Aug

24

Online Video Viewing Reaches an All-Time High

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ComScore just released that latest stats for online video viewing, and July 2009 recorded the largest audience ever. More than 158 million U.S. Internet users watched online video. Google (home to YouTube) received the largest market share by far at nearly 42 percent, followed by Viacom, Microsoft, Fox (home to MySpace), and Hulu, all with less than 5 percent each.

Now, a lot of those videos were entertainment-related, but online video is still a great business tool. I’m getting more involved with video myself for some upcoming projects and will continue to share my experience along the way.

Here are three of my favorite tips for people just getting started with video as a business tool:

  • Have a goal. Whether your goal is to sell, instruct, persuade, or just generate positive buzz with your audience, it’s important to focus on that goal when creating your video and determine the best way to distribute it.
  • Think beyond YouTube. Yes, YouTube remains the premier place for video right now, but there are many other video-sharing sites that could be an even better match with your audience. Also consider adding video to your website or blog to communicate with your customers.
  • Remember that video isn’t just for sales. Online video is also a great instructional tool for your customers and other site visitors. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share several great tools for making standard PowerPoint presentations come alive as multimedia instructional videos.

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Oct

10

Four Ways to Deliver a Killer PowerPoint Presentation

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Want to design and deliver a truly outstanding PowerPoint presentation? Here are four tips to get you started:

1. Master the Software

Obviously, your first step is to learn how to use PowerPoint. Because PowerPoint is rather intuitive and easy to use, it’s tempting to start creating presentations without really knowing all the innovative features this powerful program has to offer. As a result, you often end up with a basic, no frills presentation – not the kind that will energize an audience that has probably seen similar presentations hundreds of times. If you’re a self-taught, “know only the basics” kind of PowerPoint user, give yourself an hour (or preferably more) to learn about and experiment with features you’ve never explored before. Although the available features vary depending on the version of PowerPoint you use, your software’s online help should get you started. Also consider buying a comprehensive reference book on PowerPoint or taking a hands-on course. A little knowledge can go a long way in improving the quality of your presentations, and convert them from average to amazing.

Read more

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Jul

15

Creating PowerPoint Elearning

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PowerPoint is one of the most popular tools around for creating e-learning programs, a fact that’s surprising to many people. Developing e-learning with PowerPoint is popular because you’re working in a familiar environment and don’t have to learn a complex course authoring tool to be able to create quality e-learning content. This also lessens the time it takes to develop a course, providing you with a rapid e-learning solution.

You can convert an existing PowerPoint presentation to an e-learning course, adding optional features such as quizzes for additional interactivity. Or, you can design e-learning courses from scratch, planning to use PowerPoint and a third-party tool as your authoring tools.

Some of my favorite tools for creating quality e-learning with PowerPoint include:

All offer a free trial, so you can try them out to see which solution best suits your needs.

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