Category Archives: PowerPoint

Webinar Replay & Unanswered Questions

We had an overwhelming response to my “In the Trenches” webinar last week for Presentationxpert.com.

If you were unable to attend, you can view the recording here.

Presentationxpert audiences, I learned, are very engaged, and there were many questions asked that we simply did not have time to answer. So, here’s a list of those questions along with answers for those who are interested.

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Can you send me your slides?
I’m sorry, but I can’t distribute my slides. You can view the entire webinar here though. And don’t forget, if your organization is interested in customized training, just drop me a line.

How do you feel about screen animation?
Use it only if it helps tell your story. If it is decoration only, I generally avoid it.

Where did you download the vector graphics from?
Shutterstock.com

Do you have a general rule you follow with regards to too much text?
Can the slide be read in 3-5 seconds by your audience? If not, you probably have too much text for an on-screen slide.

Is “Reskinning” available in PPT 2010?

Yes, reskinning can be done in any version of PPT as it simply relies on changing the theme colors.

When you use PPT as a print tool, do you print the doc directly from PPT or do you print to pdf first?
It depends. If sending to a professional print shop, I would definitely create a PDF; If printing yourself, there’s no real reason to create a PDF. But be careful always when printing from PPT and always check to make sure everything prints the way you intend it to. Some printers and print drivers may have difficulty interpreting some PPT information such as gradients.

How do we do vignettes if we don’t have photoshop?
You can download vignettes that I have made in Photoshop by signing up for my newsletter here and visiting the provided link for my “goodies” page on presentyourstory.com

Can we get a suggested list of reference books on this subject?
I have a list of my favorite books on my library page.

I like using powerpoint shapes but don’t like the way they change color when someone pulls them into a different template. any way to control the color when going from one template to another?

When you copy and paste either whole slides or elements from one presentation to another, choose “keep source formatting” from the pop-up clipboard icon to maintain the original colors and styles.

Any tips on embedding videos into PPT for Mac? Haven’t had any success trying to do that.
Embedding video on the Mac side isn’t much different from the PC side except that you want to stick to either MP4s or AVIs. There is 3rd party software called Flip4Mac that allows you to play and embed WMVs on the Mac if that is the only format you have to work with. For more information on PPT for Mac and on Video, check out the PowerPoint FAQ and Indezine.com

What are the pros/cons of PowerPoint vs. Prezi?
Well this is a big matzoh ball of a question. I like Prezi very much and when you really need to show up differently, it can be a good alternative to PPT. I would say that the advantages are being able to tell stories in a less linear, more unique way, especially those that involve micro/macro comparisons and networked concepts. Prezi is also better for collaboration and web-based presenting. The negatives are that there are learning curves with regard to technical and design aspects of Prezi. Also, it can be a challenge to use Prezi is an elegant way that does not confuse an audience with style over substance.

Is there a place on Nolan’s website that I can go to learn more about the 2-in-1 deck? I would like a step by step set of instructions…
You can find more information in a guest post I wrote for Mike Parkinson’s BillionDollarGraphics blog.

I thought PPT is only in landscape, how do you get it in portrait?
On the PC under the “Design” tab, select “Page Setup” at the top left. On the Mac, go to “File: Page Setup…”

Where do you go to find the right imagery for your ppt presentation?
I find most of my imagery at Shutterstock.com and through Creative Commons searches on Flickr.

How do you check to make sure a video is embedded?
Starting with PPT 2010, when a video is inserted, it is by default embedded (unless you manually select “link”). If you are sent a PPT file from outside your organization and the video plays on your computer, then it is embedded. If you are in a situation where you are sent a PPT file within your organization and are unsure if the video is embedded or perhaps linked from a shared server, take these steps: Go to “File: Info” and in the top left, “Optimize Media Compatibility” will let you know if there are any linked files.

Are there design elements that work on screen but don’t translate well to print on office printers you recommend staying away from?
I would be careful with PPT-created gradients as some printers and print drivers have trouble interpreting them. If you find yourself getting odd results, you can always copy and paste-special elements on a page that include gradients as a .PNG directly in a slide. That will rasterize the gradient (but make things uneditable) and that should solve the printing issue. Keep the live elements off to the side in case you have future changes.

Any suggestions on how to easily switch between PowerPoint and Keynote?
While Keynote can open PPT and export to PPT, the two programs are not entirely compatible. I would avoid converting back and forth too often as you’ll have to continually fix and tweak things. That said, it is totally okay to start in one program and at some point convert to the other.

Is it advisable to hide the footnote? We’re always uneasy with the idea of not giving proper attribution, but it does look better when hidden!
If you have a footnote that is so small it can’t be read on screen, then it might as well not be there (and you’re probably already violating an legal requirement). Take it out, or better yet, program your slides so it is only visible in a PDF or in print using the disappearing content trick.

You run your blog on what? WordPress?
Squarespace.

Do you miss Selection Pane in PPT for Mac? What do you use for replacement?
I do. If I really need it, I go over to my PC…

Where do you put creative commons attribution on customer slides?
I like to put attributions in the bottom corner in a very subtle typographical treatment.

I love the look of slides that uses images as backgrounds but shy from using it thinking the image may not appear (same way when it does that in HTML emails)…how do we overcome that?
You sometimes do not see imagery in HTML emails because your email client sometimes blocks externally hosted imagery. Since imagery is embedded in PPT and not hosted on a remote server, you won’t have this problem. If you see imagery on your computer, anyone who opens the file on their computer will also see the imagery.

What is better to work in PowerPoint or Publisher?
I’ve never worked in Publisher, so can’t comment. The reason I suggest PPT for print layout in the officeplace is that everyone has it.

Categories: PowerPoint.

I’m Giving a Rare Free Webinar for Presentationxpert.com

It’s not often that I am able to offer presentation training that is open to the public, but I’m thrilled to be able to do so on Wednesday, November 13th when I will teach a webinar for Presentationxpert.com.

In the Trenches: Real World Solutions to Corporate Presentation Challenges
Wednesday, November 13
11am PST / 2pm EST
Register here

The one hour session will focus on real world solutions for the types of presentation challenges we face in corporate environments. You won’t hear lots of theory and idealistic advice for how to give a TEDTalk. But you will walk away with tips, tricks and strategies you can put to immediate use in the workplace to create and give better presentations.

And the best part is that the webinar is completely free!

Here are just a few of the things we’ll cover…

Multiple tactics for encouraging less text and fewer bullet points, including the disappearing content trick and the ridiculously simple “chunking” technique
Leveraging PowerPoint’s Notes view in unique ways to effortlessly create well-designed and distinctly different handouts
Creating “re-skinnable” templates that can be turned into custom presentations in minutes
Keeping presentations highly editable through vector graphics and PowerPoint image-editing techniques
Breaking out of PowerPoint-think with “walking” and portrait print decks

And did I mention that the webinar is free?

It’s going to be good! Sign up to guarantee your spot.

Categories: PowerPoint, Presenting Live.

The 44 Safe Fonts for PowerPoint

At the recent Presentation Summit, my good friend Johanna Rehnvall presented an absolutely killer reference tool for choosing fonts in PowerPoint. We all know that there are only certain fonts that you can be certain everyone else opening your file will have. But what are those fonts?…where can you find a list?…What do those fonts look like?…

Johanna had all these questions time and again, so she created “The Periodic Table of PowerPoint Fonts,” an interactive guide to the 44 standard fonts found on most PCs.

Divided by Serif, Sans Serif and Script typefaces, it a highly visual font picker and reference that everyone should keep on their desktops.

Download it here.

And check out Johanna’s site at www.presentitude.com.

And special thanks, of course, to Echo Swinford and Julie Terberg and their book, Building PowerPoint Templates, for providing the raw material (and standing ovation) to Johanna.

Trends from the 2013 Presentation Summit

I just returned from the annual Presentation Summit, held this year in Ft. Lauderdale. The only conference of its kind, the Summit is a unique gathering of professionals who make their living in the world of slides and screen information. The event used to be called “PowerPoint Live,” and indeed there is a primary emphasis on PowerPoint: Representatives from Microsoft attend as do most of the PowerPoint MVPs—the top thinkers and champions of the program. But the name change also reflects a recognition that PowerPoint is just one tool (albeit the most prominent) in this world.

This year I again presented my “In The Trenches“ session on real-world presentation solutions to day to day corporate challenges, but I also presented sessions on data design and Apple’s Keynote software (my preferred presentation software.)

Here are some visual notes from my sessions taken by the attendee Stephy Lewis…

Emerging Themes

As both a speaker and an attendee, some themes emerged this year on the state of presentation including increased attention on data visualization and increased use of software that isn’t PowerPoint. And I am not just saying that because those were my session topics—two highlights for me were Danielle Jotham who spoke on the many presentation software solutions employed by her design team at TBS and Matt Stevenson from Fathom Creative who gave a killer talk on Prezi.

But by far the biggest theme for me was much PowerPoint was being used for things other than traditional slide presentations—specifically print layout.

PowerPoint for Print Documents

It has become clear that PowerPoint is the primary software tool of corporate America. Excel is still a powerful solution for working with numbers, but the relative ease of use of PowerPoint is leading many to abandon the bloated, clunky and buggy world of Microsoft Word in favor of the slideware’s greener pastures.

At Edelman, we increasingly use PowerPoint for text-heavy documents and proposals. When we can’t use Adobe CS for various reasons, we’ll use PowerPoint to create white papers, proposals and all types of text-heavy documents (ultimately saving these out as PDFs.) At the Summit, I presented a number of our solutions for creating print-only presentations with PowerPoint. And I was pleased, but not surprised to see that I was not the only one pushing the software in this direction. Ric Bretschneider gave a session entitled “Insider Secrets for Paper Presentations.” I also spoke with numerous people who told me that their companies were abandoning Microsoft Publisher and Word in favor of PowerPoint as a layout tool.

PowerPoint will not replace design programs such as InDesign anytime soon. But I think the folks at Microsoft may be realizing that there are millions of users who require a basic (and inexpensive) layout tool for more visually dynamic print documents. And when those users choose from among the tools on their desktop, they choose PowerPoint.

Here’s hoping the PowerPoint dev team implements text box linking, image wrap, drop caps, grids and more layout tools in future releases…

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Even though I now attend the conference as a speaker, I continue to learn a great deal from other presenters and attendees. I’ll be writing future posts on some of these things at PresentYourStory.com, so come on by and check the site out. There is a lot more on the site than what you’ll read in the newsletters!

And if I’m convincing you to attend the Presentation Summit, mark your calendars for next year: Oct 12-15 in San Diego!

Categories: PowerPoint, Presenting Live.

2013 Annoying PowerPoint Survey

Dave Paradi is again doing his Annoying PowerPoint Survey. Take part here!

Categories: PowerPoint.

Zimmerman Prosecutors Use Kindergarten-like PowerPoint Slides as Closing Remarks

Holy crap. If there’s anything that says, “incompetent, careless prosecution,” it’s the juvenile and horribly created PowerPoint slides that the Zimmerman prosecutors used in their closing arguments. There’s not much point in redesigning these or explaning the utter fail these are in terms of effective communication and persuasion. They pretty much speak for themselves.

Why not just bring your 6 year old in to deliver closing arguments for you?

Full set of slides here.

Categories: PowerPoint, Presenting Live, Storytelling.

Every Time you make a PowerPoint, Edward Tufte Kills a Kitten

H/T @janjaaprypkema @echosvoice

Categories: Information Design, PowerPoint.

Presentation Summit 2013 & Discount Code

I am again speaking at the world’s only conference dedicated to presentation, the very awesome Presentation Summit.

This year we will be on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, Sept 22-25, and I will be giving three sessions:

In The Trenches: Real-world and battle-tested techniques for maintaining best presentation practices in challenging corporate environments
Data Design: Effective and creative data design specifically for presentation
The Key to Keynote: All about Apple’s answer to PowerPoint

Check out the full schedule here.

And once again, the conference is extending a special discount offer for my readers. Just use “NH75” when you register.

If you’re on the fence or are wondering whether the Summit is right for you, just drop me a line, and I’ll be happy to tell you more.

Categories: PowerPoint, Presenting Live.

Fewer Agencies Presenting with PowerPoint…

The good folks at Mirren in partnership with RSW/US have released a new report: New Business Tools: The Definitive Guide, which you can download a copy of here.

The survey of 300 agency executives shows that in the world of advertising, digital, marketing and PR agencies, PowerPoint isn’t as an entrenched tool as it is elsewhere in the business world—at least when it comes to pitching for new business. In fact, more agencies present with Keynote or Prezi (44%) than they do with PowerPoint (32%).

There are a few more interesting tidbits in the report. Take a look!

Categories: Keynote, Pitching, PowerPoint, Presenting Live, Prezi.

What Business Pitches and Sex Have in Common

What do business pitching and sex have in common? Well with certain exceptions, not a whole lot of people get to see you engage in either of them. Really, how do you stack up against the competition in the boardroom? (Or bedroom for that matter.)

You might have seen Facebook’s original ad sales deck from 2004 which is a fascinating archeological find.

But Business Insider seems able to get their hands on VC pitch decks fairly often, and I’m always interested to see how big and not so big names actually pitch and design their slides.

Here’s a recent one from Buffer, a social media startup. What it lacks in design and visual storytelling, it makes up for in simplicity and clarity.