ATTENTION, POWERPOINTERS!!
I recently Googled “PowerPoint,” “Presentations,” and “Conference Presentations” to make sure I am not spewing material you could obtain elsewhere. I’m NOT. However, I encourage you to peruse Microsoft’s recommendations and those by other “experts” on communication principles with PowerPoint.
THEIR INTENT is: To present a nice, neat, semi-interesting, professional presentation of important information.
OUR HERO’S INTENT is (Watch out! Are ya ready?): To deliver the same information while connecting, engaging, exciting, entertaining, motivating, and, maybe even, inspiring your audience so that their presentation experience with you is unforgettable and the information memorable. Your audience should be on the edges of their uncomfortable seats, not relaxed and passive in a beach lounger. That’s kinda like teaching, but without the students, although I recommend the same approach in the classroom.
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
4. SOUND EFFECTS (Continued)
As we continue merrily along on our sound effect journey, it’s now time to reveal for the 1st time anywhere on earth: my faves. Maybe you already picked some of the same effects from the sources suggested in my previous blog. Sound effect drum roll, please. OOPS! I forgot sound effects are illegal in blogs! Here ‘tis picks:
BERK’S PICKS:
Soda can crinkle
Drum roll
Comical descent
Comical metal gong
Film leader blip
Film take scene
Gadget sound
Frog croak
Paper wadded up
Tear paper
Tire screech
Unzip metal zipper
UFO sweep
INSERT EFFECTS INTO PP: As noted in my previous blog, click Insert and take a bite out of your sandwich. UMMM. Sorry, I got distracted. The effects that you selected should be saved in your file in a folder or somewhere hangin’ around waiting for you to pick them. They’re probably getting lonely and anxious for your attention.
Here’s the step-by-step to insert the effects:
a. On the drop down, click Sound from File
b. Pick your effect and click it
c. Click OK
d. Click Automatically
e. Drag sound effect “speaker” icon to left or right off slide
f. Under Custom Animation in right margin, to right of Start, click After Previous, With Previous, or Click, depending on how you want to control timing of effect
g. Use the effect with an animated title, line, or word
Any ideas yet on how you can create a powerhouse PP with emotional impact? I hope a few of the preceding strategies have struck a chord or your fancy. Hold on to your fancy. I’ll be adding music and videos in the next few blogs. Do any of these techniques actually work for you? Let me know.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
ATTENTION, POWERPOINTERS!!
I recently Googled “PowerPoint,” “Presentations,” and “Conference Presentations” to make sure I am not spewing material you could obtain elsewhere. I’m NOT. However, I encourage you to peruse Microsoft’s recommendations and those by other “experts” on communication principles with PowerPoint.
THEIR INTENT is: To present a nice, neat, semi-interesting, professional presentation of important information.
OUR HERO’S INTENT is (Watch out! Are ya ready?): To deliver the same information while connecting, engaging, exciting, motivating, and, maybe even, inspiring your audience so that their presentation experience with you is unforgettable and the information memorable. Your audience should be on the edges of their uncomfortable seats, not relaxed and passive in a beach lounger. That’s kinda like teaching, but without the students, although I recommend the same approach in the classroom.
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
6. COMPLEX VISUALS
Beyond the various types of “still images” described in my previous blog, there are also other visuals to consider:
a. Clip Art with Movement—Among the bazillion clip art images, some have animation built in. Use every opportunity to create movement in your slides.
b. Add Music to Any Image—If the picture or cartoon brings to mind a song, add it to the image. It can heighten the impact of the slide and add humor that wasn’t in the image alone. Music will be covered in a later blog, but keep this option open.
c. Create Your Own Graphics—Artistic-wise, PowerPoint provides a wide array of options to build your own graphs, tables, charts, and diagrams with animation. Putting your personal touch on these graphics with color and animation can produce memorable slides with content that will pop off the screen. (WARNING: You’ve seen BAD graphics with too much data and too small a font. Be careful not to violate the basic principles in presenting your graphics. If your audience is squinting or pulling out binoculars or telescopes to read your slides, your graphics are probably BAAAAAD! And I don’t mean Michael Jackson’s Good BAD.)
Once these images are saved in your file, they can be inserted into your PowerPoint slides following the procedures described previously for simple images. Have you tried any of these images in your presentations? Let me know your ideas or additions to my suggestions above.
My next blog will cover SOUND EFFECTS. Is that going to be fun? You bet!
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
ATTENTION, POWERPOINTERS!!
I recently Googled “PowerPoint,” “Presentations,” and “Conference Presentations” to make sure I am not spewing material you could obtain elsewhere. I’m NOT. However, I encourage you to peruse Microsoft’s recommendations and those by other “experts” on communication principles with PowerPoint.
THEIR INTENT is: To present a nice, neat, semi-interesting, professional presentation of important information.
OUR HERO’S INTENT is (Watch out! Are ya ready?): To deliver the same information while connecting, engaging, exciting, entertaining, motivating, and, maybe even, inspiring your audience so that their presentation experience with YOU is unforgettable and the information memorable. Your audience should be on the edges of their uncomfortable seats, not relaxed and passive in a beach lounger. That’s kinda like teaching, but without the students, although I recommend the same approach in the classroom.
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
8. LETTER AND WORD MOVEMENT (Continued)
As a follow-up to yesterday’s blog, I’m going to build on the animation effects described for titles and extend them to lists and jokes. I’m also going add more effect options that will have your head swimming by the time you get to the copyright line, although I still have no clue what a swimming head looks like.
BULLET OR NUMBER LISTS: Picture your slide right now or look at it. It should have only a title flown in by FedEx or someone else. Next comes the content. You have 2 choices:
a. animate each word, phrase, or line in your list using an Entrance effect
b. animate the entire list at once, then highlight each point with an Emphasis or Motion Path effect, on the dropdown under Entrance effects
Think about the content and what you plan on saying about it. Also, consider that your audience has your slides in the handout. Since they will see the content on the screen, you need only make a few comments. In fact, you don’t have to read anything. On some slides, let them glance at the material. Say NOTHING!
Key question: WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO CONVEY THE POINT OF THIS SLIDE? Your answer can use a or b animation, plus how much you need to ADD, if anything. What can you provide beyond what your audience can simply read for themselves?
JOKES: If you are planning verbal humor with slides, such as multiple-choice or Top 10 format, the animation feature of PowerPoint is perfect for increasing the visual and audio impact of the joke. Since the element of surprise is critical to the incongruity of the serious set-up and the punch line, each line will enter the slide separately as you deliver the audio component.
a. Multiple-Choice Format: Read the (serious) stem as it enters the screen using Faded Zoom or another effect. Then, for the 4 or 5 choices, which are punch lines, animate each one with Fly In as you say it. The timing must be precise. Lots of practice will be involved, but the result will be worth it.
b. Top 10 List: You’ve seen David Letterman do Top 10s a gazillion times. In this case, the semi-serious title of the Top 10 enters in place of the serious stem. The 10 choices or punches are then revealed using the same effect as the M-C punches, except for the last one. Remember the order is 10 down to 1. After the no. 2 punch, you introduce the 1 punch with a drum roll sound effect (will be covered later), and “And the no. 1 reason everyone’s stressed is.” Then the 1 punch flies in.
I hope these animation suggestions give you some direction for bringing your words to life. Let me know your thoughts and what you have tried. What are your Fave animations? What’s the difference between 03 and 07 PowerPoint? All of my effects are based on the former. My next blog will examine simple visuals, such as pictures, cartoons, and graphics. Have a super-weekend!
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
8. LETTER AND WORD MOVEMENT
Once your slide has landed from the transition above, below, sideways, diagonally, etc., the next step is to pump some life into the dead words. Custom Animation is the REEEAAL PowerPoint defibrillator.
a. Click Slide Show dropdown on top of screen.
b. Click Custom Animation.
c. With your slide in “normal view,” click the slide and your ready to go. The title and content are already typed on the slide.
d. In the right margin, Slide Effect will appear.
e. Be super-careful now. Once you click Slide Effect, you will enter a whole new world.
YIIIKES!! There it is: a dropdown with Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, and Motion Paths. The animation can be used with opening and closing slides, titles, bullet or numbered lists, and jokes. This blog will address the 1st two applications, the next blog will cover the last 2.
OPENING or CLOSING SLIDE: Many of you have seen my Star Wars parody opening to one of my presentations. It’s all animation in the words already on the slides (except for my light saber dual, which is Ron animated). There is movement from the 1st slide onward. The most dramatic is the scrolling up of the script into outer space, just like the movie opening. “How do you do that?” Piece of animation, my friends.
a. Click Entrance
b. Click More Effects at bottom of list
c. Notice categories of Basic, Subtle, Moderate, and Exciting (By now, you probably guessed that I live in “Exciting World.”)
d. Under Exciting World” click Credits—your words should immediately start moving up the page; it’s like the end credits of a TV program or movie
Ah ha! Mystery solved. You now know how to create the Star Wars scroll. Sounds like a dance. You can also use the Credits animation at the end of your presentation. I did that with all of the credit lines for the music in my presentation, but I was always cut off by the next presenter, director of the conference, or audience questions. I gave up on the closing credits. At least, we both know how to do it if the opportunity arises.
TITLE ON SLIDE: After your “blank” slide enters the screen with a transition, the next step is to add the title with movement. My section slides contain only the title for each section of content, such as Research on Humor & Laughter. Most all of the other slides have a title at the top and content below.
You can see the wide range of Entrance options. I recommend trying them all to see which ones you like. The Preview box below allows you to keep playing with them indefinitely. Some of my FAVES are: fly in, faded zoom, zoom, color typewriter, magnify, swivel, light speed, pinwheel, and whip. You can set the speed for all of these entrances and, for some, the direction, like fly in. The speed adjustment allows you to precisely time the title entrance with a music clip.
Hope you’re getting some new ideas from these blogs. We’ll continue this topic in my next blog with adding animation to bullet or number lists and, you shouldn’t be surprised, jokes in multiple-choice or top 10 format. Stick around for more fun and, just maybe, a little dab of information thrown in hither and yon, to and fro, and click and clack.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
DISCLAIMER:
My suggestions in these blogs will blow the traditional PowerPoint recommendations to smithereens. Will I violate the rules? You bet. They will be shredded, ground into pulp, and smashed into PowerPoint road kill. (Note: I apologize for the violence in this disclaimer. Sometimes I get carried away.) For example, I tried the recommended traditional, one color slide-same font approaches. Guess what? The slides were as boring as the content on them. (Sidebar: As a former freelance photographer, I learned early on that if a picture doesn’t elicit some feeling [positive or negative] by the viewer, then it should be discarded as ineffective.)
NEW RULE FOR POWERPOINT: That rule should apply to our PowerPoint slides. Our audience should be emotionally involved in our presentation. That begins with the slides. A spiritless, unemotional reaction to our slides is totally unacceptable. If my strategy is making you nervous or you already started throwing up in this 1st paragraph, you might want to get a vomit bag or close this blog.
BERK'S GOAL: To arm you with the tools to create break-the-mold presentations, not create a moldy audience as they drift into a coma.
BERK'S AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS: I assume every audience to whom I present has better things to do with its valuable time than attend my session. The cynics and know-it-alls are thinking: “Tell me something I DON’T already know.” The students probably have the attention span of goat cheese and mentally operate at “twitch speed.”
THE CHALLENGE: Open the presentation with a bang and sustain that bang or you’ll lose them. It’s opening night on Broadway!
9. SLIDE MOVEMENT
Dead words projected on a screen are almost like seeing them on a piece of paper. They don’t move; they just lie there like a piece of salami. Our goal is to create movement. “Why?” you ask. Because movement stimulates our eyeballs and brain. We’re not sure where the movement is going. That anticipation engages us, keeps us interested, at least, temporarily until we figure out what’s happening.
The 1st technique to create movement is to use Slide Transitions. They’re listed under the Slide Show dropdown. The transitions allow you to have your slides enter from different directions and speeds, plus have accompanying sound effects if you like. The choices are based on your artistic preferences. Experiment with all of the different effects and pick the ones you like best. Think of the effect each transition will have on your audience. Don’t overdo it. Too many transitions can make you dizzy. Try out your picks on a few colleagues or students. They’ll usually be brutally frank about your slides. That brutality is useful feedback before trying the slides at a conference.
BERK’S TRANSITION PICKS: I frequently use cover and uncover choices from different directions on slow speed so my audience can see the movement. I want to create the sensation of constant movement on the screen and with me (I am a moving target). If you pick "fast," the transition just flies by too fast. I’m also planning on continuing the movement with the heading and content on the slide. That’s the main focus for my audience. (Note: This strategy removes your audience from the image of the stereotypic talking head glued to a lectern with print-infested, immobile slides.)
The next blog will continue with techniques to add movement to words and letters. Are you having fun yet? This is the best part. You know your content. Playing with all of these options permits you to put your indelible mark and unique style on your presentation. I love trying all of the custom features available.
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
