Comments on: PresentationZen

By: CreativeCommons Image Searching « TeachingSagittarian

CreativeCommons Image Searching « TeachingSagittarian — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:12:39 +0000

[...] Image Searching Since becoming more aware about Presentation Zen, the need to search for suitable images has increased. Using images licensed under Creative Commons [...]

By: Heymilly

Heymilly — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:14:16 +0000

This was a great post. In the last holidays our facilitator got to see him speak in NZ and loved the chance. I think the most interesting idea out of all of this is just how powerful visual images are to us. 1 image with no words etc can conjure up all sorts of things and keep us captivated on it. I really like your re-worked slide. I am interested to see how this all translates into the writing workshops you talked about. Amanda

By: Chris Betcher

Chris Betcher — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:26:49 +0000

Too true. Your post is all good advice that I’ve mostly heard before but it was a good memory jogger to see it all written in one place like this. Thanks for the summary.

A couple of years prior to getting advice from the people you mentioned, I liked the work of Cliff Atkinson from Beyond Bullet Points. He also has some useful strategies for using presentation software to persuade and inform.

However, like most things in life, I like to use the advice of people like Atkinson, Reynolds and Godin as a guide, not a rule. While all their advice is pretty much spot-on, there are times to follow the rules and times to break the rules. The trick is to know when those times are.

Thanks for the post.

By: Naketa

Naketa — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:10:31 +0000

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Presentation Zen, I love the example you chose to share. I’ve just purchased myself a copy of the book. Cheers
Naketa

By: Kim Cofino

Kim Cofino — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:54:53 +0000

Wow! What a difference! It is amazing how much the whole experience of a presentation can change when you focus on what’s important and use visuals appropriately.

I really appreciate your statement:

I’ve come to the realisation that the words are on the slides for me, rather than the students…

That’s exactly what I thought after reading the book and looking at my (old) presentations. Now I know that if I focus my presentation on the most important points (rather than just everything I want to share) and if I spend time organizing my thoughts about the topic I don’t need those words as cues anymore. Finding the message within the message and then the right pictures helps me clarify what I want to say to the point that the images become the cues instead of the words.