Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Podcasting!

Konnichiwa!

As you know from class, I am a HUGE fan of podcasts and I hope you will be too! That there is SO much information, analysis, and even entertainment available so easily and so FREE really is a technological marvel. I regularly listen to Macbreak Weekly, The Week in Technology, and This Week in Photography. But what are your favorite podcasts? What are you listening to? What have you found that sounds good, is holding your interest, or that you can't wait for the latest episode to arrive? Post your answer with a link to the iTunes URL in the comments section below and we'll see what the class is listening to.

~mrc

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Pre-"Zen"-tation Help

Students,

Below are some AWESOME resources developed by Garr Reynolds, the man behind the website Presentation Zen. We'll be looking at more of his work (AND advice AND guidance) over the course of the semester, but I wanted to bring these few items from him to your attention as you head into the long weekend preparing your SVHEC orientation presentation (see homework due for Wednesday, 9/9).

This first one (immediately below) is a presentation Garr developed to summarize the points in John Medina's (amazing!) book, Brain Rules, that are of particular interest to anyone needing to make a presentation –and that's each of you! Brain Rules is all about how your brain learns, processes information, pays attention and even how it remembers presentations; don't miss this one!

Next up is a very basic, very excellent blog entry, also from Presentation Zen, on using images in slides. If you followed item #1 (above) you'll know how important images are for conveying information and making an impression. A picture truly is worth a thousand words, so read Garr's article for some pointers on how not to abuse these powerful presentation elements.

Lastly, design considerations can often throw non-designers for a loop; an especially damning reality when bad design can sink an otherwise great presentation while good design can buoy a mediocre one. For some guidance, check out Garr's presentation on How to "Think Like a Designer" also on Slideshare. For more details beyond the slideshow, you can read his blog entry on the same topic.



This is a big project, so don't hesitate to ask questions.

~mrc