Re: Advice on PPT Heading

Subject: Re: Advice on PPT Heading
From: David Farbey <dfarbey -at- yahoo -dot- co -dot- uk>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 08:09:19 +0000

I was going to recommend Presentation Zen, but someone else got there
before me!

What you are describing is a "slideument" (as defined by Garr Reynolds in
his book Presentation Zen), that is, a document made out of slides. It's
not a presentation, and it's not how people learn anything. In my
experience 99% of all presentations everywhere are slideuments. (Many TED
talks belong to the 1% that aren't.)

If your audience need to learn some facts you should direct them to the
page on your website or your intranet where they can read those facts. Or
give them a printed handout. They won't learn by reading bullet points off
a screen. Your talk should explain why learning those facts is important.
The best way of doing that is by telling a story that you make relevant.
You should be able to present your talk with the projector switched off.

None of this is going to help you. You are probably constrained by some
misguided corporate policy, as evidenced by your reference to a corporate
template. You may even be preparing the slides for someone else - maybe
your boss - to present. The time may not yet be right for you to rebel
against the corrupting influence of PowerPoint (see
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html) and you probably
have more important and urgent things to do in your life right now.

Have a good day.

David




David Farbey - david -at- farbey -dot- co -dot- uk
Mobile 07538 420 800
http://about.me/davidfarbey


On 4 December 2014 at 18:43, Sweet, Gregory (HEALTH) <
gregory -dot- sweet -at- health -dot- ny -dot- gov> wrote:

> Trick question! There is no way to make this correct!
>
> If used, slides must add value to a talk, not just present an outline of
> it. Proceed directly to presentationzen.com.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+gregory -dot- sweet=health -dot- ny -dot- gov -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+gregory -dot- sweet=health -dot- ny -dot- gov -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
> > On Behalf Of Ken Weinberg
> > Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 11:36 AM
> > To: TECHWR-L
> > Subject: Advice on PPT Heading
> >
> > Hi, fellow TWs.
> >
> > In the PPT template I've received, on many sides (mostly the bullet
> slides),
> > the Section heading is large and above the smaller Topic heading.
> >
> > For example:
> >
> > ===============
> >
> > FARE VALIDATION
> > Checking the Ticket
> >
> >
> > - bullet 1
> > - bullet 2
> > - bullet 3
> >
> > =====================
> >
> > Two questions:
> > 1) Shouldn't the Section heading be smaller? The Topic is what's
> discussed in
> > the slide!
> > 2) Having both Section and Topic headings seems unnecessary. Should I
> just
> > remove the Section heading altogether?
> >
> > TIA for your advice.
> >
> > Ken Weinberg
> > Sr. Business Analyst, Change Management
> > prestocard.ca
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved
> > teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help |
> > http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa
> >
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> > You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as gregory -dot- sweet -at- health -dot- ny -dot- gov -dot-
> >
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> > techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >
> >
> > Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> > http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
> > and info.
> >
> > Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> online
> > magazine at http://techwhirl.com
> >
> > Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email
> > archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork,
> communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as dfarbey -at- yahoo -dot- co -dot- uk -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1pJ4zPa

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


References:
Advice on PPT Heading: From: Ken Weinberg
RE: Advice on PPT Heading: From: Sweet, Gregory (HEALTH)

Previous by Author: Re: How to mention distant-past experience on a resume?
Next by Author: Re: "Why Policies and Procedures Manuals Are Dead (and what you should replace them with)"
Previous by Thread: RE: Advice on PPT Heading
Next by Thread: "The Machine Journalist: A Technical Writing Blog"


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads