My Public Speaking students (college level) view a different Ted Talk each week and respond to those talks using the 4Rs: Reminders, Reinforcers, Rebuttals and Revelations. They usually become TEDheads by the end of a semester. They are all watching the same talk each week. I have mixed them up semester to semester, but the following are always favorites:
Sir Ken Robinson (any of his! I always start their TED experience with one by him.)
Benjamin Zander on music and passion (A HUGE crowd pleaser!)
Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight
Melinda Gates on what not for profits can learn from Coca-Cola
My surprise is the discussions that students have about the speakers. Some will love them, some will be indifferent and some will be bored. They will start analyzing why they liked or didn’t like a speaker and learn so much about knowing your audience and what strategies work and why!
In terms of the last section Example–is this more story or a case study? Also, where does the data go?
This method is borrowed from Advanced Presentations by Design. I haven’t read the book yet, but its next on my reading list. It comes heavily recommended by Nancy Duarte, who is particularly impressed with its analytical and scientific basis.
Tina Seelig, who is part of the Stanford GSB faculty, in her recent book What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 writes: “During my creativity course, teams of students each pick an organization they think is innovative. These teams visit the firm, interview employees, watch them in action, and come to their own conclusions about what makes the organization creative. They then present this information to the class in an innovative way.”
Hopefully there is a critical mass of innovative and creative companies in your part of the country. I guess if you didn’t feel that to be the case, perhaps they could do interviews by Skype or other free video conferencing.
This is a both a rule of simplicity and audience adaptation….if your presentation can’t pass the a 10 year old can understand this. Research from the Seattle Post Intelligencer confirms this as a great rule.
1. Audience — Who is your (most important) audience? 2. Objectives — What is your objective for this presentation? 3. Problem / Solution — What business problem are you helping to provide a solution for? 4. Evidence — What evidence are you offering to support your solution? 5. Anecdotes — Which anecdotes illustrate your message? 6. Sequencing — In what sequence will you present your evidence? 7. Charts — Which charts will best convey your data? 8. Layouts — What layout will you use for each slide? 9. Stakeholders — Have you addressed the concerns of each stakeholder? 10. Measurement — How will you measure the success of your presentation?
Tip: click the link to see a visualization of this process.
Here is a cool presentation called “Strength in Numbers” I believe it was done in Adobe After Effects, but I’m not certain. The movement in the presentation is fantastic.
Thoughts? How did movement create meaning, communication, or otherwise emphasize th message this organization was trying to communicate?
One challenge for this class involves teaching to both Mac and PC users. If your campus doesn’t have lots of Macs or a Mac lab this may prove difficult.
I think its important students know how to use iWork with both its Keynote and Pages software programs. These are in many respects industry standards and so students learning them can be helpful. Although, ultimately that is a judgment call each teacher has to make.
Scenario 1: No Mac Lab Time:
• Attempting to do something outside class times
• Creating an assignment based on learning the software
• Make software demos like Lynda freely available via DVD or online.
Scenario 2: A Tiny Minority of Current Mac Users
I don’t think this is really a challenge. I think explaining to the students why there is value in learning the software may be a slight challenge.
1) Brainstorming
2) Researching (including finding content, quotes, and visuals)
3) Storyboarding
4) Visual communication principles (identify pictures for presentation)
5) Typography for communication
6) Integrating typography with design
7) Using color for communication (meaning & messaging, color matching, clarity)
8] Simplicity (words and white space and elimination)
9) Size/Emphasis
10) Picking Transitions
11) Developing themes (and creating title and chapter slides for presentations–including layout)
12) Visual communication of data
13) Making a story/making a case
14) Motion
15) Communications design and information design (symbols)
16) Technology of presenting
17) Technology of design/presentation creation
18) Learning (skill development and inspiration)
19) Giving and receiving feedback (portfolio style)
(could also look at the Presentation Ecosystem by Duarte)
There are probably an infinite number of approaches for creating presentation design…but here are a few:
1) Etsy/DIY/Flickr
2) Modern
3) Minimalist
4) Future meets past
5) Punk
6) Comics
7) Retro/Motion graphics style
8] Government/Official/Authoritative
9) Grunge/Distressed
10) Graffiti or Tattoo Inspired
Of course color palette, font, template/background, and choices can all effect and communicate the aesthetic you are attempting to recreate. Between Ffffound, Noupe, Flickr, and Slideshare.net, you should be able to find something which inspires you.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster: Fourteen Ways to Improve Your Presentation Design and Strategy
1) How can I make my case visually? (pictures, symbols, diagrams, colors, typography)
2) How can I make my case emotionally?
3) How can I make it with story? How can I make it more personal and more real–both in content and design?
4) How can I weave in cultural elements/references?
5) How can I adapt to their values/needs/interests/perspectives/assumptions?
6) How can I answer their holdups and objections?
7) How can I add data to prove my thesis? (how can I visualize that data to make it more real?)
8] How can I frame it–how can I make it a movement?
9) How can I add a theme?
10) How can I make my presentation more memorable? Can I add a work aid/visual aid to make the content more memorable? How can I make the images, stories, and lines of reasoning more memorable? How can I make them pop or talkable?
11) How can I make my presentation more two way or engaging?
12) How can I make the nonverbal communication (outside design) better?
13) How can I add the core elements of CRAP design?
14) How can I add clarity? How can I KISS this?
Classroom Activity: Brainstorm what matters most.
Classroom Activity: Apply this rubric for self-critiques and peer reviews. Each presentation is peer reviewed by 4 people. Print out this rubric as an aid to help students. (Hopefully I’ll have a print out of this designed and posted soon)
Classroom Activity: Look for other rubrics and speaker critiques/design critiques. Which elements are most important?
Note: the intent is not to read these articles word for word, but scan for a design you like.
Short Classroom Activity: Pick your favorite 2 or 3 pull quote examples from the each article.
Optional Classroom Activity: Which quote example do you like best from Slide:ology (p. 109, p.140, p, 190, p. 224-225, p.242) Unfortunately, none of them use a script based font.
Also remember to check out color, typography, font size, and background as methods to improve your slide design.
I think Duartes seven questions for audience analysis are pretty brilliant. Here are “Seven Questions to Knowing Your Audience” which are located on page 15 of Slideology:
1) What are they like?
2) Why are they here?
3) What keeps them up at night?
4) How can you solve their problem?
5) What do you want them to do?
6) How might they resist?
7) How can you best reach them?
Activity: Apply these audience analysis questions for an upcoming presentation (Optional: you could also choose a presentation you’ve seen or created in the past if an upcoming presentation doesn’t come to mind). Brainstorm answers to each question. Focus your brainstorms into edited answers. (you could use any number of creative methods including visual thinking to free writing)
Class Discussion: Which questions are most important? Most valuable? Which are hardest to answer? Any other observations about this method?
Hopefully I can develop this into a form for easier use later. (As always, I’ve included these questions under fair use and educational use.)
Skip Prichard of the Ingram Content Group on the Future of Publishing: “Are Ebooks Dead?”
Watch the first 10 minutes of this presentation and reflect on the questions below.
Overall thoughts? What format did Skip Prichard use? What are your thoughts on the presentation design? How about the presentation themeing?
You might also check out Nick Bilton of the NYT on Smart Content at the Pop Tech Conference. How was his design different? Did it work (typography, design, and other elements)? What did you like/not like? How would you change it? What design theme did he draw on?
Check out video appropriate to your career field or industry. Point to 3 to 7 things the speaker does well. Try to point out at least two areas of improvement. Share your answers with your small group and the class. (Note: if you have seen this video, you are free to pick another)
This list isn’t extensive–its just the tip of the iceberg….I thought it might help identify the “right” path forward.
Art and Design
Tim Kelly of IDEO at TED on Design Thinking:
Business and Marketing
Computer Programming
Counseling and Special Education
Creativity and Content
Criminal Justice
Education and Play
(you may also want to check out the presentations on social innovation in education)
Manufacturing, Agriculture, and TV/Entertainment
Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs
Math, Statistics, and Data Management
Movies, Video, and Cinema
Nonprofit Management
You are the future of philanthropy
Nutrition
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (I’m a huge fan of this presentation)
(Dean Ornish’s ted talk is far abreviated on what we eat)
Philosophy and Psychology
Dan Ariely on Why We think its ok to cheat
Politics
Public Health
Science and Engineering
Michael Pritchard on Lifesaver bottle for clean water, disasters, and decentralization.
Social Entrepreneurship
Sports
Hopefully you can develop a little wiser from watching a TED Talk. If I’ve left a particular career off the list, feel free to suggest a career or a TED talk in the comments section. Thanks.
Five key presentation development and design tools
1) Powerpoint
2) Keynote (Mac only)
3) Prezi
4) Sliderocket
5) Google Docs
Optional Graphic Design Tools:
1) Powerpoint or Elements
2) Pages (Mac only)
3) Piknic, Sumo Paint, and other online
Also social bookmarking, social networking, and search tools like….
1) Delicious
2) Twitter search
3) Linked in
4) Ning
Optional activity:
1) 25 minutes exploring Prezi.
2) Discuss
3) Here is an example of a fantastic use of Prezi.
4) What do you think of this presentation design? Would you change anything? What other applications can you see for Prezi?
1) Engage professionals in your chosen field
2) Be published in your field or in an area of your interest
3) Internship in your field. Even an internship in a midrange company can be incredibly helpful for securing jobs and making contacts. (Outside an internship, pick work in organizations which mirror the responsibilites you want to have in the future.)
4) Volunteer work in your filed (formal or informal)
5) Develop a portfolio of projects in your field. Store your portfolio in 2 places (one for backup)
6) Engagement with organizations, events, trends, and publications in your field
7) Networking in your field in the real world and/or online (for instance Linked In and Twitter)
Start developing skill sets in communication, creative, and content related areas.
