A few years ago a leading financial organisation prohibited its people from using PowerPoint when making presentations to clients and prospective clients. The reason was that some PowerPoint users became too involved with the form, rather than the substance, of what they were selling or promoting. Presentation software is very useful in that it enables users to organise material and control its presentation in screen-size portions.

With the growing number of features in PowerPoint there is an even greater temptation to use them all. If you really want to create all-singing-all-dancing presentations, and you have Microsoft Office, PowerPoint is the tool at hand. The following two books are good guides to PowerPoint 2003. One takes the novice from a state of complete ignorance (such as seems to afflict many ministers of state) to the art of delivering a screen-based presentation; and the other provides the already PowerPoint-savvy user with concise, specific how-to techniques for particular purposes.

PowerPoint Personal Trainer

O'Reilly's Personal Trainer series is based on the principle of learn-by-doing, and likens the lessons to gym sessions with a personal trainer. Ordinary tutorials explain what to do and leave the reader to his or her own devices. In this series the reader, like someone attending a gym, is presented with the necessary equipment, shown how to use it, and stood over by a personal trainer who makes sure there is no slacking.

PowerPoint 2003 Personal Trainer comes with a CD that contains a simulation of the program that enables a user to execute the exercises without having to buy a working copy.

The book's cover may suggest the content is graphical — lots of pictures and screen shots — with a minimum of text. There are screen shots, but they illustrate the text and are not used to pad out the space. The lessons follow a format of stating a task — for example, adding and deleting fields — and providing step-by-step instructions that are applied to a file from the companion CD. A concise 'quick reference' boxed item appears at the end of the lesson, and there are questions and exercises. The large format (253 x 205 mm) allows for an attractive page layout.

Nothing is assumed. When you are told for the first time to press this, or click that, the book provides clear instruction of just what it is that has to be pressed, clicked, or clicked on.

The lessons — there are 103 — are grouped in ten categories from The Fundamentals through Formatting Presentations, Working with Tables and WordArt, Delivering Your Presentation, and finishing with Advanced Topics.

This introduction and self-teaching resource is not designed to be simply read through, but to be used for 'work outs' with the interactive material on the CD. Well worth considering as a course text by anyone teaching PowerPoint.
 

CustomGuide, Inc.: PowerPoint 2003 Personal Trainer ISBN 0-596-00855-4 Published by O'Reilly, 315 pp. + CD, RRP $55.00 incl. GST

PowerPoint Simplified

The full title of this book in Wiley's 'Visual' series is, PowerPoint 2003 Top 100 Tips and Tricks, and it is in its second edition. Readers are assumed to be experienced — but not necessarily expert — users of PowerPoint. Most of the items occupy a two page spread and generally have four screen shots that illustrate the necessary steps (and final effect). The graphics are in full colour and annotated using reference numbers that link to the text, which is terse but clear and adequate. Each item is accompanied by a boxed section that contains useful tips, warnings, and things the user can try.

The items are grouped in ten chapters, which makes it easy to find a particular task, or problem, and a solution. For example, a chapter, Collaborate with Others, contains fifteen stand-alone tips/tricks that deal with issues such as control the use of a presentation with 'information rights management', tracking changes to identify revisions, sending a presentation as an email attachment, and collaboration on presentations with a 'document workspace'.

The range of coverage is comprehensive and surprisingly detailed — which reflects the technical-communication skills of the author. Readers will find how-to information on topics such as adding motion, creating a narrated slide show, using equations in a presentation, screen resolution issues, adding an Excel spreadsheet to calculate data, synchronised effects, animation, and record and edit macros. Each item is accompanied by level-of-difficulty indicator for the benefit of less experienced users.

Don't be fooled by the graphic format; this is not a text for novices, and it is an good resource for ongoing reference.
 

Nancy Buchanan: PowerPoint 2003: Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks 2/e ISBN 0-7645-9782-5 Published by Wiley, 229 pp., RRP $30.95 incl. GST

Reprinted from the August 2006 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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