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Thoughts and impressions of happenings in the world of PowerPoint and presentations, continuously updated since 2003.
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Dave Paradi helps presenters communicate more effectively by using persuasive PowerPoint presentations. He has published over 240 issues of his bi-weekly newsletter, produced more than 70 slide makeover video podcasts and appears in media regularly. In this conversation, Dave discusses his biennial survey on what annoys people about PowerPoint presentations.
Geetesh: What is your presentation survey all about, and how have past surveys thrown light at behaviors and trends?
Dave: Eight years ago when I did the first survey, the goal was to find out what annoys audiences about the presentations they see. My desire was to help presenters stop the behaviors that make an audience cringe when they hear that PowerPoint is going to be used. The past results have been clear on what annoys audiences and by conducting the survey every two years, we get an idea of whether the problems are getting better or not. Many speakers, trainers, and academics have used the survey results in their own work to help presenters. The more participants we get to take the survey, the more reliable the results will be, so we are looking for a strong response this time as well.
Geetesh: Does the new survey have any different questions, and how will you analyze and share the results?
Dave: The survey stays the same each time so that we can compare the responses and look at trends. It is these trends that many presentation professionals use to see how we can continue to improve the quality of PowerPoint presentations. I do two types of analysis on the results. First, I perform a numerical tabulation to determine the top annoyances and how many presentations suffer from annoying habits. This gives us a statistical comparison. Secondly, I read all of the comments that people write in, and there are hundreds of these. I look for and report on the trends that I see and additional insights that the survey responses give. I will share the results in my newsletter and on my blog, and the survey results are usually distributed by many others, including industry leaders such as yourself.
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:
Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, PowerPoint, Presentation Skills, Survey
PowerPoint 2011 offer six types of Shape Effects — what’s more, you can apply more than one of these effects to a single shape. As is the case with almost anything you do in PowerPoint, you first select the object and then apply an attribute to it — so, go ahead and select your shape, and we then show you how you can apply a Shadow effect to the selected shape.
Learn how to apply Shadow effects to shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint 2011
Tagged as: Effects, Office for Mac, PowerPoint 2011, Tutorials
In this tutorial, you will learn how you can move text boxes all around the slide area. Do note that we only suggest that you move text boxes, and not text placeholders since the positioning of the latter is normally controlled by the Slide Master. Typically text placeholders for regular text content or even slide titles are located in the same position on successive slides — so if you really do need to move a text placeholder, do it within the Slide Master so that this change of position happens on all slides, providing a consistent look to your presentation.
Learn how to move text boxes on a slide in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2010, Text, Tutorials
By Kevin Lerner
The Pause is a verbal tool like no other. Suspense. Drama. Intrigue. Power. All promoted by the Pause. Discover how these small segments of silence can translate to large admiration and appreciation of audiences.
The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
– Mark Twain
Throughout history, the world’s great orators have known of and applied the power of the pause:
President Ronald Reagan said, Mr. Gorbachev…Tear Down this Wall!
Clint Eastwood in the movie Sudden Impact said, Go ahead; make my day
Oprah Winfrey said, My constant prayer for myself is to be used…in service…for the greater good.
Or President Bill Clinton said, I did not have sex with that woman… Monica Lewinsky
By definition, the pause is a hesitation or a temporary suspension of an action.
The pause is one of those unique English Words that’s both a verb and a noun.
As a verb: Let us pause to reflect on this person’s generosity.
As a noun: Let us give pause as we reflect on this person’s generosity.
Plus, it sounds a bit more formal. Like punctuation marks in writing, pausing punctuates our messages. When we pause we’re telling the audience that what we’ve just said is important. The pause doesn’t have to be long. Even two seconds can be a powerful way of emphasizing your message.
And yet the pause is so under-used in today’s rapid-fire immediate feedback society. Fearful that our audience will become bored or disengaged if there’s a lull in the conversation, people speak with a continuous output of oratory. Relentless ramble. Paragraph after paragraph. But put a pause in place… and there’s peace.
Here are four potent points for pausing:
A pause can slow our speaking rate. Many speakers try to say too much in too short a time. Consequently, they speak quickly, trying to fit everything into the allotted time. If you find yourself speaking too quickly, pause at the end of a sentence and take a breath. If you feel in need of a breath, your listeners or audience probably do too. Pause Power.
A pause gives us time to think. Sometimes the inevitable happens–you forget what you were going to say next. Rather than panic, pause and collect your thoughts. When you’re not sure what you were going to say next, pausing enables you to quickly retrace your previous words in your mind and figure out what the next logical step will be.
Don’t worry that your audience may think you’ve forgotten what you were going to say. If your speech has been going well so far, they’ll be happy to wait while you collect your thoughts. The chances are they may not even notice. Once you’ve started speaking again, the original statement often returns to your mind.
A pause is more powerful than um and ah. Often, we listen to a speaker with an interesting message, only to be distracted by constant ums and ahs. Sometimes, it’s a sign of nervousness. Sometimes, it’s a sign of laziness. Often the speaker isn’t aware they’re doing it. Fillers such as um and ah can become a bad habit. As Toastmasters, we are groomed to listen for these fillers…and eliminate them in dialogue. But they’re everywhere! Celebrities, politicians, friends and family…kinda, you know, uhh..add these ah filers when they don’t know what to say. Silence is a stronger filler than those two silly words. So we’re at a loss for words, stay silent.
A pause can add depth, drama and dimension to a talk. Say it slowly…and with a pause….and the audience will listen with greater intrigue and interest. Let the message sink in. Engage eye-contact during the delay. These are the subtle effects of a pause. A speech that’s short on time, can likely be amplified and extended by a well-placed powerful pause.
Notice that term well-placed. I recently delivered a speech about Achieving Greatness through Quotations. The talk was generally well-received …except for one critical listener who noted that my pauses were “unsubstantial.” “Kevin,” he said, “you were simply pausing to gather your thoughts.” Pauses…he went on to say, should be perfectly placed…and terrifically timed.
Indeed, as communicators, we should pay extra attention to the placement, impact, and implications of the pause. Not only as we write our words and assemble our oratories…but in everyday conversation and interaction. Those small segments of silence can translate to large admiration and appreciation of audiences…who — whether they’re aware of it or not- might hear an otherwise ordinary talk as extraordinary. And that is true Pause Power.
Kevin Lerner of the Presentation Team shares some tips that will allow you to use PowerPoint more effectively.Kevin Lerner Kevin Lerner is a leading expert on presentation design, content and delivery. Since founding The Presentation Team in 1995, Kevin and his team have developed presentations for clients including Oracle, Motorola, ADT, Tyco, Comcast Cable, Office Depot, Ryder, UBS Financial. Kevin lives in the Miami, Florida area and enjoys travel, photography, and working to help the world connect.
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.
Some pictures used in this post are from BigStock.
Filed Under:
Guest Posts
Tagged as: Delivery, Guest Post, Kevin Lerner, Opinion, Pause, Presentation Skills
Shapes are the building blocks of PowerPoint — and there is so much that you can do with them. You have already explored Shape Fills and Shape Outlines in PowerPoint 2011. The third characteristic that you can apply to shapes is Effects — PowerPoint 2011 provides six distinct Shape Effects.
Learn about the Shape Effects for shapes in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint 2011
Tagged as: Effects, Office for Mac, PowerPoint 2011, Tutorials
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