Here are the Spring 2010 colors as forecast by PANTONE.

Click image for larger size, or get the PDF version.

For more information on the PANTONE color reports, see my earlier post, or visit PANTONE’s website (http://www.pantone.com).

I used Adobe’s web service, kuler, to convert the CMYK numbers to RGB (for PowerPoint). Garr Reynolds has a new post on his blog about using kuler to create color schemes.

You can take one of your favorites from the Spring 2010 list of colors and have kuler help you create lots of different color schemes. 

To learn how to customize colors, search “change color theme” in PowerPoint Help.

Peace and Good Presenting!

Lee

I’ve been a reluctant social networking site user. I only recently got an account on Facebook, and still can’t see the day-to-day usefulness of it (or Twitter, for that matter). But LinkedIn is the answer – the professional social networking site to connect you to colleagues and others in your line of work around the globe.

I’m looking to connect with current and former colleagues as well as people out there doing the same thing I’m doing – namely trying to improve the state of presentations in every business, school, college and club meeting everywhere!

You can find me and my profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hilyer.

Peace out,

Lee

Photo #773427 by user:sofijab | http://www.sxc.hu

Mahar, et al. recently published an article describing some research on the effectiveness of static versus animated slides when introducing concepts. They conducted experiments where students saw either static slides, where all the information on the slide was presented at once, or animated slides, where pieces of information were brought in one at a time.

As a cognitive load theory “enthusiast” and an instructional designer, I would’ve initially averred that the animated slides would produce better results (i.e., better learning outcomes). According to Maher, et al., this was the exact opposite. Participants who received static slides performed better on the tests given at the end of the experiment.

 Here’s a quote (with some emphasis from me):

Even though the use of custom animation allows the introduction of new information incrementally the technique can adversely impact student learning experience when factual information is conveyed in the presentation. Subjects shown the static slides had better recall of graphics and text on the slides due to prolonged exposure to the information. The incremental introduction of concepts in dynamic slides’ was designed to prevent student exhaustion caused by visually presenting all concepts at once.

However, the dynamic slides lead to excessive processing demands and limited exposure time. In this study, we observed that static slides allowed better knowledge retention for male students, female students, students with academic excellence, students with poor academic performance, students in different academic years and students from different disciplines. The results are consistent with the aggregate results presented in Mahar et al. (2009) and Lowe (2003) who suggested that diminishing expected benefits of animations may be caused by excessive processing demands on learners and a reduced learner engagement (p.7).

So what does this mean practically? Reduce your “entrance” animations to an absolute minimum (in fact, get rid of any animation that does not convey “meaning,” though you can keep your slide transitions (but only “wipes and “fades,” please)). If you are going to cover complex concepts, show the students the entire concept, rather than building it up piece-by-piece. But be prepared to spend a lot of time on just one slide (this is not a bad thing, but a GOOD thing).

Remember that learners need time to process information, a precious resource that is often in short supply during a presentation. To focus attention on parts of a complex diagram or chart, use a piece of software like Pointer ($35-40.00 USD) from Netop. Pointer is a screen annotation tool that lets you “spotlight” areas of the screen to focus your audience’s attention to a particular image or area of a slide.

For extremely complex concepts, consider turning off the projector and guiding your audience through paper copies. This may be less “jazzy” than a slide presentation, but may prove to encourage much more effective and efficient learning of the content. Remember: a presentation doesn’t have to involve PowerPoint or Keynote slides!

Peace out, and be safe over the Labor Day holiday!

Lee

Sources:

Mahar, S., Yaylacicegi, U. and Janicki, T. 2009. Less is More When Developing PowerPoint Animations. Information Systems Education Journal, 7 (82): 1-11. http://isedj.org/7/82/ISEDJ.7(82).Mahar.pdf.

Presentations for Librarians (the book) is now available from Neal-Schuman! Visit http://www.neal-schuman.com/bdetail.php?isbn=9781843343035 for details and to order.

I’ll be back in full swing in early September – August is a busy time for us librarians as we prepare for a new academic semester!  See you soon!

Best,

Lee

Microsoft has an informational page on the latest version of Office, due out some time next year.  Looks like PowerPoint is getting some much-needed improvements in handling video and other media better.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/

Best,

Lee

Hi all,

Last month, I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop at the American Society for Engineering Education’s annual conference. My workshop was sponsored by the Engineering Libraries Division and I thank them for inviting me to present.

Rather than give them a deck of slides to upload to the conference site, I created a separate document, based on my slides, but including additional information and resources. I used the “Notes Pages” format in PowerPoint, then converted it to PDF for ease-of-use. (In addition to being an example of good handout practice, if you’ve never been to one of my workshops, this will give you a good introduction to the three rules for better presentations.)

This is the kind of handout you want to give to your audience or make available to them after your presentation. Something that your audience members can read and study and ponder at their own pace.

Now, go forth and make good handouts!

Lee

Photo (c) sundstrom, ID849660, www.sxc.hu. 

You can keep your presentations fresh by updating the colors you use on a regular basis. While the use of color should always support the message of your presentation, there’s no requirement that you have to use the same set of colors year in and year out.

Blue can still mean “business” and green can still evoke images of growth and success, just in slightly more up-to-date shades and tints. To find those new colors, visit Pantone’s website for their seasonal color forecasts.

Pantone is a company that standardizes color specifications for a wide variety of industries and applications from printing to fashion. Several times a year they release color forecast reports for upcoming seasons. The latest one I’ve looked at is the Fashion Color Report for Fall 2009.

Ten to twelve new colors are described in these short reports, and each color’s Pantone number and CMYK equivalents are provided. Unfortunately, PowerPoint only deals with RGB and HSL color schemes, so a bit of conversion is required. I found a simple one on the web created by Peter Forret and converted the CMYK values to RGB values that PowerPoint can understand.

Here is the table of CMYK to RGB values for the color trends listed in the Fall 2009 report. Note that the colors in the PDF will vary depending on the monitor/projector used. If you don’t like a particular color, try adjusting it within PowerPoint, or use an online tool such as Adobe’s kuler to help you select another shade (kuler can handle CMYK values and can convert them to RGB for you).

I’ve created a sample presentation using some of the new colors. Take a look and feel free to adapt for your own needs.

Peace,

Lee

Hi all,

Per a colleague’s suggestion (thanks, NB), I have combined into one document all of the practical tips I give during a live presentation.

PracticalApplicationOfTheRules2009

I hope you find it helpful, and if you do, please share with your colleagues.

Peace,

Lee

Hi all,

The blog will be on hiatus for the rest of June. I’ll be back in July with a few new items for the site.

See you then, and have a great June!

Best,

Lee

Note: This post is in response to a colleague’s comment on the blog:

“I have a question for you. I am planning to do a presentation in which I use primarily black & white photographs from old archives. What do you think would be the best background color to use, one that will set off the b&w pics well, without overwhelming them. The topic of my presentation is education.

Thanks!”

Hi Julie,

If they’re mostly black and white photos, I’d go with either a black or white background. The subject and themes of your presentation can help you make this decision.

A black background, for example, evokes for me memories of my grandmother’s photo albums which had black paper pages. This would work well, for example, with a local history project with lots of  “people pictures.”

A white background might suggest the walls of an art gallery–this could work for some presentation subjects that could benefit from a “documentary-style” approach to the imagery.

For either background, your photos need borders, so if they don’t already exist, add them in. In PPT 2007, there are several simple and professional-looking border effects that can be used. In the examples above, the image on the white background uses one of PowerPoint’s built-in border effects (simple frame) while the image on the black background already contained a suitable border (since this was a scanned photograph).

I hope these suggestions are helpful – please let me know!

Lee