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5 Ways to Make PowerPoint Sing! (And Dance!)

January 8, 2010    |    Paula Tesch

When if comes to software, bells and whistles are great! If you know how to use them. Working in PowerPoint every day, we’ve learned a few tricks. So when Microsoft asked us to use latest version of PowerPoint to create a cinematic presentation, we couldn’t wait to show off our skills.

(Our excitement, Exhibit A: http://blog.duarte.com/2009/11/the-microsoft-office-2010-public-beta-is-available-and-we%E2%80%99re-in-it/)

We used PowerPoint 2010–and only PowerPoint 2010–to create a short trailer sharing “5 Rules for Creating Great Presentations.” (See below.) It includes everything from Photoshop-looking graphics to Flash-like animations, all done within PowerPoint.

Nancy recently took a turn as a guest writer on The PowerPoint Team Blog, to expand on the process, and outline the top “5 tips for Getting PowerPoint to Sing!” Check it out here.

  • http://www.contextures.com Debra Dalgleish

    Great tips in the video, thanks. I liked the suggestion to “think of your slides as digital scenery.”

  • Lauren Lynch

    Loved the point about creating meaning vs. sitting through another meeting. That’s something every presenter should carry with them. Good stuff.

  • http://advanceyourslides.com Nick Smith

    Stellar deck. It’s exciting that this will be included in every copy of PowerPoint 2010. Hopefully it will inspire people not to settle with their slides.

  • http://www.prokino.ru flashbackflip

    great rules and professional illustrations but the movie itself is lame as well as PP in general

    you should try Keynote and see the difference *)

    http://vimeo.com/7117912

  • http://ericmatas.com Eric Matas

    Bravo! Well done — superb timing. It is a great example of what I was thinking when I called PowerPoint one of the Top 5 Elearning Tools of the year on Technorati (fyi: http://technorati.com/technology/article/top-5-e-learning-tools-of/ )

  • Arnold

    Well put and nice way to tell a story and create meaning.

    Good thing you’re working with Msft but WHY OH WHY does PPT 2010 look like a rip off of Apple’s Keynote? I mean the transitions, themes, animations etc have always existed in Keynote since 2003!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqYn77dT3s

    By the way, Keynote was built with Compatibility in mind and can edit/play .ppt files. But can PPT 2010 edit/play keynote (.key) files?

  • Dinesh Rudra

    Excellent… I’m not a designer, and I’m not a techie, I’m just a normal dude with a normal job – and I totally understood exactly what you were trying to say – Learnt a lot, and am very grateful to you for that. Thanks for that! :)

  • http://www.tribepresentations.com Miguel.M

    Once again it seems some (few) folks still didn’t get it … it is NOT about software, it is about presentations and that means contents and how you structure, design and deliver it!

    When it comes to software…

    1. If you’re a presentations designer it is about what you can do with it, as in “being skilled enough to overcome its limitations” and for what I could see from one of the suggested links, well… never mind…

    2. And it is also about functionality, interaction and compatibility between designers and clients which is reflected by a “slight detail” called (worldwide) market share and coming to this… Windows/PC’s: 92.2% vs Apple Mac: 5.1%…
    (Global Market Share Statistics-Dec2009)

  • http://www.storiesthatsellguide.com/blog Casey Hibbard

    That’s definitely more like video than a slide presentation. How difficult will it be for your average person to create something like this?

    Also, when does Ppt 2010 come out?

  • http://www,lawrencelinn.com Lawrence Linn

    Really impressive stuff, great job! I’ve linked to the video for my marketing students…they love it.

    One question – were there special tools in PPT2010 for adding the audio? I’m wondering how you got the audio to sync so nicely with the animated text…are there ticks or was that just hard work and trial and error?

    Thanks…again, impressive job. It got me to download PPT2010 beta. ;-)

  • GlitteratiChic

    Thanks for this. I’m glad that this has been retweeted so many times. Maybe now there won’t be quite as much ‘death by powerpoint’.

    Presentations offer an amazing opportunity to win people’s hearts and minds and I see it wasted day after day.

  • Hilary

    Well done! It’s comforting to know I’ve been following “The Rules”, in spite of myself, throughout my graduate program. After sitting through dozens of same-old, same-old PPTs, I had had enough and dove deep into Garr’s World. I’ve never looked back.

  • http://photocraftproduction.com Eric

    Are there animated diagrams?

    Looking for diagrams that illustrates like a merry-go-round where the first “horse” or box/picture at the forefront can be rotated out as the next picture/diagram rotates to the forefront.

  • http://powerpointsymphony.com Jose

    Superb, this is my ultimate goal as a PowerPoint designer. This was inspiring, thank you!

  • http://www.waspinagermanhelmet.co.uk Craig Gilman

    @Eric – The Presentation is available online through Office.com templates! So you can download it and learn how it was put together – SWEET!

  • Gladys

    love it!

  • Bob

    Great advice. Too bad this video didn’t make use of it. Keep things simple, nondescript, use simple, clear visual aids, etc. Sure. But then make a video explaining these principles which looks like it was trying to keep the attention of a hyperactive 2nd grader.

  • http://www.thepowerpointstudio.com Janet Bornemann

    You had some very helpful suggestions, such as using one large photo and cropping it really tight. I can see how this can be very effective.
    I also like the one word per slide or one thought per slide idea. It’s also great advice to have the presenter put the bulk of their text in the notes section.

  • http://www.commdiscussion.com Communications Forum

    Good topic. I think that future PowerPoint designers will have to work more like movie directors do today.

  • http://twitter.com/LrngCurve11 Learning Curve

    Hi Nancy. Thanks for this wonderful depiction of all the possibilities of ppt! I shared the video on my blog and linked back to your toolkit too so people can view all your tips on this o-so misrepresented tool. I also added the how-to features you used to create this particular presentation, since it was only visible in slide-show mode and not included in the video. The faculty I work with are always in interested in learning more about great PowerPoint design (and me too!) so I pointed them to what they must know in order to create some fantastic presentations with Powerpoint!

    Thank you!

  • http://www.barcodelabelsoftware.net barcode label software

    Very helpful and good blog. It contains very important and useful detail. Please provide us some basic tips to add a flash or animation in the presentation.

  • http://www.free-power-point-templates.com/ Powerpoint templates

    Really helpful information. Thank you!
    Regards.