******************************************************************* Dave Paradi's PowerPoint Tip     Issue #154 March 4, 2008 Published & Copyright by Dave Paradi of ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com Circulation 8,533 ******************************************************************* Please forward this newsletter to executives and professionals who want to create PowerPoint presentations that sell their ideas, products or services more effectively.  If this newsletter has been sent to you by a friend, sign up to get your own copy at http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/newsletter.htm . ******************************************************************* In this issue: Tips for meeting planners PowerPoint Tip - Photo Best Practices Best of the Blog - Candidate for worst presentation I've ever seen  Dave's Travel Schedule ******************************************************************* Tips for meeting planners I see many conferences where the use of PowerPoint or presentation technology doesn't add to the experience, it detracts from it.  Here are some things you can do to avoid these problems.  First, if the presenter isn't using PowerPoint, turn the projector off.  It is distracting to see the blue projector default screen behind the speaker.  Second, provide your speakers with a presentation remote so they can get out from behind the podium and aren't chained to their laptop the whole time.  Finally, work with the facility to adjust the lighting in the room so that the screen is visible and not washed out by lights right over the screen.  If you are a meeting planner looking for a content rich session that appeals to a wide range of professionals, e-mail me about my pre or post conference workshops or concurrent session offerings. ------------------------------------------------------------------- PowerPoint Tip: Photo Best Practices Last week the Presentation Xpert newsletter published one of my new articles on using product photos in sales presentations.  If you want to read the full article, you can go to http://editor.ne16.com/htmleditor/viewOnline.asp?FileID=147429 Today I want to expand on a couple of the ideas in the article. One of the tips I shared is to resample your photos before inserting them on a slide.  This is something I have discussed before and the purpose is to keep the file size small while maintaining high quality photos.  One question that also comes up that I didn't discuss in the article was what file format to use when saving pictures to be inserted on a PowerPoint slide. Most digital cameras save photos in the JPG format, which is a compressed format that maintains quite good quality.  If you get professional photos taken, they may be provided in the TIF format, a high quality format that is not compressed much.  My suggestion is to use the JPG format to save photos before inserting them on slides.  It gives you good quality so your photos are clear and the smallest file size so your presentation file can stay compact.  This is easy for photos already in that format, but may require you to use a photo conversion tool like IrfanView if the photos are provided in another format (get IrfanView at http://www.irfanview.com). Another tip I shared was to make sure you add a callout to your photo so that the audience knows what part is the most important part of the photo.  The callout consists of both a graphic highlight, like an arrow, and text that explains why that spot is important.  The issue comes in finding a color for the arrow that can be seen across a picture that has many colors in it. If you pick a black or dark color arrow, it will be see in the light regions of the photo but lost in the darker areas.  With a white or lighter color arrow, the opposite is true.  So how do you find an arrow that can always be seen?  My trick is to use a block arrow. This shape, on the drawing toolbar as one of the autoshapes, allows you to set the border color and the fill color.  So I draw a block arrow and format it so that the border is a thick black line and the fill color is bright yellow.  This way, one of the two colors always has contrast with the area of the photo below. If you see a photo in your company brochure that would really work well in your presentation, check out the tip in the article on using the Snapshot tool of Adobe Acrobat to grab the photo from the PDF version of the brochure.  Many people have found this tip to be a valuable time saver. If your sales organization could improve its results this year in a tough economy with better sales presentations, contact me about holding a customized Think Outside The Slide session for your sales professionals and their support staff.  On the web at http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/powerpointseminars.htm, you can get the full outline and watch a 10 minute video of a recent presentation so you can see the value these ideas provide. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Best of the Blog - Candidate for worst presentation I've ever seen In sorting through some notes from last year's conferences that I attended, I was reminded of one presentation that is a strong candidate for the worst use of PowerPoint I have ever seen. Folks, I can't make this stuff up if I tried. The presenter clearly did not understand the tool at all. He only had two slides, but apparently did not know that you could have more than one slide in a file. So he had two different files for his two slides. He opened both files before he started his presentation. He had also opened a browser window for some reason. He starts his presentation and I noticed a red squiggly line under a couple of the words. I thought that was odd, but then I realized that he was presenting in the editing mode. Apparently he didn't know about Slide Show mode. I'd heard about people presenting in the editing mode, but this was the first time I had ever seen it. Once he was finished with his first slide, it was time to move to his second slide. To do so, he pressed Alt+Tab, the Windows key combination to switch applications. But he switched to the browser instead of his next slide. He quickly apologized, then pressed the key combination again and got to his second slide. When he finished his second slide, he did not need the slides any more. So he placed his Starbucks cup in front of the lens of the projector, effectively blacking out the screen. I sat through this 20 minute presentation in awe. Awe of not how effective he was as a presenter of course, but stunned at how someone who is employed teaching students to communicate was demonstrating his lack of ability. If you aren't comfortable using the tool, don't use it at all. Other recent blog posts at http://pptideas.blogspot.com : Benefit of being an iStockPhoto member  ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave's Travel Schedule I work with business people who struggle with the effectiveness of the PowerPoint presentations they use to sell ideas, products and services to other business people. My research based PowerPoint Presentation Effectiveness System helps my clients achieve greater productivity and deliver presentations that close more sales.  You can save money by booking me to speak to your organization or conference when I am close to your area for other clients.  Here's where I will be in the next few months: March 4 - Tampa, FL March 13-14 - Sandusky, OH March 29 - Grand Rapids, MI April 2 - Chicago, IL (tentative) April 4 - Toronto, ON (tentative) April 28 - Toronto, ON May 9 - Ottawa, ON June 9 - Ottawa, ON (tentative) August 1-5 - New York City September 26 - Cincinnati, OH E-mail me at Dave@ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com to discuss how my Think Outside The Slide(tm) sessions can help your organization be more productive and improve communication throughout the organization. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Privacy Policy: I will never sell or distribute your e-mail or information to anyone. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Need articles for your newsletter?  Check out my many articles at: http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the books, e-books and other learning tools at: http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/resources.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to read back issues of this newsletter, click on the following link to go to the Archives: http://www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com/archives.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft, PowerPoint, Windows and other terms are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.  Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  All books, products and seminars are independent publications and are not affiliated with, nor have they been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation.