PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

An Interview with Tony Dunckel

Tony Dunckel is a Product Marketing Manager at TechSmith Corporation, a multimedia software company based in Michigan. TechSmith, founded in 1987, focuses on enabling users to capture images and activity from Windows desktops, including animation, graphics, text and video, and enhance the captured material with special effects, narration and a variety of multimedia features. The company’s flagship products are SnagIt, Camtasia Studio and EnSharpen. Their software products increase business productivity and enrich personal computing by helping users to communicate, teach and demonstrate complex ideas and subtle points visually, rather than through words alone.

In this interview, Tony talks about Snagit.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, Snagit, Techsmith, Tony Dunckel

Xara X¹ PNG and Alpha Channel Export for PowerPoint

The new Xara X¹ has tons of new features. You can also export graphics to Microsoft Office apps like PowerPoint and Word with just one step.

In this tutorial, see how Xara X¹ works in concert with PowerPoint.

Filed Under: Companion Programs
Tagged as: Alpha Channel, PowerPoint, Transparency, Xara

Face-off: PowerPoint vs. PowerPoint

Just as a PowerPoint presentation poorly executed can make you want to poke your eyes out, a good one can make you stand up and shout for joy. In this feature, editors Paul Gillin and Margaret Rouse talk about PowerPoint from opposite ends.

PowerPoint has become the enemy of clarity. In the right hands, it is an exquisite tool for organizing thoughts. But too often, PowerPoint has become the message. Its multimedia effects, over-engineered slide transitions, and unfathomable charts can actually obscure the points the user wants to deliver while wasting time in both preparation and delivery.

When a PowerPoint slide is restricted to a few brief bulleted comments, it not only helps members of the audience to clearly recognize the speaker’s main points, it also helps the speaker to stay on topic during the presentation. This allows a confident speaker to feel comfortable about encouraging interaction with the audience.

Explore more in this feature on the TechTarget Network site.

Filed Under: Thoughts
Tagged as: Opinion, PowerPoint

Office 2004 for Mac: A Must Have Upgrade

PC Magazine called the new Office 2004 for the Macintosh a must-have upgrade. They say:

Now this is more like it. When the previous Mac version of Microsoft Office came out, we were happy to see that the entire suite had been rewritten to run under Mac OS X but dismayed that beyond that there were no compelling reasons to upgrade. Thankfully, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac has all the reasons we could ask for. It is loaded with far more new features than will fit in this review, some of which bring it to up-to-date with the Windows version and others of which are Mac firsts.

Read more in this review.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2004
Tagged as: Mac, Office for Mac, PowerPoint 2004, PowerPoint for Mac

The Kathy Jacobs Interview

Kathy Jacobs is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP (Most Valuable Professional). Right now, Kathy’s professional time is spent writing, supporting her site, and answering PowerPoint and other questions. The rest of the time goes into email, Girl Scouts, and outdoor cooking (especially using Dutch Ovens). She has a husband who is also a computer nerd and outdoor cook. They live in Phoenix AZ and love the weather.

In this interview, Kathy talks about PowerPoint, support systems like MVPs and newsgroups and presentation skills.

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, Kathy Jacobs, MVP, PowerPoint