Chapter 17 Business Communications

Figure 17.5 Writing Text for Slides

-Effective text slides are clear, simple guides that help the audience understand and remember the speaker's message. Notice the progression toward simplicity in these slides: Figure 17.5a is a paragraph that would distract the audience for an extended period. Figure 17.5b offers concise, readable bullets, although too many slides in a row in this structured design would become tedious. Figure 17.5c distills the message down to a single thought that is complete on its own but doesn't convey all the information from the original and would need embellishment from the speaker. Figure 17.5d pushes this to the extreme, with only the core piece of the message to serve as an "exclamation point" for the spoken message. Figure 17.5c and especially Figure 17.5d could be more even more powerful with a well-chosen visual that illustrates the idea of following the flow.

Adding Animation and Multimedia

4 Categories of Animation & Special Effects: -Today's presentation software offers a wide array of options for livening up your slides, including sound, animation, video clips, transition effects from one slide to the next, and hyperlinks to websites and other resources. As with every other visual element, the key is to make sure any effects you use support your message. Always consider the impact that all these effects will have on your audience members and their desire to understand your message. -Functional Animation: PowerPoint and other presentation packages offer a mind-boggling set of tools for moving and changing things on screen. Although you can animate just about everything in a presentation, resist the temptation to do so. Make sure each animation has a purpose. Remember:-Static graphic elements & animated elements are either functional or decorative. -Each bullet point flying in from the left isn't functional value. -A highlight arrow or color bar moving for specific emphasis in a technical diagram is functional. -Coordinate animation with your points. Demonstration of sequences & procedures: -Carefully controlled functional animation is helpful. -A training session on machinery repair, you can show a schematic diagram of the machinery, walking audience through each step of the troubleshooting process, highlighting each step on screen as you address it verbally. -Transitions & Builds: In addition to animating specific elements on your slides, you can choose from various options for adding motion between slides. These slide transitions control how one slide replaces another on screen. Subtle transitions can ease your viewers' gaze from one slide to the next. Builds are much more useful than transitions, at least when used with care and thought. These effects control the release of text, graphics, and other elements on individual slides. Remember: -Transitions currently available (checkerboards, pinwheels, & spinning "newsflashes", like miniature animated shows) are distracting. -If using a transition effect, stick with throughout the presentation (so that audiences won't wonder whether there's some significance to a new transition at some point during the presentation), & choose the effect carefully. -Goal: a smooth, subtle effect that's easy on the eye. -Unless it adds value, don't use a sound effect. Regarding builds: -Can make a list of bullet points appear one at a time rather vs all of them appearing at once, which makes focusing on a single point difficult. -Controlled release of info helps draw audience members' attention to the point being discussed & keeps them from reading ahead. -Stick to subtle, basic options. -Purpose: Release info in a controlled fashion. -Useful option is changing the color of bullet points as you discuss each one. -If primary text used is a strong blue, you may have text in each bullet point change to a light gray after you've finished talking about it. -Can control the build activity with a mouse or a remote control device. Experiment with the options in your software to find the most effective build scheme. -Can build up graphical elements. -If discussing monthly sales of 3 products over the past year, a line graph of the first product appear by itself while you discuss it, then click the mouse to display the second product's sales line, then the third. -Hyperlinks: Hyperlinks and action buttons can be quite handy when you need flexibility in your presentations or want to share different kinds of files with the audience. A hyperlink instructs your computer to jump to another slide in your presentation, to a website, or to another program entirely. Depending on your presentation software, hyperlinks can be underlined text, invisible hotspots in graphical elements, or clearly labeled action buttons. Using hyperlinks: -Give a linear presentation some of the flexibility of a nonlinear presentation. -If in sales and call on a variety of customers, you can't be sure what sort of situation you'll encounter at each customer's site. -Might be prepared to give an in-depth technical presentation to a group of engineers, only to have the company president walk in and request a brief financial overview instead. -Might prepare a set of detailed technical slides but not show them unless the audience asks detailed questions. -Another challenge: finding out at the last minute that you've less time than you thought to make your presentation. -If you've built in some flexibility, you won't need to rush through your entire presentation or scramble on the spot to find the most important slides. -Instead, simply click an action button labeled "Five-minute overview" & jump right to the two or three most important slides in your presentation. -Can even switch from the indirect approach to the direct approach or vice versa, based on the responses from your audience. -Can adjust your presentation at a moment's notice, looking polished & professional while you do it. -Multimedia Elements: Multimedia elements offer the ultimate in active presentations. Using audio and video clips can be an effective way to complement your live message, such as including a recorded message from a company executive or scenes from a customer focus group. Keep these elements brief and relevant—as supporting points for your presentation, not as replacements for it.

Table 17.1

Color choices can also stimulate various emotions. To excite audiences, add warm colors, such as red & orange. For a more relaxed & receptive environment, blue is a better choice. Remember, color may have a different meaning in certain cultures.

Chapt 17 Checklist

Plan your presentation visuals. -Make sure you and your message, not your visuals, remain the focus of your presentation. -Select your visuals carefully to support your message; use a combo of visuals if needed. -Review your plan for each visual to make sure it truly supports your message. -Follow effective design principles, with an emphasis on accuracy and simplicity. -Use your time wisely so that you have plenty of time to practice your presentation. Choose structured or free-form slides. -Structured slides using bullet-point templates are easy to create, require little time or skill to design, and can be completed in a hurry. Best uses: routine, internal presentations. -Primary disadvantages of structured slides are mind-numbing repetition of bullet-point format and the common tendency of stuffing too much information on them. -Free-form slides make it easier to combine textual and visual information, to create a more dynamic and engaging experience, and to maintain a conversational connection with the audience. Best uses: motivational, educational, and persuasive presentations. -Primary disadvantages of structured slides are the time, skill, and imagery required; added responsibilities for the speaker; and the possibility of fragmenting complex topics. Design effective slides. -If you can, avoid creating "slideuments," slides that are so packed with information that they can be read as standalone documents. -Use color to emphasize important ideas, create contrast, isolate visual elements, and convey intended nonverbal signals. -Limit color to a few compatible choices and use them consistently. -Make sure your slide background doesn't compete with the foreground. -Use decorative artwork sparingly and only to support your message. -Emphasize functional artwork—photos, technical drawings, charts, and other visual elements containing information that is part of your message. -Choose typefaces that are easy to read on screen; limit the number of typefaces and use them consistently. -Use slide masters to maintain consistency throughout your presentation. Create effective slide content. -Write content that will be readable from everywhere in the room. -Write short, active, parallel phrases that support, not replace, your spoken message. -Avoid complete sentences unless you need to quote verbatim. -Limit the amount of text so that your audience can focus on listening, not reading. -Simplify print graphics for use on slides but don't oversimplify. -Use functional animation when it can support your message. -Make sure slide transitions are subtle, if used at all. -Use builds carefully to control the release of information. -Use hyperlinks and action buttons to add flexibility to your presentation. -Incorporate multimedia elements that can help engage your audience and deliver your message. Complete slides and support materials. -Review every slide carefully to ensure accuracy, consistency, and clarity. -Make sure that all slides are fully operational. -Use the slide sorter to verify and adjust the sequence of slides, if needed. -Have a backup plan in case your slide plan fails. -Create navigation and support slides. -Create handouts to give the audience additional information and to minimize the amount of information you need to put on your slides.

Selecting Design Elements

To design effective slides, remember the six principles of effective design: consistency, contrast, balance, emphasis, convention, and simplicity. -Pay close attention to these principles as you select the design elements for your slides: -Color is a critical design element, far more than mere decoration. It grabs the viewer's attention, emphasizes important ideas, creates contrast, and isolates slide elements. Color sends a powerful nonverbal message, too, whether it's elegance, technical sophistication, fiscal prudence, or hipster trendiness. You can study this effect as you view various websites or advertisements, for instance. A palette of cool grays and blues "says" something different from a palette of warm oranges and browns, which says something different from a palette of hot pink and lime green. -Color can also play in the overall acceptance of the message. Research Shows: -Color visuals can account for 60% of an audience's acceptance or rejection of an idea. -Color can increase willingness to read by up to 80%. -Can enhance learning & improve retention by more than 75%. Selecting Color: -Limit choices to a few compatible ones, keeping in mind that some colors work better together than others. -Contrasting colors increase readability, when selecting colors for backgrounds, titles, & text, avoid choosing those that are close in hue, such as brown on green or blue on purple. -Presenting in a dark room, use dark colors such as blue for the background, a midrange of brightness for illustrations, & light colors for text. -Presenting in well-lit rooms, reverse the colors: Use light colors for the background & dark colors for text. -If there's some reason to change colors between slides, don't switch back & forth from very dark to very bright; the effect is jarring to the audience's eyes. -Artwork: Every slide has two layers or levels of visual elements: the background and foreground. The background is the equivalent of paper in a printed report and often stays the same from slide to slide, particularly with structured designs. The foreground contains the unique text and graphic elements that make up each individual slide. The background should stay in the background, not compete with the foreground. Keep in mind: -In general, the less the background does, the better. -Nancy Duarte explains, the background "should be open, spacious, and simple." -Cluttered/flashy backgrounds distract from the message. -Be careful when using the design templates that come with your software. -Many have backgrounds that are too busy or too playful for business use. -Bear in mind that a background isn't required, other than perhaps a solid color to set type & images against. Backgrounds/Foregrounds: -Background (all artwork is essentially decorative) -Foreground (artwork can be either functional or decorative) -Functional artwork (photos, technical drawings, charts, & other visual elements containing info that's part of your message) -Decorative artwork (doesn't deliver textual or numerical info, & it may or may not be helpful. Helpful if it establishes an appropriate emotional tone or amplifies the message of a slide, in part because simple, high-impact images are easier to remember than text. Usually the least important element of any slide, but it often causes the most trouble. It must add value.) -Clip art (collections of drawings you can insert in slides & other documents, is probably the biggest troublemaker of them all. can find thousands of pieces of free clip art in presentation software or online, but few of them have any info value, & many give your slides an unprofessional, cartoony appearance.) Typefaces and Type Styles: When selecting typefaces and type styles for slides, follow these guidelines: -Avoid script or decorative typefaces, except for limited, special uses. -Use serif typefaces with care and only with larger text. (San serif) -Limit the number of typefaces to one or two per slide. -When using thinner typefaces, use boldface so that letters don't disappear on screen. -Avoid most italicized type; it is usually difficult to read when projected. -Avoid all-capitalized words and phrases. -Allow extra white space between lines of text. -Be consistent with typefaces, type styles, colors, and sizes. Selecting Type Sizes: -consider the room(s) in which you'll be presenting -The farther the audience is from the screen, the larger your type must be in order to be readable from everywhere in the room. -Guy Kawasaki (investor & author) has sat through hundreds & hundreds of presentations, suggests using no type smaller than 30 points. -Doing so not only ensures readable slides but forces you to distill every idea down to its essential core, simply because you won't have space to be wordy. -After you've selected your fonts & type styles, test them for readability by viewing sample slides from your audience's viewing location. -If you don't have access to the meeting room, a clever way to test readability at your computer is to stand back as many feet from the screen as your screen size in inches (17 feet for a 17-inch screen, for example).

Maintaining Design Consistency

-Audiences start to assign meaning to visual elements beginning with your first slide. For instance, if the first slide presents the most important information in dark red, 36-point, Arial typeface, your audience will expect the same type treatment for the most important information on the remaining slides as well. Don't force viewers to repeatedly figure out the meaning of design elements by making arbitrary changes from slide to slide. -Fortunately, presentation software makes consistency easy to achieve, particularly for structured slide designs. You simply adjust the slide master using the colors, fonts, and other design elements you've chosen; these choices will then automatically show up on every slide in the presentation. In addition, you can maintain consistency by choosing a predefined layout from those available in your software—which helps ensure that bulleted lists, charts, graphics, and other elements show up in predictable places on each slide. Something as simple as switching from a single column of bullet points to two columns can cause problems for readers as they try to figure out the meaning of the new arrangement. The less work readers have to do to interpret your slide designs, the more attention they can give to your message.

Using Mobile Devices in Presentations & Completing Slides and Support Materials

-Eliminate Projection System -Use Slide Broadcast Systems -Send via Subscription -Smartphones and tablets offer a variety of ways to enhance presentations for presenters as well as audience members (see Figure 17.6). For example, you can get around the problem of everyone in the audience not having a clear view of the screen by using systems that broadcast your slides to tablets and smartphones. In fact, these systems can eliminate a conventional projection system entirely; everyone in the audience can view your slides on their mobile devices. You can also broadcast a live presentation to mobile users anywhere in the world. Each time you advance to a new slide, it is sent to the phone or tablet of everyone who is subscribed to your presentation. -L O 17.5 Explain the role of navigation slides, support slides, and handouts. -Just as you would review any message for content, style, tone, readability, clarity, and conciseness, you should apply the same quality control to your slides and other visuals.

Creating Effective Handouts

-Handouts, any printed materials you give the audience to supplement your talk, should be considered an integral part of your presentation strategy. Plan them in tandem with your presentation slides so that you use each medium as effectively as possible. Your presentation should paint the big picture, convey and connect major ideas, set the emotional tone, and rouse the audience to action (if that is relevant to your talk). Your handouts can then carry the rest of the information load, providing the supporting details that audience members can consume at their own speed, on their own time. You won't need to worry about stuffing every detail into your slides because you have the more appropriate medium of printed documents to do that. Possibilities for good handout content Recommendations: -Complex charts and diagrams. Charts and tables that are too unwieldy for the screen or that demand thorough analysis make good handouts. -Articles and technical papers. Magazine articles that supplement the information in your presentation make good handout materials, as do technical papers that provide in-depth coverage of the material you've highlighted in your presentation. -Case studies. Summaries of business case studies can make good supplemental reading material. -Recommended resources. Lists of websites, blogs, and other online resources related to your topic can be useful. For each source, provide a URL and a one- or two-sentence summary of its content. -Copies of presentation slides. Audiences often like to have print versions of the slides used by a speaker, containing the speaker's comments about each slide and blank lines for note taking. Use the page and print setup options in your software to choose the more useful arrangement.

Planning Your Presentation Visuals

-L O 17.1 Explain the role of visuals in business presentations, and list the types of visuals commonly used. -The three-step development process in Chapter 16 helps ensure that you have a well-crafted, audience-focused message. The techniques in this chapter, which reflect the advice offered by experts such as Nancy Duarte (profiled in the chapter-opening Communication Close-Up), will help you enhance the delivery of that message with creative and effective visuals. -Visuals can improve the quality and impact of any presentation by creating interest, illustrating points that are difficult to explain with words alone, adding variety, and increasing the audience's ability to absorb and remember information. Behavioral research has shown that visuals can improve learning by up to 400% because humans can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. -Remember that the purpose of visuals is to support your spoken message, not replace it.

Choosing Structured or Free-Form Slides

-L O 17.2 Explain the difference between structured & free-form slides, and suggest when each design strategy is more appropriate. -The most important design choice you face when creating slides is whether to use conventional structured slides or the looser, free-form slides that many presentation specialists now advocate. Compare the two rows of slides in Figure 17.2. The structured slides in the top row follow the same basic format throughout the presentation; in fact, they're based directly on the templates built into PowerPoint, which tend to feature lots of bullet points. -The free-form slides in the bottom row don't follow a rigid structure. However, choosing a free-form design strategy doesn't mean you should just randomly change the design from one slide to the next. Effectively designed slides should still be unified by design elements such as color and typeface selections, as Figures 17.2c and 17.2d show. Also, note how Figure 17.2d combines visual and textual messages to convey the point about listening without criticizing. This complementary approach of pictures and words is a highlight of free-form design. -Compare the rigid, predictable design of the two slides in the top row with the free-form designs in the bottom row. Although the two free-form slides don't follow the same design structure, they are visually linked by color and font choices. As you compare these two styles, you can imagine how free-form designs require more slides to cover the same subject and require the speaker to convey more of the message. (Note that Figure 17.2d is a lighthearted but effective way of conveying the first bullet point in Figure 17.2b)

Designing Effective Slides

-L O 17.3 Outline the decisions involved in using a key visual and selecting color, artwork, and typefaces to create effective slide designs. -Businesspeople have had to sit through so many poorly conceived presentations that you may hear the phrase "death by PowerPoint" to describe the agony of sitting through dull, slide-heavy presentations. -The problem isn't with any particular, presentation program. It's with how well its used. -Lack of design awareness. -Inadequate training.-Schedule pressures. -Instinct to continue with prior habits. -The practice of treating slide sets as standalone documents that can be read on their own, without a presenter. (Slideuments) -Slideuments-hybrids that try to function as both presentation visuals & printed documents often don't work well as either: They usually have too much info to be effective visuals & too little to be effective reports (in addition to being clumsy to read). The Ideal Situation: -create an effective slide set -create a separate handout document that provides additional details & supporting info Alternative: -use the notes field in your presentation software to include your speaking notes for each slide. -Anyone who gets a copy of your slides can at least follow along by reading your notes, although you'll probably need to edit & expand them to make them understandable by others. Slideuments Only Option: -Emphasize clarity & simplicity. -To avoid overpacked slides make more slides. -Remember slides primary purpose is to support the presentation.

Creating Effective Slide Content

-L O 17.4 Explain how to create effective slide content. -With some design fundamentals in mind, you're ready to create the textual and visual content for your slides. For every slide, remember to watch out for information overload. When slides have too much content—textual, visual, or both—particularly for several slides in a row, viewers can't process the incoming information fast enough to make sense of it and eventually tune out. Keep your slides clear and easy to grasp, and pace the flow of information at a speed that lets people connect your ideas from one slide to the next.

Using Presentation Software to Create Visual Reports & Visual Reports Using Presentation Software

-Look and feel of a document instead of a presentation slide Create visual reports: -Combo of a conventional report and presentation slides -Effective and appealing communication tool -Visual reports are documents made using presentation software, but they are intended to be read like documents, not projected as presentation slides. -Presentation software can be used to create visual reports that are designed to be read as other documents, rather than being projected as presentation slides.

Writing Readable Content

-One of the most common mistakes beginners make—and one of the chief criticisms leveled at structured slide designs in general—is stuffing slides with too much text. Doing so overloads the audience with too much information too fast, takes attention away from the speaker by forcing people to read more, and requires the presenter to use smaller type. -Effective text slides supplement your words and help the audience follow the flow of ideas. In a sense, slide text serves as the headings and subheadings for your presentation. Accordingly, choose words and short phrases that help your audience follow the flow of ideas, without forcing them to read in depth. You want your audience to listen, not to read. Use your slides to highlight key points, summarize and preview your message, signal major shifts in thought, illustrate concepts, or help create interest in your spoken message. If the audience can benefit from additional written information, provide those details in handouts. When writing content for text slides, keep your message short and simple (see Figure 17.5): -Limit each slide to one thought, concept, or idea (without dividing things so far that the audience has trouble seeing the big picture). -Limit text content to four or five lines with four or five words per line. For selected slides, it might make sense to exceed these limits, but do so infrequently. -Don't show a large number of text-heavy slides in a row; give the audience some visual relief. -Write short, bulleted phrases rather than long sentences. -Use sentences only when you need to share a quotation or some other text item verbatim. -Phrase list items in parallel grammatical form to facilitate quick reading. -Use the active voice. -Include short, informative titles. -When combining visuals with text, the more information the visual can convey, the less work your text needs to do.

Selecting the Type of Visuals to Use

-Remember your visuals aren't your presentation. They're there to support & clarify your message. You can select from a variety of visuals to enhance presentations, each with unique advantages and disadvantages: -Prezis. Chapter 16 discusses the differences between linear and nonlinear presentations, with Prezis as the dominant example of nonlinear presentations. The biggest advantages of Prezis are flexibility (both in how you structure your visuals and in how you access them during your presentation), the ability to incorporate video and other media elements, and a more dynamic look and feel than conventional slide shows. Disadvantages: -Fewer design options. -The chance of viewers "losing the plot" as the presenter jumps from topic to topic. -Possibility of viewers feeling dizzy or even getting motion sickness if zooming is overused. -Slides. Slides created with PowerPoint or similar programs have a number of advantages: They are easy to create and edit (at least for simple slides), designs are easy to customize, and slides are easy to incorporate into online meetings and webcasts. The biggest potential disadvantage of slides is the linear nature of the presentation. Changing the flow of the presentation or jumping to specific slides is more difficult in presentation software than it is with a Prezi. Note: -For both Prezi & slide software, the disadvantages sometimes mentioned are usually a result of how the tools are used, rather than limitations in the software itself. -Overhead transparencies. Overhead transparencies are the very definition of old school, but they do have advantages. They can be created with nothing more than a marking pen, they don't require the latest computer or projection equipment, you can write on them during a presentation, and they never malfunction. Disadvantages: -They're limited to static displays. -They're virtually impossible to edit once you've printed them. -You need to have the right equipment. -You or a partner must stand next to the projector throughout the entire presentation. -Chalkboards and whiteboards. Chalkboards and whiteboards are effective tools for recording points made during small-group sessions. With digital whiteboards, you can print, save, and share copies of whatever is written, too. -Flip charts. Flip charts are another dependable low-tech tool for meetings and presentations. They are great for recording comments and questions during a presentation or for creating a "group memory" during brainstorming sessions, keeping track of all the ideas the team generates. -Other visuals. Be creative when choosing visuals to support your presentation. A video of a focus group talking about your company can have much more impact than a series of text slides that summarize what the group said. In technical or scientific presentations, a sample of a product or material lets your audience experience your subject directly. Options that've been done: -Designers & architects use mock-ups & models to help people envision what a final creation will look like. Options to consider: -incorporate other software into your presentation, such as a live spreadsheet to show financial data or a computer-aided design program to show a new product's design. -If demonstrating the use of a software program, you can create a screencast that shows the software in action. -Screencasting software also lets you add on-screen annotations and record an audio track to explain what is happening on screen. Remember: Presentation slides & Prezis are the most common visual supports, but don't limit yourself.

Verifying Your Design Plans

-Review the Plan -Check Presentation Style -Double-Check Cultural Assumptions -Keep It Simple -Use Your Time Wisely -After you've chosen the medium or media for your visuals, think through your presentation plan carefully before you start creating anything. Discerning audience members—the sort of people who can influence the direction of your career—are not easily fooled by visual razzle-dazzle. If your analysis is shaky or your conclusions are suspect, an over-the-top visual production won't help your presentation succeed. Review the plan for each visual and ask yourself how it will help your audience understand and appreciate your message. -Next, make sure your presentation style is appropriate for the subject matter, the audience, and the setting (see Figure 17.1). Take the time to double-check any cultural assumptions that might be inappropriate. Are you highlighting with a color that has negative emotional connotations in your audience's culture? Would your materials be too playful for a serious audience? Too serious for an audience that values creativity? -When it comes time to make design choices, from selecting fonts to deciding whether to include a photo, remember the advice from Chapter 16 and designers such as Garr Reynolds: Let simplicity be your guide. Doing so has several advantages. First, creating simple materials often takes less time. Second, simple visuals reduce the chances of distraction and misinterpretation. Third, the more complex your presentation, the more likely something might go wrong. -Finally, use your time wisely. Presentation software seems to encourage experimentation and fiddling around with details and special effects, which can eat up hours of time you probably don't have. Based on your audience and the situation, decide up front how much visual design is sufficient for your purpose and then stop when you get there. Use the time you'll save to rehearse your presentation—practice is far more important than minor design issues on your slides. Figure 17.1: Presentation software lets you create a variety of visual styles, from quiet and plain to bold and busy. These four slides contain the same text but send different nonverbal messages. Make sure you choose a style that is appropriate for your audience and your message.

Structured Slides

-Structured slides have the advantage of being easy to create; you simply choose an overall design scheme for the presentation, select a template for a new slide, and start typing. If you're in a schedule crunch, going the structured route might save the day because at least you'll have something ready to show. Given the speed and ease of creating them, structured slides can be a more practical choice for routine presentations such as project status updates. -In short structured slides are usually the best choice for project updates & other routine info presentations, particularly if the slides are intended to be used only once. -Also, because more info can usually be packed onto each slide, carefully designed structured slides can be more effective at conveying complex ideas or sets of interrelated data to the right audiences. For example, if you're talking to a group of executives who must decide where to make budget cuts across the company's eight divisions, at some point in the presentation they'll probably want to see summary data for all eight divisions on a single slide for easy comparison. Such a slide would be overcrowded by the usual definition, but this might be the only practical way to get a "big picture" view of the situation. (The best solution is probably some high-level, summary slides supported by a detailed handout, as "Creating Effective Handouts" on page 502 explains.) -The primary disadvantage of structured design is the mind-numbing effect of text-heavy slides that all look alike. Slide after slide of dense, highly structured bullet points with no visual relief can put an audience to sleep.

Designing Slides Around a Key Visual

-Structuring -Organizing -Explaining -With both structured and free-form design strategies, it is often helpful to structure specific slides around a key visual that helps organize and explain the points you are trying to make. For example, a pyramid suggests a hierarchical relationship, and a circular flow diagram emphasizes that the final stage in a process loops back to the beginning of the process. Figure 17.3 shows six of the many types of visual designs you can use to organize info on a slide. Figure 17.3: Simple graphical elements such as these "SmartArt" images in Microsoft PowerPoint make it easy to organize slide content using a key visual. Whether you're trying to convey the relationship of ideas in a hierarchy, a linear process, a circular process, or just about any other configuration, a key visual can work in tandem with your written and spoken messages to help audiences get your message.

Distributing the Handouts

-Timing -Nature of Content -Personal Preference -Timing the distribution of handouts depends on their content, the nature of your presentation, and your personal preference. Some speakers like to distribute handout copies of their slides before the presentation begins so that the audience can take notes on them. Doing so can be risky, however, particularly if you've organized your talk with the indirect approach, because the audience can read ahead and reach the conclusion and recommendations before you're able to build up to them yourself. Other speakers simply advise the audience of the types of information covered in handouts but delay distributing anything until they have finished speaking.

Free-Form Slides

-With appropriate imagery and thoughtful design, free-form designs can create a more dynamic and engaging experience for the audience. A key disadvantage of free-form slide designs is the time and effort that can be required to create effective presentations without the built-in structure of slide templates. Well-designed free-form slides help viewers understand, process, and remember the speaker's message while keeping the focus on what the speaker is saying. Advantages: Criteria for successful presentations: -1st providing complementary info through both textual and visual means. -2nd limiting the amount of info delivered at any one time to prevent cognitive overload. -3rd helping viewers process info by identifying priorities & connections, such as by highlighting the most important data points in a graph. Keep in Mind: -Well-designed structured slides can also meet these criteria, but the constraints of prebuilt templates make doing so more of a challenge. General Benefits: -Due to their ability to excite & engage they're good when used for, motivational, educational, & persuasive presentations—particularly when the slides will be used multiple times & therefore compensate for the extra time & effort required to create them. Remember: -Making use of animation capabilities in Powerpoint or Keynote, it's possible to create some of the dynamic, flowing feel of a Prezi. Disadvantages: -1st effectively designing slides with both visual & textual elements is more creatively demanding & time consuming than simply typing text into preformatted templates. Visual emphasis requires more images & thus time. -2nd because far less textual info tends to be displayed on screen, the speaker is responsible for conveying more of the content. Ideally this is how a presentation should work, but circumstances can be less than ideal. -3rd if not handled carefully, the division of info into smaller chunks can make it difficult to present complex subjects in a cohesive, integrated manner. Example, discussing a problem with 5 interrelated causes, adding a conventional bullet-point slide as a summary & reminder after discussing each problem separately might be helpful.

Chapt 17 Vocab

1. Structured slides-Presentation slides that follow the same design templates throughout & give all the slides in a presentation the same general look; they emphasize textual info in bullet-point form. 2. Free-form slides-Presentation slides that aren't based on a template, often with each slide having a unique look but unified by typeface, color & other design choices; tend to be much more visually oriented than structured slides. 3. Builds-Effects that control the release of text, graphics, & other elements on individual slides. 4. Hyperlinks-Link embedded in a presentation that instructs your computer to jump to another slide in your presentation, to a website, or to another program. 5. Navigation slides-Noncontent slides that tell your audience where you're going & where you've been. 6. Slide transitions-Software effects that control how one slide replaces another on screen.

Reviewing the Slides

As you look over your presentation for the final time, make sure that all visuals are: -Readable. Can text be read from the back of the room? Does the text stand out from the background? -Consistent. Are colors and design elements used consistently? -Simple. Is each slide and the entire presentation as simple as possible? Can you eliminate any slides? -Audience centered. Are the message and the design focused on the audience? -Clear. Is the main point of a slide obvious? Easy to understand? Can the audience grasp the main point in just a few seconds? -Concise and grammatical. Is text written in concise phrases? Are bulleted phrases grammatically parallel? -Focused. Does each slide cover only one thought, concept, or idea (or summarize a group of related ideas)? Does the slide grab the viewer's attention in the right place and support the key points of the message? Are arrows, symbols, or other techniques used to draw the audience's attention to the key sections of a chart or diagram? -Fully operational. Have you verified every slide in your presentation? Do all the animations and other special effects work as you intended? -The slide sorter view (different programs have different names for this feature) lets you see some or all of the slides in your presentation on a single screen. Use this view to add and delete slides, reposition slides, check slides for design consistency, and verify the operation of any effects. Moreover, the slide sorter is a great way to review the flow of your story. Make sure have a backup plan: -Printed handouts for audience. -Backup equipment with presentation slides on it. -Be able to go with out presentation slides. -Last resort give presentation "on paper".

Creating Charts and Tables for Slides

Charts and tables for presentations need to be simpler than visuals for printed documents. Detailed images that look fine on the printed page can be too dense and too complicated for presentations. Remember that your audience will view your slides from across the room—not from a foot or two away, as you do while you create them. Don't force the audience to study your charts and graphs in order to get the message. Follow these guidelines: -Reduce the detail. Eliminate anything that is not absolutely essential to the message. If necessary, break information into more than one slide. If a deeper level of detail is helpful or necessary, hand out printed visuals that people can review during or after the presentation. -Simplify. For example, if a bar chart is segmented by week, don't write "Week of 12/01," "Week of 12/08," and so on. Use the "Week of" label once and then just include the dates. Similarly, you might be able to remove the vertical scale from the left side of the chart and just show individual values above each bar. -Shorten numbers. If doing so doesn't hide essential details, you can round off numbers such as $12,500.72 to $12 or $12.5 and then label the axis to indicate thousands. -Limit the amount of data shown. Line charts look busy when they have more than two or three lines, bar charts look crowded with more than five or six bars, and tables are difficult to read if they have too many rows or columns. -Highlight key points. Use arrows, boldface type, and color to direct your audience's eyes to the main point of a visual. Summarize the intent of the graphic in one clear title, such as "Earnings up by 15%." -Adjust the size and design. Modify the size of a graphic to accommodate the size of a slide. Leave plenty of white space so that audience members can view and interpret content from a distance. Use colors that stand out from the slide's background and choose a typeface for labels that is clear and easy to read.

Holograms

Executive meeting of the global mgmt & tech consulting firm Accenture: In attendance, Through what & How: -CEO Pierre Nanterme (from Paris through 3D holograms) -HR Chief Ellyn Shook (from NYC through 3D holograms) -Holograms possible by hyper-advanced information network. Location of meeting: -Chicago Accenture: -On the leading edge of communication technology, including the use of advanced telepresence facilities that help its huge workforce stay connected from outposts all over the world. -Nanterme would like to, but can't meet frequently with employees in person, because there are 375,000 of them spread over 120 counties. Holograms: -Vastly oversimplified, in this context holograms are created by scanning a person or an object with a laser, transmitting the resulting data to a second location, then re-creating the person or object as a 3D "figure." -Figure is made entirely of light, but today's systems can make that figure look extremely lifelike. -Researchers at the University of Tokyo invented a system combining holograms with ultrasonic haptic technology that simulates the sensation of touch, making it possible to "touch" a hologram. Ending: -Few companies have the resources to pull off what Accenture can do with holograms, & as a technology consulting firm, it has other business reasons to keep pushing the limits of technology. -If hologram use moves into the mainstream, however, it could change the way far-flung companies communicate. -Holograms are already being used in such areas as research & product design, letting people interact with objects that aren't really there.

Figure 17.7

Here are two of the ways you can use a blueprint slide as a navigational aid to help your audience stay on track with the presentation. Fig 17.7A visually "mutes" and checks off the sections of the presentation that have already been covered. In contrast, Fig 17.7B uses a sliding highlight box to indicate the next section to be covered.

Duarte (pg 485)

Intro to company: -Silicon Valley firm that specializes in presentation design. Nancy Duarte: -CEO/founder of Duarte Nancy Duarte's Advice: -Found in her books/presentations. -Provides advice on creating more compelling presentation slides. -Suggests five principles of effective slide design that echo the audience-centered approach. Duarte's 5 principles advice: -1st make your presentation about your audience & their needs. (Don't make it all about you & how clever you are) (Use slides & other visuals to aid) -2nd don't try to transfer truckloads of data & info to your audience. (Focus on sharing meaning & connecting with audiences at an emotional level) (Use images & videos to humanize, but strive for simplicity) -3rd use your visual medium to full effect. (Don't rely heavily on verbal content) (Many people respond better to visual content & representations of ideas) (For each major point in your presentation, see if there's a way to present the key info visually) -4th think design, not decoration. (When choosing fonts, colors, artwork, animation, & other visual elements, consider how each piece can support the meaning you want your audience to receive) -5th remember that slides & other visuals are simply part of the channel between you & your audience. (Slides are a conduit for ideas, meaning, & inspiration. Not a centerpiece of a presentation)

Figure 17.8 (2 of 2)

Left This slide introduces three key points the speaker wants to emphasize in this particular section. Right: This slide shows a linear flow of ideas, each with bulleted subpoints. This side could be revealed one section at a time to help the speaker keep the audience's attention focused on a single topic. Left. This flowchart packs a lot of information onto one slide, but seeing the sequence of events in one place is essential. Right This simple visual highlights the presenter's spoken message about being careful to choose the right tasks to focus on and then completing them quickly. These slides, from a presentation that addresses a company's high employee turnover rate, illustrate the wide variety of design options you have for creating effective, appealing slides. (All the slides were created using features in PowerPoint.) (2 of 2)

Creating Navigation and Support Slides

Now that the content slides are ready, enhance your presentation with several slides that add "finish" to your presentation and provide additional info to benefit your audience: -Title slide(s). Make a good first impression on your audience with one or two title slides, the equivalent of a report's cover and title page. A title slide should contain the title of your presentation (and subtitle, if appropriate), your name, your department affiliation (for internal audiences), and your company affiliation (for external audiences). You may also include the presentation date and an appropriate graphic element. Depending on the amount of info you need to convey at this point, two title slides might be appropriate: one focusing on the topic of the presentation and a second with your affiliation and other info. This second slide can also be used to introduce the speaker and list his or her credentials. -Agenda & program details. You can use these slides to communicate the agenda for your presentation and any additional info your audience might need. Because presentations pull your audience members away from their daily routines and work responsibilities, they can have questions about anything from break times or lunch plans to the password needed to log onto the facility's wireless network. By answering these questions at the beginning of your presentation, you'll minimize disruptions later and help the audience stay focused on your message. -Navigation slides. To tell your audience where you're going and where you've been, you can use a series of navigation slides based on your outline or agenda. This technique is most useful in longer presentations with several major sections. As you complete each section, repeat the slide but indicate which material has been covered and which section you are about to begin (see Figure 17.7). This sort of slide is sometimes referred to as a moving blueprint. You can then use the original slide again in the close of your presentation to review the points you've covered. As an alternative to the repeating agenda slide, you can insert a simple bumper slide at each major section break, announcing the title of the section you're about to begin.

Figure 17.4

Slide artwork can carry your message, support your message, or totally get in the way. Fig 17.4A could be an effective way to introduce a talk about teamwork, with one ant helping its "teammate" out of a tough spot. If this image were created using clip art, it would probably be too cartoony for a professional presentation. However, this image has a sophisticated, almost elegant, look in spite of the fact that it features ants. The slide in Fig 17.4B is a disaster. The visual confusion created by the clutter and mixed styles of artwork will distract the audience and obscure the message.

Figure 17.8 (1 of 2)

illustrates some of the many options you have for presenting various types of information. Note that although these slides don't follow a rigid structure of text-heavy bullet points, they are unified by the color scheme (a silver background and bold color accents) and typeface selections. Left. This introductory slide is a blunt attention-getter, something that would have to be used with caution and only in special circumstances. Right. This simple math equation gets the point across about how expensive high employee turnover is. Left. This stylized bar graph sends a stark visual message about how bad the company's turnover really is. Right This slide is essentially a bullet list, with three groups of two bullets each. Repeating the photo element from the introductory slide emphasizes the message about employee turnover. These two navigation slides show one way to introduce each of the four subtopics in this particular section. As the highlight moves around the central circle, the audience is reminded of which subtopics have been covered and which subtopic is going to be covered next. And each time it is shown, the message is repeated that all these problems are the "true cost of chaos" in the company's employment practices. (1 of 2)