oiltemp.info

PowerPoint is a powerful business tool but only if it is used to its best advantage. Matt Thornhill, President of Audience First, a Midlothian, VA business that offers presentation training says, “PowerPoint makes slides; it doesn’t give presentations. Remember that you are creating slides to support a spoken presentation.” With that in mind, here are eight things you can do to create powerful slides to support your presentations.

1. Keep it simple. Don’t use too many words or too many graphics. Figures and numbers do not translate well on screen. Refer to figures and numbers in your handouts where they can be digested more thoroughly, later. If you need to emphasize a statistic in PowerPoint, consider using a graphic or image to convey the point.

2. Use fonts judiciously. Use the same font for your entire slide set and use no more than two complementary fonts (i.e. Ariel and Arial Bold). Regardless of what font style you choose, be sure the text can be seen in the back of the room. A font size of no less than 24 pt should be used for general text. For titles or headings, use 36 to 44 points

3. Use color well. A white or light background with black or dark text works best. A screen image with a dark background and light text will wash out, but dark text on a light background will maintain its visual intensity.

4. Don’t use cheesy or tired clip art. If you found your image in the clipart library that came with PowerPoint, your audience has seen it 1000 times. Use outside images and graphics for variety and visual appeal.

5. Limit bullet points and text. The best slides may have no text at all. Remember the slides are meant to support the speaker, not make the speaker superfluous. Well designed slides are worthless without the presentation that accompanies them; you’ll know you have achieved this when someone who missed your presentation asks you for your slides and later tells you they had no idea what the point of the presentation was.

6. Use bullet points properly. Bullet point should never contain full sentences. Use bullet points to deliver key ideas. Remember the 6 x 6 rule: bullet points should have no more than six words and there should be no more than six bullet points on the screen.

7. Have a visual theme. Similar to the library of clip art available in PowerPoint, it’s probable that your audience has seen every template which is available through the program. Go online to find other PowerPoint designs that are available or create your own with a simple background and color scheme.

8. Avoid movement of slide elements. While moving text or graphics around on the slide may look like fun, it’s very distracting to the audience. Avoid the “build” animation feature unless it is imperative that your points be revealed slowly.

The word ‘available’ as used in LC operations, ranks high on the list of terms that confuse exporters. A letter of credit should clearly specify how it is available; by sight payment, deferred payment, acceptance or negotiation [article 6(b), UCP 600].

It is preferable for exporters that letter of credits be advised available with a local bank, or at least with a bank in the exporter’s own country. For instance, if the letter of credit is available at the counters of a local advising bank by sight payment, deferred payment, acceptance, where confirmation is added, then the exporter will, in the normal course of events, receive payment or have a bank acceptance or a deferred payment commitment a few days after presenting documents complying with the terms of the letter of credit. Such commitments are definitive and without recourse to the exporter. However, if a letter of credit is not confirmed, such advising bank may decide not to pay, accept or issue a deferred payment commitment at the time documents are presented, even if they are presented in order [article 12, UCP 600]. There can be many reasons for this, but the most common is that the advising bank where the letter of credit is available is not satisfied with the bank risk or country risk.

If on the other hand, the letter of credit was confirmed, such advising/confirming bank would have no option but to take up documents which comply with the terms and conditions of the LC and honor its commitment to the exporter.

Negotiation deserves a special mention. Negotiation is a term which regularly confuses exporters and perhaps even some bankers. If a letter of credit is available by negotiation with an advising bank and not confirmed, that bank has the option to pay to the exporter, remit the documents and claim payment from the issuing bank. The exporter must realize that the final decision as to whether or not documents meet the terms and conditions of the letter of credit, and consequently as regards payment, rests with the issuing bank. The negotiating bank will request repayment from the beneficiary (with interest) if payment is not received from the issuing bank. Negotiation without confirmation is with recourse.

A letter of credit available by negotiation and confirmed by the negotiating bank means that the negotiating bank has no option but to negotiate documents presented complying with the terms and conditions of the letter of credit. Such negotiation under a confirmed letter of credit is without recourse. Where a letter of credit is only available by negotiation and not confirmed, many banks which have been nominated as negotiating banks are not prepared to take the risk of paying the exporter for fear they may not get reimbursed. Exporter should appreciate the service provided by a bank when it negotiates documents, and also understand why a bank is not always prepared to negotiate.

I recently remarked to a colleague that I’ve seen a PowerPoint presentation malfunction of one sort or another at virtually every conference or meeting I have attended. Too often a simple step could have prevented a disastrous result, and this couldn’t be more true for PowerPoint fonts. If you’ve ever spent hours preparing a presentation with thoughtfully selected fonts only to see many of your fonts suddenly change at the moment of truth — when you’re on stage and presenting — then you’ve encountered the PowerPoint font trap.

It’s far more serious than just an aesthetic issue. The wrong font can change word wrapping, table spacing, and the overall readability and professional look of the presentation you worked so hard on. Fortunately, it’s an easy problem to prevent.

Why does this happen? The maddening font problem is caused by the simple fact that the computer you’re presenting on does not have the same fonts installed as the computer on which the presentation was prepared. Windows tries to substitute a similar font, but often the results are far from acceptable. The PowerPoint font problem can crop up in all versions of Powerpoint, including PowerPoint 2007.

Here’s how to font-proof your next presentation:

• Alternative #1: Choose “Safe” Basic Fonts: If you stick to basic fonts that are likely to be installed on any computer (such as Times New Roman, Arial, Symbol, Courier New), you’re very likely, though not absolutely guaranteed, to be safe. (I’ve seen some computers where some popular fonts had been removed.) This is surely the fastest and easiest approach, though you’ll sacrifice some pizzazz by using unexciting and overused fonts.

• Alternative #2: Embed Fonts into Your Presentation: When you embed the fonts you’ve used into your presentation, they’ll travel with your presentation and display no matter what fonts are (or are not) installed on the computer it’s being displayed with. To embed the fonts into your presentation in PowerPoint 2007, follow these steps:

1. Select the Office Button (at the top left of the PowerPoint window)
2. Select the PowerPoint Options button, which lies along the bottom margin of the window that opens when you press the Office Button
3. Select Save in the list of options that appears on the left of the PowerPoint Options window
4. Now check the Embed Fonts in File box and select the second sub-option, Embed all characters. This is the safest option and ensures that you’ll have ALL of the characters of all of the fonts in your presentation on any computer, a safeguard I highly recommend in case you or a colleague wants to further edit the presentation.

If you’re using PowerPoint 2003, select File > Save As…, then select Save Options from the Tools menu at the top of the Save As… dialogue box and check the Embed True Type Fonts box.

For PowerPoint 2000, select File > Save As…, then select Embed True Type Fonts from the Tools menu at the top of the Save As… dialogue box. (In PowerPoint 2000 you’ll need to specify this every time you save a new presentation.)

• Alternative #3: Package Your Presentation for CD: In PowerPoint 2007 and 2003, use the Package for CD feature. In PowerPoint 2000, use the Pack and Go wizard. The Package for CD feature assembles and packages your presentation and related graphics, videos and fonts for distribution. For PowerPoint 2007, follow these steps:

1. Select the Office Button (at the top left of the PowerPoint window)
2. Select the Publish option
3. Select Package for CD

I never underestimate the importance of peace of mind when giving a presentation and it’s often the little things that bite. Font-proof your PowerPoint presentations and rid yourself of at least one worry…and potential landmine.