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Contents contributed and discussions participated by merle64

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merle64

Articles: Delivery - 8 views

moodlesw.aeapdonline.org/...view.php

shared by merle64 on 27 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • The first 2-3 minutes of the presentation are the most important. The audience wants to like you and they will give you a few minutes at the beginning to engage them — don’t miss the opportunity. Most presenters fail here because they ramble on too long about superfluous background information or their personal/professional history, etc.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 29 Sep 14
       
      This is true even for presenters who have already established a relationship with the audience.  The presenter still has to work to continue to win the audience over, rather than rest on the success of past presentations.  
  • Get closer to your audience by moving away from or in front of the podium. The podium is a barrier between you and the audience, but the goal of our presentation is to connect with the audience. Removing physical barriers between you and the audience will help you build rapport and make a connection.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 29 Sep 14
       
      I notice that children do this naturally.  They love to scoot up front, as close to my legs as possible.  They're establishing a connection, and that helps them listen, attend, and learn.  
  • To advance your slides and builds, use a small, handheld remote. A handheld remote will allow you to move away from the podium. This is an absolute must.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 29 Sep 14
       
      And carry extra batteries for said remote, too.  It's very easy to forget to turn the remote off after the presentation.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • If your presentation has to be long, break it into 10-minute chunks. "At every 10 minutes or so, try to reengage the audience with something different—don't just keep showing slides," he says. Try inserting a short video clip, introduce a quick demonstration, or have another speaker get up and briefly present. "Try to find some way to break up the presentation into manageable chunks of time," he says, "so people don't get too bored."
    • merle64
      merle64 on 29 Sep 14
       
      Bingo!  This is the key for the longer-scheduled presentations.  Students need opportunities to move, talk, laugh, and share how they're processing what's being presented.  
merle64

Articles: Design - 2 views

moodlesw.aeapdonline.org/...view.php

shared by merle64 on 24 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • The less clutter you have on your slide, the more powerful your visual message will become.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 24 Sep 14
       
      This is a huge takeaway for me--less is truly more. But the "less" needs to be thoughtful, not just less.
  • According to the Segmentation Principle of multimedia learning theory, people comprehend better when information is presented in small chunks or segments.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 24 Sep 14
       
      I wonder if this applies to young children, too, in terms of showing a few slides, then breaking for an activity or application, then returning to a few additional slides?
  • Again, nothing should look accidental. This looks like they were going for the full-bleed background image effect but just missed. Now the software background template can be seen just enough to become a bit of noise
    • merle64
      merle64 on 24 Sep 14
       
      This may look like many of my slides.  I considered that the "border" rather than "noise"--which is a bit like using a scrapbooking model rather than a presentation model.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • So make sure your slides pass what I call the glance test: People should be able to comprehend each one in about three seconds.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 24 Sep 14
       
      This glance test matches with the elevator test taught earlier.  If the presenter is able to pass the elevator test in terms of clarity, the audience should be able to pass the glance test with the slides.
  • If sharing this approach prevents just one audience from suffering through another bullet-point-intensive, “death by PowerPoint” session, my efforts were not in vain.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 24 Sep 14
       
      What a concrete, do-able approach to editing slide text down to the bare bones, or even replacing text entirely with visuals.  
merle64

Articles: Preparation - 8 views

moodlesw.aeapdonline.org/...view.php

shared by merle64 on 21 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Who is the audience?
    • merle64
      merle64 on 21 Sep 14
       
      This is a key question.  In the presentations I do, the audiences are often mixed with adults and children.  I could have infants to 80 year olds, so it' always a challenge to target my talk to the mixed group.  Often, I try to aim for the older elementary kids, but include the preschoolers in a few slides and activities, too.  Asking the audience question of the person in charge of booking the event may not always get me an exact answer, because they too don't know who will attend the event.  So the goal is to create a somewhat universal talk that works for both kids and adults.  
  • If your audience could remember only three things about your presentation,what would you want it to be? (1)__________ (2)__________ (3)__________
  • Who is the audience?
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • “Forget PowerPoint and statistics, to involve people at the deepest level you need to tell stories.”
    • merle64
      merle64 on 21 Sep 14
       
      I agree!  And the stories need to be authentic, and not have a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" or plucked-from-the-internet-last-minute feel.  You don't want people to feel manipulated--they get to choose how the story makes them feel. 
  • Internalize your story, but do not memorize it line by line. You can’t fake it. You believe in your story, or you do not. And if you do not, no amount of hyped-up, superficial enthusiasm or conviction will ever make your time with an audience meaningful. If you do not believe it, do not know it to be true, how can you connect and convince others with your words in story form? Your words will be hollow.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 21 Sep 14
       
      Amen.  "You believe in your story, or you do not." The best stories I've seen told also unveiled a truth about the presenter, even if the story wasn't involving him/her.  It's fascinating to figure out why this story or that story made the cut into the presentation, but most of the time, if the story is a good one, I'm fully absorbed in the story too much for analyzation. : )
merle64

Articles: Presentation "Awakening" - 5 views

moodlesw.aeapdonline.org/...view.php

shared by merle64 on 19 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Research shows that visuals (animation) plus concise, simultaneous narration is better than just narration alone.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 20 Sep 14
       
      A master at this is author and speaker Patrick Lencioni.  His presentations are filled with creative visuals and funny, informative, research-based content that make a person think in new ways.
  • Communication is about 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.)If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 20 Sep 14
       
      I love this!  It is both a gift and an art to be able to successfully help people understand "why you're excited, sad, etc."  And it can't be manufactured--it has to be at least somewhat organic in that the presenter truly has to believe in what he/she is communicating, and see purpose driving it. The audience can perceive inauthenticity quickly.
  • If you believe in your idea, sell it. Make your point as hard as you can and get what you came for. Your audience will thank you for it, because deep down, we all want to be sold.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 20 Sep 14
       
      I would add that some people, depending on their personality, "buy in" easier than others.  Some are intrinsically skeptical at first--and it's a slower process to form a connection with the speaker. Our history also has something to do with this.  If we're used to long-winded, uninteresting speakers, we may form a initial resistance against any presenter.  That makes the presenter's job an even more complex (but fascinating!) challenge.  
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
    • merle64
      merle64 on 21 Sep 14
       
      This is a challenge!  When I'm working with elementary students on writing lessons, I've used real rough drafts of some of my picture book manuscripts to show the evolution from rough draft to finished picture book.  Lots of text, with me reading. If I'm most honest, it's also the time in the presentation when I feel like I'm losing their attention.  I amp up my theatrics, but that's not enough.  There has to be a better way to show visually  how making changes to a rough draft can dramatically improve the text.  
  • Communication is about 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.)If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.
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