While not safety related, it may concern some. I have begun to get familar with Powerpoint 2010. I notice lots of tricks can be done for a presentation with 2010, just a little bit more than 2007. Perhaps too much can be done, I am of the belief that presentations especially training ones, should be kept simple, and not cluttered with things going back and forth on the screen, spinning etc. It does have a handy feature where one can put in a link to show a dvd etc, I am thinking it must be annoying for some people to see various things zooming in, and out of the screen, etc. What do you think?

Quite agree, we must remember that powerpoint is just an aid to training.

I mainly just use it for highlighting pictures (ggod and bad practices) and making specific points.

Just remembering the dark days of the Overhead Projector and View Foils or am I showing my age;-)

I recently attended a presentation on ADHD by a retired doctor. He had two overhead projectors and alternated between the two. Quite clever you may think - not so as he had both trained onto the same area of screen, and both with lines of writing at the same time. It was a nightmare and the worst presentation I have ever seen.

Next time you've a spare 20 minutes or so, Google "Death by Powerpoint".

Aaah, the happy days when the only thing that could go wrong was the bulb blew on the OHP or the extension lead was too short!! Most people would want to arrive early to set up and lay out actetates etc. How many today just turn up and plug in the USB and expect it to be OK? Is this subject safety related, yes of course it is. Training and information are fundamental parts of SSOW. Get it wrong or do it badly and you fail to properly apply one of the risk reduction/controls required to keep people safe. I second the comment about slide design. Dark background light text, light text dark background, no colour circle contrasts. Try laying out a slide with blue background and white text then without changing the text simply change to white background and black text. Then ask yourself which looks the more professional when projected onto a screen. Notice how you can see all the imperfections on the projector screen with the white background. Don't be afraid to use some of the standard slide templates, they have been designed by designers for particular uses after all. If you know how to do it you can change the style of your slides with a couple of clicks. Useful skill when the venue presents conditions that might suit a different colour combo or contrast. And if you respect your audiences and use BIG BIG text, it has the default effect of keeping what you have written on the slide quite succint. Introducing line by line is better than a slide of 6 rows of text. Everyone has read all 6 lines before you have even said anything. When preparing the session see whether you can present without ever doing that thing of looking round to read the slide every time! If you can't then the PP has been designed as your session notes and that is the both the most annoying and disappointing method of using PP. It is estimated that 80% of people who use PP only know about 20% of the functionality of the programme and commonly only use only 20% of that knowledge when designing PP presentations. How many users I wonder have ever had any knowledge training on the programme itself never mind presentational skills. Worst presentational use of PP? An accountant who was talking about budgets etc and put up a "slide" of an excel spreadsheet which would have been difficult to read as an A4 page as the text was so small. 15 minutes and 2 slides later I had to take a comfort break. Second worst, a presentation where each of the different slide transitions had been used one after the other presumably because the presenter either couldn't decide which to use or just wanted to show of their prowess. I didnt stay long enough to work it out. Now where did I leave that marker pen and can I borrow an extension lead whilst I am here please, I will tape it to the floor, honest. What time is coffee coming? p48

Thanks everyone, yes i agree, one must be pepared for the day technology does not work. One day while delivering a course,I had an electrical power cut, so no projector, and laptop only for a while ( battery kept it going for a bit), the day turned out fine, and when the power did come on, I relaised I could have managed without it. Seamus