Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Use Your Blog Instead of PowerPoint
Dennis McDonald tells us that he successfully gave a live presentation to an audience of professional association executives. And he used his blog instead of PowerPoint.
The benefits of a blog over PowerPoint for this presentation?
Better show-and-tell. What makes a better first-grade show-and-tell experience: if I show the class a picture of my dog, or if I bring my dog to the class? Dr. McDonald was showcasing the power of Web 2.0. A series of screenshots in PowerPoint could not provide as valuable an experience as demo-ing the real deal.
Richer conversations afterward. Dr. McDonald gave his audience access to a password protected area of his blog-presentation, so that they could review information and post comments. This method is far superior to distributing an out-of-context ppt file after the show. A blog platform allows the presentation to expand, giving it more breadth and depth.
The pitfalls of blog over PowerPoint?
Beware the crash. From the wireless going wonky to the blogsite crashing (and all points in between), giving a live online presentation can be fraught with peril. Having a back-up in hand is a must for live internet presentations. And as far as back-ups go, those screenshots in PowerPoint might not have been such a bad alternative!
Browser bumpiness. Dr. McDonald had to bump up his font size for presentation legibility, and then bump them back down for navigation. This can make for a bumpy presentation! Dr. McDonald worked around this issue by using Firefox settings: the Zoom and Text Size features in IE7 would also provide an equally bumpy workaround.
If I had given this presentation, I would likely have used Dr. McDonald's approach -- although I would have had a back-up. After all, I have demo'd many live sites in front of live audiences: using a blog to present is no different.
However, giving the audience a platform to continue enriching the presentation and the content after the show is over? That's powerful stuff! The blog platform can enrich and extend the topic and the conversation.
Teachers and trainers: How will you use the power of blogging to enrich your presentations this year?
Dennis McDonald tells us that he successfully gave a live presentation to an audience of professional association executives. And he used his blog instead of PowerPoint.
The benefits of a blog over PowerPoint for this presentation?
Better show-and-tell. What makes a better first-grade show-and-tell experience: if I show the class a picture of my dog, or if I bring my dog to the class? Dr. McDonald was showcasing the power of Web 2.0. A series of screenshots in PowerPoint could not provide as valuable an experience as demo-ing the real deal.
Richer conversations afterward. Dr. McDonald gave his audience access to a password protected area of his blog-presentation, so that they could review information and post comments. This method is far superior to distributing an out-of-context ppt file after the show. A blog platform allows the presentation to expand, giving it more breadth and depth.
The pitfalls of blog over PowerPoint?
Beware the crash. From the wireless going wonky to the blogsite crashing (and all points in between), giving a live online presentation can be fraught with peril. Having a back-up in hand is a must for live internet presentations. And as far as back-ups go, those screenshots in PowerPoint might not have been such a bad alternative!
Browser bumpiness. Dr. McDonald had to bump up his font size for presentation legibility, and then bump them back down for navigation. This can make for a bumpy presentation! Dr. McDonald worked around this issue by using Firefox settings: the Zoom and Text Size features in IE7 would also provide an equally bumpy workaround.
If I had given this presentation, I would likely have used Dr. McDonald's approach -- although I would have had a back-up. After all, I have demo'd many live sites in front of live audiences: using a blog to present is no different.
However, giving the audience a platform to continue enriching the presentation and the content after the show is over? That's powerful stuff! The blog platform can enrich and extend the topic and the conversation.
Teachers and trainers: How will you use the power of blogging to enrich your presentations this year?
Labels: PowerPoint Presentation
¶ 1/23/2007 01:30:00 PM
