Screen blanker
I ran across this "Office Tips" site today. There doesn’t seem to be much more in there beyond PowerPoint jive. But it reminded me of my favorite PowerPoint tricks–the ‘B’ key and the ‘W’ key. The ‘B’ key just makes the display go black. The ‘W’ key makes the display go white. Pressing either again brings back the onscreen content.
To know why these are great, you’ve got to understand that I’m not much for PowerPoint tomfoolery. Generally speaking, I just want a few words onscreen that sum up what I’ll be talking about until I need the next screen. I am bothered beyond belief by presenters that throw a heavily bulleted slide onscreen and then proceed to read it. Gah! Gets my heart beating just thinking about it! I much prefer someone who knows their content so well that they don’t really need the slide. Which brings me back to the ‘B’ and ‘W’ keys. I use them liberally during presentations, especially when I want people to really pay attention to what I’m saying, or when I want to get a discussion going. When there are words or other distractions onscreen, folks can be lulled into ignoring the presenter and just staring, slack-jawed, at the screen, ignoring all other input.
Okay, end of rant. Just remember the ‘B’ and ‘W’ keys the next time you’re doing a presentation and people seem to be falling asleep…
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POSTED IN: productivity, tips and tricks, web/tech
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