<![CDATA[Advice I was given in my youth:]]>RE: https://oldbytes.space/@feoh/116687129039392818

Advice I was given in my youth:

Print your slide on a full piece of paper. Put the paper on the ground. Stand on a chair.

If you can’t easily read your slide, neither can the person at the back of the room.

It flummoxes me that 30 years into using computers to show slides, tiny fonts in slide is *still* widespread practice.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/8b239c04-bb41-4648-827b-611db011bfa3/advice-i-was-given-in-my-youthRSS for NodeSat, 06 Jun 2026 07:23:21 GMTThu, 04 Jun 2026 08:59:26 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:19:01 GMT]]>@HollieK72 @wolfnowl @freakboy3742 to be fair, the first session after lunch when everyone is full isn't good for retention either...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116696281345676403https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116696281345676403Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:19:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:37:07 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 The other sin is putting the entire talk onto the slides.

If your entire talk is in the slides, why talk?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.radio/users/W6KME/statuses/116695172842986930https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.radio/users/W6KME/statuses/116695172842986930Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:37:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:58:01 GMT]]>@freakboy3742

Canon (not the company) back in the day was a maximum of seven lines of text on a slide.

Nothing has changed.

@feoh

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.online/users/zl2tod/statuses/116695019137310604https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.online/users/zl2tod/statuses/116695019137310604Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:58:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:46:49 GMT]]>@guigsy
The style that killed thousands of human souls and the seven astronauts on the Columbia

https://cs.wheatoncollege.edu/~mgousie/comp401/tufte-powerpoint.pdf

@hjwp @david_chisnall @freakboy3742

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://expressional.social/users/notsoloud/statuses/116694031385775621https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://expressional.social/users/notsoloud/statuses/116694031385775621Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:46:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:41:16 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 the other problem with slides crammed with tiny text is people tend to just read the contents of the slide out

I don't know why people put their speech on slides

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thx.gg/users/interpipes/statuses/116693537701662713https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thx.gg/users/interpipes/statuses/116693537701662713Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:41:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:28:57 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 I love this mechanic for testing readability!

We should come up with a variant on this for folks bringing up code or output examples in their terminal/editor/IDE!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/feoh/statuses/116693489251780704https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/feoh/statuses/116693489251780704Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:28:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:25:36 GMT]]>@wolfnowl @freakboy3742 If you read your slides out loud word for word, then people don't tend to register what you've said or written.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116693476077850171https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116693476077850171Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:25:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:19:48 GMT]]>@SvenGeier @freakboy3742 pink cyan white and black, not bad πŸ˜›

ok, 800x600, 16 colors, not more πŸ™‚

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://en.osm.town/users/mdione/statuses/116693453287606969https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://en.osm.town/users/mdione/statuses/116693453287606969Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:19:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:14:14 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 @etchedpixels @datenwolf When I worked for a German company, I was told (privately) that the execs were not understanding me because of both their English language skills and absence of technical knowledge. I was told to β€œdumb it down.” This was irksome at the time but I came to believe it was good advice in general. A presentation is mostly about establishing awareness and connection. People who have a genuine interest will follow-up with you later.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://c.im/users/meltedcheese/statuses/116693431417357963https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://c.im/users/meltedcheese/statuses/116693431417357963Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:14:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:58:39 GMT]]>@hjwp @david_chisnall @freakboy3742 This. PowerPoint is often used to write picture book level documents. Often to a standard content format, so seniors/those with short attention spans can just skip to bit they're vaguely accountable for signing off on. It might only be 10 slides, but each one has 6 titles, 15 bullets, and enough words under each one to require punctuation. So they are just distributed as "decks" of self standing information, no presenter required.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/guigsy/statuses/116693370120828527https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/guigsy/statuses/116693370120828527Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:58:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:58:03 GMT]]>@mdione @freakboy3742

And pink and cyan are the only allowed colors πŸ‘Œ

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/SvenGeier/statuses/116693367745263309https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/SvenGeier/statuses/116693367745263309Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:58:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:45:26 GMT]]>@ChuckMcManis @freakboy3742 yeah, i’ve seen advice to the same effect several times as well – and it’s remarkable how hard it is to stick with it. the desire to write it all out on the slide is very real.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/gekitsu/statuses/116693318122009209https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/gekitsu/statuses/116693318122009209Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:45:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:43:39 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 @mdione Also, plenty of 720p phones for those who can still focus: if you're handing out copies of your slides, they should read fine on one

(The bit you probably should check is the aspect ratio, especially if you've got code or similar)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://types.pl/users/flippac/statuses/116693311131319688https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://types.pl/users/flippac/statuses/116693311131319688Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:43:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:32:44 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 Yup. This. You're not to supposed to make slides book pages of content anyways.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.hackers.town/users/c0debabe/statuses/116693268182813424https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.hackers.town/users/c0debabe/statuses/116693268182813424Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:32:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:30:05 GMT]]>@gekitsu
This was the advice I got from a consultant Sun hired to train engineers in giving talks. They argued you can flip slides faster and people will be okay with that if you one or at most two, concepts on your slide in big letters.

@freakboy3742

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/ChuckMcManis/statuses/116693257804608028https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/ChuckMcManis/statuses/116693257804608028Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:30:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:06:40 GMT]]>@datenwolf
OK. The fintech could have worked within other waves. The few I'd been sent by my then employer paid some $2k for two days of presence and 30min product presentation talk.

@killick @freakboy3742

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115995911458254842/statuses/116693165724467724https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115995911458254842/statuses/116693165724467724Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:06:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:01:48 GMT]]>@ohir @killick @freakboy3742

Not ever did I get any money for giving talks at conferences.

As a matter of fact, one usually has to pay a substantial registration fee (typically somewhere in the range 300USD to 900USD, depending on conference).

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/datenwolf/statuses/116693146510977119https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/datenwolf/statuses/116693146510977119Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:01:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:02:55 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 also, when tempted to decrease font size: FIRST CONSIDER THAT YOU ARE PUTTING TOO MUCH TEXT ON A SLIDE!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/gekitsu/statuses/116692915048734289https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/gekitsu/statuses/116692915048734289Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:02:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:52:47 GMT]]>@david_chisnall @freakboy3742 i worked in consulting for a while. more than half the powerpoints we made were never shown on a projector, they were just an alternative document format for conveying information, to be read on ur laptop.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/hjwp/statuses/116692875196895656https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/hjwp/statuses/116692875196895656Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:52:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:33:23 GMT]]>@hynek @nedbat @freakboy3742 Related - some of the best presentation prep info I was taught was in a class (long ago) on how to use flip charts! Those basics still apply.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/hwine/statuses/116692798897236324https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/hwine/statuses/116692798897236324Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:33:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:58:25 GMT]]>@killick
> If your audience is reading everything you plan to say, then why are you there?

Umm, a popular blogger much-sought post ad-0driven income is now in the $10 ranges. Per annum.

The same knowledge at the conference pays around $10 too. Per minute.

@datenwolf @freakboy3742

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115995911458254842/statuses/116692661378881368https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/ap/users/115995911458254842/statuses/116692661378881368Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:58:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:30:05 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 Our strategy was to type your text in pica on a 3” x 5” index card and photograph the card. The goal was large font, but also less text. Ensure that any text is useful for the audience, not just to cue you. Don’t use your image text to cue yourself.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/ELS/statuses/116692549964179478https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sfba.social/users/ELS/statuses/116692549964179478Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:30:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:17:40 GMT]]>@freakboy3742 A little while back, three candidates gave us presentations.

The first talked about how good a communicator they were, using text too small to read on a regular screen, much less in a slide deck.

The second talked about how good a communicator they were, using an unreadable font where every character resembled the Threads logo.

The third just had a clear presentation.

We picked the third.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/Centretowner/statuses/116692501145294398https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/Centretowner/statuses/116692501145294398Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:17:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Advice I was given in my youth: on Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:58:04 GMT]]>@Giliell @freakboy3742

πŸ‘† This!!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.online/users/chessert/statuses/116692424107002117https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.online/users/chessert/statuses/116692424107002117Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:58:04 GMT