I was given the opportunity recently to test out a new product called Papershow by Canson, a new way to digitize meeting notes that would normally be written on a flip chart or white board. You can change colors, draw circles, boxes, arrows and lines, you can erase mistakes, draw a sticky note, and basically do everything you would do on a flip chart, but in a way that your audience can actually see everything on the screen instead of having to crane their necks or squint their eyes to make out what you've written on the flip chart. First, I just have to say that this thing seems like magic!

Inspired by Laura Bergells' recent PowerPoint propaganda post about changing fashions in PowerPoint, Olivia Mitchell pulled together a group of bloggers to participate in a group writing project about what we'd like to see in PowerPoint slide design this year. I could go on and on about how to make PowerPoint presentations more effective, but I'll stick to my top three suggestions for how I'd like to see speakers using PowerPoint in 2009 (you'll notice that I've strayed from the topic of "design" a bit). Check back at Olivia's blog next week (I'll remind you) for links to all the posts.

You've got a plan B for possible mishaps with your computer, props, handouts, flip chart, etc. Your PowerPoint is dense with thick paragraphs, tiny text, bullets, charts, and graphs to make sure you haven't left anything out 6. Tags: Preparation Public Speaking Techniques and Strategies Public Speaking Anxiety Resources PowerPoint Openings and Closing Cam Beck asked me this question the other day in response to my post about your worst public speaking fear coming true : "So how do you know the difference between preparing and over-preparing?" First of all, here's what it looks like to be unprepared .

Outline your presentation on paper or a flip chart before you build the PowerPoint presentation. 15 Tips for Webinars: How to Add Impact When You Present Online By Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE July 7, 2009 Whenever you open your mouth, whether youre talking to one person or a thousand, you usually want to get a specific message across. How do you do that best when you are communicating through a webinar?

If I'm creating a PowerPoint, I will often use the story template from Cliff Atkinson's book " Beyond Bullet Points ." look for the best places to ask questions, to record audience reactions on my flip chart, to break into pairs or groups, and to add any games or fun activities. If I'm creating a PowerPoint, this is when I start looking for images. I've heard many speakers say that they create their presentation at the last minute, don't practice, and basically wing it , all because they don't want to lose spontaneity. They're afraid that if they practice, they

Following up on this post , I've just been reading the results of Dave Paradi's Annoying PowerPoint Survey . The top three things that annoy people about PowerPoint presentations are: * The speaker read the slides to us - 67.4% * Full sentences instead of bullet points - 45.4% * Text so small I couldn't read it - 45.0% Here's the thing: many of the people who are victims of bad PowerPoint are also the villains perpetrating it! "Why But when you're making I'm not at all surprised by the results. Why is that?"

A recent article in the Armed Forces Journal (full article at [link] ) lists many problems with the way PowerPoint is used in the US Armed Forces. They cite issues such as too much text on the slides, too much time spent creating the slides and their position that PowerPoint is not a good decision support tool in briefings. Here are some thoughts on making these types of presentations better with PowerPoint. I’ve never sat through a Pentagon briefing presentation, but I’ve helped many presenters who have to help executives or customers make decisions after a presentation.

You're afraid your computer will freeze up or your PowerPoint will fail Have a plan B. Have a backup laptop, a backup disk of your presentation, a flip chart, or be prepared to present without technology (this is how we all did it back in the day). Let's talk about those things that hold many people back from enjoying public speaking. You may have mad skills, you may have a great personality, you may be a snake charmer with the ability to hypnotically attract everyone in the audience to you.

PLAN YOUR STRUCTURE Outline your presentation on paper or a flip chart and then build the PowerPoint®. Add Value for Your Association Members and Gain Loyalty By Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE It is no secret Associations have to add value for their membership and increase their own revenue. At the same time, attendance at conventions and meetings is down.

If a facilitator adds a tablet to their kit, they’ll be able to work on-screen much as they do on a conventional whiteboard or flip chart. reckon that could make a very significant difference in terms of engaging learners and break the reduce our dependence on PowerPoint slides.   Last week at Online Educa 2009  I stopped by at the Wacom booth to take a look at their latest range of graphics tablets. I