6.1. SR 12-14-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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To From Date/Time Subject Pat Klaers Elk River City Administrator Chad McCoy 12/8/98 at 6:06PM Understandable Presentations to the General Population During the December 7th City Council meeting it was noted by a citizen that much of the information being presented was not clearly understandable. Although the presentation was well done many people seemed confused or lost. including those with in the audience who did have a more advanced understanding of economics, and much of the information went over their heads. This resulted from three primary problems, the speed the presentation progressed, the fact the audience did not have the information directly in front of them, and the format of the presentation. There is, of course, only a limited amount of time in which these meetings can take place, however, rather than attempting to explain minor subjects during these meetings, additional handouts presented in a easy to read format would greatly decrease the confusion that resulted. With confusion minimized and peoples understanding of what's going on would save time and therefor there would be little need to slow down. The most likely solution is using part of the Power Point program titled "notes pages". These notes pages could be printed out for the citizens that attend the council meetings. Each page would automatically include a small view of a particular screen, including the graphs and information that was presented. Additional notes could be placed with in the rest of the page, possibly with small explanations so that as each citizen listens to a report they have their own copy of that information, which explains exactly what is going on. They can then go back to that information should they wish to raise questions or make notes. Additionally, some form of simple packet could also be compiled in which they could possibly read at home should they wish further information. With this information presented more clearly, a lot of confusion could be cleared up, and ultimately time saved. In addition to the above the final solution is a clear presentation. The slides them selves were not necessarily clear to the audience viewing them. Although well laid out, they were some what hard to read. The color of the text did not contrast the back ground as well as it could have, and monitors become harder to read as one moves farther away from them. With the new version of Power Point it would be possible to use a white back ground, with a professional looking format and design, that contrasts much better with its black text. This to may also make a difference and allow concerned citizens to read faster and better, and thus understand the information presented. Hopefully these solutions will help, but above all else it is important to remember to keep these presentations as accurate yet simple as possible. 'A historic fiver community serv~ as a r~on~l c¢'nter with a £avor~bl¢ location near the Twin Gdes mctropolitm area"