Learning slide design while you drive! Part 1

Since I am not a professional designer, I am always trying to learn more about slide design, usually through reading books and blogs and talking to presenters.  However, you can learn a lot about slide design from roadside billboards and the mini-billboards you see in places like airports (I am in a lot of airports).  I ran across an article a while ago by BPS Outdoor Media (www.bpsoutdoor.com). It outlined their 10 rules of billboard design.  It was interesting so I wanted to share them, and relate the concepts to slide design.  Here are the first 3 of their rules (the other rules will be discussed in later blogs), with… Read More

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She walked to the front and froze

Knowing of my interest in all things related to presenting, my wife told me a story this week. Her teaching colleague, Sara, had the unfortunate experience of “freezing” at the beginning of a presentation. She had done the presentation before, but not to this class. She walked to the front of the room, looked at the 50 students, greeted them, and froze. It was a surprising and difficult experience for her. Freezing in those first moments of a presentation is a physiological reaction to stress – it is the “fight, flight, or freeze” response.  The body releases adrenalin and cortisol into the bloodstream, which in turn causes an increased heart rate, faster… Read More

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I got spurs that jingle jangle jingle…

Have you ever been distracted by a presenter (or someone you are talking to), who jingles coins in their pocket? This always reminds me of the song Jingle Jangle Jingle (written in 1942 by Joseph Lilley and Frank Loesser).   Presenters are often nervous and/or excited about their presentation; this energy can show itself in (distracting) nervous habits.  However you don’t want to distract your audience by fiddling with things in your pocket (like coins!), continuously adjusting your clothes, or playing with objects in your hands. In her book, New Sales Speak: The 9 Biggest Sales Presentations Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, Terry Sjodin (www.sjodincommunications.com) devotes an entire chapter to… Read More

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