I was asked just a week and a half ago to help two faculty members prepare some slides for a conference they would be presenting at in Montreal. I knew it would be a challenge, but after hearing a little bit more I was very interested and agreed.
Then I gathered a few more details. They were presenting a 4-hour workshop in under 2 weeks! I realized this would be a much larger project than I anticipated. But it has been a great learning experience.
Pat Esplin and Dr. Stefinee Pinnegar were great to work with. They were excited about their work and accepting of my suggestions and changes. Pat openly admitted to me upfront that she used PowerPoint as her notes. “We have too much text and too many slides! I know we’re going to have to cut something out.” I was excited to hear that because it meant we were on the same page. Even better, when I asked why they called me, they said it was because they both had seen my work at the ELL Symposium a month or so ago and wanted their presentations to look similar.
Here is a sampling of the slides before and after the makeover.
I just came across this video that I watched quite a while ago. It’s a humorous take on the very serious problem of PowerPoint misuse. I like it because, personally, I am so passionate about the need to rethink slides that I think others may be taken aback at first.
Humor helps people relax. They become less defensive and allow themselves to be a little more vulnerable. This, in turn, helps them to be more open to change.
Watch the video and see how easy it is to agree with Don.
According to Don McMillan, here is a humorous & yet insightful viewpoint on how people (teachers included) should not be using PowerPoint.
After my previous post, I thought I would quickly share how I used Flickr’s CreativeCommons section to find high quality images to use in presentations.
Did you know you can find free, high-quality images that have been licensed for re-use? I will explain how to search for them at Flickr.com and use them in your presentation.
I was studying for my chemistry class when I got the sudden urge to see how difficult it would be to redesign just a few slides from a recent deck on Acids, Bases, pH, etc.
Altogether, this took around 20 minutes to recreate the 2 slides (which then became 5).
I began searching for images on iStockPhoto.com but then realized I should try looking in Flickr’s Creative Commons library. It was so easy! If I have more time, I will continue to do mini-makeovers of my lecture slides or other presentations I come across.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone said that about your presentation? What if your next lecture excited a student so much that they just couldn’t wait to get home and do something about it?
I can tell you that it probably won’t happen using traditional lecture slides and the monologue-like teaching style. It takes emotion to make someone feel like they “must finish by acting.”
