Episode 038 — Watch for Keystone and Read Resonate

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2-Minute Tip: Watch for Keystone

 

No matter how pretty your slides, they won’t look good if your projector isn’t set up properly. One common issue with data projectors is keystoning. When instead of a rectangle on your screen, you find a trapezoid, you have a keystone issue. The bottom of the image is narrower than the top. This shape is called a keystone because the keystone in a stone arch is the one in the top center that joins the right and left sides of the arch together and keeps them from collapsing into one another. It has that trapezoidal shape.

 

Keystones are great in architecture, but not in presentations. The problem pops up when you tilt the projector up. That puts the top of the lens slightly further from the screen than the bottom of the lens. The further from the screen the projector is, the bigger the impact.

 

To fix a keystone issue, check the projector settings. It may have an auto-keystone correction function. Try that. If it doesn’t do it, or if that feature doesn’t exist, there is probably a manual adjustment you can try. If you move the projector, you’ll have to adjust the keystone correction again.

 

In the future, as more presenters move away from projectors and to LCD and TV displays, this will be less of an issue. For now, it’s important to understand what’s happening.

 

Post-Tip Discussion: Read Resonate

 

Nancy Duarte owns a consulting organization and is the author of multiple books on presentations and storytelling. Here books include slide:ology, and Illuminate. They also include Resonate, and that’s the one I talk about in this week’s episode.  I chose 10 passages from the book that represent some of the most important takeaways for speakers and talk about them in more detail.

 

Duarte is also a TEDx speaker, and in the talk below she outlines the broader themes in Resonate.

Call To Action

 

  • Read Resonate.
  • Watch out for trapezoids.
  • Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app.
  • Don’t get best…get better

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