Welcome to the March/April edition of PowerPresentations, The Presentation Team's monthly e-newsletter featuring tips and pointers of importance to today's busy business presenter.  What is it that makes St. Patrick and the Easter Bunny so enjoyable?  Maybe it's their presentation!  This month's newsletter will give you the same tools and techniques as these springtime legends on how to organize, develop and present more effectively.  We welcome your comments and suggestions, and encourage you to share this newsletter with your friends or colleagues.

In this Issue

Company News:  New Presentation Team website draws big traffic … Neil Buckland joins as Creative Assistant … Upcoming Office Move … Videotaping the YMCA Swim Meet
Specials and Promotions:  Free PowerPoint facelifts and $695 custom Template Design packages
PowerPointers:  It’s Scantastic!  Tips for Great Scanned and Digital Images
Speaking Tips:  Perfecting your Presentation:  The Words You Use
Success Stories:  From weak to wow:  Iconix Pharmaceutical presentation enhancement dazzles

Company News
New Presentation Team website draws big traffic … Neil Buckland joins as Presentation Specialist … Upcoming Office Move … Videotaping the YMCA Swim Meet

Seeking to strengthen their brand image, promote presentation tips/strategies, and increase its sales, The Presentation Team recently launched a new high-impact HTML website.  In its first four days, the site generated multiple new business leads and demonstrated a marked increase in visitor visit duration (time spent on site).  The newsmagazine-style site also showcases the firm's emerging "Products and Templates" category, which over the coming months will feature an e-commerce interface for the sale of presentation-related products.  The dynamically-scalable site uses "embedded sectional" navigation, a departure from traditional menu navigation.  Kevin Lerner, Executive Director of the Presentation Team shares that, "Everyone loves it!  This site is more than just an electronic advertisement; it's an online forum and resource center for all presenters."  A companion Flash site will be online in the coming months.

He's smart, enthusiastic, and able to churn out presentation magic with great ease.  He's Neil Buckland, The Presentation Team's new junior Presentation Specialist.  Neil has a background in recording engineering and visual arts, and attended the New World School of the Arts in Miami.  "Neil comes to us at a perfect time in our business; we're confident he's going to have a great impact for us and our clients," explained Rudy Flugel, Director of Operations.

Get ready to update your address book: The Presentation Team is on the move!  In early July, the business will be relocating to Delray Beach, Florida.  Just 30 miles north of its current Fort Lauderdale office, company officials say the move provides them with a more robust business climate and an improved quality of life.  The move should be transparent to clients, who are increasingly using to the Internet to work with the presentation graphics firm.  More details to come!

Every year in April, thousands of young men and women converge in Fort Lauderdale for the YMCA National Swim meet competition.  But organizers of the massive event want even more people to know about it.  So they turned to The Presentation Team to produce a promotional video about competitive swimming.  Rich in interviews and b-roll footage, the tape will undoubtedly inspire many other young people to discover the benefits of competitive swimming.  Details about the edited video are still being negotiated, but digital photographs of the event, including key swimmers, parents/coaches, crowds, are available at http://clients.presentationteam.com/ymca.  Participants of the event can get more information about the video by emailing RFlugel@presentationteam.com.

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Specials and Promotions
Free PowerPoint Facelifts...and the $695 Custom Template Design Package

With the increased prevalence of amateur PowerPoint presentations throughout the corporate market,  The Presentation Team has a graphical challenge:  send them your best- or worst- presentation (at least 20 pages) and they'll pick one slide to enhance and improve... absolutely free. The Free Facelift Service is aimed at companies which have existing PowerPoint presentations but are considering an enhancement. "We want to showcase our value, efficiency, creativity and customer service with this challenge that we can improve any standard PowerPoint presentation," explained executive director Kevin Lerner. <Details>

 Want your presentation to sizzle without spending a lot?  The Presentation Team's Custom Template Design Package may be the solution. For just $695, clients get 3 uniquely original variations of Title Masters and Body Masters for PowerPoint. The service also includes up to two hours of presentation consultation. Often incorporating existing photography and branding elements, the service is touted as a cost-effective way for companies- especially startups- to quickly and professionally transform their existing presentations.  <Details>

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PowerPointers
It's Scantastic!  Tips for Great Scanned and Digital Images
By Kevin Lerner, Executive Director of The Presentation Team 

So you've bought that great scanner and high-end digital camera and are ready to create a terrific presentation with your very own images.  But even though pushing the scan button is simple, scanning smartly takes a bit more planning.  Knowing the basics about color depth, dots per inch (dpi) and scaling can all make your next scanning experience simpler and can result in a more efficient file size. Before starting any scan, it's critical to know how it will be used in your presentation.  When previewing your scan in your scanning software, take the time to set up the following attributes correctly:

DPI/Resolution:  The amount of detail/resolution you want in your scan is controlled by the DPI (Dots Per Inch) Setting.  By not telling your scanning application the specifics of the image you're scanning, you could wind up with an unwieldy 10Mb image instead of a more manageable 100K file.  If your presentation is being projected with 35mm slides (which have 4,000 lines of resolution), scan at 200 dpi (dots per inch).  For computer-based (screen or LCD projected) presentation, scan at a resolution of 72 dpi. 

Size/Physical Dimensions:  Similar to DPI/Resolution, setting the physical size of your scanned image in the scan preview mode (before proceeding to final scan), will ensure your image isn't too small or too large.  If you're working with a presentation for on-screen use, use "pixels" for units of measurement.  If you're projecting at 1024x768, your scan size need not be any larger than the projected size. If your presentation is going to be printed, set the dimensions for a resolution of 300 DPI and the physical units of measurements in inches or centimeters.

Color Depth:  The numbers of colors in your scan will also affect file size.  If you're scanning a photograph, scan at 24-bit or 32-bit (millions of colors) resolution.  If it's a logo or illustration with just a few colors, try an 8-bit scan. 

File Type/Save Options.  JPG are one of the most common format for images.  If scanning a logo or image with just a few colors, the GIF format is often preferred, as it can produce smaller file sizes and doesn't "compress" the image like JPGs.  Also,rather than using the clipboard to cut and paste into PowerPoint, it's smarter to use the Insert Picture command, resulting in much smaller file sizes.

Most scanning preview software will show the estimated file size of the final scan.  Use this as a guide to produce the smallest sized file, so that your file import into PowerPoint at 100% of the desired size and that no resizing within PowerPoint is necessary.  One good technique for scanning is to scan at a high resolution and use a photo editing tool (Photoshop) to re-size the image down to the desired resolution and dimensions.  This way, you're sure to get the perfect sized image imported into your presentation!

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Speaking Tips
Perfecting Your Presentation:  The Words you Use
By Beverly Cohen, Communications Specialist of The Presentation Team

Creating a clear, understandable message takes planning, organization and practice.  The words that you use are vital to the impact of your message.  

Writing a speech is very different from writing a story.  A story is written to be read whereas as speech is written to be heard. With text, the reader can go back at his or her leisure and reread unclear material, or portions that were especially meaningful. This is not true when the message is received primarily through the ears.

• Create vivid word pictures Help the audience to visualize.  Make your words come alive Use words that relate to the senses; words like radiant, mouthwatering, delectable.
  
  
• Clear meanings: avoid slang or words that have multiple meaning. Don't say "blow up" when you mean enlarge.
  
  
• Short, simple sentences. Avoid sentences longer than 7 words. You will have greater impact if you make 2 short sentences.  It's easier to say and easier for your audience to retain.
  
  
• Repetition: Because your message is heard, say it again in many different ways. Often, speakers make the mistake of trying to cram a lot of information into a limited time slot.  It's better to clearly develop a few points than to relate a lot of information that is not fully explained or understood.

Well chosen words, coupled with a powerful delivery, will result in a meaningful, memorable presentation.

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Success Stories
From Weak to Wow:  Iconix Pharmaceuticals presentation enhancement dazzles

Gene splicing, anyone? The presentation developed for Iconix Pharmaceuticals dealt with the everyday topic of chemogenomics. To help explain these complex topics, the California-based company looked to The Presentation Team to enhance its existing PowerPoint show... graphics and content.  Developed with a high-tech blue background and maintaining their key branding, the facelift used techniques such as page-splits and converting bullets to graphics to reduce on-screen clutter.

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