Episode 057 -- Photograph Your Space and Digital Ink in PowerPoint

 

 

2-Minute Tip: Photograph Your Space

 

The brain plays tricks on us. It can be difficult to see clutter and distractions in the space around us because we tune them out. That can be true in a home office, in a conference room, or on a presentation stage.

 

Try taking a picture of your presentation space with your phone. Better yet, have someone take a picture, or several pictures from different angles, of you standing in your speaking spot.

 

Then look at the background in those pictures. You're more likely to spot potential issues by looking at those pictures than by just looking at the real world.

 

 

Post Tip Discussion: Digital Ink in PowerPoint

 

Digital Ink is feature of modern PCs, especially pen-enabled PC. In PowerPoint, it means you can draw on your slides with a digital pen, your mouse, or even your finger.

 

There are two contexts for digital ink in PowerPoint

1. Reviewing Content
2. Presenting Content

 

Reviewing Content

 

I like to use ink to review slide decks while sitting on the couch. By getting away from my desktop monitor, keyboard, mouse, and desk, it helps shift the context of my thinking. I can more easily apply a critical eye to content because it forces me out of "author mode."

 

To review content with ink:

1. Open the slide deck in slide sorter view
2. Click on the "Draw" tab
3. Choose "Draw with touch"

 

Now, I can make notes directly on the slides I'm reviewing, circle typos, ask questions, sketch out additional slides, and more.

 

Then I can save the file with all that ink and send it back to the author to update. Even if that author is me.

 

Presenting Content

 

When presenting content, ink annotations let us do things we used to do with grease pencils and overhead transparencies 40 years ago. We can draw on our slides.

 

To turn on ink annotations during a presentation:

 

1. Launch slideshow mode
2. Hover your pointing device in the lower left of the screen
3. Look for the transparent icons
4. Choose the writing implements button
5. When that pops up the choices, choose the pen

Now you can draw on your slides while the audience watches.

 

What can you do with this function? You have a bunch of options, including:

 

• Emphasize a point
• Mark up a picture
• Interactively label parts of a diagram
• Make note of questions or follow-up items
• Create a virtual whiteboard

 

After your presentation, you can choose to keep or delete your annotations.

 

Call To Action:

 

• Use digital ink in one of your presentations.
• Have you use this feature in the past? Tell us about it in the comments below.
• Photograph your next speaking space to identify distractions.
• Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app
• Don't get best…get better

Check out this episode!

Episode 008 -- Valsalva and the PFO

When I exert myself in PT and OT, I tend to grunt obnoxiously. Besides that, I also have a habit of tensing my core bearing down, and holding my breath while my face turns deep red. It's like a professional weight lifter pushing 500 or 800 pounds (what is a lot for a weight lifter?) over their head. Except in my case, the heavy weight is my leg. Or my arm.

That's why my therapists have to keep reminding me to breathe. Holding my breath in like that is the Valsalva maneuver. And it's a bad idea.

This week I explore the Valsalva maneuver, the literal hole in my heart (PFO), leg squeezy things, and spy/crime drama in hospital assassinations.

Hack of the Week

Watching way too much Food Network taught me the idea of Mis En Place. My stroke drove home the importance of it.

Mis En Place roughly translate as "everything in its place." It's the step of cooking before you cook. You set out all your ingredients, premeasure them, prep them, and set out your gear before you start cooking. Then it goes more smoothly.

Cooking without setting up everything in advance, it's still possible to cook, and pull and prep as you go. It just takes more carful timing, and you have to move faster. That's tough enough with two hands, but way too stressful with just one.

Mis En Place also gives you a chance to verify you have everything you need for the project.

Mis En Place doesn't have to stay in the kitchen. The concept applies to other household tasks, as well. It's all about planning ahead for what you want to do, getting your actual prep work done ahead of time, and then doing it.

Where do we go from here?

• Breathe while you exercise.
• Find a place for Mis En Place in your life
• Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or relative
• Don't get best…get better

Here is the latest episode of The Strokecast

Episode 056 -- Create a Desktop Folder and 7 Tips for Better Conclusions

 

 

2-Minute Tip: Create a Folder

 

Many of us have thousands of files on our computers, in our clod drives, and attached to email messages. Getting to the right one can take some work. That's fine when we are by ourselves and have a few moments to spare. During a presentation, or between presentations, it can be more challenging.

 

Sometimes we may need to drop out of our slide show to answer a question, demonstrate a resource, or change course.

 

To make it easy, create a folder on your computer desktop. In that folder, include:

 

• Your slide deck
• Relevant video
• Reference PDFs
• Digital version of your event form
• Whatever other resources you might need during your talk

 

That folder makes it easy to find what you need when you need it.

 

Post Tip Discussion: 7 Tips for Better Conclusions

 

The conclusion of your talk is valuable time. It's the stuff that will stick with your audience when the leave the room and go back to the real world. Make that section has effective as possible by applying these 7 tips for better conclusions.

 

1. Wrap up your talk
2. Recall your key points
3. Summarize your calls to action
4. Close any open loops
5. Tie things back to your introduction
6. End only once
7. Memorize your conclusion

 

Call To Action:

 

• What, in your mind, makes a great conclusion? Have you seen or used a very effective conclusion? Let us know in the comments below.
• Apply these tips to the conclusion in your next talk.
• Create a separate folder on your desktop to keep all the stuff together for your next talk.
• Share this episode with a friend or colleague.
• Don't get best…get better.

Check out this episode!

Episode 007 -- Meet Gerrit Barrere

This week, I talk with Gerrit Barrere about a huge number of topics. Gerrit survived 2 strokes in 2003. We discuss:

• Gerrit's stroke story
• How stroke affected his work
• Emotional lability and pseudo bulbar affect
• Stroke Recovery
• Support Group benefits
• Demographic shift in stroke
• Power of stories
• Tips for new survivors

Before we go further, I do want to give a little content warning. At about the 17 minute mark, we have some discussion of suicidal thoughts. If you find yourself experiencing such thoughts, please talk with your doctor, counselor or any of your therapists. They can help you get the help you need. Remember, your brain may not be giving you the best input after a stroke.

Depression is particularly common in folks post-stroke, and, as Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame often says, "Depression Lies."

But back to Gerrit.

I met Gerrit through the Seattle Young Adult Stroke Survivors group. He's led it for many years and helped hundreds of people connect with one another in that time.

After 13 years at the helm, Gerrit is turning over the leadership of the YASS group to yours truly. If I can manage it half as well as Gerrit has, The group and stroke and caregiver communities of Seattle will have a great future. Wish me luck.

If you'd like to catch up with Gerrit, you can email him at this link. Or, if you're in the Seattle area, check out the YASS group. We're always welcoming new stroke survivors and care givers.

During the course of the interview, We talked about a lot of different resources. Here are those links (and a couple others):

Contact Gerrit Barrere

Young Adult Stroke Survivors

YASS on Facebook

American Heart Association

Puget Sound Heart Walk

AHA Stroke Group Finder

American Stroke Association Group Leader Tips

Stroke Connection Digital Magazine

National Stroke Association

StrokeSmart Magazine

Wil Wheaton on Depression

Hack of the week

I finally figured out how to open a beer bottle with one hand.

The smart move would be to get a wall mounted bottle opener and mount that to the wall. Maybe someday…

For now I basically use the kitchen counter. I position the bottle opener in place. Then I hold it there with two fingers while I hold the neck of the bottle with the rest of my hand. I position the bottom of the bottle opener on the top of the counter which means I'm holding the bottle in front of the counter. Then I pull down and use the counter to apply pressure to the bottle opener and pop the lid off.

Where do we go from here?

• How did you enjoy this episode? Let us know in the comments below.
• Subscribe to Strokecast in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• If you know someone who might be interested in or benefit from Strokecast, let them know.
• Don't get best…get better.

Here is the latest episode of The Strokecast

Episode 055-- Slides are not Time and Talk Less, Say More

 

2-Minute Tip: Slides are not Time

 

How many slides should be in a 15-minute presentation?

 

How long is a 10-slide presentation?

 

I don't know because the number of slides is a poor proxy for presentation length. I would rather see a presenter add more slides than to use a small font. Splitting one slide into multiple slides doesn't lengthen your presentation. It just makes content more legible. Conversely, replacing 10 text heavy slides with 3 graphic slides doesn't shorten your presentation.

 

Let the content drive the number of slides in a deck -- not the clock.

 

 

Post Tip Discussion: Talk Less, Say More

 

My apologies to Lin-Manuel Miranda. His Aaron Burr gave the advice to, "Talk Less. Smile more," to make it easier to get along with everyone, avoid getting arrested by the British, and minimize political enemies. It didn't work out so well for him in Hamilton.

 

Instead, I suggest you talk less and say more.

 

Silence and repetition can be powerful tools as we saw in Emma Gonzalez's recent speech following the murder spree in a Florida high school.

 

 

As speakers, we may be tempted to throw as much stuff in a presentation as possible, and that's the wrong instinct. Volume of points won't help us achieve our goals; clarity will. When we try to focus on everything, we focus on nothing. When everything is the top priority, nothing is a priority.

 

Overwhelming our audience with facts, features, details, charts, slides, etc. doesn't drive our call to action. It doesn't support the point we want to make. Instead, it leaves our audience distracted and confused. They are more likely to forget stuff that we said because we obscured the important stuff with trivia. And that just wastes everyone's time.

 

To address the issue, go back to basics. Start your presentation prep by asking:

1. Why will I conduct this presentation?
2. What's the point?
3. Why should the audience care?
4. What do I want them to do?
5. Why ought they do that?

 

Start with those questions and write down your answers. When you review your content, ask if it supports the goals outlined in those questions.  If a point does not move you towards your goal, cut it. It's a distraction, and we all have enough of those these days.

 

Call To Action:

 

• Review an upcoming talk. Can you cut 25% of the material without detracting from your main point? If so, cut it.
• Do you have any experience of how cutting something make a talk more effective? Have you talked less and said more? Tell us your story in the comments below.
• Do you know someone who may benefit from this episode? Share it with them, and help them subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in their favorite podcast app.
• Don't equate the number of slides with the number of minutes in a presentation.
• Don't get best...get better.

 

Check out this episode!