PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

AbsolutePPT: Before You Create a Video from PowerPoint

We added this new article on AbsolutePPT that explores housekeeping tasks you need to follow before converting your PowerPoint presentation to a movie.

Read more on AbsolutePPT site.

Filed Under: Audio and Video
Tagged as: Audio, Movies, Multimedia, PowerPoint, Video

The Ellen Finkelstein Interview

  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 website 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.

In this interview, Ellen talks about PowerPoint 2007, and her new book.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Books, Ellen Finkelstein, Interviews, PowerPoint

iFilm Contest: Conversation with Ted Thayer

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 takeoffs 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-of-the-moment presentation. I sat down one day, thought of an extremely 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, I’m proud of what I did.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Contest, Interviews, PowerPoint 2007, Presentation Samples

Presentation Wiz: Conversation with Sandra Johnson

  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 of 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 salespeople 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 are no longer throwing templates to their salespeople and relying on them to create presentations.

Indeed, my clients look to me to help them home in on a key message and create a story that is relevant to their audience—all while maintaining a design integrity 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 infographics 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.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, PowerPoint, Sandra Johnson

Imaptica for PowerPoint 4

Impatica for PowerPoint takes your PowerPoint presentations, converts them to 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 Indezine review of Impatica for PowerPoint 4.

Filed Under: Add-ins
Tagged as: Add-in, Impatica, Online Presentations, PowerPoint, Review