PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques

How Twitter is Being Used at Conferences

09_edumedia

New Article in Wisconsin Technology Network - Conferences are brought to life with social computing tools

I've written another article for the Buzz Networks column that is published by Wisconsin Technology Network.  The new article "Conferences are brought to life with social computing tools" describes the ways that web 2.0 tools can be incorporated into your meeting strategies to engage and connect with attendees. 

Meeting & Conference Nibblets - PPT

Online Spin contributor Max Kalehoff has a great list of 10 suggestions for making conferences great.  Among his suggestions are the following:

• Halt PowerPoint Abuse

I've had the pleasure of creating and presenting PowerPoint Guidelines for a Conference organizer in an effort to improve the quality of their presentations.  As Max says in his article "putting severe restrictions on the use of PowerPoint is at the top of his list." 

Another of his suggestions worth keeping in mind for meeting and conference organizers is to "Pay the presenters".  This can help improve the quality of contributions and relevance to the conference attendees.

UPDATED - PowerPoint & Presentation Resource Listing (REV 7)

I've updated the PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques Resource Listing to include several new books, web sites and article links that I've come across or have been submitted to me.  The Resource Listing is now in its seventh revision. 
Download PPT-PowerfulPresentationTechniquesResourceGuideRev7.pdf

If you have additions or changes that should be made to the listing, please send me an e-mail. 

If I can be of any help in assessing your team's current level of presentation or PowerPoint skills or assist you with your training needs, please let me know.

Paul Gibler
(608) 255 4092

An offer from Mimeo - on demand printing

I was at PPTLive 07 last week and happened to sit next to the VP of Marketing, Jeff Grill  and National Account Manager, Chris Ilardi from Mimeo, the largest on demand printer.  They were one of the sponsors of the Conference and received kudos from Rick Altman, the Conference organizer, for their service and attention to detail in printing the Conference books for a number of years. 

Mimeo offers next day delivery of printed documents that can be ordered over the Internet.  Their printing facility is in Memphis near the FedEx hub.  They are set up with Kodak Nexpress printers for 4 color work and Docutechs for black & white work.  They explained and demonstrated the service as one where you simply upload your documents, add them to your library and order the components including binding you want for a given job.  You have a chance to proof your job with a WYSIWYG interface and can ship copies to as many locations as you like.  The online interface will show you the order size, printing costs and delivery fees in the shopping cart.

Special Offer for New Buyers
Mimeo has allowed me to extend an offer to new customers of $100 off your first print job.  To take advantage of this offer, you can visit Mimeo and enter the Promotion Code 123print or else call them at 1 866 389 0480 and use the Promotion Code TryUsOut.

Dibs and Dabs from the News - Boo Boos, Psychology and Kids

Presentation Boo Boo... "Lawmaker shows Naked Woman during school lecture" 
Looks like he didn't load his PPT properly.

Meeting Room PowerPlays... "You Are Where You Sit"
Business Week writer Aili McConnon dissects how where you sit in a meeting can build or diminish your organizational power. 

Kiddies with the Point..."In the Classroom, Blazing a Path from Fidgeting to Focus"
Elementary School Teacher Roberta Valentine uses PowerPoint to help kids talk about their distractability and mind trips.

Read and Learn

Periodically I'll be providing links without a whole lot of analysis or my own commentary to articles and resources that I come across that might be valuable for presenters seeking to enhance their presentation skills and use of supporting tools to do the same.  I've decided to call this new column "Read and Learn". 

Here are a couple of articles for you:

• "The Top 12 Presentation Mistakes", Manage Smarter, June 19, 2007.  I liked this one and picked up a couple of tips that I hadn't really thought about.  Readers always seem to like lists...
• "In Favor of Face Time", Forbes (registration required), October 1, 2007.  A review of why meetings are important, along with some tips on making them more effective.

Meeting Overload

Seth Godin has a great post about meetings.  He bemoans the overabundance of meetings in the work environment and proceeds to deconstruct them into a few categories ("just so everyone knows, what are you up to, what does everyone think, we need a decision now, hanging out meetings, to hear myself talk meetings") with suggestions on how to make them more effective.   For some categories of meetings he advises limiting presenters to 2 minutes with an egg timer, while for others he suggests a written document provided to attendees the day in advance.  Among his more controversial suggestions is that all meetings should be held without chairs to accelerate the meeting process and keep people focused on task.