Presentations 6

[franzh]

In my office, I am the only one to use Powerpoint for my lectures and presentations. I find them effective at communicating my message, ease of displaying photographs and charts, and shows that I am trying to keep at cutting edge. My colleagues tend to use overheads, slides, and non-stop lecture using a whiteboard and marker.
When we review our critiques, I tend to receive higher marks for keeping our students attention and making an interesting presentation.
(Note: I used the word "Powerpoint" only because that name has become synonomous with presentations, although there a couple of other equally effective tools.)
What are your success stories / horror stories with presentations? What I would like to do is to provide this forum with more effective means of demonstrating what the lecturer is trying to communicate.
Franz

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[EngJW]

I think things like Powepoint are great when used as a tool to improve communication and lesson the work of preparing a presentation. However, I have seen too many that will knock your socks off with color, fancy graphics, video, music, and all the other bells and whistles, but they are short on what they say. On the other hand, someone who can walk up to a blackboard and "wing it" might do a better job. The information is the important thing. Different people will use the tools that they are most comfortable with.

 

[epoisses]

Yep - electronic presentations show you live in the 21st century, but I've seen horrible examples that show that the tool is not the most important thing. Especially senior VP's appear to be good at presenting badly - I guess it must be the lack of negative feedback above a certain level in the organisation. I've also seen a great example of a presentation where no tools whatsoever were used other than a couple of photos printed on overhead slides, just an enthusiastic guy telling all about his favorite project.

I think presentations are 1/2 body language, 1/3 written content and 1/6 oral content at most (nobody listens as long as they have something to read).

 

[IRstuff]

> direct projection has higher visual quality -- brightness/contrast

> shows that you can manage the technology -- if you can't do that, how can you manage your project?

> some things require videos -- hard to do with slides

TTFN

 

[TheTick]

Powerpoint can save a lot of scribbling. Also, when's the last time a single PowerPoint slide fell out of a folder and got lost?

I did my first PowerPoint recently. The presentation went well. One advantage with PowerPoint was that I could make "sideways" links to slides with more detail before going back to the main presentation track. Then I had the option of using the detail slides only if needed.

BTW this presentation is available at <

http://www.esoxrepublic.com/devtools>

for any SolidWorks API programmers.

 

[Rich2001]

I have utilized PowerPoint type lectures for several years now; I learned early on to have a back up. I make a copy of the presentation on VHS tape. While it does not give you that interaction of PowerPoint it can prove very helpful when you are in a bind.

I am planning on to develop an interactive DVD for a presentation I am giving next year.

I have incorporated interactive MathCAD into my lectures and have utilized the TI Graphing Calculators with a projector. Both technologies let one perform dynamic mathematical calculations rather than a static PowerPoint. I run MathCAD separately, not embedded in PowerPoint. I have had some problems of hanging the computer system.

Additionally, when I taught fulltime, I had a LED sign in my classroom/lab that I had homework assignments, exam dates and other course information scrolling across the screen.

 

[IRstuff]

Rich2001,

You might take a look at what the graphics acceleration is set for. Mathcad is not very tolerant about idiosyncrasies in the graphics acceleration area and will generally work much better with less acceleration.

TTFN

 

[tygerdawg]

I agree with jlwoodward that it's a convenient tool. But I have seen people spend weeks on a whiz-bang PPT presentation that was so whiz-bang that it distracted from the content he was trying to present. Did he add communications value, or burn time?

I give training classes on a variety of technical topics and I always do a PPT presentation on a basic level out of convenience. Sometimes I do a little animation, sometimes I include a movie file. But I ALWAYS insist on a whiteboard with multiple colored pens for drawing impromptu diagrams, walking around the lecture area, and speaking engagingly to the audience, not just reciting a script based on a PPT. It seems to work successfully for me. It is also a good backup strategy for the inevitable worst-case-scenario when computers/projectors die.

TygerDawg

 

[DRWeig]

Gang,

I tend to get the best reviews in my company for presentations, just by following three rules:

1. Keep it really simple, only show on screen what's needed to illustrate point.

2. Have a backup, either for an overhead projector or in one of the forms mentioned above.

3. Never, ever put a screen full of text up there and read it to the audience.

I've found that it can actually take more rehearsing to get a presentation down pat using neat-o visuals, but if I follow the rules I get my points across better. If the topic is fairly long, using some animation tends to help keep the onlookers awake too....

Best to y'all!!

Old Dave

 

[IRstuff]

Our best-ever oral proposal was rehearsed to the second and with the charts memorized so that the presenter only looked at the chart to make sure he was on the correct one or to point out a specific feature.

This makes you very credible. I've seen presenters that would be reading along (bad) and then be surprised by what's on the chart (even worse).

TTFN

 

[franzh]

I have had one presentation for so long, I know by the minute what slide I am on, what it says, and VERY importantly, what slide comes next. It makes for an impressive transition. Also, by rehersing your presentation, you can plan exercises and activities to the minute, plan for breaks, add in film and movie clips for entertainment, then fall back into the show when you are finished. Wiz bang works well to impress your audience. For what its worth, if someone has the talent to develop a wiz-bang presentation, they should be equally as conversant in their field as well. A well done presentation by the author of the content conveys competency.
If we read all the above replies, they are all accurate, and all help to prepare one for the lecture podium.
Franz

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[cardoso115]

There are rules about using power-point. And it's no rocket science...

- You should present information in a direct perceptive way.
- You should not use fancy colors, use one color for the background and one for the letters.
- Don't forget that the presentation is there to help you transmit the information, not to transmit it.

Put the topics and pictures, graphics that will help you articulate your speech and carry a logic line of thinking.

I've been on both sides of the presentation and this helps!

 

[BigH]

Since I've been in India, I've been asked for several presentations - and papers at conferences. I use power point in that I have no one to do the transparencies for me and it saves wasted time of moving and adjusting the transparency on the projector, etc. Since I am a perpetual neophyte in the making of the presentations, I don't use any bells and whistles (nor multiple layers on a slide) although I'd love to have Mile Davis' Kind of Blue playing softly in the background of my presentation!
As for reading - my philosophy is not to regurtitate in my presentation my paper. In other words, they can read the paper; so I make the presentation different - offering more visual aspects of my paper that is difficult to do in the paper - you don't want to weight the paper down with too many photos/figures. It seems to work well.
to all.

 

[buzzp]

I dont do presentations on a regular basis but I find powerpoint does convey your up to speed on technology (at least a little bit). If your using the old overhead projectors (not the digital), this does not sit well for a professional appearance (college lecturers probably do not need to worry about appearance, dont mean that in a bad way either ). Anything on these types of overheads can be made digital pretty easy (even if it is using a scanner).

DrWeig makes an excellent point about having a back-up projector. It reminds me of a time when I had to give a training session (two hours) on our companies products to technicians and engineers. The sales guys set me up with a lap top and told me the motel had a digital projector if I wanted to use powerpoint. I made a powerpoint presentation with many graphs, tables, etc and verified it worked (on my computer). I got to the training location (out of town) and I was scheduled to do an 8am presentation the next day. I got to the conference room early to set-up. After I I finally located some hotel staff they fumbled around to find a projector, they did. The thing must have been one of the very first ones they made. I tried until about 15 minutes past 8 (45 minutes) to get this thing to work and another presenter offered up his companies projector. I felt like a total idiot with 45 people in the room and I am up front sweating it out. I finally did run through the presentation and gave credit for the disaster to the sales guy sitting up front with me. After that, I refused to do any presentations without a new digital projector. I had to tell you my story.

 

[espenevo]

When I use PP or other visual aids, I make a basic presentation containing only the main arguements, drawings and images of the presentation. If you give ppl something to read during your presentation, they read it, so keep slides simple. The rest I am able to improvise during the presentation, because I "cheat".

On my own "handout" print, i make notes on relevant details pertaining to each slide, ideas for elaboration and referances to work collegues have done. I find they usually would be happy to comment or answer questions once I've introduced them and that of course is a lot better than trying to come up with an answer myself.

The result is that you seem knowlegdeable, if you get stuck you have your notes, you always know the next slide - and after presenting it, you know rough timings on each slide so you can note "5 min left" on the relevant page and quickly wrap up if you're running late.

 

[HgTX]

The problem with PowerPoint is it makes preparing slides so easy that people no longer use them just as visual aids but just put their whole talk up there. The built-in bullet/outline format encourages that. It also contributes to the notion that visual aids are not just visual aids but that instead a "talk" should be a full multimedia affair with visuals running parallel to the speech the whole time. (It does make for a handy printout of the slides for the audience to take home as notes, though.)

Of course, PowerPoint doesn't make lousy presentations, people do, but PP seems to make it that much easier for unskilled people to make lousy presentations.

I don't want you to stand there and read to me what I can see for myself on the screen. "Say what you'll say, say it, and say what you said" notwithstanding, even if your first slide is an outline of your talk, you don't need to say, "In this presentation, I will first give an introduction, then I will talk about A, then I will talk about B, then I will give a conclusion."

All that said, there is no reason people can't take what they would have put on overhead transparencies and put it into PowerPoint instead.

As a former teacher, though, I'm kind of a fan of talking in front of a blackboard. Depends on what one's trying to do. Some people just can't talk unless they can draw while they do so, and electronic methods of doing this just aren't commonplace. That's one thing that transparencies have over PowerPoint--the conference facility just hates it when you whip out a marker pen and scribble all over the screen!

I'm actually looking at doing my first conference presentation of the post-PP era in a few weeks, and I'm not at all sure what I'll do. I refuse to have my talk repeated in bullet form on a screen behind me, but I have precious few examples of anything else to draw inspiration from. I'd rather just talk, with the occasional photo or other illustration where needed, but these days you're supposed to have going on on the screen at all times. Feh. Like I'm not enough to look at.

Hg

 

[ivymike]

I actually think that a proper powerpoint presentation (on a technical subject) should include MORE info than is covered verbally, although it needs to be arranged carefully so as not to distract people from the discussion.

Powerpoint presentations are often used in place of formal technical reports these days, and as such they should contain as much linked/embedded information as required to allow someone to come back 5 years later and figure out what all the important points were, what information was used to arrive at the conclusions, etc.

I believe that no conclusion should be left unsupported by written points on the preceding slides. No important point should be made on a slide without having supporting data on the same slide, unless it explicitly references data that was shown on a previous slide. Conclusions based on data/discussion of a slide should be shown on the same slide, whenever possible. Every important point that is included in the discussion should be raised again in a terse format at the end of the presentation, and refs to the original discussion (slide x) help. Before a discussion of analysis results, etc., you should have a lengthy discussion of the reasons for the analysis, the assumptions and inputs to the analysis, and the analysis techniques employed. These can be skipped over during the actual presentation if the audience is familiar with the material, but they're very useful a year later when someone asks "where the heck did you get THAT info?"

You don't have to show every slide while you're talking, but you should have traceability built into every presentation.

PS: wooshing, dinging, fading, flying, or otherwise fancy effects are not to be employed unless they are absolutely the most effective way to get a point across (animated images of vibratory mode shapes, or audio clips of predicted exhaust noise, for example)

 

[HgTX]

The thought of a PP presentation taking the place of a formal technical report makes me depressed.

Hg

 

[TrevorP]

A couple of tips re: presentations.
1) Always do a rehearsal in front of your boss (ideally), or one or two people, who can give you constructive feedback.

2) Agree Powerpoint is a good, slick format, but sometimes it is a problem if you get to a location and there is no projector, or it, or your laptop was broken the day before.
Powerpoint does give you the option to get a printout. If you do this when the presentation is complete, then get a copy for each of the expected participants, a single copy onto transparencies and a single larger scale copy (e.g. A3). Then if the powerpoint projector is not working, you can still use an overhead projector for the transparencies, if available. If nothing is available or working, you can just handout the paper copies, and refer to the larger scale copy yourself, which you should be able to read standing up. If everything works OK with the powerpoint projector, you can give out the handouts at the beginning or the end of your presentation.

 

[ivymike]

The thought of a PP presentation taking the place of a formal technical report makes me depressed.
Welcome to this decade. Sometimes things need to get done quickly nowadays, and duplicating work doesn't help.