Clive on Learning: Clear and to the point

Clive on Learning: Clear and to the point

This is a good review of a book that pulls out some helpful suggestions for using PowerPoint.

Here are the highlights directly quoted from the blog.

1. Present neither too little nor too much.
2. Build on your audience's prior knowledge.
3. Make sure the most important points stand out and that unimportant things don't.
4. Make differences clearly distinguishable.
5. Make clear what should be grouped together and what separated.
6. Where possible, make the form of an object compatible with its meaning.
7. If you vary properties, such as colour, size, font, transition, etc., do it to convey something meaningful.
8. Take account of your audience's limited capacity for remembering and processing information.

Check out the original posting for some criticism of these suggestions.

Dan

On the Academic Interview Circuit: An End-to-End Discussion

On the Academic Interview Circuit: An End-to-End Discussion

Is it possible to have too much information? This might be, but it's great. Give it a read.

Dan

Academic, Faculty, Interviews, Questions

Academic, Faculty, Interviews, Questions

A very good good-example/bad-example. The moral of the story is to be prepared to deliver what they want to hear.

Dan

Succeeding in Academic Interviews - Career Development - jobs.ac.uk

Succeeding in Academic Interviews - Career Development - jobs.ac.uk

While academic interviews are a little off-topic for this blog, they are something that many students are going to encounter and should be prepared for. Also, the advice given on this topic is good for question and answer sessions at the end of presentations (and even preparing the presentation itself).

Dan

Do You Recognize These 8 Body Language Killers? at Ririan Project

Warning: Do You Recognize These 8 Body Language Killers?

This is a pretty good list of don'ts that apply just as much in a conversation as they do in a presentation.

To summarize:
1. Keep eye contact
2. Don't let anything get between you and your audience (e.g., equipment)
3. Don't fidget.
4. Don't keep your hands in your pockets or clasped together
5. Don't stand perfectly still (look alive)
6. Don't slouch, lean back, or hunch over.
7. Don't use "phony" gestures. Don't practice your hand guesture too much. You want them to look natural.
8. Don't do any repetitive movements (similar to #3) that take attention away from your message (don't play with stuff in your pockets).

Dan