Now on Twitter

I have taken the plunge and decided that I should have a twitter account. Therefore, if you can’t think of anything better to do and want to follow me: http://twitter.com/paultoal

What makes a good presentation

Working in the field that I do I have to present and receive lots of presentations. A few months ago I started to get really frustrated with the poor quality of people’s presentations. Sometimes, this was their speaking, sometimes it was their slides or materials. I decided that I wanted to change the way that I approached the whole issue of presenting.

Therefore, I have spent the last few months trying to improve my presentation skills, both in terms of speaking and the material that I use. One of the great inspirations for my change has been Garr Reynolds, whose book, Presentation Zen has really helped me to understand the good and bad points of design for powerpoint presentations. As a result of reading this book, I have started to change my approach. Here is an example of some slides I created which I have used recently in a couple of presentations I gave.

I have only used these slides on internal presentations so far, but they seemed to be received well compared to the more traditional approach. Hopefully, if he saw these, Garr would be proud.

The only problem I have with his approach is the length of time it takes to not only prepare the presentation content but also any accompanying handout (if required). I’m sure, as I get more used to this approach I will become quicker at it and can re-use much of the content.

Presenting, however, is not just about the slides that you use. In fact, sometimes you don’t even need slides. The most important part of any presentation is the message that you are trying to convey and the way that you get it across. I am currently reading Presenting to Win by Jerry Weissman and, whilst a lot of what he talks about is common sense, its amazing how many presenters seem to leave common sense at the door.

So, when watching presentations, how can I tell if the presentation is good or not. Simple, am I captivated? Lawrence Lessig is a fantastic example, as shown in the video below.

I’ve never heard Lawrence speak before and aren’t particularly interested in copyright (the theme of his presentation). However, for the 1hr 5mins that he presented, I was absolutely captivated. His combination of conversation and supporting materials made a very enthralling presentation. It just goes to show, a good presenter can capture his audience regardless of what he is talking about.

New swapping site…worth a look

I just signed up to a site i’ve just come across for swapping things in the UK. Might be useful for my used PS3 games.

Check it out…….

SWAPSHOP.co.uk

DNA Database – Finally some sense

At least the European Court of Human Rights respects people’s DNA and doesn’t think the UK Government should keep it for no reason….

Is the Olympics necessary?

In the current global economic crisis, it is really prudent to spend £9.2bn on the 2012 London Olympics. I’m sure the money could be put to better use…..

My First YouTube Post

I’ve decided to start posting videos to YouTube. Therefore, if you want a laugh at my poor attempt at Beethoven, please see here.

Is ALL water a wishing well?

I have this theory which seems to bear out no matter where I travel to in the UK…..

When I was a child I used to throw pennies into wishing wells and make a wish. As I grew up I noticed the security protecting the coins getting stronger (however, I digress).

What I have noticed now for a number of years is that any expanse of water contained in a public place becomes a public wishing well. You may notice that all of these places have coins thrown into them. These include water features in shopping centres as well as water fountains outside.

What happened to the good old wishing well and why do people find an urge to thrown money anywhere where there is water?

Date of Birth on Facebook

It still amazes me that so many of my friends are displaying their date of birth on their public facebook profile.

Don’t they realise how useful this is to potential Identity thief?

iPod Graveyard

Where have all the original iPods gone?

I have an 4GB iPod Mini. Its not that old and it serves my purpose. However, I seem to be the only person on the planet that has a pre-video iPod. What has happened to all of the people who bought older iPods. Do they just throw them away and buy new ones or is there some sort of iPod graveyard that they send them to?

iPlayer on Wii

Yesterday, the BBC announced the their iPlayer can now be run on the Wii through the use of the Internet Channel and that they even hope to provide a separate channel to remove the dependancy on the Opera browser.

I had to try it. How cool!!