PowerPoint Tip: Prepare for Problems so you Respond, not React At a conference in February I heard Bo Boshers share a story of two groups who faced the same situation and had very different reactions. One group saw a potential danger and reacted by running away. The other group had been prepared for challenges and,…
Author: Dave Paradi
Formatting text in a table; Issue #234 April 26, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Formatting text in a table Two issues ago I wrote about how to format text on slides because text will always be a part of our slides. Today I want to take the topic further and discuss the formatting of text in a table. Tables can be a great way to visually show…
Using Exit animation to reveal a graphic; Issue #233 April 12, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Using Exit animation to reveal a graphic The last step in my five-step KWICK method from my book The Visual Slide Revolution is to Keep the Focus of the audience. The best way to do this is to build your points or slide elements one by one on the slide. This works if you have…
Text formatting tips; Issue #232 March 29, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Text formatting tips Last Friday I did a web based training session for a consulting organization and one of the issues we discussed was formatting text on slides so that it was easy to understand. Even though I try to help people use visuals instead of text, I know that text will still…
Quickly adding iPhone or iPad videos to your presentation; Issue #231 March 15, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Quickly adding iPhone or iPad videos to your presentation Last week the new iPad2 joined the lineup of popular Apple devices that have video cameras. The desire to use those videos in our presentation is a hot topic. One of my consulting clients will be using his iPhone videos this year to show…
Equipment to carry when presenting; Issue #230 March 1, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Equipment to carry when presenting I was speaking at the CSAE Trillium Chapter Winter Summit last Friday. I brought a lot of cables and equipment because I was doing a live demonstration of how you can create a video for your web site using visuals you create in PowerPoint. I normally don’t carry…
Why presenters spend way longer working on presentations than they need to; Issue #229 February 16, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Why presenters spend way longer working on presentations than they need to One of the issues I am often asked about during my workshops is the length of time it takes to create a PowerPoint presentation. Many presenters bemoan the hours and hours it takes. When I inquire as to what they are…
Can you solve presentation problems by switching tools?; Issue #228 February 1, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Can you solve presentation problems by switching tools? Many people acknowledge that far too many presentations are not designed or delivered nearly as well as they could be. So how can we solve this problem? The solution, say some, is to change the tools we are using. Throw out PowerPoint because it causes…
Structuring a presentation that sells effectively; Issue #227 January 18, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Structuring a presentation that sells effectively In my consulting work, I recently worked with three different CEOs on presentations where the primary objective was to sell their ideas or services. The reason an executive hires me to work with them on a presentation is not because I am a designer who creates fancy…
Switch the focus from the data to the audience; Issue #226 January 4, 2011
PowerPoint Tip: Switch the focus from the data to the audience A few months ago I advised a senior executive at a research firm on an upcoming presentation. Today I want to share the advice I gave her because it can benefit all presenters who are sharing data with their audience. This executive was about…