Category Archives: Education

101 Awesome Presentation Quotes [SlideShare]

What are you most afraid of? Confidence is Overrated

If you said public speaking, you would not be alone.

Most of us have seen the research that says we are more afraid of public speaking than dying.

Presentation Quotes provide inspiration, motivation, and encouragement to help you knock your next presentation out of the park.

Maybe you are thinking that you do not plan to give a presentation in the near future. But we all give presentations. Even speaking in small groups is a type of presentation.

Recently, I noticed that several students dropped out of my social media class and signed up for a more advanced computer science class.

I told them that it was fine that they had dropped the class and selected another class, but that I was curious as to why they dropped the fun social media class for a more demanding class. The students explained that they found out they were going to have to speak publicly on a Google Hangout. Their fear of speaking in public caused them to miss out on learning about social media.

Because of their fear of speaking in public, they were willing to do twice as much work during the summer semester!

This presentation is for my students and others who are afraid of speaking in public. I hope these quotes by famous people will inspire you as much as it does me. If you don’t have time to read all 101 quotes, I pulled out 10 quotes that mean the most to me — you can find them right below the SlideShare.

Enjoy!

My Top 10 Favorite Quotes (An Attempt to Narrow Down 101 Awesome Quotes)

1) “In order to succeed, your desire for success most be greater than your fear of failure.” ~ Bill Cosby

2) “I think no one, or very few, are born good presenters. It’s a skill you learn.” ~ Guy Kawasaki

3) “Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.” ~ Dale Carnegie

4) “Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.” ~ Zig Ziglar

5) “Be interesting, be enthusiastic…..and don’t talk too much.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale

6) “Courage is being scared to death & saddling up anyway.” ~ John Wayne

7) “You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure!” ~ Zig Ziglar

8) “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” ~ Harper Lee

9) “There are always three speeches: the one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” Dale Carnegie

10) “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt ~ long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.” Winston Churchill

What was your favorite quote from the presentation? Which other quotes do you know that motivate you to be a better speaker?

How to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint

How to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint

Infographics are a graphical way of getting your point across to your target audience.

People do not like to read.

We scan information to see if we want to know more about a subject.

An infographic helps to quickly catch the attention of your reader.

Infographic software such as Piktochart and Visual.ly are sophisticated programs that will help you design infographics.

But PowerPoint is an often overlooked design tool. You can quickly create an Infographic with PowerPoint.

If you already own and know how to use PowerPoint, it is an option you will want to consider.

Review the infographic below. Step-by-step instructions to create an infographic in PowerPoint are included below the infographic.

A video is also included below that demonstrates how to copy the PowerPoint slides into a free photo editor to create the infographic with PowerPoint slides.

If you like this tutorial, be sure to sign up in the blue box on the right for updates sent directly to your email inbox.

How to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint image

How to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint

Steps to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint

Step 1: Open PowerPoint and give your Infographic a title.

Step 2: Create your color scheme. Choose the background color and Theme colors. I used the Title Only layout for my slides. Choose the layout that will work best for your data.

Step 3: Begin building your slides.

Choose your images, SmartArt graphics, symbols, etc.

Don’t get too carried away.

You want your infographic to be colorful and graphical, but NOT too cluttered.

Be sure you research your topic and narrow down your information. Focus on one subject. Put your information on five or six slides at the most.

Remember:

  • Keep it simple
  • Use good design
  • Tell a story

Be creative: Add shapes, maps, charts, and/or diagrams. Your data will determine the type of images you use.

Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due. Cite your sources.

And add a call to action. What do you want your audience to do as a result of viewing your infographic? Click on a link, signup for a newsletter, vote, etc.

Now you are ready to open your slides in an online editor.

1. Save each slide as a .png image. In PowerPoint, you select the slide and choose Save As. Change the file type to .png. You will be asked if you want to save all the slides or just the current slide. Save just the current slide. Now do the same for each slide.

2. Open http://pixlr.com/editor/.  Choose the option to open image from computer.

Pixlr - Open Image from Computer image

Pixlr – Open Image from Computer

Open the first slide. Now change the view to 20% (bottom left) and change the height of the image canvas by dragging the slider all the way across. The height will by 4,000 pixels.   You will delete any extra space on your canvas after adding your slides.

Insert First Slide Image

Insert First Slide

 

Change Canvas Size image

Change Canvas Size

2. Now open the second image [File, Open]. You now have the second image open on top of the first. Select the second image [Ctrl A] and copy the image [Ctrl C]. Now click on the first image and paste the second image on to the first [Ctrl P]. Repeat this process until you have copied each slide onto the Canvas. If this sounds confusing, watch the video below.

3. You can move the slides, if necessary, by choosing the move tool and dragging the slides. Crop any left over blank Canvas.

How to Create an Infographic with PowerPoint Video Tutorial

Other examples of popular infographics (some not created with PowerPoint, but could be)

Customize Photoshop Window image

Customize the Photoshop Workspace

Customize the Photoshop Workspace image

Customize the Photoshop Workspace.

Customize the Photoshop Workspace

In this tutorial we will learn how to customize the Photoshop Workspace. I am using Adobe Photoshop CS6.

If you are a beginner to Photoshop, you know that the Photoshop Workspace can be overwhelming! You may have been playing around with Photoshop on your own and likely have gotten your Workspace a little “out of wack.” Maybe you have accidentally rearranged some of your panels so that you cannot find them! It is easy to do!

This tutorial will help you to reset the workspace to the default settings.

The default Photoshop Workspace is Essentials. Essential displays the commonly used panels. I am going to show you how to select the Essentials Workspace and how to reset the Essentials to the default settings.

You can follow along with the text or scroll down to the bottom and watch my video.

Step 1: Select the Essential Workspace

On the Applications Bar, click the Windows Tab and point to Workspace on the Window menu.

Photoshop Application Bar Menu

Photoshop Application Bar

Make sure you have a check by Essentials (Default). If not, click on Essentials.

Essentials (Default) Command image

Essentials (Default) Command

Step 2: Reset Essentials

Click on Window again on the Application bar and point to Workspace. Click Reset Essentials on the Workspace submenu.

You may not notice any changes if you are using a new installation. This does not mean that you did something wrong.

Step 3: Select the Default Tool

The default tool for Photoshop is the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Let’s select that tool.

Rectangular Marquee Tool (M)

Rectangular Marque Tool (M)

Step 4. Reset the Options Bar

The options bar is content sensitive. This means it will change depending on the task you are performing.

So that it will be easy to follow my tutorials, you should reset your option bar.

Right-click the Rectangular Marquee Tool icon on the options bar at the top of your window.

Rectangular Marquee Tool on Options Bar image

Rectangular Marquee Tool on Options Bar

Click Reset All Tools on the Context Menu.

You will receive a confirmation dialog box. Click OK.

Sign up in the blue box on the right to receive updates from me in your email. I don’t want you to miss a lesson.

Let me know in the Comment Section if you have any problems customizing your screen to the default. I want to make this as easy as possible.

the Photoshop Workspace

You may also be interesting in reading these related tutorials

Learn Photoshop | Easy Tutorial (carolhbates)

To Get Started with Photoshop CS6 – 10 Things Beginners Want to Know (Terry White)

Learn Photoshop: All of the Basics for Beginners (Vandelay Design Blog)

PhotoShop Beginners Tutorial #1 (JoeCox406)

7 Presentation Tips to Get and Keep the Attention of Your Audience

Get the attention of your audience within the first 8 seconds image.

Get the attention of your audience within the first 8 seconds.

7 Presentation Tips to Get and Keep the Attention of Your Audience 

No matter how knowledgeable you are about you subject, you must be able to share your information in a way that is both informative and entertaining to your audience.

How do you get and keep the attention of your audience?

Most everyone would agree that you need to get the attention of your audience very early in the presentation. So you’ve only got one quick shot at this and then you are toast.

Studies suggest you only have about eight seconds to impress your audience to listen to what you have to say. If you don’t impress them in the first eight seconds, they have tuned you out.

Here are seven tips recommended by the experts to get and keep the attention of your audience.

      • Mingle with your audience before the presentation begins

Put up your cell phone and resist the temptation to check Twitter or emails. Instead, talk to some of the people in your audience. If you find out something interesting about someone in the audience, you might use this information at the beginning of your talk to help develop rapport.

      • Use fun and interesting words

Steve Jobs is our example here. Speak in a language that everyone can easily understand. Use shorter sentences and simpler words. Do not use jargon or you will miss the opportunity to engage with your audience. They will tune you out early in your presentation.

      • Smile and be Enthusiastic

As simple as this sounds, a smile may have more to do with the success of your presentation than you realize. It has been said that a winning smile is more valuable than gold. As Terry Felber states in his book, Am I Making Myself Clear, “Wear success on your face.”

      • Keep it short

If you don’t like to speak in public, you are probably liking this tip. Guy Kawasaki, the social media guru and Apple evangelist, recommends no more than ten slides which each slide lasting exactly ten seconds. This gives you a great goal to shoot for. Set the timer on your  slides and practice your presentation until you know it backwards and forwards. Practice until you are sick of it, as Guy says in his book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.

      • Visualize yourself being successful

Zig Ziglar suggests that you think of times when you were successful and replay that event over and over in your mind. Imagine yourself giving a great speech in front of a large audience. See yourself in your mind’s eye as being successful. Do not let self-doubt creep in to your thinking.

I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Ziglar, and he captivated the audience with his enthusiasm.

      • Tell your story

Your audience will be more engaged if you tell your own story. Many will be able to relate with your story. They will feel your feelings and share in your frustrations. You will be believable and likable.

      • Pique curiosity

Think of examples you can use to pique the curiosity of your audience. According to research by Carnegie Mellon’s George Loewenstein, curiosity is created when there is a gap between what we know and what we want to know. To keep their curiosity you have to slowly leak out information. (A content Marketeers Guide to Creating Curisoty, Hennebury)

One way to increase curiosity is with the title of your presentation. Your title should give enough information to pique the curiosity of your audience so that you can get and keep the attention of your audience.

Are you interesting in receiving more advice from the experts on how to get and keep the attention of your audience? Put your name and email in the blue box.

 

You may also be interested in reading:

8 Bad Public Speaking Habits to Break Now (Bruzzese)
Know Your Audience Before Speaking to a Group (Ron Kurtus)

Photo Credit

http://chardonay1234.deviantart.com/art/Alarm-Clock-Stamp-190177201

Presentation Tip: Never Share Too Much Personal Information

Presentation Tip: Never Share Too Much Personal Information Image

Presentation Tip: Never Share Too Much Personal Information

In several of my Presentation Tips, I have recommended that you engage with your audience by telling your story. This is good advice.

But there is a critical mistake that you need to avoid in your presentation.

Never Share Too Much Personal Information

Sharing too much personal information has kept employees from advancing on their jobs.

Farnoosh brings out this important tip so well in her article, Are You Committing These 7 Silent Career Killers at Your Job?

Sharing too much personal information whether in a presentation, to coworkers at the water cooler, or on social media such as Facebook or Twitter can be deadly to your career.

And too much personal information can be less than you think.

Too much personal information would include the following topics.

  • Your health – best not to talk about how bad you feel. This is a mistake that I see often on social media. Of course, it would not have a place in your presentation even when telling your story. Your heath is your business.
  • Negative information about the company you work for. Keep this information to yourself. Focus on the positive.
  • Negative information about your boss or coworkers. Be positive. Don’t complain about your boss. Like your mother taught you, “If you can’t say anything nice….”
  • Don’t bring up a disagreement with your boss or coworkers. Never talk about your boss in public. Period.

You may also be interested in reading:

Are you Committing These 7 Silent Career Killers at Your Job (Farnoosh)
30 Things You Should Not Share On Social Media (Jeff Bullas)
How to Design a Custom PowerPoint Theme (carolhbates)
Google Drive Upload: Edit, Share, and collaborate (carolhbates)