Speaker: Barbara Roche
Date: Sunday, 22 May 2011-08-31
Having been in the public service for almost 7 years, powerpoint and good presentation skills seem critical as part of our delivery when we present at meetings. However, after sitting through so many presentations in my career, I often step out of meeting rooms wondering about the impact of powerpoint and how it oftens cripples us in our delivery rather than aiding us. There have been many a time I’ve seen presenters reading off the projector screen not knowing they bore their audience. Sometimes, there are too many words on each slide when the use of a picture (painting a thousand words) can seem to be more appropriate.
I was very engaged throughout Barbara’s session. She started off with some typical powerpoint slides and got the audience to name the common errors that even seasons presenters make. I was proud to say I could name almost every one of the errors. The audience were also awed that I pointed out that two rows of font had different types of spacing between them as seen in this table by table example. There was a mix of 1.5 lines spacing and the spacing between paragraphs were also not standardised. I guess I can only attributed it to being trained to see all the ‘tao-gehs’ (¶¶¶¶) in Microsoft word such that my naked eye can spot these errors.
Common errors in powerpoint presentations: 1) Different fonts used. Decide whether you are using serif or non serif fonts and keep to the same standard throughout the presentation. 2) Do not use too many contrasting colours in one slide. 3) Keep is short and simple | Common errors in powerpoint presentations: 1) Different fonts used. Decide whether you are using serif or non serif fonts and keep to the same standard throughout the presentation. 2) Do not use too many contrasting colours in one slide. 3) Keep it short and simple |
Knowing your content inside and out is only the first step to a great training workshop. Preparation is second, and the third is effective use of audiovisual elements to enhance the learning. If you are guilty of cramming your slides with too much text, or you have a tendency toward "slide overload," this was the right workshop for many of us held guilty. J This was a workshop I found insightful as it made me aware of the pitfalls of a typical powerpoint presentation. For those who are interested, you can view Barbara’s slides here: http://www.astdconference.org/ice11/Custom/Handout/Speaker19709_Session6016_1.pdf
Recently, I also attended a South Asian Diaspora Conference where a speaker, Mr Siddarth Jain from Playware Studios, talked about www.prezi.com. It is heartening to note that the young ones are embarking on technology faster and better than the older generation. Mr Jain talked about how Playware studios have played an integral part in the Futureschools@Singapore project in Canberra Primary School. This software makes use of whiteboards and slides where multiple slides can also be combined onto one slide in a smart way to captivate your audience. I haven’t had a chance to try it as it is not so-easy compatible but I’ve been fiddling around with it on my Mac at home and hope to test a presentation of mine on Prezi in the near future. Stay tuned! J
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