PowerPoint Presentation Tips:ROADSHOWS
You are (or your boss is..! ) a presentation road warrior...
...so here are a few very simple, useful tips, courtesy of
IMEDIAT , that will:
Ensure the safe delivery of all components of your presentation.
Substantially reduce your presentation's size.
Increase compatibility with other systems.
This guide shows you how.
The guide is created with PowerPoint version 2002
(or higher) in mind, however most versions work in a similar manner.
(Should you find a mismatch between this guide and your version of PowerPoint,
please contact us for additional support - free of charge.)
Imediat recommends you use these tips when creating/saving your presentation for
any conference. The tips are all based on how you actually save your presentations.
NOTES:
While it makes sense to submit an optimised
presentation, you should keep an uncompressed original version.
Step 1: Getting Started
PowerPoint gives you a range of options when you are about
to save your presentation.
These options are available after
you select 'File -> Save as...' in the main
application window.
Please do this now.
** Your presentation may include fonts that are not available
on the target machine.
However, you can tell PowerPoint to include
these fonts in the presentation. Here, Step 2 shows you how.
Step 2: Embed Fonts
Follow the instructions in step 1. You should now see the Save as... dialogue window.
To ensure the safe delivery of your presentation, make a conference-specific copy of the presentation using your company name within the file name. For example, if you are the XYZ Oil Company call your presentation "XYZ.ppt" rather than [Conference_Name].ppt.
Once you have typed in a new file name, please select the Tools -> Save Options.. menu item (as illustrated in the image to the right).
Ensure the code Save Options dialogue pops up. Proceed as below.
The dialogue now open contains options for embedding fonts. We are only
interested in the bottom items:
Font options for current document only
Tick the Embed TrueType fonts box. PowerPoint will now store your fonts along with your presentation. (If other users open your presentation, they can now view and print the fonts even if they are not installed on their computer.)
Once you have selected Embed TrueType fonts, click the OK button once . Do not close the Save as dialogue.
Read the text below.
Now that the font issue is covered, let us move on to optimising the graphics
included in your presentation.
The format and size of your embedded graphics can make a world of difference to
the overall file size. By following these simple steps, you may be able to
drastically reduce the size and performance of your presentation (in some cases
up to 80%).
Step 3: Optimise Graphics
If you followed the instructions in step 2, you should
now be back to the 'Save as' dialogue.
Revisit the Tools menu and select the item Compress Pictures.
Ensure that a new dialogue box entitled Compress Pictures pops up.
Read the text below.
In this window, we want to make the changes indicated by the screenshot.
Select Web/Screen under Change resolution.
Tick both boxes under Options.
(PowerPoint will compress (convert) the pictures using what is called the
JPEG codec, as well as reducing the size of your image files by discarding
the cropped areas of embedded pictures.)
Press the 'OK' button once to get back to the 'Save as'
dialogue, and then press 'OK' again to save the optimised presentation.
Make sure that you do not save on top of your original presentation by giving it
a different File name.
Embedded Video
Embedded video can be compressed and encoded in a variety of formats, for
a variety of purposes.
If you embed video in your presentation, you should be aware what codec
is used, and if it is likely that this codec is supported on the target
machine.
If you did not encode the video yourself, it might be a good idea to approach
the person who did. Ask what codec he or she used to encode the video, and
if there are any special requirements for it to work on other computers.
