After running a boy scout event on the computer merit badge, there's one thing that I know for sure ... kids know way more software features than we do! One of the assignments I gave them was to create a PowerPoint presentation; and not only were they all extremely creative, but all of them used cool tricks that I've never used before. That being said, there's a reason that I've never used those "cool" tricks - it's because I never need them.

The scouts had a great time creating these PowerPoint presentations; but unless you want to show the equivalent of a Bugs Bunny cartoon to your boss or a client that you're trying to get business from, you probably won't want to hire any of them as a slide show consultant. The key to great PowerPoint slides is simplicity. Let me clarify, I didn't say plainness, dullness, uncreativeness, or colorless - because you actually need all of those things in order to create great PowerPoint slides; but each one of these aspects needs to be done simply.

Background
Don't just change the color; you should definitely take advantage of the slide design & templates to change the backgrounds of your slides. But when you select a background design, use the ones that give the allusion that it's just one color; in order words, don't pick one that too busy. In the end, the background needs to enhance the words on the screen and not distract from them.

Slide Transition & Custom Animation
There's a lot of fun ways to move from one slide to the next, or from one bullet to another. For the most part though, the basic "Fade" is all you need. Again, you don't want the transitions & animation to distract from your presentation; you also don't want the appearance that you have to add junk to your presentation to make up for a lack of substance. Making simple moves shows power!

Graphics
We've all seen PowerPoint presentations with graphics on every single slide. It's fun for about 2 or 3 slides, but then it gets redundant. Your text content is your centerpiece, but that doesn't mean not to use any graphics; just make sure that those graphics make your text content look good.

Keeping presentations simple has served me well for a long time, and I always get compliments afterwards. So for your next presentation, I hope these tips help to make your PowerPoint presentation great! But if you get stuck on how to use something, ask one of your kids ... you'll be surprised what they know (just don't let them do it for you)!

If your machine hasn't been updated in a while with the latest Microsoft updates, and virus definitions ... this may be a good time for you to take some time to do so. Every week, hundreds of new viruses are being created and causing PC's everywhere to buckle, particularly when it comes to Microsoft products.

The latest virus getting a lot of press is called the "Zero-day Microsoft PowerPoint" trojan virus. After you've updated your machine(s), check out these links to get more information about it:

http://tailrank.com/posts/562949953823303/Microsoft_PowerPoint_0-day_Vulnerability_FAQ
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/37089.html

Hey, be careful out there!

Toolbar buttons in desktop applications (including Microsoft Office) are a great thing; couldn't imagine life without them. But there are still some cases where keyboard shortcuts are better for me. For example, I still use Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V to cut, copy, and paste respectfully (it's a habit I never got out of.) And why would I go to the Edit menu and click "Select All" when I can just do a Ctrl+A and I'm done - you know what I'm saying?

There are also keyboard shortcuts that you should know about when you run a slide show with a PowerPoint presentation. Why? Two reasons: 1) Because they'll make your presentation more interactive, thus increasing the effectiveness of it; 2) Because there's no toolbar buttons available in Slide Show mode. Here are two that I use a lot:

Slide Number + ENTER
When the audience has a question, sometimes it's helpful to go back (or forward) to specific slide that assists you in answering it. To do that, just type the slide number and press Enter. Obviously, this works best when you know the slide number; otherwise, you can always use the Backspace key to go backward in your presentation until you spot the one you need.

B or W
If you've presented a slide and you're not quite ready to move on to the next one, it's important to draw the attention back on you - otherwise they'll keep getting distracted by your beautiful presentation. Pressing the letter "B" makes the screen go black, and the letter "W" makes it go white. I normally go with a black screen, but sometimes white it better based on the room you're in. When you're ready to move on, just press any key.

For more keyboard shortcuts to use in your slide show, check out this post from Brainy Betty.

For quite a long time, Brainy Betty has provided great resources for Microsoft Powerpoint, including free templates, backgrounds and other graphics. She now has a Blogger site where she posts tutorials, articles, and even vlogs.

Here's a vlog that contains a video that demonstrates how easy it is to create your wedding monogram in Microsoft Powerpoint. This post serves as an example of the diversity of tasks that can be done in Microsoft Office. Even though I just celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary last week, I tried it out and able create this one in about 5 minutes! What do you think?

In the article I wrote The Bad Side of a Slide Presentation, I recalled my experience at a programming conference where I saw one bad presentation after another. For the most part, the reason for that wasn't because of the actual presentation file, but how it was presented. I believe you can have the greatest looking presentation, and it still be presented poorly by the presenter.

Darren Strange of Office Rocker! has posted some great tips on how to give a better presentation. Again, very little of this post has to do with honing your Microsoft PowerPoint skills, but more to do with making your audience comfortable and conveying your message simply and strongly. I think this quote from him really sums it up:

We've forgotten why PowerPoint was created, to help you deliver interesting and compelling presentations and get your message across to your audience. It was not designed as a way for you to bore people. Presenting is a skill and a great tool isn't all you need. Like all great tools, it is best used by a skilled practitioner - someone who knows when and how to use the tool to maximum effect.

Thanks, Darren!

Whenever you're given an opportunity to create or use a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, it means you or someone on your team is going to communicate something important to someone else. This naturally creates a little excitement and a lot of nervousness; and unfortunately, this tends to make creating your PowerPoint presentation a very stressful time.

If you don't forget for who the PowerPoint presentation is intended for (which of course is for your audience, not you), the content of your presentation should be simple to put together. However, if you need a good reminder of that, be sure to read this article I wrote about that. The only left after that to make things as smooth as possible is how you your presentation. Below are features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 that you will help you with that.

View Menu ~ Slide Sorter
This is probably the most versatile tool in Microsoft PowerPoint. The original intent of the Slide Sorter is to make it easy to change the order of your slides by clicking and dragging them around. After creating the first slide, I also use the Slide Sorter to copy and paste the rest of the slides I need that use the same layout - which can save you a lot of time. The best time-saver is being able Select-All (Ctrl+A), Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click several slides and perform a task on all of them that are selected. Now you won't have to apply 8 seconds to a slide 20 times; just concentrate on your content, and then configure the slides quickly with the Slide Sorter.

Slide Show Menu ~ Rehearse Timings
I don't have to create a lot of presentations that are on a timer; but when I do, most of them I can get away with applying the same number of seconds to all of them.  But if they have to be different, I never know how many seconds each slide should stay on the screen - and the good news is that I don't have to.  Using the Rehearse Timings feature in Microsoft PowerPoint gives you the power to run your slide while it records the seconds for you. This is great for when you need your slide presentation to match a voice recording, or a music track.

File Menu ~ Package for CD ...
For those of us that don't have a laptop and need our presentation to show on another computer; the Package for CD feature has a lot of advantages over just copying the PPT file onto a floppy or CD. In prior versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, you had to remember to copy the PowerPoint viewer in addition to your presentation - in case the machine you ran it on didn't have the full version of PowerPoint. The Package for CD feature not only includes it for you, but also creates a PLAY.BAT file that you can just double click to start your presentation. Using this also ensures that your presentation is able to run to its full capacity in case the computer you used doesn't have the right version of Microsoft PowerPoint.

One of the best ways that I learn how to do something is by observing what not to do.  Years ago, I attended a programmers' conference in Arizona where I went to several one hour classes. The conference was good, but what bothered me were the presenters in most of the classes.  Most of them had no clue how to use a Powerpoint presentation. That experience resulted into this article I wrote as soon as I returned:

The Bad Side of a Slide Presentation

The main point I make in the article is that Powerpoint presentations are not supposed to be your actual presentation. The purpose of them are to enhance your ability to present by providing visual aids and/or an outline. So if you have poor oral communication skills (which is natural for a presenter who's a programmer) or you are unprepared for your class, reading your entire presentation from the screen is not an acceptable substitution.

In the last two days of that conference, I ended up walking out of any class of a presenter that was unprepared or was reading their presentation off the screen. There were only 4 out of dozens of presenters that I thought were good enough for me to stick around for and actually learn something from. Needless to say, it was a great lesson for the rest of my life on how to present anything to anyone ... and of course, how not to.