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What's Bershon? Oh, you know that look. It's the look you have on your eighth-grade picture.
Sullen. Bored. Ennui.
It's a look that says, "I'm a little too cool to have my picture taken, but I must suffer the indignity for the sake of my parents."
This uniquely adolescent pose exasperates mothers of teenagers everywhere.
"Why couldn't you just smile?" they implore.
Until recently, I did not know there was a name for this expression.
Now I do.
It's called Bershon. I discovered the term when I read Design blogger Michael Bierut's post about Bershon, and witnessed the lovely picture of his wife in a classic Bershon-y (Bershonic?) grimace. I grinned in instant recognition of the classic teen and pre-teen posturing, which heretofore had been nameless to me.
You will recognize Bershon instantly when you see it. And I am much pleased to note that the topic has its own Flickr group, appropriately titled, "I'm so Bershon". It's a joy to flick through these images. So much so, I'm considering using them for the break slides in my next PowerPoint presentation, no matter what the topic.
Note to teenagers and pre-teens everywhere: for your next class photo, suck it up.
Make your mom happy.
Just smile. :)
And 32 years from now, you won't find your grimacing mug on Flickr.
PS to Moms everywhere: how can you use your new found appreciation for Bershon to generate even more Bershon photos from your young? ;0
Labels: fun, photography, PowerPoint Presentation
¶ 5/09/2008 12:12:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
The online presentation-sharing site authorSTREAM offers an exciting array of features that teachers, trainers, students, and other presenters will love. I gave the service a brief test (shown in the image above), and was very impressed.The freely available authorSTREAM Beta promises that when I upload my PowerPoint presentation, I will be able to easily share it online. So how is this different from an online presentation service like Slideshare? Let me share only three of authorSTREAM's distinctive features:
- Animation and Narration. After uploading, the authorSTREAM content retains PowerPoint narration and animation. This features alone would make the service worth checking out. But there's more...
- Download as Video. After you upload your narrated, animated PowerPoint presentation, authorSTREAM will also let you download it as an mpeg file -- perfect for uploading to YouTube. Now, your presentation can become even more visible.
- View in iTunes. Those who have iTunes installed on their computers (and what student doesn't? ;) can choose RSS delivery of the narrated presentation. From there, it's a short hop to a portable mp3 player like a video iPod. This can make PowerPoint presentations more portable.
- Learn from my sound mistakes! Upon viewing my presentation, I noted the sound quality was poor. Because the service has a 30MG upload limit, I set my PowerPoint recording levels very low -- too low! To improve the sound, I significantly bumped up the quality of the narration within PowerPoint and re-narrated -- but this time, it was too high! I exceeded the 30MG limit -- rats! I re-recorded again at 44,100 kHz, 8 bit mono -- and achieved a better sound quality (not perfect, but not horrible, either.) In order to find the best level for your own needs, you might have to noodle with your own sound levels.
- Learn from my animation mistakes! I also noted that some of my animations did not translate properly after upload. I only found out later that some of PowerPoint's animations do not translate properly -- authorSTREAM lists the effects that are most likely to work well. (Apparently, "Fly" isn't one of them! Slide 7 of my test presentation shows the late arrival of my falcon!)
- Learn from my image mistakes! On slide 19 of the above-linked test, my images went awry -- and I simply cannot find a reason. The authorSTREAM FAQ suggests keeping image ascii values below 255 -- but that still didn't fix the wonky image display. This only happened in 1 slide the 24-slide presentation that I tested. All of the other images displayed just fine.
Have fun with authorSTREAM! I'm sure educators, trainers, students, and others will enjoy using the free service to easily find and share their narrated, animated PowerPoint presentations. ¶ 4/09/2008 09:54:00 AM 3 Comments Links to this post
Why would you want to use a PowerPoint background that looks like this?
Give yourself the halo effect. Besides its evocatively purple-and-gold Easter egginess, you can glean yet another big benefit from this particular PowerPoint background: the halo effect. When you stand and deliver your presentation, make sure you position your head within the "yolk".
Put yourself in this presentation, and you can make yourself look downright saintly. Perfect for pastors presenting to Easter congregations, nonprofits asking for donations, or salesfolks who need to subliminally reinforce their trustworthy images.
Either that, or the concept is perfect for being perfectly silly!
(Download the full-sized Halo Effect PowerPoint Background.)
Labels: fun, PowerPoint Background
¶ 3/19/2008 04:54:00 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
"Google the word 'nonprofit' and you'll get over 40 million results," explained Krista Rye, Marketing Coordinator for the Nonprofit Leadership Institute at Grand Valley State University. "For most nonprofit leaders, being overwhelmed with information is not helpful. They want easy access to relevant information from a trustworthy source."Enter the online Nonprofit Good Practice Guide. Maintained by the experienced staff at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at GVSU, the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide website is a clear and comprehensive resource for nonprofit professional development. You can find carefully researched and pointedly relevant nonprofit resources organized by topic area. You'll see practices and pitfalls in each area, along with a thorough glossary, as well as access to trusted experts. And while nonprofit leaders will find the site enormously helpful, for-profit entities can learn much from it, as well.
Melvene Tardy is Research Coordinator for the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide.
"Nonprofit leaders use the Good Practice Guide to facilitate their daily work," said Ms. Tardy. "Many nonprofits are notorious for being understaffed; famous for having limited budgets. This doesn't allow for extensive professional development. People don't want to be overwhelmed trying to sift through general search results to get the information they need. It's about quality of information. When you use the guide, you're going to save time. "
And you'll know that you're getting solid information that's been carefully vetted for relevancy and accuracy. As an internet marketer, I'm particularly impressed with the Marketing Good Practices section of the site. I have recommended that my for-profit clients subscribe to the content via the site's RSS feeds. Melvene assures me that she and her team regularly scout and add fresh content to keep the site up-to-date and oh-so relevant.
Before any content is approved for inclusion at the site, it goes through a rigorous inspection. Most items don't make the final cut -- only the best get to go online. And if you have questions in any content area, experts in residence are available to share their knowledge.
My advice? Whether you work for a nonprofit or for-profit entity, go visit the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide and bookmark it. Once you use it, you'll keep going back for more!
Labels: content ideas
¶ 3/19/2008 04:34:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Get caught up on your reading! Daily Lit lets you read a book online, one chapter at a time. Here's how it works:Search the site. Go to Daily Lit, and find a book that you've been meaning to read -- but somehow, you haven't quite found the time. For example, I am bashful to admit that I have yet to read Frankenstein. So I was delighted to find that this classic title is indeed in the Daily Lit database. And further, because Frankenstein is in the public domain, subscribing to this book is free. (Many books not in the public domain are available at DailyLit for a small fee.)
Subscribe to a book. When you subscribe to the book of your choice, you can elect when and how you want to receive your chapters. For example, you can elect to receive one chapter a day via email. For me, I chose to read Frankenstein via RSS feed -- one chapter a day. I'm on day four and loving it!
A novel presentation of a classic. I find it interesting to read a classic novel in a new way: shoulders forward, in a business setting, minutes at a time. Had I read this book 25 years ago (as I should have!), I would have paged through it hours at a time, shoulders back, in an overstuffed chair. And I would have likely finished it in a few days. I still love/prefer reading books this way.
But how will the shoulders-forward, minutes-at-a-time approach affect my enjoyment and comprehension of this timeless novel? What would Mary Shelley make of this approach? ;)
And what do today's teacher's think of this kind of presentation? Thumbs up or down?
Labels: content ideas
¶ 3/02/2008 06:11:00 PM 3 Comments Links to this post
I love the online service called Jott. Currently in public beta, Jott is free, and oh, so useful!With Jott, I send email to friends and colleagues - without typing. Here's how Jott works:
I call a toll-free number. The automated Jott bot asks, "Who do you want to Jott?"
I mention a name in my email address book, which I've already uploaded to Jott. Then I leave a 30 second (or under) message.
Now, get this -- Jott types up my message, and emails it to the person I mentioned -- and gives me a CC email. Hands-free is lovely!
Perfect for when I'm on the road. You can be sure that the Jott toll-free number is programmed into my computer. I use it oodles. So do quite a few of my friends...
But we use it for more than friendly emails and IMs. I use it for reminders and to-do lists. (Seems I get more ideas when I'm on the road than when I'm in front of the computer.) I also use Jott to Twitter: and some folks use Jott to post blogs or Google calendar content. You can also choose to send yourself a reminder or a to-do list: a terrific feature for project managers.
Sometimes, Jott bobbles a word or two -- especially proper names. (I've found that it absolutely massacres Polish surnames -- and offers a hilarious interpretation of the Michigan town "Saugatuck".) So while Jott's not perfect, it's incredibly useful and utterly enjoyable.
You might want to try Jott while it's still in Beta.
Labels: Presentation, social media
¶ 2/13/2008 05:11:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
You didn't forget Valentine's Day -- or did you?Oh, how could you! It's not like you haven't been bombarded with commercials and ads for the past few weeks!
But just in case you forgot, you can make your own glorious PowerPoint Valentine. Why send a card, when you can stand and deliver a sweet, sweet presentation?
Just make sure you present yourself in the best light! Last winter, I was deeply chagrined when I saw an image of myself as I stood in front of the projector. Because my PowerPoint background was blue, I was blue, too!
So why not create a beautiful pink keylight for yourself in PowerPoint? Easy to do -- and just about everyone looks great in a soft pink keylight. Beats blue, anyday!
Need more Valentine PowerPoint inspiration? Here's a roundup of free heart shaped backgrounds and templates. Download away: no one will ever suspect that you forgot Valentine's Day this year!
Labels: PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 2/13/2008 04:42:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
If you have yet to participate or present at SecondLife.com, don't be too alarmed. You probably have other priorities!
Although SecondLife is a media darling, there are other social media presentation plays that can garner amazing results. Just take a look at this comparative snapshot from Google Trends:
That's right: Slide.com. Slide.com lets you easily create a slideshow for online, social media delivery. Free. Easy. Music. Pictures. Transitions. Glitter. Animations. All the effects anyone could ever want...and just right for sharing with your online network of friends.
Not much of a mainstream buzz about slide.com -- but definitely a lot of users, and a whole lot of eyeballs. Check it out...
Labels: social media
¶ 1/19/2008 06:19:00 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
Imagine -- many folks haven't quite mastered delivering a PowerPoint presentation in real life. Now, some are trying to present in SecondLife.SecondLife.com is an online 3D society. Those who join SecondLife wander about as cartoon characters (called avatars). Your cartoon self can meet friends -- who are also cartoons. Your animated persona can socialize, go to church, attend business meetings: and wonder-of-wonders -- view commercials and ads. It's just like real life -- except you can fly. (And grow a tail, if you want one.)
Some hipster silicon valley corporations (and even a few Grand Rapids furniture companies!) are keen on SecondLife. Some are busy sponsoring trade shows and handing out electronic swag to cartoon attendees. Others are leasing meeting space, buying islands, and of course, hawking products with cheesy stand up PowerPoint-like presentations.
There's charm in cheese! At this stage of development, cheesiness is to be expected. And Second Life can be an awful lot of fun. It reminds me of PowerPoint presentations in the early nineties. Perhaps SecondLife will have an evolution similar to PowerPoint. Remember:
- Back in the early 90's, we used to stand and deliver PowerPoint presentations on a large screen in front of a live audience. We could over-used bullets, animations, builds, and transitions. We could be as cheesy as we wanted to be! And if we felt like sharing the content, we might distribute disks or paper handouts after the show.
- By the late 1990's, people were sick of cheesy gimmicks. Top presenters focused more on classic story telling and simpler design. Audiences started demanding electronic handouts -- CDs, mostly. Presentations designed to be disposable were starting to live outside of the meeting room or training room. They started to take on a "second life".
- In the early 2000's, folks started emailing and downloading PowerPoint presentations from the internet. Because these slides were out of context of the intended presentation, they often did more to confuse than to enlighten. "Death by PowerPoint" became a business catchphrase.
- Today, presenters are using social media to share presentations. Beyond designing presentations for a classic, one-time, "stand-and-deliver" in a real world with a 30 foot screen, designers also develop presentations that communicate in a 340x240 pixel world.
By 2008, PowerPoint has (at least) five lives. Sometimes, we design and deliver with just one life in mind. But with the power of social media and internet proliferation, your PowerPoint presentation can take on a life of its own -- often far beyond its intended purpose and audience.
- First Life: Live, in-person presentation.
- Second Life: Paper handouts.
- Third Life: Diskette, CD, and DVD handouts.
- Fourth Life: Email attachments and PowerPoint downloads.
- Fifth Life: Social media sharing of presentations.
I've found that my secondary audience has a much (much) bigger impact than my original audience. And as presenters, we need to be aware that our presentations are enjoying a second life in various social media plays. YouTube, Slideshare, Facebook, MySpace -- how well are your PowerPoint presentations communicating in the social media landscape?
Because chances are, that's where your presentations are living now!
How else have your PowerPoint presentations taken on a life of their own?
Labels: social media
¶ 1/19/2008 05:30:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Free SnagIt 7 Offer. You can now get a free copy of SnagIt 7. (SnagIt 8.2 is the most recent version.) Here are the "how to get it" details >>> (courtesy of Microsoft MVP Marc Liron.)
In case you missed it... Last month, TechSmith began giving away Camtasia Studio 3. Camtasia 3 is an older version of an advanced screen recorder that you can use to create online video demos, tutorials, and presentations. It may be an oldie, but like SnagIt 7, it's a goodie!
And don't forget: TechSmith is also currently offering the freely available Jing Project. With Jing, you get to capture an image of what's on your screen, record a video and share your presentation online.
That's three for free. These are three great presentation tools from TechSmith. If you haven't checked them out yet...
...whatcha waiting for?
Christmas?
Labels: Presentation
¶ 12/11/2007 03:49:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
I call it "that messy blobby thingee in the upper left corner of Office 2007."It's actual, official name is the "Office Button".
Oh. I stand corrected. But...
...everytime I ask people to select the "Office Button", they say,
"What's that?"
But when I say, "Upper left corner. That blob..."
People say,
"Oh. Office Button, you say? Is that what you call it?"
Well, no. That's what Microsoft calls it! I call it that messy logo thingee at the upper left. People seem to understand that description better.
What do YOU call it?
:)
Labels: PowerPoint Tricks
¶ 12/11/2007 03:07:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
