[Poll] Presentation handouts

[dancefloorlandmine]

A musing following on from the last two days presentation-fest ... if you're attending a presentation carried out via PowerPoint or similar, do you like to receive a copy of the slides, and if so, how? Also, if you do presentations, how do you usually do it?

[Poll #1145827]

Comments

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

Further to the above, I tend to make slides available as protected PDF not PPT.

[blue-condition.livejournal.com]

I don't like people to have the slides before/during the presentation - I want their attention to be on me and what I'm saying and showing. They're welcome to them the moment I've finished ;)

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Wave your nob at them, that'll keep them interested.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

[grin] Have you two actually met?

[hauntedunix.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you're asking as blue_condition is actually a eunuch.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

A eunuch would still have a knob (to follow the charming linguistic theme) ... also, with that beard, I doubt it ... [grin]

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Yes. But I would like to state for the record that I do not have any knowledge or experience regarding his nob.

[jinxcw.livejournal.com]

Ideally I like to give and receive slides in PPT format (or PPS - i.e. slideshow - if copying/editing is a concern). For non-native-English audiences I try to provide paper copies in advance so that they can follow more easily during the presentation (and in these cases I will use more of a "read the slide" style rather than "talk around the slides").

Note that if you are intending to generate paper copies at any point then pay special attention to any animated slides: either the final image or a composite of all objects will tend to be shown. In these cases it's better to split the animation over several slides so that it is still viewable in staccato form on paper copy.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

The answer to how I like to give or receive ppt presentations is really "depends". For example, I give out hard copies at meetings (if I can), but will also make an electronic version available. And whilst I like to have a paper copy of someone else's presentation at a meeting, I like to ahve an electronic one as well (not least becasue we don't have paper files at work any more).

[vatine]

I like having the presentation material for later reference. In some cases, I also want the presentation material in paper-form, so I can make notes. The latter is more important for long presentations (an example would be the 6h presentation on enterprise network stuffs that I sat through in Barcelona in January; scribbling on paper was truly useful, but it is a seriously small subset of presentations that more closely resemble 'lectures').

As for the exact shape presentations are available as, afterwards, I am partial to "PDF on digital storage media or as download". Paper is, at times, handy, but by far not necessary. I prefer after-session slide handouts to have all slides (possibly merging "multi-stage" slides into the final version). If there were skipped slides, they too could be included (handy way of having more data tables and what-have-you that are interesting for people to look at, pertains to the subject of the presentation, but not vital enough to be actually mentioned during the session).

Since I may end up having to do a slide show towards the later end of the year, my intent is to have the slides punted to PDF and an accompanying paper with the juicy stuff (in some ways making the slides redunant).

[some-fox.livejournal.com]

I always give handouts with space on beforehand because I don't want people copying down stuff from the ppts while I'm talking (which they inevitably do otherwise).

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

this is my preference, both as giver and receiver of handouts

[christhegoth.livejournal.com]

I haven't done a presentation in years, and that was on an overhead projector. It was about spontaneous human combustion though, so is still technically 'cool'. That's how I'd do it though. Assuming a public presentation of course. If it was private I'd probably use email.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Private presentation? I thought that involved webcams? [grin]

[christhegoth.livejournal.com]

My upgraded cam is coming, not to worry. It has night-vision ;) ( well LED's and a light senser ).

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Dude, you're scaring me now ...

[christhegoth.livejournal.com]

Hey, I've been told by cute females I look fantabulous. Well, Chloe and Ellie so they might be lying but...

And the old webcam was poo, so it's justified *huff* ;)

[christhegoth.livejournal.com]

No such luck alas. A lot of engineering students freaking though. Then I did one on the Tay Bridge. Students fell asleep, oldest professor in the room loved it.

Go figure *shrugs*. That had a good death toll as well. And a moral bit.

[morlith.livejournal.com]

Generally, when I give a presentation (or when one is given at my office
), there's an email that says "The slides are located here [link]. Grab them if you want them."

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I don't especially care whether slides I receive are in paper form or in electronic form. When I've given presentations and made the slides available afterwards, I have done so as a PDF, which has then been made available either by email or by download -- but generally downloadable from the website of the organisation for whom I was giving the presentation, rather than from my own website. (I have sometimes put them on my own website a few months later.)

[kathbad]

I prefer not to use powerpoint.

If I do use powerpoint it is just for headings/bullet points.

If the slides tell you everything that went on in the presentation then why have it as a presentation in the first place - just send out the slides, have people read through them and leave it at that!

Have not filled out the poll as it does not really represent this viewpoint...

If I go to a presentation where all the info is on the slides, I would want a handout so that I can read through it and add notes, but to be honest this normally means that I do not notice what the presenter is actually saying.

[adelpha.livejournal.com]

I only tend to do presentations to small groups, so usually end up emailing them the slides afterwards.

[dodgyoldgoth.livejournal.com]

I do presentations for anything between 3 and 30 people.
They vary in size and complexity and often contain proprietary information so handouts can be a bit restricted in their content at times.

It's entirely dependent upon subject and size but generally my presentations are done in Powerpoint using links to other MS media.

[aeia.livejournal.com]

Its nice to have the slides and room to make quikc notes. Especially if you're expected to report back to someone else what you found out at the presentation. In some cases its also nice to get the presentation in its electronic format.

Most of the presentations I give are technical/scientific and I normally hand out notes pages if I'm expecting people to take information away with them. If its more just for interest I don't bother.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

No, no, no, no, no!

Slide-uments are neither fish nor fowl, though certainly foul.

They don't work as presentations, because they encourage presenters to put too much information on the slides.

They don't work as documents, because they don't go into enough detail - any complex images or data you put on them end up the size of a postage stamp. They're strictly for the lazy.

The proper way of doing things is to have a presentation that supports rather than supplants the presenter; an engaging presenter who knows how to communicate, and a properly structured handout distributed _after_ the presentation that covers the key points in the right amount of detail - giving large images where that's necessary and written in proper English rather than bullet points.

Just because almost everyone uses slideuments doesn't mean that the practice should be encouraged.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

A very good approach there!

[jfs.livejournal.com]

*grin*

That's what you get after I've been teaching a class on PowerPoint design and presentation theory all morning ....

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Ah - fine timing! [grin]

I wish at least one of the presenters on Tuesday had been to your class - a presentation with a point is not supposed to be a random collection of badly chosen embedded videos from YouTube, IMHO.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I get really passionate about presenting, because when it's done well, it's awe-inspiring. That's also why bad presenting annoys me to the point of frustration, because while not all of us can be great presenters, there are simple tricks that can be learnt that will massively improve anyones skills.

I've been lucky enough to hear Tony Benn speak twice; once on the importance of public libraries, once on the role of the trade unions. I also heard Billy Bragg when he was promoting 'The Progressive Patriot'.

Both of them got up (or in Benn's case, sat with a mug of tea and a pipe) and spoke without notes or slides for an hour. Both were engaging, witty and passionate about their subjects. In all cases, the buzz in the room as they finished was beautiful to hear.

I'll probably never be as good a presenter or performer as either of them. But they've given me a target to aim for.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

High targets, sir, but good ideals, sir.

Happy Computers, upstairs from us, do a course on "How to give a good presentation, despite using PowerPoint" - it's the only one the CEO still runs himself.

The important bits are knowing your subject, being passionate about it, and being able to put that across coherently and engrossingly, AFAIC.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Yup - that works.

If you want to read some really inspiring stuff about presentation techniques, Garr Reynolds blog, Presentation Zen is well worth a look. It's syndicated on here as Zen_Rss.

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

I do my presentations without powerpoint, and give out handouts of the details I want people to definately take away with them before hand, so people can annotate them, rather than panic about getting down details in lieu of *listening to me*.