Avoid “Death by PowerPoint!” Writing Program Director Madeleine Sorapure will be leading two workshops on how to create compelling presentation strategies. Slides with too much text or confusing graphics can distract and confuse the audience. The workshop will concentrate on effective slide design in formatting presentations that engage and inform. Elements of graphic design, guidelines for use of text, the use of color and images, and a host of other PowerPoint features will be discussed. In addition to Writing Program Director, Professor Sorapure teaches courses in new media and digital composing and is co-director of the Multimedia track for the Professional Writing Minor. The workshop will be offered Wednesday, March 9 from 9:30-11:00 a.m. in the Social Sciences and Media Studies Building (SSMS) 1007 and Friday, March 11 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in SSMS 1005. Space is limited so those interested are encouraged to RSVP by visiting gradpost.ucsb.edu. The workshops are open to all graduate students and postdocs. It is a hands-on workshop held in a computer lab. All participants are welcome to bring in designs they are currently working on or to use the workshop to begin new projects.