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Show Your Work: Creating Portfolio Images to Share

August 10, 2014 By Jackie Van Nice 4 Comments

This week’s Articulate challenge is about creating images to showcase your work. After going through the process of producing new work it’s tempting to just move on, but creating shareable images helps build a more visual portfolio and show your peers what you’ve been up to, too.

Main Portfolio Image

First, David Anderson wanted us to create a main portfolio image he could use to link from the challenge to our online portfolios.

Since my website pretty much says it all (who I am, what I do, and what my work looks like), I adapted the basic layout of my site and captures of my work into an image David could use. I also like the idea that anyone clicking on the image will land on exactly what they’d expect to see. Truth in advertising.

Portfolio Image for the Challenge: Look familiar?

Use this free template! I shared the template I used to create this image with another community member, and they found it so useful I thought I’d offer it as a free download. It’s in PowerPoint, and you’re welcome to grab it right here.

Images for Social Media

The next step was to create the same type of image to share on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Since each handles images differently, the challenge is to try to get your image to display as you’d like it to. The images I shared on those sites are below.

This will be an ongoing challenge. Between the ever-changing demos I create and the ever-changing sites to share them on, this can only be a work in progress. But the value of figuring it out and doing it well is enormous. Thanks for the challenge, David!

Portfolio Image Posted to Facebook

Portfolio Image Posted to Twitter

Portfolio Image I Pinned on Pinterest

How I Record Audio for E-Learning

August 1, 2014 By Jackie Van Nice 22 Comments

This week’s Articulate challenge is to share how you create audio for your e-learning projects. Here are David Anderson’s questions along with my answers.

1. Tell us about your recording setup.

I use an Audio-Technica AT2020 desktop USB mic (pictured here on my desk). I either record directly into Storyline or Audacity – just depends on what I need. I used to do elaborate things to try to deaden the room or block out noise, but I stopped all of that and now I record pretty much as you see here, including the low light. I like a nice, calm atmosphere with as few lawnmowers and barking dogs as possible.

2. Show us your audio setup.

See that photo? That’s my audio setup. It’s my USB mic plugged directly into my PC or iMac. This is basically the setup I used to record this podcast; though in that case I was recording into Garage Band rather than Audacity.

3. Share your three favorite audio recording tips.

A. PRE-READ:

One of the first things they teach you in radio is to pre-read your copy. I started in public radio, so I learned this reading PSAs and other announcements. The key is not to read silently; you have to read aloud. Seems silly, right? Fact is, whenever I skip this step I end up doing more takes and more editing. If you invest your time up front by reading the script aloud, and with fluidity, before you record that one piece of it – you’ll save time on the back end by eliminating multiple takes and fixes.

B. LISTEN TO EVERY TAKE BEFORE YOU MOVE ON:

Normally I’m recording for individual screens in Storyline. As tempting as it is to say “Got it!” and move on to the next slide, I always stop and listen very carefully and at full volume to the take I just did. That may be the first time you hear the plane or the sneeze or the pencil drop that snuck in while you were focusing on your script.

C. CARE:

That’s it. Just care about what you’re saying. Anyone can read a line of text, but that’s not going to lead to a compelling voiceover any more than slapping images and text into an e-learning development tool is going to lead to a compelling learning experience. Understand what you’re saying and why you’re saying it, think about who you’re talking to, and put your best energy, focus, and intention into it. It matters, and it shines through in the end result.

My Scenic Route to E-Learning Design (+ Free Storyline Template!)

July 27, 2014 By Jackie Van Nice 12 Comments

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This week’s Articulate challenge was to create a virtual tour. Given how varied my journey to e-learning has been, I thought it might make for an interesting tour.

Select Image to Launch Inspiration Demo

Design Inspiration

I liked one of David Anderson’s inspiration examples enough to create something similar. It’s a New York Times virtual wine tour of Italy. I appreciated how quick and compact it was while still providing enough information to make for a good tour.

Content

I capped it at 30 jobs, but there were more. At times I worked up to 5 simultaneous part-time jobs in college. Multiply that by a whole lot of quarters and semesters, and we could have been here all day.

Ducks Are Involved

See the Tour!

If you’d like the tour, take it here.

Grab the Free Template!

Download the Free Storyline Template!

This piece was easier than most to make into a template to give away, so that’s what I did. Grab it on the download page, then have fun making your own tour!

Do I Have To Learn Everything Right This Second?

July 24, 2014 By Jackie Van Nice 14 Comments

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This week’s Articulate challenge is to create an interactive organizational chart or a “meet the team” sort of thing. Org charts and the like bore the heck out of me, but I like the idea of introducing someone to their new team or job, so I went with that.

How Did We End Up On Vacation?

When you start a new job, you’re a stranger in a strange land. All I did was apply that situation to visiting a new place rather than starting a new job. In either situation, you need to get your bearings and figure out what’s going on very quickly.

Chunking By Importance

In this case I sorted the information by relative importance, but in a work environment it could be sorted by task or department or time increment or anything else. The idea is to break it into chunks that have more meaning and don’t have to be accessed all at once, since information overload is as good as no information at all.

The Interaction

I had planned on (and spent way too much time on) fleshing out the detail at the end. As time ran out I trashed all of that and fleshed out the front end instead. It was the right thing to do and it ended up being a good demo of how to present information like this – including how to present it in context and at the point of need. I like it.

Ready to Navigate Your Vacation?

If so, feel free to take this demo out for a spin!

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The Downside of Leaving the House: A Video Diary

July 17, 2014 By Jackie Van Nice 28 Comments

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This week’s Articulate challenge is to create a training video with your smart phone. In my defense, I’ll point out that only the phone was required to be smart.

What Happened

I had the innocent idea of showing how people like me who spend all their time in home offices breathing in more highlighter fumes than fresh air – (which may explain a lot, now that I think about it) – can bust out. I planned to shoot on nearby Hilton Head Island.

When I mentioned this to Dan, in the interest of getting his help filming the drive, he immediately said “and it’s the perfect chance to use this guy!” What happened after that is kind of a blur.

Video Lessons Learned

I used my iPhone with no additional apps and made edits on the desktop in Pinnacle Studio 17 before popping it into Storyline. I learned:

Lighting is never easy.
Shooting in direct sunlight makes seeing the viewfinder nearly impossible.
Shooting in gale-force winds while sand is being whipped at the device will lead to unusable audio, among other things.

The Storyline Piece

Framing the story felt much harder than framing the heinous video for some reason. I ended up liking the time-lapse drive to the island and the layout I designed to view the different video clips. I’d like to use those ideas in other projects.

My favorite part might be the souvenir photo at the end since it sums up the absurdity quite nicely.

If You Must

If you really want to see this, you can check it out right here.

Select Image to Launch Demo