Make sure participants can see the visuals

Some of the best presentations are doomed for failure if the participants are unable to see the visuals. These tips will prevent that from happening.

• Don’t block the view.
• Sit in the participants’ seats to ensure that they can see the visuals.
• Keep a tight focus on what is shown. Visuals must be readable.
• Reveal only one point at a time.
• Limit the number of ideas on one visual to four.
• Use a pointer or laser pointer to focus attention.
• Turn projection lights off between visuals.

PowerPoint presentations can dissolve to a black slide so that participants are not distracted. You can also force a black screen by touching the B key.

Orient the visuals for the learner

Imagine that you are one of the participants and are seeing the visuals for the first time.

• Tell learners what they are looking at: “Here are four criteria for perception checks.”
• A good visual may not need words to describe it.
• Allow enough time for people to take notes.

Be well practiced

It should be comfortable and natural to use your visuals. That comes with practice.

• Charts roll easily (you may need to practice this).
• You know how to operate the equipment.
• You have prepositioned your equipment and organized your supplies beforehand.
• You have arranged the room so that you do not every have to step between a projection light and the screen.
• You turn off the projector at the end of the last frame, transparency, and so on.
• After its use, leave the equipment alone until after the training session has finished. Don’t bother about ejecting a DVD, closing out your PowerPoint slides, or putting equipment or visuals away. You owe your time to your participants.

Ensure that your visuals enhance your performance rather than replace it

Your visuals should not take center stage, but they should help to explain or clarify the concepts you are presenting. This is what Ruth Clark means when she refers to avoiding “seductive” visuals!

• Visuals should become an extension of you as you use them to explain the content of your presentations.
• Visuals are tied together with a common element; for example, a graphic, a color, or a sketch.

You’re prepared for an emergency

Emergencies that occur during the presentation don’t have to be a complete disaster. These may help to reduce the effect on your participants:

• Have an extra bulb, an adaptor plug, and marking pens.
• Know how to change the bulb.
• Know how or where to obtain an extension cord.
• Have an alternative plan if the electricity fails.
• Call a break as you address the emergency.

And finally, in the words of that famous trainer, Anonymous: “Keep it simple, keep it simple, keep it simple.”

LCD projector guidelines

Keep the limited flexibility in mind when using LCD-projected PowerPoint. It may be difficult to get participants involved in the visuals, so use other media to create and display their ideas. To design PowerPoint slides that incorporate effective techniques, flip to Chapter 5. In addition, try some of these guidelines:

• Plan ahead to know where you’ll be standing.
• Email the presentation to yourself as a backup.
• Know the password for the computer you will use.
• Turn off instant messenger, Outlook, and other communication tools loaded on the computer.
• Ensure that the computer uses an appropriate screensaver.

• Ensure that the LCD has the right number of lumens of light for the size of the room.

  Some LCD projectors identify the life of the bulb; make sure yours has enough life left.

• Focus and set up before the training begins; on a rare occasion, LCD machines may not be compatible with all computers, especially if you are training globally.
• Mark the projection table placement with masking tape on the floor in case you need to move it.
• Use a wireless advance control and try it out ahead; have extra batteries for the control available.
• Turn off lights immediately in front of the screen but keep them on in the rest of the room.
• If the projector has an automatic keystoning setting, don’t increase the projection angle over 30 degrees.
• Ensure that both the computer and the projector have proper ventilation around them.
• Prepare your participants for what they should be learning and seeing.
• Allow an average of 10 to 20 seconds of reading time per slide. Viewers’ eyes should have time to move over the entire visual but not become “fixed” on it. Interject your comments accordingly; otherwise, hypnosis may set in.
• Set up your computer so that you can easily glance at the computer screen, not at the screen on the wall.
• Speak to the participants, not to the screen.

Video and DVD guidelines

Use video judiciously. Take care that if you include a film clip, it uses up the right amount of time. Also, always preview the tape before showing it in your session.

• Never leave videos, CDs, or DVDs in a hot car.
• Set up the machine before your presentation.
• Practice setting the sound and dimming lights.
• Cue the segment and have it ready to play.
• Check the sound.

• Before playing, provide an introduction that tells why you’re showing it.

  Trainers sometimes encounter participants who claim they cannot relate to a setting or video because it is not the same occupational setting as the one they are in. Diffuse this issue in your introduction by stating up front that they will see a setting that is different from theirs, but it shouldn’t make a difference because the goal is to learn a technique that is transferable to any setting.

• Show only the portion that you must to make the point; provide a brief explanation about what happens up to this point.
• Before you show the clip, tell participants what to do during the viewing; for example, take notes, look for a specific behavior.
• Don’t turn off the lights if people will be taking notes.
• Follow the viewing with at least one question to get participants quickly involved again.
• Allow for discussion and highlight key points.
• Ensure that participants are clear about the objectives of the video and what they should have learned.

If you’re actually recording, remember these guidelines for a smooth training session:

• Test the camera or device beforehand; learn zoom, turning on/off, tripod adjustment, and other techniques.
• Determine whether you need an additional person to assist with the recording.
• Be prepared for cameras that automatically shut off after a time period.
• Adjust the tripod to the appropriate height.
• Do a microphone check beforehand.
• Test the VCR and monitor beforehand.

Participant devices

What a great way to ensure buy-in from your learners. Encourage them to turn their devices on instead of turning them off. What a novel idea! Here are some tips:

• Always ask for volunteers.
• Create small groups for activities so that everyone does not need to have a device to use.
• Do a spot check to ensure that everyone in the room has access to a device, whether their own or looking on with someone else.
• If they will connect with the Internet be certain that you have the password.
• Be clear about the directions prior to stating which site they should locate.
• Ensure that participants have checklists or guidelines if they are to visit more than one site.
• Assign a clear timeline for the completion of the activity.
• Post URLs to respond to repeated questioning.
• Offer to email all URLs used in the session to participants after the session. If participants identify other sites that are helpful, have them post the URL on a flipchart page hung somewhere in the room so that you can include it in your email.
• If follow-up tweets will be a part of the implementation plan, ensure that everyone has an account and knows how to use it.

Flipchart guidelines

Flipcharts may sit patiently waiting in the corner of a training room. When you pull one out, however, be prepared with these guidelines to look like a pro.

• Charts for displaying information should be to your dominant side; charts for writing on should be to your nondominant side (this ensures that your back is to the fewest participants when you’re writing on the chart).
• Write on every other page so that participants cannot read through to the next page; this also gives a page to absorb pen marks that may bleed through.

• Select and stage the color of markers you will use before the session.

  Mr. Sketch makes the best markers for flipcharts. They do not bleed through the paper, are washable (even out of your clothes), and, as a bonus, smell great!

• Printed letters should be 1 to 3 inches high.
• Use some of the new flipchart stickers and fluorescent tape to highlight words, add borders, or use for emphasis in other ways.
• Pencil cues in the margin.
• Bend the lower corners (two pages together if you have written on every other page) closest to where you will stand up so that you can reach down without looking to turn a page.
• Practice rolling the pages over to the back of the easel.
• Use sticky-back tabs to locate specific information on predesigned charts.
• Don’t try to talk, write, and spell at the same time.

• After writing, pause and turn toward your participants before you begin to speak.

  Clear the visual: Tell participants what is on the entire page in one succinct statement before beginning discussion on one individual point. This helps participants stay focused as you explain the content.

• Stand beside the chart.

• Talk to your participants, not to the chart, using a touch, turn, tell process.

  Lined pads are available if your writing strays from horizontal.

• Put the marker down when you’re not writing.
• Turn pages out of sight when they are no longer pertinent.
• When appropriate, tear off sheets and hang them on the walls with masking tape.
• Place two-inch strips of masking tape on the back side of the easel to use to tape pages to the wall.

Plan where and how you will hang your charts. Hang them so they can be read left to right. Use the same color marker for charts that belong together.

Hang your charts in a straight vertical line — not going uphill, or downhill. To do this, the first page must be precisely vertical and perpendicular to the floor so that you can use its edge as your guide as you hang the rest. You can accomplish this in at least four ways. First prepare by attaching tape to the top of the chart.

• If wallpaper covers the wall, find the seam and align it.
• If there is a pattern on the wall, use that as a cue.
• If you have time, position two pieces of transparent tape, equal distance from the floor, to serve as a guide.
• When all else fails, grasp the chart with both hands equal distance from the top of the page, stand with your feet flat on the floor, reach the same height with both hands, and attach it.

To complete the task, step back and eyeball the first chart. Make any adjustments. With a little practice you will be able to hang charts perpendicularly without any guide at all.

Blackboards, whiteboards, electronic whiteboards guidelines

Although you may not use them too often, follow this guidance to improve your effectiveness with boards:

• Be absolutely certain that you’re using the correct marker; permanent markers or inappropriate markers spell disaster.
• Avoid dark clothing if you know you will use a blackboard; chalk dust will soon find its way to your clothes.
• Star, box, or circle items for emphasis.
• Use the darkest marker if you intend to copy from an electronic whiteboard; even red doesn’t copy well.

Use this idea if you don’t spell very well and find yourself writing in front of groups. When a participant uses a word that I cannot spell, I print a dozen arbitrary letters in the corner of the board or flipchart, making sure they do NOT spell anything. I then turn to the audience and say, “I am not a very good speller. So if you see that I have forgotten a letter in a word, please just take it from the pile of letters and insert it where it belongs. Thank you.”

Props guidelines

Props are used whenever possible to make a point or to give participants hands-on practice. A few tips will make their use easier.

• Keep out of sight until you’re ready to have participants interact with them.
• Stretch, be creative, and find the link that allows a prop to be a metaphor for key points in your training.
• Have them readily available for use and touch during breaks.

Take a trip to your local dollar or hardware store to find props and workshop themes that help your participants learn faster and retain longer than any other media or tool you can use.