| |
| |
|
Software Information |
|
|
|
Razzle Dazzle Them
Once upon a time not so long ago, there was a little boy who went to the market to try to sell his wares. He wasn't having any luck. "Who will buy my sweet red roses? Two blooms for a penny," he sang out hauntingly. A young man came along, full of soft-spoken enthusiasm. "I can give you a great tool that will help you sell your roses. I can design this fabulous new application to help you get your message across. I can give you templates, hundreds of pretty clipart. You can create your presentations in blazingly brilliant colours with glorious animation. I can?" "But, sir (kind knighted sir), they're only roses?" "Ah, don't you see. What you need are pretty pictures, snappy words. Then, you can sell anything." The young man started singing, "If you give them a bit of the razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle them. You've got to razzle dazzle them. Today the roses, tomorrow the world!" And so marked the birth of slide show presentation software. (Sorry, guys. That was just a bit of unconfirmed rumour). What is true, however, is how much slide show presentation software such as PowerPoint has revolutionised the business world. Company forecasts are now disseminated in presentations (complete with video clip, animation and sound). Staff meetings are run in slide shows. Project status meetings are driven by presentation slides. Even courtesy signs are printed using presentation software. You know the ones I mean: "Please Ensure You Have Flushed Before You Leave!" on the toilet doors and "Please clean up after yourself. Your mother does NOT work here!" over the kitchen sinks. I confess. I have cultivated a doomed PowerPoint dependency over time. I've spent countless hours tinkering with the graphics, experimenting with 100 shades of blue and resizing 500 different tiny icons until they were the identical size. More tragically, I've worked into the dead of the night typing, deleting and retyping to come up with just the right word - one that's concise, punchy and easy on the eye. Commenced?no. On track?oooh. Ahead of schedule?hmm. Completed? YES! After all, "Preliminary high-level design specifications - Completed" is easier on the eye than "Design Specification - Commenced". One of my corporate-ignoramis friends was not so convinced. According to her, if presentation software really was the greatest thing since sliced bread, then one must be able to do a lot more with the application. It must become an indispensable part of modern civilisation. She set me a challenge, which I accepted (all too hastily). It meant that last weekend, armed with my laptop and my all-in-one scanner-printer-copier, I made the following five things for home: The same day I presented my 9-year-old niece with her "certificate of achievement", she thanked me with her own presentation for me (and a very pretty and professional looking one at that). The feature slide looked like this: Why I deserve a NEW PC: It got me thinking. Somewhere along the line, we have turned everything into presentations and slides shows as though every piece of communication is a sales pitch. I suppose I'm not intrinsically against the presentation software. After all, it is just a tool - not the Devil incarnate. It is us, the intelligent users, who control the quality of our communication (with or without the aid of the presentation software). Quality comes from following the fundamentals like: keep the presentation points to the point, don't bore the audience, don't read from the slide, avoid excessive jargon, don't dumb down the actual speech and, most of all, content matters. The folly lies in the well-intentioned experimenters who insist on cramming the page with either whiz-bang animations or smearing the page with linguistic tripe. Whoosh, another bullet point shoots across the page. Whoosh, I've forgotten what the presenter just said. So, let's make a pact that we shall never bore each other with show-and-tell-a-thons. We shall never try to bamboozle each other with impressive looking slides. We shall never swamp presentations with meaningless graphics or management-speak jargons. We cannot let a piece of software get the better of us. In the mean time, I can't wait for the introduction of the 'Resume Template'. Perhaps it will come in Productivity Service Pack 143. About The Author Nancy Huang works as a business consultant and project manager. She enjoys writing in her spare time and is keen to be write on demand and be more widely published.
MORE RESOURCES:
Software - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Collaboration Software: Index of Collaboration Software Technologies Collaboration SoftwareCollaboration Software, also known as group collaboration software or groupware, is software which allows cooperation on a business document between multiple parties on multiple computers. Collaboration software also allows the integration and merging of document changes and versions on a business document. String in Java Handling character strings in Java is supported through two final classes: String and StringBuffer. The String class implements immutable character strings, which are read-only once the string has been created and initialized, whereas the StringBuffer class implements dynamic character strings. Manufacturing Solutions for Microsoft Great Plains - Overview for Consultant Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has full-featured manufacturing set of modules. In this small article we would like to give you highlights on what kinds of light customization you could deploy, before jumping into Microsoft Great Plains Manufacturing realm. C++ Function Templates C++ Function templates are those functions which can handle different data types without separate code for each of them. For a similar operation on several kinds of data types, a programmer need not write different versions by overloading a function. Start Developing Your Own Software Learning how to program software seems like a daunting task fit only for the geeks and nerds who lock themselves away in dark rooms staring at their monitors for days on end as they pour over thick manuals written largely in zeros and ones. Fortunately the reality is that it's not as complicated to make basic applications as people may think. Put Some Pizazz in Your Software Arsenal The software giants don't do everything and don't always produce the result that we want. At least if you're like me, and you're not where you would like to be (profitwise). Implementing Microsoft CRM: setup and configuration - notes for IT specialist Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is web-based CRM application, deploying all the spectrum of recent Microsoft technologies. We'll try to analyze different needs and implementation scenarios attributed to specific industries and business types, based on our experience. Interactive Mapping Brings Information to Life What is Interactive Mapping?Interactive mapping is a visual display medium which allows graphing, mapping, and even conversion to PDF of any type of information. This technology is used by national government agencies, airlines, chambers of commerce, ski resorts, and countless corporations to make information accessible and interactive to whomever they present the information. Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway MS CRM is very close to document workflow automation, including Microsoft Office documents: Words, Excel, etc. The document workflow was perfectly automated about 10 years ago in Lotus Notes Domino. Microsoft Great Plains PM: Payables Management Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies as well as Navision (which has very good positions in Europe and emerging markets where it can be easily localized).Great Plains Payables Management (PM) module improves control over your payables. Perfectly New Database Query Tool - Foxy SQL Pro Released Are you a database professional? Do you work with a lot of databases? Do you use an SQL code? Do you want to connect to a new database to physically create its structure in no time and with ease? Are you tired of having to handle several client applications?If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, I recommend you to go on reading this article.Let's imagine you work with let's say three databases. COSMIC: A Small Improvement on the Symons Method The COSMIC FP (function point) software quality metric, is no longer 'proposed' but an actual system in use and internationally recognised, whereas MarkII, like other older systems, is not recognised anywhere, and, even in the UK is in decline if not actually dormant, so this debate is already over.Historically, from my limited understanding of the situation, it seems that originally there were upwards of 35 variants of function point style metrics until the ISO developed criteria for a acceptable solution, ISO 14143: Parts 1 to 5 (1995-2002):The COSMIC group reviewed existing functional size measurement methods, namely the work done in the late 80's by Charles Symons in the UK. What to Do if All Screensavers Fun is Grayed Out? Finally, you have some time to personalize your desktop with an interesting screensaver. But wait. What is Preventive Maintenance Software? Preventive Maintenance (PM) is defined as scheduled work done on a system to identify and fix any occurring issues before they become problems. The concept of preventive maintenance applies to many different industries. Corporate ERP Selection: Microsoft Great Plains In our opinion, traditional approach when you select ERP/MRP system for large or mid-size company by functionality, database and hardware platform should be revised. We are convinced that new generation of Windows servers plus the reliability of relatively inexpensive database platform, such as Microsoft SQL Server, enable large corporation to decrease the cost of hardware, database and ERM software, plus have good internal support by hiring Microsoft certified professionals, available on the market in your area. HSphere Control Panel Tips and Tricks - Power At Your Fingertips: Part 1 The first topic we are going to discuss is email. HSPHERE (the software running the control panel) offers many useful functions including mail forwarding, auto responders and a mail list manager. How to Get The Best Accounting Software For Your Small Business Buying accounting software is a major investment. It's an important decision and you need to be sure of all the facts before you buy. A Simple Guide To Wikis A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don't need to understand any complex HTML, or anything like that to use a wiki. Microsoft Great Plains Installation - Overview for IT Director/Controller Microsoft Great Plains is main mid-market application from Microsoft Business Solutions. This is short article, written in question/answer/FAQ style to give IT Director/Controller balanced top level information on Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains implementation. Microsoft CRM Development Microsoft CRM is CRM answer from Microsoft Business Solutions.The whole conception behind CRM seems to be different.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
