Absolute PowerPoint

While reading this article I thought of the climax of the movie 13 Going on 30: the main character has a presentation of her idea for the revamp of the fashion magazine she works at; her rival uses images projected on a screen with music accompaniment whereas she has pictures cut out of other magazines pasted onto foam board. This scene is a perfect example of how presentations have changed because of PowerPoint.
Now, I love PowerPoint as much as the next college student, but this article helped me think about why I love it and how it really isn't always the best choice for a speech or presentation. I took communication my freshman year at Kennesaw State, and we had to give a speech. We could chose any topic we wanted to speak about and were encouraged to use PowerPoint, however, we were not allowed to read straight off the slides (because "no one likes to be read to after fourth grade"), and had to include at least one image per slide, and up to three. I think these are the best instructions I have ever gotten for PowerPoint including when I learned how to use it in 5th grade! I try to not include text as much as possible on my presentations now because I find that it makes for an overall better effect.
Have you gotten any good advice on presentations? I'd really like to hear it!

My favorite thing said in this article is "I think that we as a people have become unaccustomed to having conversations with each other, where we actually give and take to arrive at a new answer." I think this quotation is amazing! It might not have been in the articles we have read on digital media, but it is definitely something everyone should think about. I know that I am incredibly bad about speaking to people, and sometimes get nervous when I have to talk to someone on the phone; if I have to say something bad, I prefer to text or email because I want that extra time it takes the person to respond to cool down and really think about what they are going to say.

Introduction

The introduction touched on a lot of different topics that may be chosen for the documented essay. I'm not an expert on book formatting, but I think this would have been better as an afterward. The author of this section write as though the play has already been read or seen by the reader, and that kind of information should probably be placed after the work. I also think it was also a little long for an introduction.

My favorite part was about the colonization. I like the pictures used (except the one on page 35-yuck!) because I think everything is better with pictures. Information on "The New World" is always fascinating to me. Just thinking about setting out on a ship and finding a new, uncharted stretch of land with new people that know nothing of the outside world is amazing. It sometimes makes me think of the old Burger King commercial about "Whopper Virgins".

I think the cultural influences on the play make it into a time capsule of the time is was written. The fact that it is a play, and is almost completely dialogue is really amazing. The characters become the narrators, and their words are what create the images of the island. The best part is that, for the most part, it goes unnoticed. Even though this is not how anyone speaks to one another, it still manages to sound realistic. Top Notch!