Page 319 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 08 11/20/02 12:51 PM Page 308
308 The Creative Training Idea Book
Do not use excessive special features when designing your slides. Select one or two
options and carry that theme through the entire presentation so that the medium does
not become the focal point and distract from your message. For example, choose
only one or two types of slide opening (e.g., drip, dissolve, or fade).
Add clip art that complements the written words to your slides to help attract and hold
attention. Keep your images small so they do not distract from the words.
If you use a commercial video segment, preview it and become thoroughly familiar with
the content before learners arrive. Have prepared comments to introduce the seg-
ment, give participants specifics to watch for in the clip, and review what they saw
afterwards, if appropriate.
When possible, use a remote control to allow you to move around the room and still
operate the slide show. This frees you from having to stand next to the computer to
punch a button when you want to advance a slide. An alternative is to have an assis-
tant positioned to change slides when you are ready. This often takes considerable
practice and coordination, so think about using a helper before participants arrive.
As mentioned with the use of transparencies, if you are nervous, DO NOT use a laser
pointer to direct learner attention to something on the projection screen. Your hands
will be shaking and the nervousness will be obvious and magnified as the red dot
dances around the screen. Also, if you are going to use a laser pointer, be very care-
ful not to shine it into your eyes or someone else’s because eye damage can occur.

Creative Slide Design
Depending on the computer program used to create your presentation, you can do a
multitude of things to enhance the images and impact of what you show your learners,
some of the more common of which follow.

Insert sound or movie clips that can demonstrate or explain short segments of infor-
mation into your presentation at appropriate points.
Include animation in which you have characters, such as dinosaurs, with your actual
face or that of various learners as the head, walking across your screen to drag in text
(see Resources for Trainers in the appendices). Use such features conservatively so
that the images add value and are not there just for amusement.
Add graphics or text that seems to float around the screen by changing locations. This
effect might be used with a graphic that you project for the duration of a break, for
example, a smiling sun face that moves around.

Try using creative graphic fonts for title slides or title lines to add a bit of variety.
Flip objects or images so that the same image is used in a different position. For example,
you might have two versions of your own caricature facing one another on either
side of the slide at the bottom.