TLA Article & Webinar, Continuing the Conversation

Update: Slides from the November 9th webinar are now available!

“Three Simple Rules for Great Presentations,” Texas Library Journal, 86(3): 87-90.

Tweet your comments/questions to me @leerobertino. We’ll be continuing the conversation there and at the upcoming webinar:

November 9th, 2:00 – 3:00pm. Visit http://www.txla.org/CE, then click the “Strategic Initiatives Webinars” tab.

LEARNING AND PRESENTATIONS

“How People Learn: Human Cognitive Architecture and the Learning Process”by Lee Andrew Hilyer. Excerpt from Presentations for Librarians: A Complete Guide to Creating Effective, Learner-Centred Presentations, Chandos Press (Oxford, UK), 2008.

This excerpt (Chapter 1) gives a detailed overview of the learning process and of human cognitive architecture. It also includes the bibliography from the book. This item cannot be redistributed without permission (thank you).

Also see pages 76-79 in Richard Mayer’s book, Multimedia Learning, 2009 for additional explanation on how people learn from multimedia presentations.

Three Rules for Better Presentations (Multimedia PDF) Note: Requires Acrobat Reader 9.

This PDF is a slideshow with audio, added notes and an attached summary of the three rules. Feel free to share this with friends and colleagues!

“Five Ways to Reduce PowerPoint Overload” by Cliff Atkinson and Richard E. Mayer.

Cliff Atkinson is the author of Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate and Inspire (ISBN: 978-0-7356-2387-3) and Dr. Mayer is a noted authority on cognitive psychology. This short article gives additional information and helpful tips for improving your presentations.

ASSERTION-EVIDENCE SLIDE DESIGN

“Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: The Assertion-Evidence Structure” by Michael Alley. See also this bibliography.

IMAGE SOURCES

• Microsoft Office Online (http://office.microsoft.com)
• Creative Commons Search (http://search.creativecommons.org)
• Flickr Commons (http://www.flickr.com/commons)
• Flickr Creative Commons (http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons)
• LIFE magazine archives on Google Images (http://images.google.com/hosted/life)
• World Digital Library (http://www.wdl.org)
• Stock XChange (http://www.sxc.hu) [My personal favorite!]
• Fotolia (http://www.fotolia.com) $
• Dreamstime (http://www.dreamstime.com) $
• US Government Images (http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml)
• Additional free image sources (PDF; from Dynamic Graphics, Apr/May 2006)

TOOLS

• Delicious list of web resources for presentations
• Preparation worksheet
  Use this sheet to help you gather the logistical details (time, venue, audience, etc.) for your presentation.
• Beyond Bullet Points script template
  There are more templates and other tools in the Free Downloads section of Cliff Atkinson’s Beyond Bullet Points (BBP) website.
• Poster: Three Simple Rules for Great Presentations (8X11 format)
  Print out this poster and hang it up in your office to remind you of the three rules next time you prepare a presentation.

STORYBOARDING

• Simple storyboard template (PDF format)
• Online storyboard template generator (http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/storyboard/)
• Oasis Storyboard Pads (from Levenger)
• Storyboard template for a Moleskine notebook (DIY)

LAYOUT

• Booklet, “Say It With Pictures” (PDF format)
  Contains the layout examples shown during the presentation.
• LibraryThing list of presentations books (includes layout and design)

These two PDFs provide examples of different PowerPoint slides before and after editing. Looking at these examples may give you some ideas on how to restructure text-heavy slides.

• “Before and After 2008″
• “Text to Pictures SD Example”

PHOTO EDITING

• Picnik (http://www.picnik.com)

INSPIRATION

• The Dieline (http://www.thedieline.com)
• Note and Point (http://noteandpoint.com)
• Before & After Magazine (http://www.bamagazine.com)
• Delicious List of Design Links (http://delicious.com/lhilyer/design)