PowerPoint and Presenting Blog: July 2005

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, was recently presented with an "Editors' Pick of Show" award from Computer Graphics World magazine for its Portable LIVE production System, TriCaster. More on the NewTek site...

Having the ability to present yourself and your message to an audience is a necessary skill for a good manager and leader. Most people when asked to make a presentation imagine it will go wrong, but if you follow these basic ideas on how to improve your skills it will build your confidence. Graham Yemm explains more on the icWales site...

I really like Keith Tromer's new SoftShadow add-in for PowerPoint - at last PowerPoint has soft shadows like Photoshop! Maybe that explains why I gave Keith such a nice quote to put on his site! What I like about SoftShadow is that I don't need to take my objects to Photoshop and add a nice drop shadow and then get it back to PowerPoint as a PNG - the Soft Shadow add-in does it all inside PowerPoint with one click. Also, all my objects can be restored to their no-shadow look with another click. There is a free trial version that you can download from the pptXTREME site...

Online meetings are a reality, with a cheaper, more feature-rich version of Macromedia's server-based training and conferencing tool. Whether it's right for you, though, depends to a large degree on just how remote your works are. When we first looked at Breeze it was still little-known, despite having reached version 4. Since then, the training and meeting tool has gained a dedicated following, with the likes of Intel, Epson, Sony and the FBI on its books. The idea is to take advantage of global broadband to save your remote workers the chore of meeting in a single central location. More on the PC Pro site...

Logitech has released a wireless presentation controller with a built-in programmable timer. The cordless 2.4 GHz presenter is intended for mobile professionals who frequently deliver presentations. Its features enable people to maximise eye contact and interact naturally with the audience. More on ferret.com.au...

What if a speaker could jump around not only within a single slideshow but between hundreds, or thousands, or even tens of thousands of slides? Could I create an environment with ultimate freedom, where every possible slide is available at the click of a mouse, anytime, from anywhere? Robert Lane explains more about Relational presentations...

Articulate has released the Articulate Rapid E-Learning Studio Second Edition that combines two powerful products into one integrated package with everything you need to rapidly create e-learning courses from PowerPoint and develop custom quizzes, assessments and surveys. In addition to Articulate Presenter 5, the Rapid E-Learning Studio includes Quizmaker 2. Articulate is also running a special offer until July 15, 2005 which bundles Articulate’s Rapid E-Learning PowerPoint Template Kit as part of the Studio. More info on the Articulate site...

The new Vacation series of PowerPoint templates from Ppted is great for all sorts of presentations including those you create to show off your vaction pictures to family, friends and colleages. Take a look now...

Integration of Breeze and Captivate enables easy creation, distribution, and presentation of e-learning simulations for virtual classrooms. Macromedia, Inc. announced the close integration of key e-learning products Macromedia Breeze and Macromedia Captivate 1.01, enabling one-click publishing and full tracking of engaging interactive training simulations within Breeze virtual classes and self-paced training courses. Together, Captivate and Breeze can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of software skills instruction, corporate software rollouts, and help-desk applications. More on the Macromedia site...

Ontra Presentations, a multimedia software and services company announced the signing of the FOX Broadcasting Company, a unit of FOX Entertainment Group, as a client. The creator of such esteemed and popular television shows as American Idol, 24, The Simpsons and Arrested Development, FOX Broadcasting Company is the latest major television network in succession to join Ontra. The deal will see FOX using Ontra Presentation software as their presentation platform when presenting to major advertisers during the 2004/2005 advertising Upfronts and beyond. More on the Washington Post site...