Latest posts

Below are the most recent articles or resources I’ve published. If you are looking for help on a specific topics, it would best to look at the topics in my Articles archive as I have grouped my recent and best articles by topic there.

  • Comparing results to goals; Slide Makeover #100

    CPG sales, marketing, and product managers report on sales or margin in each channel compared to the goal for that channel. Because the reporting is driven from a database, often the table of numbers is copied onto a slide. This makeover shows how to visually show the comparison using a multiple-width overlapping column graph. Discussion…… Continue reading

  • Showing variance to plan; Slide Makeover #99

    CPG sales, marketing, and product managers report on variance to a previous plan for product sales in a category. Because the reporting is driven from a database, often the table of numbers is copied onto a slide. This makeover shows how to visually show the variance using a steps to a total graph. Discussion of…… Continue reading

  • 3 tips to improve virtual sales presentations with Zoom sharing features

    Virtual sales presentations on Zoom are here to stay. Not every sales presentation will be delivered via Zoom but sales professionals need to improve their virtual presentations to keep prospects and clients moving along the buying journey. The basic Zoom skills you learned in the past won’t be good enough in the future as your…… Continue reading

  • 7 ways to improve virtual sales presentations by using URL links in the meeting chat in Teams or Zoom

    Virtual sales presentations on Teams or Zoom are here to stay. Not every sales presentation will be delivered virtually but sales professionals need to improve their virtual presentations to keep prospects and clients moving along the buying journey. The basic Teams or Zoom skills you learned in the past won’t be good enough in the…… Continue reading

  • 3 tips to improve virtual sales presentations with expert features of PowerPoint Presenter View

    Virtual sales presentations are here to stay. Not every sales presentation will be virtual but sales professionals need to improve their virtual presentations to keep prospects and clients moving along the buying journey. The basic skills you learned in the past won’t be good enough in the future as your competitors get better at presenting…… Continue reading

  • Showing Sales & YoY variance; Slide Makeover #98

    CPG sales, marketing, and product managers report on product sales in a category and variance to previous year sales. Because the reporting is driven from a database, often the table of numbers is copied onto a slide. This makeover shows how to visually show the sales and variance using a small multiple bar graph. Discussion…… Continue reading

  • Use Presenter View in Google Slides and see the meeting attendees in Google Meet

    Google Meet is a popular virtual meeting platform that runs in the browser as opposed to having a separate app like Teams or Zoom. If you use Google Slides to present you may have run into the issue that you can’t see the meeting attendees while you are presenting. Here’s how to be able to…… Continue reading

  • Comparing product sales trends; Slide Makeover #97

    CPG sales, marketing, and product managers regularly report on sales trends of a product compared to its competition. Because the reporting is driven from a database, often the table of numbers is copied onto a slide. This makeover shows how to visually show the sales trends using a panel line graph. Discussion of original visual…… Continue reading

  • Add design flair to sequence diagrams in PowerPoint using shape techniques

    In my customized training courses I suggest that business professionals should create diagrams in PowerPoint using shapes instead of using SmartArt. One reason SmartArt is so popular is that it is quick and easy to add. The problem is that SmartArt is not very flexible and it takes control of what the visual will look…… Continue reading

  • Showing skill level ratings; Slide Makeover #96

    Using visuals can sometimes be frustrating because of the time it takes to create them and the challenge of getting them to look good. This makeover demonstrates how you can use symbols and text in a single text box to quickly create a visual instead of the time it takes to create shapes and multiple…… Continue reading