Mike Simpson » Education

The Power of Online Video and Presentations – Chris Anderson from TED Talks creates a Prezi

Mike — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:09:01 +0000

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas…

TED is a cutting-edge conference featuring “ideas worth spreading”

It goes without saying that people want to be entertained, and video may be the ultimate entertainment. The use of video in marketing, and education is also becoming more prevalent. In my workshop, a student recently declared that most of her listening exercises were conducted with video. I feel mostly the same way, and maybe that has to do with the fact that we often source our media from the Internet. The Internet, with its steady increase in content and bandwidth is an ideal platform for video.

When I conduct my “CALL workshop” – on Educational Technology – I have found that if I ask for “interesting sites” that I get a few predictable responses. In no means do I mean “predictable” as “dull.” But the two sites that are recurring with some frequency as possible teacher/student tools are TED Talks and Prezi. They are both very worthy of your time.

Presentation has come to mean two things: one a series of text and images, presented using tech like PowerPoint, and two, the actual process and art of giving a talk, with the slideshow of images and information playing a major role. the conventional knock against PowerPoint is that it is dull. In my opinion, it is not the technology at fault, but the skills and imagination of those who create them (to be simple we see too many bullets, too much text).

I happened upon some links I can share that bring it all together, and show the synergy between presentations and online video. First off TED Talks which is an amazing wealth of ideas and eloquent people speaking – and a worthy mention as great resource online. And the second, Prezi, has crept up in frequency and my be on the cusp of great things. It just so happens that I found a “talk” and a “Prezi” by TED head Chris Anderson, and it’s a cool reference from Prezi’s own blog to share with you.

Chris Anderson, not to be confused with Wired editor of the same name, is both the TED head, and one of a number of respected presenters who has shared a presentation using a web-based tool. Slideshare is a well known site, and experts such as Garr Reynolds, author of the amazing book “Presentation Zen,” has posted numerous presentations there (Check Presentation Design 411, which starts to really break the fundamentals down around slide 11). You can view Chris Anderson’s Prezi to see some of the format’s potential to be engaging and truly interactive. Watching his Prezi presentation I was reminded of the power of motion graphics tools like Adobe’s After Effects – it’s truly a visually dynamic format – the “camera” perspective pulls away, rotates and zooms in on featured content areas (which would represent slides in a tradtional Powerpoint format). Chris samples some “baby break-dancing” videos and other eclectic international footage to complement the message he has to share, which is that Internet video is changing the way we communicate in an increasingly globalized world.

If you are keen to create a whole new kind of animated Powerpoint, with highly visual transitions and different kinds of embedded media, you should check out Prezi, and Chris Anderson’s Prezi is indeed a true inspiration (see first link below).

Links:

There’s only one link you need that connects you with both Chris Anderson’s Prezi presentation and one of his TED talks:
http://blog.prezi.com/2010/09/16/watch-ted-head-chris-andersons-prezi/

Prezi – “Create game-changingpresentations online.”
http://prezi.com/

A blog article on the features of Prezi – “Finding an alternative to PPT”

http://www.k-international.com/blog/finding-an-alternative-to-powerpoint/

Presentation guru Garr Reynolds wrote about this same topic here
Garr Reynolds’ blog entry on Chris Anderson’s Ted Talk and Prezi

Alternative Online Presentation Tool – Slideshare -” Offers users the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios”
http://www.slideshare.net/

Alternative Online Presentation Tool - Google Docs (also create text docs, spreadsheets and more)
https://docs.google.com

Essential Docs – Mike’s Favorite Documentary Films

Mike — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:14:40 +0000

Mike has been an earnest student of film since he studied the “History of Cinema” and “Italian Cinema” at university. Mike is an aspiring filmmaker with a few short videos under his belt. Currently he is working on “City Symphony” – a hybrid documentary / music video that includes music by his alter-ego “Mikooshka.”

Here are some of my favourite docs – in alphabetical order. After you read this please feel free to comment or use the share button to send this on to your colleagues, friends and family.

* Canadian movie, director, or content

*9 Blocks, 6 Months – Dir. Christopher Romeike – Poignant interwoven stories in Toronto’s working class Parkdale neighbourhood. A sensitive and quiet movie that is emotionally rich and beautifully shot.

Barbarians at the Gate – Dir. Spike Jonze – Fun cross-America skateboard tour with Foundation/Blind teams. Frames the hi-jinx and skate action with the “American Vacation” style narrative and visuals.

Watch scenes from this movie via my playlist at YouTube
Barbarians at the Gate – Dir. Spike Jonze

Big River Man - Dir. John Maringouin – Follows Martin Strel, a burly hard-drinking Eastern European, who swims the longest rivers of the world, and in this feature, attempts to swim the length of the Amazon. Incredible mix of drama, humour, and scenery.

DC Movie – Dir. Greg Hunt – DC Shoe Co. + skateboard superstars = amazing production value. One of the most incredible “action sports” videos of the last ten years. Danny Way’s record-setting airs off the big ramps set to Metallica are easily the highlight.

Food Inc – Dir. Robert Kenner – A highly professional documentary that utilizes some slick motion graphics and cinematography in its production, while illuminating the current crisis in American/global agricultural practices (co-produced by Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation”).

*Gambling, Gods and LSD – Dir. Peter Mettler – a psycho-geographical journey into the modern day world via beautifully filmed scenes in North American casinos, evangelical churches and contrasted with scenes from exotic locations like India.

Grizzly Man – Dir. Werner Herzog – A story about a man who lived and died with grizzly bears in the Alaskan frontier – absolutely essential viewing from the quintessential documentarian. Also recommended is the more recent ”Encounters At the End of the World” (about his travels to Antarctica).

*Manufactured Landscapes – Dir. Jennifer Baichwal – Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscape due to industrial work and manufacturing. Some of the most striking scenes demonstrate the awesome scale of development in China.

*Mayor of Tent City – Dir. Rosalie Bellefontaine - Gritty urban tale of hope and redemption for homeless in Toronto’s “Tent City” shanty town. You may be only able to find a copy of this in the library system.

*McLuhan’s Wake – Dir. Kevin McMahon – Excellent overview of the life, career, and work of Marshall McLuhan within a narrative framework that centres on “The Laws of Media,” his last scholarly work. Also look for Kevin’s newest work, Waterlife – a doc focused on the ecology and issues of the Great Lakes.

My Architect – Dir. Nathaniel Kahn – Kahn searches to understand his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, who died bankrupt and alone in 1974.

*Souvenir of Canada – Dir. Robin Neinstein – Explores Doug Coupland’s life story, “Souvenir” photography-based books of iconic Canadian products, his family, and artistic life (his preparations for an art show called “Canada House”). One of my all-time favorites. Compelling, profound, and funny.

That is my list – I’d welcome yours! It’s an interesting exercise to do this. What do our favorites say about us? I know for one thing, that at this moment it’s even easier for me to concoct a list of docs than regular flicks. These days I am ravenous for documentary film and there is a mountain of great material out there. I get my movies in equal number from my local video shop – the amazing “Big Daddy’s” on Dundas St West – and the Toronto Public Library, which has an extensive catalogue.

Related Note 1: Read my book review of Douglas Coupland’s “Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan”

Related Note 2: When I was googling these movies to confirm the director info I found my own page at the top of the Google results for “Barbarians at the Gate” (#1 of 353 listings for “Spike Jonze Barbarians at the Gate”). Spike Jonze is a famous Hollywood director these days, but he got his start in more humble skateboarding industry productions.

My original “review” page with stills from Barbarians at the Gate is here:

http://strongandfree.ca/skateontario/video/classics.htm

Travel Talks – Mike’s Presentation Night in Toronto

Mike — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:01:57 +0000

I finally launched a long discussed travel presentation night – the idea gestated over the last year and was conceived when I was a friend’s at Christmas and we were all exchanging stories about trips to exotic overseas lands. Eventually a laptop was fired up and we were shown an impromptu slideshow. The problem wasn’t the quality of story-telling or experience, it was that we were essentially looking at something that resembles the classic “family home movies.” If it’s not a computer, it’s a camera attached to the TV, and in the digital age we are often subjected to hundreds and hundreds of images. It often goes this way, and there’s a better solution.

A presentation, where photos are hand-picked because they help tell the story, goes a long way to remedying the situation. and it’s a great excuse the get some friends together and discuss a passion many of us share these days: travel. It may well be the golden age of travel. It’s reliable, and relatively cheap. The world is going through globalization at an astounding rate; many of us are travelling to increasingly exotic lands, and coming back with tremendous stories.

I had heard about an international phenomenon called “Pecha Kucha.” The idea is basically that a number of people will give presentations that are limited by the number of slides and the amount of time. the talks end of being short and concise. This was exactly what I had in mind for my “Travel Talks” night. We had two speakers and booked the small intimate upstairs room of The Central. Each of spoke for about 20 minutes and those who gathered got first hand accounts from far-off lands.

Grey Coyote, Kensington Market entrepreneur and performance artist, talked about the weekend spa tradition of Osaka locals, and I described the trips I’ve made to a southern Russian city and a rustic nearby village. the night was a success. I am going to book another event, and hope to get 3 speakers. Travel can be to anywhere, including Ontario/Canada, and the only prerequisite is a disposition to want to share some photos and insights, and a willingness to prepare a short slideshow in PowerPoint (or equivalent). Tentatively I am looking for a date/venue for downtown Toronto for the third week of January. Hopefully I’ve inspired you and you’ll get in touch – let’s rock some “Travel Talks.”

Interested parties should contact mike | strongandfree.ca

Pecha Kucha information and slideshows: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

TESL ON Conference – Presentation – Create, Manage Websites

Mike — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:50:35 +0000

I’m very excited that on October 28th I will be presenting at the TESL Ontario conference in Toronto. This is an opportunity to refine some thinking I’ve been doing about the possibilities available to teachers and other professionals to harness the power of websites and blogs. My presentation is going to be on the topic of “Websites for Content Creation and Management,” and will explore everyday tools like Google Applications and WordPress, an amazing tool for creating websites and blogs.

This is the summary of some of the themes and topics I will touch on at this year’s TESL ON Conference:

The nature of teaching and learning is changing. Teachers are now able to create their own websites with content creation and management tools like WordPress. No technical knowledge is needed. Anyone can create a site and add their own content (including text documents, links, rss feeds, photos and various multimedia including podcasts and third party materials from resources like Flickr and YouTube). During my presentation, participants will be able to explore sample websites and blogs created by other teachers, and see demonstrations of content creation and class management tools (including tools for group interaction which mimic some of the functionality of CMS/LMS systems like Moodle and Blackboard). No background in graphics or websites is necessary, but some familiarity with software like Word and/or comfort with Internet browsers and web surfing is essential. Participants should also be adventurous and keen to expand their technological knowledge and skills.

I’m really hoping to meet some of you at the Conference! Register for my presentation or just drop by before or after my time slot! My presentation code is “TQA” and I present from 4pm -5pm at the Sheraton Centre hotel. Please consult the organizers’ PDF for more information about the 2010 TESL Ontario Conference.

Music and Movies – aka “Media for the Classroom” – Workshop at CCLCS

Mike — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:46:08 +0000

I have been teaching ESL and TESL for about ten years, and as a specialist in teaching speaking, listening and pronunciation, I have frequently used both movies and music in the classroom. I created “Movie Study” worksheets with teacher/student components–a project I undertook when working at Pacific Language Institute (PLI). As a singer-songwriter I would often bring a guitar to class and lead informal workshops–entertaining while educating. Music and movies have been my lifelong passion and I have extensive experience inspiring and teaching students with both mediums. By extension there is also a world of hybrid media available to teachers and learners as well – and we shall take a look at the wealth of software, flash-based games and activities, and “rich media” or “multimedia” that is available online and in our computer labs.

My workshop will:

Introduce teachers to theory and practice of implementing music and movies in the classroom; and
Offer practical ideas for teachers with respect to:

selecting materials and resources;
gathering supplementary materials via Internet;
understanding genres and being aware of cultural pitfalls;
taking advantage of materials for teachers and students provided by National Film Board (NFB), Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF);
creating lessons plans with Word/Adobe Acrobat/Blogs/Wikis (for paper handouts or web) and using technology and audio/video tools (DVD, Portable Music Players, iPod, Internet);
real lesson plans and materials created for ESL classes with a focus on Canadian content (looking at texts and sharing the best materials from my own archive).

Location / Contact:

This workshop is at CCLCS (Canadian Centre for Language and Cultural Studies) which is located in downtown Toronto at 635 Markham St (one block west of Bathurst and Bloor). For a booking or more information you may want to contact CCLCS.

I really enjoy this topic – it’s truly close to my heart and brings out some serious passion in me! Hope to see you there!

If you are interested in discussing a workshop or booking Mike for some training he can be reached at: mike | strongandfree.ca

Build It and They Will Come – Self-Marketing in the “DIY” Digital Age

Mike — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:57:50 +0000

Can my site rank higher than Facebook and Yahoo? Yes, in the right circumstances, and with a terrifically crafted post on a specific subject.

The Contact Photography Festival just passed and my blog’s Google rank was higher than EYE weekly magazine and both the Facebook page for the fest and a page in Yahoo Business. The Google result for “Contact Photography Festival” placed me on the third page of results (out of millions) and confirmed to me that my online marketing strategies are paying off.

People do come to my site, read my articles and check out my videos. The question is: “How to convert that into something tangible”? You’ll also note that my blog contains no advertising of any sort, so some might ask the more elementary question “Why blog?”

It’s interesting to mull the answers and talk about what motivates me and how I’m marketing myself on the WWW.

Motivations to Blog

First of all I am an expressive person and I’ve always liked writing. Designing a blog was fun and graphic design is my main focus, but I’m interesting in reaching a wide audience and exposing people to interesting people, places, and events, and engaging people in issues I care about. If you check out my site, you’ll see I have postings on a variety of topics but they fall mainly under these 10 categories: art, design, Toronto, film, books, blogging, WordPress, education, school, workshops etc. I write about what I know and what I’m interested in.

Recently I had an interesting experience while taking an informational interview with a design industry person many years my junior. After I introduced myself and my wide background of work, the designer took a deep breath and offered up this comment: “I think you have to ask yourself, ‘Do you want to express yourself or do you want to communicate?’” Later I had a chance to mull it over. I realized that I was doing both. I understand how communication works in the digital age and I’ve capitalized on it — and I express myself through my art and my blog (and other sites).

Represent Yourself – Online Identity and Branding

“Whether you realize it or not, you have an online “brand,” too. Do you have a Facebook or MySpace account? Do you comment on blogs? Have you tried out Twitter? When you post content, engage others or share information about yourself on the Web, you are creating a unique identity—branding yourself, in a sense.”

- Patti Church / Whyhire.me

In an article in Career Options magazine, which is targeted toward Canadian college students, Ms. Church describes trends in branding and marketing and puts forth the argument that we all need to fine tune our online brands, because if we don’t, others will do it for us. She quotes the amazing statistic that a giant majority of employers will google a job seeker, and often they find publicly accessible web pages, such as Facebook, Google or blogs and forums. Read Patti’s terrific article at: http://careeroptionsmagazine.com/creating-your-online-brand/

In “The Long Tail,” one of the more interesting business books of the last decade, Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine analyzes trends related to business and the rise of the collaborative community-based Internet. There are two things he writes about which I find relevant and interesting. One, products are increasingly being made and distributed by prosumers (yes – it implies a combination of professional /producer and consumer) — regular folks who take it upon themselves to avail themselves of some semi-professional gear and produce hi-quality art, music, books and utilize the digital tools of our age to get their message out. An important chapter takes a look at the “Democratization of the tools of Production.” Anyone today can develop their own product and marketing materials – and online aggregators like Amazon and iTunes allow us to pitch our product to the whole world. Two, a smart person can develop what might be called “traction” or “cachet” – a certain respect and professional prestige which, if it doesn’t directly earn money (and it can if you publish a book for instance), can indirectly boost your career by opening up opportunities to you in your industry. Some speaking engagements might be non-paying but that presentation, like the blog entry, impresses upon your peers that you have a valuable contribution to make. Convert your reputation, in other words, into professionally-related reward.

You are a product, a brand. What are you doing to promote yourself? Are you pro-actively managing your online identity? If you build a website or blog, Google will find it and rush your personal page to the top of the results page. this ensures you present the most professional side of yourself when the world comes calling through digital age channels.

Build it and They Will Come

If you put a modicum of time and energy into a blog you shall reap some reward. If you pay attention to certain practises and principles then it should bring you traffic and reach a lot of people. I have some basic recommendations and they can all easily fit into a summary I could just describe as “Google-ize” yourself. Are your meta tags tweaked? Do you even know what I’m talking about? Here are some tips to help you get going.

Google / Search Engines – Make sure you update your site frequently, use relevant keywords in your headings and page titles, and always be sure to add media to your posts and pages. I am convinced that much of my success has come from exploiting tools like Google Maps, YouTube, social media websites etc – in part to diversify the kinds of content on my site, and also to simply provide links back to my content. Your site probably has the ability to put “meta tags” into the source code – meta tags includes areas like “description” and “keywords” – this helps search engines understand your site and what it’s all about.

Overall there is probably no substitute for good craft – take some time for design and write well. Or hire someone like me to get the job done.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

mike | strongandfree.ca

“iDIY” – Free Online Course in DIY Graphic Design and Marketing – May 24th – June 28th

Mike — Sun, 02 May 2010 18:17:57 +0000

Thank you for your interest – please note that this course took place in summer 2010. Many thanks to all who participated!

_ _ _ _ _

Mike Simpson is offering a free online course. The topic is “Do It Yourself” Graphics and Marketing. iDIY and uCan too! You are invited to participate! (Printable PDF Version).

If you have an entrepreneurial streak or have always wanted to learn a little about graphics, websites/blogs, or multimedia (audio/video) then this course may be the perfect opportunity to “get your feet wet.”

Class Level / Objectives

The course is targeted to beginners and intermediates. The class will last 6 weeks and be done online – where we will have the opportunity to share our discoveries and our work via chat, message boards, and blog postings. How far you go, how much you create is up to you – everyone will be expected to contribute to the process by creating a simple website and posting their work and comments.

At the simple end of the “prior experience” range, beginners or “newbies” will be encouraged to edit photos for an “e-card” or create a graphically-pleasing PowerPoint presentation (too often an oxymoron!). Intermediate students will develop vector illustrations or perhaps a video podcast. Many of the tools are free and the only limit with be your time and imagination!

Class “Time”

All of your work is done, for the most part, asynchronously. This means on Monday we have a virtual class – I upload documents and instructions. Students ask questions. We “meet” virtually for a few hours. However, if you are busy, you can log in and do your work anytime in the following week. When you study is up to you.

Class Difficulty

This class is ideal for beginner and intermediates. You must have fairly strong general computer proficiency and some curiosity about creative work done via computer. Please don’t be intimidated by the idea of having a blog – it is simply a website page where we can share our work and the tools are easy to use (WordPress for example, has an interface that is similar to Microsoft Word).

iDIY course overview:

Week 1 – Introduction to course and materials / create blog (a simple place to post and share your work)

We will go over a) DIY philosophy and practice, b) computer setup / operations and c) software options / blog setup.

Week 2 - Photo-editing and Basic Graphics

We look at design and color theory, essential photo editing techniques, and file formats for print / web (i.e. bitmap vs vector image, jpeg vs png).

Week 3 – Print vs. Web – Getting your message out

Overview of 21st century marketing and the history of self-publishing.

Exploration of marketing options – from brochure / business card to website /blog.

Week 4 – Multimedia – Audio and Video

Do you want to clean up the crackly sound in your family’s home videos? Want to upload a promotional video of your business or community group to YouTube?

The fundamentals of audio and video editing will be reviewed.

Week 5 – Independent Study

Students work on projects and review progress with peers / teacher.

Week 6 – Exhibition of Work and Evaluations of Course

Each student posts their best work to a gallery page. We meet in an online chat / message board to share and critique.

Students submit course evaluation and comments to Mike.

QUESTIONS? Want to “get tech”?

Please contact me to register.

Thanks,

Mike Simpson

mike | strongandfree.ca

_ _ _ _ _

About Mike

Mike Simpson has developed his own websites and marketing materials since 1996 when he founded a street wear company. He made clothing that sold in a dozen stores around Toronto, published small magazines, and developed skills in graphic design and marketing. More recently Mike has worked as an ESL teacher and currently leads teachers in workshops that explore the use of computers and the internet in teaching/learning. Mike is writing a book on DIY graphics and media, business philosophy, history and techniques.

About DIY

“DIY” has been a motivating concept and practice for independent-minded self-starters since the 1970s. Its origins were in music / lifestyle sub-cultures such as American and British punk. These artists, musicians, and publishers founded their own small businesses and established communities that organized their own concerts, books and magazines, and clubs / retail stores (sometimes in the form of “cooperatives”). DIY has since been co-opted by corporations like HomeDepot but the essential ideas and core values of independent spirit and self-reliance have not changed. It’s an exciting time! The 21st century is the age of communication tools like social media and blogs – never before have computers and the internet so easily enabled regular people to get stuff done themselves.

Mediatheque and NFB – Great Toronto Film and Documentary Resource!

Mike — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:36:26 +0000

Located at John and Richmond St. in downtown Toronto, the National Film Board’s Mediatheque centre is an inspiring place. You can check out all kinds of short films, animations and documentaries. Once I took a group of students there for a field trip. The presenter was amazing – it was one of my favorite all-time field trips. The staff are always friendly and helpful.

One of the main reasons to go to the NFB Mediatheque site is to check out the viewing stations. I have taken my students there just for that purpose on a number of occasions. Recently I watched an animated short, “The Necktie,” that’s also available online. In fact, the NFB are digitizing most of their catalogue and making it available via their website. Another favorite is called “Film Club,” by Cyrus Sundar Singh. It’s about a 20-year reunion of former childhood friends who were immigrants and in grade 8 banded together in an after-school film club. So far this title is NOT online – so get thee down to the Mediatheque and watch it!

Check out:

Mediatheque
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/mediatheque/

The Necktie – animated short – 12 mins.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/necktie/

Flemingdon Park – Global Village – documentary – 47 mins
http://www.nfb.ca/film/flemingdon_park_the_global_village

“Across Cultures” – NFB clips from 60 different films!
http://www3.nfb.ca/acrosscultures/toutvoir.php?print

Mediatheque
150 John Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3C3
416-973-3012

Interview with Toronto Author and Publisher Michael Redhill

Mike — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:29:26 +0000

Toronto author and publisher Michael Redhill

Michael Redhill is a Toronto-based author and publisher. He has taught at the University of Toronto, where he is also presently the “Writer in Residence.” A few years ago, I was fortunate to have him as my instructor for a Creative Writing (Poetry) course. He has written a number of award-winning poetry collections, plays and novels. His most recent novel is called “Consolation.” He publishes “Brick,” a literary journal.

We discussed his work and the work of other writers, artist and musicians, the CN Tower, Ottawa, culture, identity and nationality, and his time spent living in Paris. I talked to Michael at the Only Cafe over a latte in late February 2010.

Michael will be reading on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, from 4:15 PM to 6:00 PM at Massey College, U of T.

Thanks for meeting and chatting Michael!

Enjoy the interview.

Links:

University of Toronto – Biography

Brick Literary Journal

Quill and Quire article (circa 2001, when his acclaimed first novel “Martin Sloane” was published)

Book Review – Presentation Zen

Mike — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:41:39 +0000

4 famous books on Presentations

I have just finished a book review on Garr Reynold’s inspirational Presentation Zen. I summarize a few of the key ideas in the book and offer some links to online presentations at Slideshare and Ted Talks.

Presentations have fascinated me for the last year, coinciding with my early video experiments, one of the first of which was a video resume based on a PowerPoint presentation I uploaded to LinkedIn. Presentations, when combined with an interesting speaker and interesting topic, are a great learning experience. Too often though, we associate presentations with some dull training or business information session. It shouldn’t have to be this way.

In the world of education, the concept of “digital storytelling” has been a buzz concept for the last few years. More than ever, regular people have access to tools for telling their stories and sharing their ideas digitally. One of the problems with this of course, is the great output of mediocre or uninspiring video and other multimedia. I think a crash course is necessary, to teach a few design basics to anyone thinking about putting together a presentation or video.

In my expansive book review of Presentation Zen you’ll find some design principles I followed when creating presentations and a number of examples I borrowed from Reynold’s book. These days with tools like Photoshop Elements (a light version) being affordable and accessible, there is really no excuse for anyone to churn out a template-based “presentation by numbers” production. Interesting photos can be found at stock photo sites or through creative commons licensing. A world of resources is available to give your presentations some graphical pizazz.

Read the review of Presentation Zen and check out some links to amazing presentations
http://iam.strongandfree.ca/book-reviews/presentation-zen