At a recent ASAB Virtual conference, I gave a 'notebook talk'. It was the most popular and talked-about presentation I've ever given. I thought I'd share some advice and tech tips for those wishing to create a similar talk. Click the image below to learn how to make and stream your own notebook presentation!
Why create a notebook talk?
A fair question - this process will likely take slightly longer than slinging your content into Powerpoint, as almost everybody does. But because almost everybody opts for Powerpoint, any deviation from the typical format instantly awakens your audience. "What is going on here? This is new." You will instantly gain their engagement, and you are much more likely to create a memorable talk. They will remember you, your creativity, and the material you presented.
How do I create a notebook talk?
Step one is to buy a notebook! I find that spiral-ring notebooks work best, as they can lay flat on a table. You will likely find that A4 is the ideal size, as smaller notebooks may become fiddly. My approach was to sketch out my content on some scrap paper and then transcribe this (carefully, as I have atrocious hand-writing) into the notebook. Spiral-ring notebooks also have the benefit that if you mess up, you can tear the page out. At times I used Powerpoint to design the different "slides/pages", and move elements around to see how they would best fit.
Be creative! There is no need to even use a notebook, you could use scraps of paper or photos, or hand-made collages, or scrapbook pages, or pages printed from your laptop. The possibilities are endless.
How do I present my notebook talk?
Be yourself, and inject some of your personality! I found that, since the audience couldn't see my face, I wanted to be more expressive with my hands. Anyone who has seen The Addam's Family or Netflix's Wednesday knows how characterful a hand can be! I also found it much easier to point to specific pieces of text or images/graphs compared to a normal Powerpoint presentation, and tried to make the most of this.
You can include props! I grabbed my camera, binoculars, field notebook, and GPS unit. This helped make the research seem more real, and I hope the audience could imagine being in the field holding those objects and carrying out the research. I printed out photos to show my study animal and field methods.
How do I record/stream my notebook talk?
This is the slightly tricky part. Once you have designed and written your notebook, and practiced giving your presentation (complete with jazz hands and props), it is time to share it with the world.
My first attempt at this was an internal department seminar - a safe environment in which to give a presentation that might go wrong. I streamed the talk live on Zoom. To do this, I used my Nikon dSLR, which can be used as a Webcam paired with Nikon's Windows and MacOS software. Canon and Sony have similar software. I then used a tripod precariously leant against my desk, to point the camera directly down at the desk surface where my notebook was. In Zoom/Teams, it was simply a matter of switching from my usual webcam to my Nikon camera, and I was immediately streaming a view of my notebook. There wasn't even any screen-sharing required! The ASAB conference required pre-recorded talks, so I later simply recorded my talk using the camera, transferred the video file from the camera SD card to my laptop, and shared this with the conference organisers.
However, if you do not own a mirrorless or dSLR camera, fear not! Your iPhone or Android smartphone can easily be used as a webcam for your laptop, either wirelessly or tethered with a USB cable. This is likely a better option, as a large camera can be unwieldy. Simply google your phone model and "use as a webcam on MacOS or Windows". This, combined with a cheap selfie-stick, is the easiest way to stream your notebook talk live. Select your Smartphone as your webcam in Teams or Zoom, and you are ready to go.
Apple also offers "Desk View" for its MacBooks and iPhones. An accessory is needed to mount your iPhone to your laptop screen (see below), but once fitted, the iPhone intelligently combines video from its lenses to show a top-down view of the desk space in front of your laptop keyboard. It has to be seen to be believed!
A fair question - this process will likely take slightly longer than slinging your content into Powerpoint, as almost everybody does. But because almost everybody opts for Powerpoint, any deviation from the typical format instantly awakens your audience. "What is going on here? This is new." You will instantly gain their engagement, and you are much more likely to create a memorable talk. They will remember you, your creativity, and the material you presented.
How do I create a notebook talk?
Step one is to buy a notebook! I find that spiral-ring notebooks work best, as they can lay flat on a table. You will likely find that A4 is the ideal size, as smaller notebooks may become fiddly. My approach was to sketch out my content on some scrap paper and then transcribe this (carefully, as I have atrocious hand-writing) into the notebook. Spiral-ring notebooks also have the benefit that if you mess up, you can tear the page out. At times I used Powerpoint to design the different "slides/pages", and move elements around to see how they would best fit.
Be creative! There is no need to even use a notebook, you could use scraps of paper or photos, or hand-made collages, or scrapbook pages, or pages printed from your laptop. The possibilities are endless.
How do I present my notebook talk?
Be yourself, and inject some of your personality! I found that, since the audience couldn't see my face, I wanted to be more expressive with my hands. Anyone who has seen The Addam's Family or Netflix's Wednesday knows how characterful a hand can be! I also found it much easier to point to specific pieces of text or images/graphs compared to a normal Powerpoint presentation, and tried to make the most of this.
You can include props! I grabbed my camera, binoculars, field notebook, and GPS unit. This helped make the research seem more real, and I hope the audience could imagine being in the field holding those objects and carrying out the research. I printed out photos to show my study animal and field methods.
How do I record/stream my notebook talk?
This is the slightly tricky part. Once you have designed and written your notebook, and practiced giving your presentation (complete with jazz hands and props), it is time to share it with the world.
My first attempt at this was an internal department seminar - a safe environment in which to give a presentation that might go wrong. I streamed the talk live on Zoom. To do this, I used my Nikon dSLR, which can be used as a Webcam paired with Nikon's Windows and MacOS software. Canon and Sony have similar software. I then used a tripod precariously leant against my desk, to point the camera directly down at the desk surface where my notebook was. In Zoom/Teams, it was simply a matter of switching from my usual webcam to my Nikon camera, and I was immediately streaming a view of my notebook. There wasn't even any screen-sharing required! The ASAB conference required pre-recorded talks, so I later simply recorded my talk using the camera, transferred the video file from the camera SD card to my laptop, and shared this with the conference organisers.
However, if you do not own a mirrorless or dSLR camera, fear not! Your iPhone or Android smartphone can easily be used as a webcam for your laptop, either wirelessly or tethered with a USB cable. This is likely a better option, as a large camera can be unwieldy. Simply google your phone model and "use as a webcam on MacOS or Windows". This, combined with a cheap selfie-stick, is the easiest way to stream your notebook talk live. Select your Smartphone as your webcam in Teams or Zoom, and you are ready to go.
Apple also offers "Desk View" for its MacBooks and iPhones. An accessory is needed to mount your iPhone to your laptop screen (see below), but once fitted, the iPhone intelligently combines video from its lenses to show a top-down view of the desk space in front of your laptop keyboard. It has to be seen to be believed!
You should now have the enthusiasm, confidence, skills, and software needed to stream or record a notebook talk. Go for it!