A new entry into the iPad presentations arena made its debut on January 10, 2012. OnLive, Inc., better known for on-demand video gaming, has launched its latest tool, OnLive Desktop.

OnLive Desktop is a cloud-based app for the iPad.  After signing up for a free account, OnLive Desktop provides you with secure access to a virtual Windows 7 desktop, which is running on their servers. The desktop includes the 2010 versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. With this app, you can create Microsoft Office documents from scratch. If you want to use it to edit existing documents, you can upload files to the “desktop” from your PC by logging into your account via their website.

During our testing, it seems as though most of the functionality of PowerPoint is intact. The main tabs are all there. Although, while diving a bit deeper, you will find that under the File tab, the Print, Save & Send, and Options menu options are grayed out. As the Save & Send functionality is disabled on this virtual desktop, you will need to login from your PC to retrieve the files you create/edit on your iPad. Other than that, we have found the balance of the functions to be available as in the full desktop versions.

One of the issues that we found while working with our file in the iPad app, was that although Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-1 (.mpg), and Windows Media Video (.wmv) videos playback smoothly within the provided Windows Media Player, that is not the case when playing back within PowerPoint. The embedded QuickTime clip did not play at all, and the .mpg and .wmv videos played choppily, and would disappear and reappear while trying to play.

On the plus side, we found that all of the transitions, compound animations, motion paths, hyperlinks, and custom shows that we had tested, were working as they should.

OnLive Desktop is a cloud-based app, and as such, there is no “offline” working mode. If you don’t have an internet connection, you can’t access the desktop from your iPad. Although, any saved work will still be available via PC through your OnLive Files page.

Overall, we found this app to be a very useful tool for creating, editing, and presenting PowerPoint 2010 files.

For more tips like this, check back on our blog frequently, or subscribe to the eSlide newsletter “To The Point”.

When you give a speech, you have an opportunity to get your audience to see their world differently.  This as an opportunity to influence them and get them to take action. These points are designed to help you become a more powerful, persuasive and confident speaker.

• Take a stand.
  Start with a provocative statement or challenging question. Grab their attention by presenting thoughtful analysis, perspective or judgment. If it’s the same old, same old, you’ll lose them and good luck trying to get them back. Don’t waste their time telling them how happy you are to be back in Chicago or saying nice things about the person that introduced you. Nobody cares.

• Make it clear why this is in their interest to listen to you.
  Your speech has to answer their unasked question: why should I care? What are their needs, dreams, desires, fears and anxieties? Give them something to think about. What action would you like them to take as a result of what you are saying?

• Be interesting.
  A friend of mine is a minister and she asked me how she could liven up her sermons. She thought about peppering her homilies with jokes. She’s a brilliant and wonderful person, but funny she is not. I reminded her that her flock comes to church to be enlightened, to learn something, to see how they can live their lives in a more meaningful and spiritual way. Jokes are great if you’re really funny. More than likely, you are not. Stick to what you know and why it’s important to them. Also, put some passion into your presentation. Glazing eye disease is the chief symptom of lack-luster speech syndrome.

• Tell meaningful stories and evoke real feelings.
  Stories connect you to the imagination of the people you are speaking to. The audience can envision what you are talking about. The image of the story lasts far longer than the words they’ve heard.Get them to feel something. For example, do you remember the night Barack Obama was elected President? I don’t recall a word he said that night in Lincoln Park in Chicago, but I’ll never forget how I felt.

• Keep it short.
  The Gettysburg address is only 256 words. I’m not saying that your speech should be that brief, but much longer than 20 minutes or so, you might start losing your crowd. Audiences have the attention span of a three year old.

• Don’t read your speech word for word.
  Don’t memorize it either. A speech is something you should know, feel and understand. Talk to your audience, connect with them and don’t lecture them. There maybe places in your speech where you might have to click on a PowerPoint slide. Fine, you could be precise about that. But the rest of it should come from heart as much as your mind.

• And speaking of PowerPoint…
  …PowerPoint is a magnificent tool that can help enliven and illustrate your speech. A well executed slide can bring to life the points you are trying to make. PowerPoint fails when each slide is laden with too many points, charts and figures. Audiences can either listen to you or read the thirty lines on a slide. Get professional help. They can make your PowerPoint presentation add feeling, meaning and substance to your address.

Bob Berkowitz is a communications consultant and persuasion coach for The Dilenschneider Group. He is a former White House Correspondent for CNN and was reporter for ABC News and NBC News. He also hosted a talk show for CNBC. You can also find Bob on LinkedIn.

For more tips like this, check back on our blog frequently, or subscribe to the eSlide newsletter “To The Point”.

Recently, a client came to us with this exact problem. Every time she tried to copy and paste between two “very similar” templates, everything would get messed up. Even though we told her to “Keep source formatting” box unchecked, PPT 2007 still brings in the source masters/layouts from her old file. So…in essence, even though you tell PPT 2007 NOT to keep the source formatting, it goes ahead and does it anyway. The same thing happens if you simply copy and paste from an old deck into a new deck. PowerPoint pastes in all the old masters/layouts with the slides.

We did some research and here’s what we found:

The issue, in this case, seems to be that when the layouts are named differently, they will not automatically take the new layout, but instead bring in the uniquely named layouts and keep the imported slides in that layout. Whereas, if the layouts are named identically, they will go into the new template with minimal hiccups.

In PowerPoint 2007/10, users have the freedom to create many unique layouts/masters for use in a given template. Users often choose to give these layouts special names. For example: In the new template, the title slide layout is named “Client A – Title Slide Layout”. In the source (old) document, the title slide layout had a different name: “Client B – Title Slide Layout”. Although these two layouts are very similar in design, layout and even name, PowerPoint sees these layouts as completely separate and unrelated entities. If the old slides you are trying to reuse have different source layout names than the names of the new template layouts, PowerPoint 2007/10 will IGNORE the unchecked “Keep source formatting” box. Instead, PPT will insert the old slides with their source formatting/layouts still applied, and it will ADD the unique master/layouts to the template.

On the other hand, if the layout names between two separate templates are IDENTICAL, PPT 2007/10 will adhere to the unchecked “Keep source formatting” box. This means that if the names of the title slide layouts for both of your files were set to something general (e.g., “Title Slide Layout”), then the old slides WOULD automatically adopt the new template layout. NOTE: This does not mean that old slides will always transfer perfectly into a new template…often there will still be formatting and clean up to do (especially for objects that are not linked to a master layout, style or color value).

So….to summarize: The problems are related to the fact that the two templates have unique names for each common layout. You can correct some of the technical issues by going back to the source templates (old and new) and renaming all common layouts with the exact same name. There is no such thing as an “easy” PowerPoint import, but this step will certainly correct some major technical snags.

For more tips like this, check back on our blog frequently, or subscribe to the eSlide newsletter “To The Point”.

But creating content for web delivery with its no-travel, on-demand capabilities has its own set of challenges – many people are intimidated by the process, or aren’t aware of the factors that can make online meetings succeed or fail. eSlide has been helping our customers prepare for web meetings since the early days of Webex and would like to share some of our tips for making effective presentations that get results in this channel.

Most web-meeting software piggybacks on existing presentation applications. So creating your content is similar to preparing for a live presentation delivered from your laptop – in either case you’re probably developing slides with MS PowerPoint or other presentation software like Keynote or Google Docs. Therefore some of the ground rules are the same:

• Follow a good template (see What Makes a Good Template)
• Keep information visually organized
• Don’t overload slides (especially important online)

However there are some key differences:

• There is no presenter. In a web-meeting you are not in front of your audience, so you can’t interact with your slides or audience as you would in a live meeting. This means no pointing at the screen, using hand gestures or any other type of “human touch” that you might typically use to help explain your content or make it more engaging.  And with limited audience feedback, it becomes more challenging to adjust your pace or gauge their level of focus and enthusiasm.
• Distractions abound. Because attendees are not all in the same room and are typically in front of their computers, it’s very easy for them to get distracted. In a Forbes study of over 750 executives “Business Meetings: the Case for Face-to-Face” 58% of respondents admitted that they “frequently” surf the web, check email, read unrelated materials or do other work during digital meetings.
• Interface interference. Most web meetings run within a web browser and they have various panels for chatting to colleagues, or seeing who is in attendance. This means that your slides will be smaller than you expect as they “shrink to fit” within the viewer’s browser window. This will be even more exaggerated if they are viewing on laptop computers.

All of this means that your slides have to be even clearer and more engaging than usual. Animations become much more meaningful as a way to highlight key information and hold audience attention. Small fonts should be avoided, and strong color contrast becomes important for charts and other graphics. All of the items that we explain in our S.E.E. design series become much more important; to allow your web presentation to transmit clearly and have the impact you want.

Once your presentation has been created, it’s a good idea to write out speaker notes for each slide that include callouts to indicate where animation CLICKS are required. Whether you will present in real-time or are pre-recording your voiceover, you don’t want to lose the thread of your message – and good, clear speaker notes prevent this.

With this done, the next step is generally to log in to the web application you are using and upload your presentation. Upload times vary depending on the number of slides and the speed of your internet connection. Most delivery tools do a fine job of converting your slides into online content – but it is still a good idea to preview your presentation to make sure nothing changed or became “corrupted” in the upload process. If you will manually click through the slides for your meeting (i.e. the meeting is a live session where attendees watch in real time) you should be ready to begin. With some online tools, you will be sharing a view of your desktop with the audience. It is always a good idea to preview your presentation with a colleague before you go “live.” This way you can make any necessary adjustments or address any technical issues that may arise.

However, many online tools offer the option of pre-recording the presentation so it can be viewed on demand (e.g., BrainShark, SlideShare, SlideRocket). Some services allow you to add your own audio recordings, interactive quizzes, surveys, or user tracking. If these features are desired you can follow the service provider’s instructions to add them to your presentation. When you are finished your completed presentation can be saved for future viewing.

Some larger corporations use delivery service providers, such as Brainshark, which allow you to post pre-recorded presentations on the corporate intranet for colleagues to view at their convenience. These services initially gained popularity with training departments, due to their quiz and user tracking features, but have quickly spread across other divisions because of their ease-of-use.

For examples of high visual value slides that get better online presentation results see our “before and after” samples or view our S.E.E. Design Training presentations. If you are preparing for an online presentation and want to make sure your slides are optimized contact eSlide for assistance!

Even Apple’s Keynote iPad app did not do a great job initially. We found that effects applied to elements in PowerPoint would be lost, charts would change in appearance, fonts would be substituted, and complex animations sequences would be lost. We were able to repair many of the conversion issues by revising the presentation in the Mac Desktop version of Keynote, but this did not seem like a long-term practical solution. Few users would have the time or even access to the software necessary to get a usable version onto their iPads.

Alternatively, there was the option of converting to a video format and playing back on the iPad, but hitting pause and play isn’t the most elegant way of advancing through your presentation.

Another popular option has been to convert presentations to a PDF. Converting the file utilizing this method maintained most of the formatting, and it is possible to save a version with animations, but any motion paths and interactivity within the file would be lost in the translation. Adobe finally released an iOS reader this week.

Yesterday, BrainShark™ released their free SlideShark™ app. We had been fortunate enough to be involved in the product beta testing program, and our early findings were hopeful. The final release didn’t vary much from those we had reviewed.

Uploading presentations is accomplished via a website and the process is very streamlined. If you don’t already have one, it will be necessary to open a free online account. Once you are logged in, you simply use the website to select and upload files that live on your computer. After you have uploaded the file to your secure account, you click on the “Available for iPad” check box then go to the SlideShark app on your iPad. When you open the app, you will see all of the presentations that you’ve made available. Underneath of each is a button to download the presentation to your device. Of course you will need an active internet connection (WiFi or 3G) for the download to function – but once complete, the button will change to read Present. Once this is accomplished, the file can be played back regardless of your connection status.

The app interface is clean and uncluttered. Playback and navigation are consistent with the iPad experience. We found the documentation and tutorial within the app, accessed by clicking the question mark , to be informative.

When comparing our PowerPoint original to playback on the iPad, we found that the results were excellent. Although not all PowerPoint features are supported, their claims are fairly consistent with the FAQ statement (“While the App is optimized for PowerPoint, there are a few features that are not supported. These include: hyperlinks on slides, embedded videos or animated gifs, slide transitions, triggers, and 3rd party components. There are also some advanced animations that may not be supported.”). The problem areas in our uploaded test file were with complex animations, video playback, and non-standard fonts (futura had been replaced by arial). And unlike other apps, repairing these minor discrepancies did not require software other than PowerPoint. Our tests utilized PowerPoint 2010 and the iPad2 running iOS 5.

Given the traction iPads are gaining for business presentations, we would give this new product from BrainShark a high recommendation.

For more tips like this, check back on our blog frequently, or subscribe to the eSlide newsletter
“To The Point”.

Instead of an informative illustration you have something that looks overwhelming and impossible to read. If only you could display the data in $ millions.

At eSlide we see this situation often, and like most things in PowerPoint there are many ways to approach it… some are helpful while others lead to problems. In this post we’ll give you some simple solutions that will keep your chart working as it should, and looking like you want.

First the BAD… It is possible to click into the individual data labels and manually retype each, but this will prevent the labels from updating with changes to your chart’s data sheet in the future. Luckily, there’s a correct way to get the data to be more legible.

In this example, the fix is a quick one. Select the vertical (value) axis, then RIGHT-CLICK and choose FORMAT AXIS. In this dialog choose AXIS OPTIONS in the left column.

In the middle of this dialog is a pull-down called DISPLAY UNITS. Simply select MILLIONS in that pull-down and hit CLOSE.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Viola! The axis and all of the data labels in the chart have become easier to read.

Aha, you say, that’s great for charts with an axis but what about Pie Charts? (cue scary music).. Since there is no axis, there is no “display units” function to be found. Never fear! Even in charts like these there’s a solution.

First, select the data labels then RIGHT-CLICK and choose FORMAT DATA LABELS. Click on the NUMBER option. In the middle is a FORMAT CODE box. Type in the following: $#,##0.0,,

The commas at the end represent the display units – so one comma would display in thousands, 3 would display in billions, etc. After typing in the format code box, click the ADD button, hit CLOSE and you’re done.If you want an M, indicating Millions, to appear at the end of the labels, enter this in the FORMAT CODE box: $#,##0.0,,”M”. Anything in the quotes will display as text after your data.

The best part is that if your data changes, the numbers will update, formatting included!

For more tips like this, check back on our blog frequently, or subscribe to the eSlide newsletter
“To The Point”.

Standard practice is to select text that currently has the style that you want to copy. Then right click and select “Set as Default Text Box.” This will establish the style for the first level of text (unlike placeholders that can be setup with nine predetermined text levels), as well as styles for the box itself. Once that has been done, each new text box that you place within that presentation will utilize the newly established parameters.

What we found is that you cannot select “Set as Default Text Box” from a placeholder, nor can you do so from a copy of a placeholder. It is necessary to create a new text box and setup the desired parameters. To save a few steps, you can use the Format Painter to copy the parameters setup on the placeholder and apply them to the new text box.

Sunday night, President Obama told reporters at the White House that “the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid a default.” While at that time House Speaker John Boehner was holding a conference call with Republican House members.

Before speaking publicly, Boehner’s pitch to his caucus was available online. This was found in The New York Times blog, The Caucus: http://www.speaker.gov/UploadedFiles/3-7-31-11-Debt-Framework-Boehner.pdf

I would think that a topic as critical as this would be deserving of a better effort in presenting the information. Looking at content of the first slide, it leaves me to wonder what are Steps 1 & 2 of the “TWO-STEP APPROACH”? It seems the titles were developed as sound bites and the content is not always in support of those statements. As slide professionals we look for ways to visually clarify content – so that the slides help illuminate the presenter’s thoughts, ideas and plans.

Although slide design was probably not the most important consideration, a good amount of the basics of presentations were overlooked in this document. Title Case is easier to read than the All Caps used on these slides. As if that wasn’t enough emphasis on the title, they put a rectangle around it, and it is considerably larger than the rest of the content. The same effect may have been achieved by making it slightly larger than the content, making it Title Case and differentiating with color. That would have left more room for the content.

There is little consistency from slide-to-slide. Type size, bullet treatment, and text positioning varies throughout the file. It seems as though the approach was “whatever it takes to fit the content.”

Again, I know this critique is less important than the subject matter, but I can’t help myself when I see “rookie” mistakes on a high profile presentation. Maybe the Speaker’s staff could benefit from a quick review of our S.E.E. Presentation Design series.

The survey consisted of 1,003 adults who use office software on a daily basis. Of those surveyed, 24% stated that boring slides had put them to sleep, and the biggest audience frustrations were “too much text” and “snoozer graphics.”

eSlide understands these opinions – every day we see overloaded slides or visuals that don’t help explain the presenter’s message. A slide deck is only one component of the presentation you deliver, and if it’s a snoozer it can cause audience attention to falter and if it’s overloaded it can steal attention away from your main points as people read ahead and ignore you.

We don’t mean to suggest that you stop using slides, as there is an abundance of scientific data to support the theory that visuals enhance information retention. One expert on this topic is John Medina, Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. In his book, Brain Rules, his Rule #10 states that “vision trumps all other senses.” His data argues that recognition doubles for a picture compared with text.

What we are recommending is that you revisit your presentation and try to see it from your audience’s point of view. Is it visually overwhelming? Does it read like a book? If so, copy your slide content to the notes section, then take keywords, or a few key points and put those back onto your slides. These will reinforce your message without distracting the audience. If you are using a graphic on your slide, is it helping to tell the story? If not, then you should consider replacing or removing it. If you feel it is necessary to maintain all of your content, there ways to graphically organize it into logical chunks, or use animation to bring content on screen to fit your story flow. (We won’t detail those techniques here, but you can find tips like this online in our S.E.E. Presentation Design series).

One third of the survey respondents dread creating PowerPoint presentations. But PowerPoint remains the best way to transform an “audio-only” speech into an impactful audio-visual experience, and improvements in recent versions make creating slides a smoother process. There are also many resources for training, as well as professional assistance for the more difficult aspects of presentation production. As the content expert you should do the best you can with your messaging and reach out for training or assistance with production aspects outside of your comfort zone (or simply aren’t an efficient use of your time).

Presentations are an excellent tool to inform, motivate, and for getting results. But the correct balance of Visual Value must be achieved for the most effective retention of your presentation. A well-balanced presentation can quickly deliver your message concisely and will leave a lasting impression.

¹ http://www.sliderocket.com/blog/2011/06/death-by-powerpoint/ (as viewed on 6/21/11).

Matthias Poehm, President of the Anti-PowerPoint Party  of Switzerland is blaming PowerPoint presentations for a negative economic impact in 193 countries worldwide. Poehm calculates that 85% of employees and students who view presentations with PowerPoint feel that the slides are “killing motivation,” and the cost to the Swiss economy is 2.1 billion Swiss Francs (~$2.5B US) a year!

A public speaking trainer by trade, Poehm believes that if his party becomes the fourth largest in Switzerland, he will gain enough press coverage to bring attention to his “international movement.” One of his stated goals is to launch a national referendum in Switzerland to create a law banning PowerPoint during presentations. However, he goes on to say that “The only aim of the referendum is to lift the PowerPoint issue both to the awareness of the Swiss people and to the awareness of the world population. We don’t want to prohibit anything to anybody – through this virtual claim we only want people to have a look at the existing solutions.”

Poehm proposes that viewing the live creation of flip charts is the solution to this corporate production killer, suggesting that it is more exciting and engaging for an audience to watch the speaker illustrate their points with pen and paper than to read pre-prepared slides. We respectfully suggest that if presenters have trouble using materials prepared BEFORE the meeting, forcing them to hand draw their ideas in real-time before their audience will only have a negative effect.

eSlide has seen many variations on this topic before. Modern media is filled with anti-PowerPoint and even anti-meeting messages. Most of these “anti” messages base their case on assumptions around productivity and effectiveness of meetings. Of course in today’s business environment most meetings include some form of electronic presentation, so slides take the blame for all. This message resonates, because everyone has attended a conference where the presenter reads a long string of bullet points and thought “I could have read this at my desk”.

Ultimately we find that the authors of these messages are reacting to LOW QUALITY presentations, content or just poor public speakers.  Mr. Poehm is no different – if you review his website you find a series of “PowerPoint Horror Slides” which are perfect examples of low quality visual aids. These horror slides have obviously been created without the benefit of any guidelines for good slide design, and probably by people without any type of speaker training.

At eSlide, we disagree with this practice of blaming PowerPoint for low productivity and low motivation. Simply consider the impact of Al Gore’s presentation “An Inconvenient Truth”. By virtue of using well designed, effective slides Mr. Gore has reached and motivated over a billion people worldwide to take action around the issue of global warming. Or review the increase in stock price of Apple Inc. after Steve Jobs delivers a presentation. There are many more examples of the positive impact of GOOD presentations and effective presenters than there ever could be about the negatives of their low quality opposites.

In fact, we have seen how the process of developing a presentation actually improves the quality of the communication and the effectiveness of meetings in general. Mr. Poehm is overlooking the collaborative effort that typically goes into a PowerPoint presentation: weeks of preparation, refinement, group reviews and feedback from a leadership team. Often, consultants are brought in to assist in the enhancement of the visual aspects of the presentation. This process not only provides valuable review for accuracy and important opportunities to rehearse, but also several opportunities for feedback on the clarity of the message.  Another key advantage of presentation software is the ability to reuse, update, publish and distribute the final product (Try that with a flip chart!) Ultimately, PowerPoint is just a tool that when used well, can be a powerful communication advantage to the user.

We do find ourselves in agreement with one of Mr. Poehm’s points: “Furthermore the APPP stands for introducing the subject presentation in schools as a compulsory subject from the first grade on”. We don’t know if the world should force first graders to tune up their slide skills, but eSlide feels that everyone who creates or delivers presentations should have the benefit of some training around how to maximize the effectiveness of their visuals.

This is why eSlide is extending the offer of FREE VISUAL DESIGN TRAINING to all members of the Anti PowerPoint Party (and anyone who wants to get more results from their PowerPoint). Sign up on our site at http://www.eslide.com/presentation-services/presentation-design-training/

We believe that rather than blaming the tool, presenters may be better served by bringing in professional slide designers to help bring Visual Value to the presentation. Well thought out and professionally designed slides are going to make communication of your concepts more effective, efficient and help you get the results you need.