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.

  • Converting written content to a SlideShare deck

    As a professional who is using written content to market your products or services, you probably have many articles, special reports, and white papers. How can you take the content you have already created and convert it to take advantage of the SlideShare platform? Do you need to hire a designer? No. You can do… Continue reading Converting written content to a SlideShare deck Continue reading

  • Sources for Free Images; Issue #313 June 10, 2014

    Photos are one of the types of visuals that many presenters include in their presentations. There are photos that are specific to our organization, like product photos, photos of our staff, screen captures of an internal system, and photos of our locations or facilities. We use these photos to illustrate a point we want to… Continue reading

  • Universal Indicators; Issue #312 May 27, 2014

    Next week I am presenting a workshop to accountants in Vancouver. One of the points I will be making is that when you show a number that indicates the difference between a measured figure and a standard, you need to use an indicator so the audience knows whether this is a good number or not.… Continue reading

  • The Globe and Mail May 26, 2014

    Dave’s article on starting your presentation with a hook that shows the audience why they need to pay attention was cited by The Globe and Mail Report on Business in this article. Continue reading

  • What presenters can learn from how TV shows start; Issue #311 May 13, 2014

    When you watch a TV show these days, whether it is a half-hour sitcom or a one hour drama, how does it start? Why is that relevant to presenters? That’s what this article is all about. The change in TV shows In the past, TV shows started with a listing of the credits (actors, directors,… Continue reading

  • Diverging Stacked Bar Charts; Issue #310 April 29, 2014

    When I first heard the name of this visual, diverging stacked bar chart, it seemed complex. As I learned more about it, I realized how valuable it is to know about this type of visual in business presentations. In this article I want to show you what this visual is and how you can use… Continue reading

  • 2 Big Mistakes Professionals make using Excel data in PowerPoint

    After you view these slides, read this page with advice on presenting financial information effectively. [sc:slideshare_2BigMistakes ] Continue reading

  • Creating a graph in PowerPoint from data in Excel

    If you want to create a graph for your PowerPoint slide using data from Excel, you have two choices. You can create the graph in Excel and link it to your slide using one of the methods in this article. Or you can create the graph in PowerPoint using the data from Excel. Don’t re-type… Continue reading

  • Creating slides that print well in B&W; Issue #309 April 15, 2014

    One of the participants at last Thursday’s workshop asked how the colorful charts and visuals I was showing would work when printed in grayscale on a black and white laser printer. For those who usually present with printed slides instead of projecting them on a screen, this is a real concern. Here is the issue… Continue reading

  • Improving some graphs from Copyblogger’s State of Native Advertising report

    I follow copyblogger.com because I find their information useful to my business. Yesterday they released a report on the state of native advertising (here is the full report). It doesn’t matter whether you know what that is (I didn’t initially). I want to explain why two of the graphs showing the results of their survey… Continue reading