You may have noticed a potential misuse of the word "principal" in the headline of this blog. But it was no accident: the subject of this blog is the new principal of my sons' school. She gave a PowerPoint presentation that violated one of the main principles of the use of copyrighted images: you … [Read more...] about The Principals of Copyright
Army PowerPoint Rangers Shock, Awe with Comic Sans and Bad Design
I just found out about an unclassified Army PowerPoint presentation that really, really could use a lot of help. In fact, I do believe I'll include it in the Monthly Makeover section of my newsletter! This deck is composed in Comic Sans, the red-headed stepchild of the font world. The fact that … [Read more...] about Army PowerPoint Rangers Shock, Awe with Comic Sans and Bad Design
Free Photo Resources for PowerPoint
We all know by now that pictures can often help you to communicate better than words. And that people hate, hate, HATE text-heavy PowerPoint slides. So armed with that knowledge, you set out to transform your boring deck into a beautiful gallery of effective photography. But where do you go for … [Read more...] about Free Photo Resources for PowerPoint
A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words
One of the chief gripes about PowerPoint presentations is "too much text on a slide." Great presenters use PowerPoint slides as a backdrop to their presentations, not the entire script. So they often include photos in their decks to illustrate major points. It's easy to see why. Here's a slide from … [Read more...] about A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words
You Can’t Taste PowerPoint
Some people are so hung up on PowerPoint for giving presentations that they forget that in the olden days before thumb drives, projectors, and laptops there was such a thing as an engaging public speaker. I often reference the PowerPoint Gettysburg Address as a shining example of how PowerPoint can … [Read more...] about You Can’t Taste PowerPoint
Great PowerPoint presentations start with the words
I recently got a call from a woman—let's call her Sally—who sought my help to create a PowerPoint presentation as part of her senior thesis. Sally's biggest stumbling block was finding images to represent the topic of her presentation, the challenges of teaching English to non-native speakers … [Read more...] about Great PowerPoint presentations start with the words
Cheating Death by PowerPoint: Graphs as Infographics
Cute Kids Not So Cute During a Presentation
#LFMF I recently spoke about Cheating Death by PowerPoint to a group of businesspeople. I came in early, connected my laptop to the projector, opened up the title slide to my presentation, then proceeded to work the room. After chatting with folks for about twenty minutes, I glanced at the … [Read more...] about Cute Kids Not So Cute During a Presentation