The funny thing is I received this email, probably like many of you. What caught my attention is that I am the instructor for the seminar, but it is not on my calendar… Oh, this is a “re-run” of a training I did awhile ago!
I won’t be at this one in person, but it is good. Details here.
– Troy @ TLC
Seriously, the title for this post says it all. Here is the original story from the Los Angeles Times.
“Though the wedding was steeped in traditional elegance, there was nothing traditional about this couple’s courtship. After they’d dated for six years, (the Bride) asked for a timeline of their future. (The Groom) responded by presenting a full PowerPoint presentation outlining their next three to five years together. Six months later — true to the plan’s first benchmark — the two were engaged.” And they where married in July (I am assuming also outlined in the PowerPoint presentation timeline).
– Troy @ TLC
This recent article caught my attention and the author stays on track with solid advice about presenting AND using PowerPoint. You can read the full article at Bloomberg Businessweek here.
It may be perceived as a harsh statment, but I believe the best point is the 2nd to last paragraph:
“PowerPoint is a convenient whipping horse for failed presentations. Yes, the program—and others like it… allow for the creation of elaborate (slides). A plethora of material is not the problem. The fault for a poor presentation lies not with the technology, but with the presenter.”
– Troy @ TLC
Ron Galloway, who also produced the documentary “Why Wal-Mart Works” has released his latest documentarty “Rethinking PowerPoint: Conversations About Slide Design & Presenting” to DVD this month.
I don’t think it will be available at the local Blockbuster video or Red Box, but it can be ordered here. The website also has sound bytes from some of the people interviewed in the documentary. I will hold my opinion until I have opportunity to view it all, which I am sure will have some interesting points about presentation design.
– Troy @ TLC
Here is my workspace (or part of it). Question: what is the most important item here?
For large, multi-screen (multi-computer) shows that have lots of cues (slide animations/advances, video rolls, etc.) the script binder reigns supreme. It has the exact script the presnter has on teleprompt. I have added my cue marks and notes throughout. During the show I literally read along as the presenter presents and I do nothing unless it is noted in this binder (no improvisation, everything is rehearsed and set to occur at specific words).
How important? At the end of the day I shutdown computers, lock them away, but the script binder goes with me and never leaves my control (seriously).
– Troy @ TLC
The PowerPoint Styles website had over 200 PowerPoint templates when I reviewed it recently. The templates are image based with stock images for the background and text placeholders formatted to coordinate with the background image.
I have not yet reviewed a stock template resource that I have found worth the expense. In this case all templates are free – and that gives you a nice background image, but not a very functional template (you get what you pay for). The images used for the template backgrounds are very nice, modern and work well for templates. I also appreciated that each image has a credit to its source/photographer. All templates I looked at where the legacy .ppt format.
When I first opened the template I downloaded, all looked good from the thumbnail view. Multiple layouts, PowerPoint placeholders positioned well within the background image, etc.
But the Title slide (viewed in edit view, not master slide view) showed a single text box vs. separate text boxes for the title and subtitle text, which have different formatting. And the background was a placed .jpg (eg. not from a preset master slide).
The Master Slides revealed no formatting, just a placed .jpg for the background. No text placeholders, named master, title slide master, etc.
If you are familiar with the basics of setting up templates with default placeholders, color scheme and transitions the PowerPoint Styles templates offer nice backgrounds to start with.
– Troy @ TLC
When PowerPoint does something unexpected and unexplained, the desire to toss the computer out the window increases (a lot!). But there are lots of online resources to find solutions (here at ThePowerPointBlog, forums, and searching google or bing).
But now there are more variables with multiple OS’s, version of PPT, etc. So what is your combination?
– Windows XP – 32 bit, PPT 2007
– Windows Vista – 64 bit, PPT 2003
– Windows 7 – 64 bit, PPT 2010 64
– Etc.
Finding files in Windows 7 can be different than XP. Add-ins that work in Windows 7 32-bit may not work in Windows 7 64-bit. And the list goes on.
As a best practice, I recommend at a minimum listing:
1. What Operating System (OS)
2. If your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit
3. What version of PowerPoint (or what versions if you have multiple installed on same computer)
4. If PowerPoint 2010, is it 32-bit or 64-bit
– Troy @ TLC
With Office 2010 now in full release this is one of those great new features that is difficult to explain, but a great asset to the new features of PowerPoint 2010 and several other Office applications. Back in the November Top 15 PPT 2010 features I listed the new Background Removal tool as #11. Tucker Hatfield is the Microsoft Program Manager I was quoting when I said it worked with “magic coding” – his words, not mine.
Around the same time, Tucker had a detailed post on the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering blog (I know we all read it daily) about the Background Removal Tool. It is worth revisiting to grasp what this tool is capable of. The next few posts here will be examples and tips of my use of the Background Removal Tool.
View Tucker’s full post on the Microsoft Blog here.
Tucker also did a follow post on MS Engineering Blog here that went into more detail and a pretty cool example of the Background Removal tool in action.
– Troy @ TLC
Office 2010 is officially available to all, and I highly recommend upgrading. Microsoft has released Office 2010 in 6 versions/bundles. The good news is PowerPoint is in all versions!
Pricing ranges from $150 to $680. Microsoft has a free upgrade from Office 2007 promotion going and I have seen deals as low as $60 using the promo!
– Troy @ TLC
In PPT 2007 the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) was the only customization option for the ribbon. In PPT 2010 the ability to customize the ribbons has been added, but the QAT is still the best resource for having always needed tools always available.
Here is my QAT, which I detailed in this post.
PPT 2010 adds a new feature to the QAT setup. Here is the QAT dialog in the Options area.
In the lower right is a new Import/Export option.
If you have customized your QAT, use the Export option to save a data file with all of your customization options. This can be used to setup your QAT on another computer or if something happens to your current computer you can quickly get your familiar work enviroment back.
If you have a QAT data file, click ‘Import Customization File’ and go find the data file.
You will see a warning dialog that existing toolbar setup will be overwritten – say ‘Yes’ to install the new QAT.
Now the QAT column will show all of the tools/buttons added (compare to first dialog image above that showed default 4 tools).
Last, if you would like to setup your QAT with the tools I have, my QAT toolbar data file can be downloaded here (850K).
– Troy @ TLC