[nabs-l] Presentation Techniques

Mon Apr 9 04:25:59 UTC 2012

Hi Marc,
I don't think I've seen that myself, but I agree it would be awful to
listen to someone read a paper word for word. I've definitely seen
teachers (like high school teachers) do this with their PowerPoint
slides.
Arielle

On 4/8/12, Marc Workman <mworkman.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Arielle,
>
> I haven't used Powerpoint very much. Instead, in situations where something
> like that was useful, I simply created a handout containing key points and
> quotes. My discipline is philosophy, though, so Powerpoint isn't quite as
> common.
>
> I can't think of a way that you could display the slides while reading your
> notes on a single machine. You'd need a second device, either another laptop
> or some kind of portable device like an iDevice.
>
> I do think reading it word for word is perfectly fine when it's written and
> read in a particular way, just as you describe. I often do this as well and
> for the same reasons as you. What I was criticizing is the all too common
> practice at conferences of academics standing at the front and reading their
> papers, papers that are written for journals. I'm sure you've seen that, and
> I don't know about you, but it almost always forces me to fight to stay
> awake.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Marc
> On 2012-04-07, at 11:11 AM, Arielle Silverman wrote:
>
>> Hi Marc,
>> I'm curious to know how you access your presentation notes/prompts on
>> your laptop while also displaying the PowerPoint slides at the same
>> time? Do you have to toggle continuously between the notes pane and
>> the slide show or is there a way to read your notes with JAWS while
>> simultaneously displaying the slides on the projector?
>> While Braille has historically worked best for me, I am open to
>> learning new methods especially if I end up in a situation where I
>> don't have the time or resources to transcribe my notes in advance.
>> What I have started doing recently is to prepare my PowerPoint
>> presentation and then write out what I will be saying. I do read word
>> for word from this transcript, but I write it in colloquial language
>> (literally as if I were speaking out loud) and then when I read it, it
>> doesn't sound like I'm reading from a book or handout. I originally
>> tried doing my presentations more free-form just using prompts, but I
>> found that often the delivery was awkward or I would forget key
>> points, especially if the presentation was in front of important
>> people evaluating my work (professors etc.) which would make me
>> nervous. If I can prepare exactly what I am going to say in advance
>> and then just rely on the transcript in the moment when everyone is
>> watching, the delivery tends to go much better and the audience can
>> stay on my train of thought. However that is just my personal style.
>> Best,
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 4/7/12, Niall Gallagher <niall.j.gallagher.91 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Marc,
>>>
>>> Your contribution is very helpful and I greatly appreciate it.
>>> I have contacted the Hadley School for the Blind in order to obtain
>>> materials to investigate the practice of learning and reading brail.
>>> I have used my iPhone to learn my presentation, but I have yet to include
>>> it
>>> in my actual presentation.
>>> Keeping sentences short is the key, it has often happened me in
>>> rehearsals
>>> that I have had to stop mid-point and start again.
>>>
>>> I couldn't agree more that poer point slides should only be a supplement
>>> to
>>> the overall presentation.
>>> I am by no stretch of the imagination am experienced presenter, but it is
>>> so
>>> frustrating when someone begins their presentation by saying " and today
>>> I'll be reading this handout ".
>>>
>>> Again, I really appreciate your contribution and on this occasion I think
>>> technology will represent my presentation aid.
>>>
>>> Kindest regards,
>>>
>>> Niall.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Apr 7, 2012, at 12:15 AM, Marc Workman <mworkman.lists at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Braille is useful, provided you have the time and energy to learn it.
>>>> I've
>>>> done presentations using Braille in the past. I've also used screen
>>>> readers on computers and have recently used nothing but my iPhone and
>>>> bluetooth earpiece. I no longer bother with Braille because I've found
>>>> other methods less time consuming and more effective. I've lectured at
>>>> college and university, presented at conferences, and testified at a
>>>> Parliamentary legislative committee, and all without Braille. I'm not
>>>> disparaging the use of Braille. If you can learn it and use it, all the
>>>> power to you, I regret how much I resisted learning it as I was growing
>>>> up, but you also shouldn't be made to feel that it is necessary in order
>>>> to give a good presentation. And I realize no one said that it was
>>>> necessary, but I think it's worth explicitly stating that it isn't.
>>>>
>>>> If you use powerpoint, and it sounds like you will, you shouldn't simply
>>>> read what's on the screen. Powerpoint is meant to supplement your
>>>> presentation, not to be your presentation. In fact, you shouldn't read
>>>> the
>>>> presentation at all, unless you can read it in such a way that it
>>>> doesn't
>>>> actually sound like you're reading it. There is nothing worse than
>>>> someone
>>>> standing up at the front reading a paper, and it's unbelievable how
>>>> often
>>>> this happens at conferences.
>>>>
>>>> Instead, if you really know the material, you can write down a few words
>>>> to prompt you and keep you on track during the presentation. This is a
>>>> little riskier and scarier because you have to form the sentences in
>>>> your
>>>> head rather than reading nice, complete, well organized sentences from a
>>>> document, and you're more likely to jump a head of yourself when you're
>>>> not simply reading a prepared presentation, but doing it this way sounds
>>>> more natural and will be more engaging to your audience.
>>>>
>>>> You can listen to these prompting words with jaws on your own laptop and
>>>> simply use the keyboard or a remote to move from slide to slide on the
>>>> school's laptop, or you can do the same with Voiceover on your iPhone.
>>>> just indicate in your notes when to switch to the next slide.
>>>>
>>>> The trick for listening and speaking at the same time is to keep each
>>>> line
>>>> of text to only a few words. If you try to listen to a complete line of
>>>> text and say it back, you'll get half way through and then have to pause
>>>> and listen again to get the second half of the line. If each line has
>>>> only
>>>> four or five words, though, you can keep them in your head while you're
>>>> saying them, then simply arrow down or flick right to get to the next
>>>> line
>>>> and begin speaking what you here.
>>>>
>>>> It can take a bit of practice to get the hang of this, and you'll still
>>>> want to rehearse the presentation before you deliver it, but this
>>>> presentation method can allow you to read long passages word for word,
>>>> or
>>>> even the entire presentation, without a lot of prep time. It's important
>>>> to try to break the sentence up at places where you might pause briefly
>>>> anyway, otherwise, you can have slight pauses that might sound awkward,
>>>> and this is the part that takes a bit of practice, but it really doesn't
>>>> take very long to figure out how to break things up in a way that works
>>>> for you.
>>>>
>>>> Hope that's helpful.
>>>>
>>>> Marc
>>>> On 2012-04-05, at 12:57 PM, Niall Gallagher wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Thank you very much for your suggestion Arielle.
>>>>> At present you are in the field of which I hope to become part of.
>>>>> A post graduate degree seems very likely, as I want to further my
>>>>> studies
>>>>> and possibly involve myself in the teaching profession.
>>>>>
>>>>> When I think about it, the activity of learning brail couldn't have
>>>>> come
>>>>> at a better time.
>>>>> My placement  is 4 months long and I will have a considerable amount of
>>>>> free time in the evenings, so I will certainly investigate this avenue
>>>>> further.
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess I will arrange something involving the combination of JAWS,
>>>>> headphones, and a remote for changing the slides..... what can go
>>>>> wrong?
>>>>> lol
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you once again and I wish you the best of luck in your studies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kindest regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Niall.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>
>>>>> On Apr 5, 2012, at 7:31 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Niall,
>>>>>> I am a totally blind grad student and I regularly give research and
>>>>>> teaching presentations. In my experience it is very hard to remember
>>>>>> what I want to talk about without using Braille. If you plan to teach
>>>>>> professionally or go to grad school, I would highly recommend taking a
>>>>>> few months to teach yourself to read Braille, even just the alphabet
>>>>>> or "Grade 1" Braille can be tremendously helpful. Hadley School for
>>>>>> the Blind offers courses and will send you materials in the mail so
>>>>>> you can learn the alphabet and practice at home. Even if you don't
>>>>>> plan to teach after this semester, it will really help you in any job
>>>>>> to know how to read and write Braille. You don't have to be a fast
>>>>>> reader to use Braille for presentations; just having the notes there
>>>>>> to jog your memory will keep you from getting tongue-tied or
>>>>>> forgetting what you want to say.
>>>>>> In the meantime while you are learning Braille, you can use JAWS with
>>>>>> an earphone to listen to what's on each slide as you present it. I
>>>>>> would suggest trying to install your personal copy of JAWS on the
>>>>>> school's computer or installing a "demo" version. You shouldn't have a
>>>>>> problem installing your licensed copy on both your school and home
>>>>>> computers. If you can't do that, then talk to the college about
>>>>>> bringing your laptop.
>>>>>> Again, this isn't a great solution since you have to stop at the
>>>>>> beginning of each slide, listen to JAWS read it to you and then say
>>>>>> what you want to say. Braille is much much better. But JAWS can work
>>>>>> in the short term.
>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>> Arielle
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 4/5/12, Niall Gallagher <niall.j.gallagher.91 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Thank you for the suggestion of using large print. but my vision is
>>>>>>> at
>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>> level that I cannot see any written materials.
>>>>>>> I use JAWS on Windows and VoiceOver on Mac.
>>>>>>> The college use windows and wont have JAWS available.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Apr 5, 2012, at 7:06 PM, "Ashley Bramlett"
>>>>>>> <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> have someone turn slides for you. have a braille or large print copy
>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>> the slide you typed. when you want to turn slides,  just cue them to
>>>>>>>> turn
>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>> work from your prepared copy and you'll be fine.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Niall Gallagher
>>>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 1:47 PM
>>>>>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Presentation Techniques
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sorry guys I didn't want to overwhelm with information, but seems I
>>>>>>>> did
>>>>>>>> the opposite :)
>>>>>>>> I am visually impaired but it is to the extent to which I can't see
>>>>>>>> Power
>>>>>>>> Point slides or any presentation aids (flash cards etc).
>>>>>>>> I use the screen reading package JAWS to create the initial
>>>>>>>> presentation
>>>>>>>> slideshow.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I expect not to have any screen reading software pre-installed on
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> computer I will be using in class.
>>>>>>>> I could always use my own laptop, but that would mean changing the
>>>>>>>> configuration of the projector cables the college has setup.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The presentation is going to be law based, which I studied last
>>>>>>>> year,
>>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>> I am unsure of the topic or any additional information about the
>>>>>>>> tutorials.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I don't know or use brail, I primarily work with technology.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I guess what I'm thinking of is, when there is a slide on the
>>>>>>>> projector
>>>>>>>> screen, that they can see, what could I do in order to prompt or
>>>>>>>> assist
>>>>>>>> myself?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hope this information helps you understand the situation.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Kindest regards,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Niall.
>>>>>>>> On 5 Apr 2012, at 18:09, Nicole B. Torcolini at Home wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Do you read Braille? If so, do you have a Braille note taking
>>>>>>>>> device?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Niall Gallagher"
>>>>>>>>> <niall.j.gallagher.91 at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 9:32 AM
>>>>>>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Presentation Techniques
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Everyone,,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I am a 3rd Year college student in Ireland.
>>>>>>>>>> As part of my studies, I must complete a work placement module
>>>>>>>>>> A part of this module will involve working with a lecturer.
>>>>>>>>>> Now, for my question, does anyone have any techniques that they
>>>>>>>>>> may
>>>>>>>>>> use
>>>>>>>>>> for presentations?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I have presented in front of a class before, but it has been for a
>>>>>>>>>> very
>>>>>>>>>> brief period of time (no more than 10 minutes).
>>>>>>>>>> These upcoming presentations will be tutorials (in excess of 30
>>>>>>>>>> minutes).
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I would appreciate any suggestions members of this list may have.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Kindest regards,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Niall.
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>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
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