A special thanks to Ken Burns for creating this effect and Presentation Helper who has developed a great tutorial for how you can apply it to your next presentation.  You can now start turning those image heavy slides into shows that not only provides an even better view of your content but also helps engage your viewer, drawing them into the experience.

Since I was young I’ve been working on Macs.  Being a designer has only enhanced this obsession of mine.  I feel that Macs provide a better palette to work from and I’m just more comfortable with my Mac.  And, please let me be clear that I have nothing against those who prefer Microsoft. I do however get frustrated when Microsoft makes it difficult to use their supposedly compatible software.

In the past week alone I’ve come across two situations where I’ve been limited because of their “combatible” software:

• Motion Paths: In the Microsoft version of PPT, both 2003 and 2007, exists this great functionality.  And while, it doesn’t get used very often, there are some great applications. For instance, applying a Ken Burns effect.  The ability to zoom and pan within a presentation, creates an amazing way to intrigue your audience, especially when displaying photos or artwork.  The problem arises in that in the Mac versions, 2004 and 2008, of PPT this function is non-existant. And, it’s unclear as to why.  This function should be contained in the “custom animation” section as it is in the Microsoft version, but it’s not. However, if you have access to a Microsoft machine with PPT you can add this, then transfer to your Mac and it will still play, you just won’t be able to modify it.
• Visio: Never before this week have I had a need for Visio. And, you may not even be aware of it.  Visio is a software branded under the Microsoft Office Suite (although it has never been included in Office) that allows you to create vector diagrams. A very useful tool for companies with in-depth processes to explain.  Unfortunately, Visio is not available for Mac.

In these two instances, and a few others mentioned in previous post, I think Microsoft could do a much better job of making their software more “cross-platform.”  The issues above and others mentioned in previous posts and all across the web, could use some attention. Until then, good luck with porting between these two operating systems.  If you have any ideas of ways to combat these challenges, please post below. Or, if you’ve run into other areas where you think improvement could be used, include that too!

In his book, All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, Godin explains that the most successful marketers don’t talk about features or even benefits, but they stick to stories. Stories relating to a specific audience and how the product/service fits into that audience’s worldview. People want to be able to wrap themselves around the stories they’re being asked to believe.

Some of the questions Godin proposes to help you create your story are below:

• What worldview are you addressing? Unless you can reach those with a specific outlook, all will be lost.
• What frame are you using? How do you position your story so others can be aware, listen and relate to it?
• How will you live your story? Don’t make promises you can’t uphold, remember that you’re long-term success is built on this premise.
• What hard decisions do you need to make to keep your story real, pure and authentic?
• What are the shortcuts your clients will use to help spread your idea to others? Do you have a way to help them with this?
• How can you radically change your product/service so the story is natural and easy to tell?
• How can you use your permission asset? Do you have permission to follow-up with your clients? Can you get feedback from them to help you grow within their worldview?

The Pros:

• Formatting Palette: Instead of having all of your formating options on the bottom of your workspace or in your traditional menu tabs, most of your options are now conveniently placed to the right of your work space. With this new tool, you can easily make changes without having to search through your options. The formatting palette changes options as well, with each different object you select, for instance photos have a different selection of options than do shapes. Another great thing about this is that many more of the lessor used items are now prominently available and easy to use, such as the distribution and sizing functions.
• Quick Styles: If you’ve been waiting for the ability to make “web 2.0-ish” looking graphics for your presentation, you’ll love these. Quick Styles provide a myriad of options, based on your chosen color palette, for treating shapes with just one click. No more wandering through dialog boxes to add just the right amount of reflection, rotation, etc. You also now have the ability to add reflections, glow and 3D-effects. One improvement I can see here however is the ability to have more control over the amount of reflection that is added. Either way, a great and very useful addition.
• Masters: Traditionally, there were only a few different masters slide layouts available by default. Now, your default master comes with eleven different layout options. So you can easily create different layouts for different types of slides, minus the headaches.
• Table Styles: With the old version of PPT, you’d often find yourself spending valuable time changing coloring and styles of your tables to help make them easier to read and distinguish. Now, PPT has done this all for you. Similar to Quick Styles, this function is based on your color palette and provides you with 20+ table layouts to chose from.
• Smart Art: Do you ever find yourself looking for inspiration to make a diagram a bit easier to understand? With Smart Art, there are seven categories (list, process, cycle, hierarchy, relationship, matrix and pyramid) of art choices which are easily laid out and all you have to do is enter the text. This functionality makes it very easy to add a new level of professionalism to your deck.
• Animations: With this version, animations are much easier to control. Especially with audio/video automations. You can now control all you actions in one easy to access place. Even though much of the functionality is the same, it’s much easier to access and apply.

The Cons:

• Speed: Or, lack thereof as it may be. This version of PPT runs much much slower than the 2004 version. And, although there are many more bells and whistles (changing formating palette, graphic treatments, etc) sometimes it’s just not worth it. The program also even has trouble keeping up with the speed of your typing.
• Graphs: Instead of using the old graphing tool, all graphs are now created using Xcel. And while, some may consider this to be a blessing, you’ve then got two separate programs running, even further slowing the actions. The graphs tend to turn out well and have more options in the formating realm. But, this causes a huge problem if you’re working on the deck with someone who has an older version of PPT or vice versa. You can no longer edit the graphs between 2003/4 and 2007/8. Big bummer.
• File Type: Office 2007/8 will automatically save your new files as .pptx or .docx or .xlsx. This means they can only be opened by other 2007/8 versions. Also a huge bummer when working on a document with someone who may not have the new version. Or even worse, if you just want that person to review the doc. There is an option to “save down” however, there are “compatibility reports” that you need to now pay attention to. See, many of the new functions that are so great about the 2007/8 version are non-functional in the older versions.
• Compressing file size on Mac: I just recently ran across this problem and it’s a disappointment. I work on a Mac most of the time and on the 2008 version, the options for reducing files size aren’t as good as they are on the Windows version. In Windows, you can right click any photo, select compress image and a great dialog box pops up. This allows you to select compress this image, or every image in the doc and to delete all cropped sections of images. Which, as you can imaging saves you the hassle of editing photos in another program. In this new version for Mac you’re only allowed to reduce the quality of the images, not delete the cropped areas. And while, it helps a tiny bit, that function really saves when emailing docs back and forth.

Overall, I’m happy with my decision to upgrade. Especially because you aren’t required to delete your old 2003/4 version when you install 2007/8. This means that you will still be able to use the functionality form your old version as well as make edits to your old decks without much hassle. The cons take a little getting used to but the pros make up for most of them. If you’ve had any other experiences, pros/cons, etc. that you’ve run across while making the switch, please leave your comments below.

Randy Pausch is a 47-year old father of three small children and a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University. He is most widely know for his contributions in developing computer programming skills in children. His project Alice has helped hundreds of children learn how to program in the 3-D environment.

Carnegie-Mellon has a program where they often ask professors to give what is called a “last lecture.” This talk is usually a culmination of everything that matters most to the professor. Basically, what would you tell people if this was the last opportunity you had? Randy had agreed to give one of these “last lectures” and just weeks later was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, given only three to six months to live.

Randy used the opportunity of this “last lecture” to leave his kids with an ever lasting look at what means most to him. Not only did he succeed in a big way, but he bottled up more passion in this 90 minute lecture than I’ve ever seen. He does an amazing job of involving the audience, making them feel as though they’ve known him forever. I highly recommend you check out his lecture. Also, I’m happy to report that eight months later Randy is still beating this disease. For more info on randy or to keep up to date on his progress, visit his site.

]]> http://presentationperfect.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/the-importance-of-passion/feed/ 0 ross&lindsay Randy Pausch http://presentationperfect.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/long-overdue/ http://presentationperfect.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/long-overdue/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:48:45 +0000 rossnlindsay http://presentationperfect.wordpress.com/?p=22 ]]> A few weeks back I wrote a post on all the good things I’d been hearing about the book Made to Stick. I’d made a promise to give you all an update when I’d completed the book. And, since writing that, I have been traveling and working like crazy. So, as the title says, I’m very overdue for this review, my apologies.

Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

On a scale of one to five, I give this book a solid four. The Heath brothers did a great job of getting to the meat of what they were trying to communicate. As I’d written before, they have developed an acronym for their strategy: SUCCESs. Meaning Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credentialed, Emotional Stories.  They gave many examples and provided explanations to help achieve each of these goals.  I think the most compelling aspect of the book was that they stuck (no pun intended) to exactly what they were advising. The book was intriguing, concise, easy to follow and most importantly, easy to implement.

They got me thinking quite a bit about how presentations are generally developed.  This is what I ussually see from clients:

Step 1: Make an outline of all the data

Step 2: Organize the data so it’s easy to follow

Step 3: Create presentation based on outline

Step 4: Fill in presentation with graphs and charts to help “sell the story

After reading this book and reviewing hundreds of presentations, this is how I think we should develop them:

Step 1: Determine our three most important points you want to make

Step 2: Order those points from most to least important

Step 3: Create a story or a tangible explanation around each point

Step 4: Develop the visual presentation to enhance the stories/tangible explanations

Step 5: Give people the option of an appendix for all the nitty gritty details

I realize this new format doesn’t lend itself to each type of presentation.  However, the concepts do.  Providing your audience with information that’s easy to swallow and easy to retell can always help your cause.

• Speak to the audience directly:  You often hear that it is a good idea to pick a place in the room and talk to that place.  Generally that place is just over the audience’s head or in the center of the room.  The problem with this idea is that you never have eye contact. Eye contact is what tells each listener that you are actually talking to them.  Try to look at a new person for every thought.  This works great for large and small groups.  In addition, it lets you gauge how involved the audience is and self-correct if they’re slipping away.
• Be Genuine:  Let your personal enthusiasm and excitement show through.  Your audience is much more likely to stay attentive and involved if they see you are.  So, get excited about your topic, and if you can’t you shouldn’t be giving this presentation.
• Use your space:  If you are in front a large group of people, use that space to your advantage. Practice your had gestures and movement. This will help you seem larger and help you to control the room.  Don’t be afraid to walk around.  If you audience is small, still use that motion, just practice it on a smaller scale.   Remember motion create emotion.
• Be Quick:  By paring down your content you will be able to move through your slides much more quickly.   This helps you keep your audience’s attention for the entire presentation as well as stay focused.  Your audience’s time is valuable, they will appreciate when you treat it as such.
• Leave the light on:  Dark rooms are usually reserved for sleep and that’s the last thing you want your audience doing.  Keeping the lights on will not only help keep your audience alert, but you’ll also be able to see their faces better and gauge their attention levels.
• Practice:  Give your presentation in front of a mirror. Watch your motions, facial expressions and general presence. Seeing yourself will help you to easily correct minor things that can otherwise be a distraction to your audience.

With these tips in mind, you’ll find yourself giving the most effective presentations you’ve ever given.