STC PMC Newsletter January/February 2005

1. V olu me 38
Num b er 4
Jan ua ry /Feb ru ary 2 0 05
To Be Treated as a Professional—Be a
Professional
By Mary Shaw
n my almost 20 years in the
computer software industry, I
have noticed one frustration
that keeps resonating among
technical writers far more than any
other—that our skills and expertise
are underappreciated by coworkers
who don’t understand what we do.
Many tech writers sometimes feel
that they’re perceived as “glorified
typists.” This can seem particularly
insulting to a writer who has spent
years developing her skills in writing
and information design, and
mastering the technological tools she
uses to do her job.
In matters like this, sometimes
the best defense is a good offense.
We need to educate those people by
demonstrating our value above and
beyond our word processing skills.
Below are some ideas.
Be good for business
Instead of just passively waiting
for assignments to come your way,
seek out new ways to use your skills
and talents to improve your
company’s bottom line. For example,
can you use your com-munications
skills and your knowledge of HTML to
develop and maintain your
company’s Website, thereby
reducing the need for outside
contractors to do that work? Can you
develop processes for sharing chunks
of product information with the
marketing department, thereby
reducing redundant writing efforts
(and increasing cross-company
consistency)? If you can save the
company money, you’ll be seen as a
savvy business asset.
“Teach a man to fish”
One tech writer I spoke with has to
deal regularly with a coworker who
thinks that the tech writer’s job is to
clean up the messed-up formatting in
the Microsoft Word documents that
he creates. His “projects” come to
her with clear instructions: Clean up
the styles and other formatting, but
don’t mess with the content! The
poor, frustrated writer has to ignore
pages and pages of bad spelling, bad
grammar, bad punctuation, and
occasionally even erroneous
information and simply do the grunt
work of reformatting the document to
“look pretty.” One possible solution:
Create standard templates for the
various types of documents produced
by other departments and teach all
applicable staff members to use the
templates effectively. If they still
mess up and want you to repair the
damage, just respond with a
refresher course on proper use of
styles and templates. Not only will
this reduce your level of “grunt work”
in the long run, it will demonstrate
that the word processing software is
merely a tool that you use effectively
I
Contents
To Be Treated as a
Professional—Be a
Professional
Mary Shaw _____________1
Editor’s Voice
Happy New Year!
Lori Corbett ____________2
President’s Podium
stcpmc.org: It’s Yours!
Steven Lungren_________3
Montco Support Group
Announces Its Monthly
Meetings
________________________4
November Meeting Review
Instructional Design as a
Career
Dolores Lehr ___________5
Crossword Puzzle
Zsolt Olah ______________6
Member Spotlight
Putting on Our "A"
Game—Jane Phillips
Jill Cassidy Rolette _____7
Ten Tips for Effective
PowerPoint Presentations
Dolores Lehr ___________8
(Continued on page 9)

2. January/February 2005 2 NEWS & VIEWS
NEWS & VIEWS
Submissions and Reprints
You may reprint original
material appearing in NEWS & VIEWS,
as long as you acknowledge the
source and author and send us a
copy of the publication containing
the reprint.
ISSN 1078-9952. News & Views,
published six times per year, is the
official publication of the
Philadelphia Metro Chapter of
STC. We encourage letters,
articles, and other items for
publication. Note: By submitting
an article, you implicitly grant a
license to this newsletter to run
the article and for other STC
publications to reprint it without
permission. Unless otherwise
noted, copyrights for all newsletter
articles belong to the authors. The
design and layout of this
newsletter are copyright STC,
2005.
Address submissions or
comments to Lori Corbett,
Managing Editor, NEWS & VIEWS,
22 Creekside Drive, Sanatoga, PA,
19464, phone (610) 382-8683;
email stcmember@aol.com.
Toolbox
We produce NEWS & VIEWS with
Frame-Maker 6.0 and Acrobat 6.0
on various Pentium computers.
Newsletter Staff
Managing Editor
Lori Corbett
stcmember@aol.com
Layout Editor
Rose Marie Sosnowy
(610) 792-4031
Associate Editor
Al Brown (856) 222-7427
Rebecca Richardson
rebecca.one@verizon.net
Mary Shaw
mary@maryshawonline.com
Also Contributing to This Issue
Delores Lehr
Zsolt Olah
Jill Cassidy Rollette
EDITOR’S VOICE
Happy New Year!
By Lori Corbett
s I write this editorial, the
holidays are just around
the corner; but as you
read this editorial, things
are probably just settling
down from the hectic end-of-year
activity. Welcome back! It’s going to
be a great year.
We have a lot of things to look
forward to here in the Philadelphia
Metro chapter. This year’s STC
Annual Conference is in Seattle, WA.
I know it’s very far away and not
many of us can afford the time and
expense of such a long trip. But,
instead of traveling all the way out to
Seattle, how about
planning on
attending the Third
Annual
Philadelphia Metro
Conference in
March at the Penn
State University,
Great Valley
location? The
facilities are
beautiful and the
presentations
promise to enhance your professional
experience.
It’s also not too early to think
about how involved you’d like to be in
our chapter’s activities and
leadership in 2005.
NEWS & VIEWS Managing
Editor Position Opening
Now that the newsletter is up and
running, more-or-less like clockwork,
I think that perhaps it’s time for a
new managing editor of this
fantastic, award-winning newsletter.
Do you have some new ideas to keep
it fresh and alive for our members?
Managing Editor of NEWS & VIEWS is
also a great addition to your resume.
If you would be interested in taking
this on, please contact me at 610-
382-8683 (my work number). I
would love to work with you on an
issue or two as you learn the ins and
outs of this position.
Have You Renewed Your
Membership?
Don’t forget to renew your
membership. Of course, the chapter
leadership hopes that everyone
renews and selects either the Classic
Membership or E-Membership and
select STC-PMC as your community
chapter-of-choice. These
memberships are the only means by
which the chapter gets rebates from
the Society. And these memberships
are the only means by which you can
take advantage of
chapter
membership
discounts and
member-only
areas of the STC-
PMC website.
Remember
that your dues
are tax deductible
for the year in
which they are
paid. You can claim dues as a
deduction in several ways: as a
charitable expense, a business
expense, or a miscellaneous
deduction. If you are self-employed
or an employer, you can claim the full
amount of dues as a business
expense. All other Classic and
Limited members determine their
charitable contribution by subtracting
the cost of tangible benefits ($30)
from the cost of dues ($145 and
$125, respectively.) Because Student
members and E-members do not
receive printed versions of Technical
Communication or Intercom, they do
not receive tangible benefits, and
may deduct the full amount of dues
($135 and $50 respectively).
A
(Continued on page 10)

3. January/February 2005 3 NEWS & VIEWS
PRESIDENT’S PODIUM
stcpmc.org: It’s Yours!
By Steven Lungren
he current iteration of your
chapter website was
created with the notion
that many STC-PMC
members have the ability and the
talent to contribute content and
share information on our site.
For PMC members who can’t
attend our monthly program
meetings due to other responsi-
bilities or schedule conflicts, the site
provides a forum for social
interaction where you can virtually
mingle and carry on a dialog with
your peers.
By enabling you to be actively
involved with your fellow PMC
members through stcpmc.org, our
chapter provides another contact
point for technical communication
professionals. As both a resource and
an outlet for you, stcpmc.org also
represents the STC transformation
concept of communities of interest.
As a chapter member, some of the
things you can do at stcpmc.org are:
submit articles and book reviews;
comment on items posted on the
site; exchange information in forums
with other PMC members; announce
your availability for employment; and
view our private list of available jobs.
These options are available to you
only after you log in. If you haven’t
already created an account for the
site, doing so is as easy as
completing the following steps:
1. Go to the stcpmc.org home page.
2. Click New Account Signup. The
log-in page displays.
3. Enter your Username and Email
Address in the Account Signup
block.
4. Click Apply for Account.
To expedite the approval of your
account, please use a name and
email address our Membership
Manager can use to determine your
membership status. (stcpmc.org is
not part of the stc.org system and
does not use the same Web server or
user log-in data.)
After your membership is con-
firmed and your account is activated,
you will receive an email message
with your Username and a randomly
generated password. Then, after you
log in, you can use the Control Panel
option to create your own password.
You’ll also notice significant changes
in the left column of the home page:
the Control Panel, mailing list
subscription control, and seven
additional Menu options.
Some of the features that are
available only to STC-PMC members
after Log In:
Bulletin Board—Post topics,
comments, or questions, and
T
STC-PMC LEADERSHIP
Address correspondence for the
Philadelphia Metro chapter of STC
to STC-PMC, P.O. Box 60069,
Philadelphia, PA 19102-0069.
SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION
Mission Statement:
Designing the Future of Technical
Communication
The Society for Technical
Communication (STC) is an
organization dedicated to advancing
technical communication.
Membership is open to those
employed in, interested in, or
concerned with the profession of
technical writing, publishing, or
associated disciplines. Contact STC
at 901 N. Stuart St., Suite 904,
Arlington, VA 22203,
(703) 522-4114 or
http://www.stc.org.
Chapter Officers
President
Steve Lungren (267) 620-2421
Vice President
Jane Phillips (856) 608-7200
Treasurer
Gary Samartino
(610) 701-0577
Secretary
Jill Cassidy (215) 590-9815
Immediate Past President
Nad Rosenberg (856) 484-6598
Region 1 Director/Sponsor
Jon Baker (978) 443-3049
Chapter Committee Managers
Employment
Giacomo DeAnnuntis
(215) 482-1255
Programs
Julia Margulies
(484) 344-2448
Membership
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
NEWS & VIEWS
Lori Corbett
(610) 382-8683
Nominating
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
Website
Lois Shank lbshank@ptd.net
Competition
Donn DeBoard (484) 595-6216
Marc Green (610) 358-0631
(Continued on page 10)
Image: Public menu on left,
Member menu on right, after Log In

4. NEWS & VIEWS 4 January/February 2005
STC-PMC CALENDAR
Unless otherwise noted, all
meetings follow this schedule:
Networking: 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Dinner: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Program: 7:30 to 9 p.m.
January 20. Global Communi-
cation: “Where in the World Is
Your Project?” presented by
Heather Petit, Senior Technical
Communication Consultant at
First Consulting Group (FCG)
and Marcia Jacquette,
Independent Technical
Communication Consultant.
Like it or not, we’re communi-
cating globally—Mergers,
acquisitions, partnerships, new
clients. More and more of our work
requires working with someone
offshore; more often than not,
we're frustrated and disappointed
by the experience. How can we
focus on the technical issues
without getting clobbered by the
cultural issues? Join us for a
discussion of business etiquette in
the global economy.
Location: Web delivery. See the
STC-PMC website for more
information.
February 17. Life-long Learning
Panel: Training to Keep the
“Techie” in Your Technique.
Tonight’s focus is on local and
online training resources avail-able
for you to expand your knowledge,
develop new skills, sharpen current
skills, boost your career, or
enhance your resume. Alternative
training resources provide the
following advantages:
❏ Lower costs and time
commitments
❏ Flexible class schedules
❏ Less or no travel
❏ Meet and network with
community members, neighbors,
and students from around the
world
Location: Enterprise Center at
Burlington Community College,
Mount Laurel, NJ
Montco Support Group Announces Its
Monthly Meetings
he Montgomery County
Technical Writers Support
Group (Montco Group)
consists of those chapter
members who live and work in
Montgomery County. The Montco
Group held its third meeting on
December 1st.
Leading the group is Sheryl
Sankey, who says the purpose of the
Montoco Group is to provide “a safe,
unconditionally accepting space
where technical writers can share
what works and what doesn't work in
their respective work environments
and to form friendships with one
another. So often we find ourselves in
an isolated situation with no where we
can turn to for help or no one to
provide emotional support when we
find ourselves in challenging
situations.”
A variety of topics were discussed
at December’s meeting including:
❏ Sharing various members’ tips,
difficulties, and positive experiences
when working with subject matter
experts (SMEs)—what worked and
what didn’t.
❏ An informal presentation by Tim
Esposito on how to create style
template documents.
❏ Chapter President, Steve Lungren
talked about upcoming STC-PMC
events, including the Annual
Conference in March.
If you would like be part of the
Montco Group, just come to one of
their meetings, which occur the first
Wednesday of every month. The next
meeting is scheduled for January 5th
(February’s meeting will be on
February 2nd). All meetings are from
6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Lancers Diner,
858 Easton Road in Horsham.
T
As an STC-PMC member you are now entitled to a 20% discount on
books purchased directly from O'Reilly online or by phone.
The 20% discount applies to books published by O'Reilly,
Paraglyph, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint, Syngress, or No Starch
Press. Your 20% discount also applies to O'Reilly conferences and
tutorials!
We want PMC members to write book reviews for publication on
stcpmc.org, in News & Views, and on the O'Reilly catalog site. To
help get you started on your review, you can request a book to
review.
Log on to stcpmc.org, go to PMC Books to get the STC-PMC O'Reilly
discount code, and submit your request for a book to review.

5. January/February 2005 5 NEWS & VIEWS
STC AND RELATED EVENTS
AROUND THE WORLD
January 15. Submission deadline
for abstracts for the Fifth
International Congress on Peer
Review and Biomedical Publication,
which will be held September 17-
19 in Chicago. For more
information check out the Journal
of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) website at
www.jama-peer.org.
January 15-16. The James River
Chapter STC will hold its 2005
Conference, “Information Design
and Management,” at the Four
Points by Sheraton hotel in
Williamsburg, VA. For more
information, contact Don White at
IDM2005@stc-jamesriver.org or
see the website (www.stc-
jamesriver.org)
January 24-27. The 51st Annual
Reliability and Maintainability
Symposium will be held at the
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in
Alexandria, VA. For more
information, see the website
(www.rams.org)
January 30-February 4. ASTD
(American Society for Training and
Development) will hold the ASTD
TechKnowledge 2005 Conference
and Exposition at the Riviera Hotel
and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. For
more information, see the website
(www.astd.org).
February 17-21. The American
Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS) will hold its annual
meeting at the Marriott Wardman
Park Hotel in Washington, DC. For
more information, contact the
AAAS Meetings Department at
aaasmeeting@aaas.org.
February 25-26. The STC Atlanta
Chapter will hold Currents 2005,
its annual technical communication
conference, at the Atlanta campus
of Mercer University. The event will
include a full-day workshop on
Friday and a full-day conference
on Saturday. For more information,
contact Rachel Grimes at
rhgrimes@checkfree.com or see
the Atlanta chapter's website
(www.stcatlanta.org).
NOVEMBER MEETING REVIEW
Instructional Design as a Career
By Dolores Lehr
ccording to Constance
Billé, instructional design
is a field that combines
art, writing, and teaching.
At the November meeting
held at Philadelphia University, Billé
told how she began her own career at
age 16 by creating instructions for
needle-point designs. She then had
the attendees complete a checklist of
tasks they perform at work—tasks
related to instructional design,
technical writing, and
other fields.
Billé explained that
instructional
designers are
concerned with
behavior
outcome rather
than information
input, and they
come from varied
backgrounds,
including
teaching, programming,
project managing, and graphic arts.
Compared to technical writers,
instructional designers are more
concerned with learning outcomes,
assessments, and evaluations.
Nonetheless, she said, both share
skills including research, writing, and
editing. Both use visual design tools
and work with web project
development as well as project
management and content
management systems.
Billé explained that instructional
designers also share skills with other
professionals, including knowledge
managers, consultants, and
instructional technicians.
Instructional design, she said, in fact,
is a cross between writing and
programming.
For those interested in becoming
instructional designers, Billé offered
the following advice.
❏ Join professional associations,
such as STC and its instructional
design SIG.
❏ Take courses in education or
communication. You might consider
enrolling in a university program.
Billé noted that some universities,
like Temple and Penn State,
emphasize theory; whereas others,
like Philadelphia University,
emphasize technology.
❏ Learn how to use basic tools,
(such as, Word and PowerPoint) and
authoring tools (ToolBook,
Authorware, and especially
Breeze—a tool that Billé thinks
will continue to increase in
popularity).
❏ Learn about
available internal
positions and use
contacts to help
make your move.
❏ Learn to
network, and
leave your
current position
on good terms.
❏ “Be a star at work” by showing
initiative and self-management,
having perspective on the larger
picture, being a team player, and
also being a leader.
At the conclusion of her pre-
sentation, Billé had the audience
compare the checklist they
completed earlier with another list
showing specific interests and
experiences shared by groups of
professionals. By comparing these
lists to their personal interests, the
attendees could easily see where
their responses were similar to those
of instructional designers and where
they differed from them.
With these comparisons, Billé
concluded the attendees could
identify the areas of expertise
required to transform their careers
into one of instructional design.
A

6. NEWS & VIEWS 6 January/February 2005
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
By Zsolt Olah
1
R
2
U
3
D
4
O L
5
P
6
H
7
S
8
H
9
A
10
H
11
E U R O
12
U O
13
L O V E
J
14
A B U
15
S E R A
16
U
17
N
18
S
19
U P E R V I S E D
20
V E N D E R
21
U G E Q
22
E W O
23
X T
24
G
25
H S
26
E U
27
N T W
28
U
29
Y A
30
Q
31
H R A
A
32
F P
33
T
34
R U
35
M O U R
36
T A L L Y
37
B I S E C T
I
38
A O R
39
T A L E
40
O
41
L K A
42
I G
43
O
44
V
45
E R
46
N E E D
47
P E R H A P S
ACROSS
1. Red-nosed horsepower
7. Persian king
11. New currency overseas
12. UO
13. Christmas spirit
14. For example, alcohol or drug
molester
16. You become this when your boss in
on vacation
20. Seller
21. Huge aftertaste
22. EWO
23. XTG
25. HSEU
27. NTWU
29. YAQ
31. HRA
32. FPT
34. Words of mouth
36. Belafonte’s banana counter man
37. Two part division
38. Related to the main trunk of the
systemic arteries and not the car
40. End of a Bohemian dance
42. IG
43. End of the normal time period
46. Necessity
47. Possibly
DOWN
1. The process of making young again
2. UU
3. Smart prefix
4. Zeros
5. Stage of adolescence that begins
with a bar
6. Time measurement
7. Sliding vessel
8. Lucky footwear
9. Audio-video
10. Center of operations
14. The vertex
15. Special Law & Order unit
17. Small, sender salamander; Could
be new or not
18. Absent-minded frozen liquid
19. University in Delaware
24. Trash
26. Remedy, backwards
28. Transfer to the server
30. Never ending quilt
33. Son of Odin
35. MS
39. Inside information
41. Beginning of legalization
43. OH
44. Virginia
45. EP
UPCOMING STC WEB AND
TELEPHONE SEMINARS
All of these seminars are held
from 1:00–2:30 p.m. Each seminar
costs $99 per site for STC
members. (The nonmember rate is
$149 per site.) A site can have only
one phone connection and one
computer connection.
In addition to offering high-
quality training at an affordable
price, STC's seminar series features
a quick and simple online
registration process. For detailed
information about any of the
following seminars, go to
stc.webex.com.
January 12. Preemptive Project
Planning, presented by John Hedke
(Web-Telephone)
January 26. A Pound of Salt, a
Pint of Blood—Getting the Most Out
of Your Contractors to Ensure
Project Success, presented by Tom
White (Web-Telephone)
February 2. Low-Tech Analysis of
Sentence Structure: The Sentence
Diagram, presented by Ann
Jennings
February 16. Global Diversity:
Increasing Cross-Cultural
Communication Awareness,
presented by Carol Barnum
March 9. That's a Good Question!
presented by Elizabeth Frick
March 23. Breaking into E-
learning, presented by William
Horton
Guidelines: Not your
typical crossword.
Some of the
definitions maybe be
vague, associative,
even funny. A single
word CAPITALIZED
(e.g., across 25) is
your guide. Use it ‘as
is.’
Puzzle Solution on page 12

7. January/February 2005 7 NEWS & VIEWS
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Putting on Our "A" Game—Jane Phillips
By Jill Cassidy Rolette
s a Red Sox fan, I have
been avidly following
what is usually known as
the seasonal heartbreak
of the postseason. What
a different outcome this year! The
Red Sox, in a week-and-a-half that
defies the history of miracles, have
won the World Series, due to the
sudden and sustained onset of their
“A game” this October. Their what?
Their A game, a situation when key
players rise to meet a challenge with
stellar individual
performances that
combine into an
unstoppable team
performance.
Jane Phillips, our
current vice-
president, is one of
our chapter’s “key
players” and part of
the leadership team
that brings out our
best—our A-game.
As a manager of
documentation and packaging in the
Products Division of PRICE Systems,
L.L.C., in Mount Laurel, NJ, Jane has
a keen eye for detail, marketing, and
public relations and she is using it to
help our chapter rise to new levels of
quality in all areas of membership
services.
Our vice-president describes
herself as a self-professed
Francophile, who loves to travel, and
has recently returned from her third
trip to the South of France. Since
these trips are dear in terms of time
and money, Jane settles for a few
return trips to her former stomping
grounds at the New Jersey seashore
a couple of times a month to stay in
touch with her old summer and
winter haunts.
Yet when she is not jetting off to
the South of France or traipsing
through the sands of the Jersey
shore, Jane develops user assist-
ance for ten software products, as
well as maintains a secure website
for PRICE Systems’ software
customers. She also manages the
production, packaging, and labeling
of CDs and manuals for release. She
incorporates a variety of tools into
her documentation support, including
WinHelp (16- and 32-bit) for heritage
software products, standard HTML
for web-based applications, HTML-
based WebHelp for a client server
application, and FrameMaker and
Acrobat for end-user and
administration guides.
Jane didn’t set out to be a
“technical communicator,” but as is a
common theme with most of us, she
evolved into one through a series of
career opportunities. After a failed
bid to become an astronaut, she
earned a degree in Journalism and
wrote about the energy industry,
nuclear power development, the
agricultural industry, and politics
before moving into the field of public
relations and marketing for
government and non-profit
organizations. With the desire to
switch to a commercial market, Jane
started with PRICE Systems in the
bids and proposals department. She
was tapped for some research
projects and when her writing skills
were seen by senior staff members,
she suddenly found her dance card
full!
While working on a challenging
project, Jane stumbled across the
STC website. She was delighted to
find an organization that existed
solely for the purpose of supporting
professionals like her. As the lone
writer who was focused on software
documentation in her organization,
Jane was thrilled for the opportu-nity
to meet people and discuss ideas for
the purpose of growing and learning.
She joined the Philadelphia Metro
Chapter of STC in 1999 and has
continually become more and more
involved.
Price Systems
underwrites Jane’s STC
membership, but not
without annual
justification. Even with
budget constraints, she
has been able to
convince her company
of STC’s worth, because
of our chapter’s
consistent development
of programming that
anticipates trends in our
region and in our industry. Jane has
taken full advantage of her
membership, using it to update her
knowledge and skills by attending
meetings, using the STC-PMC
member discount for training,
obtaining useful information about
“industry metrics, best practices,
project estimating, budget planning,
vendor contacts, personnel
recruitment, salary guides, and
standards for international
audiences.” She also cites the
professional peer review and
potential awards for projects entered
in the chapter competition as being a
one-of-a-kind benefit to her
membership.
After realizing that she was a
recipient of the STC-PMC’s leadership
team’s hard work and tireless
planning, Jane decided it was time to
“give something back.” She has high
A
(Continued on page 11)
Jane has taken full advantage of her
membership . . . obtaining useful
information about “industry metrics, best
practices, project estimating, budget
planning, vendor contacts, personnel
recruitment, salary guides, and standards
for international audiences.”

8. NEWS & VIEWS 8 January/February 2005
Ten Tips for Effective PowerPoint Presentations
By Dolores Lehr
hile the PowerPoint®
presentation graphics
program is extremely
popular for delivering
information visually to
audiences, many PowerPoint
presentations are poorly constructed
and delivered. These ineffective
presentations often result from poor
planning and neglect of some basics
that go into creating any form of
communication. To avoid putting
your audience to sleep or just boring
them with mind-numbing slides,
consider the following tips.
1. Determine your purpose.
When preparing a presentation,
first ask yourself what your general
purpose is: is it to explain, instruct,
persuade, or entertain? Then
consider your specific purpose: is it to
explain the history of a project,
instruct clients on a new procedure,
or persuade them to adopt your
recommendations? Often a
presentation is ineffective because it
lacks a clear purpose.
2. Identify your audience.
Your purpose, of course, is tied
closely to the analysis of your
audience. Who are these people?
What is their background, and what
do they know about your topic? How
recep-tive are they to what you are
presenting? These are just examples
of the many questions you need to
ask before proceeding.
3. Outline and create a
storyboard.
After determining your purpose
and analyzing your audience, begin
jotting down ideas. Then start your
outline by listing major headers that
you can translate into titles for
individual slides. Divide these titles
into sub-titles, but keep in mind that
if you have only one subtitle under a
title, you need to go back and change
the title. Every title you divide needs
at least two subsections.
Since your presentation is a
visual one, consider creating a
storyboard by sketching a graphic
next to each of the major titles in
your outline. Use a separate page for
each slide, placing the text on one
side and the sketch or name of the
graphic on the other. In your “story,”
be sure to include an introduction,
conclusion, and some transitional
slides.
4. Limit your text and chose
appropriate graphics.
Limit the amount of text on a slide
to 25–35 words (divided into no more
than six lines, if possible). Too many
words reduce the type size and make
reading difficult. Also, you want fewer
words so you can elaborate orally on
what you have written on your slide.
When selecting graphics, consider
the tone you want to convey: for a
formal tone, you might use only
photos; whereas for an informal
tone, you might use cartoons.
5. Use a sans serif font.
Many presenters just convert text
from their pages printed in Times
Roman to their PowerPoint slides.
While this serif font is quite readable
on the printed page, on a screen it is
more difficult to read than a sans
serif font like Arial or Impact. Select
a font that has strong, delineated
lines so everyone in the room can
read it.
6. Use colors with sufficient
contrast.
You might want also to change the
color of your type, but keep in mind,
that light colors, like yellow or gold,
that look fine on your computer
screen can seem washed out and be
extremely difficult to read when they
are projected on a larger screen. If
you do use a light color, consider
highlighting it with a “shadow,” so
there is more contrast.
7. Use animated and
transitional effects sparingly.
In PowerPoint 2003, there are
numerous effects to choose from, but
be wary of choosing too many and
changing them too often. Having
your words fly in from the left and
changing your slides from one to the
other like vertical blinds can work
well. But having the words fly in from
the bottom and then from the left and
right or having screens change as
blinds and then dissolve and fade, will
only distract your audience.
If you create effects, check to
see if they are working properly by
clicking on the star icon in the lower-
left corner of each slide in “Slide
Sorter.” If any transition is not
functioning, go to Slide Show-->Slide
Transition and make the necessary
changes.
8. Edit for accuracy, clarity,
consistency, and conciseness.
In editing, you want to review the
entire show first for accuracy in
content and then for organization.
Check first that all your facts are
correct. Then check the overall
arrangement of the slides by going to
“Slide Sorter” under the “View” pull-
down box. If any slide seems out of
place, just cut and paste it where you
want it to appear.
After reviewing the overall
presentation, check your individual
slides for accuracy and consistency
with punctuation, capitalization,
color, font, and effects. Check also
for clarity and conciseness. Make
sure what you have written is clear,
and see if you can eliminate
unnecessary words, condense
phrases, or eliminate extra graphics.
9. In preparing your delivery,
consider your appearance and
voice.
Wear appropriate comfortable
clothing, and assume a confident
posture. Your body language and
W
(Continued on page 9)

9. January/February 2005 9 NEWS & VIEWS
facial expression should convey
enthusiasm and assurance. Many
presentations have saved by an
enthusiastic and confident presenter.
While speaking, you want to project
your voice so that the people in the
back of the room can hear you. You
also want to practice beforehand
pronouncing any words that you
anticipate having difficulty saying.
During delivery, modulate your
speed—speaking slowly at times,
pausing, and at other times speaking
quickly.
10. Interact with both your
audience and your slides.
Maintain good eye contact. In a
room of 20–25 people, you should be
able to make eye contact with
everyone at least once during the
presentation. With a larger audience,
you can look around as you speak,
and try to make contact with as many
people as possible. Finally, use the
slides as part of your conversation
with the audience—not reading word-
for-word from them, but rather
referring to and elaborating on parts
of each. Point to the slides, com-
menting on individual terms, and
interact with the audience by asking
questions, whether or not you expect
a reply.
By following these tips, you can
avoid the pitfalls that so often
characterize slide shows. In so doing,
you can create and deliver a very
effective PowerPoint presentation.
to do your job, just as it is a tool that
they need to use effectively to do
their own jobs.
Show off your expertise.
Sometimes the best way to
demonstrate your expertise is to
teach it to others. I’m not talking
about turning all your coworkers into
qualified tech writers—just use your
own skills to help them improve
theirs. For example, hold a lunchtime
learning session for managers on
effective writing style, or for QA/QC
folks on how to effectively test a help
system. Being seen as an expert and
as a resource in new areas can
greatly enhance your clout within the
company.
Don’t be an afterthought.
Often, a tech writer is brought on
to a project at its later stages. While
it’s difficult, if not impossible, to
document software that does not yet
exist, tech writers often can add
value to a project at the earlier
stages. Encourage the project
managers to include a tech writer in
early project meetings to explore
how you can help with the project’s
communication needs. By helping to
develop (or even just edit) project
proposals, requirements
specifications, and design
documents, not only will you
demonstrate your added value to the
project, you’ll gain an early
understanding of the product and be
ready to hit the ground running when
it’s time to write the help or the user
guide. Also use the upfront time to
develop a formal documentation plan
for the project, which might include
detailed descriptions of each of your
deliverables along with
corresponding resource estimates
and an overview of the tools to be
used and the delivery format for
each. This will demonstrate that
there is much, much more to
technical communication that just
typing.
Attitude is everything.
Projecting a professional attitude
can work wonders toward achieving
respect in the workplace. Be
confident, positive, responsible, and
resourceful. If you make a mistake,
own up to it, fix the problem, and
then move forward. Treat others as
professionals. Learn to recognize
when you need help or resources,
and then learn to motivate others to
get what you need. Hone your
conflict resolution skills and your
negotiation skills. Above all,
communicate—clearly, directly, and
diplomatically.
I hope that these suggestions will
help some writers in their quest to be
taken more seriously on the job. I
welcome other ideas and
suggestions, so please e-mail me at
mary@maryshawonline and let me
know what more we can do to
improve our image in the workplace.
If I receive enough feedback, I will
incorporate it into a sequel to this
article.
In the meantime, keep up the
good fight. Here’s to our growing
respect in the workplace!
About the author: Mary Shaw is a
technical writer for First Consulting Group
in Wayne, PA. She can be contacted at
mary@maryshawonline.com.
Ten Tips for Effective PowerPoint Presentations
(Continued from page 8)
To Be Treated as a Professional—Be a Professional
(Continued from page 1)

10. NEWS & VIEWS 10 January/February 2005
participate in dialogs with other
chapter members
Positions Available—View the list
of available jobs
Seeking Employment—Add or
modify your Seeking Employment
information
PMC Books—Get the STC-PMC
member code for 20% discount on
O’Reilly books; request a book that
you will review for pubication
Presentation Materials—View
materials made available by pre-
senters from past STC-PMC programs
STC-PMC Members—View the list
of STC-PMC members
Submit Event—Submit information
for the Calendar
Hangman—Play the famous word
game
You can use these features to
submit your own book reviews,
articles, comments, and questions
via the site to the PMC membership.
With your unique contributions,
stcpmc.org can be a useful portal for
exchanging ideas and information.
You’ll also be able to access
features using the modules found on
the Control Panel tabs: Site Content,
My Settings, and My Modules. Some
of these modules permit you to
change settings to suit the way you
want to use them when you visit the
site.
Control Panel: Site Content
Bulletin Board—A forums module
for dialog among chapter members:
add topics for discussion; add
comments to topics; send a note to
the person posting; monitor topic
posts via email alerts
Documents—Documents made
available for download
Multi-Send Notes—Send notes to
groups of users
Positions Wanted—Post your info
on the site for employers
Web Pages—Submit articles and
reviews for approval and posting on
the site
STC-PMC Cook Book—Add a
recipe to the cook book
My Modules
Notes—Send notes to individual
members registered on the site
My Settings
Change My Password—Manage
your password and email address
Personal Comment Settings—
Manage the display of comments
on the site
Set My Bulletin Board
Preferences—Manage thread
monitoring for Bulletin Board forums
Site Mailing Lists—Manage your
STC-PMC mailing list subscription(s)
All of these options are fairly
simple and you should be able to
figure out how things work by trying
them out. You don’t need to use
HTML in order to submit an article or
book review, just use plain text. Once
you’ve tried it, you’ll see how simple
the system is to use.
Go ahead, set up your STC-PMC
user account. It’s one of the many
benefits of membership in the
Philadelphia Metro Chapter
community of interest. If you have a
question about using the site or
would like some assistance, please
contact me at president@stcpmc.org
and I will be happy to help you.
stcpmc.org: It’s Yours!
(Continued from page 3)
Finally, don’t forget to vote in STC’s international elections. Candidates are as follows:
Although I am not familiar with either of the Region 1 Director/Sponsor candidates, I know most of the other
candidates. The Society will be in good hands.
Preliminary Slate of Candidates for STC Offices
President Suzanna Laurent
First Vice President Mike Bates
Second Vice President Paula Berger, Linda L. Oestreich, and Deborah Sauer
Treasurer William C. (W.C.) Wiese and Douglas C. Woestendiek
Region 1 Director/Sponsor Cynthia C. Currie and Richard P. Maggiani
Happy New Year!
(Continued from page 2)

11. January/February 2005 11 NEWS & VIEWS
hopes for our chapter and would like
to our membership grow, because its
size directly corresponds to the
funding we receive from the Society,
and this money helps provide the
best possible local programming.
She would like to see our publicity
efforts expand so that we reach more
technical communicators in our area,
through various media.
While our existing resources
provide excellent tools for members,
Jane believes we can become more
specialized by targeting the diverse
interests and needs of members
within our group. She points out that
Steve Lungren, our chapter
president, has established a poll on
the STC-PMC website, to stay abreast
of the issues and concerns that are of
the utmost importance to our
members. Jane would also like to see
the leadership team provide ample
documentation for our existing roles
and responsibilities, so that we can
give an accurate picture of what we
are asking of volunteer recruits.
I asked Jane what strengths she
brings to the chapter leadership team
(although I have a pretty good idea
from working with her these past few
months!). Participating on leadership
teams for a variety of non-profit
organizations and professional
associations has provided Jane with
great experience in how to address
the “bottom line,” and how to begin
projects with a very clear goal in
mind. Her background in public
relations and marketing has helped
her to hone her planning and
budgeting skills. As an aside, I can
also add that Jane brings a clarity of
vision and detailed approach for
achieving the desired end result to
our chapter leadership team.
As some of you may realize, STC,
and our chapter specifically are facing
many changes in the upcoming year.
I asked Jane to help us decipher what
these changes mean to us as
individual members of the
organization and our chapter. Jane
identified the in-process
transformation initiative of STC,
which was designed with the hope of
enhancing the usefulness of the
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) so
that they can best meet the
members’ needs. Since the chapter
has historically been the primary
point of contact for STC members,
this could potentially bring about a
shift in funding and chapter
representation. STC-PMC does not
suffer from the geographic
challenges that many chapters
experience, allowing us to offer
“creative face-to-face meetings” and
multi-tiered pricing for our annual
conference and other chapter events.
Jane offers this helpful advice for
members navigating the STC
transformation:
“As a direct result of the
transformation initiative, when you
renew your STC membership for
2005, the renewal form will offer
some new membership options.
You’ll recognize the Classic
membership, because it is the most
similar to our current membership
plan. The E-Membership is similar to
the Classic membership, but E-
Members save $10 by agreeing to
receive all STC publications
electronically. The Limited
membership is intended for those
(such as libraries) who are only
interested in subscribing to STC print
publications.
“The fee for Classic and E-
Memberships includes the option to
choose one chapter and one SIG, or
three SIGs (no chapter). I advise our
PMC members to renew their
Philadelphia Metro Chapter affiliation
as a Classic or E-Member because
both of these memberships support
local programming by returning
funds to our chapter.”
For more information about the
STC transformation initiative, please
visit the Society’s website at
www.stc.org/transformation.
Finally, Jane detailed some ways
in which members can help maintain
the momentum our chapter has
experienced in the past year: “Our
website has the potential to be a
meeting place for chapter members.
Sign on frequently, read the
newsletter, check on coming events,
scour the job boards, and answer the
poll questions. The last is important.
Like all good technical
communicators, we need to get the
needs analysis right if we are to
deliver useful information to our
audience.”
Our chapter is moving decisively
forward to continue to improve the
quality of the resources it provides its
members. For example, the
chapter’s annual conference is well
under way, headed by a committee
led by our treasurer, Gary Samartino.
The committee consists of the
following areas of responsibility:
❏ Communications
❏ Facilities
❏ Programming
❏ Registration
❏ Hospitality
❏ Membership Promotion
❏ Competition Awards
❏ Volunteer Recruitment
❏ Sponsorship Development.
With help from the strong
leadership experience of people like
Jane Phillips, the course is much
smoother and the way ahead looks
clear. The game is on and our team
looks like a winner! Why not consider
a way in which you can be a part our
chapter’s growth and progress?
Putting on Our "A" Game—Jane Phillips
(Continued from page 7)

12. NEWS & VIEWS 12 January/February 2005
MANJIROMANJIRO
InternationalInternational
Internationalization
Localization
Translation
• Technical publications
• Multilingual web sites
• Software applications
Call for a free phone consultation
267-972-1034
info@manjirointernational.com
www.manjirointernational.com
Upcoming Meetings
The information in the following table was correct at the time NEWS & VIEWS was published. Be sure to check the
website (www.stcpmc.org) for details and late-breaking updates to the schedule. For all Thursday meetings, reservations
are due by the Monday before the meeting.
Date Meeting Topic Location
January 20, 2005 Global Communication: Where in the World Is Your Project?
presented by Heather Petit, Senior Technical Communication
Consultant at First Consulting Group (FCG) and Marcia
Jacquette, independent Technical Communication consultant
Web Delivery—See the STC-
PMC website for more
information.
February 17, 2005 Lifelong Learning Panel: Training to Keep the “Techie” in Your
Technique
Enterprise Center, Burlington
Community College,
Mount Laurel, NJ
March 19, 2005 Third Annual Philadelphia Metro Conference: Transforming
Your Career with STC-PMC
Penn State University,
Great Valley, PA
April 21, 2005 Knowledge Management TBD
May 8–11, 2005 STC’s 52nd Annual Conference Seattle, WA
May 19, 2005 Business Climate in Philadelphia TBD
June 16, 2005 Marriage of Image and Text TBD
Deadline for the
March/April 2005 newsletter
is February 15, 2005
Puzzle Solution from page 6:
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