{"id":864,"date":"2010-06-17T15:27:02","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T14:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eat.scm.tees.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=864"},"modified":"2017-01-26T11:07:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T11:07:00","slug":"perfecting-powerpoint-how-can-you-not-read-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tees.ac.uk\/lteonline\/2010\/06\/17\/perfecting-powerpoint-how-can-you-not-read-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfecting PowerPoint (how can you not read this?!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard it, ‘death by powerpoint\u2019, and we know that we might want to do things differently, or even break away from the whole 55 min standupandlecture thing, but it\u2019s just so<\/em> hard to do, right? For myself, I saw a presentation by Dick Hardt<\/a> some time ago that changed how I created presentations, and I\u2019ve done few bullet-pointed ones since, unless absolutely necessary (it\u2019s probably never absolutely necessary, read: when I can\u2019t come up with something more creative in the time!). Dick\u2019s keynote<\/a> (you can fool yourself that it\u2019s easier to do it in an invited keynote than when you have 20 weeks of lecture content to cover if you really want…!) was about identity – digital identity, which I suspect certainly at the time interested me a lot less than identity, but after watching once, not only was I hooked on his style, but I also could remember loads that I now knew about digital identity that I still in fact remember, and that I suspect<\/span> know I\u2019d have had no chance with a death by powerpoint presentation. This is quite a long post, and (yes, it could be several, but then you might not get to the others) it might eventually turn into a bit of a pimp my presentations short course, but it\u2019s worth investing the time in. Honestly!<\/p>\n

To begin with, check out Dick\u2019s presentation, and see how it compares to your powerpoint slides. Don\u2019t make excuses!<\/p>\n

Need reminding\/reflecting back some of what you might<\/span> should have thought? There\u2019s a light hearted version:<\/p>\n

and there\u2019s a powerpoint version (nothing like using the medium!).<\/p>\n

Death by PowerPoint<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
View more presentations<\/a> from www.kapterev.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If you\u2019re now desperate to do things differently, never fear. You may think you have no time to learn anything new, but heroes are at hand. If you\u2019ve never done anything with PowerPoint 2007 other than worry about what\u2019s changed from 2003, then maybe it\u2019s time to grab 5 mins to see how easy it would be to be different. Yes<\/em>, you can find 5 minutes, and yes<\/em>, it could be that easy. Obviously, if you have more than 5 minutes then you can do loads more. I say 5 minutes because some of the very best resources on the web I\u2019ve found in ages is screenr tutorials<\/a> and the Rapid E-learning Blog<\/a> by Tom Kuhlman and David Anderson:<\/p>\n

To ease you in to thinking differently, skim down this advice on client logos<\/a>. Guess the brand here? Obvious, huh?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yes, I know that it\u2019s different on campus, they\u2019re not clients with logos (usually) but the E-learning Team could still help you create some visual theme for your module – from a Blackboard banner to header images to folder icons and Word or PowerPoint templates. Drop us a line! And when you\u2019ve skimmed down past the idea of bullets (if you must!) pause a moment on the screenshots of different ways bulleted info could be displayed on screen. And then scroll back up concentrating on the right hand side of the screen, where there are links to many little video tutorials on creating things for PowerPoint. These videos use Screenr.com, where 5 minutes is the maximum, and that some campus staff have begun experimenting with for really simple screen casting help for students. We do recognise that time is precious, but there\u2019s a whole page of tips here to save time<\/a> which you can re-invest in doing creative things (or recoup, once you\u2019ve invested).<\/p>\n

\"\"Remember that<\/p>\n

To successfully use PowerPoint for rapid elearning, you need to do two things:<\/em><\/p>\n