How to Use Your Projector

Working with Room Layout

Perhaps surprisingly, room layout affects all aspects of a presentation. Just the physical arrangement of chairs can create a feeling of intimacy and cooperation or authority and hierachy. If possible, you should try to select the room layout that works best for you, depending upon audience size, presentation content, and visuals. Below are common room layouts and tips on how and when to use them.

Room Layout Tips

• Preview the room. You can avoid most pitfalls with room layout if you visit the venue in advance of your presentation. If possible, speak with the venue staff to make sure that your space is adequate and that they can accommodate all of your presentation needs.
• Be sure to plan for visuals. When planning your room layout, make sure you accommodate for your visuals and visual equipment. Leave adequate room to maneuver around all equipment. Test distances for viewing from all angles in the room.
• Use a Photo. Take a photo of a room set-up that you like. When you speak with the venue staff, give them the photo to use as a guide when setting up the room.

Theater Style

This layout is primarily used for large audiences. It is also the layout you are least likely to have any control of — chances are, the space is set up for you. Given the size and formality of this layout, it is especially important that you be sure that your audience can see you and your visuals from all areas of the room.

Classroom Style/U-Shaped Style

These layouts tend to be the most effective for educational and training presentations. Classroom style is primarily used for larger audiences, while the U-shaped style is preferred for more intimate training classes. Both of these layouts allow audience members to take notes and participate in group activities. The challenge for the presenter is keeping movement possible — without causing a great deal of disruption. Try to ensure a large adult can walk through any aisle.

Meeting Style

The most popular room layout for small groups is meeting style. The layout allows the presenter to be as formal or informal as he/she wants. In addition, the presenter has a high degree of interaction with the audience. It is important however, that the presenter still be the focus of attention. So, even in an informal setting, the presenter should sit at the "head" of the table or occupy another position of prominence. This is most important when using visual aids.

from Presenters University

How to Use Your Projector

Using Multimedia Projector Remote Controls Today many multimedia projector companies have developed projector remotes that allow you to integrate all of your audiovisual controls into one remote control. Whether it's running a corporate video, highlighting a key point in a PowerPoint presentation or turning up the sound volume, you may very well need only one remote control. Below are typical features you may find in today's multimedia projector remote controls. Source This feature allows you to switch input sources on the fly. For example, if you were giving a PowerPoint presentation and wanted to show a video clip to highlight a main point, you would need to "switch the source". Using a new remote control, you could simply push the source button on your remote to switch from the computer source to the video source automatically. Special Effects Most projectors, such as the Epson Powerlite Series, allow you to use special effects in PowerPoint presentations. For example, you can highlight a main point on the fly with a simple click of a button. You can pre-program your remote control with the desired special effects you want to use. It's that easy! Mouse There is no need to stand next to your computer and use your mouse to click through slides in a presentation. Most remote controls come with a built-in mouse that allows you to control your computer from anywhere in the room. Projector Controls All remote controls should allow you to make some adjustments to the projector. Whether it's changing the volume, correcting the focus, or adjusting the sync, you probably don't have to go to the front of the room and fiddle with the projector. Bonus Tip! Always carry at least one set of extra batteries for your remote control in your projector carrying case.

from Presenters University

Dennis' News and Views

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks and I thought it was time to fill everyone in on what's been going on. Last weekend, I took my son Tom down to Salem to move him back into the dorm. It's amazing how fast time flies. Tom is entering his sophomore year. He will have a packed year starting with being editor of the school paper this fall and culminating in study abroad in Ireland this spring. We had an uneventful trip down with the car packed with his stuff. That afternoon we went over to visit a few of his friends at their house off campus. Jess and Allison do a great public service project...kitten foster care. They have signed up with a local shelter to take kittens from 6 to 10 weeks old. There job is to house train the cats and play with them so they get used to being around people. When they get to be 10 weeks old, they get moved to another house where they await adoption. This is quite a treat...always to have kittens but never to have to have cats!
We got Tom settled into his room the following day with minimal effort. A couple of his friends showed up (after we offered them free breakfast at the Sassy Onion), unloaded the car, unpacked and set up his room. Tom had requisitioned a couch last spring and hid it away in the newspaper office. We got that moved over and it was the crowning point for his dorm room. What a great school and friendly people.
That afternoon we took off back to Seattle to watch a Mariner's game. It's amazing that the crowds are as good as they are for a team that has done just about everything wrong this year. We left the game in the 9th inning with the Mariners behind. They tied it up and went on to win in the 11th inning. Since then, the team has been on a tear. I guess there is still hope for next year.
This past week had the Democratic Convention taking center stage. After watching the Olympics the previous 2 weeks it was hard to watch any more live programing. The conventions are filled with self-serving diatribes that don't seem to hold my attention for more than a few minutes at a time. I'm forced to remember that I had never heard of Barak Obama 4 years ago before he spoke at the convention. After that, his star rose on such a sharp projectory I thought it would poke the sky out. From what I watched this year, I didn't see anyone who rose to the top.
It's good to know that we are transitioning to winter at a rapid pace. The temp this morning was in the mid-40's. We should have frost any day now. Where is the best weather? I need to know.

How to Use Your Projector

Using a Presentation Assistant

Just when you think you are done . . . you have finished writing your presentation, you have created fabulous slides and handouts, you have analyzed room conditions and more . . . What could possibly be left to do? In some cases, it may be time to ask yourself if your presentation would be helped by a "presentation assistant". The more complicated a presentation, the more likely a presentation may prove helpful.

When we speak about an assistant, we speak of someone who can provide an extra set of hands, who knows how to juggle the balls you don't have time to . . . A presentation assistant can pass out handouts, advance slides, or assist with group exercises.

Tips for using a presentation assistant

• Select an assistant with whom you can work: someone you know and trust.
• Select an assistant who is familiar with your presentation or who can get that way. Set up a meeting and walk through your entire presentation, several times. Identify points at which the assistant should go to the next slide, turn up lights, or pass out appropriate handouts.
• Work out unobtrusive signals for communication.
• And most importantly, when you deliver the presentation, make sure to introduce your assistant.

from Presenters University

Book Review-Wait Until Next Year

August and September should be a time of energy and excitement. The weather is warm, the sound of kids playing on a slip and slide, and being riveted to the baseball games and standings. This year has not lived up to those standards. We did have a couple of weeks of hot weather in August, but it was rainy and 58 today as I made my way to work. The kids are all inside playing the last video games of the summer before they head back to school next week. And baseball is anything but riveting here in the Northwest. Read my News and Views for my rant on the Mariners.
Doris Kearns Goodwin is an historian that I got to know originally from her appearances on PBS documentaries by Ken Burns. A couple of years ago I read her book, Team of Rivals about Lincoln and his cabinet. Before that book, she wrote Wait Till Next Year about her growing up in New York in the 1950's. Her dad would head off to work each day in the city and she would wait until he came home at night to discuss the Brooklyn Dodger game. The book looks at life in suburbia in a more innocent time. Community was extremely important in her development. Her growth as a story teller and later an historian stems from the closeness shared by the local shop keepers, friends and family. Memories of baseball are not so much about the final score or the accomplishments of a player, but the feel of the crowd, the images of the ballpark and the excitement generated by hope of a better outcome tomorrow. This is my memory of the 50's and baseball still gives me the feeling of hope. Not much of a story. Not really captivating. The book is about America and what we can do even under adversity.
Enjoy!
Dennis

Intel Developer Forum

The Intel Developer Forum is going on now. There were a few developments that I wanted to pass along.

First, it was announced that there has been significant improvement in a technology first developed at MIT to wirelessly power devices. You would be able to place your device like a laptop or cell phone on a special counter for instance, and have the electricity power the unit without being plugged in. Intel was able to demonstrate lighting a 60 watt light bulb from 2-3 feet away from the source. This will be incorporated into devices in the future.
The other area of interest to me was the Intel Roadmap. Here are a couple of highlights from there.

Next month Intel will ship its six-core Dunnington server processor, the last of the chip giant’s Penryn family of processors. According to Wachovia analyst David Wong Dunnington will offer a big performance improvement over Intel’s 2-chip, quad core Tigerton chip. “We think this should allow Intel to pull significantly ahead of AMD’s Barcelona chip on most applications, especially integer based applications, and equal or perhaps exceed Barcelona’s performance on floating point benchmarks,” said Wong in a research note.

Details of Nehalem are emerging. The biggest news was Nehalem’s turbo mode, which can turn cores on and off depending on the workload. John Morris notes:

To make turbo mode work, Intel said it designed “new transistors and silicon technology” so that a power gate at each core can shut down power completely, and added a Power Control Unit–a separate microcontroller with more than 1 million transistors of its own–to control the gates. In a not-so-subtle knock at competitor AMD and its “asset-smart” plans, Rajesh Kumar, an Intel fellow, said the new power management features showed why close cooperation between process technology engineers and chip designers was so important in advanced microprocessors.

And Intel is launching a wide range of solid state drives with various form factors.

Look for Atom based low energy desktop computers soon.

Grant Opportunity

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Welcome to the Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation Website TO APPLY FOR A GRANT Our Mission Statement Our Programs Our mission is to support educators in developing environmental curricula that integrate field activities and classroom teaching and that incorporate basic ecological principles and problem solving. Read Our 2005 Newsletter! PDF The Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation was founded in April 1996 to continue the work of Melinda Gray Ardia. Melinda Ardia, a middle school science teacher in Newark, NY and a biologist and environmental activist, died in an automobile accident in January 1996. Melinda's dedication, creativity and enthusiasm inspired her family and colleagues to create the Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation to continue her work. How the Foundation Works: We are a Private Operating Foundation, run by a Board of Directors made up of family members and environmental professionals that set both financial and program policy. We have taken a conservative strategy on both fronts. Financially, we have tried to grow our endowment (currently about $75,000) so that we can continue to impact environmental education for longer than any of our lifetimes. Our disbursements to programs have been made from interest and income generated from our investments and the sale of note cards and t-shirts. Programmatically, we have tried to grow slowly so that we make each decision thoughtfully with Melinda's ideals and the ability to make a difference in mind. Through this conservative strategy we have ensured that your donations build our endowment and will provide lasting impacts beyond the face value of your gift. Mission Statement: To facilitate learning and student empowerment, environmental curricula should be holistic and strive to synthesize multiple levels of learning (facts, concepts, principles), often including experiential integrated learning and problem solving. We believe the strongest curricula are founded on basic scientific principles, including hypothesis testing and experimental design. A solid foundation of ecology promotes thoughtful and appropriate analysis and understanding of the natural world. Controversial issues should be presented objectively stressing the development of individual student opinions. In summary, the Foundation supports curricula that empower and encourage students to become involved in solving environmental and social problems as informed decision makers through the emphasis and application of basic ecological principles. The Foundation seeks to facilitate the development and implementation of holistic environmental curricula that incorporate basic ecological principles and field environmental activities within a primary or secondary school setting. Accordingly, the Foundation is interested in contributing to the development, implementation and/or field testing of curricula that are consistent with the mission of the Foundation. For more information about the foundation, and to learn how to apply for a grant. Practice resurrection.. Find work if you can that does not damage... Wendell Berry