Posted on 01/10/2007 7:51:25 AM PST by Sonora
Sorry to take up space here, but I need to put together a Powerpoint or some other type of presentation of Excel Spreadsheets in a reaonably small Board Room/Conference Room type setting - projecting the spreadsheets onto a screen for all to view at the same time.
Are there any recommendations out there to easily accomplish to task, the projector to use, whether the use of Powerpoint is the best way to convert spreadsheets for viewing in this environment?
Any input will be sincerely appreciated.
You want to project the spreadsheets themselves?
Can't you summarize them or put them into visuals?
I dont know if you can get a datashow from your IT department but that is what I use and it works like a charm - go ask your IT guys if you can check out the datashow - its easy to use!
Why isn't this in "Breaking News"? -;)
am thinkin 'bout goin to mod. 'bout this thread-inappropriate here!!
If you're only doing spreadsheets, stick with Excel and tab your workbook. Powerpoint presentations are lame and serious people dislike sitting through them.
Find an administrative assistant who will help u. They are the GODS of powerpoint and excel and presentations.
Actually you can embed them in a PP slide, and they will refresh every time they open. you can also imbed charts and graphs the same way
Buy "Microsoft Office for Idiots."
Use pictures, lots of pictures. Spreadsheets are "eye charts".
What is your take away message?
Your first chart should assert your hypothesis, your "take away message"
The following charts should support your assertion.
The final chart restates your original message.
Keep it simple, avoid too many details. Have back up charts for any points that might be unclear or controversial. Keep your back up charts in your back pocket, figuratively.
'ya know Mike, I've been trying and trying to figure out how to imbed Excel objects into Power Point so they WOULD refresh to updated data automatically, but haven't been successful. Care to share your secret?
Yes, you can embed them but why would you want to?
There's nothing worse than looking at raw data in a pp presentation.
Summary statistics and visuals are more appropriate.
If you need both Powerpoint slides to help you explain things, and the spreadsheets themselves, you can put hotlinks to the different spreadsheets on a Powerpoint slide. Then, you can walk through Powerpoint and cut over to the sheets when you need them. Just have them open and ready to go so you won't have to wait for them to open. ALT-TAB back to Powerpoint to continue the presentation material.
If you just want to make a readable graphic out of the spreadsheet try this:
1. In Excel, change the zoom percent until you have the size you want on the screen.
2. Alt-Printscreen will place your image on the clipboard
3. Open a graphic program like Photoshop or Paintshop Pro and paste the picture into a new graphic. Crop the graphic and save it.
4. Insert the graphic onto a PowerPoint slide.
While this doesn't allow the spreadsheets to update, it does give you easy control over size and placement within PowerPoint.
And remember:
PowerPoint sucks and is boring.
Text slides are evil.
Dark rooms are evil.
People who stand with their backs to the audience and read
the slides are evil.
Handouts with all of your slides are evil and should not be
distributed until after your presentation.
The "b" key toggles the presentation off and on leaving a
black screen.
The "w" key toggles the presentation off and on leaving a
white screen (provides light to room).
First, PowerPoint doesn't handle spreadsheet imports cleanly. It'll take a lot of tweaking to make it legible, let alone attractive.
Second, spreadsheets - unless VERY simple - are not good projector viewing. Think of a very dense document projected up there; you're not gonna be able to read it. Spreadsheets are the number version of that.
I'd recommend summarizing, making a nice slide with bullet points of your summary, and printing out the spreadsheets to hand out.
Text slides are kept to an absolute minimum -- if included at all.
And one indication of a good PowerPoint presentation is that it is impossible to print it out directly for distribution. My slides tend to have so much animation and graphical elements that printing the "default" view in PowerPoint is pointless.
People who read to the audience PERIOD are evil.
No one can talk faster than I can read. If you want me to know it, hand it out to me and give me a few to read it for myself.
(Plus, I despise the condescending "reading voice" so many adults assume when they start to read aloud. I've hated it ever since I was teensy, and that's why I learned to read for myself so young.)
You are absolutely right about text slides. PowerPoint slides are about graphics.
Typical Powerpoint:
Here's what I'm going to tell you
Here's what I'm telling you
Here's what I just told you
Any questions?
It should be:
Here is a photo or video that illustrates what I am telling you.
Now that I'm done, here's a handout you can refer to later to remind you of the content of my presentation.
A real winner of a presentation would include:
1. Here's a question I have FOR YOU about the topic at hand (get the audience interested).
2. Here is a photo or video that illustrates what I am telling you.
3. Here are some more questions I have FOR YOU about what I'm telling you (make sure this leads the audience through a series of points as you make them visually).
4. Now that I'm done, here's a handout you can refer to later to remind you of the content of my presentation.
Although I appreciate most replies here, your reply seems like a winner to me.
I don't necessary even want to use Powerpoint - someone just suggested its use, so that suggestion was added to my research. I have around 10 speadsheets, actually a financial report - no text, other than column and row headings - lots of numbers. It appears that the goal is to direct attention to the screen so that there is a lot less talking amongst people within the group, plus (of course) to rely the information.
This may seem like a lame question - placing the new graphic within a PowerPoint slide to produce a PowerPoint presentation - once that is done, a PC is connected to a projector with the projector used to project the image on the screen, correct? Do you have a projector recommendation (brand, type)?
Thanks so much as I've looked around for input and not finding any, I'm trying here - to others, please forgive me for posting such a lame subject.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.