Plan Travelling to Give a Presentation - lessons learned

I recently gave a slide presentation using a Microsoft PDF at a club venue I know well in Singapore. I had the choice of using a borrowed laptop with a larger screen. Or a smaller laptop which would be lighter to carry.

I chose to usu the larger laptop. The screen would be easier to see if I had to turn it to the audience if I could not connect my laptop with the screen.

Lesson Learned
By the end of the afternoon the laptop failed - no battery power. No connector to the wall socket for mains power. I had the connector which links the laptop to the display screen in the office, and to the screen in the demonstration classroom. But I did not have the power! When using my old Apple machine, the power cable with the square power block was obvious. With the black laptop, just a lot of unfamiliar leads and bit and pieces and cables.   So much to remember and carry! I should have made a checklist of cables and connectors required.

Luckily, I had a print out of all the slides as a reminder.

Feedback
The feedback I got was:

Font Size, Shape and Colour
1 Use a minimum of 18 point font so people in the back row of even a small classroom can read it. I later looked on the internet to research this and found varying recommendations on a website called Quora.

The respondents also discussed which fonts are best for changing from an apple to a Mac system, for dyslexics, which colours are best, less tiring than black and white, yet acceptable and readable for the colour - one suggestion was the blue on yellow or yellow on blue). Sans serif which I prefer apparently makes you read on, whilst serif (with the feet like Times Roman, which I hate - to me it looks old fashioned and confusingly cluttered) apparently leads the eyes along the line of text

Acting Out
2 'We enjoyed the way you acted,' said Teresa.
 'You managed to act out grammar.,' said Trevor.

Acting Singlish
I had demonstrated the English phrase, 'an off day', folding my arms and looking glum. 'Having a day off' - short for 'a day off work' - running towards the door gleefully. Finally, the Singlish phrase 'an off day' which sounds to English speakers like the first (demonstrate glum again) when what they mean is the second (run to the door).

Singing
I demonstrated bring and take. For bringing and bringing back (alliteration!) I sand Bring Back My Bonnie To Me (an old Sottish folk song, well known in the UK, more of a novelty in Asia).

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Architects please copy colours on seats

When Waterloo Centre was built on Waterloo Street in Singapore the coloured floors and matching seats must have looked amazing. They still do if you look closely and ignore the dust and dirt and disintegration of time. To judge by the notices, this complex has the threat or promise of refurbishment or redevelopment. 

I hope they will preserve the coloured marble floors and seats. 

I prefer seats with backs. I find wood more friendly than hard, unshaped flat seating. No backs on chairs and benches means people tend to slump and get round-shouldered. Glance around any public area with backless seats and you will see what I mean. Slumping can cause neck and neck pain. 

But I can understand that this simple design is less prone to wear and tear than painted or varnished surfaces. 

I love the colours. What are the colours, Cream and green and rusty, orangey red.

Colourful seating in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Spelling note. The spelling colour is British. Color is American.

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite posts with colleagues or family and friends.

Where To See Colourful buildings which change colour to light the night in Singapore

Problem
How to bighten a sad day - when you have a long journey or lose your way.

Answer
Photograph a colourful building, such as this one, changing colour in Singapore.

Stories

Two buildings which I have stopped to admire and photograph in Singapore:

The Hamilton building is a skyscraper standing beside the Sheraton Towers hotel in Scotts Road running north just along from the centre of Singapore, Orchard Road. This is a private development. The block's oblong lines are stark, but relieved by colour. At night the lights change colour.

Going further out of town, the Nee Soon East Community Centre, a public building, is soothingly circular and equally colourful with changing lights.

For me, seeing colour is a blessing a big part of my life. I wear colourful clothes. What I like about Singapore and the far east is that the tropical climate makes flowers bloom all year, so the scenery is colourful. Housing and clothes are made to match their surroundings.

Tips
To reach the Sheraton Towers Hotel and see the Hamilton building you could take the MRT train from Orchard to Newton. Alternatively take a bus. Or you could walk.

To reach Nee Soon East community centre, take the MRT to Yishun MRT. The community centre is on maps but even when you are out in the roadway by the giant junction it is hard to remember which way to go. Passers by don't all know the community centre. However it is opposite the bus garage interchange.

See my later post on the Hamilton.
Photos by Angela Lansbury, copyright.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.