Regina P. Brown, e-Pro Realtor®

"The Art, Science, and Story of PowerPoint Presentation Design" was a sold-out standing-room-only presentation by top writer and business consultant Adele Sommers at a recent STC meeting. She demonstrated the "10 types of design and delivery dilemmas, related mistakes, and a set of corresponding remedies. They can easily apply to any presentations you create with slide software, such as Microsoft® PowerPoint®, Apple® Keynote, or the free Google® Presentations software."

Below are Adele's TOP TIPS:

• Tip #1: Text - Display only one basic idea per slide. Place your talking points (your narration script) in your handouts and speaker notes.
• Tip #2: Graphics - Let relevant and symbolic photos; drawings; screen captures; and simple maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams do most of the visual "heavy lifting."
• Tip #3: Details - Put the intricate image details in the handouts instead of on the slides to avoid overloading your audience's visual processing abilities. Avoid "branding" your slides with your logo, which can be distracting.
• Tip #4: Special effects - Use relevant sounds, videos, animations, transitions, and physical props -- in moderation -- to highlight or demonstrate key points.
• Tip #5: Focus - Begin by framing your audience's role, perspective, and needs. Then introduce the challenge the audience faces and your solution, and explain the actions that the audience members can take.
• Tip #6: Structure - Create a logical sequence and flow based on a scalable hierarchy of detail, starting with an audience orientation.
• Tip #7: Scope - "Chunk" all of your material into just 3-4 main topics. Include reviews along the way to summarize your information. Practice extensively beforehand while timing yourself, so you can then "scope" your talk using the scalable 5-, 15- and 45-minute detail hierarchy from your outline.
• Tip #8: Remember to face your audience. If you break eye contact with your attendees to read from projected slides, it interrupts the flow and further splits the audience's attention.

• Tip #9: Remember to converse with your audience. Not engaging the audience enough during your presentation invites their attention to wander elsewhere.

• Tip #10: Remember to respect your audience's time. Running way overtime trying to cover too much information in the time available dilutes your impact and can even cause resentment.

For additional tips, downloads, and resources, please visit Adele's page at http://learnshareprosper.com/newsletter/062509_issue.html

Adele's newsletter, "Learn, Share, & Prosper" is brimming with helpful resources. Sign up today!

Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is the 2002-09 president of the San Luis Obispo STC chapter, and has been an independent business and technical communication consultant for twelve years following a career in the aerospace industry. Adele is president of Business Performance Inc. (LearnShareProsper.com) which specializes in business publications, tools, consulting, workshop facilitation, training, and e-learning. Adele has helped companies of all sizes enhance their results in project and process management, technical communication and information design, instructional design, quality assurance, performance support, and leadership. Contact Adele at Adele@LearnShareProsper.com.

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Want more comments (and therefore more blog points)? It's easy! Just get featured on our ActiveRain Virtual Office Blog.

Just join your fellow AR members here in the ‘Rain! I will be happy to feature your blog on our "Virtual Office" group.

If you write a great blog and would like it to be featured on our group, please post it to the group, and then send me an email. I rotate featured blogs several times per week to try to give all group members an opportunity to have a feature here.

The steps are:

1. Join our AR Virtual Office group: http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice
2. Post your blog to the group.
3. Send me an email requesting a "feature" status for your blog.

Thank you for posting your blogs here on our "Virtual Office - Work from Home Office" group! We are wonderful because we help each other keep abreast of our industry!

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Recently I emailed members of the Active Rain "Virtual Office" group. I asked if anyone needed more comments on their blogs, and how I could help them. I offered to feature blogs in our Virtual Office group.

The response from my fellow AR members was tremendously positive! Some were requests for information, like my friend Karl Peidl.

"I was wondering if you could do me a bit of a favor. Though I love the social media thing, I'm not very tech savy. On your blog post you have great widgets at the bottom for Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Do you have or know where I could get some dummy-proof instructions so I could add these to the bottom of each of my posts?"

Now if you've read Karl's blog, (http://activerain.com/blogs/kpeidl) you know that he's a pretty sharp guy. And offes superior customer service to all of his mortgage loan clients. He's helping home buyers and he's an expert in his community. So why not give a hand to a fellow AR member?

I typed up a tutorial showing step-by-step how to add a Twitter widget to your ActiveRain blog. Then I printed it out in PDF format and emailed it to Karl.

Did the instructions work? I wondered....

"Thank you. The directions worked perfect." Karl wrote back a few minutes later.

I popped over to his blog to take a peek at his new, improved blog:

Ta-da! Success!!

Putting the Twitter widget on your ActiveRain blog is fun -- and simple too.

Anyone else want a copy of the little tutorial I wrote up?

Just post a comment here, and I'll email you my PDF instructions.

You, too, can have a great Twitter Widget on your ActiveRain blog, just like Karl!

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Don't you just hate it when someone posts slander or gossip about you in an online public forum? Well, if they're professionals, they shouldn't. Why?

Because professionals have the courtesy to approach others directly. Professionals, like us ActiveRain members, don't back-bite, gossip, slander, act passive/agressive, be a "sissy" by not confronting people, or whatever you want to call it.

So what do you do when you have an issue with an ActiveRain member or a colleague? How should you vent your complaint?

1. Go to the person -- phone works best (email is often taken out of context because there's no tone). State your concerns in a non-threating way. Listen, and ask for clarification. You'll be surprised that at least 1/2 the time, the situation was NOT as bad as you thought. And it's a good thing you didn't "go off" because you would have been putting your foot in your mouth!
2. You can always talk to their manager or supervisor, if the issue is serious enough.
3. And you can choose to ignore it. After all, who has time for negative energy?
4. Whatever you do, don't take it personal! Responding in a negative way only adds "fuel to the fire".

What do you do when someone (whether a colleague or client) posts a nasty complaint or rude gossip about you online, specifically here on Active Rain?

1. You can approach the offender directly, but if they're obnoxiously rude online, they probably won't be any nicer in person.
2. Flag the AR post as "slander" and send an email alert to the AR blog facilitators.
3. Again, you can always choose to ignore it. Remember, you don't have to stoop to their level of pettiness. Rise above small-minded twits by NOT responding!

Just because someone says something, doesn't mean it's true. Other readers will be weighing the validity of the information by considering the source. And to be honest, no one likes negative people! So negative people do NOT get their blogs read as often. And if you comment on their negative post, then it just gives their complaint more exposure.

Another Hollywood marketing tip: Sometimes negative publicity is good for business. Just think about Miss California and the publicity she got recently!!!

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

No.

A Virtual Office? Is NOT the same as a Virtual Assistant.

I'm writing a guide book, even as we speak. It's called "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Prosper from your Home or Mobile Office".

When people hear the title of the book, some ask, "You mean it's a book about how to hire a Virtual Assistant?" Or some ask, "Does the book teach you how to work as a Virtual Assistant?"

No, my book has nothing to do with Virtual Assistants (VA's). VA's are professionals who assist other professionals, often from a remote location. Sort of like having an executive assistant, accessible by phone and email and internet.

But a VIRTUAL OFFICE is any office that can be operated without being physically present. For example, a business professional who works from his home office has a virtual office.

But also that business traveler, who works from the train, airplane, motel room, and Starbuck's coffee shop -- she's running a virtual office too.

If you are set up to operate outside the walls of a traditional brick-and-mortar office, then your virtual office is wherever YOU are.

Even if you're just relaxing on the beach. With your BlackBerry, iPod, or NetBook.

The beach is now your virtual office!

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved