New Podcast Episode Available! “The Ask vs The Offer”
In this episode, Troy, Nolan, Sandy, and former design recruiter Stephanie Hogan review real Presentation Designer job postings and break down the details. They compare qualifications, responsibilities, salary ranges, and the fine print behind the listings. Along the way, they found job postings for everything from a part-time freelance 5–20 hours a week gig, to full-time corporate positions. Plus they explore how AI resume filters are eliminating qualified candidates from ever reaching hiring managers.
Listen in for an honest look at today’s presentation design job market, from your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site.
Brightslide’s Selection Pane Hide & Show All
Brightslide has some great features. Many already exist in PowerPoint, but now are faster to use. As example, a faster way to use PowerPoint’s Selection Pane features of hiding objects and showing all objects.
Here are the 2 webpages for Brightslide. The first is where you can download the installer, and the second is an info page that covers almost 80 of the features.
Troy @ TLC
BrightSlide: Match Size
Brightslide has soooo many features, and I use many of them almost daily. This is just one feature that fills a gap in PowerPoint’s formatting features, and has some really nifty hidden functionality.
Here are the 2 webpages for Brightslide. The first is where you can download the installer, and the second is an info page that covers almost 80 of the features.
And, Brightslide is one of the few productivity PowerPoint add-ins that has both Windows and Mac versions!
-Troy @ TLC
NXPowerlite to the (PowerPoint) Rescue!
At the 2026 Presentation Summit last week, completely unplanned, Lori demonstrated the NXPowerlite PowerPoint add-in during her speaking session. Troy also demonstrated the NXPowerlite PowerPoint add-in during one of his speaking sessions! Here’s a demo of NXPowerlite in use:
- NXPowerlite is from the super-talented code team at neuxpower. The same developers that brought us Slidewise!
- Running NXPowerlite compresses all images in a presentation to the resolution profile selected. This is my #1 go-to for optimizing presentation files that are too big; clients ask me to “shrink the file”. It can also optimize PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, JPEG, PNG & TIFF files.
- NOTE: This is a Windows PowerPoint add-in (no Mac version).
- Approximately $60 USD.
- More details and download here: https://neuxpower.com/nxpowerlite-desktop
– Troy @ TLC Creative Services, Inc.
New Podcast Episode Available! “Confessions of a Reluctant AI Presentation Designer”
New episode of The Presentation Podcast now available!
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic buzzword. AI is a practical, transformative force in business workflows, AND, for the world of presentation design, AI has become part of our workflows. Troy Chollar (TLC Creative Services) and Nolan Haims (Nolan Haims Creative) share their firsthand experiences and insights on how AI tools like Microsoft Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, and standalone image AI Tools like Adobe Firefly and others are reshaping the way professionals are now approaching presentations and daily operations. Listen on your favorite podcast app, or at The Presentation Podcast site here.
You Need Thor’s Hammer (for your PowerPoint formatting)!
This free add-in for Windows PowerPoint is something everyone (that works in PowerPoint, on a Windows computer) should have! It accomplishes a simple thing – and it’s something the developers of PowerPoint overlooked. It’s also something I use 10-20x a day… sometimes up to 300 times a day while formatting slides!
The long and short of it is that it picks up and memorizes the position of any item on a slide. You can use Thor’s Hammer to place any other item in that exact same location.
The position is held in memory, until you pickup and memorize a new location. Use it on different slides throughout the deck. Use it to position things into that position on OTHER decks!
This is one of those things that you cannot believe you worked in PowerPoint without it, once you have it!
Download this PowerPoint add-in from PPTools here: https://www.pptools.com/free/FAQ00002-THOR-The-Hammer.htm
– Troy @ TLC Creative Services, Inc.
Free PowerPoint QAT Profile!
The PowerPoint Quick Access Toolbar, or QAT, is the #1 native PowerPoint feature everyone should be using to improve their productivity!
- Included with PowerPoint
- PowerPoint for Mac QAT has limited options (hopefully something the PowerPoint dev team will update to match the Windows PowerPoint QAT!)
- The tedious process of setting up the QAT layout with buttons is super easy by importing a saved profile!
- note: if the buttons on the QAT are words and not icons, go to this earlier post with the steps to change things back to icons (My QAT is All Words! Give Me Back My Icons, Dec 26, 2204)
- Note: all of the examples, and the downloadable preset QAT profile, are all for Windows PowerPoint
FIRST
- The default setup for the QAT is to be above the Ribbon.
- Move it to under the ribbon.
DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL
- Download the TLC Creative QAT (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)
- Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar (or Customize Ribbon).
- Click Import/Export
- Select Import Customization File.
- Choose either a QAT you have saved, or the downloaded “TLC Creative Custom QAT_PowerPoint Customizations.exportedUI”
THE TLC CREATIVE PRESET QAT
- This version of the QAT is all native PowerPoint functions (search “QAT” for previous blog posts where I talk about add-in functions I also have on my design computer).
- 44 formatting functions always available!
Hoping this makes your work time in PowerPoint faster and more efficient!
-Troy @ TLC