Don't Let The Experts Tell You PowerPoint Sucks

Here are some links and resources shared in the presentation I did for the Training Magazine Network on August 18, 2010.

PowerPoint Tutorials

• A bunch of cool PowerPoint tutorials and tips on mind mapping your visual design.
• Community tutorials: these are added to weekly.  This is a good place to go for updates.
• How to PowerPoint Blog: All sorts of PowerPoint tips & tricks.  Look for a boatload of PowerPoint 2010 tutorials. 
• PowerPoint for E-Learning posts via the Rapid E-Learning Blog.
• Graphic Design Tips via the Rapid E-Learning Blog
• Examples of elearning course created with PowerPoint and rapid elearning examples.
• How to create the TV monitor.

Books

• Non-Designer’s Design Book: If there is only one book to buy, it’s this one.  You’ll learn all of the basics about typography and visual design.
• Beyond Bullet Points: Great tips to help organize your content whether presentation or rapid elearning.
• Better the Bullet Points. Practical tips on using PowerPoint.
• Slide:ology: Great book on visual design concepts and how to craft better presentations.  They have some good examples of branded templates that do work.
• Presentation Zen: This book is very similar to slide:ology and will help you learn to communicate better with your slides.  I haven’t read it yet, but his new book is supposed to be good.
• Back of the Napkin: Great book on organizing ideas and visual communication.
• Various PowerPoint books: Tufte is a critic of the poor use of PowerPoint.  He offers a lot of good information on how to present complex data.  There are also all sorts of good how-to PowerPoint books.

Screenr Heroes

Get all sorts of cool tips and tricks from these people on Screenr.  All of the tutorials are under 5 minutes long.  Follow via RSS or Twitter.

• http://screenr.com/user/elearning
• http://screenr.com/user/jeanettebrooks
• http://screenr.com/user/tomkuhlmann
• http://screenr.com/user/learningppt
• http://screenr.com/user/slhice
• http://screenr.com/user/LindaLor

And many more…

• Check out the more than 200 free tutorials that cover PowerPoint and rapid elearning.  Great place to find more people to follow on Screenr.

Free PowerPoint Templates via The Rapid E-Learning Blog

• Here’s a Free PowerPoint E-Learning Template
• Here’s Another Free PowerPoint E-Learning Template
• Create E-Learning Templates With a Consistent Clip Art Style
• How To Design Custom PowerPoint Templates for E-Learning (Plus 8 Free Templates)
• Inspiring Designs to Keep Your E-Learning Courses Looking Fresh
• Here’s a Quick Way to Create Your Next E-Learning Template in PowerPoint

• The Secret to Creating Your Own PowerPoint Templates for E-Learning

Presentations & Miscellaneous Li
nks

• Duarte’s 5 Rules for Presentations: PowerPoint file published as a video.
• TED videos: great presentations and examples that cover a broad range of topics.
• Seth Godin’s presentation at TED.
• Lawrence Lessig: good example of a presentation style that doesn’t require lots of graphics.
• PowerPoint Heaven: great examples of what you can do with PowerPoint to crate graphics, art, and games.
• PowerPoint MVP: most of them have active web sites where they share tips & tricks.
• Idiagram: I like their visual modeling process.
• Presentation Zen: good blog if you want ideas on visual design and presentations.
• Sticky Slides: good samples presentations.

Events

Free E-Learning Resources

Want to learn more? Check out these articles and free resources in the community.	Here’s a great job board for e-learning, instructional design, and training jobs	Participate in the weekly e-learning challenges to sharpen your skills
Get your free PowerPoint templates and free graphics & stock images.	Lots of cool e-learning examples to check out and find inspiration.	Getting Started? This e-learning 101 series and the free e-books will help.