[Hidden-tech] Microsoft Office suite vs. other options

[Linda Taylor]

And of course there is the do-it-yourself factor. There are people  
with skills in graphic presentations, design and layout. Such  
professionals can make it look better and communicate better. All  
this software allows folks to make their own presentations,  
publications, etc. But it doesn't bestow skill in doing so.


Linda Taylor
Taylor Graphics
413-628-3959
lintaylor at verizon.net



On Dec 11, 2009, at 7:13 PM, Roger Williams wrote:

>    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the  
> member's area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
>
>
>>>>>> Joseph Steig <josephsteig at gmail.com> writes:
>
>> My experience, with lots of entrepreneurs, is that there seems always
>> to be an inverse relation between age of presenter and quality of
>> presentation...
>
> Yes, that's probably generally true: younger presenters are likely  
> to be more
> competent at snipping and repackaging information into quick sound  
> bites, and
> at delivering an "exciting" presentation.
>
> The sales pitch is one sort of presentation in which flash,  
> cheerleading, and
> thin information is appropriate.  Presumably there are others.  But  
> its
> increased ubiquity in academia, management, and engineering has  
> done a lot to
> turn interactive meetings with a real exchange of information into  
> presenter-
> oriented infomercials, and replace in-depth analysis with snippets of
> information oversimplified to fit into five bullet points per page.
>
> Nor does PowerPoint do justice to graphical representation of  
> data.  We say
> that a picture is worth a thousand words, and graphics in a printed  
> report can
> be a very high-resolution information channel to the reader.  But  
> (in a
> bizarre reversal) nearly all PowerPoint slides that accompany talks  
> have much
> _lower_ rates of information transmission than the talk itself.
>
> Indeed, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (investigating  
> the shuttle
> Columbia disaster in 2003) concluded that
>
>    "The Board views the endemic use of PowerPoint briefing slides  
> instead of
>     technical papers as an illustration of the problematic methods of
>     technical communication at NASA."
>
> -- 
> Roger Williams <roger at qux.com>
> Chief Technical Officer, Qux Corporation
> 433 West Street, Suite 8, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
> Tel +1 413 253-6400 * Fax +1 508 302-0230 * GSM +1 508 287-1420
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