Slide Rules Design, Build, and Archive Presentations in the Engineering and Technical Fields

TRACI NATHANS-KELLY, PhD, teaches engineering communication at Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

CHRISTINE G. NICOMETO, MS, teaches technical communication in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering.

Both authors work with practicing engineers from such organizations as 3M, Federal Express, GE Healthcare Systems, General Motors, Google, Harley-Davidson, IBM, John Deere, Kraft, Lockheed Martin, Micron Technology, NASA, Qualcomm, Rockwell Automation, The Boeing Company, Toyota, U.S. Department of Defense, and UTC Aerospace.

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Slide Rule #1: Revisit Presentation Assumptions

Chapter 1: Head the Pleas for Better Presentations

Know the enemy

Be an agent of change

Call a meeting instead of summoning a slide deck

Destroy the decks of drudgery

Learn communication lessons from past tragedies

Sidebar:  From the Trenches

Confront conventional poor practices

Consider slides as a two-part deliverable

Implement your own continuous improvement

Chapter References

Chapter 2: Apply Cognitive Science and Tell a Story

Change presentation practices using grounded research

Stay open to change

Revisit how a slide works

Design slides for the audience’s cognitive load

Lessen cognitive load with storytelling

Apply science and storytelling

Chapter References

Chapter 3: Understand Audience Needs

Scope content towards identified purpose

Sidebar: From the Trenches

Learn about your audience first

Determine the presentation’s purpose

Determine the goals for a talk

Elevate the moment

Sidebar: From the trenches

Assess the audience

Prepare for a familiar audience

Sidebar: From the Trenches

Prepare for an unfamiliar audience

Coping when your talk gets hijacked

Ditch the “dumb it down” attitude

Think of audience needs, not yours

Think about logistics

Chapter References

Chapter 4: Challenge Your Organization’s Culture of Text-Heavy Slides

Understand the pattern’s origin

Stop assuming they want to read

Sidebar: Notes from a Novice

Work towards fewer bullets, less text

Avoid using slides as teleprompters

Build information deliberately

Move beyond “How many slides should I use?”

Encourage better presentation practices

Create, compile, organize, and stabilize team presentations

Work towards a change

Chapter References

Slide Rule #2: Write Sentence Headers

Chapter 5: Clarify Topics with Full-Sentence Headers

Write full sentences for headers, avoiding fragments

Consider the case against fragmented headers

Deploy best practices for sentence headers

Expect immediate results

Write targeted headers

Influence outcomes with headers

Frequently asked questions about sentence headers

Chapter References

Slide Rule #3: Use Targeted Visuals

Chapter 6: Build Information Incrementally

Build something better than bullets

Devise methods that build information

Design with words to make bullet lovers happy

Solidify complex topics with refrains

Use refrain slides for meeting agendas

Build visuals for directed comprehension 

Build out to drill down

Chapter 7: Generate Quality Graphs

Portray complexity simply

Determine the right visual

Sidebar: The value of visualization

Design reasonable pie charts

Design impactful bar charts and histograms

Sidebar: Transformation—Creating quality bar charts

Design scatter XY charts and scatter plots

Sidebar: Transformation—A chart grows up

Craft line charts

Map out area graphs

Think through flow or process charts

Address assorted other visual outputs

Graph ethically

Create accessible graphs

Sidebar: Testing graphics for color-blindness accessibility

Frequently asked questions about graphs

Chapter References

Chapter 8: Picture the Possibilities

Picture your information

Center yourself

Manage image interpretation

Model accurately

Be ethical with visuals

Frequently asked questions about using pictures

Chapter References

Chapter 9: Temper the Templates

See the possibilities in a template, branded or otherwise

Discover and assess a branded template

Work with company templates

Devise solutions for problematic templates

Fix the template

Provide template guidance

Refine quad slides

Establish brand when there is no template

Chapter References

Slide Rule #4: Archive Details for Future Use

Chapter 10: Make Slide Decks with Archival and Legacy Value

Understand that slides have two lives

Start new best practices

Document ideas efficiently

Use the Notes or Presenter Notes feature

Get others to see your notes

Sidebar: Caution—The Inside doc/Outside doc

Use hidden slides

Keep hidden slides ready

Make retrieval easy for everyone else

Embrace full documentation as a part of workflow

Chapter References

Chapter 11: Include More Than One Language

Know when English is not enough

Start with audience analysis

Anticipate formatting for translations

Deploy plain language

Write in one language and talk in another

Design split slides

Capture translation in notes

Translate towards clarity

Find resources

Chapter References

Slide Rule #5: Keep Looking Forward

Chapter 12: Enact Organizational Change

Listen to the studies

Anticipate the stages of acceptance

Tally the results

Look for the opportunities

Chapter References

Chapter 13: Thinking Through the Next Big Thing

See ahead

Play with Prezi

Use caution

Amaze with Autodesk

Apply apps

Remain diligent in your best practices

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