Earlier this month I attended a seminar where I was exposed to many presenters and their various presentation styles. One presenter barely referred to his PowerPoint slides at all, instead relying on his dynamic personality and evangelical delivery style to get his message across. Most were seasoned … [Read more...] about Yeah, your kid’s cute. Now what?
Clever image a real distraction during Webinar
Take a look at this image. It's part of a series run in WIRED magazine called "Artifacts from the Future." Every month they feature an imagined everyday object from the future that solves some sort of problem we're having today. It's the first thing I look at every time I get that magazine in the … [Read more...] about Clever image a real distraction during Webinar
“Oh, you didn’t know that?”
How many times have you heard somebody say, "Oh, everybody knows that!" If you happen to belong to the lucky group that "knows that," you may smile and nod sagely. But if you're out of the loop it can make you feel foolish to hear these words. Something happened to me recently that clearly … [Read more...] about “Oh, you didn’t know that?”
The Principals of Copyright
You may have noticed a potential misuse of the word "principal" in the headline of this blog. But it was no accident: the subject of this blog is the new principal of my sons' school. She gave a PowerPoint presentation that violated one of the main principles of the use of copyrighted images: you … [Read more...] about The Principals of Copyright
Get Your Facts Straight
I'll admit it, I was glued to the television for the premiere of Falling Skies, the latest series to tackle life in a post-apocalyptic world. I loved just about everything about it: the premise, the plot, the special effects. But one thing really bothered me, and that was the geographical … [Read more...] about Get Your Facts Straight
Cute Kids Not So Cute During a Presentation
#LFMF I recently spoke about Cheating Death by PowerPoint to a group of businesspeople. I came in early, connected my laptop to the projector, opened up the title slide to my presentation, then proceeded to work the room. After chatting with folks for about twenty minutes, I glanced at the … [Read more...] about Cute Kids Not So Cute During a Presentation
Ugly Templates Make Ugly Presentations
A colleague of my husband's recently forwarded me a PowerPoint template that he was required to use for a presentation he was giving at a particular event (let's call it XYZFest). He was lamenting its many flaws and wondering how he would be able to make a decent presentation from such a lousy … [Read more...] about Ugly Templates Make Ugly Presentations
Doesn’t Anybody Proofread These Things?
I was watching TV the other day, and a commercial for State Farm Insurance came on. It was pretty standard stuff overall, until a shot toward the end where the spokesman is standing in front of a magazine rack. All of the magazines had been mocked up because State Farm didn't want to be seen as … [Read more...] about Doesn’t Anybody Proofread These Things?