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.
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Capitalization of Headlines; Issue #413 May 1, 2018
After my customized workshops, one of the key take-aways people say they will implement is to write headlines for their slides instead of titles. A headline is a summary of the key message you want the audience to understand from this slide. It forces you to be clear on that message and restricts you to…… Continue reading
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Comparing Revenue components to previous year; Slide Makeover #91
Use a “steps to a total” graph instead of a spreadsheet to explain the components of total revenue Continue reading
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Using video in PowerPoint; Issue #412 April 17, 2018
A number of years ago I heard a lot about how every presentation in the future would include video. It was the hot topic of the day. Video is useful in some presentations like sales or recognition presentations. As I’ve moved to deal with more data heavy presentations, I have found that video does not…… Continue reading
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Current view on paperless handouts; Issue #411 April 3, 2018
In the last 18 months I have seen a significant shift in how participants have used handouts in my customized training workshops. In the past, a copy was printed for each participant and they took notes on the handout during the workshop. Today I see more participants not using paper handouts. Approximately 75% of the…… Continue reading
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Using your organization’s template; Issue #410 March 20, 2018
Almost every organization has a PowerPoint template that is used to ensure consistency with branding standards such as colors, fonts, etc. Presenters are expected to use this template for every presentation. Most presenters are not given any guidance on how to use this template so they end up using one of two approaches. They may…… Continue reading
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Visually presenting financial statements; Issue #409 March 6, 2018
In the next three months I will be speaking at five conferences for financial professionals (you can see the locations and details here). A common concern of accountants or finance professionals is how to present financial statements. These professionals struggle with the usual approach of copying the entire statement onto a slide. They typically get…… Continue reading
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Using visuals in case studies; Issue #408 February 20, 2018
When you are trying to convince a decision maker that the solution you are proposing will solve their problem, using a case study can be an effective way to support your message. In this article I shared the four steps I think every case study should have: 1) Describe the problem and how it is…… Continue reading
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Chartmaker Directory; Issue #407 February 6, 2018
Last year data viz expert Andy Kirk created a useful resource called the Chartmaker Directory. It is a collection of resources on how to create charts in different tools. The tools vary from programming languages to big data analysis tools to common Office tools like Excel and PowerPoint. The resources have been crowd sourced with people…… Continue reading
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Options for speaker notes; Issue #406 January 23, 2018
Some participants in my custom workshops tell me that they have heard presentation delivery advice stating that presenters should not use notes when they speak. This causes them concern because they feel they need some reminders of important messages they want to convey. If you have heard this type of advice, please ignore it. I’ve…… Continue reading
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Building an image by breaking it apart; Issue #405 January 9, 2018
It is not uncommon for me to see sample slides sent by participants for my customized workshops that contain complex images. These images, which can be pictures or diagrams, usually come from a drawing program or other source. If you show the entire image on the screen and use a laser pointer to try to…… Continue reading