Innovate Learning

Review of the iPhone 3G S

Review-iPhone3GS
brought to you by Livescribe

Think you're multitasking? Think again.

I used to take such pride in my great ability to multitask. It turns out that what I was doing wasn't really doing two things at once, but rather slowing myself down by quickly switching back and forth between two things.

NPR quotes neuroscientist Earl Miller as he reminds us, "People can't multitask very well, and when they say they can, they're deluding themselves..." We are actually more likely to make mistakes and to slow ourselves down when we attempt multitasking.

Here are a few tricks to stay efficient when you're working to get a lot of stuff done quickly:

1. Close down your email application (unless, of course, email is what needs to be done). Hearing an audible reminder that an email has come in, or seeing the email indicator icon appear can cause us to lose focus on what we're doing. Check your email at scheduled times and you'll actually be better able to hit your project deadlines and get back to people promptly and professionally.

2. Consider scheduling meetings at odd times (not on the hour) and only schedule an hour if the problem you're attempting to solve requires that much time.

3. Each morning, make a list of the three to five most important things that you need to get done that day and block time out to meet those goals. I use an electronic system for my tasks (www.rememberthemilk.com), but in this case, I go old school and write each primary goal on a sticky note. I stick each task on the bottom of my monitor, so I can visually track my progress toward achieving what I set out to do that day. At the end of the day, I then get the reward of checking them off in my electronic to do program and considering what is most important for the following day.

4. Read Crenshaw's The Myth of Multitasking and use his time tracking system to assess and then enhance how you spend your time each day. Alternatively, check out the Emergent Task Tracker, shown on Lifehacker.

Feel overwhelmed already? Pick one of the four recommendations to start with and let us know your other tricks of the trade in the comments section.

Book Recommendation: Slideology

After putting the final touches on my 130-page dissertation research proposal, I allowed myself to open the Amazon box with my latest book order. Inside was a book called Slideology, by the same design team that created the presentation for Al Gore featured in An Inconvenient Truth.

This book is a wonderful collection of solid principles to use in designing presentations, plus it contains plenty of ideas and inspiration. It is a gorgeous book, with four-color samples throughout. It provides a foundation for those who have been committing PowerPoint sins for years, as well as giving additional techniques to those who have already learned to use PowerPoint for its intended purpose: to visually enhance presentations.

Let us know your PowerPoint design book recommendations in the comments and also check out our other book recommendations.

Five Design Tips for Non-Designers

Many people look at beautifully designed pieces and think to themselves, "I could never do that." In fact, any of us can become adept at design, with some practice, exercising our creative minds, and looking at good examples.

Here are five design tips for non-designers.

1. Hang on to examples of good design. If you find a website you think is well-designed, use an online bookmarking service, such as www.delicious.com to hold on to your favorites. Keep a manilla folder of design ideas. These items will give you inspiration when you need it most.
   

2. Determine in advance the reason for your design. Before you even begin putting the first word on the page, know what you're trying to achieve. Are you featuring and spotlighting something? Are you educating and teaching? Do you want to motivate someone to act? The purpose of your design will guide you throughout the process.

3. Choose a color scheme and stick to it. Use an online color scheme creator, such as http://www.colr.org/, and choose three or four colors that you'll stick to in all your design pieces. Make your PowerPoint match your handout and any other materials that go along with the project. Websites like www.flickr.com even let you search by color for photos. Just be sure you have permission to use whatever photos you find that match your design

4. Use grids to capture attention and build visual interest. As you examine good design, you're likely to find that the layout was composed by visible or (most often) invisible grids, or horizontal and vertical divisions of space. Plan out in advance how much information needs to be conveyed on your design piece and use grids to call attention to key parts of your message.

5. Try your design a few different ways. As I recently redesigned our blog, I tried seven different variations on the same theme for the new graphic at the top. As I experimented with moving the various components around on the page and worked with a few different layouts, I found the one that most closely achieved the objective we were seeking and had the greatest visual appeal.

Four links with more design techniques:

Graphic design inspiration

Design links from the author of Presentation Zen

Beyond Bullet Points Blog on PowerPoint design

Inspiration on visual communication, including visual notetaking (mindmapping)

Let us know your design ideas in the comments section.

Don't look foolish when using PowerPoint

One of the biggest blunders when starting a presentation is to not be able to advance one's slides. I can't tell you the number of high-level executives I've seen in my life completely ruin their credibility from the beginning of their presentation, because they didn't know how to launch their slide show or how to go forward or back a slide.

Here are some keyboard shortcuts that will save you time and help you use PowerPoint to enhance your presentation and not to distract from it.

POWERPOINT KEYBOARD BASICS

• F5 - launch your slide show, starting at slide one

• Shift-F5 - launch your slide show, starting at whichever slide you're on

• Arrow keys - right arrow takes you forward a slide; left arrow takes you back a slide

• B - pressing the B key while showing a slide show blanks the screen; press it again to toggle back to your slide show

• #-enter - typing in the number of the slide you want to navigate to and then pressing enter will take you to that specific slide (e.g. with the slide show running, typing 10 and pressing enter will navigate you to slide 10)

Let us know your favorite PowerPoint keyboard tricks in the comments section, to help everyone shine while presenting with PowerPoint.

Five Tips to Achieving Your 2009 Goals

It is that time of the year: lot of people are setting goals. Many of these individuals will never achieve what they set out to do. Here are five tips to help you attain your 2009 goals:

1. Write it down - you're much more likely to accomplish your goals, if you have them clearly articulated. Post the goals in a location where you'll see them often.

2. Create SMART goals - specific (what is it you're going to accomplish?), measurable (how will you know when you got there?), attainable (be realistic - with a reaching or stretching toward your goal, not an entirely different league - use your strengths, versus trying to change yourself entirely), relevant (a part of your overall character and values - part of the bigger picture) and time-based (break larger goals into pieces and determine when the milestones along the way will be completed)

3. Make room - think about what you won't do (carve out the time to accomplish what you're setting out to do) and designate time to think (some of our greatest leaders have done this with great results)

4. Organize your milestones - Use a system that fits your style and strengths to track your progress toward your goals. I use a varation on the techniques described in
   David Allen's Getting Things Done, along with a web-based, mobile/iPhone-based task management system called Remember the Milk. I also post a calendar on my wall (to suit my visual preference) where I post various stickers when I perform actions that will bring me closer to my goals. Worked out? Post a green (health-related) sticker on for that day. Spent time meditating / praying? Post a purple (spiritual-related) sticker on for that day.

5. Celebrate small successes - Take the time to recognize yourself for intermediate achievements. Just be sure your celebrations don't work against what you're trying to achieve (for example, don't take yourself out for dinner and dessert once you've hit a new weight goal).

What techniques do you use to achieve your goals? Our readers want to hear from you in the comments section.

Staying concise with Pecha Kucha

Death by PowerPoint; you've been a victim many times in your past... Yet without a means for communicating visually, we miss out facilitating learning for those who learn by seeing.

Consider imposing some rules to help those who are attempting to communicate in your organization clear and concise via a practice called: Pecha Kucha. Wired wrote a great article about how this means for meaningful dialog came about and how to put it to use in your communities. 

The video below is an example of how it all works. 

Embed a YouTube video in a PowerPoint slide deck

Below is an excellent tutorial on how to embed a YouTube video in a PowerPoint slide show (meaning that you won't have to switch from PowerPoint over to a web browser in order to show a video clip). You have to be connected to the internet in order to have the linked video play. There is another video about how to make it work if you don't have a live internet connection, but it is a somewhat complex process and requires some technical expertise.

Now if I could just figure out how to embed clips from The Daily Show into a PowerPoint. I've tried all the settings I can think of and still can't get it to play.

Free-and-easy way to begin podcasting in your organization

A growing trend, especially with our mobile workforce, is remote learning solutions. Podcasts allow for our workforce to bring their learning with them during their commute, on an airplane, and even during their workout.

It used to require a number of steps and some technical savvy to create your own podcast. Now, it is as easy as creating a free TalkShoe account and going through a few steps that take you from recording to publishing your podcast.

Here's how easy it is:

1. Create an account
2. Click 'my talkshoe'
3. Create a 'show' (the name of your podcast, overall, which should encompass the theme of all the episodes you plan on having)
4. Schedule an episode at a specific time, or choose to hold one right at the moment you go up to create an episode
5. Launch the page to start your episode
6. Call in using the same phone number you used to create your account (or you can use a headset hooked up to your computer, if you prefer)
7. Invite your guests to call in using the Talk Shoe phone number and your show's PIN #
8. Record the call and then publish it to the world, or keep it private

You can even list podcasts you've created with Talk Shoe on iTunes with the easy-to-use instructions provided on your main show/episode page.

Keep your episodes less than 30 minutes and use different narrators/guests, to keep thing lively and engaging. Also, keep the same structure for your podcasts, so you keep the topics moving and listeners get used to your pacing. With the podcasts I do for my college-age learners, I provide note-taking tools (sample below), since they tend to be more accustomed to interactive learning and need the additional reinforcement. This same type of review would work well for professionals, as well.

Download podcast_notes_order.pdf 

The downside to using TalkShoe is that it is branded with their name and company image. They do let you customize your podcast with your own graphic and other settings, but your podcast is still played from their servers.

The tremendous upside is the ease of use and the price (free). Give podcasting with TalkShoe a try today and then you can always invest in a branded solution of your own as your commitment grows and you have the resources to take it to the next level.

Getting Your Thoughts Out with MindMaps

Whether working individually, or collaborating as a group, mindmaps can be a great tool to use to capture your thoughts. Mindmaps can be drawn by hand, or you can use the computer to collect your ideas. I typically hand-draw maps for presentations that I'm working on independently, and use online mindmap applications when collaborating with others. The advantage to working with an online mindmap application is the ease with which you can share your mindmaps with others, even allowing them to make changes. You also have the benefit of being able to easily delete and change aspects of your mindmap, which is not the case when doing a hand-drawn one.

My two favorite online mindmap applications are:

Mindomo

Mindmeister

Both of these applications offer free accounts that allow you to create, save and share a small number of mindmaps (6-10). If you need the ability to save more editable maps than that, you'll need to look into their paid options. You are able to save them as a graphic or PDF to your computer, and you can save as many mindmaps as you want that way. However, if you want to be able to go back and make changes later on, you'll need to consider the limitations of the free services.

I've found that creating mindmaps while facilitating  meetings can help the group stay on purpose and ensure that the ideas are being captured as intended.