Messaging
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| Alex T. | |
| Now that the classes for the term are finally over, I would like to take a few minutes from my supposed final run and make a few comments.
This past term was full of presentations (mainly in MSCI 421 Management of Technology). Every lecture we would have a few students present a paper about a topic in the management of technology, innovation and new product development. Each student would have to do these individual presentations and another group presentation at the end of the term where each group pretended to be a start-up company seeking venture capitalist investment, or pretend to be a group within an existing company proposing a new product to the board of directors. As Dan H. puts it, it's great to see that everyone at this level can walk up to the front of a lecture room and do a presentation without wavering. However, I've noticed a few things throughout this term's presentations that I would like to point out. There are a million articles out on the Internet about what to do and what not to do for presentations, so what's a million + one? I don't claim to be an expert on presentations, because I, myself, am far from doing really well on presentations, but there are just some things I've seen this term that I cannot resist not letting out: Presentations slides were mandatory and many students accessed their presentation files at the podium computer via their USB flash drives. Now we all know how messily (dis)organized those are... When the computer display is mirrored onto the giant projection screen, all the world can see all your files - Your track06-newHitAlbum-[www.SuperSketchySuperFreeMusic.com].mp3, your SuperSmashedBrothersDrinkingParty02.jpg, your AdorablePhotoChop-v8-crack-[superCrackAttack.com].exe, etc. Tip #1: Keep your USB drive clean. If that means dumping all the files from the root directory into another folder to hide it for the moment, so be it. The world doesn't need to see it. Besides USB flash drives, some students chose to e-mail their presentations to themselves. (I'll leave the whole e-mailing yourself issue for another day...) Again, with the whole giant mirrored display on the projection screen, everyone can see your wonderful aznkitten1986@hotmail.com inbox full of 7786 unread (spam) e-mails, love letters, hate letters, party invitations, password reminders, etc. Tip #2: I don't know where I want to go with this tip, but just don't show the world your inbox. Either clean up your inbox, or just don't email presentations to yourself. Cue credit card television commercial music here. "Hands in my pocket. Hands in my pocket..." Tip #3: Take your hands out of your pockets. Use those hands to convey meaning and emphasis points with body language, pointing at your slides, and interacting with the audience. Sentence ending tone. Read this sentence: "Do you know what I'm talking about?" Notice how your tone naturally goes at the end of the question? Now, apply that to speaking non-question sentences. When some students presented, every sentence in their speil had a high end tone. Tip #4: If your sentence is a statement and not a question, don't raise your tone at the end of the sentence! Just say it like it is folks. Diagrams and data charts. If it's illegible even to you and you're the one standing one foot from the projection screen, then it's definitely illegible to everyone else. Tip #5: Only include tables, diagrams and charts that the audience can read. While we're on the topic of diagrams, graphs and tables, another thing that bothers me is straight copying and pasting. Copying the black and white diffusion-pattern-filled bar graph and pasting it into your fancy themed presentation is super clashing. Tip #6: Create your own diagrams, graphs and tables so they fit your presentation slides' theme. Reformatting diagrams, graphs and tables can be a super simple task that easily makes your slides look more coherent. It's so simple now with autoformat and themes. There's no excuse for an ugly table. Clip art is tacky. A lot of surviving clip art is from the 1990s era of 8-bit images and objects that are so generic, they have nothing to do with your presentation at all. With more modern clip art, again, it just doesn't fit your presentation slides' formatting theme. Tip #7: Just don't use clip art. Sometimes, no art is better than bad art. Keep your bubbly cute question marks and repeatedly spinning signs to when you want your audience to have epileptic seizures. 8. The audience sees the projection screen, not your podium computer monitor. Pointing at your computer screen only confuses the audience as they're all wondering at what are you poking? Standing behind the podium also tempts presenters to simply take the easy way out and read the slides instead of presenting the topic. Tip #8: Stand away from the podium computer so you're not tempted to read and point at the podium computer monitor. Heck, use a Gesture-Based Presentation System! | |
| Alex T. | |
| OH SHOOT! LOL... | |
| Dan H. | |
| Don't worry Calvin.
...I already autographed his van. XD | |
| Calvin | |
| But Mark...what about Adrian, Dan and Sherman? lol | |
| Mark H. | |
| OH WOW!!!!!!!!
r u serious?!?!!? yo alex...first thing when i see u again....i'm soooo getting ur autograph!! | |
| gloria / urbanebloc.com | |
| very darn cool! congrats! | |
| Calvin | |
| Wow guys, congratulations! | |
| Dan H. | |
| "The subsequent examples of the functionality they have built in is less impressive." ahhh poo-ey | |
| ken | |
| wow good stuff guys! | |
| Alex T. | |
| It appears our Gesture-Based Presentation System has caught the eye of someone across the ocean in the Netherlands. A Ph.D. student at the Delft University of Technology by the name of Jeroen Arendsen who's interested in gestures has posted our video and a little commentary on his blog, A Nice Gesture.
That's a nice gesture. "I know IBM and Philips were interested in this sort of application. So, well done guys! And excellent presentation too. I think they managed to make the best of it, given a difficult application."  | |
| Dan T. | |
| haha that was awesome. i wonder about his health after drinking that entire line of juice and pop though ;) | |
| Anonymous | |
| that video was too long, hhaaha ;) | |
| Richard | |
| Haha, when I was in Building 19 waiting for my HR contact, I went on the computers there and this was the very first video I saw. I live for benefits and perks. :D Haha. | |
| Katie | |
| Oh dear, you are gonna stay there forever... | |
| Dan H. | |
| Did that guy do any work during his 'perk day'?
;) | |
| Alex T. | |
| Sometimes, I can't wait to go back...
Perks: A Microsoft guy tries to use all his benefits in one day | |
| Dan T. | |
| awesome :) | |
| Alex T. | |
| Of course not. It works with any size screen, and on any part of the screen - top or bottom. | |
| Katie | |
| Do you have to be super tall like Adrian to highlight, draw and change slides? =( | |
| Alex T. | |
| We started brainstorming ideas during the work term of 3A. We came up with over 70 ideas over those few months and narrowed it down to a few before settling on our Gesture-based Presentation System.
In 3B, we prepared a detailed Project Specification, found a consultant and presented our idea to the class. During the work term of 4A, we started our research and experiments. From May to July of 4A, we designed, implemented, tested and presented our system to our consultant for marking. Deliverables during this term included a revised Project Specification, Block Verification, Detailed Designed, Prototype Testing Checklist, and an Experience Report. During the work term of 4B, maybe we'll ponder about optimizations and tweaking for the system. Maybe. In 4B, we'll present our final project to the public in the formal presentation, and takeover DC for a day so that students, professors, industry and media can try it for themselves. | |
| Richard | |
| So what do you guys do next term? I thought the 4th Year Design Project spanned 3B to 4B... | |
| Dan H. | |
| lol that was me everyday last week... >_< | |
| Alex T. | |
| Gesture-Based Presentation System
Official Demo Video (after a billion takes) It's done! No more of this: 
| |
| Alex T. | |
| And I don't yet have my own domain to do it. cools. haha | |
| gloria / urbanebloc.com | |
| heyyyy did you know that this is the FIRST PAGE that shows up when you google "alex truong" d: | |
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