Posted: 3/28/2004 10:14:26 AM EDT
| Anybody any good with this? I've been playing around putting some lectures together. Does anyone make an interactive CD to learn this thing? |
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Quoted: [url]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0764539086.01._PE30_PIdp-schmoo2,TopRight,7,-26_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg[/url] [url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764539086/ref=ase_chilkatsoftwa-20/102-8398513-9884968?v=glance&s=books[/url] This series of books are very helpful, once you get over the name. [;)] Jamie |
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I hate powerpoint. I hate going into meetings/presentations where it's used. I hate giving meetings/presentations where it's used. Powerpoint is like all of this crap in our recent digital explosion. Just because the technology is there doesn't mean you need to use it. Just because you CAN build a website, doesn't mean you ought to build one about your lame-ass family. Just like the very existance of powerpoint doesn't mean you should use it. Oh, and if you put little text blocks that fly in from offscreen you should be beaten to death with your laptop and your laser pointer should be shoved up your nose. |
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Quoted: I hate powerpoint. I hate going into meetings/presentations where it's used. I hate giving meetings/presentations where it's used. Powerpoint is like all of this crap in our recent digital explosion. Just because the technology is there doesn't mean you need to use it. Just because you CAN build a website, doesn't mean you ought to build one about your lame-ass family. Just like the very existance of powerpoint doesn't mean you should use it. Oh, and if you put little text blocks that fly in from offscreen you should be beaten to death with your laptop and your laser pointer should be shoved up your nose. A little opinionated are we? Regardless, powerpoint will give me the option to have lectures prepared and ready for easy access on short notice. It also will make my lectures a little more interesting than me standing in front of the class speaking for a couple of hours. I can also include audio visual stuff without having to carry in pictures and such. |
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I've put together quite a few ppts for a class I used to teach. My lectures though were one hour max so not as long as yours. As the old saying goes - just do it. Isn't hard to put one together, just time consuming for the first few. I will agree w/N74 that they can be the most enlightened form of idiocy if not done right. List only main points, flesh out in your lecture. Leave the entertainment stuff for the bar/nightclub crowd - it's supposed to be your information that holds their interest and attention, not the bells and whistles. NMSight |
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Quoted: I hate powerpoint. I hate going into meetings/presentations where it's used. I hate giving meetings/presentations where it's used. Powerpoint is like all of this crap in our recent digital explosion. Just because the technology is there doesn't mean you need to use it. Just because you CAN build a website, doesn't mean you ought to build one about your lame-ass family. Just like the very existance of powerpoint doesn't mean you should use it. Oh, and if you put little text blocks that fly in from offscreen you should be beaten to death with your laptop and your laser pointer should be shoved up your nose. Yeah, I hate getting more enhanced visual stimulus with my classes these days. The ability to integrate a variety of multimeida to enhace and more effectively convey one's subject matter and points just gets me cranky...... Seriously, it's can be a blessing or a curse. You can have a totally ineffective speaker no matter what, if any, presentation materials they are using. Mediocre speakers can me great, and great speakers can be made dynamic if used right. Humdrum material can be made interesting with a variety of multimedia backup in a ppt. presentation. People who think they are actually conveying a point by verbatim cut and pasting of large amounts of text in small type are shortchanging their audience/students. Trying to make people read this is ludacrious. It can also be turned into a detrimental tool to learning. There are those that are enhanced by ppt. and there are those that use it as a crutch, and it shows. You can destroy a lecture just as easily with slides, overhead transparencies or shitty handouts. Did those make you crazy too. Should all lectures be forced to stand alone, on a bare stage with no media to back their words up? Did the ditto machine make you crazy with anger that the knowledge wasn't comeine soley from the moth of your teacher? You didn't enjoy the smell of freshly minted worksheets? People that use the sounds effects and stupid extravagent builds should be wedgied. When, every time a bulleted point enters with car brakes screeching or the letter by letter build of a line of text is accompanied by the machine gun sound, it gets real tired after about .3 nanoseconds. Those that are overly enamored with the technology are missing the point and lose their audience quickly easily. But lectures can be greatly enhanced by ppt. My dad and father in law make a lot of money traveling around the country, lecturing on their respective subject matter using a laptop, a screen and a Boxlight. My dad lectures on tech advanement in the dental field, especially digital cameras and dentist specific computers and software. Kind of stupid subject matter if you didn't have a computer to do so, he lecture entirely at major, read, 300-400 guests per lecture, dental conferences. He'd have no credibilty. It kicks ass when used correctly/effectively. |
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I'm a bit of a PowerPoint expert but having said that the real part of the presentation is the presenter. VEGA: Voice Eye Contact Gestures Attitude More people make more mistakes than they do actually getting it right. I subscribe to a magazine called "Presentations". They've got a matching web site that will give you some guides and walk thoughs. The best tips I can give is to NOT use transistions, annimations, sounds. and more than TWO fonts for the entire presentation unless you're pitching to children. |
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Quoted: I'm a bit of a PowerPoint expert but having said that the real part of the presentation is the presenter. VEGA: Voice Eye Contact Gestures Attitude More people make more mistakes than they do actually getting it right. I subscribe to a magazine called "Presentations". They've got a matching web site that will give you some guides and walk thoughs. The best tips I can give is to NOT use transistions, annimations, sounds. and more than TWO fonts for the entire presentation unless you're pitching to children. What Paul said in spades. I am a PowerPoint expert (used to make charts for the NCA) and can vouch for every point he makes. Also, make sure the colors convey the contect of the content; i.e. if you want it to be seen, bright colors (white, yellow, green), if not (background, secondary info) use darker colors (blue, grey, purple, brown). And don't make charts that you are going to read verbatim. CW |
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I use Powerpoint every day, and have done so since its inception. It's a tool. Some people garble the delivery by relying on gadgetry instead of focusing on the take-away message. I'm not a smart guy. Everything I know about Powerpoint is by osmosis. Sometimes I take constructive criticism to heart and sometimes I could give a rats ass. It is during those times I ignore input, take a day off and go shoot something. Anything to keep know it all O-4s thru O-6s at bay. |
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The problem here is that 99% of the people that use it are horrible speakers, get enamored with the technology, and STILL bore you to death but now with annoying visual and sound effects. If you must use it, keep it simple. Don't put stupid little cartoon characters in it, don't put animation in it that's not part of the presentation, etc. My company gets work by doing presentations. They have made some of the most ridiculous powerpoint presentations I have ever seen. I am honestly amazed that we get any work at all. Powerpoint CAN be a tool, but just like a hammer it's a tool that's good for some things and not for others. A hammer will still remove a bolt, but it's certainly not the best tool for it. Just like you can use powerpoint to make a presentation, but it's not always the best tool for it. I made a presentation in a class when I was in college where several groups had to give presentations. I refused to let my group use powerpoint, and all the others did. When all was said and done, the whole class voted on which presentation was the best, and my group, with transparencies and an old overhead projector, was voted the best. Why? Because our content was the best, and we had people capable of conveying that content. All of the stupid high-tech gizmos in the world aren't going to keep you from being a bore. If you think that you need to have something to hold the student's attention over and above your subject matter, I would strongly suggest changing your content. |
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People that use the sounds effects and stupid extravagent builds should be wedgied. When, every time a bulleted point enters with car brakes screeching or the letter by letter build of a line of text is accompanied by the machine gun sound, it gets real tired after about .3 nanoseconds. The Gospel of Powerpoint, chapter 1, verse 3. If your audience is at all important, and at all intelligent, then shit like that will ensure that for the most part they will take neither you, nor what you are presenting, seriously. It's great if your a HS or College prof with a bunch of kids in the room, but if we're talking about the business realm, it's a big no-no. My last boss was practically in love with the cutesy little tricks, and I can not remember anyone say they liked his presentations (but just about everyone who cared to comment couldn't stand them). My own rule of thumb is this....if working with your slides takes more than 5% of your presentation time, you're not using the tool right. Concentrate more on what you are going to say, and on interacting with your audience in a clear and professional manner. A slick as hell presentation means nothing if you 'um-uh' and fiddle with your slides during it. I generally use the slides more as simply a brief visual cue card to know where I need to be. It shows the people what I am going to speak about, and I use it to track my presentation. I only add graphics if they are absolutely necessary (company logo, program screenshot).....most of my time is spent in front of the people speaking, or answering their questions. I find that that works very well. VEGA is definitely a rule to live by. |