The Voice

At IBEX 2011, I told marine surveyor Patricia Kearns that I would show her how to add narration to PowerPoint.

I had already taken a chapter from her online Proboat E-Training course Writing the Marine Survey Report, inserted that into the “notes” section of a PowerPoint file, and had selected fairly generic pieces of clipart from Microsoft to illustrate the key piounts

Now I just needed Pat to add her voice to the project.

She came in, armed with notebook and pen. We sat down together. I opened up the PowerPoint file. Then I went “click, click,” and said, “Talk.” 

“Talk? What do you mean?”

“We’re recording.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

And then we listened to that somewhat inane conversation on playback.

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

Ready to Record?

If you are already happy with your PowerPoint slides, and have come to the conclusion that you do not personally need to deliver the narration every time that someone wants to look at the presentation, here are the steps to take to make PowerPoint speak for itself.

(1) The One-Slide-At-A-Time Method

You may not be ready to sit down and deliver a 20-minute presentation with only your dog for an audience, so I would start with this method. Pick a slide, any slide, and imagine yourself talking to someone about the picture or information on it. Then, go to the INSERT menu, select MOVIES AND SOUNDS, and then click on RECORD SOUND.

When you are all set to talk, just click the record button. Make your comment. Click on STOP.

You’ll now see a sound icon on your slide. As you are building the presentation, you can replace your comments slide by slide, but remember only one sound file per slide. When you run the presentation as a slide show, you should be able to hear all of the comments.

(NOTE: This is all assuming you do have a microphone, and you have already checked sound quality.)

(2) The Do-It-All-At-Once Method

This time, start out with the Slide Show menu, and click on RECORD NARRATION. You can set your mic level before proceeding; you can also link to a sound file that you have pre-recorded.

Start on the first slide where you want the audience to hear your voice. (If that’s not actually the very first slide, you’ll be clicking on “current slide.”)

Get relaxed and comfortable. Then, as you watch the slide show, talk about each slide, clicking as usual to advance. (Note, you *can* pause narration if necessary, by right-clicking on the shortcut menu.)

When you are done, and reach the black EXIT screen, click one more time to save the narration. You’ll be asked if you want to save the timings, so choose yes or no for that.

Now, play the slideshow, and the narration should be audible through your speakers.

To practice adding narration, you might create a few bogus slides just for fun and see how it works out for you. And some of you might need to create an imaginary audience to encourage you as well. (Or if you are shy, it might really be great to do the recording somewhere where you feel safe and invisible. Then, when it's your turn to present, just sit back in the shadows, and not worry about the joys of public speaking.)

I look forward to hearing what successes (and massive fails) other people have had with adding sound to their presentations. Sound effects? Sound bytes? Let us know.

Next week, I’ll give you some tips for converting your presentation to a movie format so you can upload it to a website—voiceover and all.

Upcoming topics: Sharing PowerPoint online, converting PowerPoint to E-Book, and "What I've Learned about Training from Occupy (Really)."

Meanwhile, please do give us your comments and recommendations here or send an email to proboattraining@proboat.com.

Thanks!
Barbara Jean Walsh
ProBoat E-Training manager

Picture This: PowerPoint made really, really simple

[First of all, a big thanks to those of you who have already contacted me about your interest in starting this conversation about training, and keeping it going. We hope more of you will join in by leaving comments or sending me your own tips to share. -- Barbara Jean Walsh, ProBoat E-Training manager]

As some of you know, I’ve long been an advocate of keeping presentations of any kind simple. Several years ago, I came across a book “Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes” which you can still download and read. That was my introduction to good PowerPoint: slides intended to illustrate key points. In short, “Show the Picture, Tell the Story.” 

When you look at PowerPoint, I know you are tempted by all the pretty templates with swirls and curls and more. But ask yourself, do those images help your students or trainees focus? Or are they distractions?

If you are using PowerPoint to publish a print document, you may find that the added color and style is a plus, but if you are presenting – either in person or online – you should not put anything on the screen that detracts from your message. And when you do add images, you’ll want them to fill the screen as much as possible.

Personally, I like presentations that have three distinct components: The Pictures (Visual), The Story (Audible), and The Rest of the Stuff (Tactile: notes, handouts, takeaways). This week, I want to give you a tip for packing your presentation with pictures, the easy way.

So! Suppose you want to create a step-by-step guide for a certain procedure, or maybe offer a safety tour of the yard? If you have worked with PowerPoint in the past, you may be dreading the painful process of turning the images into slides, one by one by one, especially if you are even a teeny bit obsessive about making them fill the frame just right. 

Forget about all that! There's a much simpler way to get this job done.

First, I suggest that you outline what you want to say, and then gather all the images you need into one folder, organizing them by topic. Keep in mind that the images are there to illustrate your spoken words, whether you plan to record the narration or make the presentation in person. Think old-time slide show.

Here’s what you do:

·       Open PowerPoint.

·       Create a new presentation

·       Right-click on the first slide (or go to FORMAT)

·       Select SLIDE LAYOUT and click on the “blank” format

Now you’re ready to import all those photos that you have already tucked into a nicely labeled folder.

·       Go to INSERT

·       Select PICTURE

·       Select NEW PHOTO ALBUM

What do you see? It should look something like this, depending on what version of PowerPoint you have:

Now you can go to “Insert picture from File/Disk” and open your folder. I have recommended that you create that folder first so you can simply “inhale” all the photos in it, but you can also pick and choose.

Note that I’ve set my Album Layout to “Fit to slide” and “Rectangle” so I don’t have to spend any valuable time tweaking each slide's appearance. PowerPoint will do it for me. How cool is that?

Give it a try! I’ve been able to insert as many as 300 pictures in seconds using this method.

Yes, it does require some pre-planning, but you still have the option to rearrange slides after they are imported, and you also have the opportunity to add text boxes and additional slides as you go along.

If any of this is not clear, please leave a comment, and I will give you more detail. I'd also like you to let us know how you use PowerPoint, and if this simple tip in any way works for you. Also, if you'd like me to critique a PowerPoint that you use for training, and are willing to let me share the before-and-after results here, please contact me. (Barbara Jean Walsh, proboattraining@proboat.com)

Next time, I’ll describe how to add your voice to your images. (SPOILER ALERT: It’s not as hard as you think.)

Planning for Training

COMMENT FROM VIV WRIGHT (in response to previous post)

From: Viv Wright [mailto:vrdwright@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 8:38 AM
To: proboattraining@proboat.comSubject: Training

Interesting subject and one that I have been involved in for a number of  years. As an vocational educational instructor at a technical college and later as a maritime and aviation training consultant, I have come across all types of training delivered in many different ways so hopefully I can add a few observations to the discussion.

The greatest failure of training is lack of planning, or as you put it, a strategy. Much adult training (I make the assumption that it is adult vocational training that we are discussing here) is ad-hoc last minute band aids to a greater problem.  The problem is the lack of understanding of training progression or even the purpose of training.  This last point is important as the purpose of training is not always in-line with the business needs.

As an example, many companies are required to conduct or have outside training delivered for such things as Health and Safety, or new software or orientation for new staff. They ask for volunteers and usually get a large number for a variety of reasons but not always the right reasons or suitability. Same goes for internal software or process training, everyone wants to do it but the business probably only needs two or three directly affected people to actually take the course.  The first item – lack of understanding of training progression -  is very common and results in “orphan” training programs that serve no long-time needs and cost the company time and money. There is significant skill fade factor in any vocational training if the skill is not put to practical use. (http://www.hfidtc.com/research/training/training-reports/phase-2/2-10-3-2-skill-fade.pdf)

The first step is analysis; what is the issue and is training a solution. This step is so important, but surprisingly not always followed. Companies just decide that they need some type of training to address a perceived process deficiency and farm out a tender for expensive and probably useless training – that is not to say the training delivery or content are useless, but the lack of analysis and forethought renders the training useless which equates to cost and personnel dissatisfaction when they realise that their efforts and new skills cannot be used.  The point of analysis is to determine first off what the issues are and to come up with solutions. Training may not actually be a solution or required, this is because it is not always the answer to a skills deficiency. Companies quite often find that the skills already exist within the workforce but are not being utilised and a straightforward re-allocation of responsibilities and/or staff can solve the problem.

I bring this up first because training is not always the solution; but to focus on the forum question as to types of training delivery? There are so many methods  and depending on the type of training required, it is impossible to come up with “one type fits all” answer.  Mentoring is very strong, especially in a “Hands-on” environment. We used to call this an apprenticeship where a young training is attached to a mentor or series of mentors and their training is supplemented by formal studies. But as pointed out in the forum, it is time consuming and detracts a skilled person from their main role which is to make a profit for the company. Now it is more common to expect a new entrant to come to the workplace with the formal training in place and to go through a skills transfer phase which is to convert their formal training into a daily production process. However without a good strategy to “convert” that training to the shop floor, one gets the scenario, “forget what you learned at college, this is how it is done”!  so not necessarily the best use of prior training.

Much has been said about Computer Based Training (CBT). I have used it and taught with it.  CBT has its place in a training strategy but is not a standalone for training delivery because of the missing elements of teamwork, peer review and instructor led training.  CBT is good for refresher and maintenance training but only if there is a progress test at the end!

The worst possible training is instructor-led, delivered power-point training with no interaction from the class.  Most presentations are too long and too elaborate and detract by its very visuals the information trying to be put across.  Presentations need to be short and to the point to reinforce what is being taught and absorbed by the student.

http://www.wisepedagogy.com/blog/?p=339  Good article on how to present a presentation!

One of the most successful methods of training is Problem Based Learning (see http://www.iop.org/education/higher_education/stem/problem-based/page_50125.html) puts the learning in the hands of the student. Sounds counter-intuitive? But in fact it has been widely used in the medical field. Students are put into a group (so they learn group dynamics and teamwork) and are given an open-ended problem (more than one solution) and told to research and come up with a solution(s). This what happens in real-life everyday but they will have help from the instructor, not to solve the problem for the students.  but as a facilitator to suggest approaches to the problem. There is no right or wrong answer just good and bad solutions.  PBL engages the students, gives them control, and from my experience it works!

So to close this off. There are a multitude of delivery methods but whatever is chosen (best to mix and match delivery) it has to have a purpose both for the trainee and the company. As the blog author stated, there must be a strategy.     I will add that there must also be a “process” which is another lengthy subject!

All the best with this worthwhile endeavour.

Viv Wright MNI

How do you deal with training new and incumbent employees?

ProBoat E-Training recently conducted an informal online survey to find out. More than 100 marine-industry employers responded, telling us that their most common training methods are working with a supervisor or shadowing another employee.

At the same time, though, only half the respondents indicated that they were “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their training methods. This is not surprising in that traditional on-the-job training often means asking key employees to take valuable time away from their usual activities when new hires come on board.

Many employers are now looking for ways to maximize their available training time and dollars. Still the jump from one-on-one skill building to other methods can be precarious, and it’s important to develop a strategy.

Here’s where we come in. When ProBoat E-Training asked how it could support training needs, the top request was for help in making more effective classroom presentations, followed by learning about video, and then moving into online training.

During the next few weeks, ProBoat E-Training will start addressing these topics in a series of blog postings. We welcome your comments, questions, and recommendations as we begin this discussion.

If you’ve had success with a particular training method or tool, please let us know so we can build a community of trainers and learn from each other’s experiences. Please leave your comments here, or send an email to proboattraining@proboat.com.