Related tips

• A slide show that really slides
• Animation for entertainment
• Tutorial on animation and best practices

March 29, 2009

April, 2009 background - Turquoise border

This subtle border adds a hint of color without being obtrusive. You can use it on the title and last slides, or on all slides. Insert the PNG file onto the slide or slide master, right-click, and send it to the back (Order> Send to Back, or just Send to Back).

March 25, 2009

April, 2009 Resource of the Month - PPTAlchemy

John Wilson's site, PPTAlchemy, offers lots of tips and tutorials, useful add-ins, and more. John is a PowerPoint MVP.

March 22, 2009

Support your statements

After deciding on the points you want to make in your upcoming presentation, you need to figure out how to support those points. For example, if your point is that your company has the largest market share in the industry, quote the research (hopefully done by a third party) that says so. This applies to both business presentations and educational presentations. The support you provide for your message is essential for an effective presentation.

In the Tell 'n' Show^SM method of creating effective presentations, you tell you point, then you show it. So, each point requires some validation, some evidence. Which validation you choose may depend on your audience. Some people want hard data, others want to know what the competition is doing, and still others may want the advice of an expert. A story that conveys a poignant situation may be effective. Sometimes, all you need is an image to show what you're telling. If you say that the copier you sell fits on a small table, a photograph will suffice.

Here are the types of evidence you can use:

Images

A photo is often a great way to show a point. You can use a photo in three ways:

• Literally: If you're talking about a piece of equipment, show a photo of it rather than describe its specifications in bulleted text. You can use callouts that point to the various features and label them.
• Metaphorically: Sometimes a point you're making is a concept, rather than a fact. For example, you may be talking about tough times ahead, so you could show a photo of a rocky road or a steep staircase.

• Schematically: If you're talking about a process, you can show it with a diagram or add arrows to point out parts of a photo.

Diagrams

A diagram can show a process, hierarchy, or other relationships. You can use AutoShapes and arrows, the flowchart shapes with connectors (in the Lines category in PowerPoint 2007; otherwise in the Connectors category), or the SmartArt feature of 2007.

Charts/Graphs

Charts (also known as graphs) visually display data, especially data showing a trend. Use only the data that supports your point, not all the data in the Excel spreadsheet where you got the data. If the data is too complex, it won't be comprehensible on a slide. What to do? Print it out and give it to the audience as a handout.

Tables

When your data doesn't clearly show a trend, use a table. You may have this data in Excel, and can even link to the Excel file.

Quotations

Quotes are very powerful when they come from authorities or well-known individuals. In a persuasive presentation, you can use testimonials from other customers, for example.

Stories

Stories are powerful when they support your message. They can be personal, related to current events, examples from other customers, and so on. They can be full-blown situations, or simple examples. Collect stories as you hear them and keep them in a file for use later.

Related tips:

Tell 'n' Show^SM slide design
Do the research!
Base content on your audience

March 21, 2009

Slide design contest

The PowerPoint Live Template Contest: American Idol Meets Slide Design

Brilliant artistry, crazed contestants, and famous judges all on display in annual competition to create conference template.

For the fifth consecutive year, the PowerPoint Live User Conference is holding its Design-a-Template contest, with a free trip to the fall event being awarded to the person whose work is chosen to serve as the conference template. The conference has received over 300 entries across the last four and a half years, spanning all software versions and many design motifs. The contest’s legacy includes brilliant work by exceptionally talented people, as well as a bit of comic relief by those who just wanted to be part of the experience...not unlike those who audition for American Idol.

“The challenge to this contest,” says Altman, “is the requirement that our slide design serve as the backdrop for all of the great ideas and visuals put forth by our presenters. In order to be a contender, a design needs to wear well for eight hours a day across three days. Contest participants want to be noticed, we get that, but their designs need to succeed in staying subtle and playing the supporting role. That's not so easy.”

Deadline for entries is Friday, June 5 and the contest is open to anyone.

Contest rules:http://www.pptlive.com/contest.htm

Gallery of past winners and entrants: http://snipurl.com/ppt_contest

Conference website: http://www.pptlive.com

For further information, contact Rick Altman. Phone: 925.600.PRESENT (7737)

March 14, 2009

Animation for entertainment

Occasionally, you may want to use PowerPoint animation for its entertainment value. An introduction that loops as the audience arrives is one good use. Another is to build excitement at the launch of a new product.

I usually recommend restraint when using animation, but when the purpose is entertainment, you have a lot more leeway. Insert an image and try out all the animation effects, one after another, just to see what they do. It's fun! Then choose one that you like.

Here, I explain one way to use the Rise Up animation, which introduces an object by raising it up from the bottom, and ends with a little bounce. To make the transition from image to image seamless, I put three on one slide and added a delay. The result is a slide show effect, as you see here. I used photos of winter scenes, but you could use product photos instead.

 

Here are the steps:

1. On the Drawing toolbar, click Insert Picture. (In 2007, go to Insert tab> Illustrations group> Picture.) Insert a picture that you want to use. Repeat to insert a total of 3 to 5 pictures. It's helpful to use photos that are all the same size and orientation.
2. Drag the top picture down and to the right. Drag the next picture in the same direction, but slightly less. Continue until the images are offset from each other enough so you can select the picture you want easily.

3. You can use the Rise Up animation with photos that take up the entire slide, but I felt that the effect was more interesting when the photos were smaller than the slide. To resize the photos, right-click the bottom-most one, and choose Format Picture. Click the Size tab. (In PowerPoint 2007, right-click and choose Size and Position, and choose the Size tab.) I set the width to 7.5, which is 3/4 of the default slide width. You can just click OK (Close in 2007), because by default, the photo maintains its aspect ratio (proportion), and the height adjusts automatically. Repeat with the other photos.
4. To add the animation, select the bottom-most photo, and choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. (In 2007, choose Animations tab> Custom Animation.) In the Custom Animation task pane, choose Add Effect> Entrance> More Effects> Rise Up. Set the Speed to Medium.
5. Select the next photo, and add the same animation, but set the Start to After Previous. Then, click the animation's item in the task pane, click the down arrow, and choose Timing. Set the Delay to 1.5 seconds. Repeat for the rest of the photos. Go into Slide Show view and test the animation.
6. If you want, you can add a shadow or other effect to your photos. I added a shadow.

Note: For a shortcut to adding the animation one by one, see the link below to my tip, "Duplicate animation." For information on shadows, see the link below to my tip, "Create soft shadows."

7. To center all of the photos, one on top of the other, select them all. On the Drawing toolbar, choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Relative to Slide. Then choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Align Center. Finally, choose Draw> Align or Distribute> Align Middle. (In 2007, go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align to Slide. Then go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align Center. Finally, go to Format tab> Arrange group> Align drop-down arrow> Align Middle.)
8. If you want, you can add a background or other decoration.

Contest!

Send in your own animation for entertainment example! Anything goes! The deadline is Friday, April 3, 2009. I'll choose the 2 best entries. You'll get your choice of 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know (for 2002, 2003 & 2007) or my upcoming e-book, The Lost Art of Persuasion, about persuasive presentations. Click here to open an e-mail and attach the presentation. Please indicate your prize choice.

Related tips:

• Create a looping introduction
• Tutorial on animation and best practices
• Duplicate animation
• Create soft shadows
  
  

March 11, 2007

Duplicate animation

It's common to create a nice PowerPoint animation and then want to copy the animation to a different object. Unfortunately, PowerPoint doesn't have that capability. While you can copy an existing animated object and get a duplicate, along with its animation, you can't independently copy an animation to another existing object.

Here are some options:

1. Use Animation Carbon, a PowerPoint add-in for $50.
2. Use pptXtreme's Edit, for $49.95.
3. If you're applying animation to an image, in PowerPoint 2003, fill an AutoShape with the image, rather than inserting it. You can then copy the AutoShape (along with its animation), and replace the picture fill of the duplicate. In 2007, you can insert the image as usual, then right click it and choose Change Picture.
4. If you're applying animation to an AutoShape, you can copy the AutoShape (along with its animation). Then select the duplicate, and choose Drawing toolbar> Draw> Change AutoShape, and choose a different AutoShape. In 2007, double-click the duplicate, and on the Format tab> Insert Shapes group, click the Edit Shape drop-down list, choose Change Shape, and choose another shape.

Related tips:

• Animating text on top of text
• Cascading animation
• Match the end of a motion path animation to the beginning of another

February 25, 2009

March 2009 Resource of the Month - The You Blog

John Windsor's blog on presentations, persuasion, selling, and communications. It has provocative opinions and long, well-written essays.

February 23, 2009

Don't Let Data Errors Ruin Your Reputation - Use Excel Information in PowerPoint

It's a scary title, but it just means that I'll cover all the ways to get Excel data, in both spreadsheet and chart form, into PowerPoint in a way that's accurate, readable, and easy to edit. In researching this topic, I've come up with several secrets and lots of best practices. So, if you need to share data between Excel and PowerPoint and the process needs to be quick and accurate, check out this webinar!

February 23, 2009

More "Death by PowerPoint" survey responses

Here's the third installment of responses from the survey. I must say how impressed I've been with the eloquence of the responders. But I feel their pain. The white paper will include a campaign to turn rid the world of "Death by PowerPoint." You'll find out more about it soon!

"It was a cliche-induced, text-laden, "ya know"-laden presentation that made me shift in my seat and want to just give the presenter the "move on to the next slide" gesture. It was painful. It made me anxious and uncomfortable. I learned nothing except for how not to present." CU, Wall, NJ

"He could not get the connection between computer and [projector] to work and could not function. After traveling to our city, buying us lunch, he could not present his usual canned presentation, so he simply apologized, told us he would send us slides, loaded up, and left."

"Laziness. Selfishness. Lack of concern for the audience. Lack of concern for outcomes. Monkey see, monkey do - management clearly aren't making effective presentation a priority and they clearly aren't setting a good example.    The vast majority of presenters are using PPT as an AutoCue rather than as a tool to enhance their message. It's last-minute, zero-rehearsal stuff where the presenter bangs down a few thoughts and then gets up and presents that first draft. They HAVE to read out the presentation - they are so unfamiliar with the material.    Way too many unnecessary, self-indulgent presentations that should be circulated as a Word document instead." RM, Dublin, Ireland

February 21, 2009

Tutorial on animation and best practices

A while ago, I asked my subscribers what they want from this site, and the responses were contradictory. Some of you wanted basics and others wanted advanced techniques.

In this tutorial, I'll provide a basic tutorial of animation along with best practices that even advanced users should find valuable. Happily, animation in PowerPoint 2007 is the same as in 2002 and 2003, so the instructions apply to all of these versions.

You can follow along with this tutorial in your version of PowerPoint.

Why use animation?

Animation is valuable for these purposes:

• To show a process or change
• To focus the audience's attention on a specific section of the slide
• For entertainment

You should never use animation just because you can. It's annoying to the audience and distracts from you message.

Decide why you need animation

Decide which of the above reasons requires you to use animation. Knowing this will help you choose the animation effect that's appropriate for your situation.

Focus the audience's attention on a specific section of the slide

Placing a circle around a section of the slide calls attention to it. This works better than using a laser pointer; a laser pointer is hard to control and requires you to look at the slide while you're talking -- instead of at the audience.

It's easy to make circles appear using animation.

1. Draw the circles. Right-click and choose Format (Auto)Shape. Set the fill to No Fill and change the outline as desired.
2. Select a circle and choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. (In 2007, go to Animations tab> Animations group> Custom Animation.) The Custom Animation task pane appears.
3. Choose Add Effect> Entrance> (More Effects)> Appear. Leave the other settings at their defaults.
4. Select the second circle and add the same animation to it.
5. Press Ctrl and click the Slide Show button at the bottom of your screen (on the left for 2003, on the right for 2007). You'll see a quarter-size slide show view. Click twice to test the animation.

When you present, you can start discussing the chart and click when you get the point point where you want to emphasize the encircled section.

Create animation to show a process or change

Let's say that you want to show the process of a seed sprouting. All you have is a series of images of different stages, so you can't show a continual change. In this situation, fading from one image to another will give the impression of continuous growth. This technique is fairly advanced.

1. To start, open PowerPoint. Right-click and choose (Slide) Layout. Choose the Title Only layout. I changed the justification of the title, but that's not necessary.
2. Enter the text for the title, in this case, How a seed sprouts.
3. I found this image in Microsoft Office's clip art collection. To find it, choose Insert Clip Art on the Drawing toolbar. (In 2007, go to Insert tab> Illustrations group> Clip Art.
4. In the Clip Art task pane on the right, enter seedlings in the Search For text box. The Search In drop-down list should read All Collections. From the Results Should Be drop-down list, choose Photographs and make sure that the other check boxes are not checked. Click Go. Click the image below to insert it on your slide.

A Fade transition from slide to slide exists but it isn't very subtle and you can't control the timing. Therefore, you should create this animation all on one slide.

5. This image has a white background which will make your work easier if it's transparent. Select it and choose Set Transparent Color on the Picture toolbar that appears. Click the white background.
6. You need 7 copies of the image, each cropped to one of the stages. Then we'll add the fade effect. To start, select the image, and press Ctrl + D. Press the right arrow key a couple of times until you can see the old and new images separately. You'll notice that the copy is lower than the original. Use the up arrow twice to bring the copy up to the same level as the original.
7. Now press Ctrl + D 5 more times to make 7 images. You'll notice that PowerPoint remembered the spacing between the first copy and the original and continues the pattern, so that the images are now all lined up.

8. Select the rightmost copy. The Picture toolbar appears. (In 2007, go to Format tab> Size group>Crop button.) Click the Crop button and drag on the left crop handle until you see only the rightmost stage. Click on the second-to-right image, and crop both on the right and the left so that you have the second-to-last stage. Continue until you have 7 images, each showing one stage. If you make a mistake, you can always undo cropping and try again. Also, the images overlap slightly; just do the best you can. If necessary, move some of the images a little to the left or right (with the arrow keys) to separate them. Be sure to save your presentation now and regularly as you go on.

It's hard to animate many objects when they're on top of each other, so we'll animate them as is and place them on top of each other at the end. The result will be like a stop-motion movie. As each stage fades out, the next will fade in.

9. The first stage will appear on the slide at the beginning, so we just need to fade it out. Select it, and choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. (In 2007, go to Animations tab> Animations group> Custom Animation.) The Custom Animation task pane appears.
10. Choose Add Effect> Exit> (More Effects)> Fade. Leave the default Start setting as On Click. We'll start the sequence by clicking, but the rest will happen automatically.
11. Select the second stage. This will fade in as the first stage fades out. Choose Add Effect> Entrance> (More Effects)> Fade. Set the Start setting to With Previous.
12. With the second stage still selected, choose Add Effect> Exit> Fade. Set the Start setting to After Previous.
13. Repeat the last two steps for the 3rd through 6th stages. Be sure to set each exit to After Previous and each entrance to With Previous.
14. The last stage will remain on the slide, so just add an entrance fade and set it to With Previous.
15. Click the Play button on the Custom Animation task pane and view the animation. Each stage should successively fade in while the previous stage is fading out. If you think the effect is too slow, you can change the speed of all the animations to Fast. Just select the first animation, press Shift, select the last animation, and choose Fast from the Speed drop-down list.
16. Use the left arrow key to move the 2nd stage on top of the 1st stage as exactly as possible. Continue with the rest of the images until they're all in one place.

Here's the result.

 

February 19, 2009

Create soft shadows

Shadows create the illusion that an object is hovering above the slide. They can make shapes look more realistic. In PowerPoint 2007, it's easy to create soft shadows, but in PowerPoint 2003, you need to use a trick. Here are instructions for both.

PowerPoint 2003

Inssert an AutoShape by choosing AutoShapes from the Drawing toolbar and then choosing the one that you want. I chose a heart. Format it as desired.

Duplicate the AutoShape byselecting it, and pressing Ctrl + D or copying and pasting. You now have one in front of the other. We'll turn the copy, which is on top, into the shadow, and place it behind the original at the end.

Tip: The shadow looks more realistic on shapes without sharp edges. For rectangles, create the copy, select the copy, and choose Change AutoShape from the Draw button of the Drawing toolbar. Then choose Basic Shapes> Rounded Rectangle.

Double-click the copy to open the Format AutoShape dialog box. On the Colors and Lines tab, in the Fill section, click the Color drop-down list and choose Fill Effects. The Gradient tab should be on top.

Click the Two Colors option. For Color 1, choose black. For Color 2, choose your background's color.

Tip: If your background is not solid, choose the nearest color. Then, in the Transparency section, set the To value to 100%.

In the Shading Styles section, choose the From Center option. In the Variants section, choose the option that shows black in the center. Click OK.

Back in the Format AutoShape dialog box, in the Line section, click the Color drop-down list, and choose No Line. Click OK to return to your slide.

Drag the bottom-right handle to make your shadow larger, about 1-1/2 times the size of the original.

Select the copy, right-click, and choose Order> Send to Back. Adjust the shadow's size and position for the most realistic look.

Compare this to the standard shadow, which you create by choosing from the Shadow Style button on the Drawing toolbar.

 

PowerPoint 2007

In PowerPoint 2007, soft shadows are easier.

Double-click the shapde to display the Drawing Tools Format tab. Click Shape Effects> Shadow> Shadow Options.

Change the following settings:

• Transparency: By default, shadows are partially transparent, but you can increase the transparency if you want.
• Size: You can make the shadow larger.
• Blur: This is main the setting that creates a soft shadow. Drag until you like what you see.
• Angle: Drag the angle slider to get the angle that you want.
• Distance: To emphasize the shadow, drag its distance (from the shape) upward.

Related tips

Create a timeline/agenda in PresentationZen style
3D and reflection technique
Create text reflections

February 9, 2009

Choose colors based on desired results

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought it would be appropriate to review new research that specifically dealt with the effect of the color red. And blue.

In an article in the New York Times, "Reinvent Wheel? Blue Room. Defusing a Bomb? Red Room.," journalist Pam Belluck describes a new study that showed that red can make people's work more accurate, while blue encourages creativity. The study was published in the journal Science. (You can read a short abstract here, but to read the full study you need to pay, or have a subscription.)

The study, done by Ravi Mehta and Rui (Julia) Zhu at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, studied 600 people to see if there was an effect on cognitive performance when people performed tasks with red, blue, or white backgrounds on a computer screen.

The results?

• Red: People did better on tests of recall and attention to detail, such as remembering words, or checking spelling and punctuation.
• Blue: People did better on tests requiring imagination, such as coming up with creative uses for a brick or creating toys from shapes.

The article discussed some previous studies as well:

• In a 2004 study on Olympic uniforms, researchers at Durham University in England found that evenly-matched athletes who wore red in certain events defeated those wearing blue 60% of the time.
• In a study on cocktail parties in red, blue, or yellow rooms, people tended to choose the yellow and red rooms, but those who chose the blue rooms stayed longer. Those in the red and yellow rooms were more social and active. Those in red rooms reported feeling hungrier and thirstier, but those in the yellow room ate twice as much.
• In a study by Andrew Elliot of the University of Rochester, people shown red test covers before I.Q. tests did worse than people shown green or neutral colors.

Why does color affect us?

Why does color elicit these strong effects? Researchers have the following suggestions:

Norbert Schwarz, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, suggests that colors affect mood, which affects performance. The concept is that the color red is connected to problematic things, so you're "more likely to pay attention to detail, which helps you with processing tasks but interferes with creative types of things." But blue has more positive associations, so "people in a happy mood are more creative and less analytic."

John A. Bargh, a psychology professor at Yale University notes that red has associations to stop, fire, alarm, and warning. He also says, "Blue seems a weaker effect than red, but blue skies, blue water are calm and positive."

Dr. Eliot noted that blue's positive emotional associations are considered less consistent than red's negative ones.

Another study showed that students taking tests did better on blue paper than on red, but Dr. Schwarz said that the study used depressing blue and upbeat red. Other studies have shown no effect, but some used mostly pastels or less distinctive tasks.

In the University of British Columbia study, most subjects said that red represented caution, danger, or mistakes to them. They said that blue represented peace and openness.

Being done at a business school, the study also tested responses to advertising. Ads listing product details or emphasizing avoidance (like cavity prevention) were more appealing on red backgrounds. Ads using creative designs or emphasizing positive actions (like tooth whitening) were more appealing on blue backgrounds.

Research results

Here are the results of the test for word recall:

Here are the results of the test for creativity:

The article mentioned that the study did not involve other cultures, like China, where red symbolized prosperity and luck. Nothing in the article mentioned the generally positive association of red with Valentine's Day or Christmas.

How about other colors?

In my book, How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007, I include a sidebar called, "The Effect of Color." There, I give the following color guidelines:

• "Red: Handle with care. It can elicit such emotions as desire and competitiveness. However, it also carries negative connotations, such as financial loss. Red works best as an occasional accent color to make an item stand out.
• Black: Suggests finality and simplicity. However, in certain circumstances, it is associated with mourning and death.
• Purple Can imply immaturity and unimportance.
• Brown: Connotes uneasiness and passivity.
• Green: Has positive associations when used as a background color. Researchers believe that it stimulates interaction, which makes greens and teals good colors for trainers, educators, and those whose presentations are intended to generate discussion.
• Blue: Commonly associated with a calming and conservative effect. However, due to blue’s popularity for business presentations, some business audiences now equate blue backgrounds with staleness and unoriginal thinking. When corporations specify blue backgrounds, professional presentation designers typically try to infuse them with some originality and texture.

If you’re making a presentation to an international audience, remember that colors have differing connotations in different countries, so do some research.

While background colors help set the emotional tone for your presentation, the colors you use for text, tables, charts, and other graphic elements have a bearing on how well the audience understands and remembers your message. Research has shown that the effective use of selective contrast, known as the von Restorff effect (or isolation effect), makes audiences remember the outstanding item—and even your entire message—better. An example of this technique is to make certain text larger or brighter than most text or to put it in a shape. Most experts agree that your theme colors should include one or two bright colors for emphasis—but to preserve the power of these colors, use them with restraint."

How does this research apply to my presentations?

No one is saying that you should use blue hearts for a Valentine's Day presentation. That just doesn't make sense.

But you should be wary of using too much red for a general business presentation. Selectively used, red stands out, and it can help your audience remember facts and figures. That's good.

Red is often used in advertisements, because it attracts attention and may increase desire. If you pay attention, you'll see red used as an accent color in many ads. It certainly hasn't hurt TIME magazine, which uses red on every cover.

But for a bad-news presentation, red would probably increase anxiety. In that situation, you would want to go for calming blue or green.

Blue has become a standard color for business presentations; it's considered conservative. But in situations where you want your audience to pay attention, it may be too laid-back. It would be excellent for brainstorming sessions.

Remember that your goal may not be to have your audience recall words or come up with creative uses for bricks. But putting attention on color will enhance your results.

Do your own research

If you give the same presentation to many audiences, try changing the main color on your slides and see if you can find any difference in your results. If you're selling, you have an easy way to test results. If not, you could try a questionnaire that attendees fill out afterwards. If you do this, I'd be interested in hearing the results.

Related tips

Choose fonts and colors for legibility
Copying colors from a Web site
Try design variations

January 24, 2009

February 2009 Resource of the Month - Speaking about Presenting
Speaking about Presenting is Olivia Mitchell's blog and a little more. It's also a web site with some great, in-depth information about creating presentations. The site provides especially deep insights into the process of planning. Other topics are delivery, nervousness, content, PowerPoint, and more.

January 22, 2009

"Webinar: Don't Let Data Errors Ruin Your Reputation - Use Excel Information in PowerPoint"

If you present data in PowerPoint, especially data that changes often, you'll get great value out of this web seminar. Topics include:

• The various ways to access Excel data in PowerPoint
• How to display Excel data as a table or as a chart (graph)
• How to format Excel data so that it's legible and easy to understand in PowerPoint

Here are the details:

• Date: Wednesday, March 4
• Time: 3 pm ET; 2 pm CT; 1 pm MT; 12 noon PT
• Register at: http://goto.webinarinstitute.com/go/9620
• Discount Code: Get $20 off when you use FINKELSTEIN31 as the discount code!

January 21, 2009

Book review: Point, Click & Wow! by Claudyne Wilder

I have been praising Point, Click & Wow! ever since I started reading it. For example, in my tip, "Create a fast-moving presentation," the topic of the fast-moving presentation was based on part of Chapter 1.

The book focuses on the business presenters who need to create and deliver successful presentations for their work. The subtitle is "The techniques and habits of successful presenters" but it's more than that. Rather, it's a blueprint and even a workbook that takes you through the process of developing a successful presentation.

I'll go out on a limb and say that I think that this is one of the best books I've ever read on presenting. Here are my reasons for saying that:

1. The book is useful for any business presenter.
2. You'll learn about all aspects of presenting, from researching the audience and creating the content through delivery to different types of audiences.
3. The forms and checklists that the author includes are invaluable for making your you get the whole job done correctly. With special permission from the author, I can offer you the Presentation Overview form contained on the book's CD (PDF format). It's a great tool for starting your presentation off in the right direction. In my opinion, if every presenter used this form, we'd see a transformation in presenting overnight. Of course, there's more to it than this; the form is simply a way to start out right. Well begun is half done.
4. The stories and examples from the author's coaching practice are meaningful and inspiring.

Here's a summary of the chapters:

1. Chapter 1 explains how to focus on your key messages. The Presentation Overview form mentioned above is part of this chapter.
2. Chapter 2 covers connecting to the audience. The author discusses 7 ways to connect to an audience and then reviews how to connect for specific types of presentations, such as selling, technical, financial, and academic presentations, among others.
3. Chapter 3 covers some basic PowerPoint features that can help you create successful presentations. These are tips for avoiding unprofessional-looking mistakes, for saving time, and for engaging the audience. For example, the author covers custom shows, hyperlinks, and useful animation.
4. Chapter 4 explains how to create a series of effective slides for a company so that employees don't have to spend hours creating their own slides.
5. Chapter 5 covers principles of effective slides, including the amount of text, appropriate colors, slide organization and layout, titles, images, and more.
6. Chapter 6 discusses technology and includes an excellent technology checklist.
7. Chapter 7 is all about rehearsing.
8. Chapter 8 is called "Demonstrate Executive Presence" and was new material for me. The author explains different types of "presence behaviors" and explains 5 types of decision-making styles, based on The 5 Paths to Persuasion by Gary Williams and Robert Miller. She explains how to craft a presentation for thinkers, charismatics, skeptics, followers, and controllers. Interesting stuff!

If you're looking for a structured book on successful business presenting, I suggest that you buy this book.

January 17, 2009

Create a timeline/agenda in PresentationZen style

Olivia Mitchell, who writes the Speaking about Presenting recently wrote a blog entry, "How to do an agenda slide like Garr Reynolds."

Note: There's a special offer at the end of this tutorial, so read on!

Here's the presentation, which is posted on slideshare.net. The timeline/agenda is on slides 7 through 12.

 

One of the comments on the Olivia's blog was, "“It’s easy to make an agenda slide like this.” Hmm…not so easy if you’re not a powerpoint expert. Is this available in Powerpoint, and if so, can you provide a step-by-step on how to make a slide like this?

So, Olivia asked me to write out the steps. Because this presentation was on slideshare.net, which doesn't show animation, each step is a separate slide. You could put the entire timeline on one slide and add each component with an Appear animation. To do so, choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. (In 2007, choose the Animations tab> Custom Animation.) Select the object that you want to animate. In the task pane on the right, choose Add Effect> Entrance> Appear. (If the Appear animation is not on the list, click More Effects and you'll find it there.)

Garr Reynolds, who writes the PresentationZen blog and wrote the book, PresentationZen, is a famous PowerPoint designer. I'm not a famous designer, although I love to design slides. Reproducing his timeline was a great exercise and I recommend copying the work of great designers, just as art students sit in a museum and copy the great masters. You'll learn a lot about design: about the colors they use and especially about the attention they give to detail.

Here are the 6 slides in my version of the timeline.

Garr Reynolds has several design trademarks:

• Zen-like colors
• Unusual fonts
• Simple, clear slide layouts

I did this presentation in PowerPoint 2007, because two of its new features made the process easier. One is the background; this type of radial gradient background is a feature of 2007. However, Garr's original is even more subtle than the 2007 default. The second feature is greater flexibility with shadows. I'll also provide instructions for 2003.

I slavishly copied Garr's colors, using an eyedropper program. An eyedropper gives you the stats of any color that you point to on your screen. I used a program called Colourificator, but other free eyedroppers are available on the Web.

The colors

A good practice is to set up your theme colors (color scheme in 2003 and earlier) before you start. I have instructions in my "Try design variations" tip. This makes formatting PowerPoint objects very easy as you work. You'll get more consistent results with less effort. My colors' red-green-blue stats were:

1. Spring green: 155,187,89
2. Ruby red: 191,47,0
3. Dun: 179,174,144
4. Dark moss green: 75,75,20
5. Light teal: 75,172,198 (I never used this)
6. Garr orange: 255,128,0

You only have 4 color options in PowerPoint 2003.

The background

Start a new PowerPoint file using the default blank template. In 2007, click the Design tab> Backgrounds group> Background Styles drop-down list, and choose one of the options from the bottom row. These options are based on your theme colors, so one should be just what you want. However, you can choose Format Background and choose another color from the Color drop-down list. The Format Background dialog box is already set with a radial background with two gradient stops and the From Center option. Slides that you add will also have this background.

In 2003, you don't have a true radial gradient, so you need to use a trick:

1. Open the Slide Master (View> Master> Slide Master).
2. Click the Oval tool on the Drawing toolbar at the bottom of your screen, hold down the Shift key to ensure a perfect circle, and drag a large circle across the slide.
3. You'll probably need to reduce the zoom to be able to cover the entire slide, so click the Zoom drop-down list and choose 50%.
4. Use the corner handle of the circle to adjust its size until the entire slide is covered.
5. Double-click the circle to open the Format AutoShape dialog box.
6. On the Colors and Lines tab, click the Fill Color drop-down list and choose Fill Effects.
7. In the Fill Effects dialog box, click the Gradient tab.
8. Choose the One Color option.
9. Click the Color 1 drop-down list and choose the color you want, or choose More Colors and specify the color.
10. In the Dark/Light slider, drag the box slightly to the Light side. This will create a gradient of white with your chosen color.
11. In the Shading Styles section, choose From Center.
12. In the Variants section, choose the variant that shows the white in the center.
13. Click OK twice to return to your slide. Go into Slide Show view to see if you like the result. You may want to adjust that Dark/Light slider a little to get just the look you want.
14. Return to the Slide Master. In order to see where the slide is, you'll need to make the circle semi-transparent. Double-click the circle and drag the Transparency slider on the Colors and Lines tab to about 50%. When the presentation is done, change the transparency back to 0%.
15. Return to Normal view (View>Normal).

The timeline

The timeline is just a horizontal white line plus two perpendicular lines. Notice that the horizontal line is a little above the middle of the slide, which gives it the feeling of being supported by the space below To draw the lines, do the following:

1. Choose Home tab> Drawing group> Shapes, and choose the Line tool. (In 2003, choose the Line tool from the Drawing toolbar.)
2. Press Shift as you drag across the slide to ensure that the line is perfectly horizontal. Draw a short vertical line on one end.
3. With the line selected, make sure that its middle is at the endpoint of the horizontal line. Use the arrow keys to adjust if necessary. (Press Ctrl while you use the arrow keys for finer increments.)
4. With the line still selected, press Ctrl + D to duplicate the line. This gives you a line of the same length and direction, but it's slightly below the first one. Drag it to the other endpoint and use the same method to ensure that its midpoint is at the end of the horizontal line.
5. Double-click one of the lines to display the Drawing Tools Format tab. From the Shape outline drop-down list, choose the white color. (In 2003, select one of the lines and choose the white color from the Line Color drop-down list on the Drawing toolbar.) Select the two other lines and press F4 to repeat the change.

The Start/End text

The Start and End text make it clear that this is a timeline for the presentation. The orange color is a Garr Reynolds trademark. So is the use of the interesting font, in this case, a funky typewriter text. I just used Courier New, but you can find a free font called Carbontype on the Internet that's closer. Look at slide 5 of his presentation on SlideShare and you'll see just how funky it is! It looks as if it was typed on an old, very dirty Royal manual typewriter. I'm old enough to remember cleaning the ink from the letters of a manual typewriter, but I digress...

Click the first slide in the Slides pane on the left and press Ctrl + D to create a new slide (Slide 2).

Insert a text box near the left side of the timeline. In 2007, go to Insert tab> Text group> Text Box. (In 2003, choose Text Box from the Drawing toolbar.) Type Start. To format the text, select it (the text, not just the text box). In 2007, the Mini toolbar appears at the cursor. There you can use the Font drop-down list to change the font (I used Courier New), the Font Color drop-down list to change the color (orange), and the Font Size drop-down list (I set the size to 20 points). Click the Bold button to make the text bold. In 2003, select the text and use the Font, Font Size, and Font Color drop-down lists and the Bold button, all on the Formatting toolbar, to format the text.

Click the border of the text box and use the green rotation handle to rotate the text counterclockwise slightly. Then press Ctrl + D to duplicate the text box and drag it to the right side of the timeline. Select the text and type End. Adjust the placement as desired.

The first agenda item

Duplicate Slide 2 to create Slide 3. In 2007, choose Home tab> Drawing group> Shapes and choose the Rectangle tool. In 2003, click the Rectangle tool on the Drawing toolbar. Hold down the Shift key and drag a square on top of the left side of the timeline. Use the Up and Down arrow keys until the left-middle handle is on the timeline to ensure that the square is vertically centered on the timeline. Use the Left and Right arrow keys to place the left side of the square on top of the left vertical white line.

In 2007, double-click the square to display the Drawing Tools Format tab. Type 1 (the number). Use the Shape Fill drop-down list to set the color (dun). Use the Shape Outline drop-down list to set the outline (white). Select the text. I set the color to white, the size to 72, and the font to Aharoni.

Choose Shape Effects> Shadow> Shadow Options to display the Shadow category of the Format Shape dialog box. In 2007, you have many more shadow options than before. I set the Transparency to 62%, the Blur to 9 pt, the Angle to 45°, and the Distance to 5 pt. Then select the text and click the dialog box launcher arrow on the right side of the WordArt Styles group to open the Format Text Effects dialog box. Click Shadow and use the same shadow settings for the text as for the square. Click Close.

You have fewer options in 2003. Select the square and click the Shadow Style button on the Drawing toolbar. Shadow Style 6 works OK. If you want, you can click Shadow Settings to open the Shadow Settings toolbar and move the shadow a little. You can also change its color to give it a softer look.

To add the caption use the Line tool to draw a short vertical line from the top-center of the square. Select the square to check where its top-center handle is and adjust the location of the vertical line to meet it. In 2007, double-click the line to display the Drawing Tools Format tab. Choose Shape Outline> Weight and choose the narrowest weight, 1/4 pt. The line should be white, or perhaps a light tint of the green color.

In 2003, double-click the line and use the Format AutoShape dialog box to set the color to white (or a faint green). Interestingly, in 2003, you have a 0 pt width option, which creates a hairline width.

Draw a horizontal line that starts at the left side of the square and touches the top of the vertical line. Format it like the vertical line. You can use the Format Painter to do this. In 2007, click the vertical line, choose Home tab> Clipboard group> Format Painter, and then click the horizontal line. In 2003, click the vertical line, click the Format Painter button on the Standard toolbar, and then click the horizontal line.

Insert a text box and type Introduction. I used the default font (Calibri in 2007 and Arial in 2003), 20 pt size, and white color. Use the arrow keys to align the text box with the left endpoint of the horizontal line and to place it just above the line.

The second agenda item

Duplicate Slide 3 to create Slide 4. Copy the first square and place the copy to the right. Change the text to 2. Add lines and a caption, Presentation Zen Approach. Place the caption so that it extends more to the right of the vertical line than to the left.

The third agenda item

Create a fifth slide and duplicate the second square. Place it to the right and drag its right handle to stretch it until it leaves a small space at the end. Double-click it and change its fill to ruby red. Add the caption lines and the caption, How design thinking can help. Place the text so that it extends more to the right of the vertical line than to the left.

The last agenda item

Create a sixth slide and duplicate the first square. Move it to the right side of the timeline and resize its width until it fits in the space that's left. Move it as necessary. Change its color to the dark dun color. PowerPoint 2007 offers not only the theme colors but tints of those colors, giving you more flexibility. Add the caption lines and the caption, Q & A. Here, you have to extend the horizontal line a little further to the left than to the right.

Customize for your own presentations

Of course, you're not giving Garr's presentation, so now that you've learned something about graphics and design in PowerPoint, make a copy of the presentation and adjust the timeline for your own agenda.

Related tips:

Try design variations
Simplicity and understatement
The importance of design
Beyond words

January 14, 2009

New video lesson on YouTube!

Are you still creating PowerPoint slides with lots of bullets and text? This 4-min. video will revolutionize how you create presentations. You'll see a makeover, step-by-step, that gets rid of a distracting background and turns a boring, bulleted slide into a clear, image-rich presentation.

January 13, 2009

Jeopardy-like quiz game available

Keep the attention of your audience or students with this lively, fun quiz game that you can customize with your own questions. Whether for work or play, quiz games are fun! Click here to read more about it and watch how it works!

January 10, 2009

Are you a presentation professional?

Compare yourself with your peers in InfoComm International’s annual Presentation Professional survey. This year it’s shorter, easier and faster to complete. Whether you’re one of many in a corporate setting, or a one-person shop wearing all the hats, see how you compare in the skills you have and the challenges you face.

To thank you for sharing your opinions and experiences, you will receive a free survey report by e-mail.

Click here to take the survey. Contact marketresearch@infocomm.org if you have any questions.

January 10, 2009

Change a picture in PowerPoint 2007

PowerPoint 2007 has a feature that makes creating similar slides a snap: Change picture. You can duplicate a slide and easily change its picture without deleting the old one or fiddling with the side or placing.

This feature is ideal for creating product brochures and facilitates customizing presentations for multiple customers.

Here you see a custom layout, including custom prompts.

Here's a slide that uses this layout.

To create another slide using this layout, click the slide in the Slide pane and press Ctrl + D to duplicate the slide.

Then double-click the photo in the central pane to select it and display the Picture Tools Format tab.

In the Adjust group, click change Picture.

In the Insert Picture dialog box, navigate to the new image and double-click it to insert it in the place of the original image.

This technique works best when all the images are preformatted to fit well within the layout's picture placeholder.

The combination of custom layouts and the Change Picture command offers great flexibility for individuals customizing presentations and for companies who want to control how a presentation looks while allowing presenters to make changes.

Related tips

Create a custom layout
PowerPoint 2007: Make the Upgrade Easy!

January 6, 2009

What I'd like to see in PowerPoint design in 2009

Olivia Mitchell, who writes the Speaking about Presenting blog, has organized a group blogging event on what we'd like to see in PowerPoint design in 2009. (And "design" rhymes with "2009!")

Her inspiration was a blog post by Laura Bergells, called "PowerPoint, Propaganda, and You," in which Laura talked about what she'd like to see in 2009, and challenged the current PowerPoint design fashion vogue as being "overly simplistic."

I've been writing about effective presenting for quite a while but the chance to talk about what I'd like to see in 2009 is too tempting to pass up. So, without further ado, here's my list...

January 6, 2009

Ask the audience questions

Many presenters take questions from the audience and answer them, but fewer ask the audience questions. Asking the audience questions has many benefits, including:

• Breaking the ice -- when you do it early in the presentation
• Getting the audience involved
• Giving the presenter crucial information about the audience, including what they're interested in, what they already know, and what their needs are
• Waking up the audience (works well after lunch and in the late afternoon)
• Getting feedback on how much they understood
• Uncovering objections or disagreements (important if you're trying to persuade the audience)
• Showing respect for the audience's point of view

Some of these benefits you obtain by taking questions from the audience -- if they ask the questions they have. But you'd be surprised how many people never ask questions.

Other benefits are unique to the technique of asking the audience questions. You start a conversation. Try to build flexibility into your presentation so you can respond to the answers you obtain. For example, some audiences want you to get straight to the point and others want lots of backup details. You may not know in advance which type of audience you'll have, although it's good to do some early research, if possible. You can have slides with the details available and show them only if your audience says they want to see them. You can do this using the custom show feature or by linking to a separate presentation.

When you ask questions, you need to plan out the questions you'll ask and plan for possible answers.

Try asking your audience questions at your next presentation and see if you get better results compared to just speaking yourself straight through.

Related tips:

Have a conversation with your audience
Add flexibility with custom shows
Link to other presentations and return to the original presentation

December 17, 2008

New slidecast, "Tell 'n' show (SM), on slideshare.net

I've posted a slidecast on the Tell 'n' show (SM) principle on slideshare.net. A slidecast is a narrated presentation. The slidecast explains how to avoid bullets and instead create slides that clearly make a point and then show it. It's less than 2 minutes, so click to watch and listen!

December 17, 2008

Great new collection of PowerPoint 2007 effects and animations

Julie Terberg is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP (Most Valuable Professional) and one of the top presentation designers around. She is well-known for her incredible animations and special effects, which look as if they were done in Adobe Flash or a high-end animation program. They're all done in PowerPoint.

She has created a stunning set of slides for PowerPoint 2007, which are now on Microsoft's Web site. See some samples of this great collection.

December 13, 2008

Use copywriting principles for your presentations

If you create presentations to sell or to persuade, deciding what you want to say, and in what order, is obviously extremely important. And what better place to turn to for guidance than copywriting. Copywriting is usually defined as the art and science of writing to sell. Experience (it's an old discipline) and modern research have provided many guidelines for getting the desired results. Read more...

Related tips:

A good introduction/opener
Tell 'n' show slide design
Put one point on a slide
Have a conversation with your audience

December 7, 2008

Put one point on a slide

To make slides clearer for your audience, put one point on a slide. Take a slide with 3 bullet points, for example, and turn it into 3 slides. Then add an image, diagram, or chart to illustrate the point.

The benefits? audiences can integrate one point at a time more easily than three. They remember it better, too. The slide is simpler, so it has more impact. Your audience listens to you rather than reading the slide ahead of you and then tuning out. Read more...

Makeover an existing slide today! You'll be amazed at the difference! Banish bullet-heavy slides from your life!

Watch a free video of this tip on YouTube!

Related tips:

Tell 'n' show (SM) slide design
How many bullets should I put on a slide?
Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points
Get rid of a template
Create effective graphs/charts

November 23, 2008

More survey results

Here are some more replies from the "What is Death by PowerPoint?" survey.

"These presentations use too much text with NO graphics at all. They are always BORING! Generally, there are way too many slides that all look the same except some have even more type than the others in a small, unreadable font. Death would be welcomed by most participants." NB, Atlanta, GA.

"Presenters lose the audience right from the start with difficult to read slidse, small fonts, lousy contrast and turn around to read the slides, toally unaware that they are slowly killing the audience who has to ensure the duration of such a presentation." TG, Singapore

"The Accounting content of this regularly-scheduled meeting is full of charts with so many trend lines and dsecriptions that by the end of the 3 hours, no one knows for sure what was just stated."

November 23, 2008

December 2008 Resource of the Month - Presentations Roundtable Read the inside story from the father of PowerPoint at Microsoft, Ric Breitschneider.

November 15, 2008

Circle an object

A great way to emphasize and draw attention to an object on a slide is to circle it. Read more...

Related tips:
Create the effect of a line drawing itself
Magnify an image
The magic of the false background

November 8, 2008

Successfully print presentations

Presentations are printed more often than we realize, but we rarely design for printing in mind. Although, I've had two clients who created presentations only for print: one was creating a brochure for sales reps and the other was presenting to potential investors at a meeting around a table.

Even if you don't plan to print the presentation, you may send it to others who will print it. You certainly want to make sure that the results will be satisfactory. Read more...

Repurpose a presentation for a kiosk or the Web

Print in black & white or grayscale

Create a background for printed handouts

Making great handouts

November 3, 2008

Create a fast-moving presentation

In another tip, Presentation styles, I discuss a kind of of presentation that's fast moving, with lots of simple slides. Here I expand on that concept, with an example.

Once you know what you want to say, enter the words in the Notes pane, with about 1 sentence per slide. You can use less, a phrase or as little as 1 word. Of course sometimes, you'll need to say more about a slide, especially when you're presenting data. But this style works best when you keep your comments brief. Read more...

October 29, 2008

New video course! PowerPoint 2007: Make the Upgrade Easy

Are you getting the most for your money?

• Are you wasting time searching for commands?
• Are you using a fraction of PowerPoint 2007's features?

This video course teaches you just what you need to know!

This video course is easy to follow. You own it so you can watch it again and again.

• Learn at your own speed
• Expert instruction systematically explains and shows you each feature
• Stop at any time to try out a feature
• Broken up into 11 modules for easy learning
• Easily repeat any module you want to review

PowerPoint 2007: Make the Upgrade Easy skillfully guides you through the following 11 modules:

1. The ribbon: How to use it and tips to easily and quickly find what you need
2. The two toolbars, the Office button, Options dialog box, and new file types
3. The new themes and how they differ from templates
4. The shape gallery and exciting, new shape effects
5. The text/WordArt gallery and new text effects
6. The image gallery and the amazing, Photoshop-like image effects
7. The chart gallery and seamless integration with Excel
8. Improved gradients (up to 9 colors!)
9. SmartArt diagrams: Convert boring bulleted text to stunning diagrams instantly!
10. Customizable layouts for total control, flexibility, and consistency
11. Minor new features explained and reviewed

Read more and watch a short excerpt!

 

 

Main PowerPoint Tips page

 

Books on PowerPoint

101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know Invaluable tips professionals use will get you up to speed fast!

7 Steps to Great Images Learn how to format images for highest impact and a professional look

How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007 All new! How to use the program plus best practices for effective presentations.

How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2003 Comprehensive coverage. Updated for PowerPoint 2003

How to Do Everything with PowerPoint 2002 Thoroughly covers PowerPoint 2002/Office MX

Books by Others

presentation zen An excellent resource for improving your presentations

Beyond Bullet Points, by Cliff Atkinson Cliff Atkinson's system for creating meaningful, effective presentations without bullets or even a master. Well thought out and researched.