PowerPoint Perfection

All the presentations that were presented last week were spectacular. Everyone did a great job, and each PowerPoint was very unique and special in its own way. There were a few in particular however that really interested me both in their design and their content. The first was Katie Leonard’s. Katie chose a topic that I am very passionate about and share the hopes of being involved in some day. Katie researched and presented about international development and the different facets of this process. She included some great information, and formatted it in such a way that was clear and easy to understand. I think that simply based on the topic she chose, Katie was able to invite the audience to share in her concern for international development, yet she did a great job presenting as well. The second presentation that I was very impressed by was Lindsay Marotta’s. Her topic choice was so creative and I could tell she was very passionate about art therapy. Her original idea was matched with her artistic design and use of resources. She included very nice images and animations, and I really enjoyed the music she incorporated. Aside from the great design and care for detail, Lindsay included great information that helped me to learn about art therapy, something I had never heard of before. Overall, all the presentations were great!

PowerPoint Blog

The majority of the information presented in the three articles we read was common knowledge, yet I was reminded of a few tips that I had forgotten about, and even learned a few new things that I had formerly not considered significant in the PowerPoint development process. I was most impressed by Seth Godins article, "Really Bad PowerPoint" because he included some valuable information concerning the emotional engagement that each PowerPoint presentation should induce. I think that he makes a good point when he says that PowerPoints often become merely reports and fails to communicate the ideas which he defines as "getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are)". I think it was helpful to be reminded that communication is not simply presenting information and allowing the audience to respond, instead communication is igniting activity in both sides of the brain and interacting with the audience to convey your ideas. Godins says "You can use the screen to talk emotionally to the audience’s right brain (through their eyes), and your words can go through the audience’s ears to talk to their left brain" and I believe that with a well throughout PowerPoint this is completely feasible.

When creating a PowerPoint Presentation, whether it be for a school project, a business meeting, or a sales pitch, the following rules are great guidelines that will help anyone ensure that their PowerPoint is engaging and convincing.

1) Avoid at all costs including large chunks of text. Bullet points are a much better alternative, but remember that even bullet points are sometimes unnecessary. The information should be coming from your own spoken words and the PowerPoint is there to help support your claim with images and videos.

2) Don't go color crazy! Professional presentations typically use muted and coordinating colors with perhaps a few accent colors to add a little color. Too much color however takes away from the main focal point of the presentation and can tend to "cheapen" the show.

3) Limiting and coordinating colors does not mean however to make the slideshow boring. Often times, images and videos can be great enhancements to any presentation. Beware, however, don't use too many animations and wild transitions because, again, they detract from the vital information.

4) A good presentation is well-rehearsed and the presenter is prepared with note cards in case they should slip up. There is an option to print notes on the PowerPoint program and this might be a good ideas especially if the show is lengthy.

5) Along these same lines, remember to print out some sort of summary or notes for the audience to take with them after your presentation. While they may seem engaged and interested during the presentation, they will easily forget the moment they leave the office and printing them out your slides would be nearly useless (assuming you created a GOOD PowerPoint) without you to present. Thus, a sheet of notes and main points to hand out after is probably a good idea.

GOOD LUCK!

Excellent Exel

Prior to this class, Excel had always been a program that was difficult for me to navigate. I had dabbled with using it in my senior year in high school, yet I knew very little about the features and “quick tips” of the program. For instance, I never knew about locking cells, absolute cell preference, or even that my graphs and charts could be “special copied” to a Powerpoint presentation in its original Excel format. The knowledge that I gained about Excel throughout the past few weeks has been very beneficial in other aspects of my college career. Over spring break I organized an Excel spreadsheet containing all my financial aid information so that I could budget for next year and organize my scholarships. Using the formula for a running balance was very helpful because by the end of the sheet, I could calculate exactly how much more money I needed to pay for the rest of the year and see all my calculations in a clear and organized manner.
In the future I hope to become an anesthesiologist. I know that Excel will be a vital resource for bookkeeping and organizing of any office, especially a doctor’s office which has to keep organized the information of hundreds or even thousands of patients. Before I reach that point, I am certain that I will use Excel throughout the next three years of my college career. Undoubtedly in my classes like Chemistry and Physics where there is often a large amount of data collected in labs and often many calculations that need to be made, Excel and the skills I learned will come in handy. I am so glad that we have worked with Excel so much because this program offers a lot of different features that are very helpful and make organization a lot easier.

CLT: The hidden treasure of Trinity's Library

Wow! I was so impressed by the presentation Mr. Chapman made of the facilities down in the dungeon of our own library. It was rather ironic that we toured CLT when we did, because just days prior I had visited resource center to watch a film for my Spanish class. Although I had merely watched a DVD on one of the nice wide screens, I had been very interested in what other resources were available. Unfortunately, I wasn't adventurous enough to ask or even explore myself the programs available so I left CLT with only a small scope of what it offers to us students. After our tour and presentation however, I realized that CLT is an excellent place for students of all skill levels to be introduced to new programs, gain experience, or even perfect their skills. I was especially pleased to learn that the technicians that work in CLT are so friendly and eager to help students that have perhaps never worked with any of the programs. As of right now, I think that CLT offers for me personally a quiet study place, and a center for watching films on large screens, but I hope that as I spend more time down there I will have the opportunity to explore the myriad of programs they have. I was especially interested in the film editing programs that are on the computers because my floormates and I are preparing to record a video, yet we have no experience with editing. Furthermore, I know that over the course of my four years here at Trinity I am bound to have other assignments that will most definitely require speciality programs like those available in CLT. My goal is to gain some experience with these programs before being assigned a project that requires them so I will have some sort of comfort level with them. Look out Robert Chapman! I'm going to be coming in and asking for some expert help!

PRETTY PICTURE. Or is it?

I chose a picture that was featured in a campaign add for President George W. Bush in 2004. The photo includes a sea of soldiers all apparently in support for President with a child holding an American flag in the middle of the picture. The soldiers had been copied and pasted so as to cover up the image of George W. Bush speaking at a podium. In this case, the photograph appears much more pure, a pure patriotism in the absence of the candidate that I think can reach deeper than a picture of the candidate himself. Often, valiant, inspiring images are used as a symbol for the candidate and the candidate themselves don't even need to be pictured; instead, their name can be associated with the inspiring image. I chose this picture because its influence was much more than a trivial enlarged cricket, or even the face of a celebrity on a model's body. This manipulated picture holds value, and potentially had the power to affect our country's leadership. While one ad may not have drastically altered the elections, I think that it most definitely could have affected some voters. This was undoubtedly what the editors were attempting to achieve. They hoped that by creating a scene in which soldiers and civilians were showing their patriotism and support for George W. Bush as president, they could persuade some voters that voting for Bush was a reputable choice and highly promoted by our military forces. I think that this manipulation was smart, although I'm not sure I agree with the motives behind it. While I don't think the manipulation was necessarily dangerous, I think that the outcomes could potentially be dangerous because people could be deceived or mislead into voting for someone that may not be the best person for the job. I should hope that the American people however, are not basing their presidential votes on a few images they see. If that is the case, we have bigger problems than a few manipulated photographs in the news.

To view the picture and many other manipulated images please visit: http://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-9.html?tag=mncol