Microsoft PowerPoint

The Perfect PowerPoint storm (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 1

EVERY SUMMER, the residents of Angleton, Texas brace themselves for the possibility that a fearsome hurricane might bear down on their Gulf Coast town near Houston. But nothing could prepare them for the hot and humid July day in 2005 when a different kind of storm hit their quiet town of 18,000 people. The doors […]

The Perfect PowerPoint storm (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 2

The Heart of the Problem Mark clicked the remote control to advance to the next slide, showing an image of a headquarters building, similar to Figure 1-8, as he said, "The evidence is going to lead you to one place"—the front steps of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Mark explained that […]

Realigning our PowerPoint Approach with the Research (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 1

BEYOND BULLET POINTS (BBP) gets dramatically better results than the conventional bullet point approach because beneath the simple, clear, and compelling visual stories is a sophisticated foundation that determines everything you say, show, and do during a presentation. This topic will explain why BBP works so well and why the conventional approach so often falls […]

Realigning our PowerPoint Approach with the Research (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 2

BBP Respects the limits of Working Memory With the eye of the needle metaphor in mind, take a look at how a BBP presentation appears in Slide Sorter view, as shown in Figure 2-9. Studies have found that people learn better when information is broken up into digestible pieces, and here in Slide Sorter view, […]

Realigning our PowerPoint Approach with the Research (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 3

An Effective Screen and Handout By viewing your slides in Notes Page view like the frames in a filmstrip, you align your approach with the dual channels—the information that is presented to the visual channel is in the on-screen slide area, and the information presented to the verbal channel is in the off-screen text box. […]

Realigning our PowerPoint Approach with the Research (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 4

BBP Guides Attention As described earlier, with the BBP approach, each slide has a headline when you start working in PowerPoint. You then write out what you will say verbally in the off-screen text box in Notes Page view and then add a simple graphic in Normal view to produce a slide, as shown in […]

Building a Foundation with the BBP story template (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 1

PREPARING A PRESENTATION is complex and difficult from a couple of perspectives. From a presenter’s point of view, you have many things you want to say and show during a presentation, and you would like your audience to integrate the new information into clear understanding in long-term memory, as shown in Figure 3-1. FIGURE 3-1 […]

Building a Foundation with the BBP story template (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 2

Step 1: Choose a Story Thread and a Pattern to Follow You need to quickly make an emotional connection with an audience to motivate them, and you see the specific words that do that in Act I, where you write out the classical elements of a strong story beginning. The first five headlines you write […]

Building a Foundation with the BBP story template (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 3

Sketching the First Five Slides With your clear and concise story line in place in your slide headlines and with your narration written out in the off-screen notes area, your next step is to brainstorm an illustration for each headline of each of the Act I slides of your storyboard. When you do this, your […]

Building a Foundation with the BBP story template (Using Microsoft PowerPoint) Part 4

Stepping into the screen Using the approach described in this topic, you’ll be well-equipped to produce a media experience that will get you the results you want anytime you give a presentation. Focusing and distilling your ideas using a story template and clarifying them using a storyboard blends your message with your media and significantly […]

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