May 07 2010

What Makes an Image Good for Presentations – Part II

Composition also makes images better. (c)Thinkstock

Composition also makes images better. (c)Thinkstock

In the first part of this article, I discussed how good presentation images need to be both relevant and unique. In terms of the uniqueness of an image, there are two factors: the subject of the photo and the composition of the photo. In the previous article, I looked at how the subject of the photo can make a presentation image more interesting, and now I’m going to turn my attention to the second area: composition. Continue reading “What Makes an Image Good for Presentations – Part II”

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Apr 25 2009

Keep the Formatting of an Inserted Slide in PowerPoint

Insert a slide from one presentation into another.

How do you keep the formatting of a slide you're inserting?

When you’re building PowerPoint presentations, you may need to copy slides from one PowerPoint slide deck and insert them into another. Sometimes these slides may have different templates, themes, or other formatting options. Whenever you insert slides from another presentation template, the inserted slides will default to the new presentation’s template and formatting options. In most cases, you’ll want to modify the inserted slides to the new presentation’s formatting in order to keep your slides consistent. Continue reading “Keep the Formatting of an Inserted Slide in PowerPoint”

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Mar 24 2009

Create a Cut-Out Effect in PowerPoint

The shape on the right leverages the slide background fill effect to simulate a cut-out effect in the wall.

The shape on the right leverages the slide background fill effect to simulate a cut-out effect in the wall.

If you’ve ever needed to cut out a portion of an object, there’s really no easy way to do it in PowerPoint. You basically have to place another object on top of the object in question and fill it with the same color as the background. When the background is a solid color such as white or black, it isn’t a problem.

However, when your background has some kind of design or gradient, it can be hard to make a good match with the background. Many people may not realize that they have the option to fill a shape with the slide background, which can be used to create a simple cut-out effect. Continue reading “Create a Cut-Out Effect in PowerPoint”

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Mar 04 2009

Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu

Many business people use PowerPoint religiously each week. Although millions of PowerPoint presentations are being prepared and delivered on a regular basis around the world, it often feels as though “PowerPoint land” is a lawless “wild west”. Presentation audiences – big and small – have endured heinous PowerPoint sins for years.

PowerPoint users need to be held to a higher standard so here are the Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu that I came up with: Continue reading “Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu”

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Dec 02 2008

13 Ways to Quickly Derail a PowerPoint Presentation — Part II

In my previous blog post, I presented seven of 13 missteps that a business presenter can make which can ruin a PowerPoint presentation in the first five minutes or less. Here are the final six mistakes to avoid: Continue reading “13 Ways to Quickly Derail a PowerPoint Presentation — Part II”

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