After a long hiatus, we're back! We've got a few interviews lined up in the next month or so.

First up, is an interview I conducted with Dr. David B. Miller at the University of Connecticut.
A few months ago I stumbled upon a YouTube video Dr. Miller created, called "Lecture Fail, PowerPoint and Keynote Misuse." I was thrilled. Here was an experienced professor explaining the downfall of bullet points and showing his version of effective lecture slides using animation, sound, and other multimedia.

Response to Jeff Young's question in THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION on whether lectures fail, especially when structures along the lines of screen upon screen of bulleted text in PowerPoint.

I decided right then that I had to get him on the podcast, and after a few exchanges via YouTube comments and e-mails, we met via Skype.

Dr. Miller is a professor in the Dept of Psychology at UCONN. His main research interests are in animal behavior for which he has a podcast series. The internet connection for our interview was a bit shaky, so the audio isn't perfect. I've done my best to clean it up, but the ideas and tips Dr. Miller shares are more than worth it. Continue listening to hear how he uses the flipped classroom model by making his lectures available via podcast, how he evolved from Hypercard to Keynote, and what inspiration he has gained from Star Wars.

National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology
Dr. Miller's Animal Behavior Podcast
ScreenFlow 4 by Telestream

Nathan and Mike chat with Professor Tony Christensen of Wilfrid Laurier University who recently decided to scrap his lecture slides and start from scratch. (See his amazing before & after slides below.) Find out what convinced him to do it, what it took, and how you can take steps to presenting better in your own classroom.

Also mentioned in the show:
The Takahashi Method http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/living_large_ta.html
Presentation Picks:Nathan - Presenting with Text

Presenting with text

View more presentations from Tudor Girba

Mike – Dropbox.com

Tony – kuler.adobe.com, color theme generator

Find more info about the hosts:

Tony Christensen
@casualtaoist
www.wlu.ca

Mike Pulsifer
@mikepulsifer
mike-pulsifer.org

NATHAN CASHION
@brainslides
brainslides.com

From a backyard studio in sunny San Diego, Mike & Nathan discuss how you can begin thinking like a designer in a shorter episode.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Dan Pink
Before & After Magazine
Jumsoft Speech Pack 

Mike Pulsifer - @mikepulsifer
Nathan Cashion - @nately @brainslides

With special guest, Ana Foureaux Frazão, Freelance Presentation Designer in San Francisco, California.

Mike's Presentation Pick: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Subscribe to the show in iTunes

The style of a presentation says a lot about the business that is presenting it. Each presentation requires a unique approach. Here are examples of slides that SOAP has created for clients from different industries.

Before you begin creating presentations, you should be familiar with the tools you work with. Mike and Nathan mention the various slideware apps out there and then discuss what you should do before you turn on your computer.

Also mentioned in the show:Iconoclast by Gregory Berns, Ph.D.

Twitter @BrainSlides

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We're working on getting the first few episodes in the feed. In the meantime, visit us at BrainSlides.com, follow us @brainslides on Twitter, or, even better, subscribe on iTunes to download the episode automatically!

Happy presenting!