Go Beyond The Ordinary With Your Next Presentation...
…provide a well-designed and rich multimedia experience!

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have two of the most sought-after graphic design professionals sitting next to you at your computer as you navigate through the infinite possibilities of your next important presentation? How to Wow with PowerPoint is the next best thing. It’s the brainchild of Richard Harrington and Scott Rekdal, who have developed an incredible way to help you reach your full creative potential. A book for non-designers, Richard and Scott guide you step by step through realworld projects with an emphasis on cutting through the clutter and focusing on good design principles as a more effective way to build presentations. You’ll receive tips and techniques on everything from selecting and preparing images to integrating sound and motion. Whether it’s adding effective transitions to your slides or making the presentation technically sound and mobile, you’ll be given the tools at every stage of the creative process in order to learn How to Wow!

We begin with the important essentials of typography, layout, and design, and move on to creating tables, charts, graphs, and custom templates. Next comes the fun stuff, with projects focusing on audio and video files and integrating Flash. Finally, there is a chapter devoted to exporting and publishing, including how to create handouts, upload to the Web, and other ways to share your presentation. On the How to Wow CD-ROM is everything you’ll need to complete the projects.

The How to Wow CD-ROM Makes it a Snap!
The How to Wow with PowerPoint companion CD at the back of this book contains all the files you’ll need, including:

• Easy to use PowerPoint templates for each chapter to help you navigate through these projects and learn essential techniques. And you can modify the templates later for your own presentations.

• PLUS all the photographs, video and audio files used in the projects! Follow along with the lessons to dramatically increase your understanding of how these features are used and how they can be applied to your work, everyday!

• Extra presentation goodies that are ready to use such as stock photos, fonts, backgrounds, extra templates, and checklists to help you wow your audience.
  

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 9 Ratings

A Definite Wow - 2007-06-03
Reviewer Rating:
We looked at several books on using PowerPoint, and by far the best is this one from Peachpit Press.

"How to Wow" is lavishly illustrated with examples of the authors' best presentations, and you can duplicate any of them by using the templates in the DVD that comes with the book. One of the things that impressed us was the techniques for bringing YouTube videos and Internet Web content into your presentation.

Bob Schwabach and I are syndicated newspaper columnists who write the "On Computers" column, distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to 16 newspapers around the world.

This is the book you are looking for... - 2007-04-13
Reviewer Rating:
I have been really pleased with this book. I am not "new" to PowerPoint or computers. I know how to "use" the features of PowerPoint, and did not need a primer on the product. What I wanted to know was how to make presentations that had some "pop". I've seen a LOT of presentations. Most of them are dull. Some of them are amazing. I wanted to make an amazing presentation. I don't have a graphics art department.

This book helped me to understand how to make those amazing presentations. The book presents its concepts quickly and efficiently. I was able to read the book while developing content. I was able to create a presentation where people said "wow". Better yet, I think I learned some really good lessons that will serve me well for a long time. My presentations will be very different from now on.

This book is very customized for PowerPoint 2007. I have this, so I was happy to be able to use the new features it offers (which I believe are extensive).

This book delivered to me what I wanted. I would recommend it to others.

THE book to read if you want to learn Powerpoint - 2007-04-02
Reviewer Rating:
I am a lawyer who recently began using Powerpoint presentations for clients. While I am a pretty savvy computer user and can do quite a bit with MS Word, the steep learning curve of Powerpoint often left me frustrated. It always seemed that the expert functions that separated the "run of the mill" presentation from the great presentation were eluding me.
Like many others, I don't have the kind of time to try to figure out how to use Powerpoint like a pro. I use a computer to make my life easier, so to dedicate hours upon hours trying to figure Powerpoint out is out of the question.
Enter How to Wow with Powerpoint. I bought the book to see if it could help me at all, as I was getting annoyed that I had invested so much in the Office suite and felt that my Powerpoint presentations were amateurish. This book immediately justified the hundreds of dollars I spent on Office. It quickly and thoroughly brought me to another level when working with Powerpoint. The instructions are clear and the templates are extremely helpful.
I read this book in two sittings. It was easy to read with quite a few pictures, charts and diagrams. It kept me focused because it was so easy to relate the words on the pages to my actual projects. I couldn't wait to take what I had read and apply it to my presentations. Now that I have read the book, I keep it next to the computer in my office as a reference book (As an aside, this book is named "How to Wow" and not the "For Dummies" series. I would not display a book in a professional setting that is "For Dummies" as I do not believe it is appropriate).
This book made me tremendously more productive and creative then I was able to be before having read it. I believe this is the mark of a great how-to book. I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and would say that if you plan on buying Powerpoint, this book is essential.

A disservice to the "How to Wow" series - 2007-11-07
Reviewer Rating:
The How to Wow series started off focusing on Photoshop. It was a handy collection of tips. Yes, the information could be gleaned from other sources, but it was convenient to have it assembled between covers and with the accompanying CD. Many of the effects were reasonably complex and not easily accessible to beginners or, often, even pros.

The How to Wow series has expanded and as with so many other franchises like this, it has cheapened itself.

"How To Wow With PowerPoint" brings nothing worthwhile to the table. Its tips and hints are simplistic and basic: you can find similar collections on the web for free. Even at the Amazon price, this book is not, in my opinion, worth the money.

Some of the tips border on the bizarre: " "Are You an iPod User? iTunes Works for PowerPoint". Two pages with four liberally spaced paragraphs and lots of white space wasted on this. Filler material and nothing more.

"Insert Video on a slide" takes four pages. It's covered completely in less space in the PowerPoint help file.

This book doesn't deal with making effective presentations. It's just a collection of rudimentary techniques that are all covered in the PowerPoint help file. As well, there are literally dozens of websites covering PowerPoint that have the same or better materials.

I think Jack Davis, the founder of the How To Wow series, should be ashamed of himself for letting this title go out under his imprimatur.

Jerry

Two top-notch graphic design professionals offer up high standards for Powerpoint presentations - 2007-06-17
Reviewer Rating:
Two top-notch graphic design professionals offer up high standards for Powerpoint presentations which go far beyond the rudiments in How to Wow with Powerpoint, a guide to achieving the next level of potential with the program. Non-designers will appreciate the easy approach that focuses on building good design principles to build more effective presentations. From selecting and preparing images to blend in sound and motion and moving from slides to animated presentations, HOW TO WOW WITH POWERPOINT is a reference any computer or business library needs: it's packed with visuals and an easy format which lends to use..

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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