M I C R O S O F T P O W E R P O I N T
"PowerPoint is for making bullet points to accompany a spoken presentation, right?"
That's like saying your smart phone is for making phone calls: it does so much more than that.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and PowerPoint is the main graphic engine in Microsoft Office.
I've used PowerPoint to compose trial graphics that incorporate photographs and PDF excerpts with magnification and highlighting, to design logos and other branding elements, to translate pencil drawings into organizational charts, to create looping kiosk-type displays, to report on employee satisfaction statistics at a financial institution, to develop interactive educational modules and team building games, and in a memorable assignment, to help upper management at a large law firm clarify and describe new policies that helped them recoup millions of dollars.
I've also developed utilities for generating specific kinds of slides that clients need.
To prepare all the graphics on this website, I used only PowerPoint (and photographs of walls).
"PowerPoint is for making bullet points to accompany a spoken presentation, right?"
That's like saying your smart phone is for making phone calls: it does so much more than that.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and PowerPoint is the main graphic engine in Microsoft Office.
I've used PowerPoint to compose trial graphics that incorporate photographs and PDF excerpts with magnification and highlighting, to design logos and other branding elements, to translate pencil drawings into organizational charts, to create looping kiosk-type displays, to report on employee satisfaction statistics at a financial institution, to develop interactive educational modules and team building games, and in a memorable assignment, to help upper management at a large law firm clarify and describe new policies that helped them recoup millions of dollars.
I've also developed utilities for generating specific kinds of slides that clients need.
To prepare all the graphics on this website, I used only PowerPoint (and photographs of walls).
Here are some tips you can use when making a slide show:
To duplicate the selected object or slide, press CTRL + D.
To insert a new slide that uses the same layout as the one preceding it, press CTRL + M.
To draw a shape from the center, rather than the corner, hold the CTRL key as you drag the crosshair.
Here are some tips you can use when showing the show:
To show a slide that has been hidden at this point in the deck, press H.
To toggle the screen black, press B (and B again to return to the show). (W does the same things but white.)
To return to the first slide, hold both mouse buttons for two seconds, or on the keyboard type 1 then ENTER.
To duplicate the selected object or slide, press CTRL + D.
To insert a new slide that uses the same layout as the one preceding it, press CTRL + M.
To draw a shape from the center, rather than the corner, hold the CTRL key as you drag the crosshair.
Here are some tips you can use when showing the show:
To show a slide that has been hidden at this point in the deck, press H.
To toggle the screen black, press B (and B again to return to the show). (W does the same things but white.)
To return to the first slide, hold both mouse buttons for two seconds, or on the keyboard type 1 then ENTER.
When I train people to work with PowerPoint, I like to go past the basics of making a simple slide show, teaching how to create organizational charts, and exposing tricks like how to use the keyboard to insert multiple shapes that are evenly spaced and perfectly aligned, and a technique that lets you keep drawing the same shape over and over using the mouse, without having to click a button for each one.
PowerPoint is great for preparing visuals to accompany a spoken presentation. Its strengths go far beyond that usage. Do you want assistance making your pictures worth thousands of words, or perhaps thousands of dollars?
“We received very positive feedback from yesterday’s trainees. They all were very pleased, said nice things about you, and would be very interested in having further training with you. Thanks very much for your efforts. I can see that we will have immediate results.”
— Charles Gurian, CLM
Former Chief Human Resources Officer at Brinks Gilson & Lione
Email message following customized onsite training
(Charles had previously hired me for work at other firms.)
— Charles Gurian, CLM
Former Chief Human Resources Officer at Brinks Gilson & Lione
Email message following customized onsite training
(Charles had previously hired me for work at other firms.)