TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:re: PowerPoint for the Unenthused From:"Christensen, Kent" <lkchris -at- sandia -dot- gov> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 5 Mar 2002 09:05:55 -0700
re: I may find myself in a situation where I need to quickly become a
PowerPoint guru, to lead an effort to create a series of training
presentations. ... Anybody know any good books for getting some advanced PPT
skills together in a hurry? I know the basics, but will need to become a
power user if this assignment falls on me. (Keith Cronin)
Keith, I suggest you have 99% of what you need because you are a technical
writer. PPT is just another tool, but it gives plenty of opportunity to
practice things like white space, graphics, steps/bullets, etc. And
chunking ... each slide is a "chunk," right?
I'd advise concentrating instead on the "training presentation" portion of
your requirement rather than the tool, because were I to guess, I'd guess
this sounds the most different from everyday tech writing and where you may
indeed not be at 99%. That is, brush up not so much on the PPT tool but
rather on live presentation skills, training design, etc.
And, I'd be enthused about this opportunity, as live presentation for
training is certainly something different, and there can be useful synergy
between it and the usual technical writing, and doing each can sharpen
skills in the other area.
PPT basics are enough. The "flash" was well and truly debunked on the front
page of the Wall Street Journal recently. For some fun with this, see http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/making.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now's a great time to buy RoboHelp! You'll get SnagIt screen capture
software and a $200 onsite training voucher FREE when you buy RoboHelp
Office or RoboHelp Enterprise. Hurry, this offer expires February 28, 2002. www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
