Article for APT Canada by Jack Falt, INFJ
Overheads: When overheads first appeared on the scene they tended to curl up, so they made cardboard frames for them. This meant a very thick pile of overheads to carry around. Nowadays, the overhead usually lies flat. However, if you find that you have the occasional overhead that curls, my solution was to go to the hardware store and buy a 12" x 12" piece of ?" plexiglass. They will probably have to cut it for you. I made a cardboard holder for it out of corrugated cardboard so it wouldn’t get scratched. I just pack this in the overhead box I use to transport the overhead projector. When I have a curled up overhead, I just place the plexiglass on top of it to flatten it out.
I keep my overheads in a three-ringed binder. This allows me to add or delete overheads and still keep them in order. I use a clear plastic protective sleeve for each overhead. I slit the sleeve down the outer side. This makes it easier to take the overhead out and then return it to it proper place when you are finished with it. Trying to load an overhead through the top of the sleeve is just too time consuming to be done during a presentation. There seems to be enough static to hold the overheads in place so that they don’t fall out easily. In fact you can hold the binder by the spine and let it hang down and the overheads usually don’t fall out.
Print a black and white copy of each slide. This is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of printing a coloured version of the overhead. Place the paper version in the sleeve in front of the overhead. This way you can see what the slide is. It also makes it easier for you can read the text and not have to look at the bright overhead bulb on the overhead projector as this is very hard on the eyes. By putting the regular paper print in front of the overhead you don’t have the double line effect that you get when you place the paper version behind the overhead.
If you are leading an all day workshop that uses lots of slides, consider using several binders rather than one of those 3" ones that is awkward to manage, particularly on the small space that is usually left on the overhead table. When it is available, request a 4' x 8' table so you can spread out your materials and equipment.
Small Groups: When you divide up a large group into small groups and want them to write ideas down and present them back to the full group, the usual way is to give each small group some newsprint and a marker and send them off to complete their task. Often you are in a room that doesn’t allow you to tape up the newsprint or there is no flat surface to write on. Also, the writing of some of the participants is so small that many people in the room can’t read it. A solution I have found that works for me is to give each group a clipboard, a blank overhead and an overhead pen. Have the group appoint a Scribe and a Speak. The Scribe will write the group’s ideas on the overhead and the Speak is the one who reports the group’s findings. The Scribe and the Speak can be the same person.
To make up a quantity of inexpensive clipboards, I went to a building supply company and bought a ?" thick piece of smooth masonite and then had them cut it up into to rectangles of 11½" x 9". I bought a package of small clipboard clips and put one on each board. To help the writing to be a little more neat and legible, I glued a piece of lined paper on the smooth side of the masonite clipboard. The Scribe writes the group’s ideas on the blank overhead; and then when it comes time to present the material, the Speak just put the overhead on the projector and gives a report. Usually the writing is now large enough for all to see.
Sometimes you may want the small group fill in a table on an overhead.
For example, you might ask the group to think of words that would be examples
of each of the four mental functions. So that the presentation of the information
is consistent, print on regular paper the table with the four squares and
label them. Hand each group a clipboard with the printed form under a blank
overhead. Print the same form on an overhead and place this on the projector.
As each group brings up their filled in overhead, place it on top of your
printed overhead. Now the whole group can see the written responses in
the cells of the table.
| Name of Group: | |
| Examples of the four mental functions | |
| Sensing
|
Intuiting |
| Thinking
|
Feeling |
If you want to type up the responses of each group to use later, using overheads instead of newsprint makes it easier to carry them back to your office. If you are real thrifty like I am, you can put the overheads in water and wipe off the information. Dry and reuse the blank overheads at your next workshop.
LCD Projectors: Instead of fumbling around with overheads that get in the way of your audience being able to see your presentation, consider converting your presentation to PowerPoint (MS Office) or Presentations (WordPerfect Office). Now you can project your slides, using a remote device to bring them up one at a time. You can add animation so that your bullets of text come up one at a time, instead of the overhead method of covering up the material with a piece of paper and revealing the text by pulling the paper down one item at a time. You can also animate objects or graphics so they bounce in for added effect. The colours will be more vivid than the overheads usually are.
This option is expensive. An LCD projector now starts at $3,000. To rent one for a day usually costs about $300. You also need a laptop computer that has PowerPoint or Presentations on it so that you can run your presentation. If your group isn’t too large, another option is to connect your laptop to a TV and operate your presentation through the TV.
If you are giving a workshop at a location that has its own LCD projector and laptop, you can create a PowerPoint or Presentations version of you presentation and burn it to a CD. Then just take the CD along to your workshop. You’ll want to take a printed version of your presentation so that you know what is coming up next when you click the remote. If you use a rewriteable CD, you can amend the presentation for future workshops. The presentation programs also allow you to use one set of slides and create different versions of the program. You might have a shortened version you use when marketing it to a prospective client and then use the full version when giving the workshop.
You may still want to have a overhead projector available to draw a chart on or to show a small group’s overhead. Also, someone may ask a question that is easy to answer with a diagram on an overhead.
With individual clients you could view the presentation with them watching it on your laptop. You can also record a narration to go with the presentation on a CD saved with a PowerPoint or Presentations reader. You could have clients take the CD home and review it when they have more time. (You would need to have them promise not to copy the CD to protect your work and also so they won’t be giving personality type workshops on their own.) I have an ongoing group that studies personality type. I can loan the presentation on CD to a new member and not have to waste the time of the whole group going over the basic material. Previously, I made a video of me giving a workshop, but it was rather primitive. This method gives a much more professional version.
Flipcharts and Whiteboards: Even if you have an LCD projector, you may still wish to have some material displayed before the group during the workshop for reference, or you may want to create a diagram in front of the group. This adds variety to the workshop. Instead of a flipchart you might consider using a whiteboard. You can use erasable markers on them. I do find you need to clean the board off at the end of the session and not leave the writing on it for several days. If you don’t remove the marks, you may find that the colours have bled into the board. These have to be removed with a special solution. Windex seems to remove any residue.