You won't believe your eyes when you see the things you can do in native PowerPoint. Take a look at what some visionary thinkers are doing at PowerPoint Heaven.
You'll find some true artistry - but just knowing that they used only the PowerPoint program to create these works - well, it gives me hope for the rest of us! It can be done. :)
Crystal Graphics has a new sale going on on their image library - they now have over 1,000,000 (whew) images and you can get a one year subscription for just $99! A year subscription gets you 100 downloads over a 12 month period (NOTE: Each image bought separately is $7.95 - so this is a really great offer.)
But hurry - these sales don't last too long! And good grief, I know I have seen enough stock free stuff in presentations over and over again. $99 is worth it to get new content. Get it here soon before the sale is over.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
How to share PowerPoint presentations with Gmail
Here's a great how-to article from PC Advisor about using PowerPoint and Gmail for those of us with mac friends or on other platforms...
Friday, October 05, 2007
Webinar: Cliff Atkinson's Webcast - Watch, Listen and Learn
Most people would agree that you have to capture an audience's attention in the first moments of delivery, or else you have already lost them. Yet when it comes to Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations, the first slides usually have titles like, “Overview,” “Our Company,” “Our Services,” etc. Attend this webcast to learn tips and tricks for starting strong with PowerPoint every time by using the Beyond Bullet Points approach. Discover how you can use classical story elements to create dramatic suspense and to ensure that the beginning of your story sets the stage for an engaging presentation to come.
Presenter: Cliff Atkinson, Communications Consultant, Sociable Media
Cliff Atkinson is a leading authority on how to improve communications across organizations. He is a popular keynote speaker, writer, and independent management consultant whose clients include companies ranking in the top five of the Fortune 500. Cliff is not only the president of Sociable Media in Los Angeles, but also a teacher at UCLA Extension, a senior contributor for the MarketingProfs newsletter, and writer of the Beyond Bullets blog. Cliff is also the author of Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Microsoft Press, 2005).
Presenter: Cliff Atkinson, Communications Consultant, Sociable Media
Cliff Atkinson is a leading authority on how to improve communications across organizations. He is a popular keynote speaker, writer, and independent management consultant whose clients include companies ranking in the top five of the Fortune 500. Cliff is not only the president of Sociable Media in Los Angeles, but also a teacher at UCLA Extension, a senior contributor for the MarketingProfs newsletter, and writer of the Beyond Bullets blog. Cliff is also the author of Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Microsoft Press, 2005).
PowerPoint Users: Get the magic back with Transitions and 3D Titles and Marcia Martin - Speaker/Coach Extraordinaire!
There's nothing I hate more than a boring presentation - content is king, but I have seen so many corporate presentations with slide after slide of text and standard graphics, it's quite painful to sit through these - especially in a live environment.
One way to keep your audience engaged while you are presenting is to use transitions in PowerPoint - not the standard ones, PowerPoint comes with - but some they are not used to seeing in SlideShow mode. Seeing something new and exciting always tends to keep people "awake" during a presentation - especially if it is a presentation that is technical in nature.
You can see examples of what I am talking about here and here.
But even before you create the presentation, learning how to present is an art. Some speakers command your attention, easily persuade, build rapport with the audience and seem to magnetically attract success whereever they go. In the coming month, I will be talking more about learning the "ART" of presenting with the help of my friend and mentor, Marcia Martin of powerspeak.com and the Vice President of the Transformational Leadership Council.
A little about Marcia:
Marcia Martin has been a Teacher of Success for over 30 years in the Transformational Training Business. She is renowned internationally for being one of the leading Life & Executive Coaches, and Transformational Trainers in the World today.
Marcia is considered to be one of the original pioneers of the Human Potential Movement, and was instrumental in training many of the executives and managers of the leading transformational training companies, including Esalen Institute, Landmark Forum, Technico, Life Spring, Insight, Actualizations, International Federation of Coaches (IFC), Sports Mind, Self Esteem Seminars, Tony Robbins Seminars, Human Potential Project, Money & You, Accelerated Learning, and Delfin International.
She is the Executive Vice President and a Board Member of The Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), a not-for-profit association she helped co-found in 2004 with Jack Canfield, the famed author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. As the Executive Vice President of TLC she is responsible for Program Development, Event Production, Media, and Communication.
In July of 2005, she was selected by Rhonda Byrne, the Executive Producer of the world phenomena DVD and Book, The Secret, to be one of the TLC Teachers to be interviewed for the film, and is a recognized expert in teaching the Law of Attraction. She is also the Associate Producer and a regular guest host of the international television series, Positive Living TV, to be shown in over 100 countries by the end of 2008.
In 1971, Marcia was one of the original founding members of est, Erhard Seminars Training, the largest human potential training and educational company in the World. As the Senior Vice President of est, Marcia was responsible for training the trainers, graduate and guest seminar leaders in the arena of enrollment, sales, and presentation skills. She managed the Communication Registration Division and created the Guest Seminar Leaders Training Program (GSLP). Her responsibilities for the est organization included marketing, public relations, sales, promotional campaigns, production and filling of all est events & programs, the opening of new centers, registration systems, and managing the Creative Department.
In 1980, Marcia became the COO and Vice President of Marketing of Tsuru, an international design and marketing corporation, which manufactured and marketed fashion jewelry designs by world acclaimed designer, Laurel Burch. Marcia managed marketing, operations, and staff training, and had offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong and Beijing.
In 1985, Marcia founded her own consulting and transformational training company, MM Productions, (also known as Power Speaking Seminars). As the CEO and President, Marcia currently delivers corporate and public trainings, seminars, and courses that teach people to be successful, and how to create the results they want in their lives and in their organizations. Marcia’s clients include: Inter-Continental Hotels International, Loews Hotels International, Capital One Financial Services Inc, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Warner Brothers. She has personally trained and coached over 150,000 people worldwide to be more effective in their lives and communication.
One way to keep your audience engaged while you are presenting is to use transitions in PowerPoint - not the standard ones, PowerPoint comes with - but some they are not used to seeing in SlideShow mode. Seeing something new and exciting always tends to keep people "awake" during a presentation - especially if it is a presentation that is technical in nature.
You can see examples of what I am talking about here and here.
But even before you create the presentation, learning how to present is an art. Some speakers command your attention, easily persuade, build rapport with the audience and seem to magnetically attract success whereever they go. In the coming month, I will be talking more about learning the "ART" of presenting with the help of my friend and mentor, Marcia Martin of powerspeak.com and the Vice President of the Transformational Leadership Council.
A little about Marcia:
Marcia Martin has been a Teacher of Success for over 30 years in the Transformational Training Business. She is renowned internationally for being one of the leading Life & Executive Coaches, and Transformational Trainers in the World today.
Marcia is considered to be one of the original pioneers of the Human Potential Movement, and was instrumental in training many of the executives and managers of the leading transformational training companies, including Esalen Institute, Landmark Forum, Technico, Life Spring, Insight, Actualizations, International Federation of Coaches (IFC), Sports Mind, Self Esteem Seminars, Tony Robbins Seminars, Human Potential Project, Money & You, Accelerated Learning, and Delfin International.
She is the Executive Vice President and a Board Member of The Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), a not-for-profit association she helped co-found in 2004 with Jack Canfield, the famed author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. As the Executive Vice President of TLC she is responsible for Program Development, Event Production, Media, and Communication.
In July of 2005, she was selected by Rhonda Byrne, the Executive Producer of the world phenomena DVD and Book, The Secret, to be one of the TLC Teachers to be interviewed for the film, and is a recognized expert in teaching the Law of Attraction. She is also the Associate Producer and a regular guest host of the international television series, Positive Living TV, to be shown in over 100 countries by the end of 2008.
In 1971, Marcia was one of the original founding members of est, Erhard Seminars Training, the largest human potential training and educational company in the World. As the Senior Vice President of est, Marcia was responsible for training the trainers, graduate and guest seminar leaders in the arena of enrollment, sales, and presentation skills. She managed the Communication Registration Division and created the Guest Seminar Leaders Training Program (GSLP). Her responsibilities for the est organization included marketing, public relations, sales, promotional campaigns, production and filling of all est events & programs, the opening of new centers, registration systems, and managing the Creative Department.
In 1980, Marcia became the COO and Vice President of Marketing of Tsuru, an international design and marketing corporation, which manufactured and marketed fashion jewelry designs by world acclaimed designer, Laurel Burch. Marcia managed marketing, operations, and staff training, and had offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong and Beijing.
In 1985, Marcia founded her own consulting and transformational training company, MM Productions, (also known as Power Speaking Seminars). As the CEO and President, Marcia currently delivers corporate and public trainings, seminars, and courses that teach people to be successful, and how to create the results they want in their lives and in their organizations. Marcia’s clients include: Inter-Continental Hotels International, Loews Hotels International, Capital One Financial Services Inc, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Warner Brothers. She has personally trained and coached over 150,000 people worldwide to be more effective in their lives and communication.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Look for me at Booth 302! Come by and say hello...
I'll be at the Podcasting and New Media Conference in Ontario, California this week and I hope to meet some of you who are going to be attending. Our new business division, intellipodcast will be exhibiting in Booth 302. We have a lot of giveaways and a lot of good information about podcasting for corporations and universities as well as a lot of fun planned! So, if you stop by, say Hi! You can find more information about the Expo here.
And if you are just getting into podcasting in your own company - (either audio or video) - you may want to start by reading my new book: Podcasting for Trainers and Educators : A digital shortcut. It was recently published by Prentice-hall Professional and can be found at Safari/O'Reilly as well as InformIT.
Here's the introduction...
In many ways, trainers, educators, professors, teachers, instructors, SMEs or course developers — whatever your title may be, if you are responsible for any knowledge transfer process — you are the people leading the way for corporations and educational institutions to forge into the new century. By learning about new technologies and learning and adapting them to our workplaces and our personal lives, we change the mindset, not to mention the productivity of the lives of those around us.
At one time, it was the IT Department who were considered "First Tier Adopters" when it came to technology. Now, educators of all types have stepped into this role as well — we must learn it before we can teach it. It is our belief that podcasting is the next wave of technology that corporations and educational institutions can immediately use to solve a host of training and business problems. This book aims to show you, the educator — whatever your title may be, how.
You'll learn
· what podcasting is
· how to use it
· what tools you'll need (free or inexpensive tools as well)
· how to leverage podcasts in your own place of work
· and much more in easy to understand, non-technical terms
You'll also find in this book
· simulation tutorials and demos
· free resources
· free templates
· sample communications for buy-in at your place of work
· video testimonials from existing trainers, teachers and professors
Dave and I have been involved in the areas of teaching, training and knowledge management for many years. Dave has taught at the university level and both of us have much experience with instructor led training, e-learning and a wide variety of tools from Macromedia Breeze and Captivate to Microsoft SharePoint and Live Meeting. We are excited about the possibilities that podcasting brings and we invite you to join us in exploring this new technology.
Have a great hump day!
Nan @ brainybetty
And if you are just getting into podcasting in your own company - (either audio or video) - you may want to start by reading my new book: Podcasting for Trainers and Educators : A digital shortcut. It was recently published by Prentice-hall Professional and can be found at Safari/O'Reilly as well as InformIT.
Here's the introduction...
In many ways, trainers, educators, professors, teachers, instructors, SMEs or course developers — whatever your title may be, if you are responsible for any knowledge transfer process — you are the people leading the way for corporations and educational institutions to forge into the new century. By learning about new technologies and learning and adapting them to our workplaces and our personal lives, we change the mindset, not to mention the productivity of the lives of those around us.
At one time, it was the IT Department who were considered "First Tier Adopters" when it came to technology. Now, educators of all types have stepped into this role as well — we must learn it before we can teach it. It is our belief that podcasting is the next wave of technology that corporations and educational institutions can immediately use to solve a host of training and business problems. This book aims to show you, the educator — whatever your title may be, how.
You'll learn
· what podcasting is
· how to use it
· what tools you'll need (free or inexpensive tools as well)
· how to leverage podcasts in your own place of work
· and much more in easy to understand, non-technical terms
You'll also find in this book
· simulation tutorials and demos
· free resources
· free templates
· sample communications for buy-in at your place of work
· video testimonials from existing trainers, teachers and professors
Dave and I have been involved in the areas of teaching, training and knowledge management for many years. Dave has taught at the university level and both of us have much experience with instructor led training, e-learning and a wide variety of tools from Macromedia Breeze and Captivate to Microsoft SharePoint and Live Meeting. We are excited about the possibilities that podcasting brings and we invite you to join us in exploring this new technology.
Have a great hump day!
Nan @ brainybetty
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
CG 75% off offer ends September 30th, guys.
I can't remember the last time I got 75% off on something I knew was coming to my company - specifically, PowerPoint 2007, or really, the LATEST version of Office... I have worked in the corporate arena for a long time but, this means you can be ahead of the curve, and pay less than you may in the future - 75% less. Man, 75%. I wish I got that in the sales at Kohl's.
You can get this now. Go play with it. Go learn it. And benefit from it as a teacher or practitioner OF IT.
Let me tell you from experience, PPT 2007 is HUGELY different from the previous versions. But gosh, you get so much from this bundle:
• Video Backgrounds Player - New version! (Have ya ever envisioned playing a video background - something really COOL and ELEGANT behind your presenation?) TRY IT - it's awesome...
• Templates Subscription - More templates! Hundreds of templates!
• Pictures Subscription - More photos! Royalty free stuff -
• Transitions volumes I-VII - New version! These really COOL transitions make your presentations POP
• 3D Titles volumes I&II - New version! REal NICE. Try it.
• Video Backgrounds Subscription
• Animator
• FlashReady (the coolest.. and we get the MOST questions about this one at BB)
• Presentations To Go
• Music volumes I&II GORGEOUS MUSIC TO ADD TO YOUR PRESENTATION SO VERY EASILY.
Get it here. Ya got 5 days.
Nan @ brainybetty
You can get this now. Go play with it. Go learn it. And benefit from it as a teacher or practitioner OF IT.
Let me tell you from experience, PPT 2007 is HUGELY different from the previous versions. But gosh, you get so much from this bundle:
• Video Backgrounds Player - New version! (Have ya ever envisioned playing a video background - something really COOL and ELEGANT behind your presenation?) TRY IT - it's awesome...
• Templates Subscription - More templates! Hundreds of templates!
• Pictures Subscription - More photos! Royalty free stuff -
• Transitions volumes I-VII - New version! These really COOL transitions make your presentations POP
• 3D Titles volumes I&II - New version! REal NICE. Try it.
• Video Backgrounds Subscription
• Animator
• FlashReady (the coolest.. and we get the MOST questions about this one at BB)
• Presentations To Go
• Music volumes I&II GORGEOUS MUSIC TO ADD TO YOUR PRESENTATION SO VERY EASILY.
Get it here. Ya got 5 days.
Nan @ brainybetty
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Inserting Flash into PowerPoint 2007
Sameshow has an excellent tutorial that walks you step by step through how to insert Flash in Powerpoint 2007.
It's a little different than PowerPoint 2003 and there are a few additional steps as well.
If you are using an earlier version of PowerPoint , you can view Brainy Betty's original tutorial.
If you want the easiest option, you could always get this software to do it for you (and it has additional tools to convert entire large presentations to Flash for use on the web or to send by email!) A big plus if you know how big those PowerPoint decks get for larger presentations!
Have a great week!
Nan @ brainybetty
It's a little different than PowerPoint 2003 and there are a few additional steps as well.
If you are using an earlier version of PowerPoint , you can view Brainy Betty's original tutorial.
If you want the easiest option, you could always get this software to do it for you (and it has additional tools to convert entire large presentations to Flash for use on the web or to send by email!) A big plus if you know how big those PowerPoint decks get for larger presentations!
Have a great week!
Nan @ brainybetty
Friday, September 21, 2007
Excel Macros.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
I know. i know. You look at the word macros and think oh dang, I have no CLUE what that means.
It's really easy - so take a minute and learn, ok? I promise it is NOT as painful as a root canal and definitely way more beneficial. You learn how to AUTOMATE tasks with macros so you aren't spending time doing things over and over and OVER again. You will be programming! You go girl! (ok, or Guy!)
Go learn. Seriously, take a 20 minute lunch at your desk and do this. It will be SO worth it.
Oh, and BTW, my friend Dennis at CG sent me this: Do you know that for $99 BUCKS a year you can have access to THOUSANDS of professional templates that will so make your presentations POP? And more are added [FREE] monthly to your library. Hey, if you are a speaker, a person who needs to persuade or teach or sell ideas, a person who relies on presentations to make a living, please do go and invest in this. You will be able to make gorgeous presentations and create something that people remember and ACT upon.
Seriously, $99 bucks a year is nothing. It's like 27 cents a day. Can you invest that in improving you, your business, your organization or church or university or department? Your message? Ok, yeah. go do it now then.
I know. i know. You look at the word macros and think oh dang, I have no CLUE what that means.
It's really easy - so take a minute and learn, ok? I promise it is NOT as painful as a root canal and definitely way more beneficial. You learn how to AUTOMATE tasks with macros so you aren't spending time doing things over and over and OVER again. You will be programming! You go girl! (ok, or Guy!)
Go learn. Seriously, take a 20 minute lunch at your desk and do this. It will be SO worth it.
Oh, and BTW, my friend Dennis at CG sent me this: Do you know that for $99 BUCKS a year you can have access to THOUSANDS of professional templates that will so make your presentations POP? And more are added [FREE] monthly to your library. Hey, if you are a speaker, a person who needs to persuade or teach or sell ideas, a person who relies on presentations to make a living, please do go and invest in this. You will be able to make gorgeous presentations and create something that people remember and ACT upon.
Seriously, $99 bucks a year is nothing. It's like 27 cents a day. Can you invest that in improving you, your business, your organization or church or university or department? Your message? Ok, yeah. go do it now then.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Google Presentations?
This was interesting news I came about recently. Google has acquired Tonic Systems -who have a Java based presentation software I believe comparable to PowerPoint.
Google Docs and Spreadsheets as you may know has been around for a while now and has had a good deal of success - and rightly so. Google's online editing system allows people to collaborate on documents very easily without the expense of a shared server or other special program.
Now, the ability to collaborate on presentations as well looks like it may be coming down the pike very soon. I, for one, will be interested in seeing what it looks like!
My PowerPoint 2007 tip of the week is this:
If you are a little confused with the new "Ribbon" menu and trying to find the Help button in PowerPoint, you may get flustered. In previous versions, you simply clicked on the Help menu, right? Surprise, it's no longer there!
So, in PowerPoint 2007, press your F1 key or in the program itself...The Help button is a small "question mark" graphic in the top right corner of the program window -- just below the X that you use to close the program.
Have a great week!
nan @ brainybetty
Google Docs and Spreadsheets as you may know has been around for a while now and has had a good deal of success - and rightly so. Google's online editing system allows people to collaborate on documents very easily without the expense of a shared server or other special program.
Now, the ability to collaborate on presentations as well looks like it may be coming down the pike very soon. I, for one, will be interested in seeing what it looks like!
My PowerPoint 2007 tip of the week is this:
If you are a little confused with the new "Ribbon" menu and trying to find the Help button in PowerPoint, you may get flustered. In previous versions, you simply clicked on the Help menu, right? Surprise, it's no longer there!
So, in PowerPoint 2007, press your F1 key or in the program itself...The Help button is a small "question mark" graphic in the top right corner of the program window -- just below the X that you use to close the program.
Have a great week!
nan @ brainybetty
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Crystal Graphics releases new bundle!
Ok, Vista users - you are in for a treat.
CG announced today the NEW PowerPlugs: Ultimate Combo 2007 version 3.0 for PowerPoint! Now fully Vista compatible and with a new streamlined installer, it has everything you need to energize your PowerPoint presentations including:
• Video Backgrounds Player - New version!
• Templates Subscription - More templates!
• Pictures Subscription - More photos!
• Transitions volumes I-VII - New version!
• 3D Titles volumes I&II - New version!
• Video Backgrounds Subscription
• Animator
• FlashReady
• Presentations To Go
• Music volumes I&II
This is pretty awesome stuff for making gorgeous, knock-your-audience's-socks-off presentations. I love playing with this program!
You can get it here. LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR THE DEAL.
Oh, and did I mention that it's over 75% OFF the price of buying these items separately? Act quick, guys - it's only valid until the end of the month.
CG announced today the NEW PowerPlugs: Ultimate Combo 2007 version 3.0 for PowerPoint! Now fully Vista compatible and with a new streamlined installer, it has everything you need to energize your PowerPoint presentations including:
• Video Backgrounds Player - New version!
• Templates Subscription - More templates!
• Pictures Subscription - More photos!
• Transitions volumes I-VII - New version!
• 3D Titles volumes I&II - New version!
• Video Backgrounds Subscription
• Animator
• FlashReady
• Presentations To Go
• Music volumes I&II
This is pretty awesome stuff for making gorgeous, knock-your-audience's-socks-off presentations. I love playing with this program!
You can get it here. LOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR THE DEAL.
Oh, and did I mention that it's over 75% OFF the price of buying these items separately? Act quick, guys - it's only valid until the end of the month.
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