How to conceptualize and then create better PowerPoint presentations.

1. Barbara Jean Walsh
ProBoatTraining@proboat.com
Tel. 561-922-7220

2. show the picture
tell the story

3. Show the picture, tell the story
That’s our topic. This is basically the only
thing you need to know about online
presentations. Also, in preparing your talk,
think about design, story, relationships,
empathy, play, and meaning.

5. DESIGN
• Design is different from decoration, different from
documentation. Think yacht design. Think packaging.
• Too much "PowerPoint design," as you know very well,
is nothing more than a collection of recycled bullets,
corporate templates, clip art, and seemingly random
charts and graphs which are often too detailed or
cluttered to make effective on-screen visuals and too
vague to stand alone as quality documentation.
• DESIGN is not just visual, it is your map for what you
want to present in the few minutes you have available.

7. The Story
• The story encompasses facts, information,
data. Most of it is available on-line or can
be sent to people in an email, a PDF
attachment, or a hard copy through snail
mail. Data and "the facts" have never
been more widely available. In this
context, says Dan Pink, "What begins to
matter more [than mere data] is the ability
to place these facts in context and to
deliver them with emotional impact."

9. Relationships
• -- "The most creative among us see
relationships the rest of us never notice," Pink
says. Anyone can deliver chunks of information
and repeat findings represented visually in bullet
points on a screen, what's needed are those
who can recognize the patterns, who are skilled
at seeing nuance and the simplicity that may
exist in a complex problem.
• THIS IS NOT DUMBING DOWN

11. Empathy
• Empathy allows a presenter, even without thinking about
it, to notice when the audience is "getting it" and when
they are not. When should you jump ahead a few slides,
when should you expand the script?
• DIFFICULT WHEN YOU ARE PRESENTING ONLINE
• Change Gears
• The presenter with empathy — who empathizes with his
audience — will never go over time, and in fact may
finish a bit before his time is up. This is really important
online, since a late running presentation may mean NO
TIME for Q & A at all.

13. PLAY
• This has a lot to do with style. It doesn’t
work for everyone, but keep in mind, a
presentation to a group (think sports,
which is a really weird thing for ME to be
saying). In most cases, it is not the same
thing as delivering a formal paper to a
learned society. And presenting online is
yet another style. Again, before you even
begin to put your presentation together,
this is something to consider.

15. MEANING
• MEANING: Why take up time if you can’t
give people something in the presentation
that they couldn’t get by reading on their
own?

16. Quick Review
• Quick review – these are all concepts to
consider BEFORE you start to create your
presentation.

19. The Basics
• A little digression: Should you work on the picture or the
story first? Obviously, you need to work on both, it’s
really a matter of personal style.
• I do work in PowerPoint myself, but I’m comfortable in
that environment. Are you?
• For me, I usually know what I want to say. I start with a
skeleton. I find graphics. I add notes. I refine slides. And
in doing that, I pretty much go through the whole
process, which is probably why I liked it so much.

20. show the
picture

21. Graphics
• Start out with the best graphics you can
find.

23. Graphics
• Use additional graphics to isolate parts of
an image

25. Graphics
• Zooming in on a sequence of screens is
good, too. – same picture, and probably
more effective than drawing a circle or
putting in an arrow although those are
good techniques, too. Choice of
background color can add definition.

27. Graphics
• Try to get away from the PowerPoint BOX.
Do some homework on basic layout, such
as the rule of thirds. Decide where the
focus should be.
• The next slide is just for comparison.

29. Rule of Thirds
• USE THE GRID LINES
• USE “white space” even itf it is not white.
• The whole point, especially when you are
presenting online, is to get your audience
to LISTEN.

31. rule of thirds

32. got
graphics?

33. Graphics
• Yes, inserting all those pix one at a time is
very painful. That may be why a lot of tip
lists now say limit yourself to 10 slides.
Good for a small group where you have a
lot of audience rapport and are going to
talk more than show.
• The next slides are screen shots to show
you how to load multiple graphics at once
when you do want to go heavy on images.

34. Step One
• Go to the INSERT menu
• Select “Picture”
• Then Select “Photo Album”

36. Step Two
• Click on “File/Disk” to “Scanner/Camera”
to pull in your graphic. (It is easier if you
have them all in one folder and have
already organized them.
• You can also organize them and do some
editing within PowerPoint.

38. Step Three
• Select “Fit to Slide”
• Click on “Create” and all your images will
be converted to slides at once.
• W00t!

40. tell
the story

41. Tell the Story
• Tell the story – basic rules. Say what you
are going to say, say it, review it.
Storyboard it! Most of all, since this will be
a verbal presentation, TALK ABOUT IT.
• And of course – FIRST make sure you
have a story to tell!

43. DECIDE
• What goes on screen, and what goes into a
handout or take-away? How much time do you
have and what do you want to do with it?
• In education, instructors are learning to send
students to online sources at their own
convenience, and then they use the classroom
for good old fashioned Q & A. Use your
presentation to get people to the point where
they know what questions to ask.

45. Organize
• ORGANIZE: Priorities and flow. Plan in
analog. Use a cocktail napkin or whatever
works for you. Few people do well starting
out in presentation software, but that
depends a lot on your personal style.

47. Present
• PRESENT: Storytelling – what’s your
style? Formal? Conversational? Hate
public speaking? Nothing says you can’

48. the rules

49. show the picture
tell the story

50. NO
•Bullet
•Points

51. AGAIN
• Here is everything you need to know
about PowerPoint and online
presentations. People can listen, or read.
Pick one.
• Here’s another rule that is gaining speed:

52. seven

53. Seven
• How many words on each screen? It used to be
30. Now, 7 is the magic number.
• Again, it depends on what you are trying to do
and how good you are at providing support
materials.
• Yes, I know there are more than SEVEN words
on most of these slides, but that’s because I
want you to read them. This in NOT a typical
online presentation. It’s a document for you to
read. See the difference?

54. slide
transitions

55. Slide Transitions
• Again, just say “No!” to distracting
transitions and animations, especially if
you are presenting online.

57. Your Audience
• The big question: What do you want your
audience to do? Read or listen? If you
want them to listen, the emphasis will be
on showing the picture, telling the story.
This all takes us full circle to remember to
start with . . . .

58. design

59. Design
• Design should start at the beginning, not at the
end.
• Now for some examples: Thanks to Steve
D’Antonio for letting me use a couple of his
slides as a teaching tool. Steve does great in-
person presentations. He also does great online
presentations via ProBoat Events. Here’s the
difference between what he used to present and
what he now presents, with a little editing.

60. •Over-Current
protection
•Critical in any
marine electrical
installation
BEFORE
•7 inch/17 cm rule
(ABYC E-11.10)

61. Over-Current Protection
AFTER
©2010 Steve D’Antonio

62. 7 in (17 cm)
Rule
AFTER
ABYC E-11.10
©2010 Steve D’Antonio

63. Regulator Requirements
•Three stage
•Rugged and
reliable, min
warranty 1 yr.
•Self diagnostic
BEFORE
•Temperature
compensated
prerequisite for
AGM and Gel
batteries

64. Regulator Requirements
AFTER
©2010 Steve D’Antonio

65. AFTER

66. What would you
rather see?

68. Or this?

69. And then
what?

70. Things to do with PowerPoint
• Add narration
• AuthorStream
• Slide share
• Camtasia
• Screencast
• Bits on the run
• UPLOAD

71. IBEX Presentations
• We will be providing you with several ways to
share your presentation with your co-speakers.
• The easiest is simply to add files to the pbworks
page for your seminar.
• Just “edit” the page, and follow the links on the
right-hand side of the screen.
• But, if you want live editing, try the Google Cloud
or some other sharing service.
• Let me know if you have any questions!

72. Barbara Jean Walsh
ProBoatTraining@proboat.com
Tel. 561-922-7220