Editing oral presentations

Reading quiz

Why does Tufte think PowerPoint is evil?

Annot bib assignmentsAuthor Editor 1 Editor 2

Emily Cunningham Lauren Thompson Toni ManfrediMelissa Curra Lyndsey Stuchel Brittany ProctorBrian Havens Jason Wallace Leigh SimpsonRachel Jack Emily Cunningham Chris SnipesAnousone Kettisack Melissa Curra Lauren ThompsonToni Manfredi Brian Havens Lyndsey StuchelBrittany Proctor Rachel Jack Jason Wallace

Leigh Simpson Anousone Kettisack Emily CunninghamChris Snipes Toni Manfredi Melissa CurraLauren Thompson Brittany Proctor Brian HavensLyndsey Stuchel Leigh Simpson Rachel Jack

Jason Wallace Chris Snipes Anousone Kettisack

Helpdesk video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFAWR6hzZek

Presentation content

“Presentations do not have a problem with lack of information. Most of the time there is too much. The biggest issue is the way you present your PowerPoint presentation.”

Many presenters think, "If it's new and dynamic; it will make my PowerPoint presentation much better."

Problem of slides & phrases

“When information is stacked in time, it is difficult to understand context and evaluate relationships.”

People learn and gain understanding by forming relationships, not by memorizing stuff

Proper slide design

Audience centered design is key Ensure text is for the audience, not the

speaker Ensure that the audience can understand the

text without the speaker being there.

A consistent theme is that presenters acknowledge the importance of audience, but don't bother to don't consciously apply it. You should have heard repeatedly how rhetoric is all about understanding the audience. What have you learned in concrete terms about how to understand and design for an audience? (I'm thinking here of going beyond statements like "I'm always concerned that I use words the audience knows." Duh, but how do you know what words the audience knows?). How much of communication failure stems from failing to understand the audience needs? And for that matter, much superficial audience analysis tends to be demographics (ages 25-30, most of college education, etc).

PowerPoint is evil

Turns everything into bullet points Everything becomes phrase Format over content “PowerPoint is a competent slide manager

and projector. But rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it.”

Is Tufte right that PowerPoint is evil? Is the the software designed such that it almost ensures a bad presentation? Is it a great example of giving an untrained person a powerful tool is ensuring disaster? So what is the fundamental problem with why PowerPoint is getting a bad rap? People used overheads for many years and they never got the same reputation. How did the move to computer cause such problems?

Making the slides

Design for the audience, not the speaker Highlight the essence of the talk. Give enough information so the slide can

be understood without the reader having heard the talk

Making the slides

Don’t use transitions.And, if you do, use only 1 transition type

Match the background to the talk.Beach scenes don’t fit your communication topic

Watch the use of colors or the text might be hard to read

Making the slides

Clip art does not make a good slide. Make the graphics contribute to the

presentation. One topic per slide. You don’t have to put

fill the slide with bullets.

Making slides

Most Internet ‘how sources’ are wrong– Use short sentences, not short phrases.

Making the slides

Keep audience oriented The presentation should have

– title slide (includes your name)– overview slide– body slides– summary slide

Information slides

Support for your talk; the slide is not the entire thing

Highlight the important points that the listener should take away

Giving a real long phrase or sentence is very hard for the listener to process and also interferes with the talk

Not speaker notes

Include important points that the listener should take away

Often slides are notes to the speaker that are not relevant to the audience

Slides should make sense to a person who has not attended the talk.

Typical speaker note slide

EthnographyInitial interviewsBuilding scenariosGroup discussionsVerification

Does this make sense to anyone but the speaker?

Watch transitions

Slide transitions are often distracting. Never use more than one for the entire

presentation. Definitely not a different one between each slide.

Avoid adding each bullet one at a time. This is very distracting to the audience.

Short sample presentation

•What not to do

Journal overview

Design

Fonts White space Headings

Fonts

Fonts– Give interest– Readable

White space Heading

– Larger than text– Orient reader

End