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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Learning from a video of your presentation; Issue #404 December 12, 2017

    When my workshop participants ask how they can improve their presentation skills, I often suggest videotaping a presentation and watching it. You don’t need any fancy equipment these days to do this, your smartphone will give you a good quality video. In presentation skills training they videotape you presenting and a coach reviews it with…… Continue reading

  • 6 ways to save time creating a presentation; Issue #403 November 28, 2017

    As my latest survey indicated, professionals are creating and delivering more presentations each year. In a recent survey of incoming MBA students at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, two-thirds of the respondents said they presented on a daily or weekly basis. If professionals don’t figure out how to create effective presentations more efficiently, they will…… Continue reading

  • Creating a Monthly timeline Gantt chart with Milestones in Excel or PowerPoint

    How do you create a Gantt chart in Excel? You can create a Gantt chart to show project tasks and timelines in Excel using a stacked bar chart. You can include milestones if needed. By using a chart in Excel, when the dates of the tasks change, the Gantt chart is automatically updated. In this…… Continue reading

  • Why it costs so much to professionally “fix up” or “clean up” a PowerPoint presentation

    Every day business professionals look for people to help improve an important presentation they have developed. They’ve created the slides and are looking for someone to “fix them up”. They contact a professional presentation designer and are sometimes shocked at the cost they are quoted. They just need minor changes to their slides, why does…… Continue reading