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Thoughts and impressions of happenings in the world of PowerPoint and presentations, continuously updated since 2003.
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PowerPoint and Presenting Notes
PowerPoint and Presenting Glossary
Here are some thoughts from a wide section of the media on PowerPoint’s 20th birthday.
One of the most elegant, most influential and most groaned-about pieces of software in the history of computers is 20 years old. There won’t be a lot of birthday celebrations for PowerPoint; the program is one the world loves to mock almost as much as it loves to use.
Perhaps the most scathing criticism comes from the Yale graphics guru Edward Tufte, who says the software “elevates format over content, betraying an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch.” He even suggested PowerPoint played a role in the Columbia shuttle disaster, as some vital technical news was buried in an otherwise upbeat slide… No quarrel from Mr. Gaskins: All the things Tufte says are absolutely true. People often make very bad use of PowerPoint.
– Lee Gomes discusses more on WSJ.com.
Here are some more links that talk about PowerPoint turning 20.
I did some digging in the PC World magazine library. Here is one of the first ads for PowerPoint that showed up in PC World’s November 1990 issue when the program first became available for Windows 3.0. The ad is a cool three-page foldout ad that includes an M.C. Escher print to hammer Microsoft’s point: With Windows the future takes shape. With our Windows’ applications, it soars.
– Tom Spring on the PC World site
It turns out that this Microsoft ad makes no mention of PowerPoint. But it’s always good to see an M.C. Escher creation!
Back in the late eighties, we laughed at our science teachers when they burned themselves on an overhead projector or fumbled with their clear, handwritten sheets so they weren’t projecting their notes upside and backwards. What a relief when PowerPoint came to our rescue… well not exactly.
– Ken Fisher on the Influx Insights site
Not everyone is complaining about PowerPoint:
At a time when researchers and business gurus alike are condemning PowerPoint and writing its obituary, presenter and author Robert Lane is demonstrating to audiences that PowerPoint could, instead, be approaching its Golden Age to the benefit of presenters and audiences alike.
– Read more on the I-Newswire site.
Filed Under:
Thoughts
Tagged as: Memorabilia, PowerPoint, Robert Gaskins
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Mike Pearce teaches social studies at Ellison High School in the Killeen Independent School District in Texas, USA. But Mike is not just another teacher. He uses PowerPoint presentations to deliver a successful teaching system that has shown a phenomenal improvement in the results and passing rates.
Mike Pearce from Ellison High School in Texas discusses his PowerPoint based system.
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Case Studies
Tagged as: Case Studies, Education, PowerPoint
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Google has acquired online slide presentation company Zenter, filling out its web-based office software portfolio with an application similar to Microsoft’s popular PowerPoint. Financial terms were not disclosed. While the Internet search giant has already made Microsoft’s PowerPoint files viewable in Gmail, Google has not yet launched its own web version of PowerPoint.
Read more on the Google Blog site.
TechCrunch also has some information on this development.
Filed Under:
Companion Programs
Tagged as: Google, Google Slides, PowerPoint
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Tom Mucciolo is president of MediaNet, and a recognized industry expert in visual communications, business presentations, and leadership skills. He has served as a skills consultant for major corporations since 1985, concentrating on the script, visuals, and delivery associated with presentations, especially electronic events. High-profile communicators, including corporate leaders, politicians, educators, physicians, lawyers, sales teams, and media personalities, as well as those at any organizational level, demand his coaching expertise to enhance executive presence, improve leadership effectiveness, and develop high-quality communication skills.
In this interview, Tom discusses his work, his training, and PowerPoint specific visual skills.
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Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, Personalities, PowerPoint, Tom Mucciolo
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Mark Sicignano has been developing software for over 20 years. In addition to creating ScreenShot Direct, he is also a co-founder of SoftwareTime, which creates software tools that encourage children to use the computer wisely.
In this conversation, Mark discusses ScreenShot Direct, a screen capture product that directly inserts screen captures as new PowerPoint slides.
Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself and ScreenShot Direct.
Mark: ScreenShot Direct resulted from a conversation I had with a friend. He was looking for a utility to capture screenshots into PowerPoint, and he complained that everything he found either required too many steps, such as having to manually save and import screenshots into PowerPoint or was focused on creating special effects. He was unable to find an application that streamlined his workflow.
I’ve created numerous PowerPoint presentations in my career, but they never consisted of many screenshots. My friend’s challenge sounded like a fun project and I like to help people! I’m a software developer and I enjoy solving usability problems. I’ve worked in Clinical Information Systems, Document Management, and Retail, but lately, I’ve enjoyed solving smaller problems for people I can relate to directly.
My friend needed an easy way to snap lots of screenshots into PowerPoint. Every day he was creating presentations for demos and training. We talked over breakfast and while he described the features he wanted, I focused on hearing his actual problem. During the screen capture phase of creating demos or training materials, he wanted to focus on the application or process he was documenting in PowerPoint. He didn’t want to have to “multitask” by constantly Alt-tabbing between a screenshot tool, PowerPoint, and the application or process.
So I asked, “What if I could give you a tool that gets your screenshots into PowerPoint with a single keystroke, and during that process, PowerPoint and the tool would both stay in the background, out of sight allowing you to focus on your applications or processes.” He was ecstatic and said, “That would be a beautiful thing!”
So off I went to create it…
Geetesh: Tell us about some case studies where the use of ScreenShot Direct has resulted in quicker and more efficient workflows.
Mark: Case #1 is my friend who uses ScreenShot Direct every day for his demos and training material. As soon as I gave him a proof of concept with the basic functionality, he called me to rave about how efficient the tool made him. He suggested some basic improvements but said the basic design was what he needed.
I never doubted that the tool would save time because it eliminates so many unnecessary steps. After picking which presentation to insert screenshots, you simply hit the PrintScreen key (or Alt-PrintScreen)… No switching to PowerPoint, no need to create new slides, no need to manually paste or scale the image. Simply focus on the primary task you want to document, and stay in the “flow” (or “the zone”) while you snap away.
Once I refined ScreenShot Direct a bit more, I passed it along to others who, in Case #2, use it to collect customer requirements. The benefit in this case is that as customers demonstrate their systems to explain their business process, users can capture screenshots into PowerPoint without any distractions. This makes discovery sessions much more efficient and productive for all involved.
After seeing these niches for ScreenShot Direct and the excitement people had for it, I decided to release it as shareware. To be clear, it isn’t a general-purpose screenshot utility. ScreenShot Direct addresses a specific need: lots of screenshots… directly into PowerPoint… fast. I have a few more enhancements for future updates, but I want to keep the tool simple and it should always be about snapping screens into PowerPoint as fast as possible.
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: Add-in, Interviews, PowerPoint
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