“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”
Rework, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.
Really great, quick read, written in a very concise and crisp style. My major takeaways:
- Start at the epicenter and focus on the things that won’t change.
- Sell your by-products.
- Make tiny decisions.
- Build an audience, and out-teach your competition.
- Give away an easily digestible intro to what you sell.
I can absolutely start working on those now. Getting this blog back on track is a tiny decision I could make tonight! Chip chop!
Countdown Timers
An indispensable training tool is the countdown timer. This allows everyone in the class (esp. us!) to be fully aware of time remaining before/ between sessions and on breaks. You run the countdown timer on your computer and the countdown is projected onto the screen for all to see. Here are a few I have used:
Online — must have live internet connection:
http://www.online-stopwatch.com
Mac only —
Minuteur 3 (free) or 5 (paid): http://phg-home.com/index_mac.html
Windows only —
BlingClock (30-day free trial, $20 after): http://www.blingclock.com
TimeLeft (free but you can’t make timer fullscreen): http://www.timeleft.info
Presentation Remotes
Deciding which presentation remote to buy depends on what you want it to do. Remotes can be equipped with impressive features, such as a countdown timer on the remote itself, the ability to be used as a mouse or remote control, and even a palm-sized keyboard for on-the-fly typing during a presentation.
I like my remotes simple and nice to hold. All I need the remote to do are go to the next slide, go to the previous slide, blank the screen, and maybe point at something on the projection screen. There is one button on my remote for each of these functions, and that’s it! Add more buttons and I’ll push the wrong one at the wrong time.
I’ve had my Kensington remote for the last 8 years and it has performed like a champ. It includes a little wireless receiver that plugs into a computer’s standard USB port so the remote works, and when you’re done using the remote the receiver tucks right into the remote itself for storage. The most recent version of this remote is the Kensington 33374 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer, currently retailing at Amazon.com for $42.45.
A promising upgrade to this is the Kensington Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer and 1 GB Built-In Memory, so you can store your presentations right on the wireless receiver! Also available on Amazon, currently retailing for $58.36.
What presentation remote do you use? How is it working for you? Write a post and tell us a little about it.