Book Review: Microsoft PowerPoint Best Practices, Tips, and Techniques

Mar 21, 2023

Microsoft PowerPoint Best Practices, Tips, and Techniques

“Microsoft PowerPoint Best Practices, Tips, and Techniques: An indispensable guide to mastering PowerPoint’s advanced tools to create engaging presentations” is an outstanding guidebook that provides business professionals with the essential tools and techniques needed to create effective and visually appealing PowerPoint presentations. 

Written by a PowerPoint expert and Microsoft MVP, this guide covers a wide range of advanced tools and techniques that are often overlooked in creating impactful presentations. From audience analysis to visual design, AI-powered tools, multimedia elements, third-party add-ins, interactive features, and presentation delivery, this guidebook has everything you need to create compelling presentations that resonate with your audience.

Overview

The book starts by providing a clear overview of what every creator should consider when working on a presentation: their target audience. Audiences have specific needs and, in order to communicate a message properly, it is important to know what are the elements that can help a presentation become engaging rather than draining. This first section analyzes the audience and presentation delivery needs, providing valuable insights into understanding the audience’s preferences and tailoring presentations accordingly. 

After providing this strong and clear basis, the narrative goes right into the theory behind efficient design principles. Everything from the use of color, fonts, and graphics, to visual and multimedia elements, such as transitions and animations, to create more engaging and dynamic presentations. Furthermore, it moves on to building flexibility and interactivity into presentations by covering the use of interactive features, such as hyperlinks and action buttons.

Advantages

  • The book goes right into leveraging PowerPoint’s Slide Master for design and using PowerPoint’s Document Masters for accessible handouts and notes. These tools are crucial for maintaining consistency throughout a presentation and providing easily accessible information for the audience.
  • One of the standout features of the book is its coverage of artificial intelligence and its use in improving visuals. This section covers AI-powered tools, such as PowerPoint Designer and Ideas, which can help users streamline their creation process without losing quality.
  • It also covers the use of PowerPoint third-party add-ins, which can further enhance presentations with additional features and functionality. The book provides an overview of some of the most popular add-ins and their use cases.
  • The final chapters of the book cover practicing presentation delivery, using Presenter View, and using PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams. These sections provide valuable tips for presenting with confidence and ensuring that remote presentations run smoothly.
  • It is well-structured, with clear explanations and helpful illustrations, making it easy to follow and understand.

About

Chantal Bossé is a highly respected visual communication leader and Microsoft 365 expert who has spent over 20 years helping businesses and organizations create compelling and effective visual messaging. Based in Canada, Chantal Bossé excels in the fields of visual communication and public speaking coaching. She has worked with a diverse range of clients, from small startups to multinational corporations, and has helped them to communicate their message in a clear and engaging way.

In addition to her work in visual communication, Chantal Bossé is also a skilled M365 trainer, helping end users leverage the power of applications available in their ecosystem to improve their work. She is a passionate advocate for the arts and believes in the power of visual storytelling to inspire and connect people.

Conclusion

“Microsoft PowerPoint Best Practices, Tips, and Techniques: An indispensable guide to mastering PowerPoint’s advanced tools to create engaging presentations” an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve their presentation design skills without jumping from one resource to another one. Following the line provided by this guide allows users to achieve progress without getting lost into the research phase that mastering a new software or skill requires.  

The book’s clear explanations, helpful illustrations, and expert techniques make it a valuable addition to any business professional’s library. If you are looking to create more impactful and visually appealing PowerPoint presentations, then “PowerPoint Pro” is a must-read book. The book’s most significant strength is its emphasis on the importance of understanding the audience and tailoring presentations accordingly. This approach helps readers create presentations that are both effective and engaging, ensuring that the presentation resonates with the audience.

Where to buy

Get a paperback or eBook version from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

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