Create an Outstanding Presentation!

Transform your presentations in an easy-to-follow self-study course
Learn at your own pace wherever you are
Written by Ellen Finkelstein, PowerPoint MVP (a Microsoft award)

Do your sales/proposal presentations seem to hit a brick wall?

Is your audience bored?

Are you committing Death by PowerPoint?

Presentation skills are important for your career! Learn how to...

Get your audience to ask you back
Create professional and clear PowerPoint presentations
Be seen as a leader — stand out above the rest

Now updated through PowerPoint 2013!

(Covers 2007, 2010 and 2013. Note that most of this course applies to any slide program, but 4 lessons have specific instructions for PowerPoint.)

Only $97!

You can succeed with presentations!

It's not as hard as you think. You just need to know:

Basic principles for content development.
Principles of design for non-designers.
Delivery techniques that keep your audience glued in their seats.

This self-study course contains over 50 pages of detailed content and will explain what you need to know to create and deliver outstanding presentations. Numerous exercises give you practice and hone your skills.

By the end of the self-study course, you'll know how to:

Use the persuasive model to get action from your audience
Create visuals that help people understand, remember, and decide
Avoid the "Death by PowerPoint" syndrome, and instead enliven communication
Get your audience's attention and keep their interest
Draw your audience into the communication process
Develop a presentation from scratch

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"People actually applauded at the end!! and my friend who was there (and gave me constructive feedback from my lecture in May) said it was great. So thank you, thank you, thank you! It works!" - Chaya Green, TM Teacher

"Ellen did an awesome job of presenting the PowerPoint material. I appreciated the fact that she offered many suggestions for usefulness in my profession." - Mary Duffy

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Why should you learn from me?

I've been writing about and teaching PowerPoint and presenting skills since 1997. It wasn't always easy for me. My first attempts to design slides were ridiculed. My first speaking engagements were scary and not very successful. I had to learn and practice principles that I could apply to presenting. I'd like to pass these on to you. Microsoft has recognized my experisie with the PowerPoint MVP award; there are only 14 PowerPoint MVPs in the United States.

I'm the author of:

PowerPoint Essentials
PowerPoint for Teachers: Dynamic Presentations and Interactive Classroom Projects
101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know
Slide Design for Non-Designers

Comments from readers, clients, and attendees:

"Ellen comes well prepared with useful information to help you become a more persuasive and powerful communicator. She condenses an enormous amount of information into the workshop, leaving you with ample tools and valuable resources." - Mark Petrick, Senior Projects Coordinator

"You might be able to read how to do something in PowerPoint, but having Ellen walk you through the technique is much more effective. This course is time well spent." - Paul Cleland, Veterinary Affairs Manager

"I wrote a PPT last week using the "Tell'n'Show^SM idea. Worked beautifully. Not surprisingly I ended up with graphically oriented, rather than word oriented, slides. I also wrote the presentation using Word and then figured what visual aids would emphasize something being said. Then brought it all over to PPT. Just the opposite of what I used to do, which was start by opening PPT, pull up the standard bullet point slide and start writing. Thanks for the help!" -Bob Stein

Who should take this course?

This self-study course is for professionals who want to gain more business, get that promotion, or gain recognition in their profession. You should know the basics of PowerPoint (or other slide program) .

What's the structure of the self-study course?

The self-study course contains 3 parts. The result will be a fully-developed short presentation.

Part 1: All about content! You'll learn how to use your goal to drive the rest of your content, how to use the persuasive model, how to use copywriting principles to get the results you want, and how to use the Tell 'n' Show^SM method to communicate clearly. You'll learn to write an effective 7-8 minute speech, incorporating what you've learned. The 3 lessons in this part are Goals and Means, Write Your Script, and Storyboard and Gather Materials.
Part 2: All about design! You'll learn techniques that anyone can use to communicate visually so that your audience clearly understands and remembers what you're saying. (You can use any presentation software that you have.) The 4 lessons are Start Your Presentation File, Format the Slide Master and Your Color Scheme, Add Some Design, and Add Visuals. The Add Visuals lesson covers images, diagrams, graphs, layout, and hyperlinks.
Part 3: All about delivery! You'll learn how to have a conversation with your audience, rather than talk to them, as well as techniques to polish your speaking. The 3 lessons in this part are Practice, Deliver, and Ask for Feedback.

"This was an excellent workshop, well designed for my level of PowerPoint expertise and my relative lack of designing experience. Hand in glove, so to speak." - Kevin Duffy

What does it cost?

The self-study course is just $97! (The equivalent workshop is $595 for the three days.)

What do you need from your side?

You'll need an existing presentation or the outline of one you want to give. You'll also need PowerPoint or other presentation software that you know how to use. This self-study course is not theoretical; you'll end up out with a real presentation that you know how to deliver successfully.