The ready about powerpoint was pretty good. Although, I feel that powerpoint can be a man’s best friend or his worst friend. I have seen many presenters that have made really good powerpoints and kept it interesting. That’s when it can be your friend, when you know how to make a good powerpoint. When you aren’t very good at using powerpoint, it is definitely your worst enemy. I’ve had one teacher that I really liked because he was really good at explaining things, but when he started the powerpoint, it was bad. His powerpoint always looked the same; plain white screen and black writing, never any visuals or nothing. It becomes really hard to pay attention no matter how good the teacher is. This is why I believe it can be good or bad.

When it comes to objects for your presentation, I completely agree with that. I feel it is really good to have a visual for the people you are presenting too. The only thing I don’t like about passing around items is that sometimes it can take away from the presenter. I feel when you have an object that you want to pass around, you have to pick a time to do that when it’s not going to take away from the actually presentation.

The powerpoint reading were also very interesting. I HATE POWERPOINT! I can’t stand what it has become and how it has permeated itself through every aspect of business, military, and school. Just coming from the military, we had a saying when we looked at the schedule and saw 8 hours of training: “Death by Powerpoint” . After sitting there looking at the same rudimentary and haphazardly put together slides where the only thing that changes is the clipart, my mind would go numb and I would often find myself counting ceiling tiles. The importance of interaction between the speaker and the audience not only enables those present to learn more, but it also makes it…….Interesting!

I also strongly agree with the use of objects. It’s easy to talk about an object and show pictures of it, but to actually feel or hold something can really drive the relation between mind and matter. When I used to give training, I kept my powerpoints short and sweet but had many objects being passed around and studied that kept my crowd engaged.

Chart

As you can see from this chart, the ideal handout/person ratio is a value of 1 (1 handout per person). I also graphed 1 handout per class, which is independent of class size.

While creating handouts, you may use bold, italic, or underlined fonts, but never all three at the same time.

Keep your handout simple.

• dont use bullet points.

Above all, a handout should compliment your presentation, not take away your audience’s attention from what you have to say.

Just wanted to highlight some important points from the readings (and video) we were assigned to read for class today.

The first link, Creating Quality Handouts, gave many good points why using handouts are important when presenting to an audience. Though you may feel that people will throw away your handout, many people will actually take the time to read it if it is a well-designed handout. As a presenter, it creates a positive impression before the presentation begins, it keeps the audience’s attention focused on the subject, it simplifies and navigates complex information, and it provides the audience with a good summary and review. As an audience member, you can concentrate on the idea without having to take notes, you can hear, see and apply the presentation, you can retain new ideas longer, and you can find the information when you need it at a later time.

The second link, How to write a Presentation Handout: 5 Effective Ideas, clearly explained five effective things to keep in mind while creating a presentation handout

1. Keep it to one page

People are more likely to read something that is short

2. Keep your presentation story-line

Don’t introduce new elements, stick to the story.

3. Use images if you can

Pictures make it easier for people to associate the presentation to

4. Add some “further reading”

Add a further reading section to the handout in case people are
interested in learning more about additional information that cannot be
given in the presentation

5. Add contact detail

People won’t associate handout with a business card so it is always good
to put information about you on the handout

After learning about handouts, now it’s time to summarize articles on the use, or when Not to use PowerPoint . This article gives seven reasons when not to use PowerPoint.  I’m not going to extensively talk about each one of the reasons, but what I gathered from this article was that when you don’t have a lot of time to prepare or to deliver a presentation, you should avoid using a PowerPoint. When you want to connect with your audience on an emotional and personal level, avoid using PowerPoint. When you want audience participation, avoid using PowerPoint.

The article, Speech Critiques, explains why we should study other speakers and use video critiques. I think that it is a good idea to video tape yourself before presenting in front of a live audience. This way you will see what your tendencies are when speaking. For example, some people have a bad habit of using their hands too much for emphasis, or not moving their hands at all. As well as using video for practicing, it is also good to record your presentation when you are giving it in class. That way, you can refer to precise moments from the presentation. It is also a good idea to study and evaluate the techniques of other speakers. You can incorporate your own style of speaking as well as other ideas you may have learned from watching someone else.

Watch in 720p fullscreen for maximum effect.

Main Point: Wages may be down, but total compensation has not dropped much.

This graph is confusing because the amount of people with credit in the different age groups can vary greatly.