PowerPoint Blog
Labels: powerpoint, wildpresenter
Wildform, Inc. announced the release of Quiz Creator, a standalone software program, which allows anyone to easily generate LMS compliant, customized Flash quizzes, tests, assessments and surveys in minutes and without the need for any programming. Quiz Creator uses a simple wizard based interface that guides customers through the quiz creation process in 3 easy steps: select a template, enter your questions and answers, preview and make additional changes or approve.
More on the Wildform site...
Categories: wildpresenter, powerpoint
Labels: powerpoint, templates 
Today's free template is Forgotten Ideas - download here...
Labels: powerpoint, presentationpoint
PresentationPoint has launched a new presentation distribution service to schedule and distribute your presentations worldwide. Free accounts are available although paid accounts come with more bells and whistles.
Think of Signage24 as something similar to a web hosting company -- only in this case, they offer hosting and online delivery for your presentations. You'll also have to install a small player program and configure it before you upload presentations and other linked files. Then you define a playlist of files and schedule when the playlist should be displayed on the Signage24 players.
Visit Signage24.com for more information...
Categories: presentationpoint, powerpoint
Labels: powerpoint, remotes
Turning Technologies has announced a new Mac-compatible version of its interactive Microsoft PowerPoint software: TurningPoint for Mac offers users an audience response system that creates a fully interactive experience - in the classroom, the lecture hall, the meeting room or even the conference auditorium.
More on the MacNN site...
Categories: remotes, powerpoint
Labels: powerpoint, templates
Today's free template is Sandchecks - download here...
Labels: powerpoint, templates
Today's free template is Spiral Wave - download here...
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Move the wheel up, and you’ll zoom in; move it down, and you’ll zoom out. The amount the zoom changes with each tick of the scroll wheel varies between the applications. Word seems to go in 10-percent steps; Excel uses 15-percent increments; and PowerPoint steps through the fixed zoom levels.
Rob Griffiths explains more on the MacWorld site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: powerpoint, templates
Today's free template is Textured 27 - download here...
Labels: powerpoint, templates
Today's free template is Blooms 17 - download here...
Some presentation slides do convey so much more than others. More often than not, these are same slides that are simple and visual at the same time. By simple and visual, I really don't mean that you put in a box or a circle and add some captions -- any shape including boxes, circles, and other shapes have to form a relationship with each other so that difficult concepts transform to easier ones.
And such slide designs are not something that everyone can create -- these do require an understanding of visual balance and layout. Fortunately, vendors like PowerFrameworks makes it easier for you to access such visuals.
Read the full review...
Categories: graphics, powerpoint, presentation_samples
Wildform, Inc. announced the release of WildPresenter Pro 3, a new version of its multimedia presentation software. The new program builds on WildPresenter's presentation capabilities by enabling users to create LMS compliant, customized Flash quizzes, tests, assessments and surveys without the need for any programming.
WildPresenter's quiz creator uses a simple wizard based interface that guides customers through the process in three easy steps.
More on the Wildform site...
Categories: wildpresenter, powerpoint
Today's free template is Textured 26 - download here...
PowerFrameworks is a subscription based web site that provides a library of ready-to-customize frameworks, metaphors and analogies that you can use within your PowerPoint presentations and elsewhere. New frameworks are added frequently.
Once you subscribe, you can access a larger range of frameworks, tutorials, and animated sample presentations.
Watch out for a full Indezine review soon.
Find out more on the PowerFrameworks site...
Categories: graphics, powerpoint, presentation_samples
Today's free template is Checkwater - download here...
Today's free template is Crystal Blooms - download here...
Interactive Video Technologies (IVT) announced today the general availability of IVT Studio, a free, do-it-yourself video webcasting application that enables users to rapidly create, distribute and archive professional video podcasts and webcasts from their desktop. By easily combining and synchronizing video, audio, PowerPoint and screen captures with one-click publishing, anyone can use IVT Studio to create their own professional webcasts and podcasts with extensive tracking of viewer statistics. No training is necessary. Global organizations including IBM, NEC, several Fortune 100 companies and two large professional services firms have already successfully begun company-wide trials.
More on the BusinessWire site...
Categories: elearning, powerpoint
Today's free template is Magenta Sun - download here...
Colin Adams (pictured to the left) is the president and founder of Indigo Rose Software Design Corporation -- who also create the Liquid Cabaret collection of music tracks.
Privately held, Indigo Rose develops innovative software products and multimedia authoring tools that are used by thousands of customers around the world. Indigo Rose is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada.
Geetesh: Tell us more about your Liquid Cabaret collection.
Colin: Liquid Cabaret is a 20 volume collection of unique, royalty-free, background music tracks ideal for use in PowerPoint presentations. Each volume centers on a musical style or theme such as "Instrumental Pop,""World Journey," and "70's Movie Soundtrack." There's a really wide variety of styles represented, so you're sure to find the perfect tracks to accompany your presentation.
Since presentations vary in length and format, so does the music in the Liquid Cabaret collection. Each of the 300 tunes comes in four different lengths, ranging from about 30 seconds to two and half minutes -- plus, you have the option to play a track on a continuous loop. Also, all of the tracks are available in high quality MP3 (256k) and OGG (Ogg Vorbis) formats.
All 300 tunes in the Liquid Cabaret collection were written and performed by Montreal-based professional composer, Paul Shrofel. You can purchase any of the volumes in the collection individually or you can get all 20 CDs on a single DVD-ROM at a greatly reduced package price.
Samples of each track are available online at our site and orders may be placed online or through our office at +1 (204) 946-0263.
Geetesh: How well does Liquid Cabaret complement PowerPoint. Also, what's your favorite track selection for use in a corporate presentation scenario.
Colin: What's the line? "Say it with music." We think that a great presentation is enhanced by a great soundtrack. Whether you want to set a mood, match a "theme" or key concept in your presentation, or just add interest and make things more dynamic, music is the way to go.
The Liquid Cabaret collection is the perfect complement to a PowerPoint presentation. First of all, it's easy to incorporate. You just drag and drop your audio files into your PowerPoint software, and you're good to go. Second, you have a ton of choice in terms of style and format. There are 300 songs to choose from, so you're sure to find the tune that matches the tone of your presentation. Plus, each of the songs comes in different lengths and formats so it can be further tailored to your needs. Third, Liquid Cabaret is royalty free so you don't need to go through the hassle of securing permissions or dealing with copyright issues. You just purchase your music, add it to PowerPoint, and then show your presentation to an audience of two or two hundred.
As far as my favorite track selection goes, I think that the tunes on Volume 12 "Instrumental Pop" and Volume 17 "Thinking Positive" are ideal for corporate presentations. The tracks on both of these volumes have a fresh, upbeat sound that work well as interesting, energizing background music. Having said that, you would probably get a lot of attention in the boardroom by adding tracks from the "70's Movie Soundtrack" or "Liquid Metal" to your presentation!
Categories: interviews, powerpoint, sounds
Today's free template is Cadmium - download here...
Visual Exemplars has released an update of its Perspector 3D add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint that makes it compatible with the new version of PowerPoint, 2007.
Read more on the PressZoom site...
Categories: perspector, powerpoint_2007, add-in
Today's free template is Textured 25 - download here...
Labels: case_studies, interviews, powerpoint 
Stas Kravets (pictured to the right) is COO of worldwide markets at KsanLab, a multimedia design company. Stas has worked in IT since 1997, acting as a product engineer, project manager and marketer. He has an MA in Applied Mathematics, and writes for online marketing media and for KsanLab's E-xperiential blog.
Geetesh: Tell us more about yourself and your work.
Stas: I am COO of worldwide markets at KsanLab and responsible for defining and implementation of worldwide marketing and sales strategy of KsanLab's products and services. KsanLab is an international interactive agency with specialization in multimedia tools for marketing, PR, IR and HR communication. At the moment we work on US, German, and Russian markets and have many world famous clients. As a COO, I participate in planning, business development, negotiations with clients and partners and project management.
Geetesh: How do you decide if PowerPoint is not suitable for a particular job - and then, which program do you normally use?
Stas: Well, the first time I understood that I need something different was on my previous job, when we needed an introduction movie and a document shell for a corporate CD business card. The introduction had to be a movie -- not a video, but rather cartoon with music, animation and finally with an update-able guide of PowerPoint presentations written on the disc. PowerPoint's animation capabilities are well geared for slide presentations with schemes and diagrams, but not for movies or cartoons, so we made a request for a Flash reel with support of an external XML file that contained links and descriptions of files stored on the CD.
KsanLab started as a small web design studio and later, reacting to market demands switched from static design to interactive multimedia products. Macromedia Flash is a de facto standard for multimedia information tools -- it possesses all necessary capabilities for rich graphic design, animation, integration of various kinds of info (video, sound) and interactivity. Now it is used all around the world for development of product demos, internet games, banners, trainings, and so on. I want to highlight that it is not comparable with PowerPoint -- it is always a question of selecting the right tool for your task. In some cases, Flash is a pure excess that will eat the time and money and in some cases a PowerPoint presentation will be just boring, and give you a back eye.
My article for MarketingProfs contains several criteria when you should switch to Flash (or other technology such as Apple QuickTime, Java, etc) from PowerPoint. I've chosen them basing on our expertise from projects we've done for our clients in the past. Those projects are mature ones -- so we were able to analyze their impact and potential. In short, the cases when you need to consider multimedia are:
In all cases, a multimedia product delivers on several goals simultaneously. For example, a virtual tour not only conveys lots of information, but also creates a great impression and attracts attention of customers.
Categories: case_studies, interviews, powerpoint
Today's free template is Blooms 16 - download here...
Today's free template is Ornamental 02 - download here...
Today's free template is Seashore Sand - download here...
Microsoft will update its Office productivity suite for Apple users later this year with a new version that for the first time takes advantage of the Intel processors in new Macs. The update, Microsoft's first in three years to the Macintosh version of Office, will help speed graphics processing in PowerPoint and other apps.
More on the InformationWeek site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Today's free template is Magnified Gold - download here...
Today's free template is Textured 24 - download here...
Targus Inc. announced a new patent-pending 4-in-1 Voice Recording Wireless Presenter. The new Voice Recording Presenter incorporates four individual products into one small form factor. It functions as a wireless PowerPoint presenter, voice recorder, laser pointer, and SD memory card reader.
More on the BusinessWire site...
Categories: remotes, powerpoint
"I don't use the word "radical" lightly. The entire user interface, the way you do things in these familiar old programs, has been thrown out and replaced with something new. In Word, Excel and PowerPoint, all of the menus are gone - every one. None of the familiar toolbars have survived, either. In their place is a wide, tabbed band of icons at the top of the screen called the Ribbon. And there is no option to go back to the classic interface."
Read more on theledger.com...
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called Medicine. This set contains a set of medicine inspired designs. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Shape Ensemble - download here...
According to eEye Digital Security's Zero-Day Tracker, three bugs in Microsoft Word and one in PowerPoint remain unpatched, while two more in Windows and another in Internet Explorer need fixing....The updates will be available for manual download from the Microsoft Web site Tuesday at about 10 a.m. PDT. As usual, automatic updates to users' computers will begin shortly after that.
More on the InformationWeek site...
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called Retail. This set contains a set of retail inspired designs. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Leafage 04 - download here...
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called Advertising. This set contains a set of background designs that are inspired by advertising metaphors. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Textured 23 - download here...
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called Architecture. This set contains a set of background designs that are inspired by architectural stuff. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Leafage 04 - download here...
Microsoft's PowerPoint long ago became one of the most popular tools for business presentations. That's likely because of its efficiency and simplicity (I have never read a manual nor used the help key): It helps you to easily present the theses of your presentation, demonstrate the dynamics of processes, and even provide training.
But I want to talk about cases when PowerPoint's resources are not enough to deliver on the goals of communication.
Stanislav Kravets explains more on MarketingProfs.com...
Categories: case_studies, powerpoint
The easiest way to convert the DAT movie files within a VideoCD disc to a common movie file format like MPEG is to use a free application called VCDGear.
Read the tutorial here...
Categories: movies, powerpoint
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called History 02. This set contains a set of background designs that should work with almost any History project. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Textured 22 - download here...
Patrick Schmid's RibbonCustomizer product that allows you to edit Ribbon tabs in Microsoft Office 2007 applications has been updated to version 0.9.
The licensing system has changed -- also you can now save RIBX files so that you can share your Ribbon customizations with other RibbonCustomzer users. You can also edit Ribbon tab names.
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007, add-in
None of the templates at Ppted.com are free -- these are all designer templates. I just wanted to say that because lots of readers write in to say that their Indezine passwords don't let them download all the Ppted templates for free!
Ppted released a new PowerPoint template set -- this one is called History 01. This set contains a set of background designs that should work with almost any History project. Here are some previews.
Today's free template is Crystal Waves - download here...
Today's free template is Blushpink - download here...
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Carmine Gallo is a communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. His client list includes Intel, Chase, Barclays, IBM, Nokia, and many others. 
