Learning to Use PowerPoint

Long ago and far away I taught myself how to use PowerPoint. I had a lot of help, from the Teach Yourself Visually book series. I won’t tell you which version of PowerPoint I learned on, because I honestly don’t remember. I think it was back when it had that annoying paperclip helper that everyone wanted to just go away. Good news is that the paperclip seems to be long gone from PowerPoint, and more importantly an up to date version of this great book is still kicking around.

Unlike a class, by using a book like this, you can learn at whatever pace you feel most comfortable. I actually taught a class for a wordprocessing program one summer and I can tell you, going too slow is just as annoying as going too fast.

And unlike fumbling around, hoping you’ll figure PowerPoint out through trial and error, you can get a TON of time saving tricks using a book like this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shown someone how to do something more efficiently/effectively in PowerPoint and they practically kissed me!

So, if you’re looking for a good way to get started with PowerPoint, do yourself a favour and pick this book up. Of course, if you’d like a little help turning your PowerPoint into a thing of beauty, well you know who to call.

Why Practical Presentation Tips?

Well, I’ve just finished Hugh MacLeod’s second book “Evil Plans” and it has inspired me to get started on an evil plan of my own.  I’ve spent the last 20+ years in advertising, which has been a fun ride.  It’s not quite as much fun as it looks on TV, but there are definitely some great things about it.  For me, one of the great things that I got to do (A LOT) was build and give presentations.  I’m not sure why I get such a charge out of it, I just do.  I can remember many times thinking (and even saying) that if I could earn a living doing nothing but presentations, I would.  Sounds a bit like an evil plan, doesn’t it?

At the present moment, I am (as they say) between gigs.  Shockingly, I have only ever worked at two advertising agencies.  The first one recruited me right out of university (can you believe there was a time when that happened?), and I stayed for seven years.  I only left because I was having trouble with the work-life balance thing after my first child was born.  I left to go to my second agency, a small boutique where the three partners all had young children at home and wouldn’t dare schedule meetings before 9am or after 5pm.  I stayed there for fourteen years, during which time I had my second child and helped the agency grow from less than 20 people to over 100.  I’m not entirely sure how many presentations I built during that time, but it was A LOT.  People even knick-named me “The PowerPoint Queen” (I used that as the theme of my Halloween costume one year).

So I guess you could say, I know a few tricks and tips when it comes to presentations.  I decided to start this blog as a bit of an experiment.  A way to give what I know to the world and see if maybe, just maybe, it comes back to me in the form of a full-time gig I love.  A chance to earn a living doing nothing but presentations.  We shall see…