Good Morning,,,I was just wondering if anyone does any Power Point Training??? I have two presentations set up Money Laundering and BSA Forms...it is a long process to set these up, just wondering if anyone else has any maybe we could share....

I have just started to include this type of training in our program - I made my first Powerpoint presentation Wednesday, and I was very pleased with it. Our standard method of training is through BVS, but would love to have some more presentations through Powerpoint.

Powerpoint training is a lot of fun and a great way to keep people's attention. Coming from training into compliance, I learned how to keep people's attention through noises, affects, colors, crazy pictures. Knowing all of this will help in the future when I create Compliance Training.

I just completed one on GAP-IRR management - not really a compliance/audit issue. Powerpoint is no of the best tools around for training - especially at the board level.

Use PP all the time… helps to “liven-up” the compliance training. PowerPoint is a very useful tool.

PowerPoint is a powerful tool, but it must be used correctly. I like to include video and audio clips in mine because I think it adds to the presentation, it helps students relate. But it must pertain to the materials directly or be used as an outlet to break up a very dull segment. It is almost like a stretch break in that it gets blood flowing and renews interest.

But over-doing it, too many bullet points, hard to read text and too many graphics will spoil it, make it hard to read and can lose your audience.

Find a balance and it can be a real tool.

PP is a great way to cut down on media - I no longer need an overhead, flip chart, pointer or TV/VCR. Everything can be done through PP. PP allows you to add your notes to slides which helps when you review your presentation. Adding graphics, sounds and links is so easy. PP works especially well when training those boring things like regs, policy, procedures, etc.

I'd recommend you take a class. You'll quickly learn how to adapt all other media into one. Once you get the hang of it, it will cut down on your presentation time. Good luck!

Andy is right (hummm, how many times has that been said?).

Too much “theatrics” will not teach or get the important points across to the audience. It is very easy to over-do a PP presentation. The best PP presentations makes true the “less is more” adage.

I'll join Andy and extoll PPT's disadvantages.

PPT may be the best thing since peanut butter--for the speaker--but be VERY careful that you don't use it as a crutch or shield. Adult audiences get bored very quickly and one text-only slide after another will be the kiss of death for your presentation. Boring material will still be boring, even though you convert it into colorful bulleted slides.

Your message must be concise, on point and relevant to their jobs. You must have an excellent command of the subject and be able to discuss it at your audience's level of understanding. You must keep them conscious and focussed on your topic--not the pretty colors and pictures.

Remember: if the PPT show is so great, then why are you there?

I have to take exception to the use of the word “boring”. The regs, policies, etc. may be dry … (that’s the word I use).

I absolutely agree. You must have a command of your material. When I joined the training department, some of our presentations consisted of a flip chart, overhead of slide after slide after slide, LCD displays and video. It is a circus running between three different media. PP brought everything together and makes me look more organized. It is also easier to edit and change than flip charts. I've seen presentations that are simply bullet after bullet after bullet which leads me to think the presenter didn't know what to do so just created 'fluff' for us to look at. I've also seen presentations that were so overwhelming, if I didn't watch the screen, I'd miss something, and as a result, I didn't listen to the presenter.

When used correctly, PP is a valuable tool. It helps me keep consise notes on presentations and modifications are a breeze.

We use Power Point to present regulations for monthly training. All employees are required to view the presentations. The presentations are brief & concise. Questions, based on the material presented, are sent by e-mail to all employees. Employees must answer 3 questions and submit these as documentation that they completed the PPT training.

I'm starting to use PP for security training and I'd like to convert a VCR tape we show to be played on my laptop. You say that you no longer need a VCR so I assume you have done this. Can you tell me what tool you used to accomplish this.

With the right software and hardware you digitize the tape, likely by playing it into a video card on your PC. Once there you have it converted to an applicable format, avi, mov, etc. and you are ready to go.

I haven't done this, at least yet. You also need to be aware of the screen size at playback and how that relates to your audience, is it on an LCD projector and will that show it correctly and the file sizes can be huge.

Here is a PPT presentation on how to produce an effective PPT presentation.

Grist - THANK YOU! There are a few folks at my bank that will benefit from that!!! (Especially the part about the speaker existing in their own world!) Ooops! Did I just say that?

I have taken two PP classes this year and I LOVE PP for compliance presentations. I try to find fun graphics that make the presentation interesting - my PP teacher told us that a good picture can help the learner remember text better than just plain text alone. I am putting together a PP presentation for the Patriot Act §326 which I will finish when the reg is finalized. To illustrate how to look at ID, I found a picture of a Florida Driver's License with Suddam Hussain's picture on it! I also found a great picture of Osama Bin Ladin in disguise (a baseball cap with no beard) - I am using that one as well. I agree that too much sound, graphics and bells and whistles can make any presentation just plain annoying, but PP really is a bells and whistles program that can be quite effective as a training tool.
Leslie

This is a very Nice thread ,I use PPT for training since 1995 and each time it gets better and better , make sure to have a very Live PPT and as discussed above Take The Command , after all PPT is just a visual aid to help you deliver an excellent training session.

EEE [Electronic Educational Environment] has two PPT tutorials, as well as information and resources for images to drive home your point -- check out http://eee.uci.edu/help/ppt/

you are telling a story -- why not illustrate it?

There is a website that has some good resources for training and powerpoint available at http://www.presentersonline.com/.

Have you tried Video Professor? I have learned to use software using training from VP and it is very good. I believe you can order one training session for free. And, the good thing about it is it comes on CD and is yours to keep so you can reference it any time you like. It also displays on screen. You have your software open and do the exercises along with the instructor. For the phone number to order, call 800 information and they will give it to you. The orders usually arrive within a week.

I realize that too much action within slides can be irritating, but consider using some extraordinary slide transition effects from Crystal Graphics (Power Plugs). I've gotten some "WOW" results from participants. The transitions do not take away from the material and add a little "magic" to the presentation.

I have been using PowerPoint for a couple of years now. It is a very valuable tool. I think the suggestions offered in this thread are equally valuable. There is such a thing as too much PowerPoint. Use it sparingly with minimal bullets and maximum message and it is great. One suggestion I would like to offer is doing a "voice-over" narration on each slide and then burn it to a CD. I make the CD available to all my banks so that they can do make-up training for those who were unable to attend. The CD presentation is viewer driven so that they can stop and go whenever they want.

Here's an ironic thought. I took a look at the PowerPoint Presentation about PP Presentations and didn't finish it because I got bored with it. Page after page of text.

I think that you have hit on the bottomline point, in that the presentation itself is flat and boring - like reading something one or two sentences at a time, so it's the presenter that is the important factor. Using word or sentence transitions within a slide gets old real quick - it's like those TV shows that keep moving the camera (like NYPD Blue).

I use just a few AVI's in my presentations, like "let's all get on board" - and all of a sudden a space ship passes through the slide, or an explosion in space really wakes up the group - depicting the bank blowing up if risks are not appropriately managed. Let's face it, the subjects are dry and boring, so you need to thoughtfully put some fun into it.