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Page 094 of PowerPoint tutorials, presentation essentials, personality interviews, and PowerPoint news.
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Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint
February 16, 2012
Connectors are lines that link different shapes or any other slide objects, and yet they are somewhat different from conventional lines because connectors, as the name implies stay connected to the shapes they are linked from. You have already learned about connectors and the types of connectors in previous tutorials -- in this tutorial, you will learn how you can draw connectors that link shapes. Although we use shapes as examples in this tutorial, you can attach a connector to any other slide object using the same process.
Learn how to draw connectors in PowerPoint 2011.
February 15, 2012
One of the many ways in which you can adapt your PowerPoint slides to an iPad friendly format is by converting all your slides to pictures. This approach will work well for slides that have no animation or multimedia -– and the good news is that great presentation slides can be created without animation or multimedia of any sort! The bad news is that this is a one-way street -– and if you want to make any changes to your slides, you will have to edit your original presentation and convert the slides again to individual pictures.
February 15, 2012
Microsoft has been providing a permissions system based on their Information Rights Management (IRM) concept for several years now, but with Office 2010 (including PowerPoint 2010), this whole concept has been implemented so intuitively that almost anyone can use IRM for their PowerPoint presentations and any other Office documents. Depending upon which version of Windows you use, you may need to download and install a Windows Rights Management module unless you use Windows 7 -- if you use the latter configuration, the entire IRM implementation process is painless. If you use an earlier version of Windows, such as XP or Vista -- then you might have to download and install a small WRM client that takes a minute or two.
Learn how to sign up for Windows Rights Management in PowerPoint 2010.
February 14, 2012
Working with visuals can be so much fun, especially when you need to add them to your PowerPoint or Keynote slides. But more often than not, finding the right picture can be a challenge. Sometimes we end up with a perfect picture -- at other times, we all compromise with something we think works great -- but not everyone in your audience may share your enthusiasm. That's because pictures tend to tell a story -- and your story may be different from the story that the audience interprets. At times like these, you need a visual element that's neutral, does not speak loud, and is effective at the same time. In this issue, and in some future issues we will explore what sort of pictures work well in all scenarios -- and we will also share some tricks and tips.
February 14, 2012
We explored what Smart Connectors are in a previous tutorial -- to paraphrase again, Smart Connectors are type of lines with special "smart" characteristics that connect one slide object to another. Move a slide object which is connected to a Smart Connector -- the Smart Connector automatically resizes and reorients itself to stay connected. In this tutorial, we will explore the various types of Smart Connectors. PowerPoint 2011 provides three types of connectors -- you will learn more about them in this tutorial.
Learn about different connector types in PowerPoint 2011.
February 13, 2012
PowerPoint and other presentation software packages try to aid novice presenters by providing pre-designed templates. These templates often clutter slide real estate and detract from your presentation’s message. Don’t use them.
Here are 5 tips from Chris Borales on how to effectively use the solid background. First of all, embrace space -- designers call the empty space "white space." White space if your friend. Using it gives the text on your slides more impact.
February 13, 2012
Information is power, and within PowerPoint 2010 all the information that you need about your presentation is available in a single convenient location. This is the new Info panel of the Backstage View. This panel gives you information about permissions set for the active presentation, helps you prepare your content for sharing, and also lets you recover older versions of unsaved files. In addition, it also provides access to all the properties for a specific presentation. To access the Info panel, open the File menu, and choose the Info option.
Learn about the Info section within Backstage view in PowerPoint 2010.
February 11, 2012
These animated lines are essentially all shapes set to fit the space on the slide close enough to each other to form a geometrical pattern. The first slide contains these shapes filled with a single, gradient color while the next slide uses gradients created with the six accent colors that are part of the active, applied Theme. Change the Theme and all colors will miraculously change. We used PowerPoint 2010 to create this presentation, and it works best in either that version or in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac.
Download and use this slide for your own presentations.
February 10, 2012
As expected, the iPad has led the revolution in tablet computing, even for business users. A survey-based study released by IDG shows that iPads are increasingly being used for business use -- for everything from web browsing to communication, and social media to reading. Although the survey does not explore presenting on an iPad as a separate category, it goes without saying that the iPad has emerged as a mainstream work platform, albeit one where more content is consumed rather than created.
February 10, 2012
Connectors are lines that join two shapes or objects, and can be found within the Lines and Connectors category within the Shape gallery in PowerPoint 2011. These connectors link between (or join) two shapes like rectangles, triangles, scribbles, etc. to create a relationship. In addition, they also work with other slide objects such as pictures. Since these connectors are linked to slide objects, they move automatically when the linked objects are moved. That's the reason why they are called "Smart Connectors" -- you'll learn more about all the other smart things these connectors do in subsequent tutorials of this series.
Learn about Smart connectors, and how they are different from conventional lines in PowerPoint 2011.
February 9, 2012
While it is easy to change proofing language for selected text containers, that happens to be a piece meal approach and can be a great time waster if you need the language changed across all content in 100 or more slides! There are two ways to set the proofing language for your entire presentation -- and you can use one or both of these approaches. Make sure you have the proofing tools installed for all or any of the languages that you need to work within PowerPoint. Then follow these steps.
Learn how to set proofing language for an entire presentation in PowerPoint 2010.
February 8, 2012
So much about presenting with an iPad depends upon how you can send the visual signals from your iPad to the projector or television outputs. We have already established that the wireless way of connecting the iPad to an output is far superior since it lets you hold the iPad in your hand and control your slides wirelessly – that way you are free to move around in your presentation venue – more often than not this approach requires an in-between device such as an Apple TV 2. What we have not discussed so far is how you can use a wired option that lets you cable your iPad directly to an output such as a VGA capable projector or television.
Learn about how you can use the Apple Digital AV Adapter with your iPad.
February 8, 2012
A line (outline) in PowerPoint contains both points and segments. You already learned about the three types of points in PowerPoint 2011 in a previous tutorial. Now we are going to show you how to work with segments, the lines that connect one point and another. There are two types of segments: straight and curved. You can edit these segments and also convert a straight segment to a curved segment and vice versa, as you will learn in this tutorial.
Learn about Curved and Straight line segments in PowerPoint 2011.
February 7, 2012
Many of my clients, friends, and readers (including you) are super busy these days! And in between these busy days, you need to create slides, practice them, and deliver them to an audience. Very often, your work does not end there -- you then need to remove any extra meta-information from these presentation slides and mail it to clients and colleagues. Of course, you may have to do this so often for the multiple presentations you need to deliver -- and presenting may be just one of the tasks you do in your job role!
Read more in this issue of Indezine News.
February 7, 2012
Do you have a presentation that contains text that needs to be spell-checked in more than one language? Or do you and your client or colleague work with different localized versions of Microsoft PowerPoint? It may be that you use English (US) and color is a perfectly valid spelling -- but someone else in another part of the world uses English (UK) and their spell checker suggest that the word color be changed to colour. Or if they use the French version of PowerPoint, then both spellings of color/colour would be flagged as incorrect -- they use the term couleur. You first need to have the proofing tools installed for all or any of the languages that you need to work within PowerPoint.
Learn how to set proofing language for selected text containers in PowerPoint 2010.
February 6, 2012
Three snowflakes that move randomly with the breeze in PowerPoint – actually a clever combination of multiple animations and setting their timings make this look so random! We used the Spin, Grow and Shrink, and a Spiral motion path to create the effect. All colors used are Theme aware – so if you move this slide to another presentations, the colors may change! We used PowerPoint 2010 to create this presentation, and it works best in either that version or in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac.
Download and use this slide for your own presentations.
You May Also Like: Learn PowerPoint 2010: Using Windows Rights Management | Learn PowerPoint 2011 for Mac: Change Connector Type
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