Xara in the Office Place

[joroho]

I think that... ah, forget it. We're all on the same page here. No use beating a dead horse. Just don't ask me to sketch something in front of a group, or sing in front of a group. (I CAN dance, though) ;-)

As for text editors, I've got to give the nod to UltraEdit.

joroho

[Ross Macintosh]

Joroho - Actually you are on the next page! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Regarding this stuff about flipcharts - you don't have to be skilled at drawing in public... Effective flipchart presentations don't really take any graphic skills other than printing relatively neatly. Anyone can, in a presentation, use a red maker to add a underline for emphasis, or draw a happy face. Do you remember how effectively "the good teachers" used the chalkboard to aid there communicating of ideas? I had a few very good ones, none of whom could draw. (If they had used PowerPoint presentations all the students would have been lulled to sleep).

My boss came back from a presentation a few days ago and three hours later he was still shaking his head in disbelief. He had been asked by some engineers to join a team making a proposal to a university for some consulting work. The proposal was the engineers baby so they prepared the proposal - my boss only had to show up at the presentation and smile. The presentation was prepared in PowerPoint with lots of sliding bullets, sound-effects, several different styles of fonts, and every transition effect possible. The funny part was the content. They didn't present who there team was, their experience, or what services they could offer. Rather the presentation was all the things their services would not include - in the most negative fashion possible. Things like: "Our fees will not include the cost of photocopying, courier, or parking charges". They had slide after slide of the things they would not do and almost nothing about what they would do! There is a Dilbert zone.

Regards - Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[jens g.r. benthien]

Peter,

I'll give it a try, because you wrote so many good point about it. Are you a sales rep? :-))

Joroho,

so go and dance - it'll be your performence and definitely not an industry standard.

Fun aside: you CAN do this in front of a large audience, it's simple. Can you do it with one of your team members? If yes, think about the difference between a one-to-one basis and a large audience - none, if you just pick ONE single face in the masses and act as if you would explain or present it to that single person. After 10 minutes, focus on another face and so on.

BTW, I used to be a good ballroom dancer as well - silver award :-) in standard (waltz, vienna waltz, fox etc.) Unfortunately, our trainer did not speak English, so he used all the German expressions, and I don't know how to translate them....

Maybe this experience will encourage you:
Three years ago I visited my hometown and talked to the CEO of a large bank. After a while, he told me if I could do him a favor: they set up a presentation about 'The benefits of the Online World', but the specialist who should do the presenation was sick. If I could jump in? I said 'Yes, of course', give me some time. He replied: You've got 30 minutes. I stared at him in disbelief, but since I already agreed, I said ok, I'll grab that chance.

He gave me a room to straighten my thoughts and to prepare a bullet list. Then the limousine drove us to the convention center, a bit late, we walked through the long and never ending floors and halls, and finally he pushed open a door and said: Welcome to your audience, I'll introduce you. Guess what: there were more than 500 bigshots sitting in that hall, expecting a brilliant presentation. I recognized politicians, well known CEO's, marketing cracks etc. And I started sweating, because all I had was my bullet list and a hughe overhead projektor I have never seen before, not knowing how to operate it. But there was no time at all, so I just asked about the basics...

To make the long story short: When I finished, the applause was overwhelming, and I realized that I spent 3 and a half hours on this presentation. And then the personal interviews and post presentation discussions started. Good God, that was kind of an experience.

Now just imagine what would have happened if I would have been used to PP & co only ...

2 weeks later the local marketing association awarded my the silver key of the city for an outstanding presentation (I guess they did it because we've never talked about a fee for my services, and to be honest, I didn't even have the time to think about asking for some money).

And I am convinced you could have done the same if the topic would have been something about finance, right?

Go for it. It's easier than you can imagine.

jens

[Ross Macintosh]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Maybe this experience will encourage you... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Jens, I find your story very inspiring and you tell it very well. The saying "seize the moment" comes to mind. I imagine if you had more time to think (and worry) about it beforehand you would have had a very different experience. I also imagine that those few minutes you had to write down a few keypoints were very important in keeping you from getting flustered and losing your cool.

Like I said - I'm inspired! Thanks - Ross

[This message was edited by Ross Macintosh on March 19, 2001 at 04:49 PM.]

[amoore]

NoteTab has been a fixture on my machines for several years now. The ability to keep multiple files open makes a huge difference when I'm documenting errors and cosmetic problems in our software. It also comes in very handy for building 'expert' files of info and tips on software I'm using (such as Xara).

I'm also fond of the File/Reopen menu that accesses many more recently used files than most applications do.

Allison

[Earl]

I'm glad you posted that graphic John! I thought it turned out great. A creative yet equally effective way to convey the timeline. Probably the best I've seen. Now if only the sketches and faxes we receive were as readable... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]