PowerPoint Online

Owning Your PowerPoint Presentation

August 15, 2008 – 2:54 am
The confidence and familiarity that you have with your online PowerPoint presentation are crucial elements in engaging your audience. Most audience members, especially those that attend online presentations, have been in quite a few client meetings and heard many sales pitches. It is easy for them to realize when you are delivering a presentation that someone else created. It can be just as easy to tell when someone is using an online PowerPoint presentation that someone else has put together.

Become familiar enough with your content, that you could deliver a successful presentation even with out your PowerPoint slides. Use the slides as a visual aid for your audience, and not a crutch for yourself. Speak to simple bullet points and never read the slides verbatim. In an online presentation, you need to not only be familiar and confident with your material, but also be comfortable using your web conference company’s online tools for delivering your presentation. Run through the presentation with friends or colleagues to make sure that you know how to use the interface. Keep your web conference company’s phone number handy so that you can contact them immediately if you have any problems during your presentation.

Owning your presentation requires that you know everything about the information within and function of the presentation itself. Audience members will be much more receptive and engaged if they feel you are speaking to them and not to your presentation. When you can own your presentation and are comfortable working with the web conference interface, you become free to connect with your audience and excel as a presenter.

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Storyboarding Your Online Presentation

August 14, 2008 – 3:16 am
Creating an online PowerPoint presentation on a topic that has a lot of information can be a daunting task. If your presentation is not clear, concise, and sequential in the way the information is presented, your audience will quickly lose focus and attention. A good online PowerPoint presentation has a clear introduction, quality content, and a strong conclusion that reiterates the points made throughout the presentation.

Starting your presentation and putting down your ideas in a train-of-thought fashion, will likely create a disorganized mess that will take a while to order into a good, comprehensible presentation. Instead of starting directly with your slides, try “storyboarding” your introduction, main points, and conclusion on paper so that you have a clear outline to follow when you begin creating your online PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint. Storyboarding is used in movie making to outline and order the scenes to make a clear and enjoyable movie. Likewise, storyboarding your PowerPoint first, will help you think structurally about your presentation.

For critical presentations, I typically use a large white paper and pencil and actually sketch out my ideas for not only content, but design, slide order and images and effects that I might use. During the storyboarding process I am able to see the entire presentation from a bird’s eye view and can make drastic changes that might take a while to edit if I had already created the actual slides. This process helps me create a presentation with content that naturally flows into the next slide and makes for a cohesive presentation that will keep my audience interested and focused.

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Online PowerPoint Success - Think Like Someone in Your Audience

August 13, 2008 – 2:46 am
When constructing an online PowerPoint presentation, it is easy to get wrapped up in creating a design and layout that looks appealing to you, however you need to imagine how this presentation will look to your audience. Focus on how your audience will perceive the presentation, how they will see, hear and interpret your message in the way that it is presented. When conducting an online PowerPoint presentation, your audience is looking directly at your slides and not at you, so the messages in the presentation have to be clear and on point to keep them focused.

Spend more time on quality content than on flashy design. You want your audience to be looking at, and remembering key messages, not wondering how you were able to create a particular effect, or worse wondering why you used such a cheesy effect. One of the most frequent complaints of audience members is that they are not able to read the text. Presenting online gives you a bit more leeway in this area since your audience will be viewing the presentation on their own screen, and are usually close enough to it to be able to read the entire presentation. However, large, clear and concise points will drive your message home much more quickly than paragraphs of forgettable information. If you have so many key points that you feel you have to reduce the font, instead break that issue up into two slides and keep the font the same size. Message penetration is the key.

Keep colors and design templates pleasant and warm. Colors have connotation and context, so be careful to use them appropriately. Red typically should be avoided because it usually has an angry connotation associated with it. However, if your online presentation is about China, where red is a national color and a symbol of good luck, it may be very appropriate to use. Typically earth tones and blues make for good background and design colors. Make sure your text clearly contrasts any background colors you use. Font styles and graphics choices set your professional image, so take time and be smart in your choices.

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5 Tips for a Successful Online PowerPoint Presentation

August 12, 2008 – 4:54 am
1. Make Use of Other Presentation Elements You’ve Seen and Like

It’s likely that by now, you’ve seen quite a few PowerPoint presentations. Make note of colors and styles that look impressive to you in other presentations that you see, and integrate them into your next online PowerPoint presentation. Often presenters will give you a copy of their presentation, and while you need to be careful to not directly copy their work (without their permission), and not use copyrighted images, using their layouts as a template can be very helpful in making an impressive presentation.

2. Do Not Overcrowd Your Slides or Use too Many Effects

While online PowerPoint presentations are usually easier for the audience to see (since it’s on their own screen, right in front of them), you still need to keep your slides clutter-free. Use text as key points that you speak to during the presentation. Use large fonts that are clear and easy to read, and only use images that are relevant and add to the presentation. Keep distracting slide effects and images to a minimum. Many web conference services that display PowerPoint, can’t handle complex slide transitions. Keep it simple and keep it clean.

3. Use Headlines Rather than Outline Heading

Strong headlines at the top of each slide can give your online presentation power and attention. Bullets should be used for your key issues that you speak to in relation to those headlines. 3-6 bullets per page is a good balance between enough retainable information, without cluttering the page.

4. Find Your Own Style

Find a style and look for your online presentation that you can keep consistent throughout. You may have a few different styles that you like to use, or new elements that you’d like to add, but only use one template style in any given presentation. Mixing and matching styles throughout a presentation makes it look less organized. The key to keeping your audience interested is to keep the presentation flowing.

5. Prepare for the Unexpected

Any online presenter can tell you stories about crashing software, audio/video not syncing, broken video cameras, microphones and any other number of mishaps that can take place during an online presentation. Talk with your web conference service provider about their software, the possible problems you may face while presenting an online PowerPoint presentation, and the steps to to take in the event an issue arises. Have your service provider’s phone number available so that you can contact them immediately if there are any issues with your presentation. You may also want to prepare a stripped-down version of your presentation that you can email to your audience so that you can continue presenting audio, even if the video presentation fails.

Posted in Online Presentation, PowerPoint, Tips | No Comments »

InstantPresenter.com for Online PowerPoint Presentations

May 28, 2008 – 10:54 pm
Meet and present online with your customers and associates. InstantPresenter provides the following features and benefits:

• No Software to Download or Install
• Instanly upload and present PowerPoint Slides
• Annotation and Whiteboard capabilities
• Screen Sharing
• Moderated Online Chat
• Live Interactive Polling
• Presentation Recording and Archiving
• Personalized Meeting URL
• Live Video
• Live Audio
• Deliver to Large audiences of 500 or more!

All of these features and more are available from InstantPresenter, your affordable web conferencing service:

No Software to Download or Install
	InstantPresenter is completely web-based. Everything is run directly from your web browser. Sessions are viewable across all platforms, PC, Mac and Linux.
Minimal System Requirements
	Online presentations are easily accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. Works with modem and broadband.
Easy-to-Use Interface
	Monitor attendees that have successfully connected to the meeting. Enable/Disable features from the Presentation Dashboard screen. Monitor elapsed meeting time to ensure optimal productivity.
Live Video
	InstantPresenter can automatically detect and use a webcam connected to your computer, allowing you to create compelling web conferences where the attendees can see and hear each other. Live Video is available in the OnVideo Version of our web conferencing tool. Up to 5 attendees can see and hear each other at the same time using our Video Conferencing Mode.
Live Audio
	Voice-Over IP (VoIP) is seamlessly integrated for a completely interactive meeting. Using a microphone attached to the computer the presenter can broadcast their voice to all attendees of the web conference using VoIP.
PowerPoint® Slide Presentations
	Instantly convert your PowerPoint® presentations with a single click. Your audience will be able to view your PowerPoint slides in sync with you.
Screen Sharing
	Share your entire screen with your audience to demonstrate software, provide training, and collaborate on documents. You can also give control to your attendees to let them work on your computer. No Java or download required for your viewers!
Whiteboard with Annotation
	Mark comments directly on your slides during a presentation for instant interaction and collaboration.
Interactive Text Chat
	Communicate via text with all participants. You can also send private messages to other presenters or the audience.
Polling
	Collect real-time feedback to guide collaboration and customize each presentation to your audience. Your polls can be stored for future re-use and reference.
Hand Raising and Mood Indicators
	Allow your audience to indicate a need or question. Measure audience reaction and adjust the presentation according to mood indications.
Resizable Interface
	Drag the interface our application to make it meet your specific needs. For webcasting applications, drag the video window and make it larger. For online chats, make the chat area larger. Its up to you!
Presentation Recording and Archiving
	Record and archive your presentation for 24-hour on demand viewing. Our recording feature allows you to record your audio and video broadcast, along with syncronized slides and text chat. Once recorded, it is available instantly for playback from our servers, with no set-up headaches or other services required.
Online Account Manager
	Manage multiple stored presentations – upload, edit, and preview slides. Schedule all your meetings with ease. Track expenses. Access session reports for detailed of meeting durations and attendance. Modify your User Profile.
Automated Meeting Invitations
	Coordinate e-mail invitations to all participants. Quickly communicate meeting details from a single form. Participants can join the meeting directly from a personalized link in the invitation.
Personalized URL
	Participants are directed to a distinct URL that is personalized with your chosen name.

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A Basic Tutorial For Creating PowerPoint Presentations

May 28, 2008 – 1:07 am
Why use PowerPoint for Online Presentations?

A PowerPoint presentation can aid any online meeting or web conference. Use this tool to enable long distance meetings and create a more effective means of communication. Create a slide show rich in content for a visual during your online meeting or online presentation. Studies show that people learn in different ways, retaining more information and becoming more involved with a greater use of stimuli. By using a slideshow during an online presentation, the presentation becomes much more effective. PowerPoint slides are quite versatile, allowing the user to enter text, charts, graphs, pictures and more. This easy to use media allows for a user to create an organized visual for their online meeting.

How do I create a PowerPoint presentation?

There are a variety of tools offered by this software but let’s look at some of the basics. To begin to create a PowerPoint presentation, simply start PowerPoint from your start menu and you’re ready to create a presentation from the very first screen. From this point, there are several types of presentations you can create based on your needs and creativity. Here are some basic tips to get you started.Once you begin to create your presentation, you will be shown a blank slide (or most likely it will have two boxes where you can insert your text, such as the title of the slide). This will be your introductory slide. Enter the title of the presentation and the author’s information.

Adding a New Slide

To add your next slide, simply click on the new slide icon in the upper right hand corner or go to the insert menu and select new slide. As each new slide is added, it is added to the slide tab on the left hand side, as well as in the outline tab. This allows you to see all your slides at once and be able to select it and modify it quickly. Modifications can be made to any of the slides at any point. Simply click on the slide you would like to modify so it displays in the main window and make any changes necessary.

Text and Content Layouts

On the right hand side of the screen are templates for text, content, and other layouts. Each type has a picture associated with it so you can see how the slide will look before your content is added. Simply click on the picture of the type of layout you would like for that slide and that template will be used for the slide selected.
Note: In the content layout, there is a box with four different pictures. When using this template for your slide, you will be given several options once that template is selected, including inserting tables, charts and pictures.
The picture below is of the second slide added to the presentation. The right hand column shows some of the layouts accessible. The highlighted layout is the one shown in the currently displayed slide.

Color Schemes and Using Existing Templates

To create color schemes, existing templates or animation, click on the ‘design’ icon (next to the ‘new slide’ icon in the upper right hand corner) for all your choices. After choosing the ‘design’ icon, you will be given three choices: design templates, color schemes and animation schemes. As you choose between the various color schemes and templates, they will be applied to the slide you are working on.

Inserting a Graph or Chart

To insert a graph on a page, it’s as easy as choosing the correct layout or clicking on the graph icon in the upper toolbar. You will be shown a spreadsheet that is pre-filled to give the user a chance to redo the content using the spreadsheet as a template. As changes are made to the spreadsheet, they are also made to the graph. Right-click on the graph for other options, such as choosing the chart or graph type, formatting the data and making the graph 3-D. Using these options, you can create any type of graph or chart you’d like. The screen shot below shows what the screen looks like after a user has inserted a graph and then is choosing which type of graph they would like.

More Choices

At the bottom of the screen are more options for each page. Pictures, graphs, etc can all be created using these tools. The user can add shapes, word art, pictures and auto fill the text and shapes with the colors of your choice. Scroll your cursor over the icons for more information. Use the icons at the top of the screen in a similar way as Microsoft Word.
There are many options available with PowerPoint. Experiment and consult Microsoft PowerPoint help for any questions you might have. We hope this mini tutorial helps to get you started in creating your own informative PowerPoint presentation that will better assist you in your web conferencing needs.

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