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It is a far too common procedure for lecturers to prepare presentations with a few pages of notes made up of linear sentences. They stand up behind the podium and start to read, expecting their diligent audience to take ‘proper notes’. They drone on monotonously at a pace enabling their audience to copy their words. Drooping shoulders and heavy heads become more and more visible. Is this method actually doing any good? No, Words alone are worthless in helping in understanding and remembering. Not only are they boring but they do not represent the brains naturally fluid nature. Presentations need to impart information in a form that is easily digested by the brain. The most effective presentation will include key words, images, colours, visual rhythms, connections and associations. These are main aspects in triggering imagination, a key process in learning. But how do you achieve these in a presentation?

Mind Maps are perfect for structuring and organising:

It is important that you Mind Map the basic facts of your presentation before you even begin to concentrate on the subject matter. Mind Maps are perfect for structuring and organising current ideas and plans in a memorable way for presenting to others. Firstly, you need to know who your audience is and what they stand to benefit from your presentation. Your Mind Map may include branches such as ‘case studies’, ‘analysis’, ‘inspiration’, ‘understanding’ etc. with the aid of this mind map you will be able to turn the key words and ideas into a coherent order ensuring that you use hard data to back up any views or ideas that you may use in the presentation. Ensure your central image incorporates the subject while the branches must represent the subjects for discussion. By using a Mind Map, you will find your role in a wider context will be clearer, and will find it easier to stick to your subject as your thoughts will be less likely to wander off on a tangent.

Be Bold – use images and colours:

In your presentation you should use images, colours, symbols etc this is one of the most effective ways of getting your point across. The visual stimuli will make the presentation more dynamic and interesting. A long list of boring information can be transformed into colourful, memorable, highly organized diagrams that reflect your brains natural way of thinking and encourage synergetic thinking. Therefore in your Mind Map include a branch of thoughts and ideas to make you presentation more fun, interactive and memorable for your audience.

Practice makes perfect:

It is important that one of the branches on your Mind Map should focus on the practice you feel is necessary to ensure that you do not over run your allocated time. You may also use the Mind Map to allocate how much time you would like to spend on each topic.

How can computer software help you?:

Thanks to computers, presentations have become even easier with the aid of state of the art Visuals. With Mind Mapping software available such as Tony Buzan’s iMindMap, computerised Mind Maps can be transferred to Power Point. Do not fall into the trap of believing that using Power Point means simply making a linear list of sentences and phrases, this will fail to keep your audience interested and able to learn. Interaction with your audience is another key aspect to a successful presentation. This can be achieved by building up the mind map as you share your information with your audience and asking them to contribute any ideas or thoughts to the Map. Alternatively, encourage your participants to take notes in the form of their own individual Mind Maps on your presentation. This will require the audience to think for themselves and encourage active participation; consequently the audience are more likely to get the most out of your presentation. Mind Maps allow participants to break the linear tradition of note-taking and helps them to make appropriate associations and absorb more information effectively.

You should now be ready to start planning a great presentation, so good luck.

Most people know how to create a PowerPoint presentation, but many don’t realize that the same presentation can easily be converted into an Animoto video, which can be posted on YouTube and used as a source of video marketing. The following information will identify how this is easily accomplished.

When creating a PowerPoint file I would recommend keeping it small and concise (no more than 12 slides) and ensure your font is fairly large so that it is easily read when the video is being watched. Once you have finished your PowerPoint, save it as a.ppt file (nothing special here–just need to have a copy of it on your computer).

What we are going to do now is to save each slide of our PowerPoint as an image–the easy way. Create a folder on your desktop where your images can be saved. Open your PowerPoint file and then go to File>Save As>Other Formats or in the File>Save As dialog box choose GIF Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif).

Note: Make sure you are saving the *.gifs into the folder created earlier.

Click the Save button in PowerPoint and the images will be saved inside the folder that you created–you will now have 10-12 images saved.

If you haven’t already, create a free account on Animoto. Choose to create a video on Animoto, select a free background. A preview of the background will display. Click the link that says, “make a 30-second video for free.” You only need a free video to use, but you can pay if you would like a longer video.

The video interface will display. Click the Upload Images button and point it to the folder where you saved your PowerPoint *.gif images. You may need to adjust the arrangement of your images in Animoto–you can even add slides, if necessary. Select or upload the music for your video.

Click the Finalize button and you will be given the opportunity to enter information about your video.This is where you can enter SEO terms and other variables to help your video to be used for video marketing. Once finished click the Create Video button. Once the video has been created you can choose to export the video to YouTube. Once in YouTube you can add additional information useful for SEO and video marketing.

All in all, this process takes 5 minutes or less, but is very effective. For help with this or for more information, please feel free to visit our website or send us an email.

Once you get to a certain age, finding Christmas presents for your family and peers becomes far more difficult. When you’re younger, most people have plenty of things they need – whether it’s kids wanting the latest toys or teenagers hoping for a new wardrobe. But as you and the people you know get older, you’ll increasingly find that most people have sorted out the essentials for themselves and this makes it much harder to find them presents they actually want. This is true more than ever when it comes to your parents.

When you’re a child all you need to give your parent for Christmas is a picture you drew yourself or some sweets you saved up to buy, but when you’re all grown up you’ll want to show your appreciation in new ways. If you’re an artistic person you’re slightly ahead of the game, as you’ll be able to give your parents art work no matter what age you are. But if you’re not particularly talented with a pencil, it’s a good idea to turn your attention elsewhere.

With the majority of parents of grown up children tend to have most of the normal bits and pieces they need, many people turn to practical gifts and gadgets as a way to fill the hole. While this can be a great choice if you’ve a real gadget lover in the family, it can be a hard balance to get right. There have been plenty of Christmas days spoiled over the years thanks to a gift wrapped ironing board or trouser press. Steer clear of such presents unless they directly relate to a hobby your parents enjoy or they are gifts you’d enjoy yourself. For example, a flat-screen TV is likely to go down far better than a toaster.

If you’re keen to find presents that won’t end up sitting on a shelf in the hall cupboard, then choosing food or drink can be a great option. Make sure you chose wisely however, as Christmas is a time for enjoying special dishes and treats anyway and you don’t want to buy your folks a bottle of booze or fancy box of chocolates that they’ve already bought to celebrate the occasion themselves. What’s more, you need to be careful that they don’t start sharing their new gift with the whole family -especially if your premium snacks were particularly expensive.

One gift you can be sure your parents won’t be able to ignore or give away is a few nights in a nice hotel. Instead of filling up their house with more bits and pieces, why not consider booking a short break as a Christmas gift that is sure to be a real treat? The price of such a gift can easily be scaled to suit your budget and their tastes, with weekend breaks readily available everywhere from a family hotel in Blackpool to a boutique hotel in Edinburgh.

Whatever kind of present you choose for your parents this year, be sure to pay attention to their reaction when they open it – that way you can take note and be certain you’re one step ahead when it comes to next year.