We’ve alluded in the past to Edward Tufte’s screed against The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. To summarize, he argues that PowerPoint forces presenters to dumb down their arguments to bullet points, eliminating logical structure in favor of lists where everything carries the same weight, and to severely limit the amount of information the audience receives through any one chart or graph.

The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint was written in 2003. Last week The Wall Street Journal brought us news that Tufte’s criticisms have caught on—with a few. For example, T.X. Hammes argues in the Armed Forces Journal that PowerPoint has undermined the military’s whole decision-making culture: Read the rest of this entry »

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Abridged with permission from “Ease in Writing,” the newsletter of Full Circle Communications.

You’ve probably participated in a retreat or brainstorming session where all those great ideas somehow get lost in the shuffle once you’re back in the office. While a write-up of the action won’t guarantee success, it definitely increases the chances.

“A report is a visual reminder of the changes people committed to,” explains master facilitator Merianne Liteman, co-author of the book Retreats That Work. She recommends the following: Read the rest of this entry »

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Only a handful of companies specialize in expert meeting coverage. We’re one. Another is The Conference Publishers, based in Ottawa. If you’re a long-time reader of The Editorial Advantage, you may recall a guest article written for us by their senior managers about the continued importance of face-to-face meetings in a world of teleconferencing.

Recently we received The Conference Publishers’ own e-newsletter and wanted to share their interesting new approach to meeting coverage, which they call “online nested content.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Relatively few offices have abandoned their phone lines in favor of Internet telephony, often called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). If you are in the majority not quite ready to cut the telephone cord, transferring some of your work onto the Internet may save you time and money.

I use Skype, a free, downloadable program for PC or Mac that allows you to get phone service up and running with minimal set-up. For hardware, you only need a way for sound to get in and out of your computer. Many computers, especially newer laptops, have built-in microphones; older models and desktops have jacks for microphones and headphones. There are USB headsets that combine phones and mike, including Bluetooth headsets that will allow you to wander as you talk. Skype also works with webcams for face-to-face chat and video conferencing.

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Posted in Presentations and meeting coverage, Technologies for publications and Web content 1 Comment »

It’s a fairly regular occurrence when we cover meetings: an attendee or participant, having noticed the rapporteur typing away in the corner throughout the proceedings, comes over and asks if it might be possible to get a copy of those notes. The answer is always the same: our company has a policy against it.

Now this might seem like an odd policy. After all, why not try to be as accommodating as possible, especially when it’s a client making the request?

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It’s the Dogme 95 of PowerPoint. Invented in Tokyo in 2003 by a pair of architects, Pecha Kucha (pronounced peCHAKcha, Japanese for “chatter”) requires performers to present exactly 20 slides for exactly 20 seconds apiece. According to the official Web site, Pecha Kucha events have now been held in 100 cities around the world.

Like Dogme, Pecha Kucha’s restrictive rules are meant to free presenters’ creativity. Most of those who have adopted the form so far have been artists, architects, and designers. But Pecha Kucha has begun to attract interest from business presenters as well. Read the rest of this entry »

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In a recent post, we discussed how Jan V. White, the eminent designer, integrates graphics with copy to win readers. Another lesson follows. Most editors I know put off writing captions until the very last minute. Instead, try writing them first. In Editing by Design, White points out:

“Picture captions are the most important words on the page. They get the highest readership … the image fused to its explanation is a tempting twosome used to hook the uninvolved scanner into reading.”

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Posted in Framing content in print and on the Web, Presentations and meeting coverage No Comments »

As I’ve mentioned, we cover a lot of meetings and see a lot of presentations. We’re always interested in the ingredients for success.

Andy Goodman thinks he’s found them. The consultant with Cause Communications spells them out in his book Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes—and How to Ensure They Won’t Happen To Yours.

If you’re used to conventional presentations, it may be hard to picture yourself doing what he suggests. But here are some of his prescriptions for an attentive audience: Read the rest of this entry »

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Did you hear the one about ….?

Congregants of Rev. Tom Ambrose, of St. Mary and St. Michael Church in Trumpington, England, met in September to complain of several things about their vicar, most notably that he delivered the Christmas sermon last year (and several since then) using Microsoft PowerPoint.

From the Daily Mail (London), 9-4-07. Reported in News of the Weird .

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Professionals record meetings with multiple mikes, an audio mixer, and carefully calibrated levels. But if all your employees need is a backup tape to make sure they produce accurate minutes, you don’t need quality that high. Here’s what to buy:
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