Tweak Your Slides

Lynda.com: Knowledge Nuggets Galore!

tweakyourslides — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:55:11 +0000

This deck by Mattan Griffel led me to another great find. In my pursuit of owning the Adobe CS5 suite, I have been seeking out the best possible method for me to learn how to use this program more effectively. Griffel suggests that one can learn using his “brute force” learning method, which includes lots of time with online tutorials and podcasts. He shares Lynda.com with his audience. I’ve heard of Lynda.com, but had really to spend any time perusing the site. I did this afternoon. It made me want to do a happy dance. I found exactly what I was looking for, a tutorial on Photoshop, but beyond this, I found an affordable repository of knowledge on all the subjects that I am obsessed with at this point in my career–design, photography, infographics, and information design. Joy!

Photoshop fun

tweakyourslides — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:40:04 +0000

So, I’ve decided to learn to use the Adobe CS5 suite, partly because I realize my Keynote shortcuts actually take much longer than what I can do in Photoshop, and because I know that I cannot take myself seriously as “presentation designer” if I can’t master these designer-tailored programs. Here’s what my tweaking produced. I hope to see much improvement over the next few weeks! Thanks to Rachelle Fox of the Full Sail University English department for an excellent 2 hour tutorial.

Image: Rachelle Fox

Tweak of the Day: Don’t Blame PowerPoint

tweakyourslides — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:38:01 +0000

One of the best ways for online learners of presentation design to really see the difference that good design can make is to ask them to analyze a great deck from Slideshare.net. While there are definitely some forgettable examples on Slideshare, all in all, not only is Slideshare a great way to share your content, projects, and ideas, but it’s also a storehouse of design inspiration. Today’s first selection comes from Clear Presentation Design (whom I am now following). I’m definitely a fan of this users ideas, and I truly appreciate his attention to contrast and unity. I’d love to see a bit more variety between decks. Nevertheless, this is an excellent common sense approach to why laziness is the real cause of horrifically bad PowerPoint.

Nick Morgan’s 5 Stupid Speaker Tricks

tweakyourslides — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:23:17 +0000

I am working on a new deck as part of my bullets kill series, and as I conducted some research on the job search in the age of personal branding and social media presence, I ran across another excellent article by one of my go to sources for all things persuasive public speaking, Dr. Nick Morgan. In this Forbes magazine article, Morgan shares with readers five things presenters need to stop doing now. As someone who has fallen victim (and has victimized others) to these strategies/habits, I concur with Morgan–spread the word, “ You’ll be doing the windowless meeting room world a huge favor (Source).

In the same vein, this video pokes accurate fun at the most common behaviors from both presenters and audience members.

What are your public speaking pet peeves?

Michael Fassbender makes everything better

tweakyourslides — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:11:50 +0000

So, in tweaking my slides for tomorrow, I sought out a strong representation of Kenneth Burke’s concept of identification that was not about Hitler or Martin Luther King. I hit upon the example of Magneto of X-Men, which of course gave me an excellent chance to search for an image of Magneto, and who better to choose than Michael Fassbender (sorry, Sir Ian McKellen..I really really like Fassbender), who most recently portrayed the complicated leader o’ rogue mutants and owner of all things metallic. Magneto uses identification, the seeking out of similarities between a speaker and audience (even when such similarities are unknown or denied), to gain the trust and allegiance of mutants like Mystique. He works to differentiate the mutant, the superior, from the human or inferior. It is this acknowledgement of common superiority that leads to the rift between Magneto and Professor X. I take this slide below as a lovely end to my night of tweaks to tomorrow’s session on rhetoric and persuasion.

The Haiku a Day Tweak

tweakyourslides — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:41:02 +0000

I’ve begun writing a series of haikus, or more accurately, I’ve decided to write one haiku every day for the rest of the year. Here are my contributions for days 1-4.

2/4/2012

Grey-bellied giants

In a furtive sky. Spring brushes

Earth’s brow.

2/5/2012

Last night, I dreamt of

You, but not the you that is

The you that once was.

2/6/12

With spring-like hope, I

await their words. Once uttered,

All I see red.

2/7/2012

Growing mushrooms, while

My bougainvillea sheds

Buds of sunny days.

Tweak of the Day: The SOTU Visualized

tweakyourslides — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:49:50 +0000

As I gear up for slide design day in class, I peruse slideshare.net for examples of the elements of design: contrast, hierarchy, proximity, unity, flow, and whitespace. Here is Obama’s recent SOTU address visualized. Give this rich deck a moment to load!

Why TED matters, why TED works

tweakyourslides — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:07:06 +0000

As I round out this month’s batch of TED speeches, I am reminded of what draws me to TED in the first place. Yes, the ideas are brilliant and worth sharing, but if they were delivered in the same way many meetings, lectures, and “workshops” are, their power would be diminished greatly. No one would listen.

Alex Rister wrote an awesome post introducing novice presenters to s0me basic best practices when working to create a presentation that is memorable and impacting. One suggestion Alex has is that presenters watch TED talks in addition to practicing as often and in as many ways as possible, to develop their delivery prowess:

Watch TED Talks to research the effective delivery techniques of master presenters. Start with Benjamin Zander and Sir Ken Robinson. Record yourself presenting and watch the playback. Present in front of a mirror. Present in front of family and friends before the big speech day. –Alex Rister

This is what sets TEDsters apart; one can tell they appreciate the wonderful moments of resonance they experience, and they want to create similar moments of their own. TEDsters practice because other TEDsters practiced before them. Practice is essential–even when you know your message, you live it, you are it. Practice is key. This is one primary purpose of making TED such a big part of the classroom experience. Students are inspired to know there is a forum for world-changing ideas out there that is not driven by money, power, or a select few.

Instead, TEDsters follow a set of commandments; I believe these are ideas we can all live by as presenters:

Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.
Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.
Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.
Thou Shalt Tell a Story.
Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.
Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee.

I round out my TED experience this month with three talks: Lauren Zalaznick, who embodies the second TED commandment by claiming that television has a social conscience, that it serves as a sort of barometer for social morality; Paul Nicklen, whose moving and raw fascination with the arctic fully fulfills commandment number six; and Charlie Todd, whose study of absurdity as a necessary human experience is a truly remarkable example of commandment three–the commandment that holds TED and TEDx and TED Prize, and TED Fellows, and the millions of us TEDsters together–reveal thy curiosity and passion.

Lauren Zalaznick: The conscience of television

Think TV is just a dismissible ”boob tube”? Think again. Zalaznick gives props to Hans Rosling and using moving, living data to show our movement as a society from moral certainty to ambiguity, our shift from comfort to irreverence and social commentary.

Paul Nicklen: Tales of ice-bound wonderlands

I am a big crier, so it’s no surprise that Nicklen’s love of the arctic, but more than that his love of untouched nature, has me in tears by minute two. Nicklen combines completely immersive imagery, music, storytelling, and raw emotion in a TED talk that truly fulfills the spirit of TED–ideas worth spreading. The big idea: we are quickly losing the species we take for granted as a part of our cultural collective, and it’s the disappearing ice, the result of our actions, that is erasing these wonderlands.

Charlie Todd: The shared experience of absurdity

The kinds of things Charlie Todd does make me nervous. I find the idea of being uncomfortable in public to be…well, uncomfortable. However, I love Todd’s sense of play, his use of absurdity to help us feel comfortable with discomfort. As Todd says, there no right or wrong way to play. Play is a forgotten element in many “formal” presentations, but play is what often keeps your audience motivated enough to listen to the end!

TED on Women: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and Tony Porter

tweakyourslides — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:13:05 +0000

These two TED talks feature some dangerous lies we tell ourselves…

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Women entrepreneurs, example not exception

One of the most dangerous lies we tell ourselves is that women are cooperative, timid creatures who have an aptitude for compromise, teamwork and nurturing. The realm of business has traditionally belonged to men. It wasn’t until 100 years ago that women stomped and fought their way into business. Lemmon believes that women entrepreneurs, who are truly a rule and not an exception are seen as an anomaly, when they should be seen as the norm, and the norm to support and invest in.

Tony Porter: A call to men

The other big lie? Well, it’s a lie we tell our sons, brothers, fathers, and friends. We tell men that they must fit into what Tony Porter calls “the man box.” In this gracious talk (Porter presents as one of the only men attending TEDxWomen), Tony Porter shows us the true meaning of decorum, shocks us with the sadly restrictive role the man box creates for men, and inspires women to consider the gender roles they reinforce for their children.

TED on Food: Jamie Oliver and Nathan Myhrvold

tweakyourslides — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:55:16 +0000

Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize Wish: Teach every child about food

Although Jamie Oliver’s attempt to bring this wish to live through prime time television did not exactly succeed, his TED wish, and his energy and dynamism in conveying this wish–to teach every child about food in an effort to curb the now escalating numbers of obese youth in America–is nevertheless relevant and important. Watch Jamie bring the obesity problem to life through a wheelbarrow full of sugar among other things.

Nathan Myhrvold: Cooking as never seen before

I love to cook; if you know me or even just read this blog, you know I love to make delicious things and then force my treats (like the salted caramel Nutella brownies I’m making tonight) on my friend, family, and students. I owe much of my love of cooking to my father, who explained to me that cooking is chemistry, a series of processes and reactions between elements. So, Nathan Myhrvold’s fascination with cooking, in particular the modernist culinary movement, is right up my alley. His book Modernist Cuisine takes foodies through a journey into the science and beauty of the cooking process. I must have a copy of this book immediately!