Comments on: I’m Ready for Preso 2.0

By: links for 2008-05-29 :: User First Web

links for 2008-05-29 :: User First Web — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:34:07 +0000

[...] I’m Ready for Preso 2.0 | Oracle AppsLab “The presentations I’ve seen at Web 2.0 Expo and WebVisions are awesome. They’re basically photo slideshows with some minimal captions for emphasis. This makes for a very different experience than a typical bullet-fest.” Includes some kind words from (tags: mobile presentations webvisions) [...]

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:43:48 +0000

You have to be more interesting based on your topics

Good presentations are hard to do, remembering the content and stringing together an interesting story. I need lots of work beyond just my slides.

By: davidhaimes

davidhaimes — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:19:04 +0000

There's the classic that goes back to the days of photo slide presentations, you have one in upside down to make sure the audience are paying attention and then one of you on a beach, with shorts and shades on – “Oops how did my vacation snap get in there?”. Everyone laughs/groans then back to the charts, tables of numbers and bullets.

These days I try to put lots of pictures in my presentations and I even did a Google Earth fly over of all the locations where people attending my web conference where located, while I talked global team working. I feel I have to try and keep things interesting, if only to give myself more enthusiasm in the presentations.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:52:05 +0000

Ha, that's funny. I never thought to use PowerPoint as a database. My presos are boring; you should invite guys like Jason to present. They have way better skills.

By: chet

chet — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:08:20 +0000

Jake,

Would you come to my place of work? We use PowerPoint as a database, i.e. all of our metrics are in there and the executive staff spend an inordinate amount of time updating for each meeting. It's kind of funny to see IT people using PP (that's funny) as a database.

chet

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:48:50 +0000

Thank you for an interesting presentation. The stats floored me; mobile is one of those things I've known about since NTT DoCoMo burst on the scene during the Bubble.

But since our wireless networks have lagged so much, the promise of mobile web has been like a unicorn. Pictures like this one that Puneet took in India bring the point home.

We don't have running water, but we have cell service.

Jensine Larsen's session brought that point home too, i.e. mobile web is everywhere, albeit in a different context.

Thanks for the presentation tips. Although even with some work, I pity people who choose to torture themselves with my content.

By: Jason Grigsby

Jason Grigsby — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:39:31 +0000

Hi Jake,

Thanks for the kind words about my presentation. I consciously try to minimize the number of bullet points. But even in this presentation, there was some information that had to be conveyed in bullet points. Sometimes they are unavoidable.

But the main thing I try to do is make sure my presentations have a story. The slides have to have a narrative arc.

I also believe passion and enthusiasm are important. If you're passionate about your topic, your audience will become engaged in what you are saying.

Friday night I got the opportunity to thank Jeffrey Veen for inspiring me with his presentation from five years ago at Web Visions. Since then, I've been trying to be half as good of a presenter as he is. He wrote about his thoughts on presentations here:
http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000483.html

Thank you again for attending the session. I'm glad you enjoyed it.