IEEE Professional Communication Society Newsletter • ISSN 1539-3593 • Volume 52, Number 11 • Dec. '08/Jan. 2009

Audience Autonomy: Use It to Power Your Presentations

by Pat Truman

Three years ago...and I still remember four simple words a presenter said to me after his presentation. His efforts had engaged us for 90 minutes. We'd learned a lot. Our enthusiasm was audible. The session had flown by. I shook his hand and thanked him. He said to me: "I am your mirror." Mystified by these words at the time...Read more.

Bite the bullet: How not to kill your presentation with your slides

by Elizabeth Frick

In the days before anesthetics, soldiers bit on bullets to help them endure pain. Modern medicine has sent the term "bite the bullet" into metaphor. If you have sat through poorly-prepared presentations in meetings or customer reviews, you'll understand this metaphor...Read more.

Improving the Q&A Experience: A Collaborative Effort

by Laurence Anthony

How many times have you seen a smoothly delivered presentation with great slides and a clear and logical structure suddenly becoming disappointing or disastrous during the Q&A? Everyone has experienced a presentation Q&A session in which an over-enthusiastic presenter dives in with an answer before the audience member has finished what he or she wanted to ask....Read more.

  • AdCom News

    Brenda Huettner Appointed to TMC Board

    Luke Maki's election as Technology Management Council's President-Elect meant that PCS needed to appoint someone else to the Council. Brenda Huettner has graciously agreed to join the TMC Board of Governors as the PCS representative.....Read more

  • Project Management

    Taking Stock with Lessons Learned

    Last year, there was a whole lot of learning going on! So, as we focus on the New Year, let's pull a few golden nuggets from 2008 as we look at what our survey respondents had to say in our Lessons Learned survey, and also ask ourselves some questions to point us forward.....Read more.

  • Member News

    Emily Schlesinger Passed Away

    Emily Schlesinger died on 9 Dec. '08/Jan. 2009. Schlesinger was .

    Nominate someone for the Goldsmith award...Read more.

  • Tools

    Guest View: HATs Off to CMSes?

    Do software documentation groups need a content management system (CMS), or is there a simpler, cheaper, or better alternative? Does your company's documentation group create online help for its software products? Online manuals for field service or tech support?.... Read More.

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