Did you know that you can create simple videos with nothing but PowerPoint?
The recording feature lets you advance through your slides while adding narration. Optionally, you can toggle on your webcam (your face will appear in the bottom corner of the image). You can then export from PowerPoint to a standard MP4 video file.
For many purposes where you want to deliver a message on video, powered by your voice and a few well-chosen images, this might be all you need to create something that’s sharable on YouTube or social media.
Or you can use this as a way of producing a video clip to be edited and combined with other clips into more elaborate productions.
This is a presentation about how to use PowerPoint effectively and some common pitfalls to avoid. Some of this advice applies to other presentation technologies like Google Slides, but I’ll be sharing technical tips specific to PowerPoint.
We should start by understanding there are good reasons not to do a computer slideshow. Technology can fail you at the worst possible moment and often does. As a guest speaker, you may find that the projector doesn’t have the right plug to fit your computer. If your slides are important, make sure you’re clear on whether your host wants you to use your computer or theirs – and if they want you to use theirs, I would still bring my own laptop as a backup. Show up early and test everything so you know if you have a problem and have time to solve it.
On the other hand, Club Awesome members often come to me saying, “I just want to show a few pictures” or “just project this document on the screen and scroll down for me.” In those situations, you would make yourself look better by organizing the information in a PowerPoint deck and advancing through it with a handheld clicker.
A speaker should know how to use PowerPoint, but make sure you are using it to enhance your speech. If you don’t make it work for you, it’s likely to work against you.
One strong temptation is to use PowerPoint as a crutch, an electronic outline to remind yourself of what you want to say. If you’re reading your slides, what value are you adding for your audience beyond the message you could have delivered in an email. If you have complicated to information to share, create a handout. The handout can parallel the information you present live, but a printout of your slides is often the least effective handout you can provide. Design reading material to be read, but make your slides part of the experience you are delivering.
If you need to share web links — particularly long, complicated web addresses — put that in a follow up email or a blog post where people can click rather than click on the links rather than typing them. Sharing a very simple web address (or Twitter handle) on screen is different, if you can use that as a gateway to the richer information you want to share.
More on Resizing and Cropping Images
If my tips on resizing and cropping images go by too fast for you in the video, check out this blog post by the author of a book on PowerPoint.
The basic point I’d like to get across is the difference between resizing images which you do by clicking and dragging on the corners of the image and cropping images, which means you’re cutting away parts of the image that you don’t want to be displayed.
Resizing is the default when you click on an image, you can click and drag to reposition it. The resizing “handles” that look like little bubbles will be displayed at the corners of the image.
To resize images proportionally, put your mouse on the corner handles before you click and drag.
DANGER: Beware of stretching or squishing images, which can be easy to do if you drag the resizing handles from the top, bottom, or either side.
Resize, don’t squish or stretch
One way to switch to cropping mode is to right click on the image and choose Crop from the menu that pops up.
Choosing crop mode Square crop handles
In cropping mode, the handles at the edge of the issue turn into square angles that you drag toward the center of the image from the top, bottom, left and right until you get the shape you want.
Menus and Toolbars
Although the programmers behind PowerPoint try to divine your intentions and helpfully present the right menus and options, sometimes you have to hunt for them.
Here are a few key menus to know your way around.
The insert menu for pictures but also text boxes and drawing objects.
When you select a picture, you should see a “Picture Tools” menu under “Format” — but if it’s not immediately displayed, you may have to click on the Picture Tools menu that’s displayed over the word “Format.”
Notice that this Picture Tools button bar also includes a Crop option, with more options than were shown when I right clicked on an image. For example, “Crop to Shape” will let you crop an image to a star or an octagon, rather than a rectangle.
Picture Tools
If your focus is on a text box or other on screen object, you may see “Drawing Tools” instead of “Picture Tools.”
Format, Drawing Tools
In the video, I showed PowerPoint volunteering design ideas for formatting a picture. If you don’t want to wait for that to happen spontaneously you can click on the Design tab and pick Design Ideas to prompt the software to make some suggestions.
You may be violating copyright by using random images from the web, particularly if a court would find you were using them “for commercial purposes in your presentation.” A Toastmasters club presentation might not get you in trouble, but a keynote speech could. See: Legally Using Images in Your Presentations from Copyright.com.
Safe sources:
Pixabay.com – royalty free images, often but not always fairly professional
Creative Commons Search – find images shared with “some rights reserved” (for example, requiring attribution of the artist or photographer). Many images on services like Flickr are shared this way.
The Broward Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) training event has been announced for Saturday, July 28, 2018 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Broward College (Davie).
Register in advance online for a discounted price of $10 at https://tinyurl.com/Broward-TLI. Otherwise, tickets can be purchased at the door for $15.
This event is for all Toastmasters and the most convenient location for members of Division B. Professional development topics include the Pathways program and technology assistance, club development, humorous speaking, and quality evaluation techniques, among others.
In addition, club officers should attend for training credit that counts towards your personal leadership awards and your club’s annual Distinguished Club Program (DCP) status.
Join us for the Connect and Grow Workshop on July 7, 2018. The event will take place at the Coral Springs Library from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All Toastmasters and guests are invited. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
In this workshop, we will talk about a few of those tools you can use in any story, the process of writing the story and the process of editing and structuring a punchlines around the inherent cadence of the story.
This is an educational workshop presented by Casey Casperson of Sick Puppies Comedy. Casey Casperson graduated with a degree in Theater Management in 2001 from the University of Evansville. A Standup Comedian and Improviser of nearly 20 years, Casperson now owns and runs the famous Sick Puppies Comedy company in Boca Raton. Casey will be sure to teach, coach and entertain us.
Join us for the Connect and Grow Workshop on July 7, 2018. The event will take place at the Coral Springs Library from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All Toastmasters and guests are invited. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
In this workshop, we will talk about a few of those tools you can use in any story, the process of writing the story and the process of editing and structuring a punchlines around the inherent cadence of the story.
This is an educational workshop presented by Casey Casperson of Sick Puppies Comedy. Casey Casperson graduated with a degree in Theater Management in 2001 from the University of Evansville. A Standup Comedian and Improviser of nearly 20 years, Casperson now owns and runs the famous Sick Puppies Comedy company in Boca Raton. Casey will be sure to teach, coach and entertain us.
Presenting the Community is a High Performance Leadership (HPL) project by John M. Quick. Toastmasters International and all other Toastmasters International trademarks and copyrights are the sole property of Toastmasters International. The content of this project is the opinion of the creator and is independent of Toastmasters International. It is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwise approved by Toastmasters International.
Join us for the Connect and Grow Workshop on July 7, 2018. The event will take place at the Coral Springs Library from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All Toastmasters and guests are invited. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.
In this workshop, we will talk about a few of those tools you can use in any story, the process of writing the story and the process of editing and structuring a punchlines around the inherent cadence of the story.
This is an educational workshop presented by Casey Casperson of Sick Puppies Comedy. Casey Casperson graduated with a degree in Theater Management in 2001 from the University of Evansville. A Standup Comedian and Improviser of nearly 20 years, Casperson now owns and runs the famous Sick Puppies Comedy company in Boca Raton. Casey will be sure to teach, coach and entertain us.
Presenting the Community is a High Performance Leadership (HPL) project by John M. Quick. Toastmasters International and all other Toastmasters International trademarks and copyrights are the sole property of Toastmasters International. The content of this project is the opinion of the creator and is independent of Toastmasters International. It is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwise approved by Toastmasters International.
