Broccoli Blog

Making an Image Transparent In PowerPoint

2012-07-10T19:51:44Z

As I was preparing for an upcoming workshop on PowerPoint, I wanted to show people how to make thier own custom background using the Slide Master. What I wanted to do was show them how to take an image an make it semi transparent so I could use it as a watermark. In the past I would just do this in Photoshop, but many in my audience do not have access to Photoshop, and plus I wanted to keep this workshop strickly PowerPoint oriented. Since I can do many things with an image in PowerPoint now, I figured making it transparent should be a breeze, but as I soon found out there is not. Well there is a way, but it is a very easy cheat and it is as symple as inserting a shape box (retangle box).

The cheat: Well after some playing around I found a way. It was quite simple actually and I also could add a blur and adjust it so it would make the perfect watermark. Check out the tutorial video here.

Getting to Know the Slide Master in PowerPoint

2012-03-27T16:59:01Z

At a recent conference I had polled my audience with audience response pads (see the previous post) and I had asked them what their comfort level was with using the Slide Master within PowerPoint. Only a few people knew what they did and the majority had no idea. So I thought to myself that this was a perfect idea for a tutorial.

Why should you learn how to use the Slide Master? Have you ever wanted to freshen up an exisitng presentation? Maybe you want to add a logo that appears on every slide or change the fonts throughout a presentation. Then the easiest way to accomplish this is to use the Slide Master within PowerPoint. This short tutorial will help you understand the basics and get you started. Please enjoy responsibly. Check it out the tutorial here.

Using Audience Response Pads at EMS Today

2012-03-13T17:51:21Z

At the 2012 EMS Today Conference I was selected to present 4 different sessions. I planned on using Audience Response pads (ARS) in all of my sessions where each attendee would interact with my presentation. These little devices allow me to ask questions during my PowerPoint so I know what the audience knows.

To get started, I thought I would ask a few polling questions in the Photoshop for PowerPoint session and see where people where at. I didn’t expect the pads to contribute much other than being kind of “cool”, but boy was I wrong.

The first polling question confirmed for me the direction I wanted to take during the presentation, plus I received additional information I wasn’t counting on. The question seemed to be a very logical straight forward question:

What is your comfort level with Photoshop/Elements?
A) Very comfortable (7%)
B) Somewhat comfortable (23%)
C) Not comfortable (38%)
D) I don’t have either (30%)

As you can see, 38% of the audience stated that they were not comfortable with Photoshop (this I expected), but what I did not expect was that 30% didn’t even have Photoshop/Elements.

This question helped me on many different levels during and after the session.

#1. It helped me confirm the direction I planned on taking during the session. I had geared the session for the novice user and the poll confirmed to me that I took the right path.

#2. In regards to 30% of the audience not having Photoshop or Elements, I expected a few, but not this many. I used this data when I talked about the difference between Photoshop and Elements.

Because the results were visible to everyone in the session, those that chose Very Comfortable (7%) would have a better understanding of why I needed to keep things pretty basic in this session. Also I feel that people feel a sense of comfort knowing that they are on the same level as the majority of attendees in the session.

As I look to my next session, I plan on making the ARS pads a integral part of my presentation, not because they are cool, but that they really DID add more value to my presentation and will now be a must for any presentation I do in the future.

Check out a Blog by Dave Konig, The Social Medic who attended this session click here

Turning Technologies Users Conference

2012-02-03T16:24:22Z

A few months back I was asked to speak at the San Diego Turning Technologies Users Conference. This was my second Turning Technologies Users conference I have presented at. I had two standing room only sessions. I wish I could say my sessions where packed because of my charming personality, but the reality is people are just really hungery for different ways to create interactive training. When you watch the video you will note the Kiss images behind me. The conference was held Hard Rock Cafe in San Diago.

Drawing In PowerPoint

2012-01-16T00:16:21Z

So the question came up this week in a EMSEducast Podcast that I was invited to as a guest (to hear podcast click here) about tracing EKGs in PowerPoint and how to do that. I promised my host that I would do a tutorial to show how to do this. Normally I would draw whatever I needed in Flash, Illustrator or Photoshop, but I realize many people do not have these programs, so I decided to take a closer look at the drawing tools in PowerPoint. To my amazement, I found that I could do quite a bit in PowerPoint. I first decided to “warm up” tackling some more difficult drawings like tracing a heart illustration and drawing a pencil with highlights. Once I was warmed up I got to the request of the week and started off with the first tutorial on Basic Drawing in PowerPoint where I show you how to trace a EKG and the second tutorial covers how to make a basic grid in PowerPoint using a square as the starting point . Check it out and let me know what you think.

Basic Drawing in PowerPoint

Creating a Grid in PowerPoint

My Very First VB PowerPoint Make Over

2011-12-04T21:25:15Z

In my first Visual Broccoli makeover I take a presentation (that I had a small hand with over a year ago) and made some what I would consider dramatic changes to the look and feel of the presentation. One key factor to take into account in the makeover process is that we wanted this presentation to be designed for a larger room setting like you would get at a large conference.

The Makeover Process
To make this video blog is more than just doing the video. First I have to actually make over some of the slides which make me stretch my wings a little and once I get the feel of what I am thinking will work. Once done I will choose a few slides that I think will best illustrate the key points I want to make and prep them for the video if needed. In this particular makeover, because of the original subject matter, I decided to replace all of the original images in the presentation with similar images and changed some of the content. It’s an interesting process; I find in some tutorials, and in this one in particular, I find myself trying to cram to much stuff the time allotted ( I try to keep videos under 8 minutes). In this tutorial, I completed yesterday both Part 1 and Part 2, but this morning I got up and decided to streamline it even more.

I really enjoyed working on this and am looking forward to showing the suggestions to the original creator and presenter. To watch Part One of this video blog click here.

Make a 2D Book

2011-11-26T15:36:34Z

As I go through some of my old presentations and start to update the graphics, I had a 2 slides of Book covers, the first was a real book cover and the second was a revision of the first. What I did originally was went to a website and grabbed the book cover, but like most book images on the web this image was just of the cover, and was flat. So in my update I created a 2D looking book image by creating a template in Photoshop (Click here to download the template). This surprisinlgy is pretty easy to use, you just need to use Photoshop template provided, the Transform tool and learn how to use Distort option. As I create images for my presentations, I sometimes like to make my own fake book covers to make a point, as I show in the tutorial I reference a fake Visual Broccoli for Dummies book mock up. This mock up like most images I use in PowerPoint simply becomes my "bullet" point of what I want to talk about. Check out the tutorial and try it out. In the template provided you have layers that add some realistic looking qualities like shadows, highlights and as a bonus I show you how to add a slight page curl to the cover.

Check out the tutorial and let me know what you think.

Want your PowerPoint to Stand out? Then Break the template habit.

2011-10-20T16:28:48Z

What makes PowerPoint such a popular tool is because it is easy to use, with all the templates they provide you can just go in and add content, but of course everyone else is doing the same thing and now we all look alike. One way to break the standard PowerPoint formatting that the majority use, is to be creative with text and when possible not use the standard template options. In my presentations, especially the ones I do over an over (making it worth the time to set up) you will not find a single bullet point in my presentation. Watch the Broccoli Video blog by clicking here to see what I am talking about.

Copy Shortcuts in PowerPoint

2011-10-20T14:21:19Z

I know many people I work with (in the non design world) are clueless to using shortcuts. But there are a few shortcuts that will make your life easier. Lets start of with the obvious like Right Clicking on an image or text and looking for Copy and Paste or with some programs it is now Copy or Duplicated (i.e. PowerPoint 2010) also a nice shortcut is Ctrl + D to duplicate (PC) or Cmd + D (Mac). And of course there are the short cuts for Copy (Ctrl +C), Paste (Ctrl + V), and to cut (Ctrl + X). On the Mac you would use the Cmd key instead. But another slick way to copy or duplicate is to press and hold down the Ctrl key (PC) or Cmd key (Mac) and drag the item you want to duplicate. Also this works pretty well for files on your computer as well. So give it a try it will make your life easier. Click here to watch the short tutorial. Of course if you are in any Adobe Product like Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash, you actually use the alt and drag method. Like really... they could not agree on the same thing?