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Friday, April 11, 2008
posted by Geetesh
 
11:37 AM
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This exclusive book extract from Advanced PowerPoint 2007 is presented here with permission from Pearson Education.
The book, authored by Wayne Kao and Jeff Huang will help an intermediate PowerPoint user improve their skills to an advanced level. The book goes into deep technical detail about the Office 2007 theme engine and how color schemes, effect schemes, and font schemes work; as well as the new PowerPoint XML file format, showing you how to edit PowerPoint files without using PowerPoint at all.
Read the excerpts here...
Categories: books, powerpoint_2007Labels: books, powerpoint_2007
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Monday, March 24, 2008
posted by Geetesh
4:18 PM
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Ric Bretschneider's newest podcast is now live on the Presentationsroundtable site.
In this podcast, Ric interviews Echo Swinford and Geetesh Bajaj about their new book, Microsoft Office 2007 Complete Makeover Kit. The discussion is essentially an enthusiastic and candid conversation on the state of makeovers today -- and how this book evolved.
The authors also explain more about the content of the book, and how readers can benefit from the makeover samples.
Make sure you put up a comment on the podcast page!
Categories: books, powerpoint_2007Labels: books, powerpoint_2007
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
posted by Geetesh
12:59 PM
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 Tommy Powell (pictured to the left) is from Neuxpower, a software solutions company based in the UK. Neuxpower custom-build both stand-alone applications and add-ins that enhance existing software such as Microsoft Office. Their commercially-available PowerPoint optimizer, NXPowerLite , radically reduces the size of PowerPoint files.
Geetesh: Tell us what is new in version 3.5 of NXPowerLite.
Tommy: NXPowerLite 3.5 features three big changes. The most important change is that it is now compatible with files saved in Microsoft's new Office Open XML formats (such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX).
NXPowerLite 3.5 is the only product on the market that can optimize Word, Excel and PowerPoint files created in any version of Office, from Office 97-2008 (of course, it also works with files created in other Office suites, such as OpenOffice, StarOffice and even Google Docs, as long as they are saved in a Microsoft Office format).
Secondly, we've improved the way that NXPowerLite integrates with Microsoft Outlook, making it even easier to optimize your email attachments.
The third change is that NXPowerLite is now available in Chinese, increasing the number of supported languages to six (with more languages to follow soon). NXPowerLite detects the language of your Windows installation and automatically displays in that language - so if you're using a Chinese version of Windows, you'll now see a Chinese version of NXPowerLite.
Geetesh: NXPowerLite has evolved from an optimization program for PowerPoint to an optimization program for Microsoft Office files – tell us a little more about this evolution.
Tommy: NXPowerLite was originally launched back in 2001 as a program to make PowerPoint files smaller. PowerPoint files could (and still can) get incredibly large, making them difficult to store and share. NXPowerLite solved this problem, but customers frequently told us that they also had file-size problems with Word and Excel. You'd be amazed at what some people try to do with large graphics in Excel! So last year we added support for Word and Excel files to NXPowerLite. But we haven't forgotten our core PowerPoint audience -- we've got some cool new features for PowerPoint users coming later this year!
NXPowerLite has evolved in other ways too, NXPowerLite 3.5 is also available as a Server Edition, enabling organizations to automatically optimize all the Office files on their servers, freeing up large amounts of existing server space and, in turn, contributing to a greener storage strategy.
Categories: add-in, interviews, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007Labels: add-in, interviews, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007
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Sunday, January 20, 2008
posted by Geetesh
7:50 AM
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Here's a small excerpt from Tom Bunzel's review on PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit on InformIT:
There are, in my opinion, two different ways to get proficient in a computer, and more important, a professional discipline of some kind. One way is methodical, and the other way is to wing it.
I must confess that when I get a new program these days, I mainly try to intuit how it works and have little patience for methodical training.
But when I encounter methodical training, as I do in Echo Swinford and Geetesh Bajaj’s Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit, I am always reminded of how superior it is.
Particularly in a professional discipline like presentation coaching, consulting or authoring, and a program like the new PowerPoint 2007, taking a project oriented approach and then digging deep into the precise whys and wherefores helps to ground any end user thoroughly in techniques that are empowering and enduring.
Read more on InformIT...
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Saturday, January 19, 2008
posted by Geetesh
2:04 PM
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 Echo Swinford (pictured to the right) is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP (Most Valuable Professional). When she's not working on new media, she is answering almost all the questions on the PowerPoint newsgroup. Echo is also the co-author of Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit, published by Que. The other author of this book is the owner of this blog -- so I thought it will be fun for one author to interview the other!
Visit Echo's site Echo's Voice to find several PowerPoint usability tricks...
Geetesh: How much ground does this new book cover for the everyday PowerPoint user?
Echo: Well, I think the PowerPoint 2007 Makeover kit actually covers most of the PowerPoint 2007 hills and valleys, at least enough to get you started walking through the woods!
Seriously, the book does cover almost all of the features in PowerPoint 2007, some to a greater extent than others. One of the goals was to teach users about PowerPoint 2007 while reviewing some basic best practices users can rely on to help make their presentations more polished. As a result, we talk a lot about leveraging themes and color schemes and slide layouts and the like to create consistency throughout a presentation. Because themes are new in PowerPoint 2007, and slide masters and layouts are not well understood (even though they do exist in previous versions of PowerPoint), even accomplished PowerPoint users should learn some helpful tricks.
I was really excited to do this book because I think it's important for people to see that even non-designers can make good-looking presentations.
Just because it's PowerPoint, it doesn't have to be ugly. There are a million design books out there, and there are a million PowerPoint books, but I don't think there's another "here's how to design in PowerPoint," with some practical things you can do to make your presentations look better.
Geetesh: What types of presentations do you cover, and why were these particular types of presentations chosen?
Echo: Well, we wanted to offer a good representation of the types of presentations we see every day, and of the types of presentations we're asked about frequently on the Microsoft PowerPoint newsgroup. So you'll see things like a couple of corporate presentations, a school report, a photo album with a background music track. This way, hopefully at least one makeover will be specifically relevant to most readers. Now, that doesn't mean the others won't be relevant -- they will be. For example, in the medical presentation makeover, we discuss using tabs instead of spacebar-spacebar-spacebar to align text on an agenda slide. But there are a gazillion other types of presentations that use agenda slides, and, for that matter, there are even more types of slides where you might use tabs to align the text. So the skills and best practices you learn about are transferable to any number of presentations.
Really, though, there seem to be some issues we just see repeatedly, no matter what type of presentation we're dealing with, and having a variety of presentation types allowed us to highlight those in different ways. To illustrate the point, I'll confess that I worry a little that readers will get sick of us harping on them to use the placeholders to ensure consistent text placement and formatting...but I'm telling you, that's one of the fundamental issues I see day in and day out as I clean up slides for various clients. If people only knew how to use the layouts and placeholders to their advantage, they'd save a ton of time -- and end up with better looking presentations to boot! I hope the book helps them realize that.
Categories: books, interviews, powerpoint_2007Labels: books, interviews, powerpoint_2007
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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
posted by Geetesh
3:18 PM
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Get ready to add punch and pizzazz to your presentations and wow your audience using the latest PowerPoint techniques. This friendly book/CD-ROM combo covers all of the new features of Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, including interface changes, presentation themes, multimedia, the Slide Library, and more.
Read a free chapter here...
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
posted by Geetesh
3:30 PM
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This book, authored by Geetesh Bajaj and Echo Swinford is not as much about reading as it is about seeing and doing! That’s why it's called a kit. Full-color pages show you exactly how your slides will look as you follow the makeover steps, and all presentations in various stages of the makeover are on the accompanying CD.
Read a free chapter here...
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
posted by Geetesh
10:34 AM
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Can you create a PowerPoint presentation without using bullets? This chapter shows how adding visuals and using fewer words can spruce up your presentations. Read this excerpt from my new book PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit at InformIT.com...
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
posted by Geetesh
10:25 PM
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Wendy Russell of About.com just posted a fabulous review for my Special Edition: Using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 book that I co-authored with Patrice-Anne Rutledge and Tom Mucciolo.
Take a look here...
Categories: book_review, powerpoint_2007Labels: book_review, powerpoint_2007
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Friday, September 14, 2007
posted by Geetesh
11:49 AM
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Microsoft has announced on Wednesday, a $60 web-based version of the company's Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 software that will be exclusively available to college students. Microsoft dubbed their latest promotion as the "The Ultimate Steal" and will run until April 30, 2008. The promotion already started in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and will be available to France, Italy, and Spain starting September 20, 2007.
More on the Associated Content site...
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007Labels: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
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Thursday, August 02, 2007
posted by Geetesh
9:51 AM
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Microsoft MacBU (Macintosh Business unit) announced a beta release of their Office Open XML Converter. With this update, Microsoft Office X and 2004 users can save to and open the new Office 2007 XML file formats including PowerPoint and Word files.
According to the site, "this version of the converter improves conversion of Word documents that contain XML content, inline graphics, hyperlinked graphics, WMF/EMF graphics, SmartArt graphics, tracked changes in the document header and footer, Unicode characters, and Japanese Rubi fields".
More on the Microsoft site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007Labels: office_mac, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007
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Monday, July 16, 2007
posted by Geetesh
3:56 PM
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Ted Thayer whips up cool PowerPoint presentations with amazing animations. He's 14 years old, but that did not stop him from taking part in iFilm's Best PowerPoint Moment contest and becoming one of the winners. Visit Ted's site here...
Geetesh: Tell us what got you started with creating such amazing PowerPoints at this age?
Ted: I started using PowerPoint when my friend showed me a short animation he had done in PowerPoint. It was very simple and had very few pictures and animations. After that he basically forgot about it. I however was really interested. First I made a few take offs on the original. Then when I understood the basic concept, I decided I had to get more. I convinced my parents to upgrade to version 2003. With this, I discovered more and more features. When I thought I knew them all, I came across PPTHeaven. By looking at those PowerPoints, I realized there was so much more I could discover with PowerPoint. That was a couple of months ago.
Geetesh: Tell us more about your entry in the iFilm PowerPoint contest.
Ted: The biking presentation was one of three presentations I made to be submitted. It was also the only one that made it to the finals. This was kind of a spur the moment presentation. I sat down one day, thought of an etremely original topic, and created from there. As I look back I can see things that I could have developed more or cut out but overall im proud of what I did.
 
Categories: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samplesLabels: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samples
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
posted by Geetesh
2:46 PM
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We have reviewed PowerShrink in the past -- so in this review, we will look at the new features that PowerShrink 2007 (aka PowerShrink 3) offers along with a brief walkthrough.
PowerShrink 2007 is a PowerPoint, Word, and Excel compression product from TopByteLabs Computing, a software company based in Germany.
Read the review here...
Categories: add-in, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007Labels: add-in, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007
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Friday, June 29, 2007
posted by Geetesh
1:19 PM
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There's so much you can do with PowerPoint these days -- and showcasing your best PowerPoint moment is the concept behind a new contest at iFilm.com. Microsoft is sponsoring prizes worth $10,000 for the contest -- and results are less than a day away!
There are some amazing entries -- I'm surprised that there is so much of a difference in both the quality and concept of the entries. Of all the entries, some of them do juggle the balance between concept and quality so well -- and showcase the capabilities of the new PowerPoint 2007. Check them for yourself and vote!
Categories: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samplesLabels: powerpoint_2007, presentation_samples
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Saturday, June 23, 2007
posted by Geetesh
3:08 PM
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This exclusive book extract from How To Do Everything with PowerPoint 2007 is presented here with permission from McGraw-Hill/Osborne.
The book, authored by Ellen Finkelstein is the ideal resource for anyone who wants to create rich presentations with PowerPoint. You'll find out how to use all the features of the software and get coverage of key topics, such as creating a well-written outline, the fine points of graphic design, and tips for delivering the presentation in front of an audience.
Read the excerpts here...
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Saturday, June 02, 2007
posted by Geetesh
5:10 PM
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This exclusive book extract from Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 on Demand is presented here with permission from Pearson Education.
The book, authored by Steve Johnson is in full color, and explains common PowerPoint procedures using a series of numbered steps with tons of screenshots that are captioned.
Read the excerpts here...
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Friday, May 18, 2007
posted by Geetesh
12:49 PM
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This book extract from Special Edition: Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 is a full chapter on Working with SmartArt that I authored -- it has been put up on Indezine.com with permission from Pearson Education.
The book, which I co-authored with Patrice-Anne Rutledge and Tom Mucciolo is probably the most detailed volume on PowerPoint you'll find anywhere -- in addition it also looks beyond PowerPoint to design sense, presentation and speaking skills. The book has been completely updated for PowerPoint 2007 and includes a free CD that contains software that you can use.
Read the free chapter here...
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Tuesday, May 01, 2007
posted by Geetesh
12:46 PM
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RibbonCustomizer, the add-in product for Microsoft Office 2007 that allows you to customize the tabs within the Ribbon has now been updated to version 1.1 -- the new update is free for all users. See screenshots later on this page.
New features include:
- Classic UI tabs for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word 2007 in English and German.
- These are available in the Starter Edition already, and therefore can be used without purchasing RibbonCustomizer.
- Vista standard user support: Standard users in Windows Vista can now install and use RibbonCustomizer.
- Support for Vista with User Account Control (UAC) turned off. Users with administrative rights were previously unable to use RibbonCustomizer if User Account Control was off.
- RibbonCustomizer can now be used with the Office setting requiring application add-ins to be digitally signed.
More info on the RibbonCustomizer site...
Categories: add-in, microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007Labels: add-in, microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007
posted by Geetesh
1:03 PM
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The biggest feature in Microsoft's new Office 2007 suite is most certainly the interface. Gone are the menus and the toolbars -- now all the commands are available in the various tabs of the Ribbon. The Ribbon is much more intuitive -- but for seasoned users who have been working with Microsoft Office applications for more than a decade, it does involve a serious amount of unlearning.
An interesting add-in for Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel now brings back the menus and toolbars -- all inside a new Ribbon tab called "Menus"! The add-in is called Classic Menu Manager.
Read on to learn more...
Categories: add-in, powerpoint_2007, microsoft_officeLabels: add-in, microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
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Friday, March 02, 2007
posted by Geetesh
10:19 AM
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Here's a quick walkthrough of the PowerPoint 2007 interface.
Explore here...
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
posted by Geetesh
3:39 PM
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Microsoft Corp. last week released the final part of a free tool kit designed to help corporate users convert their existing Office files to Office 2007's new Open XML file format. The new technology, called the Office Migration Planning Manager, combs through networked PCs to discover and report back on how many and what kind of Office files exist on the systems. The OMPM's availability was quietly announced Friday on the blog of Brian Jones, an Office program manager at Microsoft.
More on the PC World site...
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007Labels: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
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Monday, February 26, 2007
posted by Geetesh
12:57 PM
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An excerpt rom my new book on PowerPoint -- Special Edition: Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 207 is now available on the InformIT site.
Check it out here...
Categories: powerpoint_2007, booksLabels: books, powerpoint_2007
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
posted by Geetesh
12:58 PM
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If you use MathType with Word or PowerPoint, and then upgrade to Office 2007, you will find that you no longer have the icons or buttons to insert a MathType equation in Word 2007 or PowerPoint 2007.
You'll find instructions on bringing them back in Word 2007 on this link -- it works the same way for Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007.
Categories: microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007, add-inLabels: add-in, microsoft_office, powerpoint_2007
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