PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Sue Hershkowitz-Coore at the Presentation Summit 2014

On Tuesday afternoon, just before the keynote started, Rick Altman announced the location of the next season of Presentation Summit in New Orleans from September 27 to 30, 2015.

He then introduced Sue Hershkowitz-Coore as a communication expert.

What Sue did even before her keynote was to go around, meeting and greeting attendees with a big smile. Sue then started her keynote very, very passionately.

Sue then explored scenarios. Her first scenario was about someone who promised you X by your deadline. You would then have to follow-up with that person under stress because your own work is getting delayed as a result. In such a scenario, how would you handle this? Would you take any of these approaches:

1. Email again to explain why you need X on time.
2. Talk to tell him or her to explain that you need this done as agreed upon.
3. Talk / email to find out if there is a reason they are consistently late?
4. Ignore it (again)!

One of the respondents said that they would combine options 2 and 3 — and would rather talk than email. Another respondent chose option 3, mainly because they were curious about why the delay was being caused? Sue thought that the response numbered 3 was the best as it was politically correct and respectful too.

She then asked if any of us have ever wanted to have a good, heartfelt conversation that unfortunately went awry. So what prevents clear, open, direct honest communication?

One respondent said fear prevents such a communication. Others thought this lack of communication may happen due to prejudices, or the desire not to ask questions that others may have difficulty answering, etc.

Sue’s next scenario was about what do you need to learn to make your time worthwhile. Audience responses ranged from apology to empathy. Sue added that “Often when we use empathy. It is to help ourselves rather than help others.”

And then Sue spoke about apology. She said that, “Apology is good if it helps the person you apologize to. But most people apologize to help themselves, and to think of themselves as good humans.”

Sue then spoke about her personal experiences. She was on a plane journey from Phoenix to Chicago. The person on the seat behind her was kicking non-stop. And she was offended, and said something she should not have — because the passenger on the seat was suffering from Parkinsons, and had no control over his leg movements. Sue then regretted that she had not given the passenger the benefit of doubt. She added, “I took that man’s dignity and took my own dignity away.”

She then provided two famous quotes:

The less people know the more they yell. Seth Godin

I am neither especially clever or especially gifted. I am just curious.
— Albert Einstein

And then she asked how would people ask a curious question? She suggested that we use preface words before our questions, so as to neutralize them:

1. I wondered how you managed
2. I wondered
3. May I ask if
4. I am curious

Sue emphasized, “As you say these words, if you can place them with curiosity from the heart, you will make a difference.”

Sue then also said that all your questions need to have crystal clear purpose. Examples of these questions:

1. What do I want?
2. What do I really want to accomplish at this moment?
3. If that’s what I want, what would I say how would I act?

Finally, Sue asked everyone to have a purpose in their lives — and that purpose could be to give the benefit of doubt. And then always say thank you!

Filed Under: Events
Tagged as: PowerPoint, Presentation Summit

Insert Interactions and Manage in PowerPoint using Adobe Presenter

Adobe Presenter enables you to add interactions. So what are interactions? Essentially, these are static widgets in the form of SWF files. These widgets help you quickly set up standard user interactions, for example, interactions using accordions or tabs. Once you add an interaction on a slide within PowerPoint, you can customize it further.

Explore how to insert an Interaction in PowerPoint using Adobe Presenter.

Filed Under: Add-ins
Tagged as: Add-in, Adobe Presenter, PowerPoint, Tutorials

Learn PowerPoint 2013 for Windows: Selecting Text

PowerPoint and indeed all Microsoft Office programs allow you to work with a particular object only if it is selected. For example, you select a shape to make changes to the shape. You similarly select a chart to edit the chart. And yes, you can select a text container object such as a text placeholder, a text box, or even a shape — and then make changes to its position, formatting, size, etc. However, this changes the entire object — and leaves the actual text content within that object largely unchanged. To make changes to the actual text, you first need to select the text separately and then make changes by using the options available within the Home tab of the Ribbon or the Mini Toolbar.

Explore various ways of selecting text in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2013
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2013, Text, Tutorials

New Year PowerPoint Clip Arts

These New Year themed clip arts for PowerPoint are all silhouettes that are ready to use within your PowerPoint presentation slides. These silhouette clip arts have been provided in black and white variations that are contained within two separate sample presentations that you download.

Download and use these slides.

Filed Under: Presentation Bank
Tagged as: Clip Media, Design, Graphics, PowerPoint

Learn PowerPoint 2013 for Windows: Dummy Text

At some point of time, we all need dummy text to quickly add to our slides so that we can ascertain how a body of text looks or fits within a certain text box or placeholder. Microsoft introduced an undocumented feature in PowerPoint that enables you achieve this with just a few keystrokes, and once you are used to these shortcuts, you’ll learn to appreciate this feature so much!

Learn how to insert dummy text in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2013
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2013, Text, Tutorials