Articles by: Cynthia Giles
Dynamic Duo: SnagIt and PowerPoint
March 23, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
Amazing but true—once upon a time screenshots on the PC were made with the PrtScn key, which just takes a picture of whatever is on the monitor at that moment. Then along came several screen capture programs, and after a while, SnagIt became a standard tool for many of us. Now we can slice up the screen into segments or capture specific windows or snapshot menus, all with just a couple of clicks. And the latest versions of SnagIt for PC provide such good editing tools that you can usually finish... [Continue reading this tutorial]
How to Use Hyperlinks in a PowerPoint Presentation
March 13, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
Hyperlinks are hard workers in the world of PowerPoint. They can be used for the obvious reason (i.e., to link to a web address), and that’s a great tool when using PowerPoint to create documentation, training materials, sales presentations, or other materials meant to be interactive. In a typical speaker presentation, jumping out to a live website is not done that frequently—it’s more likely that web content will be shown as screenshots if included. So the heavy-lifting for hyperlinks here... [Continue reading this tutorial]
PowerPoint Distribution: How to Share a PowerPoint Presentation
March 11, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
PowerPoint is a fact of life for most folks trying to communicate ideas in a corporate environment. And it’s a pretty good tool for practical purposes. But there are a few areas where it fails miserably, and distribution is one of them. Sharing a PowerPoint presentation can be a real headache. In a corporate setting, PowerPoints are typically made to support a meeting or a speaker, and the slides are printed for handout. If the presentation is sent to attendees or others, it’s usually emailed... [Continue reading this tutorial]
The Power of Three: Using PowerPoint with Word and Excel
March 6, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
PowerPoint is pretty robust on its own — but it also plays well with others! And the ability to integrate PPT with other programs can provide a lot of added value. Here are some simple ways to turbo-charge productivity and jazz up presentations by “mixing and matching” three MS Office workhorses — Word, Excel and PowerPoint. [Continue reading this tutorial] Read More →
4 Tips for Great Presentations & Slide Composition
March 3, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
When it comes to creating awesome slideshows — whether you use PowerPoint, Keynote or other slideshow presentation software — there are some basic tips to keep in mind. Have a consistent overall template design. Animate with a purpose. Have excellent content and strong organization. Speak with bullet points and keep on message. All these tips are great. But in the end, it’s important to remember that a well-designed slideshow presentation is the sum of its parts. So to make an good-looking... [Continue reading this tutorial]
How to Animate a PowerPoint Presentation
February 26, 2009 by Cynthia Giles
We all want to create more dynamic PowerPoint presentations. You know the kind, presentations that draw the audience in and hold their attention. One way to bring more life to your presentations is through the use of movement or animation. Yes, it is definitely possible to make a PowerPoint presentation look impressively animated. All you have to do is spend MANY hours skillfully applying custom animation to every element on every slide, timing every animation exactly, then weaving the slides together... [Continue reading this tutorial]
