Organizational Politics - A Survival Guide. Slide 2 by Andy Budd from Architecting Human Behaviour 2.0.
Wrapping Up
These are only a few of the takeaway points from this short video, and I recommend you watch it at least a couple of times to pick up on the things you may have missed the first time around. In future posts, I plan on revisiting the elements of design Paul Rand discusses and how we can apply these to our slides. Until then, allow some of your childhood creativity to find an outlet, and really try to design your next set of slides.The Road To Victory Is Paved With…Graves?
September 13, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
I've heard more than a few comments that the images
projected on the screens behind speakers at the
Republican National Convention were less than
helpful. Garr Reynolds already wrote up a great piece about the imagery
used during John McCain's acceptance speech, but
I think one of the worst cases of disjointedness
came during Senator Lindsey Graham's speech:
We Are Winning.
"We are on the road to victory!"
As usual, I'm trying my best to check all political opinions at the door. That's not within the scope of these posts, but why this image? Doesn't the image of a cemetary – particularly a military cemetary – contradict his theme of impending victory in Iraq? I can't find any logic behind the choice of imagery outside what a Campaign staffer said about McCain's visuals: "The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech..."
Images in presentations need meaning. They need context and purpose. Usie imagery wisely, and your message is the stronger for it. Think about what your audience is seeing while they are hearing your words. Are your images purposeful or distracting?
Graham's Graves
Jon Stewart of The Daily Show was the first person I saw mention this, and I had to rush to the Republican Convention YouTube page to see if it was real. Sure enough, as Senator Graham was proclaiming, "We are on the road to victory," Arlington National Cemetary loomed over him as if taunting Republican critics not to take advantage of this moment.
"We are on the road to victory!"
As usual, I'm trying my best to check all political opinions at the door. That's not within the scope of these posts, but why this image? Doesn't the image of a cemetary – particularly a military cemetary – contradict his theme of impending victory in Iraq? I can't find any logic behind the choice of imagery outside what a Campaign staffer said about McCain's visuals: "The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech..."
Purposeful Visuals
Background images do not exist merely for the sake of themselves. They are there to reinforce you. Better to use no images or graphics at all than use those that distract from (or worse yet, contradict) the message you are delivering. In the case of John McCain's speech, the images behind him simply distracted from his talk. They didn't help support his delivery, but they didn't hurt him either. In contrast, this image of Arlington National Cemetary undermines Sen. Graham's words.Images in presentations need meaning. They need context and purpose. Usie imagery wisely, and your message is the stronger for it. Think about what your audience is seeing while they are hearing your words. Are your images purposeful or distracting?
Kermit and Billboards
August 27, 2008 Filed in: Links
Presentation Zen: Learning slide design
from an IKEA billboard
Garr Reynolds posts about the similarity between slides and billboards, inspired by Nancy Duarte's new book. He outlines eight principles found on good billboards and how they translate to slide design. As a sample, here's a video from his post.
As an aside, I think it's awesome that this entire video could be created in Keynote.
Presentation Zen: Kermit learns visual thinking
Mr. Reynolds shares an old clip of Kermit doing some visual thinking on the Ed Sullivan show. Inspiration can come from the strangest places!
Garr Reynolds posts about the similarity between slides and billboards, inspired by Nancy Duarte's new book. He outlines eight principles found on good billboards and how they translate to slide design. As a sample, here's a video from his post.
As an aside, I think it's awesome that this entire video could be created in Keynote.
Presentation Zen: Kermit learns visual thinking
Mr. Reynolds shares an old clip of Kermit doing some visual thinking on the Ed Sullivan show. Inspiration can come from the strangest places!
Book Recommendation: slide:ology
August 19, 2008 Filed in: Links
slide:ology
On his blog, Garr Reynolds points out a new book by Nancy Duarte called slide:ology. Here are his own words about it:
I plan on picking it up this weekend. Be sure to check out the slide:ology website to get a taste of what the book is like.
On his blog, Garr Reynolds points out a new book by Nancy Duarte called slide:ology. Here are his own words about it:
Slide:ology is practical, it's highly visual, and it's beautiful. I love this book. Slide:ology should come bundled with every copy of PowerPoint or Keynote ever sold from now on. I received a draft copy about three months ago that blew me away — the final product is even better than I expected.
I plan on picking it up this weekend. Be sure to check out the slide:ology website to get a taste of what the book is like.
The Culture To Our Clutter
July 16, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images |
Rhyme &
Reason
While revising my Simply Presentation material for a
week-long workshop, I began investigating PowerPoint culture a little
deeper to discover the psychology behind
typical, cluttered slide design. In doing so, it
was hard to avoid the sheer amount of media and
marketing that involves clutter, as if white
space is wasted space. It's more than just
templates and poor examples that lead to
cluttered slides. An entire culture of clutter
informs our design decisions.
We are bombarded with visual information wherever we look. Billboards, television programs (especially news programs), product packaging, websites, newspapers – all of these cram every available inch with information and distractions. The shot of New York City above shows numerous advertisements screaming for attention, but these do not so much gain that attention as they strengthen our mental filters. We tune this kind of clutter out.
Instead of approaching things from a different angle, however, marketing designers have instead upped the ante. The signs get brighter, more colorful, more animated, flashier. Likewise, product packaging gets more bullet points, more bright colors, and more stickers to help it stand out. On his Presentation Zen blog, Garr Reynolds has a few examples of how this practice has gotten out of control where he lives in Japan. (This post on Cabel's blog has some great pictures from Japan as well, and other posts of his show off some truly loud packaging for the States.)
When it comes to packaging, which of these two boxes do you find most striking? Which one would grab your attention as you walked past it in CompUSA of BestBuy?
photos by goodrob13 and hyku respectively
Based on my experience, the MacBook Air's box is an attention-grabber. It's incredibly small, and it stands in contrast to more visually cluttered boxes sitting nearby. Its packaging is visibly different from the brightly colored boxes in other parts of the store. System specifications fill one spine, and the rest of the package draws attention solely to the product inside. The box is minimal, simple, and elegant. That simplicity more easily breaks past the noise filters in your mind.
Who can forget this classic parody video about Microsoft repackaging the Apple iPod? As it turns out, the video was commissioned by Microsoft's packaging team, demonstrating their own awareness of the clutter culture that had invaded their package design.
Here's your challenge: Watch a segment on MSNBC, Fox News, or CNN and read the news ticker for the entire duration of the segment. Read every word. Then, at the end of the segment, explain in detail what the anchor was talking about to someone else.
alas, I did not make these up
We leave our audience squinting, trying to read our slides while we are talking, diverting their attention from our material so they can comprehend the clutter on our slides. On the other hand, the audience's noise filters might kick in, instructing them to ignore the slides. Instead, we might want to try a simpler approach.
simplifying, while staying true to the originals
A less cluttered approach allows your slides to act as a reinforcement rather than a distraction. It gives them purpose. Instead of the slides focusing on every little detail, they highlight the most important snippets to impress these points on the audience. If your audience has to divert concentration to understand your slides, you are losing out as the speaker.
Quoting Leonardo da Vinci (once again), "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Avoid the pitfalls of our clutter culture when preparing your slides. Leave the fine details for your handout. Keep the slides simple and clear, and they will help you stand out as a speaker.
The Clutter Culture
We are bombarded with visual information wherever we look. Billboards, television programs (especially news programs), product packaging, websites, newspapers – all of these cram every available inch with information and distractions. The shot of New York City above shows numerous advertisements screaming for attention, but these do not so much gain that attention as they strengthen our mental filters. We tune this kind of clutter out.
Instead of approaching things from a different angle, however, marketing designers have instead upped the ante. The signs get brighter, more colorful, more animated, flashier. Likewise, product packaging gets more bullet points, more bright colors, and more stickers to help it stand out. On his Presentation Zen blog, Garr Reynolds has a few examples of how this practice has gotten out of control where he lives in Japan. (This post on Cabel's blog has some great pictures from Japan as well, and other posts of his show off some truly loud packaging for the States.)
When it comes to packaging, which of these two boxes do you find most striking? Which one would grab your attention as you walked past it in CompUSA of BestBuy?
photos by goodrob13 and hyku respectively
Based on my experience, the MacBook Air's box is an attention-grabber. It's incredibly small, and it stands in contrast to more visually cluttered boxes sitting nearby. Its packaging is visibly different from the brightly colored boxes in other parts of the store. System specifications fill one spine, and the rest of the package draws attention solely to the product inside. The box is minimal, simple, and elegant. That simplicity more easily breaks past the noise filters in your mind.
Who can forget this classic parody video about Microsoft repackaging the Apple iPod? As it turns out, the video was commissioned by Microsoft's packaging team, demonstrating their own awareness of the clutter culture that had invaded their package design.
Try Some Cable News
On the subject of YouTube, you should also check out this interview with Lewis Black where he criticizes the ever-present news ticker that crawls along the bottom of the screen while people are talking.Here's your challenge: Watch a segment on MSNBC, Fox News, or CNN and read the news ticker for the entire duration of the segment. Read every word. Then, at the end of the segment, explain in detail what the anchor was talking about to someone else.
The Ticker and Slides
What has happened is that we have begun to equate clutter with the concept of professionalism. We see sources like CNN, CNET, USA Today, Sony, and others using visual clutter to communicate, and we try to emulate the professionals. Unfortunately, the results end up looking something like this.
alas, I did not make these up
We leave our audience squinting, trying to read our slides while we are talking, diverting their attention from our material so they can comprehend the clutter on our slides. On the other hand, the audience's noise filters might kick in, instructing them to ignore the slides. Instead, we might want to try a simpler approach.
simplifying, while staying true to the originals
A less cluttered approach allows your slides to act as a reinforcement rather than a distraction. It gives them purpose. Instead of the slides focusing on every little detail, they highlight the most important snippets to impress these points on the audience. If your audience has to divert concentration to understand your slides, you are losing out as the speaker.
Quoting Leonardo da Vinci (once again), "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Avoid the pitfalls of our clutter culture when preparing your slides. Leave the fine details for your handout. Keep the slides simple and clear, and they will help you stand out as a speaker.
Links: Graphs and This Moment
July 11, 2008 Filed in: Links
Presentation Zen: Ichi-go ichi-e: this
is the moment
Scaffolding on Benjamin Zander's fantastic talk at TED, Garr Reynolds pens a piece about living the moment and applying the principle to approaching presentations.
Here's the presentation that inspired this post:
Seth's Blog: The three laws of great graphs
After reading this post, I'm going to have to rethink my love affair with bar graphs. Click away for some good guiding principles when adding graphs to your presentation.
Scaffolding on Benjamin Zander's fantastic talk at TED, Garr Reynolds pens a piece about living the moment and applying the principle to approaching presentations.
Here's the presentation that inspired this post:
Seth's Blog: The three laws of great graphs
After reading this post, I'm going to have to rethink my love affair with bar graphs. Click away for some good guiding principles when adding graphs to your presentation.
Tricks and Theme Links
July 08, 2008 Filed in: Links | Apps and
Tools
iPresentee: Keynote Motion Themes 2.0
I'm not a fan of motion themes for general presentations, but they can be good for special projects. All of these themes are $10 each, or you can buy them as a pack for $25.
eventDV.net: TUTORIAL | Cut Lines: Using Apple Keynote as a Motion Graphics Tool
Have you ever wondered if you could use Keynote to create DVD navigation menus? Me neither, but here's how, proving yet again how versatile a tool Keynote can be!
via KeynoteUser
I'm not a fan of motion themes for general presentations, but they can be good for special projects. All of these themes are $10 each, or you can buy them as a pack for $25.
eventDV.net: TUTORIAL | Cut Lines: Using Apple Keynote as a Motion Graphics Tool
Have you ever wondered if you could use Keynote to create DVD navigation menus? Me neither, but here's how, proving yet again how versatile a tool Keynote can be!
via KeynoteUser
Lessons From a Movie Trailer
June 23, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
| Rhyme &
Reason
A good presentation
tells a story. You are conveying a message to your
audience in such a way that you hook them in and keep
them interested in your given topic – be it reasons
to use your product or service over someone else's or
the techniques Egyptians used to mummify their dead.
A presenters job is to relay that information in a
way that leaves the audience not only informed, but
longing to know more.
One of the more interesting mediums of storytelling/marketing in our culture is the movie trailer. It is a one-to-two minute vignette intended to give you an idea of what a movie is about while providing incentive to see the entire film. Some trailers go too far and basically spoon-feed the entire storyline to the audience (Free Willy, for example) while others just fail to convey anything attractive about the movie (like The Love Guru). There are a few, though, that capture the feel and tone of their source material perfectly and create a compelling package. One such trailer is the most recent for The Dark Knight.
"I see now what I have to become to stop men like him."
"Here's my card," and "You look tense."
The first point is simply that the Joker is in charge. The trailer makes it clear that he is the one calling the shots, and Gotham City is at his mercy. Secondly, the Joker makes his vendetta against order personal when he approaches the District Attorney's love interest, and finally we see that Joker's ultimate aim is to take down the Batman or become a martyr to the criminal element in the process. The preview hints at other plot points, but it only deeply explores the Joker and his anarchy.
The trailer stays clearly on message, and our presentations should do likewise. People leaving our sessions should have a clear picture in their minds of what we were covering. I've walked out of too many presentations where the speaker felt the need to cover as much as possible related to his/her topic in the given time. The result is always the same – a series of shallow, often disjointed points, with deeper information glossed over or rushed through. Decide: what three or four big ideas do you want your audience to walk away with? Focus on these.
A good presentation does the same. Hundreds of talks have been given on global climate change over the past couple of decades. Why does Al Gore's illicit such strong responses? Why do thousands download videos of Steve Jobs' keynote speeches who would otherwise avoid business/technical presentations? Why does Richard Dawkins polarize audiences so much more than many others presenting similar material? Quite simply, these speakers demand reaction.
My wife (who loves visual arts) often tells me that a work of art is successful when it creates a response. It doesn't matter if you subjectively like the piece. What matters is that it garners reactions. Then the artist is successful. Likewise, you know your presentation is successful when you illicit reactions from the audience.
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Small bits of info heavily infer that this film will not feature one prominent villain from the Batman universe, but two. How will this fall from grace unfold? Will his alter-ego be a pivotal character, or will this movie merely introduce him? What will he look like as Two-Face? None of the trailers really answer these questions about Harvey Dent, but they don't have to. Just letting the audience know that there is more to be revealed is enough.
Don't feel you have to cover every last detail about the topic you are presenting. Stay focused. Inform the audience, but give them room to discover things on their own. Make them want to know more.
A good movie trailer makes you want to see the movie, plain and simple. It leaves the audience with a desire to discover "the rest of the story." Think of your presentations as trailers for larger concepts and opportunities for discovery. Tell a story that will illicit a response from your audience and make them interested in knowing even more. If your presentation was a movie trailer, would your audience be excited for the movie?
One of the more interesting mediums of storytelling/marketing in our culture is the movie trailer. It is a one-to-two minute vignette intended to give you an idea of what a movie is about while providing incentive to see the entire film. Some trailers go too far and basically spoon-feed the entire storyline to the audience (Free Willy, for example) while others just fail to convey anything attractive about the movie (like The Love Guru). There are a few, though, that capture the feel and tone of their source material perfectly and create a compelling package. One such trailer is the most recent for The Dark Knight.
"I see now what I have to become to stop men like him."
Stay On Message
This third trailer for The Dark Knight centers primarily around the character of the Joker, and it makes three main statements about him. (Alternately, my propensity for three point outlines perhaps biases me toward seeing this format!)
"Here's my card," and "You look tense."
The first point is simply that the Joker is in charge. The trailer makes it clear that he is the one calling the shots, and Gotham City is at his mercy. Secondly, the Joker makes his vendetta against order personal when he approaches the District Attorney's love interest, and finally we see that Joker's ultimate aim is to take down the Batman or become a martyr to the criminal element in the process. The preview hints at other plot points, but it only deeply explores the Joker and his anarchy.
The trailer stays clearly on message, and our presentations should do likewise. People leaving our sessions should have a clear picture in their minds of what we were covering. I've walked out of too many presentations where the speaker felt the need to cover as much as possible related to his/her topic in the given time. The result is always the same – a series of shallow, often disjointed points, with deeper information glossed over or rushed through. Decide: what three or four big ideas do you want your audience to walk away with? Focus on these.
Illicit a Reaction
My wife when she saw The Dark Knight's trailer: "I don't like that. Joker's just a terrorist. He's too evil." My response was one of goosebumps and fevered anticipation for the theatrical release. A good friend: "That was awesome." Every person I know who has seen one of the trailers for this movie has had a strong reaction. The trailer demands you react to it. The portrayals of Batman, the Joker, the nature of the crimes and conflicts – all of these force the audience to respond.A good presentation does the same. Hundreds of talks have been given on global climate change over the past couple of decades. Why does Al Gore's illicit such strong responses? Why do thousands download videos of Steve Jobs' keynote speeches who would otherwise avoid business/technical presentations? Why does Richard Dawkins polarize audiences so much more than many others presenting similar material? Quite simply, these speakers demand reaction.
My wife (who loves visual arts) often tells me that a work of art is successful when it creates a response. It doesn't matter if you subjectively like the piece. What matters is that it garners reactions. Then the artist is successful. Likewise, you know your presentation is successful when you illicit reactions from the audience.
Leave Open Ends
Your presentation shouldn't only be informative, it should encourage your audience to want to go discover more for themselves. In the trailer for The Dark Knight, several hints are dropped regarding the character of Harvey Dent that should whet the appetite of any Batman fan.
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Small bits of info heavily infer that this film will not feature one prominent villain from the Batman universe, but two. How will this fall from grace unfold? Will his alter-ego be a pivotal character, or will this movie merely introduce him? What will he look like as Two-Face? None of the trailers really answer these questions about Harvey Dent, but they don't have to. Just letting the audience know that there is more to be revealed is enough.
Don't feel you have to cover every last detail about the topic you are presenting. Stay focused. Inform the audience, but give them room to discover things on their own. Make them want to know more.
A good movie trailer makes you want to see the movie, plain and simple. It leaves the audience with a desire to discover "the rest of the story." Think of your presentations as trailers for larger concepts and opportunities for discovery. Tell a story that will illicit a response from your audience and make them interested in knowing even more. If your presentation was a movie trailer, would your audience be excited for the movie?
Free Objects From iPresentee
June 23, 2008 Filed in: Apps and
Tools |
Links
iPresentee has released a set of 300 x 300 TIFF
objects for use in Keynote or PowerPoint. They are
iconic in nature and skew to too cartoon-like of a
style for my tastes, but they're free. Here's the
link.
iPresentee – Keynote Objects
iPresentee – Keynote Objects
280 Slides Impressions
June 09, 2008 Filed in: Apps and
Tools
Most online presentation apps try to imitate the
look-and-feel of PowerPoint with varying degrees of
success. Last week, I was pointed toward one online
app trying to do things differently … by imitating
the look of Apple's Keynote. Here's a look at
what to expect in using 280 Slides.
a very Leopard-like interface
Because 280 Slides takes a lot of cues from Keynote, the interface is very subdued and unobtrusive. I personally prefer interfaces that try to stay out of my way while I'm working, so I can appreciate what they've done here.
Finally, while you can begin using 280 Slides with no registration, you do have to set up an account in order to save images and presentations. With that noted, let's get started.
the theme chooser
Adding text behaves just like Keynote. You can either double-click in a provided space or click the text icon in the toolbar to create a new text-box. The text creation tools are pretty sparse, but the selection of fonts is decent, including Hoefler Text, American Typewriter, Gill Sans, and Century Gothic among the selections. There's no support for Text Art, but that's probably a good thing.
Adding shapes, movies, and images is as simple as clicking the appropriate toolbar icon, and all three are managed from a single media pane. Shapes can be inserted through drag-and-drop, or you can double-click a shape to insert it. The Pictures tab searches Flickr and Google Images for results, and the Movies tab searches YouTube and Vimeo. You may also upload and store pictures in your own image library. It's worth noting that I ran into a couple of hang-ups in uploading images. I had no problems inserting a YouTube video.
the all-purpose media browser
It's also possible to enter an image URL to insert it into your slide, and this worked flawlessly. However, the inserted image was significantly larger than my slide, and I had to manually resize the image for it to fit – no automatic resizing like in Keynote. Additional omissions in image tools include the ability to crop pictures as well as add borders or shadows. It is very easy to alter any object's opacity with a slider in the Formatting Bar, and the opacity scales very smoothly.
Worth special mention is 280 Slides' color panel. While the first two tabs are the standard wheel and sliders, the third tab integrates with Adobe's Kuler service, allowing you to search for color schemes or browse popular ones. Any colors you find and like can be saved to a row of color swatches in the panel. You can save up to nine swatches.
selecting and saving colors
Finally, if you are looking for any build animations or slide transitions, look elsewhere. 280 Slides does not support animations at this time.
Present fills the browser window with your slides, and you can click through them as you would a traditional PowerPoint presentation. The B key even works as expected. Unfortunately, the browser chrome is still visible, but if you use a windowless browser like Plainview, the display will be indistinguishable from any other presentation application.
The Download button will automatically place a .pptx file in your Downloads stack (or wherever you save downloaded files) that PowerPoint 2007/2008 can open and edit. I could not test this file since I do not have Office 2008 yet. With that in mind, since 280 Slides' output is so simple, it would be nice to be able to download the slides as a .pdf file or as a folder of images.
Finally, selecting Share allows you to email a PowerPoint file to someone, send your presentation to SlideShare (which is cool), or generate a direct link to your presentation for others to view from within their own browsers.
a very Leopard-like interface
Because 280 Slides takes a lot of cues from Keynote, the interface is very subdued and unobtrusive. I personally prefer interfaces that try to stay out of my way while I'm working, so I can appreciate what they've done here.
Finally, while you can begin using 280 Slides with no registration, you do have to set up an account in order to save images and presentations. With that noted, let's get started.
Assembling a Presentation
Starting a new presentation opens up a theme chooser. There's nothing too exciting here, but Sagan is nice to look at. A couple of the other themes, like Sky, City, and Pink, look like they could be pretty visually distracting. In terms of slide layouts, there are currently only three: blank, title-and-content, and title slide. Fortunately, because objects and text can be easily arranged on the slide, these layouts don't limit possibilities.
the theme chooser
Adding text behaves just like Keynote. You can either double-click in a provided space or click the text icon in the toolbar to create a new text-box. The text creation tools are pretty sparse, but the selection of fonts is decent, including Hoefler Text, American Typewriter, Gill Sans, and Century Gothic among the selections. There's no support for Text Art, but that's probably a good thing.
Adding shapes, movies, and images is as simple as clicking the appropriate toolbar icon, and all three are managed from a single media pane. Shapes can be inserted through drag-and-drop, or you can double-click a shape to insert it. The Pictures tab searches Flickr and Google Images for results, and the Movies tab searches YouTube and Vimeo. You may also upload and store pictures in your own image library. It's worth noting that I ran into a couple of hang-ups in uploading images. I had no problems inserting a YouTube video.
the all-purpose media browser
It's also possible to enter an image URL to insert it into your slide, and this worked flawlessly. However, the inserted image was significantly larger than my slide, and I had to manually resize the image for it to fit – no automatic resizing like in Keynote. Additional omissions in image tools include the ability to crop pictures as well as add borders or shadows. It is very easy to alter any object's opacity with a slider in the Formatting Bar, and the opacity scales very smoothly.
Worth special mention is 280 Slides' color panel. While the first two tabs are the standard wheel and sliders, the third tab integrates with Adobe's Kuler service, allowing you to search for color schemes or browse popular ones. Any colors you find and like can be saved to a row of color swatches in the panel. You can save up to nine swatches.
selecting and saving colors
Finally, if you are looking for any build animations or slide transitions, look elsewhere. 280 Slides does not support animations at this time.
Sharing Your Creations
There are three buttons on the far right of the toolbar that allow you to share your slides: Present, Download, and Share.
Present fills the browser window with your slides, and you can click through them as you would a traditional PowerPoint presentation. The B key even works as expected. Unfortunately, the browser chrome is still visible, but if you use a windowless browser like Plainview, the display will be indistinguishable from any other presentation application.
The Download button will automatically place a .pptx file in your Downloads stack (or wherever you save downloaded files) that PowerPoint 2007/2008 can open and edit. I could not test this file since I do not have Office 2008 yet. With that in mind, since 280 Slides' output is so simple, it would be nice to be able to download the slides as a .pdf file or as a folder of images.
Finally, selecting Share allows you to email a PowerPoint file to someone, send your presentation to SlideShare (which is cool), or generate a direct link to your presentation for others to view from within their own browsers.
Other Random Observations
- The application does support scroll wheels and double-clicking in most interface elements with the exception of the theme and layout choosers. Double-clicking a theme or a layout will not apply it to your presentation/slide.
- Clicking and dragging to select multiple objects on a slide does not work. However, cmd-clicking and shift-clicking does.
- Double-clicking an object doesn't insert text like in Keynote.
- While inserted objects and images can be freely rotated, this is not true of text boxes.
- 280 Slides supports common keyboard commands such as cmd-s, cmd-c, cmd-v, and cmd-z.
Conclusions
Like Google Presentations and other online apps, 280 Slides is unlikely to supplant your usual tools. However, it is handy to have an "in-the-clouds" location to access your presentations at any time. Unfortunately, you can't upload a .ppt file to 280 Slides like you can to Google's service, and this probably limits the appeal. From a purely user-interface point of view, 280 Slides trumps anything I've used so far, but the features are too light to make a convert of me right now. I recommend you give the service a try for yourself, and submit feedback while you are at it. I'm sure more features and functionality will come with time.Stylish Online Presenting
June 07, 2008 Filed in: Apps and
Tools
For those of you who make web presentations, here are
some more things to try out.
Plainview
Plainview is a very basic web browser that hides all interface components while it is running. It's Mac-only, but it's ideal for presentations you've created with an online slide editor. Your slides will appear on the screen without any browser interface distracting from them. I highly recommend this free application.
280 Slides
Speaking of online presentation applications, I've been bombarded with links to this new product called 280 Slides. It looks a lot like Keynote and seems easy to use. I'll be giving this site a spin over the next couple of days and have some impressions posted soon. It looks good. I just hope they aren't asking for a letter from Apple Legal.
Keynote and 280 slides side-by-side. Notice any similarities?
Plainview
Plainview is a very basic web browser that hides all interface components while it is running. It's Mac-only, but it's ideal for presentations you've created with an online slide editor. Your slides will appear on the screen without any browser interface distracting from them. I highly recommend this free application.
280 Slides
Speaking of online presentation applications, I've been bombarded with links to this new product called 280 Slides. It looks a lot like Keynote and seems easy to use. I'll be giving this site a spin over the next couple of days and have some impressions posted soon. It looks good. I just hope they aren't asking for a letter from Apple Legal.
Keynote and 280 slides side-by-side. Notice any similarities?
Negative (Space) Is Good
June 06, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
Keeping with the idea of
space, not only should we be aware of the
amount of space in which we are working, but we
should also understand the importance of white
space (also referred to as negative space).
Simply, negative space is any portion of your
slide that is empty of content or graphics. It's
blank.
There's a trend in the media, it seems, to pack as much information into every square inch of visible medium as possible. Whether you are talking about print, packaging, or television, the result is the same – a deluge of information and graphics for the viewer to receive and process.
This philosophy also seems to influence slide design, hence results like these:
slides from the Hillary Clinton campaign and Intel respectively
In all honesty, the Clinton campaign's slide is tame compared to its neighbor, but both of these slides suffer from cramming too much information to digest all at once. I don't even understand the Intel slide enough to make a crack at it, but here's my attempt at cleaning up the Clinton slide.
This slide is talking about districts that Bush won in the last general election and who have traditionally supported Republican seats in congress. It's a big deal, but it's also easy to lose sight of on a cluttered slide – especially since someone felt the need to list each specified district. This alternative slide pulls out much of the visual distraction and focuses on the single most important fact: the victories.
Give your information room to breath, and make sure the most important element is the focus of your slide. Don't let the urge to fill every inch of available space crowd out the real message. Oh, and there's one more small reason to avoid this kind of clutter: the more time your audience is deciphering your slides, the less they are paying attention to what you are saying!
There's a trend in the media, it seems, to pack as much information into every square inch of visible medium as possible. Whether you are talking about print, packaging, or television, the result is the same – a deluge of information and graphics for the viewer to receive and process.
This philosophy also seems to influence slide design, hence results like these:
slides from the Hillary Clinton campaign and Intel respectively
In all honesty, the Clinton campaign's slide is tame compared to its neighbor, but both of these slides suffer from cramming too much information to digest all at once. I don't even understand the Intel slide enough to make a crack at it, but here's my attempt at cleaning up the Clinton slide.
This slide is talking about districts that Bush won in the last general election and who have traditionally supported Republican seats in congress. It's a big deal, but it's also easy to lose sight of on a cluttered slide – especially since someone felt the need to list each specified district. This alternative slide pulls out much of the visual distraction and focuses on the single most important fact: the victories.
Give your information room to breath, and make sure the most important element is the focus of your slide. Don't let the urge to fill every inch of available space crowd out the real message. Oh, and there's one more small reason to avoid this kind of clutter: the more time your audience is deciphering your slides, the less they are paying attention to what you are saying!
Rumblings About .Mac
June 02, 2008
Over the last couple of days, both Mac Rumors and Daring Fireball have blogged
about possible impending changes to Apple's .Mac
service, home to my site here for about three
years.
I don't know if these potential changes could affect the domain name of my site (making bookmarks and links invalid) or not. I doubt it will. However, keep an eye on my Twitter page should this site up and disappear!
I don't know if these potential changes could affect the domain name of my site (making bookmarks and links invalid) or not. I doubt it will. However, keep an eye on my Twitter page should this site up and disappear!
Some Tools To Try
May 15, 2008 Filed in: Apps and
Tools
Many moons ago, I wrote
about Google Presentations and Ulteo's
online
implementation of OpenOffice Impress, but I
haven't had too much time to point out other web
services since then. Of course, Preezo and Zoho Show are sitting in my
bookmarks, waiting for evaluation, but I thought
I'd take a moment to point out some other neat
web applications that presenters might be
interested in.
Picnik
Picnik was the first online photo editor I was exposed to, and, to an extent, it's still my favorite. It has several editing tools and integrates with several photo hosting sites such as Flickr, Facebook, and Picasa – allowing you to browse photos uploaded to those sites without having to navigate away from Picnik. You can also upload photos stored on your computer.
From Picnik, you can add text (with many font options), shapes, and numerous effects to your photos. There is a $25/year subscription if you want even more feautres, but the free account should suffice for most. The only thing I hold against Picnik are the ads that clutter the screen in a free account.
Photoshop Express
While not quite as feature-packed as Picnik, Photoshop Express offers a much smoother, ad-free interface for working. Like Picnik, it integrates with popular image hosting sites, and it allows users to show off photographs in galleries. The experience of using Photoshop Express is very pleasant, and I could see this supplanting Picnik as my online tool of choice with the addition of a few more filters.
The only major concern right now is limited image format support.
Scribd lets you share documents (and slides) online through a Flash-based PDF viewer, allowing for tags, comments, and even embedding. It's simple to use and of clear benefit to presenters wanting to share their handouts as broadly and easily as possible.
ShowBeyond
ShowBeyond is an easy-to-use site that allows you to upload images and audio to create a small slidecast. You are limited to 24 slides, which seems a reasonable limitation, but the toolset seems more appropriate for the trip-to-Florida type slideshow over an actual presentation. Still, it's a good site for creating simple presentations or photo slides.
SlideRocket
SlideRocket is currently in private beta, and I haven't been accepted (yet) to try it out. Regardless, the site's tour makes SlideRocket look like a serious contender in the arena of web presentations (just so long as they don't cripple free accounts too much). This could turn out to be a very impressive product, and I'm excited to give it a spin.
Just take a look at this demonstration:
I'm sure there are many more fun and exciting web applications I either haven't discovered yet or just haven't had time to explore, but these should keep you busy for a while. Be sure to let me know of any online tools you use and want me to know about!
Online Photo Editing
Two websites really stand out in my mind under this category. Picnik and Photoshop Express.Picnik
Picnik was the first online photo editor I was exposed to, and, to an extent, it's still my favorite. It has several editing tools and integrates with several photo hosting sites such as Flickr, Facebook, and Picasa – allowing you to browse photos uploaded to those sites without having to navigate away from Picnik. You can also upload photos stored on your computer.
From Picnik, you can add text (with many font options), shapes, and numerous effects to your photos. There is a $25/year subscription if you want even more feautres, but the free account should suffice for most. The only thing I hold against Picnik are the ads that clutter the screen in a free account.
Photoshop Express
While not quite as feature-packed as Picnik, Photoshop Express offers a much smoother, ad-free interface for working. Like Picnik, it integrates with popular image hosting sites, and it allows users to show off photographs in galleries. The experience of using Photoshop Express is very pleasant, and I could see this supplanting Picnik as my online tool of choice with the addition of a few more filters.
The only major concern right now is limited image format support.
Document Sharing
I've referred to Scribd as YouTube for documents, and I still can't think of a better way to describe it.
Scribd lets you share documents (and slides) online through a Flash-based PDF viewer, allowing for tags, comments, and even embedding. It's simple to use and of clear benefit to presenters wanting to share their handouts as broadly and easily as possible.
Slide Sharing
A couple new services have recently come to my attention that allow for slide creation and sharing over the Internet, ShowBeyond and SlideRocket.ShowBeyond
ShowBeyond is an easy-to-use site that allows you to upload images and audio to create a small slidecast. You are limited to 24 slides, which seems a reasonable limitation, but the toolset seems more appropriate for the trip-to-Florida type slideshow over an actual presentation. Still, it's a good site for creating simple presentations or photo slides.
SlideRocket
SlideRocket is currently in private beta, and I haven't been accepted (yet) to try it out. Regardless, the site's tour makes SlideRocket look like a serious contender in the arena of web presentations (just so long as they don't cripple free accounts too much). This could turn out to be a very impressive product, and I'm excited to give it a spin.
Just take a look at this demonstration:
I'm sure there are many more fun and exciting web applications I either haven't discovered yet or just haven't had time to explore, but these should keep you busy for a while. Be sure to let me know of any online tools you use and want me to know about!
Free Rendered Images
May 01, 2008 Filed in: Links | Apps and
Tools
Jumsoft has released a collection of 56
decent-quality rendered images for use in
presentations. The files are delivered as a .key
file, so you need Keynote to view them.
Jumsoft: Keynote Jam
Update: I unzipped the archive on my Windows machine at work. The keynote file opened up like a folder, and I simply copied all of the images to another folder. They worked in PowerPoint 2003 just fine.
Jumsoft: Keynote Jam
Update: I unzipped the archive on my Windows machine at work. The keynote file opened up like a folder, and I simply copied all of the images to another folder. They worked in PowerPoint 2003 just fine.
Presenting to Inspire
April 26, 2008 Filed in: Links
Presentation Zen: chi-nichi issho: Each
day is a lifetime
Here's another great piece by Garr Reynolds that starts with Dr. Randy Pausch Last Lecture presentation and goes on to examine the way we can inspire others through our words and actions. It's a great read.
(Also, look through the comments for more stories of inspiration!)
…Inspiration does not come from mere words, it comes from actions and behaviors. Words matter and words and speeches inspire and stories can change the world. However, it's not only the stories we tell, it's really about the stories we live.
Here's another great piece by Garr Reynolds that starts with Dr. Randy Pausch Last Lecture presentation and goes on to examine the way we can inspire others through our words and actions. It's a great read.
(Also, look through the comments for more stories of inspiration!)
Respecting Space
April 13, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
One of the neat things about the XBox 360 is
something called achievements. Every game has them.
Some are easy to get, and some are hard. Some are
obvious while others are secret. Being awarded an
achievement results in an increase in your
Gamerscore, and little icons in your profile detail
the achievements you've amassed.
These little icons fascinate me. The images in this post are from XBox360achievements.org, and they are all 64x64 pixels – an incredibly small amount of space in which to work. Still some game developers succeed in creating excellent icons to represent their achievements. However, many more fail to do so. Here are some examples of achievement icons.
In order, these icons are from Bioshock, GUN, Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Need for Spped: Carbon, FlatOut, Quake II, Ghost Recon: AR 2, and Skate.
In order, these icons are from Ninety-Nine Nights, Kameo, Blacksite: Area 51, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Championship Manager 2007, NBA Live '06, Final Fantasy XI, Overloard, Jericho, and Tomb Raider Anniversary
A good set of achievement icons will do several things. They fit well together. Images are crisp. They provide some kind of visual clue as to what the achievement criteria is. Most of all, though, they make good use of space. Contrast the top set of icons with the bottom. Can you see how much more cluttered the bottom set is – the designers trying to fit too much information into too small a space. (The Ninety-Nine Nights icon not actually crowded at all. It's a poor resolution image, which it shouldn't be at that small of a size.)
If you are working in PowerPoint, you are working on a canvas that is 720x540 pixels. This is a few more pixels than a standard-definition TV (640x480), and Mac OS X Leopard has icons nearly as large (512x512). Regardless of your computer's monitor size and resolution, these are the constrictions of a PowerPoint slide. More important, though, is that your audience will be viewing these slides on a screen at some distance from where they are sitting.
image by Vicky S on stock.xchng
Even a moderately large screen appears smaller than one's hand from ten to twenty feet away. Your slides, while they appear large on your computer screen – are actually a small canvas, and they should be treated accordingly. Like the XBox 360 achievement icons, cramming too much into the space will make slides that are incomprehensible – resulting in the slides attracting more concentration than the speaker.
Sometimes less in indeed more. And a clear image with minimal text serves better to illustrate your point than a slide crammed with distractions. If your audience can't instantly recognize what's on your slide, I'd wager it's too cluttered.
clutter versus clarity
Respect the space you have, and consider what your slides will look like from twenty feet away – more in many situations. Don't make your audience have to think harder about what's on your slides than what you are saying. Work with the space you have, and avoid over-packing. Your audience's eyes will thank you.
All achievement icons are © their respective holders.
These little icons fascinate me. The images in this post are from XBox360achievements.org, and they are all 64x64 pixels – an incredibly small amount of space in which to work. Still some game developers succeed in creating excellent icons to represent their achievements. However, many more fail to do so. Here are some examples of achievement icons.
The Good!
In order, these icons are from Bioshock, GUN, Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Need for Spped: Carbon, FlatOut, Quake II, Ghost Recon: AR 2, and Skate.
The Bad...
In order, these icons are from Ninety-Nine Nights, Kameo, Blacksite: Area 51, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Championship Manager 2007, NBA Live '06, Final Fantasy XI, Overloard, Jericho, and Tomb Raider Anniversary
A good set of achievement icons will do several things. They fit well together. Images are crisp. They provide some kind of visual clue as to what the achievement criteria is. Most of all, though, they make good use of space. Contrast the top set of icons with the bottom. Can you see how much more cluttered the bottom set is – the designers trying to fit too much information into too small a space. (The Ninety-Nine Nights icon not actually crowded at all. It's a poor resolution image, which it shouldn't be at that small of a size.)
If you are working in PowerPoint, you are working on a canvas that is 720x540 pixels. This is a few more pixels than a standard-definition TV (640x480), and Mac OS X Leopard has icons nearly as large (512x512). Regardless of your computer's monitor size and resolution, these are the constrictions of a PowerPoint slide. More important, though, is that your audience will be viewing these slides on a screen at some distance from where they are sitting.
image by Vicky S on stock.xchng
Even a moderately large screen appears smaller than one's hand from ten to twenty feet away. Your slides, while they appear large on your computer screen – are actually a small canvas, and they should be treated accordingly. Like the XBox 360 achievement icons, cramming too much into the space will make slides that are incomprehensible – resulting in the slides attracting more concentration than the speaker.
Sometimes less in indeed more. And a clear image with minimal text serves better to illustrate your point than a slide crammed with distractions. If your audience can't instantly recognize what's on your slide, I'd wager it's too cluttered.
clutter versus clarity
Respect the space you have, and consider what your slides will look like from twenty feet away – more in many situations. Don't make your audience have to think harder about what's on your slides than what you are saying. Work with the space you have, and avoid over-packing. Your audience's eyes will thank you.
All achievement icons are © their respective holders.
Creating a Metaphor
April 10, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
I'm hesitant to post this video because I know it's
inflammatory, but I think it does a great job of
creating and maintaining a visual metaphor throughout
the presentation.
The video details numerous pledges by U.S. politicians and military leaders that the "next several months" and specifically "the next six months" should see significant improvement and progress in Iraq – from Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote that he didn't expect the operation to even last six months in February 2003 to John McCain saying we will either win or lose this was in "the next several months" in November of 2006.
The metaphor is that of a desk calendar flipping through months as promised by the individuals quoted but being roadblocked by quotes asking for more months. The whole time, a pair of folder tabs are keeping track of cost in money and U.S. lives at each milestone.
Whether you agree with the point of the video or not, the visual consistency throughout makes the presentation all the more powerful. Quotes are short and the videos help reinforce those quotes. Nothing distracts from the composition of this production. Nothing looks out of place. Every element – from the background to transitions – works together as a whole.
I don't theme my presentations around a visual metaphor often. They often become visually repetitive, and it's too easy to insert elements that will seem out-of-place. However, I'll definitely use this video as a template of how such a presentation can be done right.
The video details numerous pledges by U.S. politicians and military leaders that the "next several months" and specifically "the next six months" should see significant improvement and progress in Iraq – from Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote that he didn't expect the operation to even last six months in February 2003 to John McCain saying we will either win or lose this was in "the next several months" in November of 2006.
The metaphor is that of a desk calendar flipping through months as promised by the individuals quoted but being roadblocked by quotes asking for more months. The whole time, a pair of folder tabs are keeping track of cost in money and U.S. lives at each milestone.
Whether you agree with the point of the video or not, the visual consistency throughout makes the presentation all the more powerful. Quotes are short and the videos help reinforce those quotes. Nothing distracts from the composition of this production. Nothing looks out of place. Every element – from the background to transitions – works together as a whole.
I don't theme my presentations around a visual metaphor often. They often become visually repetitive, and it's too easy to insert elements that will seem out-of-place. However, I'll definitely use this video as a template of how such a presentation can be done right.
Slides to Oblivion
April 04, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
In his recent blog post, Podcast to Oblivion, Iconfactory co-founder Gedeon
Maheux writes about podcasters risking losing
their audiences due to the increasing lengths of
their productions. It's a good read, especially
if you listen to podcasts or create podcasts
yourself, but the issue he raises is also
relevant to presenters.
Toward the end if his article, Mr. Maheux writes:
This seems to be the attitude of many presenters I've seen – I do not except myself from this criticism. We have a topic to talk about, and we will cram as much information about that topic into our presentation as we can. We may have a 45-minute time slot in which to present, but we've prepared two hours worth of material. On the other hand, I've sat through two hour presentations that could easily have been delivered in 45-minutes.
I've posted images of this slide deck before, and here it is again. This was my first attempt at creating a presentation about reactive attachment disorder (RAD).
This was 118 (give or take) bullet points over thirty-two slides. This presentation was not about what my audience really needed to know about RAD – it was about looking at all the stuff I learned! DId I mention that I had thirty minutes in which to deliver all of this material?
When we are planning a presentation, we should be thinking about length from the beginning. We should be remembering that our presentation is for the benefit of our audience members – not for our own benefit. Part of benefitting our audience is presenting the content in a way that is easy to digest (as possible) and that respects their time and attention spans.
Regarding podcasts, Gedeon Maheux writes:
The same can be said about presentations. Keep the information manageable by focusing in on what is most important. What do you want your audience to walk away remembering? Focus on that. The rest is details.
Toward the end if his article, Mr. Maheux writes:
So how long should your average audio podcast be? Not surprisingly if you ask a podcast producer they’ll probably tell you “As long as it needs to be.” Unfortunately this attitude often reflects the desires of the creator and not those of the audience.
This seems to be the attitude of many presenters I've seen – I do not except myself from this criticism. We have a topic to talk about, and we will cram as much information about that topic into our presentation as we can. We may have a 45-minute time slot in which to present, but we've prepared two hours worth of material. On the other hand, I've sat through two hour presentations that could easily have been delivered in 45-minutes.
I've posted images of this slide deck before, and here it is again. This was my first attempt at creating a presentation about reactive attachment disorder (RAD).
This was 118 (give or take) bullet points over thirty-two slides. This presentation was not about what my audience really needed to know about RAD – it was about looking at all the stuff I learned! DId I mention that I had thirty minutes in which to deliver all of this material?
When we are planning a presentation, we should be thinking about length from the beginning. We should be remembering that our presentation is for the benefit of our audience members – not for our own benefit. Part of benefitting our audience is presenting the content in a way that is easy to digest (as possible) and that respects their time and attention spans.
Regarding podcasts, Gedeon Maheux writes:
When podcasts approach the length of feature films, people start to lose interest.
The same can be said about presentations. Keep the information manageable by focusing in on what is most important. What do you want your audience to walk away remembering? Focus on that. The rest is details.
Preparation – Not Rehearsal
March 16, 2008 Filed in: General Tips
| Delivery
In a late-February post (yes, that's how far behind I
am), Garr Reynolds shared some presentation tips from Ken
Robinson, one of my favorite speakers to
appear at TED over the last couple of years.
Among his tips is this gem: "Prepare, but don't
rehearse. Think and plan ahead instead."
image by torli on stock.xchng
I used to prepare for my presentations the same way I would prepare for a music recital. I'd go over the material exactly how I wrote it until I could deliver it flawlessly the same way over and over. One French horn performer once told me that I'm not done practicing a passage until I can play it perfectly ten times in a row, and I took this exacting principle over to public speaking.
The problem is that over-rehearsal of a talk can make it sound ... rehearsed. It can sound too perfect, and a certain human element – that element necessary for connecting with audiences – can disappear in the measured recital.
The best musical performances I can think of do not sound rehearsed, even though I know they are. It sounds as if the musician is creating the music spontaneously before the audience. The music is alive at that moment, and that is the way our presentations should be. Our audience should feel as if we are delivering our message for each of them individually and that we are caught up in this moment.
This leads right into another tip from Mr. Robinson: "Leave room for improvisation." He compares the act of public speaking to a good jazz performance, but even a good classical performer demonstrates an ability to take liberties with the given material, making it fully his or her own. When we are presenting, spontaneous points may occur to us. Things might go wrong. Someone might interrupt with a brilliant question, and we should be willing to improvise for a few minutes.
In its purest form, a presentation is a form of conversation, and your best conversations are not completely scripted, over-rehearsed events. Spontaneous creativity is alive and well in the art of conversation. Don't get me wrong. Preparation is exceedingly important, but stay flexible. Stay alive. Don't recite your presentation. Connect it with the people in your audience.
image by torli on stock.xchng
I used to prepare for my presentations the same way I would prepare for a music recital. I'd go over the material exactly how I wrote it until I could deliver it flawlessly the same way over and over. One French horn performer once told me that I'm not done practicing a passage until I can play it perfectly ten times in a row, and I took this exacting principle over to public speaking.
The problem is that over-rehearsal of a talk can make it sound ... rehearsed. It can sound too perfect, and a certain human element – that element necessary for connecting with audiences – can disappear in the measured recital.
The best musical performances I can think of do not sound rehearsed, even though I know they are. It sounds as if the musician is creating the music spontaneously before the audience. The music is alive at that moment, and that is the way our presentations should be. Our audience should feel as if we are delivering our message for each of them individually and that we are caught up in this moment.
This leads right into another tip from Mr. Robinson: "Leave room for improvisation." He compares the act of public speaking to a good jazz performance, but even a good classical performer demonstrates an ability to take liberties with the given material, making it fully his or her own. When we are presenting, spontaneous points may occur to us. Things might go wrong. Someone might interrupt with a brilliant question, and we should be willing to improvise for a few minutes.
In its purest form, a presentation is a form of conversation, and your best conversations are not completely scripted, over-rehearsed events. Spontaneous creativity is alive and well in the art of conversation. Don't get me wrong. Preparation is exceedingly important, but stay flexible. Stay alive. Don't recite your presentation. Connect it with the people in your audience.
Great Speeches, Bad PPT
March 16, 2008 Filed in: Links
Presentation Zen: Obama, JFK vs. Bad
PowerPoint
Through a couple of mock PowerPoint decks, Garr Reynolds demonstrates how poorly implemented slides can detract from an otherwise great speech – definitely worth checking out!
Through a couple of mock PowerPoint decks, Garr Reynolds demonstrates how poorly implemented slides can detract from an otherwise great speech – definitely worth checking out!
Slides from GDC 2008
March 16, 2008 Filed in: Graphics &
Images
Back in February, Joystiq offered some great
coverage of the 2008 Game Developers Conference,
and some of that coverage included overviews of
some of the presentations given at the
conference – including photos of slides! Here
are some slides from the conference that caught
my attention and some lessons we can take from
them. (All images in this post come from Joystiq.)
The slides are infused with the requisite corporate branding – from the PS3 background of the slides to the Playstaion Network logo in the top left corner. Bullet points poulate the slides, and what is up with that image of the PSP? It looks like some pulled it off of Google Image Search and copied it onto the slide with no editing. Have they no one at Sony who can use Photoshop? Could no one remove that white background?
For such a huge corporation, they had cheap-looking slides. By contrast, Microsoft's slides were virtually bullet-free and featured beautful screenshots of the games they were discussing.
In the first slide, Bioshock's lead developer Ken Levine pays tribute to an internet cult icon named Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (who is famous for his extremely fast-paced, witty, and usually vulgur game reviews). The second slide is from a Blizzard presentation, and they reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy through the graphic, the slogan "Don't Panic," and even the font used for the slogan.
Let us not forget that the audience at this conference was probably 95% male, and Valve Software knew how to attract attention to their main point in such a setting!
If you've ever played Katamari Damacy (or any of its sequels), you've probably had that very same thought: WTF? (If you have not played Katamari Damacy, stop reading this article, and go get it right now. I'll wait right here.) The game exudes bizareness, and this simple slide communicates that fact very directly.
Visuals in a presentation can amuse, offend, engage, inspire, or just bore your audience. Look at how most of the slides in this post stand out from Sony's back at the top. Sony took a tried-and-true approach to PowerPoint, but others break from that mold and create more engaging experiences (just like the games some of these presenters create). Instead of being lost in a sea of sameness, take the time to be different so you too can stand apart from the crowd.
But I don't recommend any of you use topless women in your presentations. Trust me on this...
Corporate Is Not Better
Naturally, Sony hosted multiple sessions at GDC, and the slides below are from two different presentations, but you might not know that from looking at them.
The slides are infused with the requisite corporate branding – from the PS3 background of the slides to the Playstaion Network logo in the top left corner. Bullet points poulate the slides, and what is up with that image of the PSP? It looks like some pulled it off of Google Image Search and copied it onto the slide with no editing. Have they no one at Sony who can use Photoshop? Could no one remove that white background?
For such a huge corporation, they had cheap-looking slides. By contrast, Microsoft's slides were virtually bullet-free and featured beautful screenshots of the games they were discussing.
Play to Your Audience
A game developers conference is going to be filled with geeks, so what better place to throw some truly geeky references into the material?
In the first slide, Bioshock's lead developer Ken Levine pays tribute to an internet cult icon named Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (who is famous for his extremely fast-paced, witty, and usually vulgur game reviews). The second slide is from a Blizzard presentation, and they reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy through the graphic, the slogan "Don't Panic," and even the font used for the slogan.
Let us not forget that the audience at this conference was probably 95% male, and Valve Software knew how to attract attention to their main point in such a setting!
Simpler Is Often Better
In a talk about independent gaming, the developers of Everyday Shooter put up what is probably my favorite slide from this conference.
If you've ever played Katamari Damacy (or any of its sequels), you've probably had that very same thought: WTF? (If you have not played Katamari Damacy, stop reading this article, and go get it right now. I'll wait right here.) The game exudes bizareness, and this simple slide communicates that fact very directly.
Visuals in a presentation can amuse, offend, engage, inspire, or just bore your audience. Look at how most of the slides in this post stand out from Sony's back at the top. Sony took a tried-and-true approach to PowerPoint, but others break from that mold and create more engaging experiences (just like the games some of these presenters create). Instead of being lost in a sea of sameness, take the time to be different so you too can stand apart from the crowd.
But I don't recommend any of you use topless women in your presentations. Trust me on this...
A Couple Zen Links to Keep You Busy
February 27, 2008 Filed in: Links
Garr Rynolds, over at Presentation Zen, has a couple
of fantastic recent posts. Give them a look if you
haven't read them already.
Presentation Zen: Deep or Wide? You Decide
"Make a choice about what's important, and let go of all the rest." Mr. Reynolds covers the topic of scope vs. depth in classrooms as well as in presentations.
Presentation Zen: Inspiration Matters
Presentation Zen: Deep or Wide? You Decide
"Make a choice about what's important, and let go of all the rest." Mr. Reynolds covers the topic of scope vs. depth in classrooms as well as in presentations.
The problem with many presentations is that people simply try to say too much in a short amount of time. Most people struggle with practicing restraint in the preparation stage—including myself—and have a hard time making the tough choices about inclusion and exclusion before the presentation. Often no time is given to the idea of exclusion and paring down. As a result, audiences all too often get more than they want, need, or can comprehend.
Presentation Zen: Inspiration Matters
The world needs more inspiration, not less. Speaking is not the only way to inspire—actions inspire too, often more—but leaders know how to inspire with both words and action.
Connecting With Obama
February 09, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
For some time, I've been wanting to write about
Barack Obama, but I've had a hard time finding the
correct angle. He is a modern phenomenon on the
United States political scene, and much of his
success can be attributed to his effectiveness as a
communicator. Obama connects with his audiences in a
way many other politicians find difficult. His
supporters identify with him like few others. They
don't speak of how "he" will do in the election. They
speak of how "we" will do.
Take a minute (or twenty) to watch Senator Obama's speech on Super Tuesday, and notice the reactions he gets from his audience throughout.
After watching him speak a few times, here are some of the techniques I've noticed him use time and again in connecting with his audience.
Repetition. Like many great speakers before him, Barack Obama uses metered repetition as a way of driving clear messages throughout his speech. Garr Reynolds already has a great article about this very point that I hope you'll take a look at. The use of repetition gives your audience a clear anchor of reference throughout a talk, and your listeners more clearly remember the speech. It's a simple but powerful tool that cannot be overstated.
Spontaneity. Somewhere around 2:23 in the video, Obama, in response to someone calling out at him from the audience, says, "You know I love you back." He breaks down a barrier that usually exists between citizens and politicians with those simple words, and his audience responds energetically and positively towards the simple gesture. Most public figures would have ignored such an individual or perhaps even responded callously. Senator Obama takes such moments in stride, allowing for spontaneous give-and-take while not derailing the message he has prepared.
A Bigger Cause. Barack Obama speaks often in terms of movements and causes. While speaking of his own progress and successes, he diverts attention from himself and onto the larger picture he represents. In doing so, he solidifies his position all the more. He states that this campaign is not about "me," but rather it is about "you," and he delivers this in a convincing and earnest manner. His audience feels connected to history, and they see their involvement as something larger than just another political event. His audience feels connected to all that he represents, leading them to feel connected to him.
All political leanings aside, any speaker could learn much from watching Barack Obama in action. For more, take a look at his YouTube page: YouTube – BarackObamadotcom's Channel.
Take a minute (or twenty) to watch Senator Obama's speech on Super Tuesday, and notice the reactions he gets from his audience throughout.
After watching him speak a few times, here are some of the techniques I've noticed him use time and again in connecting with his audience.
Repetition. Like many great speakers before him, Barack Obama uses metered repetition as a way of driving clear messages throughout his speech. Garr Reynolds already has a great article about this very point that I hope you'll take a look at. The use of repetition gives your audience a clear anchor of reference throughout a talk, and your listeners more clearly remember the speech. It's a simple but powerful tool that cannot be overstated.
Spontaneity. Somewhere around 2:23 in the video, Obama, in response to someone calling out at him from the audience, says, "You know I love you back." He breaks down a barrier that usually exists between citizens and politicians with those simple words, and his audience responds energetically and positively towards the simple gesture. Most public figures would have ignored such an individual or perhaps even responded callously. Senator Obama takes such moments in stride, allowing for spontaneous give-and-take while not derailing the message he has prepared.
A Bigger Cause. Barack Obama speaks often in terms of movements and causes. While speaking of his own progress and successes, he diverts attention from himself and onto the larger picture he represents. In doing so, he solidifies his position all the more. He states that this campaign is not about "me," but rather it is about "you," and he delivers this in a convincing and earnest manner. His audience feels connected to history, and they see their involvement as something larger than just another political event. His audience feels connected to all that he represents, leading them to feel connected to him.
All political leanings aside, any speaker could learn much from watching Barack Obama in action. For more, take a look at his YouTube page: YouTube – BarackObamadotcom's Channel.
Thinking Out Loud
February 09, 2008 Filed in: Links
Rands in Repose crafts a
fantastic essay about the process of writing the
speaking portion of presentations. The approach
he recommends is very similar to the process I
follow in drafting my presentations, and he
describes it far more eloquently than I ever
could. Here's an excerpt.
For more, follow the link: Rands in Repose: Out Loud
Did you notice as you stood in your office talking to no one in particular how thoughts in your head sounded different than on the slides? Did you discover flaws in logic? Mysterious new gaps in content on the slides you’ve been staring at all morning? That’s progress.
For more, follow the link: Rands in Repose: Out Loud
Documentation with iLife and iWork Materials
January 31, 2008 Filed in: Materials
This is one of the first presentations I created by
following the simplicity guidelines. I hope to update
this one soon with info about iWork '08 and iLife '08
– especially the new version of iMovie.
Documentation with iLife and iWork Slides
PDF, 10.5 MB
Documentation with iLife and iWork Handout
PDF, 13.3 MB
Documentation with iLife and iWork Slides
PDF, 10.5 MB
Documentation with iLife and iWork Handout
PDF, 13.3 MB
Looking Beyond Labels Materials
January 29, 2008 Filed in: Materials
In the spirit of continuing to "give it away," here are some
slides and a handout for a talk I've given about
working with various children in classrooms who
are branded with some specific labels. The talk
specifically covers autism, ADHD, bullying, and
bipolar disorder, but the handout branches out
into some broader interventions.
Looking Beyond Labels Slides
PDF, 9.9 MB
Looking Beyond Labels Handout
PDF, 64 kb
Looking Beyond Labels Slides
PDF, 9.9 MB
Looking Beyond Labels Handout
PDF, 64 kb
Effectiveness through Understandability
January 29, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
Earlier this month, Seattlepi.com ran a comparative language analysis of
Steve Jobs' and Bill Gates' keynotes for
Macworld Expo and CES respectively. Simply put,
Steve Jobs rated as the easier speaker to
understand, and the site attributes this as a
factor in Mr. Jobs' overall effectiveness as a
speaker.
The language we use when speaking can either help us connect with our audience or distance ourselves from them. How many times have you groaned in a seminar of conference room presentation when something like this flits through the air?
Speech like this requires so much time to digest and translate that the meaning is lost before it is reached. (To be fair, the above example is pure gibberish.) Kathy Sierra refers to one who speaks like this as a glib and as someone who should be ignored at all costs. Deep down, I think we already know this, and an audience is more likely to tune out a speaker following this pattern than engage him or her.
When giving a public presentation, think about how you are sating what you are saying. If you are using Microsoft Word to draft your talk, use the built-in Flesch-Kincaid readability scale. Easier to understand passages rate closer to 100 in Flesch Reading Ease, and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level gives you an approximation of the vocabulary level.
readability statistics in Word
Communicate clearly. Eliminate buzzwords, excessive acronyms, and unnecessary jargon from your speech. Think of how you would converse with the individuals in your audience, and take that approach to communicating your ideas. Remember, for anyone to connect with your presentation, they must first be able to understand it.
The language we use when speaking can either help us connect with our audience or distance ourselves from them. How many times have you groaned in a seminar of conference room presentation when something like this flits through the air?
bizarre buzz-speak courtesy of Corporate IspsumWe can phosfluorescently redefine out-of-the-box best practices before timely expertise and efficiently re-engineer inexpensive e-tailers with focused customer service. This allows us to enthusiastically synergize ubiquitous benefits for interactive methodologies.
In this, we credibly visualize integrated experiences through vertical best practices, giving us leverage to enthusiastically generate empowered technology and holistic total linkage and assertively redefine resource-leveling solutions via accurate potentialities.
Speech like this requires so much time to digest and translate that the meaning is lost before it is reached. (To be fair, the above example is pure gibberish.) Kathy Sierra refers to one who speaks like this as a glib and as someone who should be ignored at all costs. Deep down, I think we already know this, and an audience is more likely to tune out a speaker following this pattern than engage him or her.
When giving a public presentation, think about how you are sating what you are saying. If you are using Microsoft Word to draft your talk, use the built-in Flesch-Kincaid readability scale. Easier to understand passages rate closer to 100 in Flesch Reading Ease, and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level gives you an approximation of the vocabulary level.
readability statistics in Word
Communicate clearly. Eliminate buzzwords, excessive acronyms, and unnecessary jargon from your speech. Think of how you would converse with the individuals in your audience, and take that approach to communicating your ideas. Remember, for anyone to connect with your presentation, they must first be able to understand it.
Bear With Me
January 29, 2008 Filed in: Links
image by Randall Munroe
I have to try this sometime. If you like this, visit xkcd for more simple but funny comics.
Playing to Your Strengths
January 28, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
David Pogue spoke on three separate occasions during this year's ICE conference, and the effectiveness of his delivery never ceases to amaze me. He connects with and holds his audiences with seeming ease. One way he accomplishes this through the way he plays his strengths when he is onstage.
Other than being an incredibly friendly individual (which is a great asset in itself), Mr. Pogue stands out thanks to his humor and musicianship. In a former life, David Pogue was a Broadway accompanist and conductor. He is a musician, and he is not afraid to show his talent off when he's speaking before a group of left-brained geeks. In fact, he seems to enjoy it. His tech-centered song parodies always bring a smile, and I find myself wanting to request favorite Pogue hits when I see him sit behind a piano during one of his presentations.
Mr. Pogue is also a funny individual. In a seemingly dry profession, he finds humor all around. Whether he's taking jabs at the RIAA or poking fun at teachers' collective ignorance of technology or parodying Steve Jobs, his content is riddled with humor. Through this, he presents meaningful and relevant content, but he makes the speaker-audience connection deeper because he knows how to play to his strengths.
What are you good at? How can your own talents enhance your presentations? Discover those qualities about yourself that enable you to connect with people on a personal level and carry them to the professional level. It comes back to viewing a presentation as a form of conversation, and your personality should shine as much as the content – allowing your audience to connect with your content through connecting to you.
Simply Presentation Materials
January 28, 2008 Filed in: Materials
It's been a long time since I've had any of my own
materials up on this site, and I'm going to work on
correcting that in the coming weeks. For starters,
here are my slides and handout from my Simply
Presentation talk.
Simply Presentation Slides
PDF, 14.4 MB
Simply Presentation Handout
PDF, 12.8 MB
Simply Presentation Slides
PDF, 14.4 MB
Simply Presentation Handout
PDF, 12.8 MB
ICE 2008 Followup
January 26, 2008 Filed in: News
ICE 2008 is over, and, save the correction
I posted yesterday, everything went fairly
smoothly. There was some confusion over the room
in which I was supposed to present, but the ICE
staff was very helpful and friendly in sorting
that out!
I needed to have taken a picture of the schedule outside my assigned location. David Pogue was scheduled to give a talk in that same room earlier in the day!
I was tickled by something I said incorrectly during the presentation. Intending to say, "Creating an outline on your slides is fine if you are teaching high school freshmen how to take notes," I accidentally substituted the word "fremen" for "freshmen." In truth, if you find yourself in a room full of high school fremen, I suggest you run before they claim your water for the tribe!
points for popcorn!
While in the exhibitors hall, I snagged a copy of Mr. Pogue's Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual, and he autographed it for me! I had a couple more chances to talk to Mr. Pogue throughout the day, and I found him incredibly friendly and approachable. I find it hard to believe that people write disparaging stuff about him on their blogs!
memorabilia! whee!
My friend Mary had a table set up along the back of the hall, documenting a technology success story. She was featuring composer trading cards her children had made using Microsoft Publisher. It was a great idea, and I might end up using it in my classroom later this year! (By the way, Mary's my music teacher hero.)
I'll trade you a Dvořák and a Copeland for a Mozart!
Finally, I will leave you with this odd piece of artwork outside the Indiana Convention Center. I can't find any info about it at the moment, but it looks like two adults dancing atop a pile of money in front of a poor child (not visible in the picture). If you know the story behind the sculpture, let me know!
just rub it in, why don't you?
That's all for this year's trip to ICE. I'll keep you posted if any other interesting opportunities come my way!
I needed to have taken a picture of the schedule outside my assigned location. David Pogue was scheduled to give a talk in that same room earlier in the day!
The Talk
Both the delivery and the technology went well yesterday. I was speaking on a raised stage area, so I had to remain conscious of my footing to avoid literally breaking my leg (which a friend of mine had suggested I do idiomatically wishing me luck)! Also, a piano was on the stage with me, so I felt required to play it some before my talk began.I was tickled by something I said incorrectly during the presentation. Intending to say, "Creating an outline on your slides is fine if you are teaching high school freshmen how to take notes," I accidentally substituted the word "fremen" for "freshmen." In truth, if you find yourself in a room full of high school fremen, I suggest you run before they claim your water for the tribe!
Miscellany
I attended some good presentations – including a couple by David Pogue I might write about later. The exhibitor floor was pretty sparse with Microsoft's booth being the only one that stood out in any way. Apple's booth was virtually nonexistent this year.
points for popcorn!
While in the exhibitors hall, I snagged a copy of Mr. Pogue's Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual, and he autographed it for me! I had a couple more chances to talk to Mr. Pogue throughout the day, and I found him incredibly friendly and approachable. I find it hard to believe that people write disparaging stuff about him on their blogs!
memorabilia! whee!
My friend Mary had a table set up along the back of the hall, documenting a technology success story. She was featuring composer trading cards her children had made using Microsoft Publisher. It was a great idea, and I might end up using it in my classroom later this year! (By the way, Mary's my music teacher hero.)
I'll trade you a Dvořák and a Copeland for a Mozart!
Finally, I will leave you with this odd piece of artwork outside the Indiana Convention Center. I can't find any info about it at the moment, but it looks like two adults dancing atop a pile of money in front of a poor child (not visible in the picture). If you know the story behind the sculpture, let me know!
just rub it in, why don't you?
That's all for this year's trip to ICE. I'll keep you posted if any other interesting opportunities come my way!
ICE Correction
January 25, 2008 Filed in: News
If you were at my session at the ICE conference this
Friday, I referenced an article about creativity in
response to an audience member's question. As it
turns out, I had the title of the article completely
wrong! It's a two part article by Garr Reynolds, and you can find
both parts by clicking the links below.
Presentation Zen: You are creative (who the %$#@! says you're not?)
Presentation Zen: You are creative (part 2)
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can get back to some regularly scheduled blogging!
Presentation Zen: You are creative (who the %$#@! says you're not?)
Presentation Zen: You are creative (part 2)
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can get back to some regularly scheduled blogging!
ICE 2008
January 20, 2008 Filed in: News
Just a head's up that I'll be presenting at the
Indiana Computer Educators
conference again this year. This
time around, I'm showcasing the content of this
site in a talk titled Simply Presentation. I'll
be speaking from 2:00-2:45 in the Wabash
Ballroom #2 of the Indiana Convention Center on
Friday, January 25.
Here's the description from the ICE booklet:
If you are attending ICE, stop by to see me!
Here's the description from the ICE booklet:
In a world full of cookie-cutter PowerPoints, bullet-filled slides, and buzzword-laden speeches, you have the potential to find your own voice and shine as a presenter. Come examine an alternate method to preparing traditional presentations that uses simplicity to communicate more deeply. Use the tools you are already comfortable with, and take your talks to the next level. Present Differently. Present Simply.
If you are attending ICE, stop by to see me!
Loving Color
January 14, 2008 Filed in: Links
Oops, this and another post went live before I was
ready. Sorry about any surprises in your RSS feeds!
Anyway, I can't remember how I stumbled upon this website, but it's chock full of great color resources for those of you wanting to move away from the safe blacks, grays, and whites you usually see me use around here. The site is called COULORlLovers and it's absolutely filled with articles and opinions about color usage as well as several user-made and rated colors, palettes, and patterns.
Visit COLOURLovers
Anyway, I can't remember how I stumbled upon this website, but it's chock full of great color resources for those of you wanting to move away from the safe blacks, grays, and whites you usually see me use around here. The site is called COULORlLovers and it's absolutely filled with articles and opinions about color usage as well as several user-made and rated colors, palettes, and patterns.
Visit COLOURLovers
Lost in the Overflow
January 12, 2008 Filed in: Delivery
I was visiting Microsoft's Mac Mojo blog today
when I noticed that many of the images on the
blog overflowed past the sidebar – escaping the
content borders and obscuring tags and archives.
To get all of the images clear of the sidebar, I had to widen my browser window to almost 1400 pixels. Mac Mojo uses a flexible width, allowing the site's borders and sections adjust to the width of your browser window. Unfortunately, images do not have flexible widths, and these images seem particularly problematic. After all, how many people reading this blog have displays 1400+ pixels wide? Between my computer at work, my PowerMac, and my MacBook Pro, only the MacBook has a display wide enough to properly display the blog with these images.
The pictures are very aesthetically pleasing, but they exist to the detriment of the site's usability. This brings to mind how many merely adequate presentations I've listened to and given that would have been better if only some of the excess had been cut. Too often, we feel the need to cram as much material as possible into a 30-45 minute talk, and the quality suffers due to the quantity. There is so much material that it is difficult for the audience to determine what is most important, and irrelevance may end up covering up the most vital parts.
I keep this slide deck around as a reminder of how cluttered my slides once were. Here are 118 bullet points over 32 slides. The presentation is about Attachment Disorder behavior classes and how to best intervene for some of the symptomatic behaviors. Of those 32 slides, 13 of them are introductory material. When I gave this talk in a 45-minute block for the first time, you can guess what happened. I ended up spending 30 minutes on the introduction and had to fly through the rest of the material in the remaining 15 minutes. My content was lost in overflow.
This is a later revision of that same presentation. Now I'm down to twelve slides of content. I still feel like those slides perhaps have too much text, but now I'm allowing myself to cover the most vital information without it being buried in a wash of corollary facts that could just be included in a supplemental handout. This talk is much more focused than my previous effort, and it can be easily covered in 30 minutes.
When practicing your presentations, ask yourself, "Is this really necessary?" What information serves as padding? Chances are there is a fair amount of unnecessary material in the first draft of your presentation. Look for the details that bury the meaning, and cut them out. Don't let an overflow of supplemental information crowd out the actual point of your talk.
To get all of the images clear of the sidebar, I had to widen my browser window to almost 1400 pixels. Mac Mojo uses a flexible width, allowing the site's borders and sections adjust to the width of your browser window. Unfortunately, images do not have flexible widths, and these images seem particularly problematic. After all, how many people reading this blog have displays 1400+ pixels wide? Between my computer at work, my PowerMac, and my MacBook Pro, only the MacBook has a display wide enough to properly display the blog with these images.
The pictures are very aesthetically pleasing, but they exist to the detriment of the site's usability. This brings to mind how many merely adequate presentations I've listened to and given that would have been better if only some of the excess had been cut. Too often, we feel the need to cram as much material as possible into a 30-45 minute talk, and the quality suffers due to the quantity. There is so much material that it is difficult for the audience to determine what is most important, and irrelevance may end up covering up the most vital parts.
I keep this slide deck around as a reminder of how cluttered my slides once were. Here are 118 bullet points over 32 slides. The presentation is about Attachment Disorder behavior classes and how to best intervene for some of the symptomatic behaviors. Of those 32 slides, 13 of them are introductory material. When I gave this talk in a 45-minute block for the first time, you can guess what happened. I ended up spending 30 minutes on the introduction and had to fly through the rest of the material in the remaining 15 minutes. My content was lost in overflow.
This is a later revision of that same presentation. Now I'm down to twelve slides of content. I still feel like those slides perhaps have too much text, but now I'm allowing myself to cover the most vital information without it being buried in a wash of corollary facts that could just be included in a supplemental handout. This talk is much more focused than my previous effort, and it can be easily covered in 30 minutes.
When practicing your presentations, ask yourself, "Is this really necessary?" What information serves as padding? Chances are there is a fair amount of unnecessary material in the first draft of your presentation. Look for the details that bury the meaning, and cut them out. Don't let an overflow of supplemental information crowd out the actual point of your talk.