PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques

Searching for Images on Google filtered by use licenses plus OfficSync Google Search Plug-in

Research Buzz has a posting on how Google Image Search now allows users to "filter their searches by a variety of use licenses including Creative Commons and GNU Free Documentation".  Using the Google Advanced Image Search you can select search parameters that include size, color, image type (.jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp) or license use.  Here is a screenshot of the Google Advanced Image Search.

I'm not familiar with GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), so I did a search at Wikipedia and found their definition - "GNU FDL is a copyleft license for free documentation ... it is similar to the GNU General Public License giving, giving readers the right to copy, redistribute and modify a work and requires all copies and derivatives to be available under the same license".  Interestingly when you look at the GNU FDL site it seems to refer to manuals, textbooks or other documents without expressly referring to the images that are searchable through the Google Image search enhancement.  

Update
Since the original posting earlier this afternoon, I've come across a useful plug-in for your Microsoft Office Programs including PowerPoint.  The toolbar, OfficSync integrates Google Search Right into your standard PowerPoint tool bar.  This is a useful tool that takes you beyond the Microsoft ClipArt image search results to include the Google Advanced Image Search capability described above right from within your Microsoft PowerPoint Document.  You can also save files into GoogleDocs allowing you to remotely access the files online as needed. 

The free plug-in can be downloaded at OfficSync.com.  I downloaded the tool and you can see screen shot of the search tool bar for Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 and 2007, respectively.   A video from the OfficSync site explains the toolbar (beta) and the utility it provides not only for image searches in PowerPoint, but also for its use with other Microsoft Office Programs.
(Hat Tip to Techcrunch)  

The enhanced image search tool could be useful for presenters and marketers looking for specific images that might be of use for their presentations.

Video Insertion in PowerPoint - YouTube Video Download and Conversion and QuickTime Conversion

In today's multi-media era, audiences expect to not only to hear from presenters but to see the "moving pictures" that help tell their story.   With the explosive growth of YouTube, users can often find clips there that can help meet this objective.  Unfortunately, the lack of transparency on how to download YouTube video files and format incompatibilities between YouTube .flv files and Microsoft acceptable video files don't make this the easiest task.  In addition to YouTube videos, many presenters are recording their own videos that are created in QuickTime and struggling to convert these for use in PowerPoint presentations.     

So how can you solve these problems?  Here are a few recent suggestions that are worth exploring:

The Star Bulletin Tech Writer John Aksalud has written an article "How to Use YouTube Effectively" that delineates the two steps in the process to saving and converting a YouTube video for offline use in your presentations.  He provides links to 3 video download services  (Keepvid.com, Savevideodownload.com and Savetube.com) and 3 conversion services ( Pazera-Software.com, Flv-to-mp3 and Prism Video Converter) to help you with this task. 

San Francisco Chronicle author David Einstein has another technique for downloading YouTube videos in a recent Q& A column where he references typing in the word "kiss" in the YouTube video URL right after the www. and before youtube in the address.  This takes you to the Kiss YouTube site where with one click and the word kiss you can download your YouTube video in .flv format.  This video can format can in turn be converted using a tool like Videopiggy.   Interestingly the Videopiggy site says that their software will do this in one step, so it appears that the "kiss" aspect of the assignment might be avoided.

I watched a couple of YouTube video in their How To series that provides examples of server based video download and conversion services like MediaConverter.org,  Vixy.net, Convertyoube.com, Modifyvideo.com, vconvert.net and flvix.com along with examples and benefits of downloading and converting at your desktop using the services like those referenced elsewhere in this posting.  Here's one of the videos that I watched.

Meanwhile, The New York Times Personal Tech columnist J.D. Bierdorfer offers tips on how to convert QuickTime videos to a format like .avi that are supported by PowerPoint by using either QuickTime Pro or services like RAD Video Tools or MediaCoder.

Look elsewhere on this blog for other references for how best to accomplish this task.

Presentation Cartoons from Vlad Kolarov at BetterCartoon.com

Since presenters are always looking for ways to enhance their presentations visually,  I thought I'd share the work of professional cartoonist, Vlad Kolarov.  He has 1000+ business/office cartoons and illustrations that can be a nice addition to a presentation.  He also creates custom cartoons.

His clients include Yahoo Inc., Reader's Digest, CHUM Limited, Renaissance Cards, McGraw-Hill, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, etc.

Check out his cartoons at BetterCartoon.com

UPDATED - PowerPoint & Presentation Resource Listing (REV 7)

I've updated the PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques Resource Listing to include several new books, web sites and article links that I've come across or have been submitted to me.  The Resource Listing is now in its seventh revision. 
Download PPT-PowerfulPresentationTechniquesResourceGuideRev7.pdf

If you have additions or changes that should be made to the listing, please send me an e-mail. 

If I can be of any help in assessing your team's current level of presentation or PowerPoint skills or assist you with your training needs, please let me know.

Paul Gibler
(608) 255 4092

Book Reviews - presentationzen

Elegant.

That's the word that I'd use for an overall descriptor of Garr Reynolds' new book "presentationzen - Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery".  The book is beautiful with a "zen sensibility", great graphics and lots of good examples of before and after or just plain good presentations.  The book is well organized into 5 major modules:

1. Introduction
2. Preparation
3. Design
4. Delivery
5. the Next Step

From its foreword by Guy Kawasaki, cleverly "written" using PowerPoint slide to its sharing of the top Slideshare show for 2007, he's got a winner in this book for those looking for a clean overview of what makes for creating and delivering good presentations.  If you're looking for a book on techniques to use PowerPoint 2003, 2007 or Keynote you'll need to look elsewhere.  This book is not software specific, a benefit if you're reading it while on the road as a passenger en route to Minneapolis which I did earlier this month. 

I like how he reminds the reader that presentations involve 3 tools - the slides, the speaker notes and the handouts.  While many people think of these as all of the same, he effectively deconstructs the role of each of them in making a presentation effective.

Another comment, I'd make is that while Garr is very big on the use of striking and memorable photography, something I generally agree with, the reality of corporate budgets, presentation topics and the nature of internal presentations often intrudes and makes these visually rich presentations difficult to pull off.   Plus, not every presenter has the technical knowledge or software to manipulate images in the way that the presenters showecased are able to do. 

Garr does direct the reader to iStockphoto, and includes a special offer for readers. 

All in all, I'd rate this book and his blog an A for your reading list and as an addition to your presentation skills library. 

Share Your Worst PPT Slide Ever

Worst PPT Slide Ever
Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian.

Periodically I like to visit the photo and video sharing sites to see what they are saying and sharing about PowerPoint. I always find interesting items to comment on and share on my blog.

For example, this PowerPoint Slide is labeled the "Worst PPT Slide Ever" by the Travelin' Librarian.

What do you think? Have you seen or even created worse ones (in your past I'm sure)? If you have one to share, send it along or post a link to it in the comments and we'll see what others have to say.

In my PPT - Powerful Presentation Techniques educational sessions, one of things that we do is review and discuss a range of slides to determine what we think the message is and how effective the slides are in communicating that message. This is always one of the more interesting points of discussion, so I hope to see some comments generated on this blog.

Color in PPT

PowerPoint novices tend to overuse or misuse color in their presentations.  Probably due to lack of training and to a desire to create their own look they often don't follow PowerPoint's guidelines or standard design considerations for a PowerPoint slide.

Here are some guidelines to follow when selecting colors for your presentation:

• Use high contrast colors - Text, background color and texture are distinct and provide high levels of contrast
• Keep colors contextual with the message - e.g. for a presentation on death, you don't want to use a bright cheery color palette
• Minimize your color selection - Typically have one or two primary and secondary colors, along with one or two accent colors.  If you have corporate identity standards, these can often provide the guidelines to follow.  PowerPoint allows you to customize colors through the drawing toolbar, which determines the colors used for the background, text and lines, shadows, titles, fills, accents and hyperlinks.
• Colors can accentuate meaning and context - Emphasizing text, background shades, image borders, etc. with color can help support the story you are trying to make.
• Colors evoke emotions that can vary by culture - select your color pallete, in part, by the emotions you are trying to create or avoid and be culturally sensitive to the audience you'll be speaking to.  Dark blue backgrounds can be calm, but also boring.
• Standardize your color family within your presentation and across presentations - You can still use color to denote hierarchy of information, but standardization through templates will help you re-use and re-purpose content across presentations.

Microsoft has a good review on selecting colors and a description of the 12 hues of the color wheel that is useful for understanding some design concepts associated with the choice of colors.