PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques

Quotes Worth Sharing

"If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door."

Paul Beatty

Zamzar PPT File Conversion

Lifehacker reports on a free service provided by Zamzar, where you can upload a PowerPoint presentation and have it converted to an image file.  The process involves 4 steps:

1. Select the file you want to convert and upload it
2. Enter the type of file you want it converted to (.PNG)
3. Enter your e-mail address
4. Select convert and wait for the file location to be e-mailed to you.

Image 1 - Screen Shot of Zamzar Website
 I decided to try out the service by uploading a 9 slide presentation on branding architecture that I've been experimenting with. After completing Step 4, I waited for a few minutes while it converted the presentation. Zamzar in turn sent me an e-mail telling me that the file had been converted and giving me the location on their site where I could download the file.  I proceeded to download the file as a .zip file, unzipped it and found that each of the slides in my PowerPoint presentation had been converted to a .PNG file. 

Image 2 - Title Slide Re-formatted to Landscape
Here was the title slide from the slide presentation that I converted to a .PNG file.  I'm not sure why it rendered in portrait format and I didn't see an option to select landscape or to have landscape be the default.  All of the slides in my deck converted to portrait format picture.  This meant that I had to use an image editing software package on each of the slides to rotate them to the correct landscape orientation. 

This looks like it could be a useful tool and for those willing to purchase the full service, a faster and more robust service is promised without the advertising experienced with the free beta service.

Presentation Tidbits - Online PPT Sharing

Another player has joined the online PowerPoint sharing space - Slideserve.  The service is similar to those offered by other players:

• .docstoc – http://www.docstoc.com/ (all types of document sharing)

• Empressr – http://www.empressr.com

• Flypaper – http://www.flypaper.net

• Freepath – http://www.freepath.com

• Scribd – http://www.scribd.com/ (all types of document sharing)

• SlideBoom – http://www.slideboom.com

• SlideRocket – http://www.sliderocket.com

• SlideServe - http://www.slideserve.com

• Slideshare – http://slideshare.net/

• SlideSix – http://www.slidesix.com/

• 280 Slides – http://280slides.com/

• Zoho Show – http://www.zohoshow.com

Once you upload your slide presentation, you can use the embed code to insert the presentation into a blog or website.  Here is the second most popular presentation on the site (the first was a compilation of photos from the USAir plane that went down in the Hudson River). 

PPT Remote Control for the iPhone

The New York Times reported that touchscreen smartphones like the iPhone have found new utility as universal remotes for televisions and for projectors using PowerPoint.  According to the article "Senstic makes a $9.99 PowerPoint remote application for the iPhone (and the iPod Touch) called i-Clickr. The application connects to PowerPoint on a PC and displays the current slide and the control buttons on the iPhone’s screen." A video I found on the Senstic site demonstrates the i-Clickr in action.

PCWorld author Zack Stern, in a February article referenced the iClickr and two other tools that allow you to convert your iPhone or iPod Touch into a remote control for PPT - the iPresenter and the mbPointer.  Of the three tools, he rated the iClickr #1. 

I'm back...from a blogging hiatus

I've been on a self-imposed blogging hiatus. 

I needed a break from blogging and had to re-evaluate the reasons that I blog.  I started this blog and my other blog, the Web Chef's e-Bytes, to share my perspectives and the resources that I've identified on the topics covered in each of these two blogs and to position my expertise as a subject matter expert.  Through this positioning and sharing, I hoped to generate interest, inquiries and ultimately engagement for my services as a communications consultant. 

The question I kept asking myself was "am I getting the return I expected from my blogging investment?". 

While I get plenty of psychic returns from the act of blogging and enjoy the process of writing and sharing my perspectives, I wasn't generating very much new business from my blogging activities. As a sole proprietor, my time is valuable, so I needed to think how blogging fit in my sales and marketing mix.   After a good deal of thought and procrastination , I've come to the conclusion, that even without significant new business generation, that the act of learning and sharing through my blog is valuable enough to continue my blogging endeavors.

So... I'm back and I'm looking forward to joining the dialog on the latest trends, techniques and perspectives on effective presentations skills. 

If I can be of any help with your communications initiatives, drop me a line.

Paul Gibler