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Communicating Using Technology
Vol. 4 Issue 19 September 20, 2005
Published and Copyright by Dave Paradi
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In this issue:
1. PPT - Annoying PowerPoint Survey Results Preview
2. Office 12 Changes Part 1
3. Useful Resource - Top 100 Speeches
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Upcoming Public Seminars open for registration
Registration for the Think Outside the Slide(tm) seminar in
Wausau, WI on Oct 20th and Los Angles, CA on Nov 4th is now open
on the web site. Complete information is at
http://www.PowerPointSeminar.com. Space is limited, so sign up
soon. Special early bird pricing ends Oct 7th, so don't delay.
Registration for the seminar on Nov 14 in Montreal is by faxed
registration form - just e-mail me for a copy of the form.
Vol 4 Issue 20 Oct 4, 2005
1. Annoying PowerPoint Survey Results Preview
Thanks to the almost 700 people who completed the survey on what
annoys you about bad PowerPoint presentations. The full survey
results will be coming in the next issue because I have over 400
written comments to pour through and analyze. But I wanted to
share the results of the first question on the most annoying
aspects of bad PowerPoint presentations. The top of the list did
not change from the last time I did the survey (in 2003), so it
looks like I still have lots of work to do in order to rid the
world of these annoyances. If your organization needs help in
these areas, let me know so I can come and rescue you from "Death
by PowerPoint". Here are the top annoyances:
The speaker read the slides to us 61.9%
Text so small I couldn't read it 47.1%
Slides hard to see because of color choice 42.7%
Full sentences instead of bullet points 39.0%
Moving/flying text or graphics 24.8%
Overly complex diagrams or charts 22.3%
Remember that everyone was asked to pick their top 3 items, so
the totals add up to around 300% for all the items (only the top
items are listed here). Next time you start to prepare a
PowerPoint presentation, keep the results of this survey in mind.
I'll have the full results available by the next newsletter.
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2. Office 12 Changes Part 1
Some of you may be aware that Microsoft is releasing the next
version of the Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
Access and Outlook, in the second half of next year. Recently,
Microsoft gave the public a first glimpse at the new products and
there are two major changes that you need to be aware of. I will
cover the first major change this issue and the other area next
newsletter. The first major change is that the familiar user
interface of menus and commands has been replaced. The new user
interface uses what Microsoft terms ribbons. These ribbons are
collections of features grouped by what you will most likely need
to do at any point in time. For the first time they have
organized things by what we do instead of how their programmers
collect features (its about time). This ribbon is different that
what you have seen before and it will take some getting used to.
The hope is that it will be more logical for most people and we
will be able to catch on quickly. And note that there will be no
option to use the old or classic menu and command interface in
the new version, so if you upgrade, you must learn the ribbon
interface. One neat feature of the interface seems to be a
slider at the bottom of the screen that allows you to zoom in or
out on the fly, which should help in formatting and graphic
placement. You can see some screen shots of the new interface on
Microsoft's press site for Office at:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/office/default.mspx
Just go to the press release of Sep 13th and it shows you some
sample screen shots. Not everything has been set in stone yet,
but the new user interface will look pretty much like what they
previewed. Next time I'll discuss the other, more scary change -
the new file formats and give you my recommendation on how to
proceed between now and the new release.
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Make Your Next PowerPoint Presentation Compelling
Do you have an important presentation coming up? Would you like
to make it so compelling that people sit on the edge of their
seats listening to you? If you do, let me help you with my ten
step PowerPoint presentation consulting approach. This is way
more than just slide design, this is professional input on the
structure, design and delivery of your PowerPoint presentation.
One of my consulting clients wrote "I can confidently say my
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3. Useful Resource - Top 100 Speeches
Anybody who wants to get better at any skill knows that one of
the best ways to learn is to observe those who do it well.
Whether it is a sport, a trade or a relationship, you should look
for those who do it well. If you have to deliver presentations
in any context, you would do well to listen some of the greatest
speeches ever delivered. On this web site, they have the audio
of 100 of the greatest speeches of all time. As you listen, pay
close attention to their delivery, word choice and especially the
passion they bring to their subject. It is an invaluable
resource to learn from at:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html
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Need articles for your newsletter? Check out my many articles
at: http://www.PowerPointArticles.com.
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Would you like me to speak to your professional association or
chapter event? I am always looking for opportunities to share my
information with others and would love to explore speaking to
your group. Just e-mail me at: Dave@PowerPointLifeguard.com for
more info.
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Check out the books, e-books and other learning tools at:
http://www.communicateusingtechnology.com/tools.htm
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This newsletter is:
CUT Oct 04/05 [PPT Survey Results, Office Changes]
If you want to read back issues of this newsletter, click on
the following link to go to the Archives:
http://tinyurl.com/nhgl
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