PowerPoint and Presenting Blog: July 2007

Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called Meetings 02. Not only do you get five great template designs, you also get the actual backgrounds so that you can use the same designs elsewhere. In this collection, you also get wide screen templates and backgrounds, and ten transparent PNGs you can use in your presentations -- at no extra cost.

Templates

Labels: powerpoint, templates

Imagine you're on the final legs of a never-ending road trip. You arrive at the 100th client meeting that week to deliver the PowerPoint you slaved over for weeks. Just as you set up, the projector in the room goes dead. What do you do? Why not use the projector on your smartphone?

Well, right now you can't do that. But if Motorola has anything to say about it, this scenario will soon become a reality.

Stephen Wellman explains more on InformationWeek.com...

Categories: powerpoint, projector

Labels: powerpoint, projector

authorPOINT Lite, a free PowerPoint to Flash Converter has been released by authorGEN, a Raleigh, NC based company that creates e-learning and presentation software. This presentation creation tool is a small download, and works on your desktop to create compact Flash files from your PowerPoints. The tool can also perform batch conversion of multiple .PPS and .PPT files.

authorPOINT Lite retains most PowerPoint effects including animations and sounds without any loss in presentation quality in the Flash (.SWF) output. Flash presentations have a number of advantages over PowerPoint format as Flash files are lighter, more secure, multiple browser and operating system compatible.

More on the authorGEN site...

Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash

Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash

MathType 6 is the newest version of a well known program that allows you to create math equations and more within Word, PowerPoint and several other applications. MathType itself is available in both Windows and Macintosh platforms, but MathType 6 is available only for Windows at the time of this writing.

MathType 6 has several improvements over the older versions of the program

Read the review here...

Categories: add-in, powerpoint

Labels: add-in, powerpoint

Ppted's Roads collection has been updated with extras! Take a look here to see...

We also have a giveaway of this collection...

Labels: powerpoint, templates

I love using SlideShare because it's a one-click process to upload and share my PowerPoints. However, SlideShare did lack the audio streams that make YouTube and iFilm so popular. And so people want to create YouTube movies from their PowerPoints. Not any more -- since SlideShare has added a cool new feature called SlideCasting.



SlideCasting is cool not just because it adds an audio stream to SlideShare's online presentations but because it does this in such a well implemented process:

• First, the presentation upload and the audio feature are completely different -- so the ease of use remains for those who just want to upload a presentation without audio.
  
  
• You can use any audio stream that has a URL -- for example an MP3 uploaded to your own site, or a podcast.
  
  
• Then you mashup the uploaded presentation and audio together. You can do this (and sync the slide timings as well) through an intuitive interface that includes a view of the slides and the waveform of the linked audio stream.
  
  
• And you can add audio to any of your uploads on SlideShare -- even the ones that were done before SlideShare added the SlideCast feature.
  

Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash, slideshare

SWiSHzone creates a well known range of Flash output programs, and when they released their PowerPoint add-in that could create Flash output from a presentation, I really wanted to take a look at the product. Their PowerPoint add-in product is called SWiSH Presenter.

Read the review here...

Categories: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash

Labels: add-in, online_presentations, powerpoint, powerpoint_flash

Tuval Software Industries has announced the release of Version 2.3 of Speech-Over, an application that quickly adds synced-timed voices in animated PowerPoint presentations. This new version can use any audio source -- microphone recording, prerecorded files and realistic text-to-speech (TTS) voices. Voice-empowered presentations convert to Flash for e-learning. The software has a wide variety of applications in education and training.

More info on the PRWeb site...

Categories: add-in, powerpoint

Labels: add-in, powerpoint

AbsolutePPT has a great, new tutorial that shows you how you can create YouTube content with nothing other than PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker.

The tutorial uses a step-by-step process -- and each step is accompanied by a screenshot.

Create PowerPoint YouTube movies now...

Categories: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube

Labels: online_presentations, powerpoint, youtube

This is one of the best ezine issues ever! You get three giveaways put together -- for Balesio's PPTMinimizer 3, Wildform's WildPresenter 3, and an awesome set of PowerPoint templates from Ppted that includes wide screen variations and extras.

You also get more learning resources for PowerPoint, a whole new PowerPoint site geared towards distribution and lifestyle, and more content than you can read in a month!

Read here...

Categories: ezine, powerpoint

Labels: ezine, powerpoint

Design Science has released a new version of MathType, their mathematical notation tool that lets you creates equations and more within Word, PowerPoint and several other applications. This is a major update that includes support for Microsoft Office 2007, Wikipedia, TeX, Windows Vista compatibility, and more.

The new version is currently available only by ESD (download) -- CD versions are expected to be available in due course.

More info here...

Categories: add-in, powerpoint

Labels: add-in, powerpoint

Microsoft's MacBU division confirmed that they will release beta 2 of the much awaited Office 2007 file format converters with "a significant Word refresh and the addition of PowerPoint (.pptx)." In addition, they will also release a beta of their latest Remote Desktop Connection client (a universal binary). Both releases are expected in the week of July 30th, as per the Mac Mojo blog.

Read more here...

Categories: office_mac, powerpoint

Labels: office_mac, powerpoint

I just added this new article on AbsolutePPT.com -- this one tells you what type of housekeeping tasks you need to follow before you convert your PowerPoint presentation to a movie.

Read here...

Categories: movies, powerpoint

Labels: movies, powerpoint

Ellen Finkelstein is the author of How To Do Everything with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 and the upcoming PowerPoint for Teachers: Dynamic Presentations and Interactive Classroom Projects. Ellen maintains a web site that offers PowerPoint tips and a selection of free backgrounds. There, you can sign up for her monthly PowerPoint Tips Newsletter to get free tips, tutorials, and techniques.



Read the interview here...

Categories: books, interviews, powerpoint

Labels: books, interviews, powerpoint

Ted Thayer whips up cool PowerPoint presentations with amazing animations. He's 14 years old, but that did not stop him from taking part in iFilm's Best PowerPoint Moment contest and becoming one of the winners. Visit Ted's site here...

Geetesh: Tell us what got you started with creating such amazing PowerPoints at this age?

Ted: I started using PowerPoint when my friend showed me a short animation he had done in PowerPoint. It was very simple and had very few pictures and animations. After that he basically forgot about it. I however was really interested. First I made a few take offs on the original. Then when I understood the basic concept, I decided I had to get more. I convinced my parents to upgrade to version 2003. With this, I discovered more and more features. When I thought I knew them all, I came across PPTHeaven. By looking at those PowerPoints, I realized there was so much more I could discover with PowerPoint. That was a couple of months ago.

Geetesh: Tell us more about your entry in the iFilm PowerPoint contest.

Ted: The biking presentation was one of three presentations I made to be submitted. It was also the only one that made it to the finals. This was kind of a spur the moment presentation. I sat down one day, thought of an etremely original topic, and created from there. As I look back I can see things that I could have developed more or cut out but overall im proud of what I did.



Categories: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samples

Labels: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samples

Sandra Johnson has devoted the past 6 years of her career to PowerPoint presentation design and delivery. Sandra helps clients leverage this powerful Microsoft tool as a sophisticated and dynamic component of their marketing mix. Visit Sandra's site...

Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself and your work.

Sandra: I have an education in nursing and 20-plus years experience working in the advertising business (that's an odd career path, I know). In advertising, I was involved in new business efforts. As a result, I frequently used PowerPoint. When I left advertising in 2001, I happened upon a PowerPoint project with American Express -- and, as they say -- the rest is history. My work has grown from doing PowerPoint on the side, to it being a full-time (plus) commitment for me. I work with clients that include United Healthcare, Medica, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and HP. I'm also a PowerPoint trainer, a contributor to the PowerPoint newsgroup and a PowerPoint Live team member.

If I were to describe my sweet spot (a sports analogy borrowed from colleague Rick Altman and for whose book "Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck" I was an editor), I'd say I have an eye for design, and I'm passionate about leveraging animation to help presenters tell a story.

The majority of my work is done for corporations whose sale people need to present to customers or prospects. I also do a lot of work in the legal field, working with attorneys to build their cases graphically with PowerPoint. I like to brag that "I've never lost a case."

I have the dream job. I truly never thought that I'd be able to have a career where I would love what I do so much.

Geetesh: What are the latest PowerPoint trends? What are presenters asking for? And what's passé?

Sandra: My clients get it. Corporate marketers in particular, are beginning to view PowerPoint and presentations as a part of their strategic marketing communications mix. With that perspective, they no longer are throwing templates to their sales people and relying on them to create presentations.

Indeed, my clients look to me to help them hone in on a key message and create a story that is relevant to their audience -- all while maintaining a design intergrity that is in keeping with their print collateral and advertising work.

And because they see PowerPoint presentations as a part of their marketing communications mix, it's become easier for me to encourage them to cut the bullets and use graphics and headlines instead. These clients understand that they can rely on their collateral materials as a "leave behind" (how many times have your clients said, "but we need the details on the slide so people can have a handout to read later"), and use PowerPoint to begin to establish a relationship between presenter and customer.

Additionally, my clients are asking for sophisticated animation in the form of info-graphics in their presentations. I know animation often gets a bad rap -- but I love using it (instead of text) to help the presenter tell his/her story.

Categories: interviews, powerpoint

Labels: interviews, powerpoint

Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called AIDS. Not only do you get five great template designs, you also get the actual backgrounds so that you can use the same designs elsewhere. In this collection, you also get wide screen templates and backgrounds, and ten transparent PNGs you can use in your presentations -- at no extra cost.

None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!

Labels: powerpoint, templates

Impatica for PowerPoint takes your PowerPoint presentations, converts them to the Impatica formats that can be as small as 95% of the original file sizes -- and retains most of the PowerPoint formatting. Version 4 of Impatica for PowerPoint adds support for PowerPoint 2007 and Windows Vista. In addition, it adds several other new features.

Read the full review...

Categories: add-in, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint

Labels: add-in, impatica, online_presentations, powerpoint