Better than Powerpoint?

[kdwntwn]

(Being a pilot first, I'm kind of embarrassed to ask this question but...) I have to make a presentation next month at my MAJCOM for a project that I actually believe in and helped get off the ground. This project has awesome potential to save them hundreds of millions a year (not exaggerating for OPR purposes) without just pawning off all of the work and complexity on my fellow aircrew or really even support agencies. This concept is more a combination of a culture shift and integration of commercially available technology.

I believe this presentation is the perfect opportunity to make an impression. By doing so, we can avoid months, possibly years of SSS and paperwork if we can get people with authority to champion the idea at the HQ level. We will have the numbers and the data to back up our plan. Now I know everyone just does the standard, boring Power Point presentation. But I've been to professional conferences and seen speakers give much more impressive presentations with flash-type diagrams and displays to make their point. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to use to make more impressive presentations? Just to clarify, I'm not looking for cheesy, fly-in PowerPoint effects or annoying transitions. This is for actual animations and or add-ons that might really be the difference between someone just glossing over another CGO/FGO type brief and remembering it for the right reasons.

Thanks for any help in advance. And save flames for my PM box, I promise I'll read them and respond with similar fervor and cynicism!

Edited April 17, 2009 by kdwntwn

[ClearedHot]

By doing so, we can avoid months, possibly years of SSS and paperwork if we can get people with authority to champion the idea at the HQ level.

Oh the naiveté of youth. A few months ago in person I saw a great plan briefed to CSAF, he responded, "do you have the package, I will sign it right now". It has since become firmly trapped in the in the claws of the Airstaff who just decided to disapprove what CSAF said he would approve.

I you for believing you can still make a difference.

As Jimmy Buffet once said, I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then...

Edited April 17, 2009 by ClearedHot

[GrndPndr]

Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash is about the only other viable (and portable) presentation medium that might work. It also needs a nerd type to make it work (usually).

F

[StoleIt]

2. You need Adobe Flash and/or Premiere.

...And a few months of spare time to learn them.

Premiere is the video editing program.

You want Adobe Flash and Adobe After Effects.

After Effects can create stuff from scratch, and coupled with Photoshop its very powerful.

[Guest Smoke_Jaguar4]

There are some good options listed here:

http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/presen...-ten-10-134.htm

In particular, Apple's Keynote has some cool capabilities that leave Powerpoint behind.

That said, you will have a very hard time using any alternative for official purposes. Running any non-standard program requires an act of God due to all the security, accreditation, and other B.S. the Info Assurance Nazis will throw at you.

Powerpoint presentations don't necessarily have to suck. The real problem is too many people are clueless about what makes a good presentation - one that gets the idea across without overwhelming, boring, or alienating the audience with needless crap. If you want to be a presentation master (a very useful skill as you climb the ranks), I highly recommend reading books by Edward Tufte. He's an uber-dork who has self-published analysis of what makes a good presentation. Probably his most famous work was his analysis of the role Powerpoint played in the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies

Finally some humor on Powerpoint's impact on bureaucracies, in particular the military:

http://www.nbc-links.com/powerpoint.html

[FalconXtreme]

id say stop by ur local Comm sq theres probably an airmen or two that are flash wizards that can teach u in their spare time. *shrug*

[Guest Bender]

For staters, the best breifings I've ever watched were driven by the speaker's passion and, poise and almost dramatic delivery of that seemed like the promise land. It clearly had nothing to do with "Flash Player."

Sadly, CH is, although clearly totally jaded beyond repair, quite correct in the face value assessment of the situation. While getting said approval, don't fool yourself into thinking that you're shortening timeline in any significant way. I thought that once too. Timelines seldom change due to a breifing and also seldom chage in the direction you desire them to.

To answer your question, since I took the time to even respond: You, in my opinion, are not looking in the right place. Don't worry about making your presentation more flashy, worry about making yourself more credible, persuasive and passionate.

I, personally, find it sad that this question involves the mention of powerpoint at all. You CAN breif without powerpoint. Of course, I'd be burned at the stake at SOS, so it's a good thing I'm not going, eh? (at least it's looking like not.)

BENDY

Edited April 17, 2009 by Bender

[HiFlyer]

While I obviously can't comment on your proposal specifically, I have spent the last 17 years at Air Staff and National Agency-level positions and can testify that you don't need a fancy presentation to sell a good product! If there is a significant problem that needs solving, and you have an innovative solution that does so at a reasonable resource cost without crossing political red-lines (contravening major administration policies), Powerpoint is plenty good enough. I've seen people sell proposals off the back of napkins because the underlying logic was that powerful. Focus on the problem and the solution, not the theatrics. In fact, some of my collegues have the opinion that the flashier the presentation, the less substance to the proposal!

As to avoiding the "...months, possibly years of SSS and paperwork if we can get people with authority to champion the idea at the HQ level...." good luck. It probably won't happen because even with the heavies on your side, integrating a new idea into the POM is a long term effort involving many people at the Majcom and Air Staff. In this case, if you really are trying to introduce a "culture shift and integration of commercially available technology", then you're really fighting an uphill battle. Its "easy" to buy a new box, but changing cultures frightens people and is a very long and complex effort. For example, the introduction of Predator and motion imagery was fought tooth and nail by the Air Force from the early 90s until about 2003...almost a decade. I can't remember how many times we were "thrown out" of Air Force offices over discussions about UAVs and the concept of the Air Force directly providing imagery to users without the product first being brought behind the "green door". Add to that the fact that you're possibly proposing to alter the carefully constructed future of the Air Force (i.e., changing the almighty POM that has been signed off by the Chief of Staff and briefed to Congress) and the administrative process alone is very complex even if people agree..

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't make your pitch..you absolutely should. But make the pitch based on the problem and the solution, not Hollywood-style graphics. If you can incorporate them, fine, but the message should carry itself, not require audio-visual magic to mesmerize the audience.

Edited April 17, 2009 by HiFlyer

[Steve Davies]

Keynote

[HerkDerka]

Seriously, how is a new and more advance method of making a presentation going to save us millions?

HD

[Guest Blu4]

Oh the naiveté of youth. A few months ago in person I saw a great plan briefed to CSAF, he responded, "do you have the package, I will sign it right now". It has since become firmly trapped in the in the claws of the Airstaff who just decided to disapprove what CSAF said he would approve

.

"Two"

If there is one thing I have learned, it's that good ideas tend to die horrible deaths in the multiple stratified insulating layers that exist between the good idea originator and the leadership with the authority to approve it. Things get killed by the staffing process, not because they were bad ideas.

[Ill Destructor]

It's not Flash you want. Adobe Captivate. http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/pr...ation-software/ Of course it's not free (only $800!!)... but neither is PPT.

[kdwntwn]

A few hundred bucks? Who cares! It'll save the AF millions. (and P2P programs are free)

OP, Ever heard of the Air ForceIDEA program? Save Big Blue millions, and Big Blue will make you a thousandaire!

Just to answer a couple of questions and you can PM me if you want more specific info.

*The reason the savings amount is legit is because the project itself is already approved and operating on a small scale. It has already produced some pretty awesome results. This briefing is to first show the results and then secondly show ideas on how to take it to the next level and expand the project. I figure there isn't a better opportunity than to brief it to them directly but maybe I'm wrong based on the CSAF comment.

*It can't be an IDEA project because there are already a ton of people involved on this project. The concept that I am going to brief is how to best integrate one aspect of the project. If they buy off on the part I am going to brief, then I believe it will speed up the implementation of it, increase efficiency and reduce crew headaches. I think we'd probably get about $200 a piece from the IDEA program if you divide $10K by the amount of people involved...great. Maybe that would be enough to buy some geeky Adobe software though.

*I may be naive. I appreciate the reminder/grounding. But I look at it this way: I'd rather try to be part of the solution and fail than just complain without trying to do anything about it. Plus, I believe by genuinely attempting to be part of the solution and failing allows me to earn a rightful place to be cynical. At best, I help some of my buds out. At worst, I go back and fly and complain about the status quo.

[RangerMateo]

id say stop by ur local Comm sq theres probably an airmen or two that are flash wizards that can teach u in their spare time. *shrug*

Look up a program called Swish. Way cheaper and easier to pick up than Flash ;)