We win for edgiest title in a PowerPoint book
Introducing the fourth edition, a top-down rewrite with up-to-date coverage of current strategies, contemporary thought, and all of PowerPoint’s latest features.
There are plenty of books that will teach you beginning PowerPoint, but far fewer for those who already know the basics. And for those who struggle with message, visuals, or with working efficiently, there might only be one…this one.
Across 275 pages, Altman holds nothing back about why the presentations industry suffers from a bad reputation and the role that end users have in that reputation. He also writes with authority and eloquence about the solutions to these problems.
While full of illustrations, step-by-step instructions, and dozens of references to downloadable examples, this is also a book that you can simply sit down and read. “I was a writer before I was a computer guy,” Altman says, “so I would like to think that, if nothing else, my books are a good read. Even if you disagree with everything I say, you should still come away entertained by it.” Altman has been entertaining his literary audiences for nearly 30 years.
This book is for users of all versions of PowerPoint.
An efficient and up-to-date read
It’s almost scary to consider how quickly and how steeply the presentation community has grown up around us since the third edition, which was published just a few years ago. A search through the previous edition shows that we made a big deal about cloud computing but had barely heard of Dropbox, spoke of the challenges of creating slides on an iPad, but now there is an Office version dedicated to it, and wondered if such platforms as Prezi and SlideRocket would be PowerPoint killers, the latter of those two competitors no longer in existence.
The fourth edition changes all of that, as we blend tried-and-true principles of presentation design and PowerPoint technique with the dizzying advancements in authoring and delivery technology. It covers with completeness PowerPoint’s exciting new features, such as Morph and Zoom, and offers strategies to help you navigate its trickiest functions.
1. The 30-Minute Syndrome
2. The Cram-Everything-In Obsession
3. Look at Me!!
4. Is Your Message Upside-Down?
5. The Scourge of Custom Animation
6. Can PowerPoint Make You Stupid?
7. Survival Skills for Non-Designers
8. The Three-Word Challenge
9. Avoiding Handout Hell
10. Designing Presentations for Remote Delivery
11. Translating Design into PowerPoint
12. Real-World Makeovers
13. The Storytelling Engine
14. More with Animation
15. The Miracle of Morph
16. Fighting Nerves
17. Working the Room
18. Better than Bullets
19. Small Spaces
20. Thriving with Webinars
21. Quick Access
22. Creating Intelligent Presentations
23. Zoom
24. Fabulous Photos