I once got a call from a woman who wanted some PowerPoint advice. She said something along the lines of, "Well, I've finished all the slides, now I need to work on my script." "You fool!" I wanted to shout. "You've done it backwards! Throw it away and start all over again!" Then I pictured myself … [Read more...] about Ready, Fire, Aim! The wrong way to design a PowerPoint deck
Three steps to becoming a Thought Leader
Thought leadership is a relatively new term that describes being known for one's expertise on a certain topic. A thought leader is seen as a visionary, someone with ideas that can improve the way things are done. Yesterday I officially became a thought leader. Become a PowerPoint Ninja in 2012 is … [Read more...] about Three steps to becoming a Thought Leader
December Slide Makeover of the Month
This month's slide comes from a real presentation that a colleague of mine sat through. The image and text have been changed to protect the identity of the presenter, but it's essentially the same slide from the deck. Before Wow. This slide has it all: a tiny title, densely packed text, … [Read more...] about December Slide Makeover of the Month
Animation in PowerPoint: too cool or too much?
After presenting my Cheating Death by PowerPoint workshop, I often ask people how they liked the animation. They usually answer "What animation?" Rather than feel discouraged that all that work I put into my deck went unnoticed, I'm overjoyed that the animation was so seamlessly integrated into the … [Read more...] about Animation in PowerPoint: too cool or too much?
You don’t need to number your PowerPoint slides. Discuss.
People often ask me to work with PowerPoint templates that include slide numbers. I can't imagine why slide numbers would be important. Maybe it makes presenters feel like they're accomplishing something if they glance at the screen and see that they're on slide 92, I don't know. But putting slide … [Read more...] about You don’t need to number your PowerPoint slides. Discuss.
November Slide Makeover of the Month
November's slide comes from a company that specializes in indoor environmental quality. The message of the slide was that they could make some definite improvements on the level of service they were providing to their customers. Before This slide has a lot of information on it; too much to absorb … [Read more...] about November Slide Makeover of the Month
October Slide Makeover of the Month
October's slide makeover is from a deck I found on SlideShare. There's a lot to do on this bad boy, so let's get started. Before Ever hear of the "Adkins" Diet? Neither had I. The person who created this slide misspelled "Atkins" four times! If your audience is focusing on your typos and not your … [Read more...] about October Slide Makeover of the Month
Should my logo be on each PowerPoint slide? No.
Now, I know you're probably thinking along one of these lines: "We paid a lot of money for that logo, and I want people to see it!" "I'm reinforcing my company's brand by showing my logo on each slide." "That's the way our template was designed." I would counter that if you start and end … [Read more...] about Should my logo be on each PowerPoint slide? No.