PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Voice-overs: Conversation with Dick Rodstein

Dick Rodstein is an international award-winning voice-over narrator who is based in New York City but serves business clients all over the world. His website, includes audio samples of his work and the Notorious List of 114 Character Voices.

Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself and your voice-overs.

Dick: Corporate communications have always been at the core of my voice-over work. I love narrating TV documentaries, and some other assignments have been a lot of fun, like playing Orson Welles in the 60^th Anniversary “War of the Worlds” broadcast. But business always needs to speak to consumers and to other businesses, and that’s what I’ve been doing for my whole professional life.

The delivery process has changed over the years, as technology has given us new ways of communicating with each other, but the content has not changed nearly as much. I’ve narrated literally over 10,000 pieces of business communication, one way or another, so I’m familiar with the kinds of messages the workplace likes to get out.

What is especially new these days is the global reach that the Internet makes possible. Recently, I’ve been able to help businesses in Macau, Jakarta, Nairobi, Hyderabad, Tel Aviv, London, Dublin, and Stockholm by narrating their presentations for U.S. and Canadian audiences. And all from emailed scripts recorded in my home studio.

Geetesh: Tell us more about situations in which using voice-overs in PowerPoint can be beneficial and add value to a presentation.

Dick: PowerPoint has democratized the communications process. Instead of going to a media guru with mysterious skills and uncomfortable budgets, now anyone can put together an effective sales presentation from their office cubicle or their kitchen table at home. And indeed, there are times when it is enough to show a succession of graphics while offering your own commentary live to your audience.

However, there are other times when you might not be the most persuasive voice to drive your own message. Trade show presentations, websites, and instructional or motivational communications can all benefit from the use of a professional narrator. We’ve all suffered from watching beautiful visual presentations rendered ineffective by stumbling or self-conscious voice tracks. It’s the function of a narration to increase understanding, not to impede it.

Sometimes, your message is too important not to maximize the effectiveness of every element in your presentation. One way to do that is to hire a professional narrator who knows how to sell without seeming to sell, balancing the emotional sizzle and the informational steak of your presentation with deftness and security.

PowerPoint gives you the ability to add sound to your slideshow. There are simple instructions in the help menu and more elaborate tips and tricks on websites. The more important your show, the more you should consider hiring a pro to narrate your script. We’re trained and experienced in getting your points across. If a lot is at stake, your investment in a professional narrator will pay you back many times over.

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: Audio, Interviews, PowerPoint, Sounds

PowerPoint 2007: Interface Walkthrough

Here’s a quick walkthrough of the PowerPoint 2007 interface. Unlike PowerPoint 2002 & 2003 (XP), PowerPoint 2007 doesn’t look the same anymore. The menus and toolbars are replaced by the Ribbon tabs, a Quick Access Toolbar, and the mini toolbar.

Explore the interface for PowerPoint 2007 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2007
Tagged as: Interface, PowerPoint 2007, Tutorials

authorPOINT 3.8 Released

authorGEN announced the release of authorPOINT 3.8 with several new features for rapid e-learning authoring.

authorPOINT is a rapid e-learning presentation creation tool which installs within PowerPoint as a toolbar and captures PowerPoint presentations when an instructor is presenting. It comes with the option to embed presenters’ video through a webcam as they present or integrate video and audio as required.

Presentations created with authorPOINT can be saved in Flash or Windows Media formats. Further, the Flash file can be uploaded to a dedicated server on authorSTREAM that provides the presenter with a unique URL to deliver streaming Flash presentations.

Read more info on the authorGEN site.

Filed Under: Add-ins
Tagged as: Add-in, PowerPoint, PowerPoint Flash

Microsoft Tool Helps Plan Office 2007 Conversions

Microsoft Corp. last week released the final part of a free tool kit designed to help corporate users convert their existing Office files to Office 2007’s new Open XML file format. The new technology, called the Office Migration Planning Manager, combs through networked PCs to discover and report back on how many and what kind of Office files exist on the systems. The OMPM’s availability was quietly announced Friday on the blog of Brian Jones, an Office program manager at Microsoft.

Read more on the PC World site.

Filed Under: Microsoft Office
Tagged as: Microsoft Office, PowerPoint 2007

The Vikas Joshi Interview

Vikas Joshi is widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the online learning industry, pioneering product innovations, and developing efficient offshore outsourcing models. With a strong vision and strategic leadership, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the evolution of digital education and global business operations. Under his guidance, the Harbinger Group has not only built innovative software products but has also successfully introduced cutting-edge solutions tailored to the dynamic needs of the global marketplace. His expertise in leveraging technology to drive impactful learning experiences and business efficiency has set new benchmarks in the industry.

In this interview, he discusses Raptivity, their e-learning content creation tool.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: eLearning, Harbinger, Interviews, PowerPoint, Vikas Joshi