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Demo tools for screen annotation

I like how @Ross_Metusalem annotates his screen during demos and he said he uses a tool called Demo Pro. This is only available for Mac but I was able to find what I think is an equivalent type of tool called ZoomIt for Windows. The JMP laser pointer works well for most situations but this seems like a nice tool to have as it gives you a few more options (drawing rectangles, arrows, starting timers). Does anyone have other tools they use during demos or mostly just rely on the laser pointer? Thanks!

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

Was just playing around with ZoomIt -- that's a neat utility, I'd never seen it before.

I wonder if our dev team can add some of that functionality into the JMP Laser Pointer. I'd love to be able to draw a rectangle, arrow, straight line, etc. on the fly.

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

Hi,

Just a heads up a few customers have requested this functionality.

There is an open wish list item for this request Enhanced laser pointer? 

Stan

 

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

As you mention, @Joseph_Reese, ZoomIt seems to be the most popular tool for this for Windows.

Just a couple of other thoughts:

1. Powerpoint has tools like this that I have used occasionally. Obviously this does not help when live demoing JMP.

2. In the spirit of Simplicity, Impact, Relevance, and Brevity - question whether you should simplify the demo. If you need more than just the JMP Laser Pointer, then maybe the thing you are trying to explain is too complicated.

Cheers!

Phil

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

My weapon of choice is the Demo Pro tool that was mentioned earlier.  I use it because I can more easily annotate things in JMP (or slides) than with the native laser pointer.  It has a hotkey that I can use to turn it off or on, so it's only there when I need it. It's also persistent, so I can leave up the annotation while I talk about it - or annotate multiple things on the screen at the same time.  

gInk is an alternative for windows, but most people I know that use pointers use ZoomIt.  

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

Thanks Mike. I do appreciate the look of the cleaner lines and shapes when I have seen people use those tools. Much better than my sorry attempt to draw a square or circle with the laser pointer  

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

@MikeD_Anderson, I also appreciate the persistence of the annotations. For example, we might want the audience to maintain attention on something while our mouse goes elsewhere (e.g., maintain attention on a graph while we click elsewhere to make that graph change). Persistent annotation helps keep audience eyes where we want them. I also appreciate the ability to extend annotations across multiple JMP windows to help the audience map information across outputs (e.g., point from a number in one report to a related feature of a graph in another report). I don't think these use cases pop up in demos too often, but when they do, helping our audience direct attention effectively really can make a difference in them seeing the value of (or even making sense of) what JMP is doing versus being confused.

But @Phil_Kay makes an important point. Occasionally, I've found myself with several arrows and boxes on my screen at once and realized that I'm probably creating confusion, not avoiding it. These tools are double-edged swords.

Re: Demo tools for screen annotation

I would like to add to @Phil_Kay  comments.  In a pre-sales demo, we should not be focused on educating potential users on how to use JMP, but rather if JMP can answer a specific business or technical problem. Its more about what than how. Showing the end result is more important than showing how to do it.

If the annotation is used to describe what they are looking at when you are describing it, then it helps direct their attention to the output that solves their problem and hopefully why it solves their problem.

If they ask how you got there, then it should be as few steps as possible without describing all of the options, only the ones they are interested in and asked about. That means minimizing distracting annotations that persist on the screen and only use when it is not clear what option you have selected per their request.

Everything should look as easy as possible. Anything that helps focus the attention on the solution to the problem is definitely useful.

With that said, I would really like rectangles, circles and arrows that are much neater than my horribly drawn JMP laser pointer attempts to temporarily draw those objects to focus the audience's attention to what I am talking about.