The Presentation Podcast – episode 181!
New episode available today! TED talks and quality presenting are synonymous. Troy, Nolan and Sandy enjoy a conversation with Jacqueline Farrington, a former TEDx Senior Speaker Coach, and author of the just released, and already award-winning book, “Better Presentations. How to Present Like a Pro, virtually or in person.” Join and hear what Jacqueline has to say about presentation design and delivery!
Listen here.
Why Separate Text Boxes Over Shapes is BAD
Continuing on from the previous post, “Circles and Text (that does not fit)“, with some best practice reasons for NOT stacking a text box on top of a shape.
- It is lazy formatting.
- Often it is because knowing how to control PowerPoint’s text formatting within a shape are not features used (see the previous post on using shape internal margins as an example of formatting options that are not commonly used).
- It makes future edits to the slide tedious. As an example, two elements, the shape and the text box, need to be moved together to stay aligned.
- Text boxes stacked on top of a shape generally are not truly horizontally aligned to the shape. As example, a text box stacked on top of a shape with the text horizontally centered is most likely not actually centered, because the text box margins push the text off center – ugh!
- Animation seems easier, but again, a shape and text within the shape can be set as independent elements on the animation timeline – overcoming almost every instance where the two separate elements have been stacked and animated separately.
- The Office/PowerPoint accessibility tools do not work, because they have several limitations on identifying stacked elements. As example, white text on top of a light blue shape is (currently) not seen by the accessibility checker as a flagged low contrast item, because PowerPoint looks at a text box, what that text box shape fill color is, and then the slide background. It ignores layered elements.
- It is easier to manage text line wraps if the text is within a shape vs. manually adjusting – and the line wrap needs are automatically updated when the shape, or the text size, is updated – if the text is part of the shape.
The important message is, creating PowerPoint slides is a balancing act of what is fast and looks okay vs. using best practices to create slides that are future-proofed for easy formatting and use.
Troy @ TLC
Circles and Text (that does not fit)
I really (really) do not like it when a separate text box is placed on top of a circle, because “the text would not fit”. In transparency, this may be exactly what I dealt with while formatting a presentation – and I am solving the problem by showing how to “make the text fit” in a circle.
Here is the common situation. The circle is where it is needed, and the size needed. The text is added to the circle object, but it does not fit and wraps to two lines.
Looking at the circle and its text properties reveals the problem. The circle has an interior text margin applied, making full circle not available for the text.
If we remove the interior margin and set the Left/Right/Top/Bottom to zero, the text now has room to fit inside the circle! Same font and font size, the text just needed to be able to get closer to the edge of the circle.
Here I do not want the text to fit, I want it large and overlapping the circle. But PowerPoint is being too helpful and keeping the text inside the circle. Note: the shape margins are set to zero’s (which is great).
In this situation, turn off the text wrap. This allows the big text to stay as part of the circle, but go beyond the circle shape
Troy @ TLC
Windows Snipping Tool Has Taken Over the PRINTSCREEN Button
I have been a Techsmith Snagit user for a long time, and I use it 10-50 times each day, primarily for screen captures (design feedback where an image is easier than 2 paragraphs, or tutorials like the screen capture images in this blog post!).
Windows added the “Windows Snipping Tool” to the OS, and it is a nice screen capture tool. We use it on our rental fleet of show computers. But I cannot live without Snagit.
A recent Windows 11 update changed the behavior of my PRINT SCRN button – it made the Windows Snipping Tool activate when it was clicked. But I have purposefully set the PRINT SCRN button on my computer to launch the Snagit app. And, the Windows OS settings are different now, making it a bit more awkward to allow a different app (instead of Windows Snipping Tool app) use the PRINT SCRN button. If you found this blog post from a search, I am guessing you too want to change what app is opened when print screen is clicked. Here is the solution:
- Open the Windows Search bar
- Type “Snipping Tool”
- Select the option “Use the Print screen key to open Snipping Tool”
- This opens the Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard dialog
- Turn OFF the option telling Windows to open the Snipping Tool app when the Print Screen button is clicked
That’s it. Now the preferences in Snagit, or any other app, can be set to use the Print Screen button.
Now, here is what I am guessing you did (I did):
- Open the Snipping Tool app
- Click the 3-dot menu and select SETTINGS
- Scroll down to the SHORTCUTS section and become perplexed by the info to open Windows Settings…
- Eventually go to the Windows Settings and update as noted above.
Keep this blog post handy. I assume each major Windows 11 update will reset this setting and the Print Screen button will revert to opening Windows native screen capture app – Snipping Too.
Troy @ TLC
Slidewise Has a New Icon (Yay!!)
Neuxpower’s Slidewise PowerPoint add-in has an updated version. Version 1.10.0.0. If you have Slidewise installed, it is a free and quick install. Go to Slidewise on the PowerPoint toolbar and select CHECK FOR UPDATES, which opens the Slidewise website to the download page (or go here).
There are a few feature updates. But the update that has me excited is the app icon has changed! This is most likely only going to be exciting for those that also use Slido – which I do. Both icons are located on the HOME tab. Both are green. Both have a large letter “S”. And both (were) round. All the similarities to assure you click the wrong icon often!
I welcome the new square Slidewise icon and say THANK YOU to the Neuxpower dev team for making changes to their app to help users!
Troy @ TLC
Outlook’s New Emoji Reply to Emails
Microsoft Office apps continue to evolve. I mentioned this on The Presentation Podcast episode that was released this week – Outlook has a new “emoji” reply option.
So instead of replying with an email message we can now make our replies like a text message and “like-heart-smiley” them…
If you give an emoji reply, Outlook replies with an email like this:
Troy @ TLC
The Presentation Podcast – Whatever Happened to TED?
Technology, Entertainment, Design – TED, ideas worth spreading. TED talks provide an amazing platform for presenters. The organization has made quality presentation skills and presentation design a factor to be considered in all presentations. Our conversation today is that for the three of us, it feels as though the age of the TED Talk has diminished. We are revisiting TED talks and sharing our favorite talks, old and new, what talks we have been involved with, and where TED is today.