The University of Pennsylvania's Online Computing Magazine
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November 1992 - Volume 9:3 [Printout | Contents | Search ]
By Sheila Fleming Experienced speakers know that well designed visual aids can play an important role in helping them inform or convince an audience; in fact, the success or failure of a presentation can hinge on the quality of the visual materials. Within the past few years there has been an explosion in software development to meet the demand for presentation graphics products that presenters without formal graphic arts training can use to develop visual aids quickly and economically. Aldus Persuasion 2.1.2, an integrated package combining outlining, word processing, chart making, and drawing capabilities, is the CRC's supported presentation graphics program for the Macintosh. With Persuasion, users with different levels of experience can produce professional-looking overhead transparencies, 35mm slides, and computer slide shows without incurring expenses for design, photography, and similar services. Novices can readily produce polished text presentations, while those who learn the program in depth can design custom presentations incorporating charts, tables, artwork, and special effects. In addition, Persuasion's notes and handout capabilities make it an excellent package for producing printed materials.
How Persuasion works--an overviewA Persuasion file basically consists of two elements: a design template that controls the look of the presentation, and a text outline created in a separate Outline view. Template and outline are combined automatically into slides that can be viewed in Persuasion's Slide view. (The term "slide" is used in the documentation to refer to the individual frames of a presentation that you see on the Macintosh screen.) Graphics and charts can be added to enhance the presentation, and the file can be sent to the desired output device. Speaker notes and handouts showing miniature versions of the slides can be printed out separately.
Using templates and outlinesHow easy or difficult it is to create a presentation in Persuasion depends to a large extent on how you use templates. Templates define the elements that are repeated on each slide, such as background color, border design, and fonts for titles and text. They also contain text placeholders that provide the interactive link between an outline and a slide by taking text from the outline and positioning and formatting it on the slide. Graphics placeholders do the same thing for charts. Persuasion provides three options for templates: You can use one of the 83 pre-designed layouts, called AutoTemplates; you can modify an existing template; or you can create a template from scratch.The fastest and easiest way to put together a presentation is through the use of AutoTemplates. Text attributes, placement, background color, and other design features have already been assigned, so all you need to do is create an outline which will automatically link to the template. Forty black-and-white and 43 color professionally designed AutoTemplates are available. A card showing a sample slide for each template and a very useful "Autotemplate Guide" are provided to help you choose a template appropriate to the tone and content of your presentation. If you feel more ambitious and want to modify an existing template, the "Autotemplate Guide" provides easy-to-follow instructions. Modifying templates can be easy or complicated, depending on the extent of the modifications. Creating an original template is best left to experienced users or professional designers. Though the basic process is well-documented, it has many steps, and producing attractive and professional-looking slides requires more decisions about layout and more tinkering than the novice or casual user is likely to be comfortable with. Persuasion templates work in concert with the Outline view, where the text for a presentation can be imported or entered directly in a conventional indented outline format. Persuasion accepts (and exports) text-only (ASCII) files in which indents have been preserved by tabs, as well as formatted files from Acta 2.01 and MORE 1.0, 1.1, and 1.1c. A Microsoft Word outline must be converted to text before being exported to Persuasion. Direct text entry is straightforward, once you've become familiar with the key combinations you need to move between levels in an outline. Editing options are easy to use and numerous. And Persuasion's convenient notes feature lets you incorporate speaker notes that refer to the slides without leaving the Outline view.
Razzle-dazzle graphicsPersuasion's numerous built-in graphics capabilities reduce or eliminate the need for separate graphics software. The program automatically generates graphics, such as organization charts, from your outline. It also provides a complete set of MacDraw-like drawing tools and an impressive collection of clip art that can be incorporated into slides or templates. In addition, Persuasion can import graphics saved in EPS, PICT, Windows Metafile, and PICT II formats. Advanced users of Persuasion can boost the impact of a presentation by importing video footage, animation, sound, and high-quality still images from the multimedia program QuickTime.Sophisticated charting capabilities allow for the creation of many standard chart types, including pie, bar, column, line, scatter, high-low, and tables. Charts are generated from data entered directly into Persuasion's flexible, Excel-like datasheet or imported in text or WKS format. Persuasion also has an option to open an external spreadsheet directly; however, the procedure is a little more complicated, and has little advantage over importing data. Because each presentation file can have only one data sheet, data sets for different charts have to be placed into different parts of the same data sheet. To avoid problems in the event that data need to be modified after a chart is plotted, several methods for quickly locating the correct data set have been implemented. However, once the data have been modified, the associated chart is not updated automatically. It has to be replotted. Numerous easy-to-use editing options can be applied to charts to make them convey information more effectively. For example, you can pull out or resize a portion of pie chart for emphasis, or enhance a chart with special effects, such as graduated fill patterns and color changes. To emphasize certain data in comparison to other data, you can create an overlay chart that combines two different charts plotted from a single data set. For those who have little experience in charting, the documentation includes a brief explanation of how each chart type can be best used.
Fine-tuning toolsPersuasion's slide show feature and linked views make fine-tuning quick and easy. You can preview any presentation, even one designed for overheads or 35mm slides, by selecting the slide show feature from a menu. If you decide to make changes, you simply click on an icon, select from a menu, or use a key combination to switch among Persuasion's five views and individual slides and notes. Because the views are linked, a change in one is reflected in all the others. In addition to the Outline and Slide views, Persuasion has a Slide Sorter view for reordering slides, a Notes view for editing speaker notes, and a Handouts view for creating audience handouts.
Producing your presentationTransparencies, probably the most widely used presentation medium, are easy to produce. You can print them directly on a laser printer using film recommended for laser printers.Exposed film for thirty-five millimeter slides can be produced on a film recorder attached to a Macintosh. If you produce many slides, it may make sense to invest in your own film recorder. Otherwise, you can send your files to a "Persuasion-compatible" slide service bureau (the documentation provides a list) equipped with film recorders. They will both output the film and develop it. Service bureaus differ as to how they want files prepared, so make sure you know what your service bureau expects before you give them a file. Mistakes can cost you both time and money. Computer slide shows can be presented directly on a Macintosh screen or projected to a larger screen via a projection device connected to Macintosh with "video-out" capability. A Macintosh PowerBook would be ideal for this purpose; together with Persuasion, it could be the basis of a truly portable presentation system. The Aldus Persuasion Player, a free utility that ships with Persuasion, provides additional portability. Using it, you can run a slide show saved in Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) on any Macintosh or IBM PC/compatible computer, without having Persuasion installed. A great advantage of slide shows is their flexibility. You can modify text and graphics on the fly, and with a bit of practice, go backwards, forwards, and to specific slides in the presentation. Slide shows also offer an opportunity for creativity: You can add various transition effects between slides to liven up the presentation.
Learning and supportPersuasion includes several easy-to-understand, liberally illustrated manuals, and context-sensitive online help. Two tutorials are provided to guide you through the creation of a simple and a more complicated presentation. They take about three-quarters of an hour and one to two hours to complete, respectively. Most people will find they need to complete at least the basic tutorial before they can use the program at all.Learning to use Persuasion takes practice, and mastering the concepts takes even longer. You can, however, create effective presentations just knowing the basics and using AutoTemplates. If you use Persuasion infrequently, you may need to review the basics before you create a presentation. Aldus provides 90 days of free technical support after you register the package. The quality of support is good--support personnel are knowledgeable and patient. Aldus also has a fax service that provides support and other documents. You call from a touch-tone phone to receive an index of documents and order three free documents per phone call.
ConclusionPersuasion is a complex, feature-rich presentation graphics package that requires some effort to learn. If you produce relatively simple presentations infrequently, you may find it requires more effort than you are willing to expend. If you present more frequently, however, you will find a rich and versatile set of capabilities for producing professional-looking presentations, complete with speaker notes and audience handouts. Stop by the CRC and try it out. If you decide to buy it, it's available at the Computer Connection for $95.
SHEILA FLEMING is a consultant for the Computing Resource Center.
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