When Webinars were called PowerPoint Presentations
Didn't you hate it when your parents started a sentence with "In my time...". That's exactly how I want to start now: In my time there were no webinars, there were PowerPoint presentations.
Very soon not only the presentations existed but also the expression "Death by PowerPoint". An insecure public speaker made his PowerPoint slides for himself as a guide. While with a confident speaker, the slides supported the story in an excellent way.
I see the same thing happening at webinars. There is not much difference between a webinar and a keynote in my eyes. Apart from where the listener is.
An image like this doesn't even illustrate the story. It's just too much information.
Yes, no, or WOW
Make a design in Canva and there are always quotes showing up while you have to wait for the download. The one I like most is: "There are 3 reactions to a design: yes, no, or wow. Aim for the wow."
It's true for every aspect of our life, of course, not just design. And it's practical to have some guidelines.
Years ago (yes, in my time, LOL) I wrote a book about PowerPoint presentations, and a lot of the guidelines in that book, are applicable to webinar presentations. In the following series, I had to remove just one remark for not being useful.
Don'ts when making a presentation
- Don't put too much text on a slide;
- Use keywords instead of complete sentences;
- A PowerPoint is not an autocue;
- Avoid Comic sans (and join the Ban Comic Sans Facebook group);
- Do not make the letters too small;
- Mixing all kinds of fonts leads to chaos;
- Be sparing with different colors;
- Little color contrast results in illegible texts;
- Do not animate the text word for word. You force someone to read at your pace and it distracts too much;
- Do not make photo collages;
- Don't use your slides as a cheat sheet for yourself, but as images supporting your story;
- Don't use cliché stock photos;
- Watch the number of bytes a picture has so that the build-up of the following slide takes little or no time;
- Your slides are not a handout.
This was used in a scientific presentation. Too much information and Comic Sans doesn't have a serious status, does it?
Do's for a presentation
- Match the character of the letters when using two or three different fonts;
- Apply a maximum of 3 different fonts on one slide;
- Ensure unity in the text hierarchy, headings in one font and italics or bold for the same elements;
- Use a letter of at least 18 points if you make the presentation in PowerPoint, but preferably even larger;
- Try to apply one style for photography;
- Animation in images is fine if it adds something to the story (usually it doesn’t);
- Try making a presentation without texts;
- If you combine text and photo, use a quiet part of the photo or put a colored area under the text;
- Use photos full screen or on a quiet background;
- Make a separate handout;
- Have a plan B for when things go wrong.
When there is not much contrast between letters and image, the text is hardly legible. When the presentation is held in public it's better to avoid text in the lower half of the slide.
Webinars are fun
Although it is also a bit scary to give a webinar (in the beginning), I can assure you it is also fun to do. And from a business point of view, it is a marvelous tool to tell about your product or service.
As a public speaker, you are always visible to your public. In a webinar, you can choose to be invisible. Personally, I don't like it if I never see who is talking. So in my own webinars, I always chose to start in full view and started the presentation after my introduction.
Do you have any experience with either speaking in public or webinars?
xxx
Hannie
Recent Comments
38
Excellent post, Hannie, on reading I have been thinking about some of the folks that I follow. They started out ticking most of the don't do box's and today they have become top of the range, through determination and always looking to improve .
I guess, like all things follow a blueprint and we up skill all the way,. Thank you for sharing your insights
Thanks, Alexander. You're right, we all learn along the way. And when you know the rules, you can even do well with the don'ts because deviating from the norm can work quite well at times. :)
xxx
Hannie
Lol...so true!
And the 'hashtad' was once known as the 'pound' sign, as it is tge symbol for pound, not unlike the $ dollar sign refers to money.
And to answer you question, I have conducted a few PowerPoint presentations, I wouldn't say I have much experience in doing so.
While attending online school, 11 years ago, we used the PP for our presentation assignments.
Great post, Hannie!
Rudy
Thanks, Rudy. The funny thing is, that I have always hated PP, as well as all the other MS programs. I made templates for my customers because they all had a Windows computer. And made my own presentations in InDesign. :-D
xxx
Hannie
In public and large staff meetings yes. It can be a little unnerving depending on the subject. Very good detailed advice there on how to make successful webinars aka PowerPoint presentations back in the day lol. Thanks Hannie
At times, unnerving is also good, don't you think, Hugh? :)
Healthy tension. The joy and relaxation afterwards were always well worth it.
xxx
Hannie
See more comments
This was a flash to the past, Hannie. I want to kill my computer for deleting a long thing I was writing to you. Guess I'll have to do it in Word, and then just drop it as a new comment. I will try to come back later.
Suzay
Hey, Suzay, nice hearing from you :)
Hmm, so I am not the only one losing comments at times! I think there is no device that is so much screamed at as a computer, don't you?
xxx
Hannie
Oh, you are so right, Hannie! Never had problems with the keyboards on the desktops.
Yesterday I looked up the "wiping out " Problem and it said that I must have hit control A. Supposedly it would restore it back if you immediately hit control Z to (not capital letters!) to restore. somehow I do NOT believe it, but, I tried to scratch THE KEY SO i WOULDN'T CONFUSE IT BY TOUCH, with Shift, which it said that I must have done.
Ended up putting a piece to metallic tape on the Control key.
Hardly any room to sit correctly, so got to do what you can do, right?
And, of course, who knows?
Switching to ukulele! Well, atleast learning. listening and comparing, so I can get a fairly good one, for a little more joy and a little more fun!
Ukulele is small, just have to take care of it here in the desert of Arizona, keep it humidified enough, and out of the sun, and find for me the right one !
Darn computers, eh Hannie? Can't live with them when we don't understand how we affected their mysterious "bad" behavior ! And can't live without them as we work toward our better future.
Right Hannie?
Oh, that feels so much better, thank you for listening to my heart. while I am listening to yours
Ukelele sounds marvelous!! It might help if you have a diffuser next to it? It's been some time I made music myself. Who knows, maybe I should start again too! Not a ukelele though. I have played the guitar and the Irish flute, but my real love was with a button box. :)
Take care, Suzay, and have fun,
xxx
Hannie
I will have to look up button box, never heard of that. Ukulele has many teachers on youtube, and living in Hawaii for a long time, almost 15 years. I've heard some really very beautiful music!
Need to have a lot of teachers, inorder to be able to pick a good brand and size of instrument to learn on, and love it while I;m learning.
Thank Hannie, I enjoy you, and sharing with you!
Suzay
Great, Suzay, and it's mutual :)
A button box is like a small accordion, yet it has fewer notes. So for instance a C-G one only has one note with a #. This limits the number of tunes one can play. Like a harmonica. I hope I said it right, not sure how to phrase this in English :)
xxx
I get that! Now button box makes perfect sense! It's rare to see those instruments around much any more.
So inorder to be able to play more songs, a person would have to transpose to C-G, yes?
thank you Hannie! You are the best, and quite special as well!
Suzay
The notes are C - D - E - F - F# - G - A - B - C
I am not sure at the moment how many buttons I had, but there were a few higher and lower notes as well.
Exactly, Suzay, in order to be able to play songs that were in a different key you either had to transpose or take a different box. One that was a G-D for instance.
It is used a lot in Irish music :-D
I am getting homesick, talking about it :-) Not that I was a star at the instrument, but I really loved it.
Aren't you sweet, love you too
Wow Hannie that was awesome! I loved that explanation, but not as much as I love your inspiration. Button box brought understanding about home made music, and sharing fun and life with other loved ones, and great memories!
And whoever invented these instruments, be they button box or hang pan, another beautiful instrument, or mandolin, they did invent them to preserve a special piece, and a "special Peace" of our heritage.
Love you Hannie!
Rock that button box Sweetie! I'll give the same once I get the uke.
It's been waiting to come out of us.
Hey if you understand "transpose and circle of 5ths" --we are way ahead of beginner, and just belt out the songs, all of them, and see what happens.
We are too wise, WOW Wise Older Women to hold back our voices, or our songs of our souls. Amen,
Rock with the Rock who put the song in our souls and the desire to share them, Darling!
Suzay
I love that WOW explanation :)
xxx
Hannie