Doing More with Less

I went to the Mid-NJ ASTD Meeting today to attend the presentation "Doing More with Less: Adding Value in a Turbulent Economy" presented by Michael Schiavoni & Nicholas Russo.

Here is a presentation of my summary.

PowerPoint sucks, take two

This is a point that bares repeating... a lot.

(Taken from Seth Godin's blog)

Bullets Are For the NRA
Here are the five rules you need to remember to create amazing Powerpoint presentations:

1. No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
2. No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images.
3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions.
4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.
5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.

The reason I keep bringing this up is to hopefully force the point that there is no prize for putting as many words and crappy clip art on a slide.

Five ways to reduce PowerPoint Overload

It's inevitable. PowerPoint will be used to deliver the training message. And with so much information to be delivered, slides are often over run with text. You don't have to fall victim to this problem.

Cliff Atkinson's article "Five ways to reduce PowerPoint Overload" provides guidelines to keep the presentations more effective.

1. Write a clear headline that explains the main idea of every slide.
2. Break up your story into digestible bites.
3. Reduce visual load by moving text off screen and narrating the content.
4. Use visuals with your words instead of words alone.
5. Remove every element that does not support the main idea.
   

Yes, I'm sure you've heard it all before. But this is a good article for you to keep around to remind you.

P.S. In case you want even more proof, check out the top ten slide tips. My favorite tip? Number 4 - Use high quality graphics.