Online PowerPoint Presentation.com

Today, PhoneTopp, a company that develops software for smart phones, announced a new product to stream web conferencing and online PowerPoint presentations directly to your smart phone. The service will take feeds from web conferencing services like WebEx, or Microsoft Live Meeting Web conference, and as a middleman, streamline the data to fit on your phone. This will allow you to participate in web conferences on the go, and without a dedicated computer.

While PowerPoint slides may be hard to view on a smart phone such as the 3.5″ iPhone’s screen, the PhoneTopp application will let you zoom and, zoom out and scroll around the screen to be able to see the presentation in detail. A major feature of the application is that you don’t need to hassle with a complicated login. Once setup, PhoneTopp will call your phone at the time the conference is starting, log you on when you answer, and you will automatically be put into the conference.

PhoneTopp says that it will begin offering the mobile phone service in the first quarter of next year, for about $8 to $10 a month. I’m actually surprised that this type of software doesn’t already exist, and the lifespan for the PhoneTopp service may be limited. While it’s a great stop-gap for the current situation, Online collaboration services are bound to develop dedciated platforms. There’s already rumors, that Citrix is building an iPhone application specifically for it’s GoToMeeting service, and it’s all-too-likely that other web conference and video conferencing services will follow suit.

With a tightening economy, Web conferencing is an attractive option for companies that conduct business with entities around the world. Web conferencing allows instant communication at a fraction of the cost of conventional travel, while saving time and reducing the carbon footprint of your company. Web conferencing is quickly becoming an acceptable and personal way to communicate with your clients, suppliers and employees.

Packetel’s Web conferencing service addresses the communication needs of companies by offering a complete web conferencing solution at an affordable price. The Packetel Turbo Meeting web Conferencing technology is web based, allowing anyone to quickly set up a presentation, and all participants can just as easily join the meeting, without having to download additional software.

Meeting organizers can simply invite their guests to join the online meeting anytime without needing any special training on the software. Packetel also offers additional media rich features for Web conferencing such as whiteboarding and online PowerPoiint presentations at no additional cost. The Turbo Meeting Web conferencing technology is offered at a flat fee of $12.99/month.

Packetel offers users the ability to easily manage their online meetings and Web conferencing invitations via a personal Turbo Meeting Web portal, as well as check the ability to constantly check the Web conference status. Users don’t need any special firewall setup to create or attend a Web conference.

Many web conferencing companies now allow you to upload your PowerPoint presentations and present them during your online meeting. It is important however, to make sure that your presentation is streamlined so that the conversion process from your PowerPoint slides into their format is seamless. Many presentations are artificially “bloated” with large image files and animations and video.

Most web conferencing companies that support online PowerPoint presentations actually convert each PowerPoint side into an image and then sequentially displays the images to look like a standard presentation. This conversion process however will render animations and video unusable, and will usually be displayed however it looks when the slide is first loaded. In developing presentations for the web avoid using animations or video.

Using standard fonts will ensure that the online version of your presentation will look the same as it does on your personal computer. Foreign fonts will often be converted to a standard font that might not look right with your design and theme. Arial and Times New Roman are fonts that are supported by all computers.

Finally, and most importantly, make sure that the images that you are using in your presentation aren’t larger than they need to be. Many people download an image from an email or the web that are very high resolution. When you insert this image into PowerPoint, it will reduce the picture on the screen, but they physical size of the picture is still very large and will make your presentation larger than it needs to be. If you have a very large photograph, use any photo-editing tool to physically reduce the size of the image before inserting it into your presentation.

1. Do not overcrowd you slides. Keep your audience focused on the content of your online PowerPoint presentation. Overuse of images or effects will only distract them from the point you’re trying to make.
2. Use slides to help clarify your online presentation, but don’t use it as a replacement for handouts. If you have lots of technical data to support your idea, email handouts to your participants at the end of the online presentation.
3. Use animations and video sparingly. Many webcasting and web conferencing services won’t easily support multi-media content and if your online presentation relies too heavily upon it, you might find yourself in a difficult position if you have nothing else to present with.
4. Create a concluding slide that includes 3–5 key messages that summarize your content.
5. You can never emphasize your main point too many times. Repetition is the easiest way to have your audience remember your message.
6. Keep your design elements consistent throughout the entire online presentation. This includes layout, color scheme, font type (use no more than two throughout the entire presentation), font size and bulleting style.
7. Be as brief as possible. Instead of writing out complete sentences, use bulleted phrases as speaking points. Limit your bullets to around 6-8 per slide.
8. Keep lots of space in between your text for easier reading. Many people viewing an online PowerPoint presentation will not be watching it on the same sized monitor that your created it on. Test your online presentation on a variety of monitors before presenting.
9. Avoid using all CAPS, even when you are looking to emphasize an issue. Online, all CAPS have an appearance you’re yelling, not just emphasizing. Use color, or bold/italics for emphasis.
10. Avoid busy backgrounds, if you decide to have a background at all. Make sure that all of your text and images are contrasted against the background if you choose one. People have a variety of preferences for light/dark and contrast on their monitor, so text that is a similar color as your background may not show up at all on some monitors.

1. Present Compelling Material

Even the most stunning presentation won’t hold an audience that isn’t interested in the material, especially if you’re presenting at an online web conference. PowerPoint should be used to help illustrate a good idea, not to misdirect them from a poor one.

2. The KISS Principle (Keep it Simple Stupid)

The most effective PowerPoint presentations are simple — charts that are easy to understand, and graphics that reflect what the speaker is saying. Some experts suggest no more than five words per line and no more than five lines per individual slide.

3. Minimize Detailed Facts and Figures in Slides

An effective PowerPoint presentation doesn’t overwhelm an audience with too much data. Save the technical details for handouts distributed after the presentation. If they’re trying to digest too much information during your presentation, they’re likely to miss your key concepts.

4. Time Your Remarks

As you click to a new slide, give your audience a chance to briefly review it before you start speaking. Never read directly from your slides. Instead make remarks that clarify and extend beyond the information on the page.

5. Distribute Handouts at the End of the Presentation

While presenting, you want the audience paying attention to you and not reading through your handouts and chatting amongst themselves. Distribute handouts at the end of the presentation, or if presenting via web conference, email handouts to everyone that attended after the presentation is finished.