Home » presentation tips

Archives for presentation tips

14 Apps That Should Accompany You to the Next Conference

Posted by  on Wednesday, December 29th 2010     

Part of the Cool Sites series

You may have a conference you are preparing to attend in 2011, such as IATEFL, ISTEK, ISTE, or the upcoming EduConn conference. These are some of the face-to-face conferences, but many conferences are also free and can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home for free, like the upcoming Reform Symposium E-Conference on Saturday, January 8th.  With mobile devices and apps, you can do so much at conferences. In the palm of your hand you have the power to connect with people at the conference instantly, keep record of the speaker’s key points, collect favorite sayings, and share these key points virtually with others who cannot attend. Mobile apps are additionally environmentally friendly and make it easier for you to organize the information you gather digitally. You can keep a record of the information you gather in various forms through audio, video, images, and text. You can tag information in order to refer to it later when you need it. I find that I remember more using apps to document and share information. Moreover, toting around my iPhone is much easier than lugging around my Macbook. The apps are very easy to use, often free, and have various multimedia options. Many integrate images, audio, text and audio. I also recommend having the usual suspects for social networking and sharing images which include Echofon (Twitter), Tweetdeck (Twitter), Facebook, Flickr (Photo sharing), and 4 Square (not one I personally use but many conferences will now let you win prizes through this app).

Networking Apps

These are some of the free great apps! These are available on the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. Some of these may have Android and Blackberry equivalents.

My Name is E- Share business cards phone to phone or through e-mail with 3 taps. Add notes to newly received cards and view social networking information. Add new cards instantly to contacts. E saves the location of where a business card was shared. Receive updates of your contacts’ information when they update. Also share cards with those who don’t have the application. Free version available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.

Bump- Share business cards phone to phone, even Android to iPhone, by bumping the phones together. Share contacts info, pictures, calendar events, and connect on social networks. Free version available on the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Android. Both parties must have the free Bump application for it to work.

NoteTaking Apps

These are some of the great apps! These are available on the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. Some of these may have Android and Blackberry equivalents.

Evernote- Create text, photo and audio notes that auto-synchronize your notes to your Mac or PC. Makes text within snapshots searchable. Add, sync, access, and share files (PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, and more) among the different versions of Evernote. Free version available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.
** Try keeping notes of the presentations and workshops you attend or try brainstorming and planning your next presentation on this app!

Posterous- Want to blog and report the workshops or presentations in one location on a website quickly? Although, Posterous is the easiest way to blog it can also be used to effectively collect notes to publish immediately on a blog without any registration. Include a mix of text, photos, and videos as well as tags and location information. Share immediately on Facebook and Twitter! Even allow others to add to your posts (set this up through the web app vs. the mobile app). Free version available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.

Mindblowing- Gather audio, video and photos into a colorized mindmap. Enter the main topic, title, or theme in the main node then create branches with images, audio, or video attached. Send the mindmap with the attachments through email. Free version available on the iPhone. This is my recent review of this app which gives several ideas on how to use it with students.
** Try keeping notes of the presentations and workshops you attend or try brainstorming and planning your next presentation on this app!

Free Storage Apps

DropBox- Get 2 GB of storage for free to upload photos, videos, documents, presentations, and audio. You can make these private or public (provides you a link to share for others to download). Save photos and videos taken with your phone’s camera, share and send files via email, or copy and paste links to share with another app. Export files to other apps and favorite them for offline viewing. Free version available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.
** Try storing your presentation slides or handouts and easily provide a link to your participants to download.

IBooks- I access my conference pdf programs, transportation maps, and other documents offline with this free app! You have scrolling features, zoom, bookmarking and more. You even have a great looking shelf to organize your collection. You can also have access to some free/paid books to keep you entertained during your free time! Any pdf attachments in your email can automatically be opened and immediately stored in this app! Free version available on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad.

Streaming Apps

Ustream Broadcaster- I always find events at conferences I want to livestream and have available online. This free app allows me to livestream and when I am finished it will be available online in case people missed the event or presentation. You can even tweet and chat while livestreaming the event. You have to register ahead of time (free) but when you do you have your own channel created that others can visit. Free version available on the iPhone and Android.

Ustream Viewer- This app simply allows you to watch Ustreamed events on your iPhone.

Challenge:

Try one of these apps at your next conference!

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

What apps do you love using at conferences?

category: Cool Sites, Mobile Learning, presentation tips
tags: , , , , , ,

The Beauty of Sand

Posted by  on Friday, December 3rd 2010     

Part of the new Presentation tips series

Sand and Possibilities

Adapted image, Aylam with Big Hand by Hanaan Rosenthal

While growing up I hated sand. Sand was just an annoying particle that stuck to everything when I went to the beach, my hair, my feet, my mouth…. One day, my former Pastor told us a story about sand. He described how the ancient tribes in the Old Testament would meet another tribe and mix sand from their land with sand from the other tribe’s land in a bag. The tribal leaders would then say, “When we separate each other’s sand that is when we will no longer be in agreement.” Each tribe kept that bag of sand for generations. In this case, sand became a bond of peace. I looked at sand much differently after this beautiful story. I began to smile at the amazing sculptures by children. Mixed with inspiration sand to them becomes something amazing and beautiful. It represents lands and fantasies in their minds. Sand is now one of my favorite particles. My favorite place to reflect is on a sandy beach. I love to sit on the sand, watch the waves, and think for hours. I have a ritual where I often listen to Sara Brightman’s Pie Jesu and dig my feet deep in the sand and count my blessings. Sand has become sacred to me when it was once annoying.

IMG_7114

Yes, that's my foot in Barcelona ;-)

In the same way, technology is annoying to many educators and parents. Technology is everywhere and they see how enchanted children become with it instead of school, chores, or having family time. Part of presenting about technology or anything your audience will find annoying is to show them the possibilities. Show them how you allow students to create, collaborate, problem solve, and think critically with technology. Tell them the stories of children connecting with others worldwide.

We open eyes by sharing our stories.
The story is one of the most important pieces of any powerful presentation.

The Art of Storytelling

Anecdotes

The best way to learn how to effectively tell a story is to learn from great storytellers. One of my favorite podcasts is “This American Life” by Ira Glass.  In this video, Ira Glass gives advice on anecdotes:

When you share a live story think about your voice, pitch, pauses, movement, hand and facial gestures. Think about ways to play with the story. Perform it in front of a mirror or video record yourself telling the story. Often it is best to memorize the story first then practice the gestures. Practice sharing your story with friends or family and monitor their reactions.

Perhaps you aren’t the best storyteller. Don’t worry your students are and when you can let them share their anecdotes about the instructional practice. A marriage counselor shared with me great advice, “Parents cannot stay angry at their children for too long because they’re blood but you they can stay angry at.”

Storytelling through Visuals

Image sequences that tell a story are also very powerful. Think about telling visual stories when crafting your presentation. This can be through slides or through a video you create or share.

Here’s a presentation that tells a story through images:

How To Make A Good PowerPoint

View more presentations from Seth dickens. You’ll recognize Seth from our PLN as @SethDickens, an educator just like you and me!

More Storytelling Resources

I’m certainly not the storytelling expert but hopefully you will find some of these resources useful:

Challenge:

Craft a story for your next presentation. Make it personal. If it touches you then the story will touch others.

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

What are some of your favorite storytelling techniques?

In the next post of this series I will share my favorite websites to find hi-resolution stock photos.

category: presentation tips
tags: , , , , ,

Sharing Our Voices & Reaching Our Audience

Posted by  on Sunday, November 21st 2010     

Part of the new Presentation tips series

Often, I talk about the importance of voice and sharing. In order to get buy-in from other educators, our administrators, and the general public, we have to show them the impact of our online professional development on our teaching. We need to show them the impact on students. We need to communicate our passion effectively. We have to persuade, convince, and change minds. Changing minds means we have to get folks to listen.

Knowing Our Audience

The folks we want to listen often have judgments about education. Everyone has their own experiences with learning. Most of it stems from a very traditional style of learning they got used to for the majority of their lives. Many of those who want teachers and schools evaluated through standardized testing were the ones who were able to successfully adapt to the system and overcome the system.

The problem is….

We aren’t reaching the students who do not achieve. Millions of students drop-out and can’t read or write at a level that would prepare them for college. Yes, not all children have to go to college but a majority do because that is the way society works. If you do not get a college degree then you are pretty much left struggling to make ends meet.

Another problem is that the millions of students we fail to educate properly are not the ones voting on education policy or voicing their opinions on how their schools failed them. They are the ones struggling to feed their families by working several hours or jobs, on welfare, or in jails. The ones who speak loudly about education and have an impact on education policy are the ones who made it successfully through the traditional system despite the obstacles.

Our voices have to reach them…

Presentations, webinars, workshops, blogs, wikis, videos, and conferences are all great places to share our message. However, the problem might be that we feel inexperienced in sharing or feel frightened about speaking. Many of us may just not be very effective speakers. We may not be able to communicate our excitement or share this with others. Most teachers were not really trained in public speaking or persuasion. The celebrities and politicians who get their messages about education transformation were trained for many years in the art of public speaking. They were trained to effectively get their messages across and they do.

How do we get our message across?

Our education community is growing. Over 50,000 educators worldwide are on social networks if you count the membership of educator groups on Twitter, Facebook, Nings, and other social networks. Our voices can become a roar but we must begin to build our skills. I have a bit of experience in public speaking. I was professionally trained since 1992 to speak to business professionals, CEOs, and leaders of Fortune 500 companies to persuade them to give money to our magnet school. I was terrible when I started. I grew up speaking ChE (Chicano English) and made terrible mistakes with my pronunciation like mixing “ch” words with “sh.” Also, I used to spit a lot when I spoke and definitely didn’t know much about public speaking. However, I have a very “go-getter” type of father who convinced me to run for class president and when I won I hadn’t realized I would have to speak to rooms full of CEOs, VIPs, or 1000s of students and their families attending the school. I joined a debate team and had an incredible coach who made me speak standing in trashcans with a big fat marker in my mouth and my hands firmly behind my back when reciting speeches that took weeks of research to write. I was lucky that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in my city mentored me and other students and helped us set-up a local Toastmasters chapter in our high school called JUNTOS. I used to hate presenting, but now I love it so much that I have a minor in Communication and continued my training throughout college. Like many of you like to read educational theory books I love to read communication theory books.

A Virtual Toastmasters!

Lately, I’ve noticed I’m making several errors while reviewing my recent webinars. This year alone I will conduct over 50 presentations and most of them will be recorded and produced online.  I have this many times to share my message effectively. I have this many times to make an impact on many teachers who may be new to online professional development or teaching in a non-traditional way. My schedule and traveling make it nearly impossible to make face to face meetings even though a Toastmasters chapter does exist in my city. Therefore, I will be starting an online virtual Toastmasters like meeting through either Elluminate, Adobe Connect, or another room. I’m still fine-tuning the details but I would like to meet at least once a month and work on the following:

  • Limiting ummms and uhhhs
  • Tone, pitch, enunciation, pronunciation and other vocal cues
  • Nonverbal gestures
  • Presentation design
  • Preparation details
  • Other presentation concerns

Would you like to take part?

If you are interested in taking part, please fill out the Google Form with contact information. I will include you in my e-mail list and share with you the details.

This is what a Toastmasters meeting looks like:

Challenge:

Join a Toastmasters organization in your area or try making one of the virtual meetings!

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

What would you like to see in the public speaking help meeting?

category: presentation tips
tags: , , , , ,

Creative Commons High Resolution Images on Flickr

Posted by  on Sunday, November 14th 2010     

Part of the new Presentation tips series

Since 1994 I have been presenting frequently in competitions, conferences, webinars, and virtual conferences. By the end of this year, I will have created over 50 presentations on PowerPoint and Prezi. I have learned a lot of short cuts and have found some great resources that may be of value for your presentations. I know that not many of us have time to spare in creating amazing presentations or some of us just need some advice. Therefore, I am starting a new series where I will be sharing presentation tips.

Part of education transformation is sharing what works in our teaching and how we help motivate our students. Presenting is part of this sharing of resources. Hopefully, these tips will help you motivate your audiences and help save you time.

Flickr High Resolution Images

One of my favorite resources for Creative Common high resolution images is Flickr. Register for free or through your Yahoo account. This video will help you find Creative Common images for commercial and non-commercial uses.

I often adapt images that are under a Creative Commons 3.0 license, which is the updated version of the 2.0 license. Here are a few ways to quickly find CC 3.0 licensed images to use on Flickr:

Some of My CC Quotes Slides

Enjoy these slides. I will be adding more to my quotes set regularly. These are the small versions but click on the image to grab larger images for your blog, video, or presentation.

Plato Kind quote Flickr

Alive quote Flickr

Beauty Confuscius Plato

G Couros quote Flickr

Dr Seuss Brains quote Flickr

You might also enjoy these great presentation tips in this SlideShare:

YOU SUCK AT POWERPOINT!

View more presentations from @JESSEDEE.

Challenge:

Use these images to save some time on your next presentation.

You may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

What Creative Commons Flickr group or photographer do you enjoy?

In the next post of this series I will share my favorite websites to find hi-resolution stock photos.

category: presentation tips
tags: , , , , ,
Page 2 of 2:« 1 2
box_cat_left

Thank you for visiting!

Don't forget these other resources!

box_cat_center

Looking forward to connecting with you!

Feel free to share these resources.

box_cat_right

Thank you for leaving your digital footprint!

Check out other worldwide digital footprints.

  • I Love My Visitors!

  • Thank you!