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Showing posts from September, 2011

Using quotes in presentations

Following the using text in slides spirit of the past weeks, in this post I share some of quotes  I have gathered over the past year I learned about the use of quotes in presentations reading Guy Reynold's Presentation Zen.  There are many reasons why you would like to use quotes in your presentations. Here are a few: They can summarize a point in a couple of words.  They can add credibility to your point.  Somebody said it better. They can help you transition to your next point. They make you look smart.  They capsule high amount of knowledge in few words. As a tip, I would suggest to read the quote to your audience. It is one of those few times where reading a slide is a good thing. Also remember that the shorter the quote, the better. And as James Humes writes, try to use quotes of famous people as much as possible.  I have seen some people using quotes in scientific and academic fields.  Here are some of the ones I have collected. "Innovation proceeds more rapi

A word on visuals: Using text in slides part II

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In part I I talked about the shape of the text in slides. In part II I want to address the content. There are two basic questions. One is, when is the use of words better than the use of pictures? And the other, how to effectively use words in pictures? Let me kick off with the diagram below that I found in Wikipedia and remixed. On question that putting the information shown here into a written form would take more time to process. This is the point that the director of the Data Visualization at the University of New Hampshire, Colin Ware, makes. According to Mr. Ware, hierarchical relationships are most effective presented in a structured diagram (Graphics 1, Text 0). Now take a look at the diagram below. It is called a flowchart, and it is used to graphical display an algorithm. In this case computing the factorial of n, n!. In case you wonder n! = 1 x 2 x ... x n. The pseudocode of this flowchart would be something like this:  read n f = 1, m = 1 mark: f = f*m if(m ==

Presentation Gurus: Julian Treasure

Once again a presentation Guru from TED! Though I start to have mixed feelings about TED, I have to admit there are great presenters. Julian Treasure is one of them. His job description is exotic, he is a Sound Consultant. Enjoy watching!

Lessons I learned from The King's Speech

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In February 2011, I mentioned the film The King's Speech . Finally, yesterday I had the chance to see it. Here are three things I learned.   Two days ago the DVD of The King's Speech was released here in Germany. I got the 2-DVD edition yesterday and watched it. It is a good film and Colin Firth, who plays King George VI, together with Geoffrey Rush (The King's speech therapist) are superb. The film focuses on the unlikely friendship between these two characters rather than in the King's speech problem. Still, I think the film touches an important point: Communication is important, but without character is superfluous. Some historical background. George VI is the father of Queen Elizabeth II and brother of King Edward VIII. Their father, King George V, dies in early 1936 as the World War II is breaking. The elder son of King George V, David, becomes King Edward VIII but abdicates in less than a year in favor of a woman. His younger bother, Albert, becomes King Geor