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!

I have a confession to make. Even though I've posted several blogs related to Microsoft Office 2007, I actually haven't tried it for myself yet. Not because I don't want to; in fact I'm eagerly looking forward to upgrading to it. However, this blog site isn't so much about learning software; it's more about learning how to use this software to create better documents. So you can understand that I'm not in a rush to install it.

That being said, I still plan on trying it out in the near future. The good news is that when I'm ready to do so, I won't have to install it on my computer - thanks to the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 Test Drive. This site offers a way for you to test out Office 2007 with your web browser. This way you won't have to give up the hard drive space or worry about the risks of running beta software on your computer; but at the same time, you can still prepare to be amazed by the full version of Office 2007.

However, there are some things that you need to be aware of before you use, all of which you read in Jensen Harris' post about this test drive. I encourage you to go to both links to learn about this, and to try it out ... when you're ready of course.

While using Google Spreadsheets for updating a small file I use for the site, I ran across a huge software bug. I couldn't believe that it actually happened. Of course, I reported it to Google right away. Here's what I wrote:

"... The last time I was working on this spreadsheet, I did a lot of formatting (colors, numbering, etc.)  When I opened the same file today, all of my formatting was gone; as if I never did any of it. The data was retained, but not in the format I had it in."

I have all the confidence in the world that this will be fixed soon, as well as any other major bugs that are in the queue. This is just a public service reminder from me that Google Spreadsheets is still in Beta, and that it should not be used for any data you hold dear to your heart ... yet.

I just ran across a great Yahoo! Groups discussion. A user posted the following question to the Word_DocDesign group:

"I'm creating a document where my client wants to be able to fill in his client's name on the first page of the document and then have that information automatically inserted into the header of any subsequent pages. Is there something already set up to do this type of thing or do I need to use some VBA coding?"

This may seem impossible to some, but this user was presented with several ways to tackle this. The first reply was from Dian D. Chapman, MVP, MOS who refers the user to an article she wrote to accomplish this task. It says this:

"Actually, the solution is pretty simple. You just need to record a macro that unlocks the form, goes into the header, selects the content, updates the fields, closes the header and re-locks the form. Then you add that macro into the Run Macro on Exit option in the form field."

I encourage you to check out these things to give you a better understanding of macros, and the flexibility you have with headers and footers in Microsoft Word.

If you don't have (or need) accounting software to produce invoices for your business, there are other options you can take advantage of. Some businesses create their own database program (or pay some to create it).

Others (like me) just use their own document template for creating invoices. And as I discussed in my last post, having your own set of document templates enhances your company identity and helps you to stand out among others. But since Microsoft Word doesn't come with a sample invoice template, you'd either have to find one in the Microsoft Office Template Gallery, or create your own from scratch. Below is a sample of the template that I use for my invoices:

Invoice Template

The only two drawbacks of using a Word invoice template are that the calculation isn't automatic and it doesn't automatically number them sequentially for you. However, since I don't create a ton of invoices every week, I'll live.

In my view, the templates that come with Microsoft Word (or any other program for that matter) were always provided to get ordinary tasks done quickly. They also serve as great examples of how you can produce great looking documents. However, I think Microsoft Office users in general have taken templates too far. I don't think they were ever supposed to be used as a part of a company's corporate identity.

Take fax cover sheets. How many times have to seen this one?

Probably over a thousand times, right! If it were up to me, this one would be outlawed from further use. However, with 2 simple changes; you can use this template to create a look of your own. First, replace the black block with your logo, and then simply change the font face to something different that goes with your logo.

Small changes like this can be done with all of the templates provided in Microsoft Word to give yourself a unique identity that stands out from others and makes a good impression on your clients. Some take some work to figure out because they're laid out differently than you're used to, but you should be able overcome them with some effort. Besides, you can also just use the templates as a guideline to create your own from scratch.

To make your templates in even more unique, go to the Microsoft Office Online site and use the updated templates there to start with.

Virtually all of us have been guilty of sending too much e-mail at point or another (some on the verge of spamming), especially when one is exposed to it for the first time. I suppose that it's only natural since e-mail is so easy to send. When you start collecting e-mail addresses from friends and family, you have to find out if it really works; so you send stuff.  And when you actually get a reply, you get that rush of excitement; and then you get addicted. Soon, you forward almost everything in your inbox that you feel is of any significance (yes, you remember now ... don't you?)

The cure? Getting bombarded with a ton of e-mail, of course; which then makes you question whether or not the messages you send are really necessary. A post from Melissa Macbeth gives us a great checklist of questions we should all ask ourselves before send out anything. The moral of her post is this:

"If you empathize with your recipients, your e-mail etiquette will improve and you just might send less e-mail. (The tone one takes in an e-mail also makes a world of difference - but that is a whole other topic.) And when you are the recipient of unnecessary e-mail, delete it! Don’t let someone else’s bad habits cause you to have too much in your inbox."

I also believe that the principles learned here will also help us in our decisions on the necessity of creating a document. The point of any document is to provide information efficiently. Unless you're writing a novel or something else that entertains, unnecessary content of any kind masks the important points that your document needs to relay, and thus will pollute it - even a simple flyer or brochure.

Does that mean we should also refrain from creating a document under the same circumstances? I think so. Many of us have received documents via e-mail that get opened one time and then sits on our hard drive for years until we delete it (or until our computer crashes!) But now I get some that I don't even bother opening, because I never needed it in the first place.

My advice in regards to these documents are the same as Melissa's: empathize with your recipients. Do they really need the document you're sending them, or should it be discarded on arrival?