PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Presentation Summit 2015: Conversation with Jon Schwabish

        Jonathan Schwabish is an economist, writer, teacher, and creator of policy-relevant data visualizations. He is considered a leading voice for clarity and accessibility in how researchers communicate their findings. He is currently writing a book with Columbia University Press on presentation design and techniques. Jon tweets on @JSchwabish.

In this conversation, Jon discusses his session at the Presentation Summit 2015 series.

Geetesh: Jon, you are doing a session this year at the Presentation Summit called Give a Nerd a Number: Improve how you visualize your data. Can you tell us more about this session, and what takeaways can the audience expect?

Jon: The data visualization field combines data analysis, graphic design, journalism, and statistics in a way that can help analysts in a variety of fields provide their audience with greater insights into their research and their products.

In my presentation at this year’s Presentation Summit, I am going to lay the groundwork for how presenters can use data visualization to more effectively communicate to their audience. I will demonstrate the different types of visualizations and their uses, as well as how to avoid creating graphics that result in ineffective and inaccurate perceptions of data. The basic guidelines I will lay out will help presenters create clearer, more accurate, and more visually appealing graphics. I’ll also have a few freebies for a lucky few in attendance.

Geetesh: Can you tell us more about yourself – and how do you approach good design for slides, especially when there are many numbers involved?

Jon: My background is in economics—I have a PhD from Syracuse University—and spent the first 10 years or so of my professional career conducting research on Social Security, Disability Insurance, food stamps, and immigration for the U.S. Congress. I became interested in data visualization and more effective presentation techniques a few years ago when I realized that many of our reports and analyses did not seem to have an impact we desired. I think one way in which researchers and analysts can get their work to have more impact is to more effectively visualize their research and think about how the reader or audience will receive the information.

When it comes to presenting research and analysis, I try to follow 4 primary principles:

1. Visualize the information. Bullet points and dense tables only serve to make your audience lose focus and not buy into your content. By visualizing data and information, your audience will be more likely to recognize and recall that information.
2. Unify your presentation, in how you speak, how your slides look, and how you present your work and conclusions. Unifying design and content is not about “dumbing down” the presentation or sacrificing content in the name of making things “pop” or “look pretty.” Better design is about supporting the speaker with slides that help the audience better understand your work. Without consistent-looking slides and consistency in how you speak, your audience will be lost in the randomness and be less likely to embrace your content.
3. Integrate what you say and what you show. Your presentation slides are there to support you, not to supplant you. The aesthetic of your slides—colors, fonts, and layout—should be used to help reinforce your content. Whether you are presenting your research about global climate change or drugs and crime in cities, the images and colors you use should reflect those topics and not be drawn randomly from the internet. Each should be chosen strategically to help you convey your message.
4. Focus your audience’s attention on your specific argument and visuals to support your argument. As a presenter, you can control what your audience sees and when they see it. Many presenters pack their slides with as much information as possible and this ultimately leads to a lower transfer of information. Your audience’s attention should be where you want it to be. Highlight the important message and important numbers; reduce the numbers on the slide and the columns in the chart and highlight the most important pieces of information.

These themes drive the book on presentation skills and design I am currently writing with Columbia University Press. I’m focusing on researchers and analysts who too often seem to think that the work ends when the research report is written and submitted to the academic journal or published on the website. But I think researchers can really improve their presentation skills by thinking first about the needs of the audience and not about their needs as the speaker. One of the core messages of the book is that a presentation is a fundamentally different form of communication than a written report. Treating them as the same thing—moving text into bullets and copying and pasting tables and figures from the paper to the slides—misses this important distinction.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Events
Tagged as: Interviews, Jon Schwabish, Presentation Summit

Quick Access Toolbar in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Soon after a power user installs a new application, he or she wants to customize their menus and toolbars so that their most often used features are accessible with fewer clicks — or even custom keyboard shortcuts. And even if you are not a power user, you should explore a very useful option that we explain in this tutorial — this will make your tasks easier, and quicker. While PowerPoint’s recent versions on Windows have almost no menus and toolbars, they do have a single toolbar called the Quick Access Toolbar. Almost everyone who uses this toolbar just calls it the QAT, and that’s the name we will use for the rest of this tutorial.

Learn about the Quick Access Toolbar in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Interface, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Tutorials

File Menu and Backstage View in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

If you explore how people use PowerPoint, you will discover that people are successful finding options that are intuitive and easy-to-discover. They fail when options are hidden in drop-down menus or dialog boxes. Fortunately, Backstage view is from the former category of options. Let us explore existing features within Backstage view. You access Backstage view from the File tab. The File tab is placed at the left extreme of the Ribbon.

Explore the Backstage view in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

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Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Interface, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Tutorials

Outstanding Presentations 2015: Conversation with TJ Walker

    TJ Walker is the founder of Media Training Worldwide and has been conducting media training workshops and seminars since 1984. Walker has trained Presidents of countries, Prime Ministers, Nobel Peace Prize winners, Super Bowl winners, U.S. Senators, Miss Universes and Members of Parliament. His book, Secret to Foolproof Presentations was a USA Today #1 Bestseller, as well as a Wall Street Journal, and Business Week Bestseller.

In this conversation, TJ discusses his upcoming webinar tomorrow, which he will present as part of the Outstanding Presentations 2015 series.

Geetesh: Tell us more about what you do — and also about how audience perceptions about visuals have changed/evolved over the years?

TJ: Hi, I am TJ Walker, and I have had a lifetime passion for public speaking, oh, or almost! When I was a young boy, I was incredibly shy. I basically never said anything. And, when I was 12, 13 years old, I went to Junior High School – then I developed an interest in government, politics, student government and running for office. That forced me out of my comfort zone. I had to start speaking.

And ever since then, I developed a passion for public speaking, to the live audiences and the media. People ask me all the times, “TJ, how do you capture the interest of an audience? What’s the secret?” Well, here’s the easiest way of making sure you are always going to be interesting to the audience. Practice your speech in advance, on video! These days you can use any cellphone, any smartphone, a webcam, and then watch yourself. If you find that you are boring yourself, guess what, you are boring! Take that part of your speech, tear it up, and throw it away. Keep practicing your presentation on video until you find it interesting throughout. Chances are you are interesting to the audience.

Geetesh: What will you speak about in your session as part of the Outstanding Presentations series – and what would be the takeaway for attendees?

TJ: What you’re going to learn in our time together as a part of this conference, I am going to teach you the secrets of really getting to the next level. And how to rehearse in the way that my clients before they’re going to the TED conference rehearse. You can’t just talk it through once, practice and look at the video. You have to go through it again and again and again until you are everything you say. You also there learn some techniques for making sure your PowerPoint slides actually work. Now, I’ll be different from some of my colleagues at this conference. The golden PowerPoint slide is not doing PowerPoint graphics or words! It’s a test you should give to every one of your slides before you give it to your final audience. And that is to give your presentation user slides to two or three of your colleagues a couple of days before.

Test them. After the presentation, ask them about every slide that they remember. And, what the point was? Any slide they can’t remember, take that slide and throw it in the trash can. That’s right. You can use some controversial things in this webinar – a little different from some of the other experts. But, I look forward to spending time with you and exploring this in greater detail.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Events
Tagged as: Events, Interviews, Outstanding Presentations Workshop, PowerPoint, TJ Walker, Webinar

Presentation Gallery in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

When launched, PowerPoint 2016 typically opens the Presentation Gallery. This Presentation Gallery provides several ways to start your next presentation using a template, a Theme, a recent presentation, a not-so-recent presentation, or even a blank presentation. These and other choices are explained in this tutorial.

Explore the new Presentation Gallery in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2016
Tagged as: Interface, Office 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Tutorials