Non-Interactive Presentations (PowerPoint)

Since 1990 we have sat through many PowerPoint presentations and have likely given many PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint used properly is still a viable presentation tool, but it can also be lethal, hence the saying “Death by PowerPoint”.

Some of the more common mistakes made in PowerPoint presentations are:

• Too much text information on one slide
• Too many different page transitions and animations used to add objects to a slide.
• The presentation is basically pages of notes to keep the presenter on topic. Why not keep your note in front of you and use the screen for graphics and illustrations?

This biggest drawback of a typical PowerPoint presentation is that it does not naturally include the audience’s input. It takes a talented presenter to keep the audience engaged during typical a PowerPoint presentation.

Interactive Presentations

Turning Point Audience Response Unit

PowerPoint has been given a reprieve with the new add-ons that make it an interactive presentation tool. Two of the more popular products are Quizdom and TurningPoint.

We use TurningPoint at GTC,C where I teach; however, I have had a chance to use both in the past and my nod goes to TurningPoint.

TurningPoint is a true PowerPoint add-on. When you install TurningPoint it puts a tool bar at the top of your PowerPoint application. You then add interactivity to your existing PowerPoint slides by simply clicking on the TurningPoint tools in the tool bar.  You can add all types of questions and polls directly to any slide and the audience interacts with these slides with their response unit (like show in the image).

This system is relatively inexpensive to deploy since the software and USB receiver (also shown in the image) used on the instructor’s computer costs about $200. While you can buy enough response units for all the students, there is a clever “book store” program. You can have the book store sell these units directly to the students. They are not particularly expensive (approximately $25) and then you don’t have to give out the units and take them back up in every class. This also means you don’t have to find the funds in the department’s budget to buy the response units.

By making a presentation interactive, the students will pay closer attention to the presentation. Consider this scenario. You state in the course syllabus that 10% of the final grade comes from an average of all presentation embedded questions. If they are not paying attention and do not know the answers to the questions in the presentations this cuts into their grade. This is all easy to pull off since the software will automatically score all answers and place all presentation results into a grade book program.

Annotated Handout

Example of an Annotated PDF Doc

This is a technique I often use, especially if I hand out supplemental information that I want to go over in class.

I will take the handout material and convert it to a PDF document. I then use the Acrobat PDF program (not the free PDF Reader) and annotate the key points. While Acrobat offers a full suite of annotation tools, I like to use the highlight annotation tool. This tool make it looks like you highlighted the test using a regular yellow highlighter.

The students know the highlighted information that I have highlighted is key information that I expect them to know and they will likely see it on a test one day. Most of them bring a highlighter to class and mark up their copy of the handout to match my annotation. This is a sneaky way to keep them engaged in the presentation. They also can make any additional notes right in the margins of the paper.

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In Summary

What are you using to make your presentations interactive? Post your comments to this page and lets start a converastion about this, so we can all learn how to be a better teacher.

If you are a shop owner, it is your responsibility to make this happen. The attitude must start at the top and flow down. I ran a Honda shop for 18 years and I tried to provide training in-house on a monthly basis. So the challenge is how do shops facilitate continuing education for thier techs?

Instructor-Led
Several of the parts companies offer various forms of  instructor-led training. This can range from a basic sales type event to a structured series like offered by CARQUEST Training Institute (CTI). At GTCC, where I teach, CARQUEST, NAPA, O’Reilly Auto, and a regional WD use our facilities to deliver in service training to local automotive techs.

Training Tapes/CD
Are you having any luck with training tapes/CD? There are many sources for these including automotive trade associations. Are these a viable source of upgrade training?

Regional Training Facilities
I can think of a few regional training facilities such as Linder Technical Services in Indianapolis IN, Mechanics Education Association in Maplewood, NJ, and EAST Training in Southhampton NJ. There are likely more. Are these an answer for regional training needs?

Online Training
Has anybody come up with some quality online training? Right now most of the OEM training is being delivered online in the dealership. The trip to the factory school is mainly for performance evaluation. Very well developed computer based training can be very effective. In my humble opinion, the independent service industry needs a source of well developed and compressive CBT to help carry the lion’s share of continuing education.

Access to OEM CBT Training
Most of the manufacturers have well developed and effective CBT for their car line. Are any of the OEM starting to make this available in digital format at a non-punitive price? Over a year ago at the CARS Convention in Las Vegas a Toyota Official made this comment as part of a presentation.

I see growing use of OEM websites as complete service support portals, providing access not only to service information, but also to subscription based diagnostic software, just in time training resources, and manufacturer specific technical assistance.

This sounds promising!

So, lets start a conversation about how the independent service industry is going to keep its’ technicians trained and competent. Simply register and add your comment to this post.

Jim Garrido and John Anello's Hummer

One of the country’s prominent mobile diagnostic techs, Jim Garrido, lives locally. I have known Jim for many years going back to his Saturn tech days. In addition to operating a mobile diagnostic service in the central North Carolina area, Jim also conducts training for CarQuest Technical Institute (CTI) in the evenings.

Jim teaches the CTI classes in Greensboro, NC at Guilford Tech Community College where I teach. The last class he taught was on reprogramming ECMs/PCMs using both OEM scan tools and the J-2534 approach. At least 4-5 times during the presentation he stressed the importance of strong PC skills, which gave me even more reason to finish my book!

One of the best examples of a mobile diagnostic rig is shown to the left. While that is Jim Garrido in the picture, the truck belongs to John Anello. This picture was taken while Jim was attending one of John’s “Boot Camps”. John’s Boot Camp is a ride along type program that will expose you to some of the most advanced diagnostic tools and procedures in use today. To learn more about John Anello’s Boot Camp, click here.

John is one of the premier mobile diagnostic techs in the country. His mobile rig is based on a H2 Hummer and is equipped with all the latest and greatest diagnostic equipment. He is also actively involved in training through the author, and a speaker at automotive conferences.

Have Scanner Will Travel
Jim Garrido
Serving: Central NC
jgarrido@triad.rr.com

Auto Tech on Wheels
John Anello
Serving: Trenton, NJ area
www.autotechonwheels.com
ATOWscopeit@aol.com