PowerPoint training/presentation workshops

What about PowerPoint 2016 (Windows)?

October 11, 2015 by Ellen Finkelstein 3 Comments

It’s time for me to talk about PowerPoint 2016, since it’s been out for a few weeks now. Here’s a screenshot of it.

So, what’s new?

Actually, nothing major, in my opinion. but here’s a rundown. You might find something that’s just what you need.

It looks a little different

With each release, the look is a little different. The tab titles are no longer all upper case and have returned to the 2010 (and previous) initial caps. Upper case letters are considered a little harder to read — keep that in mind when creating slide titles.

You have a choice of 3 color variations. The one you see above is called Colorful. To change the “Office Theme” — called that just to confuse you and make it sound like the type of Office theme that lets you create backgrounds, theme colors, and font sets — choose File, Options. In the General category, choose one of the Office Theme options. Here you see the others: Dark Gray and White (which looks like PowerPoint 2013). [Read more…]

Outline for PowerPoint & presentation training workshops

May 28, 2012 by Ellen Finkelstein 1 Comment

I thought I would share with you a brief outline of the workshop/seminar I did in Trinidad. As you can see from the cover slide on the right, it was called “From Death to Life by PowerPoint: How to Create Winning Presentations.” Consider this an outline version of the workshop! If you follow the links in this post, you’ll get some free mini-lessons.

The audiences in Trinidad hadn’t heard of the expression “Death by PowerPoint,” but as soon I said it, they knew what it was. I asked them to volunteer a definition and I got the same types of answers I would hear at home in the United States:

Too much text
Illegible text
Distracting animation
Distracting images
Unorganized content
Reading the slides

We also had a discussion about why presentations were important to them. The reasons varied, because some people were doing sales presentations, others in-house presentations and other training presentations. In the public seminar, some were also doing inspirational/motivational presentations.

We talked about why it’s important to end Death by PowerPoint, and I had my own list:

You won’t achieve your goals, whether selling, persuading or training.
You’ll make your audience hate you
Poor communication can be dangerous (Challenger story)
People will think you’re a poor communicator – it’s bad for your career. Presenting is an important career skill.
You have an important message to convey, so do it well

I started by listing 9 problems, in the categories of Content, Design and Delivery, with many presentations today.

3 problems with content

Not relevant to the audience
Doesn’t meet goals (Paul-Ringo story)
Not organized or logical

3 problems with design [Read more…]

Do you give out prizes when you train? Do you sing and dance?

May 7, 2012 by Ellen Finkelstein 7 Comments

Trainers know that they have to work hard to keep the attention of their students. Recently, someone emailed me and said,

I am a technical trainer… My class varies in attendee background and experience and sometimes I feel the only way I can keep their attention is with a song and dance.

I have had several clients who teach technical, legal, or administrative subjects and say that their audiences think the topic is boring. Often, the trainees are employees who are required to attend, but don’t really want to. These trainers struggle to keep their sessions lively.

Here are some ideas that might help.

Colorful, surprising slides

Make sure that your slides are colorful and interesting. Use lots of images. Use images that surprise. A little shock value is good. Whenever possible, use photos of real people.

For example, one of my clients was discussing a committee that had to approve certain types of research at the University where she worked. I suggested that she take a head shot of each committee member so that researchers would feel more connection with them instead of thinking of the committee as just a bureaucratic process.

Interactivity

Be careful not to be the only one talking. When you interact with audience members, you keep them involves. Interactivity can include:

Aasking the audience questions
Answering their questions
Breaking up into small groups for short exercises
Creating challenging scenarios to work out. Scenarios are what-if situations, such as, “What would you do if a colleague said x and y to you?”

Prizes

In certain situations, it’s appropriate to play games and give out prizes. You can give out prizes for simply answering a question, volunteering to do a role playing game, or anything you want. Make sure the prizes are seen as useful or interesting and that they are appropriate for everyone. (Most men won’t want a makeup kit and most women won’t want a tie.)

And don’t forget about food. One of my clients says that her trainees certainly aren’t happy if she doesn’t provide treats!

What do you do to keep your sessions lively? Leave a comment!

Simon Morton speaks at the Outstanding Presentations Workshop

October 30, 2011 by Ellen Finkelstein Leave a Comment

Simon Morton founded Eyeful Presentations, which offers presentation consultancy and design services for businesses of all sizes from offices in the UK, US and Holland. His topic was “Blended Presenting –Using a Presentation Toolkit to Ensure Greater Audience Engagement.”

Simon started out by saying that PowerPoint abuse is widespread and the answer is not prettier PowerPoint. He talked about the importance of story flow and starting the process of developing your presentation on paper. One main point of his was that not all aspects of the presentation need to be in PowerPoint. An example he gave was Steve Jobs, in his presentation introducing the Mac Air, pulling it out of an office memo envelope.

Two of the non-PowerPoint options Simon mentioned were doing a demo and writing on a flip chart.

One memorable quote:

Delivering a presentation without the audience in mind is like writing a love letter & addressing it “to whom it may concern.”

Jan Schultink speaks at Outstanding Presentations Workshop

October 15, 2011 by Ellen Finkelstein Leave a Comment

Jan Schultink, CEO of Idea Transplant, spoke at the 4th session of the Outstanding Presentations Workshop on “Secrets of a Presentations Designer.”

About slides

Jan’s first topic was about designing slides. Here are some of his points:

Make sure your PowerPoint does not look like PowerPoint.
An image is an emotion stimulus. It makes people remember.
When laying out a slide, centered symmetry doesn’t look good; moving content off-center looks more intersting.
A distracted brain is not paying attention. For example, when you present overdone animation in a boardroom, people will start giggling.
When creating a data chart, strip off as much as possible. For example, round up numbers. Say ~$1.3m, instead of $1,325,728.67. If you need the details, use a printed handout. Keep the design as calm as possible. Add arrows or other highlights to help the audience know where to focus.

About story

Create a framework, a journey to help people remember. Jan used the term “Frankensteining” to mean putting together presentations from several people. Don’t do it!

He suggested that you record yourself presenting and listen. Then ask yourself, “In what order did I tell my story?” The creative process takes time; don’t wait until the last minute.

Blah, blah, blah

That was Jan’s term for buzz words and verbal clutter. He said that it’s the curse of knowledge–the speaker has a hard time explaining what he/she knows to those who don’t.

He talked about sales pitches. People buy with their gut and rationalize later.

Some things to avoid: