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Ah, Powerpoint. How did we ever manage without it? It's become such a fundamental part of business life that the thought of getting up in front of an audience and not using it seems practically heretical.

Yet such is the ubiquity of PPT that more often than not it is either overused (i.e. used when it isn't really necessary), underused (i.e. users are not taking advantage of its more interesting functions) or, most commonly, misused (i.e. used in such a bad way that it detracts from the message the presenter is trying to convey).

Obviously how you use Powerpoint depends on what you're presenting, but you should always remember that it's there to complement/reinforce what you're saying, and to graphically display information in a format that makes it easy and quick to understand. If your slides aren't doing this, you're better off without them.

So to ensure that your slides do their job and contribute to an effective, impressive and memorable presentation, here are my 10 tips for better slideshows...

1. Looks ARE Important!

The best presentation in the world can be undone by ugly, badly-designed slides, so make sure your slides are aesthetically pleasing. A clean, simple design is best, and don't be afraid to leave plenty of empty space. Don't use garish colours and take care to ensure the background and font colours work well together.

2. The 30pt Rule

Presentation guru Guy Kawasaki (http://blog.guykawasaki.com) came up with this great idea - never use a font smaller than 30pt. Why? To ensure that you don't commit the worst Powerpoint sin of all and fill your slides with text. Remember, your slides are there to complement your talk, not replicate it - if you're just going to read from the slides, you may as well just send them to your audience by email!

3. Choose your Font with Care

Don't limit yourself to boring fonts like Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana - there are millions of fonts out there. Look at the standard Windows selection or visit a site like http://www.1001freefonts.com to find something different. An original, less common font adds impact to your slideshow and shows you've taken a bit of care to put it together. Whatever you choose, a clean, modern, sans serif font works best.

4. You're not Walt Disney

...so don't use too much animation! Varied slide transitions, moving pictures and text flying in from all angles are annoying, distracting and unprofessional. As with every aspect of your presentation, be consistent.

5. Emphasise!

The Emphasis function (found in Custom Animation) is one of Powerpoint's best-kept secrets and when used effectively it can turn an adequate slideshow into a slick and impressive one. Making an important point stand out by changing its colour or shrinking the surrounding text is easier and has more impact than using a laser pointer. But of course, as with animation, don't overdo it!

6. Use professional images

There are so many good free photographs and images available on the internet that there's no longer any excuse for using cheesy clipart. Google Image Search is a goldmine, and there are also some excellent free stock photo sites around, such as the superb stock.xchng (www.sxc.hu).

7. Give Everyone a Break

Embedding relevant video and/or audio in your slideshow gives you a break from speaking and gives your audience a break from listening to you and looking at your slides. It can be used to illustrate a particular topic, to play in the background while you all take a coffee break, or as a bit of light comic relief. http://www.youtube.com is a great source of videos and using a free FLV downloader it's simple to embed Youtube clips in your slides.

8. Secret Slides

Every good presenter knows the value of a Q&A session at the end of the presentation, and one way to really make your Q&A memorable is to use 'secret' slides. Anticipate the sort of questions you are likely to be asked (or 'plant' some prepared questions in advance), prepare some slides to illustrate your answers, and put them after your closing slide. Then when you are asked a relevant question, simply type the slide number and PPT will take you there. The audience will be impressed at the thoroughness of your presentation and your anticipation of their questions.

9. Turn it Off!

Many presenters use Powerpoint as a comfort blanket and would be lost without it, but unless you're extraordinarily handsome or beautiful, or have the charisma of Dean Martin, chances are your audience will spend more time looking at your slides than looking at and listening to you. Turning off your slides (mute your projector or just hit the 'b' key on your laptop - 'w' turns them back on) is a brilliant attention-grabber and ensures that people's attention is 100% focused on YOU. It can also be used to bring an unruly audience back to order!

10. Follow Up

People have short attention spans and within minutes of you switching off your projector, most of your audience will have forgotten most of your presentation. Help refresh their memory by turning your slideshow into a great follow-up tool. Save it as a .pps file and email it to the attendees or add it to your website as a download, or even better, record your presentation (provided it's not a 3-hour epic) and turn it into a podcast.

These are all techniques that regularly work for me, but type "powerpoint tips" into Google and you'll find thousands more - let me know if you find any real gems!

Tim Russell is Marketing Director at TRG International, one of Vietnam's leading providers of IT business solutions and services. Originally from the UK, he has been in Vietnam since 2003. Prior to coming to Vietnam he spent over a decade in the tourism industry in both operations and marketing, before moving into IT where he helped set up a company providing reservations software for tour operators and travel agents. He lives in Ho Chi Minh City with wife Nhung and daughter Emilie.

4 Easy Tips in Creating and Installing Sliding Glass Pet Door

Owning a pet means commitment of taking care of your animal. One is to give them security and freedom by providing pet doors.  Pet doors don’t need to cost you too much.

Having a pet animal would take your time especially if you are a busy parent or an entrepreneur. Some get annoyed easily when their pets whine to get out and they were just starting to get their rest.

The answer to this problem is to get a pet door. Pet doors will not only give freedom to your pet but will also protect your doors, walls, furniture from pets who likes to scratch when they want to go out.

Different pet doors were made and design to suit the pet needs and the house requirement. They come in various size, shape, color and price. One of the most used is sliding glass pet doors.

To best install a sliding pet door, determine first your pet’s height and width. This will give you an idea of the right measurements your pet can actually fit through.

Also, you need to know the thickness of the door that it will be attached to. All instructions in installing pet doors should always be followed properly.

If you find it difficult to install on your own, you could always get someone with knowledge in installing pet doors to fix it. It should not take long and should not cost you so much.

If you are going to install your pet’s sliding glass door, here are some helpful tips to guide you.

1. Prepare all the materials you will need to start your glass pet door. You will need pet door, plywood (or other type of wood), shims, strips of foam (Insulation), pin or deadbolt lock, saw (optional), paint (optional), waterproof sealer (optional), screws (optional) and glue (optional).

2. Try to measure accurately the door from the inside of the frame and the height of the patio door to find the width. After this, add at least two inches (or more) to the measurement since sliding glass doors can come in large sizes for both cats and dogs. Research on process and instructions required in getting the measure of your pet.

3. Purchase a cheap wall pet door to cut your expenses low. You can convert your wall pet door into a sliding one. Get all the other materials for your sliding glass pet door like wood, insulation strips and a sliding glass lock to secure the door.

4. Paint with a waterproofing sealer will be the best to use for your door. Cut the wood approximately ¼ to ½ inch shorter than the sliding glass doors measurement. It will allow you to get the door comfortably in place.

As you install your sliding glass pet door, mount the pet door into the cut wood, as directed by the instructions. Put the foam strips around the wood then slide the wood into the sliding glass doors frame.

Next, use the shims on the bottom to fill in the gap. Close the door and secure with a lock. You now have your own made sliding glass door for your pet.

Try training your pet in using you’re a newly made sliding glass pet door. Lure them with treats on the other side of the door so they will be encouraged to pass through it.

Be patient in training your dog so they will learn to use it. Otherwise, they will get scared and will not pass on it. After finishing all these tasks, sit back and enjoy your rest. Your new sliding glass pet door will save you from constantly letting your pet in and out of the house.

About the Author

Visit dog doors guide to learn more about sliding glass pet door. You can also find great information about electric dog door.

Preparing slides?

Describe how to prepare plant or animal tissue slide?

You will need a plastic slide cover (small plastic square), and a dropper, and some dH2O

1 - Make sure everything is clean
2 - Place 1 - 2 drops of dH2O on center of slide
3 - Slice a thin piece of stem off
4 - Place in drops on slide
5 - Take plastic slide cover and place it above the drops
6 - Let one edge into the drops first to break surface tension and then drop in.

If you did correctly, you should have a plastic cover with no air bubbles.

MMC Softball Set To Open Season
A year ago, the Mount Marty College softball team was young and looked the part on the field. The team had just one senior and a number of freshmen as the team went 2-34 on the season.

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