Workshop Topics

Custom design a workshop with topics from four topic areas
I offer topics in four areas, and we work together to select the ones that are right for your group.

Transforming Overloaded Text Slides into Persuasive Presentations
This is the core area and details the five-step method for creating persuasive visuals based on the ideas in The Visual Slide Revolution. The following topics can be included:

Presentation Structure & Sequence – seven steps that will ensure your presentation delivers a clear and organized message
Slide Design – How to select colors, fonts and layouts that enhance your slides
Principles of Persuasion – Applying the research on persuasion to the development of slides so we can create visuals that persuade people to action
The KWICK Method of creating persuasive visuals – five steps that will transform the usual text only slides into visuals that more effectively make your point: write a headline that summarizes the key point; recognize the words or phrases to look for that suggest which powerful visual you should choose for the slide; examples of visuals that you can use in your own presentations; how to make the point of the visual stand out clearly so that there is no doubt what your point is; use animation and other techniques to focus the audience on your message when you present
Slide Makeovers – see the ideas applied to slides that the participants have submitted in advance
Slide Delivery – tips from the pros on setting up for the presentation, delivering the slides, handling problems if they occur and ending your presentation in a way that results in action

Hands-on Creating Persuasive PowerPoint Visuals
This is best scheduled as a follow-up to the core Transforming Text Slides topics because in this area participants use their own computer to create the persuasive slides they saw in their Transforming Overloaded Text Slides section. Participants receive “quick reference” job aids that they can refer to back at their desk so the learning is not forgotten after the workshop. This section is focused on the needs of the group and topics that can be covered include:

Slide Masters & Layout: setting colors & fonts, inserting background graphics, working with placeholders, selecting the appropriate layout
Using a slide from another file: two ways to import a slide, how to fix problems that can occur, how to customize the slide, how to tell what may be hidden on the slide
Creating an effective graph: why create a graph in PowerPoint instead of importing from Excel, how to copy data from Excel, cleaning up the default graph, adding text labels to a graph, animating a graph
Creating diagrams: working with different shapes & options of shapes, layers on the slide, automatically aligning or distributing elements, using the grid for positioning, making semi-transparent shapes, filling a shape with a photo, aligning in a text box
Working with Photos: cropping and sizing, maintaining the aspect ratio, compressing high-res photos, converting vector files, using the transparent color tool, using screen captures, zooming in on a portion of the image, capturing from PDF files
Using Media Clips: importing from DVDs or cameras, where to save the files, editing tools for media clips, changing the audio embedding limit, inserting media clips on a slide, setting media clip options, moving presentation and media files
Animating elements on a slide: animation effects, sequencing & start options, using custom motion paths
Linking to other content: using hyperlinks to other PowerPoint files, Word files, Excel spreadsheets, PDF content, web sites, different slides in the same presentation, designing non-linear presentations
Creating Handouts: designing the handout master, selecting which slides to print and what order, creating handouts in Word, dealing with speaker notes

Cutting Presentation Preparation Time by Using Content Templates and Creating a Slide Library
In today’s business world, every presentation must be customized to the audience and the situation, while still maintaining the consistency that builds your brand. And therein lies the challenge. If you give presenters complete freedom to create slides, you achieve customization but lose consistency. If you mandate “canned” presentations, you get consistency, but lose the customization that is necessary to convince an audience that you understand their unique situation. Neither of these approaches works in practice. So what does work? An approach that blends the consistency of key messages contained in a slide library with the flexibility to use the consistent messages in unique ways. These topics can be delivered either with or without participants working on their computers, depending on the needs of the group and the time available. Participants will see their own slides used as examples. Topics that can be covered include:

How to determine which slides should be in your slide library
Using content templates
Developing a slide library
Creating a presentation using templates or the slide library
Fixing common problems when importing slides from other presentations
Ensuring the presentation has a consistent look
Sharing a slide library in a group
Updating your slide library

Creating and Delivering Effective Web Presentations
As travel budgets shrink, more presentations are being delivered over web-based services. There are important differences between live and web-based presentations that presenters need to know in order to have a successful presentation on the web. This section is best delivered live where a second computer is attached to a web service as a participant (I provide the web presentation service) so you see exactly what your remote audience will see. Topics that can be covered include:

When to use a web-based presentation and when not to use one
What you need before you start looking at web-based presentations
How to select a web meeting service
Planning your web-based presentation
Designing your web-based presentation
Before the web meeting
Instant web-based meetings
Delivering your web-based presentation