Get the best price on technology purchases, clothing — and anything else!

Do you buy electronics and more on Amazon, Newegg, or other sites?  If so, I’d like to introduce you to a new, free service that will help you get the lowest price.

Many people don’t realize that prices fluctuate constantly, particularly on websites like Amazon, which allow third party vendors to continually undercut one [...]

Happy New Year!

For those of you who celebrate holidays at this time of year, I want to wish you a happy holiday season. For everyone, a happy New Year.

Please keep us in mind for your presentation-related training needs in 2012. Get more information here.

 

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your [...]

Microsoft advises of a serious security vulnerability that can be transmitted via embedded fonts

As of early November, 2011, Microsoft has provided notification of a serious security vulnerability that are transmitted via TrueType fonts. Office documents can include embedded fonts that automatically install themselves when the document is opened, so PowerPoint, Word and Excel files should be considered risky.

Until there’s a complete fix for the problem, Microsoft [...]

Worst PPT Slide Contest Winners at InFocus

InFocus, the projector manufacturer, has just finished its Worst PPT Slide Contest and announced the winners! You can view them here.

They asked me to write a guest blog post to help people avoid the pitfalls that you see in these slides. You can read my advice on their blog. I hope you find [...]

Free PowerPoint alternatives–OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org is a Microsoft Office clone, pretty close to Office 2003. It’s open source software that you download and install on your computer, sponsored by Cisco, but also somewhat independent, as open source software tends to be.

OpenOffice is a suite and its presentation piece is called Impress. (Fun and little known fact: I’m [...]

How to add design flair with a “belly band”

Sometimes, a simple design secret can dramatically improve your slides. A belly band is such a secret. Well, it really isn’t a secret to designers, because designers use them all the time (just look in any magazine), but non-designers don’t know about it.

A belly band is just a band of color that holds [...]

Why make your presentation look professional?

Guy Kawasaki recently launched his new book, Enchantment. In his Mashable article, “How to Launch Any Product Using Social Media,” he includes a section on his PowerPoint presentation. Here’s what he says:

“If the topic of enchantment proves popular, organizations will pay me 50 times a year to give a speech based on the [...]

Free PowerPoint alternatives–Microsoft Office Web Apps

PowerPoint is the standard for slide show software, but what if you can’t afford it?

There are many free PowerPoint alternatives available either as a download or as a web-based service. This will be a multi-part blog post covering the following products (or more):

PowerPoint Online (Microsoft Office Web Apps) ZohoShow Google Docs OpenOffice.org [...]

Wishes for a peaceful, happy, healthy & successful New Year!

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your organization to create high-impact, engaging, professional presentations for training, sales, business, or education. For more information, please click here.

Learn about visual theory as it applies to slides

Visualogy is a new blog by a friend of mine, fellow PowerPoint MVP Glenna Shaw. She’s brilliant. She analyzes principles that scientists have discovered about how we see the world and applies them to slide design.

Try her interactive lesson on The Gestalt of Slides. It’s amazing, both intellectually and technically.

Ellen Finkelstein can train you or the presenters in your organization to create high-impact, engaging, professional presentations for training, sales, business, or education. For more information, please click here.