The Problem with Timelines from PowerPoint Designer When preparing slide makeovers for a recent client workshop I saw a number of slides that used some of the new timeline SmartArt that Designer in PowerPoint suggests if you enter a text slide with dates. The ones I’m referring to are the ones that look like these…
Category: Articles
Excel Chart Hacks from Excel Virtually Global 2023 conference session
Recently I presented a session at the Excel Virtually Global conference on five of my favorite Excel chart hacks. I separated the content into five videos, one for each hack. In each video below, I share the hack as I presented it during the conference session, then I share some additional tips or resources to…
How to add a custom background for a Teams meeting November 2023
Using a custom background image with your branding is easy in a Zoom meeting but less intuitive in a Teams meeting. Here’s how you can use a custom background image in a Teams meeting. Create/Save the background image If your organization has provided a background image, save it to a location on your computer. If…
Let AI create bullet points from paragraphs of text on PowerPoint slides with Copilot in Edge
Turn paragraphs of text on PowerPoint slides into clear bullet points using the Copilot AI in the Edge browser. It is free, easy to use, and can save you a lot of time. I’ll show you the exact prompts in this video.
Use an iPad as a second screen for a laptop using HDMI – no app required!
Now that iPadOS 17 has been released, you can easily use your newer iPad (one that has a USB-C connector instead of a lightning connector) as a second screen for your Windows laptop (or desktop) without needing an app on your computer or iPad. In the past, you needed an app, such as Duet Display,…
Here’s how to use a laptop as a second monitor connecting it with HDMI (Windows & Mac any combination)
If you’ve been wondering if it is possible to use a spare laptop as a second monitor for a primary laptop or a desktop so you can have two screens to work on, I want to share the great news that, yes, this is possible! You can use a Windows or a Mac laptop as…
Genius Hack to Turn 1 Windows Laptop Screen into 2 Screens Using HDMI
If you have a Windows laptop, you may think it only has one screen. But you can use a hack to create a second screen on the laptop screen. Use this second screen for PowerPoint Presenter View and to share your slides in a Zoom or Teams meeting. Here’s an animated summary of the process.…
Excel Dataviz Tutorial: Show Max, Min, & Scores for multiple criteria
I created this visual based on a request from a student in the Master of Finance program at Queens University. They asked how to visually show the scores on multiple criteria for the organizations they were analyzing. I created a bar chart for each criteria that shows the score, how far it was from the…
Remove the background of a photo from your iPhone and add it to a PowerPoint slide
If you want to add a photo of a person or an object from your iPhone to a PowerPoint presentation without the background, the video below shows you how easy it is using the background removal feature of the Photos app on an iPhone. The video was recorded on my iPhone (4-year-old model!) so you…
Use HDMI to connect a laptop to a desktop PC as a second monitor/screen (Windows)
If you have a Windows desktop computer and you want to use a spare laptop as a second screen, you can do that and in this video I’ll show you how. Links to products mentioned in this video: Pluggable DisplayLink adapter for HDMI output port: https://amzn.to/3NveVS9 HDMI to USB Video Capture Device: https://amzn.to/3IZQGX4 (if that…