Almost everyone has used an image from the web in a presentation at one point or another. But did you know that doing so could constitute copyright infringement? In this video I’ll show you how to search for images that can legally be used for free, thanks to a license called Creative Commons.
You’ve probably seen countless presentations with grainy, pixelated images. That’s because the presenter uses an image with a low resolution – a common mistake when pulling images from Google. Here’s how you ensure that the image you download is the highest quality possible for your presentation.
Recently, there has been some discussion among various presentation blogs on the practice of distributing handouts to accompany presentation slides. (Visit Speaking About Presenting or Phil Presents to get caught up and learn some great tips.) This topic goes hand in hand with my own previous posts on slideuments and docuslides, since most presenters create their slides to also serve as a handout (resulting in slideuments), while a few presenters present their documents (resulting in docuslides).
The problem with both slideuments and docuslides is a misunderstanding of how information should be presented. As I have explained before, lectures and presentations primarily utilize oral information with visual supplements. Documents – papers, essays, books, etc. – are primarily textual information. Documents are meant to be information dense, while slides are not.
Let me restate this more transparently:
It really is that simple! If you are e-mailing, mailing, distributing handouts, or otherwise delivering information which will stand on it’s own, it does not make sense to use PowerPoint or other slideware to create the document!
One solution to slideuments is to create both a document and accompanying slides – and it doesn’t take as much work as you might think.
Some time ago I was required to write a final paper and give a presentation on the same topic for my biology class. I chose to research sustainable practices for healthy living. First, I wrote my paper using Apple’s Pages (a word processor similar to Microsoft Word). Once that was complete, I then began to select the important points that I would cover in my presentation. I created a slidedeck using the same titles, images, and order of topics.
Click here to download the full paper: Biology 100 Final Paper
You can download the slides by visiting Slideshare.net.
Everyone has heard the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Turns out, it’s true. Written language has evolved over the years from cave drawings and paintings. Indeed, text is nothing more than a series of very simple pictures. For this reason, the brain takes considerably longer to decode strings of text (i.e. bulleted sentences) than it does single words or short statements. In other words, pictures are faster at conveying information than words – at least when we’re talking about concepts and ideas (detailed data is difficult to convey via words or pictures – which is why scientific papers turn to tables and charts).
Here are two steps you can take to use less text.
1. Whittle your titles. Take the time to reduce slide titles down to their core meaning. This will remove clutter and superfluous information that can confuse and distract your students. Use short, concise titles to get the main point across. Then fill in the gaps while lecturing. This allows the student to understand the context which aids in better retention of the details you provide.
Oftentimes, I find a lot of redundancy in slide titles throughout a lecture. For instance, “Using Peer Mentors to Drive Students Toward Deeper Learning and Productive Reflective Writing” could become “Peer Mentors Improve Learning.”
“What Do Professional Learning Communities Have to Do With Factoring A Trinomial?” could become “Math and Society” or “The Role of Math in Society.”
“A History of the Culture of Tea in Britain” might be simplified as “British Tea Culture.”
2. Remove bulleted text. Bullets on a slide often serve only as lecture notes to prompt the professor and are not necessary for the students. Sure, they need to know the information, but you’re going to explain the important concepts during the lecture. If you need those notes while you’re presenting, cut and paste them into the Presenter Notes in your slideware. You can then print off the slides as lecture notes or use Presenter Mode while in class. Remember, guns don’t kill people, bullets kill people.
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.
Watch it here or on Vimeo.
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.
