Brierley, Sean wrote: > I like the graphics part. > > Why not the bulleted outline? It helps keep you on track and you can go > into detail and pursue topics at length off the slide. >
A bulleted outline is a great way to organize your thoughts as you prepare the presentation. Use it. Create a complete bulleted outline of the talk. Use the Notes view to write presentation notes to yourself if you are uncomfortable speaking extemporaneously from the bullets or if you want to be able to refer to specific data such as references or URLs in case a question comes up. No problem with bullets. Just don't show them on the screen. Use them for the printed handouts that you provide AFTER the talk. The problem with having them on the screen--especially in the long, verbose form that a lot of management consultants seem to favor--or in handouts that the audience gets in advance and uses to follow along is that the audience will read rather than listen, and they will not hear what you are telling them. People really do not multitask as well as they think they do. Their attention can only be in one place at a time, and if you're speaking you want their attention on you, not on a brief bulleted outline. Oh, another tip I meant to include earlier: In slide master view, zoom out so you can see a broad pasteboard area around the master. On the pasteboard, you can create text boxes, dotted lines, arrows, guidelines, etc., and provide instructions for use of the slide template. This is particularly helpful if you are distributing a template to a sales team and they are going to be responsible for at least occasionally creating their own slides. It's a good way to give them guidance on rules about fonts, size, colors, etc. The information will all be visible (at the correct zoom level) but will not affect the actual slides. Dick http://ampersandvirgule.blogspot.com/ ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
