PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

TRIBE Presentations: Conversation with Miguel Monteiro

  Miguel Monteiro is General Manager & Creative Director at TRIBE Presentations (Portugal). Miguel has been a graphic designer/illustrator, working in Advertising and Communication Design since 1978 and developing computer based multimedia presentations since 1988, for many high end clients. Currently, Miguel focusses on creative consultancy and project development in business multimedia presentations design, video & audio production, event and scene design, exhibitions, etc.

In this conversation, Miguel talks about PowerPoint design, and niche areas that TRIBE Presentations works with.

Geetesh: Tell us more about how you got started working with PowerPoint, and what sets the presentation design work in a league that’s different from other types of graphic design.

Miguel: I have worked with presentation design since the early 80’s, while still working as an art director in advertising agencies.

When I created my first design studio in 1987, clients often requested us to develop visual aids for their presentations, from overhead transparencies to 35 mm slides. I believe we were making a difference, adding value with the design approach we used to create those pieces because, from the beginning, I always looked at presentations as one of the many branches of the larger design tree.

1988 was a huge jump in our presentations design service, from hand made materials to computer graphics. With the purchase of a Commodore Amiga 2000 and some peripherals, we started designing and printing our own computer transparencies and 35mm slides and… developing computer based dynamic multimedia presentations (I believe we may have been pioneers).

As presentations grew to became our major income source, in 1991 we jumped to a higher professional environment with a Truevision Vista based network, which we used until 1997 when the first reliable PowerPoint version came into the market.

We looked at PowerPoint as a natural tool within an ongoing evolution, with a great advantage over our previous systems. It’s friendly interface also endeared clients since rough presentation content would now come already in the PowerPoint format, avoiding the retyping of the usual huge amount of handwritten sheets of paper, and finished presentations could be delivered by the clients themselves with their own computers. But, at that point, clients started suggesting that our presentations business was finished as they now had the tool in their own hands! My answer used to be “Just let the dust settle… it is not about the tool; it is about what you can do with it!” which came to be the birth of a concept that I use until today.

We assumed that PowerPoint was not a threat but a challenge, so we “dived” into it with all the skills we had—design, image processing, step by step animation, audio and video production and in a couple of weeks we made PowerPoint create what we wanted it to and not simply what it offered as the defaults. We went back to clients with samples of presentations leveraged and delivered with PowerPoint and comments shifted from “you’re finished…” to “oh, we can’t do that…”

We’re still in business until today with many of those same clients, and PowerPoint became, since then, our main delivery tool.

From a more personal point of view, today PowerPoint is not only a day-to-day tool but also a tool I use for private “hobby” projects.

Geetesh: Your portfolio includes many advertisement type presentations that could typically be used for digital signage -– is this a significant trend in Portugal, or is this a niche that your company addresses?

Miguel: TRIBE Presentations began in April 2009 as my first presentations design core business assumed project, with a small team which has been working together for the last 12 year. Its portfolio is a selection of works designed through this time span.

The presentations market in Portugal covers all the conventional themes, corporate, services, projects, products, etc. We have our share of presentations in all those areas but the fact that our professional roots come from advertising and product design, led us to work a lot with marketing and sales departments and it is somehow reflected in our portfolio, leading to the “advertising type” look you commented.

Clearly assuming our line of work to be a little into animation, as long as animation adds to convey the message and not exists just “because” it is some fancy thing. Having said that, consumer products by their very characteristics usually allow us to develop more dynamic presentations.

Our portfolio was selected choosing presentations or segments of presentations, which reflected that preference line, our path since 1997 and – even if designed for a presenter – which could also work as stand-alone presentations (presentations without a presenter).

Meanwhile our client list has continued to grow to include Boheringer Ingelheim, Citroen, Colgate Palmolive, Danone, Dyrup, FNAC, Fromageries Bel, Garnier, GM/Opel, Hasbro, Henkel, Kraftfoods, L’Oreal, Mars, MG Rover, NipponExpress, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Renault, Unilever, Vichy, VW/Audi, Wella, Yoplait, Centralcer, Compal, Sumolis, Cemusa, Exame, Expresso, Novis/Optimus, CGD, Somague, Robbialac, etc.

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: Design, Interviews, Miguel Monteiro, PowerPoint, Presentation Samples

Learn PowerPoint 2010 for Windows: Drawing Multiple Shapes Quickly

Sometimes you need to draw multiple shapes of the same type on a slide, maybe a hundred smiley faces on one slide, or even a hundred stars on a dark blue slide. Yes, you can do that in PowerPoint by inserting single shapes on the slide! Essentially, you select a shape from the Shapes gallery, and then draw your shape — then revisit the Shapes gallery again to select that same shape again, and redraw another instance. Yes, that means a hundred trips to the Shapes gallery, and drawing on the slide as many times — there has to be an easier way. Indeed there is an option to make things simpler — and it is called the Lock Drawing Mode option.

Learn more about drawing multiple shapes quickly using the Lock Drawing Mode option.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2010, Shapes, Tutorials

Learn PowerPoint 2010 for Windows: Duplicate Shapes Using Ctrl+D

You learned how to duplicate shapes by dragging in an earlier tutorial, but while that’s a nice way to duplicate five or ten shapes, it’s not the best way to create ten, twenty, or more copies. We all know that you can press Ctrl+C to copy any shape in PowerPoint to the clipboard, and a resulting Ctrl+V always pastes a copy from the clipboard to the slide — what many people don’t realize is PowerPoint has this almost supernatural keyboard shortcut called Ctrl+D (yes, the D stands for duplicate), and this Ctr+D shortcut does more than just duplicate; in fact it creates a pattern of evenly-spaced and symmetrical shapes!

Learn how to use Ctrl+D to duplicate shapes in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2010, Shapes, Tutorials

Distinction’s 2010 Annual Presentation Impact Survey: Conversation with Jim Endicott

Jim Endicott is an internationally-recognized consultant, designer, speaker specializing in professional presentation messaging, design and delivery. Jim has been a Jesse H. Neal award-winning columnist for Presentations magazine with his contributions to the magazine’s Creative Techniques column. Jim has also contributed presentation-related content in magazines like Business Week, Consulting, and Selling Power as well as being a paid contributor for a number of industry-related websites.

In this conversation, Jim discusses the just-launched 2010 Annual Presentation Impact Survey being conducted by his company, Distinction Communication, Inc.

Geetesh: How will this survey will help create a better presentation environment?

Jim: So often today those who serve and support the presentation community around the world make assumptions of need based on our own area of expertise. For example, those who create or support PowerPoint for a living may believe the answer to more successful presentations is better visuals. Or maybe delivery skills coaches are convinced that success in presenting has more to do with the physical delivery and less on PowerPoint while others may tout good messaging as a key to real impact.

All these perspectives are obviously valid but it’s time we gave active presenters around the world the opportunity to tell us themselves what frustrates them and what they perceive to be important needs and priorities. Every year, we ask what may be the most important question of them all – how much impact do they believe that a good presenter/communicator has on their career and income? That answer often becomes their personal motivation for change.

If we all truly listen, then we’ll be able to provide more relevant resources that are focused on the things that cause presenters sleepless nights.

Geetesh: How is Distinction equipped to handle a survey of this sort?

Jim: There are many resources available these days for hosting large-scale surveys and we look for several things in a survey service provider; can they make the process quick and easy for participants and can they provide great analytics to be able to dissect the results so we can draw meaningful conclusions. We use a service that provides both of those elements.

See Also: 2010 Presentation Impact Survey Results: Conversation with Jim Endicott | Distinction’s 2009 Annual Presentation Impact Survey : Conversation with Ji

Filed Under: Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, Jim Endicott, Opinion, PowerPoint

Learn PowerPoint 2010 for Windows: Duplicate Shapes by Dragging

Shapes in PowerPoint are very useful in representing design or content — but when you create a slide that has such a framework, it is common to have several shapes of the same size and other attributes on a slide. Yes, you can go ahead and insert the same shape into PowerPoint repeatedly, but that’s causing you to lose so much productive time you could have used elsewhere! There are quicker alternatives for duplicating shapes that can be learned if you follow these guidelines.

Learn to duplicate shapes by dragging in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows.

Filed Under: PowerPoint 2010
Tagged as: PowerPoint 2010, Shapes, Tutorials