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The PowerPoint Ezine - 36
by Geetesh Bajaj January
26th, 2004
Contents
It's Christmas Again!
The Richard Bretschneider Interview
Focus on Apreso
Quick News
New Year's Presentation Resolutions
SuperSaver 6 Offer
 It's
Christmas Again!
Let's get started with the best things
again! All subscribers of this ezine get the BEST PowerPoint
things in life. CrystalGraphics,
who make the PowerPlugs range
of PowerPoint add-ins are providing a free copy of PowerPlugs Transitions LE to you exclusively as a reader of this ezine.
I repeat, this free product is available nowhere else, not
even from their own published site! So, what are you waiting
for - here you go...
 There's
more! TechSmith is
giving away three (3) free copies of their new SnagIt 7 screen capture product! All you need to do is make sure
that you are a subscriber of
this ezine and you'll be automatically eligible to be entered
into a draw - the names of three lucky winners will be announced
in the next issue. You might want to read how SnagIt's Product
Marketing Manager uses
his own product...
 You
knew there was more! Dave
Paradi, presentation guru who runs the Communicate
Using Technology site is providing two (2) copies of his
e-book on PowerPoint 2002 - The
20% You Really Need To Know About PowerPoint 2002. If you subscribe to
this ezine, you'll be automatically eligible to be entered
into a draw - the names of two lucky winners will be announced
in the next issue. Dave has authored three amazing articles
for Indezine.com - in the last article he discussed a survey
that shows How to
Stop Annoying Audiences With Bad PowerPoint...
 There's
still more! Image
Express from Hemera is providing US$20 off their annual
subscription rate of US$99.95 - so you have access to 350,000
pieces of clipart for only US$79.95 - these include vector
images, stock photos, Photo-Objects and raster illustrations.
Also, Hemera Image Express just added 10,000 new images. To
take advantage of this offer, follow these steps:
- If you are a new customer of Hemera
Image Express, please click here and follow the registration
link. If you are a current customer of Hemera
Image Express, please enter your e-mail address and password
to log in.
- Once you are registered or logged in, please enter promotional
code IE00101 when prompted.
- Continue through the check out process.
There are even more goodies! I've
stacked them to be announced only in the next issue! And some goodies
are only provided to subscribers!
Back
 The
Richard Bretschneider Interview
Richard Bretschneider is ten year Microsoft veteran, having
joined the company in 1993 to work on PowerPoint IV for Windows
and the Macintosh.
In this interview, Richard discusses the new PowerPoint 2003 and
looks beyond.
Geetesh: Tell us something about the new PowerPoint Viewer?
Richard: It's amazing how simple folks think the viewer
must be. It's just PowerPoint with a few features removed, right?
No, not really. We have to make sure it is manageable in size,
and works in all the scenarios. A big effort is made to make sure
the viewer works off non-writable media (CDs for example) and requires
no setup! That last bit means a lot, because standard PowerPoint
relies on tons of resources that are installed along with Office.
It's a tricky development task. It's pretty amazing in the end,
that you can just slip this CD into a brand new PC with nothing
but Windows on it and you launch right into a full-fidelity presentation
- so seamless we're actually afraid people won't notice how terrific
that all is! Making it look simple is a big job, and the Viewer
team certainly rose to the occasion here.
Geetesh: Many users ask for a way to save presentations
to a video format or saving directly to DVD? Is Microsoft aware
of this and what's being done on this front?
Richard: You know we can't directly comment on new unannounced
features, and this is no exception. Saving to a video format is
a very popular feature on the Macintosh version of PowerPoint (which
is developed by friends of ours who share our building!) It is
a high runner on the Wish list, and we're very aware of the utility
of this type of export format. I think I have to leave it at that.
Read the complete
interview here...
Back
Focus on Apreso
Online rich media (ORM) continues to emanate from PowerPoint.
And then comes Apreso, the name of the product that I am exploring.
Predictably, Apreso uses PowerPoint as its source. Unpredictably
though, Apreso manages to do so much more at the same time that
it almost threatens to create a new presentation workflow. If that
got you interested, let's proceed and discover the nuances of this
amazing PowerPoint add-in.
Apreso is from Anystream,
a company based in Sterling, Virginia, United States that was founded
in 2000 by Geoff Allen, who's the President and CEO.
Anystream is
traditionally involved with creating software that automates the
process of encoding and transcoding media for demanding broadcast
and production environments. Anystream's Agility software is used
by BskyB, CNet, CNN, Fox News, FoxSports.com, NFL Films, weather.com
and several others.
In April 2003, Anystream launched Agility Presenter for PowerPoint,
an add-in that plugs into PowerPoint so that presentations can
be converted to streaming media with one click. In November that
year, Anystream relaunched Agility Presenter as Apreso -
simultaneously it launched the Apreso presentation hosting service.
Read the full review here...
Back
Quick News
Read the
PowerPoint Blog here... The PowerPoint Blog now includes
the Atom syndication service so that you can use a Atom compatible
newsreader to read all postings.
Registrations for the PowerPoint Live program are now open.
Find more about this event that's going to be held at San Diego
from October 10 to 13, 2004 at the new
look PowerPoint Live 2004 site... In addition, Rick Altman
also announced a series of mini-seminars across several US cities
- look
here...
Impatica announced the release of their Impatica add-in
product for PowerPoint that creates streaming content using Java
technology for Mac OS X. Impatica already creates a Windows version
of this popular product. More info...
Users of Microsoft's Office System products released in
October can expect the first service pack for the software
in late June. More info...
Microsoft MVP Jim Gordon announced the new version of InsertPicturePPTX,
a PowerPoint add-in that works on the Mac. As Jim adds "The
ability to do a bulk import has been added. The bulk import feature
works in PowerPoint 2001 only. The bulk import feature will import
a hundred 72-dpi pics into a presentation in just a few seconds." More
info...
Echo Swinford's PowerPoint Autorun CD tutorial for
versions PowerPoint 97 through 2003 is now mirrored at Indezine. Look
here...
Just received a mail from the folks at Neuxpower with the
good news that their NXPowerLite product is now PowerPoint
2003 compatible. The new 1.53 version is available as a free
upgrade for existing customers. For those of who don't know, NXPowerLite
optimizes file sizes of PowerPoint presentations. Learn more...
Corel announced that the new version 12 of CorelDRAW will
publish designs for use in your office productivity suite to enhance
text documents by adding graphics published directly from CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite to Microsoft Office or WordPerfect Office. More info...
"With PowerPoint, our fourth-grade students are doing
electronic presentations, creating and deleting slides". "Next
semester, Timperley has more projects in store for her kids. They
may be doing a PowerPoint music video." - read
more about how computing is making a difference...
AcuLearn has announced a new version of its plug-in for
PowerPoint. Users can enhance presentations with live video and
audio and deliver presentations live or on-demand. Learn more...
Olympus introduced the small, light and easy to use VP-1
Data Projector at CES 2004 in Las Vegas. Learn more
at the Olympus
site...
Until January 19th, PowerFinish is providing 7 volumes
of PowerPoint templates, PowerDesign Sets and presentation backgrounds
for $199.99 rather than the regular rate of $620! Look here for their product sale items...
Accordent Technologies released Version 2 of PresenterONE -
this new version includes support For RealAudio 10 And RealVideo
10. You'll find more info at the Accordent
site... Also, read this press release at the Streaming
Media, Inc. site...
Peter McClard of CaptureWorks informed me about
the release of version 1.1 of PointCapture that adds a great
new interface that includes drop-down menu choices to make more
interactive searches. PointCapture allows you to search a specific
PowerPoint presentation or slide buried in your computer folders,
using powerful data and text filtering and search tools. More
info at the PointCapture site...
Also read the Indezine review...
Back
Advertisement
PowerDesign Sets - a selection of coordinated PowerPoint templates
that go further than normal templates. PowerDesign Sets provide
you with the flexibility of variations within a particular design
- thus 50 sets can be output as 900 design possibilities!!! More
info and FREE sample PowerPoint templates here...
Learn more about advertisement
and sponsorship opportunities at Indezine.
New Year's Presentation Resolutions
Here are some great thoughts from Claudyne Wilder of Wilder Presentations, Boston, MA, USA. Thank you, Claudyne for allowing me to include these here:
To start off the New Year, I decided to give you my ten presentation resolutions for next year, not necessarily in order of priority. I challenge you to make your own resolutions and send them to me. Next year we can discuss how we did.
- Length of talk: For an hour talk, only prepare enough
to talk 40 minutes. Have some extra hidden slides in case the
audience does not ask many questions.
- Knowing the audience: For a small group always ask the names
of the people, their positions, and what content might interest
them the most.
- Clear contract: When I am asked to give a free talk
for a group, make sure the contract is clear. How long do you
want me to talk? What the audience will be told about the talk?
Will my talk start on time and be expected to end on time?
- Watching my video: I promise to watch a video of one
of my talks. I will watch and listen to my words, then turn off
the volume and watch my nonverbal behaviors.
- One new program: I will try using some PowerPoint add-ons
and/or another presentation software program besides PowerPoint.
- Enjoying the audience: My first priority will be to
enjoy my talk and connection to the audience. Enjoy their liking
that I show them slides about their business. Enjoy their liking
that I change my mini-workshop when they want to go in another
direction.
- Modeling a talk: I will spend time in my seminars modeling
a participant's talk so he or she can truly see the best way
to present some of the content.
- Applying Argentine Tango concepts: I will practice finding
ways to keep the connection with the audience at every moment,
just as is necessary in Tango to have a superb dance.
- Sleep enough: I will sleep enough so that I can enjoy
my audience. I will resist the desire to stay up late.
- Hydrate myself: I will drink at least eight glasses
of PH alkaline water a day so that I am not fatigued from dehydration.
Back
SuperSaver 6 Offer
CrystalGraphics is also offering all ezine subscribers an extra
discount of US$100 for their PowerPlugs: SuperSaver 6 suite of
PowerPoint add-ins that includes:
- PowerPlugs: FlashReady
- PowerPlugs: Transitions, volumes I, II, III & IV
- PowerPlugs: Charts
- PowerPlugs: Templates I
- PowerPlugs: 3D Titles I & II
- PowerPictures BONUS — Pick any 25 Presentation/Web-quality
images(Over 20,000 to choose from)
Separately, these products sell for over $830. But, because you
are an ezine subscriber, you automatically qualify to get the low
price of just $199. That’s a savings of over 3/4! Since this
is an exclusive “insiders” offer only, you won’t
see it mentioned anywhere else. Here's how you can proceed:
- Go here...
- Simply enter the word "SUPER6" in the marketing code
box on the first CrystalGraphics shopping cart page when you
place your SuperSaver 6 order on-line.
- That’s it!
This exclusive offer is good until January 31 only.
Back
Events & Seminars
Winning Presentations Seminar
January 15 and 16; February 19 and 20, 2004, Boston, USA
Claudyne Wilder, Wilder Presentations
http://www.wilderpresentations.com/
Presentations / Training 2004 Conference & Expo
March 1 to 3, 2003, Atlanta, USA
VNU Expositions
http://www.trainingconference.com/
PowerPoint Live
October 10 to 13, 2004, San Diego, California, USA
Rick Altman, R Altman Digital Consulting
http://www.pptlive.com/
Back
Credits
During the preparation of this issue of the PowerPoint Ezine,
I received assistance, content or feedback from Betsy Weber, Claudyne
Wilder, Darian Germain, Dave Paradi, Echo Swinford, Glen Millar,
Jim Gordon, Mickey Stevens, Nicole Ha,
Paul Lafreniere, Peter McClard, Richard Bretschneider, Rick Altman,
Steve Rindsberg and Tommy Powell (all in alphabetical order). I
would like to use this platform to thank them for their help.
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