The Presentation Coach

The Presentation Coach: Bare Knuckle Brilliance for Every Presenter by Graham Davies

“You probably hate giving presentations.  You probably hate listening to them too.  Why?  Because most business presentations are too long, too detailed, too boring… and submerged under a blizzard of PowerPoint.

But the single most important presentational tool known to man isn’t a slideshow.  It’s you.

Whether you’re speaking to one person across a table, 20 people in a boardroom or 1,000 people in a ballroom, it’s all about the words you say and how you say them.

The Presentation Coach shows you how to use what you’ve already got, to give you clarity, confidence and impact in every speaking challenge you will ever face.  You’ll learn the unique Bare Knuckle 5-step process to effective presenting, and how to apply it to all business speaking, from large-scale presentations to one-to-one client meetings.  Graham Davies has been coaching high-profile individuals from the worlds of business, politics and entertainment in exactly these techniques for the past 25 years.”

Chapter 1 – The Essentials

Chapter 2 – Know your Audience

Chapter 3 – Make the Statement

Chapter 4 – Hard-Core Content

Chapter 5 – Write it, Read it, Edit

Chapter 6 – From Famous First Words …

Chapter 7 – Nail it all Down

Chapter 8 – Show it … if you really must

Chapter 9 – Control Yourself

Chapter 10 – Control the Day

Chapter 11 – Control Q&A

Chapter 12 – Raise a Smile

Chapter 13 – Adapt to After Dinner

Chapter 14 – Should I Accept the Invitation

Chapter 15 – Challenging Business Situations

Chapter 16 – Challenging Personal Situations

===============================

I really like the tone and style of The Presentation Coach and will be recommending it as an essential read for everyone who has to give presentations.  I particularly like the Action Steps at the end of each chapter which really make you focus on what you’ve read and focus on taking constructive action to implement the suggestions.  This book should be next to you whenever you next start thinking about delivering a presentation…

Here are some quotes from the first couple of chapters … to whet your appetite:

“You may well dread giving presentations.  But always bear in mind that audiences dread listening to them even more.”

“A presentation is real communication, with life and breath and flesh and blood.  Only a live presenter can provide information with inspiration and impact.”

“Knowledge and intellect are useless without the power to communicate.”

“A presentation that includes everything usually achieves nothing.”

“It is possible – and often highly desirable – to make a compelling formal business presentation without using PowerPoint.”

“A presentation is any spoken communication designed to change someone’s point of view.”

“The success of your presentation depends on how much what you say coincides with what they want and need to hear.”

 

To find out more about Graham Davies visit his website : http://www.grahamdavies.co.uk/

Outstanding Presentations Workshop Webinars

Learn from the Top Presentation Experts in the World!

Free 7-week webinar series!

Ellen Finklestein, PowerPoint MVP

“Would you like to ask questions and get answers from top presentation, PowerPoint, and speaking experts?

Join me [Ellen Finklestein] at the online Outstanding Presentations Workshop 2011, for free! Learn how to eliminate Death by PowerPoint and make your presentations come to life as you listen to guest experts share their best techniques and answer your questions!

During the Outstanding Presentations Workshop you’ll learn to:

• sharpen your skills
• more clearly communicate your message
• engage your audience
• maximize your results
• even bring your career to a new level

Each week, you’ll hear from an amazing lineup of guest speakers who will reveal their secrets and strategies on presenting and speaking effectively. You’ll be able to ask them any questions you have, such as:

• How do I write content that meets the needs and questions of my audience?
• How do I design high-impact slides even if I’m not a designer?
• How do I deliver so that I connect with my audience?

When: Wednesdays, starting September 7, 2011 at 11am PT, 12pm MT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET. Each webinar lasts 1 hour but may run
over slightly. Each webinar will be recorded so you can view it later (up to 2 weeks after the session).”

=========

I’ve signed up to attend these free webinars because all the speakers (and topics) look really interesting and useful including Cliff Atkinson, author of “Beyond Bullet Points”.

 

Find out more here:  http://www.outstandingpresentationsworkshop.com/

Visual Imagery as mental hooks

Why are visual images needed as mental hooks?

Yesterday, I discovered a great website resource from BizGraphics On Demand which is a great collection of professionally designed graphics that will help enhance the visual appearance of presentations.  See yesterday’s post for more details about BizGraphicsOnDemand.

What’s the purpose of a visual diagram?

I used one of their graphics to turn a list into a visual diagram which served the intended purpose.   The initial purpose was to make a boring list look more interesting because I am going to have to refer to that list of units for best part of a year so I’d rather look at something visually appealing than something boring.  I also needed to work out which order I will study the units following certain rules.  As you will see from the visual diagram, I have inserted two milestones (AWARD and CERTIFICATE) which are qualifications in their own right that I will be eligible for by obtaining Units 7001 and 7004 respectively.    As I read about each of the Units I made choices about the order of study and dragged and dropped the text from place to place  until I had everything in an order that suited me.

So, as I say, this original visual diagram served yesterday’s original purpose of turning a linear list into a visual map of study:-

However, when I looked at it again this morning, I started to contemplate the many books which I will need to read  so I have started to research books and websites and have begun the process of inserting pictures of those books/websites as “mental hooks” as reminders of what I need to do.  For example, I own some of the books but others need to be ordered.  No point buying them all up front so I will use the “mental hooks” as reminders to order the books as and when I need them.

The purpose of the visual has changed

When I first downloaded the graphic from BizGraphicsOnDemand it had contained icons to remind me that visual images help the brain to “see” key stages.

Keep reflecting on “the purpose of the visual” and amend it accordingly

This morning, as I say, I’ve started researching books and have started to include images of those books as my own “mental hooks”.  I have also inserted images to denote the milestones where I could stop studying and achieve a Level 7 AWARD and / or a Level 7 CERTIFICATE if I decide not to complete the entire DIPLOMA.

As you will see from the graphic below it now makes it very clear  that the DIPLOMA is vast in comparison to either the AWARD or the CERTIFICATE (even though the work is of the same level) simply by looking at the gap between the first and second Rosettes compared to the huge gap between the second and third Rosettes.

The next step will be to insert a hyperlink to my www.amazon.co.uk account behind each book image where I will save these books in my Shopping Basket.  That way, when the time is right, all I’ll have to do is to click the hyperlink and order the appropriate book.

So, yesterday it was a boring list of units to be studied.  By the end of today it will be a visual study plan, containing various “mental hooks“, with hyperlinks to books and websites of relevance.   There’s a lot of studying ahead of me to achieve this next qualification but I know that having a eye-pleasing visual, containing relevant hyperlinks, will enable me to stay the course and to not feel overwhelmed.  By knowing that the future is planned, my mind will be able to focus on simply tackling the current unit, one unit at a time.

Purpose and intended Audience

Whenever you create any visual diagram you must always keep reflecting on purpose and intended audience and by so doing you will create visuals which are “fit for purpose” and which help the intended audience to “see the bigger picture”, even if that audience is just yourself.   These are lessons which I learnt by reading Jamie Nast’s book Idea Mapping and they are valuable lessons for everyone to take on board.

Top 10 reasons to try Visio 2010

An article from Microsoft regarding Visio 2010.  For further details: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/top-10-reasons-to-try-visio-2010-HA101805356.aspx

“Microsoft Visio 2010 advanced diagramming tools help you simplify complexity  with dynamic, data-driven visuals and new ways to share on the Web in real time. Whether you’re creating an organizational chart, a network diagram, or a business process, the new tools and more intuitive interface in Visio 2010 make it easier to bring your diagrams to life.

Jump-start diagramming with templates.

With modern, pre-drawn shapes, intelligent templates, and sample drawings, Visio 2010 offers a wide variety of options to meet your diagramming needs for IT, business, process management, and more.

Find and access the tools you need quickly.

Every step in creating a diagram is more intuitive, with the logical groupings of features in Ribbon tabs, an enhanced Shapes window for
easy access to shapes and stencils, and a new status bar that helps you move more efficiently within and between your diagrams.

Draw diagrams faster with improved automatic features.

Whether you are creating a diagram from scratch or modifying an existing one, Visio 2010 helps you add and align shapes easily and accurately, with features such as the Quick Shapes Mini Toolbar, enhanced dynamic grid, page Auto Size, and automatic alignment and layout adjustment.

Simplify large and complex diagrams.

Add clarity to diagrams using Subprocesses and Containers to group related shapes visually and logically. As a diagram grows larger or becomes more complex, Subprocesses and Containers help you to keep information more organized and understandable.

Make your diagrams professional-looking and appealing in seconds.

Visio 2010 helps you make diagrams look attractive with a wide range of formatting tools and design options, including modern shapes and visuals, a rich gallery of themes, and Live Preview.

Bring your diagrams to life with real-time data.

See the entire picture with dynamic, data-driven diagrams.
Simply connect your diagram to one or more data sources such as Excel or SQL Server. Then, display real-time data right within your diagrams, based on conditions you define, using vibrant colors, icons, symbols, and data bars.

Share diagrams with others on the Web.

Easily share dynamic, data-linked Visio diagrams in Microsoft SharePoint Server. Online users can see your real-time information in their browsers at a high level, right on the diagram, or delve into the
details—even if they don’t own Visio. They can pan and zoom in the diagram, follow hyperlinks in shapes, and refresh the data.

Ensure consistency and accuracy with diagram validation.

Check for common errors and support diagramming standards across your organization using diagram validation. With one click, you can validate a diagram against a set of rules to make sure it’s logical and properly constructed.

 Model and monitor SharePoint workflows.

Create and monitor SharePoint workflows more easily than ever with a new, advanced template that contains SharePoint workflow rules and logic, and supports the ability to export and import workflows between Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 and Visio 2010.

 Create visual mashups using Visio Services.

Publish and share visually compelling dashboards that contain interactive Visio diagrams and other application services. Visio Services and SharePoint Server integration supports visual mashups of actionable data and diagrams for an information-rich viewing experience.”

Visio 2010 Step by Step

Here’s an extract from the Microsoft Visio Newsletter announcing the launch of a new book to help everyone get the best out of Visio 2010.

“A new Visio 2010 book is hot off the presses! We’d like to congratulate Visio MVP Scott Helmers on the publication of Microsoft Visio 2010 Step by Step.The book can help you set your own pace in learning and practicing how to easily create professional-looking diagrams with Visio 2010. In addition to explaining how to take advantage of some of the new templates and ease-of-use features, Scott’s book also shows how and when to use some of the powerful new functionality (such as containers, sub-processes, diagram validation, and how to use Visio Services to share diagrams) in Visio 2010.”

What’s new in Word 2010?

Here’s an article from Microsoft detailing “What’s new in Word 2010?”

Microsoft Word 2010 makes it easier to collaborate and to navigate through
long documents. For more impact, new features focus on the polish of your
finished document. With this new version, you can access the richness and
familiarity of Word in your browser and on your mobile phone.

In this article

---

• Work in Word anywhere
• Bring your best ideas to
  life
• Work more easily
• Work better together

---

Work in Word anywhere

In Word 2010, you have the power and familiarity of Word everywhere you need
it. You can view, navigate, and edit your Word documents from the browser and
from your mobile phone without compromising your document’s richness.

Word Mobile 2010 for Windows Phone 7

If you have Windows Phone 7, you can use Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 to work
with your files from anywhere—whether you’re at work, at home, or on the go.
Word Mobile 2010 is part of Office Mobile and already on your Windows Phone 7 in
the Office hub, so you don’t need to download or install anything else to get
started.

You can use Word Mobile to view and edit documents stored on your phone, sent
to you as email attachments, or hosted on a SharePoint 2010 site through
SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010. When you edit a document via SharePoint
Workspace Mobile, you can save your changes back to the SharePoint site when
you’re online.

With Word Mobile, you can create or update your documents using many of the
same formatting tools that you already know and use in the desktop version of
Word, add comments, and use the new outline pane to quickly jump to a heading or
comment.

Read more about Office
Mobile 2010 for Windows Phone 7.

If you have Windows Phone 7, get
step-by-step help using your phone.

Word Web application

Even when you’re away from Word, you can store your documents on a Web server
and use the Word Web application to open the document in your browser. You’ll be
able to view it and even make changes.

For more information, see Introduction
to Word Web App.

Top of Page

Bring your best ideas to
life

Word 2010 pairs its functional features — such as tables, headers and
footers, and style sets — with eye-catching effects, new text features, and
easier navigation.

Format text and images together for a seamless look

Word 2010 provides artistic effects for both pictures and text. And when you
apply the effects to text, you can still run spell check.

---

Plain picture and text formatting

Picture and text with shadow formatting

---

Fine-tune your text with OpenType features

Word 2010 provides support for advanced text-formatting features that include
a range of ligature settings and your choice of stylistic sets and number forms.
You can use these new features with many OpenType fonts to achieve that extra
level of typographical polish.

---

Plain
text

Text
with ligatures applied

---

For more information, see OpenType
options in the Font dialog box.

Other new content features

Word 2010 offers several other improvements to help you in your document
authoring.

New numbering formats

Word 2010 includes new fixed-digit numbering formats, such as 001, 002,
003… and 0001, 0002, 0003….

Check box content control

Now you can add quickly add a check box to forms or lists.

Alternative text on tables

In Word 2010, you can add a title to a table and a summary, so that readers
have access to additional information.

Find your way through long documents with the new Document Navigation pane
and Search

In Word 2010, you can quickly find your way around long documents. You can
easily reorganize your documents by dragging and dropping headings instead of
copying and pasting. And you can find content by using incremental search, so
you do not need to know exactly what you are searching for to find it.

In Word 2010 you can do the following:

• Move between headings in your document by clicking on the parts of the
  document map.
• Collapse levels of the outline to hide nested headings, so you can work
  easily with the map even in deeply structured and complicated long
  documents.
• Type text into the search box to find your place instantly.
• Drag and drop headings within your document to rearrange the structure. You
  can also delete, cut, or copy headings and their content.
• Easily promote or demote a given heading, or a heading and all of its nested
  headings, up or down within the hierarchy.
• Add new headings to your document to build a basic outline or insert new
  headings without having to scroll around in the document.
• Stay aware of the content being edited by others by browsing the headings
  that contain a co-authoring indicator.
• See thumbnails of all the pages in your document and click on them to move
  through your document.

//

Illustrate your ideas

Word 2010 brings many graphic enhancements to your work, so you can easily
make the impact you want.

New SmartArt graphic picture layouts

In Word 2010, you can use the new SmartArt graphics picture layouts to tell
your story with photographs or other images. Just insert your pictures in the
SmartArt shapes of your picture layout diagram. Each shape also has a caption
where you can add descriptive text.

Even better, if you already have pictures in your document, you can quickly
convert them to a SmartArt graphic, just like you can with text.

Using this layout to create a SmartArt graphic is simple:

1. Insert the SmartArt graphic picture layout.
2. Add your photographs.
3. Write descriptive text.

Word includes several different picture layouts to choose from.

New artistic effects

With Word 2010, you can now apply sophisticated “artistic” effects to your
picture to make the picture look more like a sketch, drawing, or painting. It’s
an easy way to enhance your images without using additional photo-editing
programs.

Some of the 20 new artistic effects include Pencil Sketch, Line Drawing,
Watercolor Sponge, Mosaic Bubbles, Glass, Pastels Smooth, Plastic Wrap,
Photocopy, and Paint Strokes.

Picture corrections

You can now transform your images into compelling, vibrant visuals by
fine-tuning the color intensity (saturation) and color tone (temperature) of a
picture. You can also adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, and blurriness, or
you can recolor the picture to better match your document content and to make
your work pop.

Automatic background removal of pictures

Another advanced picture editing option in Word 2010 is the ability to
automatically remove unwanted portions of a picture, such as the background, to
highlight the subject of the picture or to remove distracting detail.

Better picture compression and cropping

Use the new and improved picture-editing tools to trim images and get just
the look that you want. Now you have better control of the image quality and
compression trade-offs so that you can make the right choice for the medium
(print, screen, or e-mail) that your document is used for.

Inserting screenshots

Quickly add screenshots to capture and incorporate visual illustrations into
your work in Word 2010. After you add the screenshot, you can use the tools on
the Picture Tools tab to edit and enhance the screenshot. When
you reuse your screenshots across documents, take advantage of the Paste Preview
feature to see what your additions will look like before you drop them in.

Clip art options with Clip Organizer

You can now use, submit, and find thousands of new pieces of community clip
art, in addition to the images, videos, and other media you can add to your
document. You can see who submitted pieces of community-submitted clip art and
report if the images are inappropriate or unsafe.

Ink

The improved inking feature in Word 2010 lets you make ink annotations on
your document on your Tablet PC and save those ink annotations together with the
document.

Top of Page

Work more easily

In Word 2010, you can customize your workspace so that the commands you use
often are all together. You can also access earlier versions of your document,
and you can more easily work with text that’s in other languages.

Customize the Ribbon

You can use customizations to personalize the Ribbon, which is part of the
Microsoft Office Fluent user interface, to be the way that you want it. You can
create custom tabs and custom groups that contain the commands you use most
frequently.

//

The Microsoft Office Backstage view

In the Microsoft Office Backstage view, you do everything to a file that you do not do in the file. The
latest innovation in the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface and a companion
feature to the Ribbon, the Backstage view is where you manage your files —
creating, saving, inspecting for hidden metadata or personal information and
setting options.

For more information, see Introducing
Backstage.

You can use Office Labs Search Commands to quickly find commands in Word 2010.

Recover unsaved work

It is now easier to recover a Word document if you close your file without
saving, or if you want to review or return to an earlier version of the file
you’re already working in. As with earlier versions of Word, enabling
AutoRecover will save versions while you are working in your file at the
interval you select.

Now, you can keep the last autosaved version of a file in case you
accidentally close that file without saving, so that you can easily restore it
the next time that you open the file. Also, while you are working in your file,
you can access a list of the autosaved files from the Microsoft Office Backstage
view.

Point to text to see a translation

When you turn on the Mini Translator, you can point to a word or selected
phrase with your mouse and see a translation in a small window. The Mini
Translator also includes a Play button so you can hear an audio
pronunciation of the word or phrase and a Copy button so you can
paste the translation into another document.

You don’t even need the language pack, language interface pack, or proofing
tools installed on your computer to see a translation in that language.

For more information, see See
translations with the Mini Translator.

Simplified language preference setting

Multilingual users can easily access a single dialog box where you can set
the editing, display, ScreenTip, and Help languages. If you don’t have the
software or keyboard layout installed that you need, you are alerted and links
are provided to make it easier to solve the problem.

For more information, see Set
the editing, display, or Help language preferences.

Top of Page

Work better together

Word 2010 helps you to work with your colleagues more efficiently. Word 2010
also includes features to keep your information more secure when you share your
work, and to keep your computer more secure from files that might not be safe.

“Co-authoring eliminates the need for one person to compile content from multiple versions.” Jim Roberts – Vice President, Offer Management, Global Crossing

Work on the same document at the same time

In Word 2010, you can work together right within Word. You do not have to
send with e-mail attachments or save draft documents with names such as
TSP_final_2_FINAL.docx. Instead, just open your document, and start to work. You
can see who else is working with you, and where they are editing.

When you open a shared document, Word automatically caches it so that you can
make changes to it offline, and then Word automatically syncs your changes when
you come back online. When you must work away from the office, you no longer
have to worry about saving local copies or manually merging your changes into
the server document when you return to your office.

//

Multiple authors can edit a single document at the same time and stay in sync
with each others’ changes. Authors can block access to document regions while
they are working on them.

Stay safer with Protected View

In Protected View, files are opened with editing functions disabled. Files
from a potentially unsafe location, such as the Internet or an e-mail
attachment, or that contain active content, such as macros, data connections, or
ActiveX controls, are validated and can open in Protected View. Files from
trusted sources can be enabled by clicking Enable Editing, or
data about the file can be explored in the Microsoft Office Backstage view.

Find and remove hidden metadata and personal

information in files

Before you share your document with other people, you can use the Document
Inspector to check the document for hidden metadata, personal information, or
content that might be stored in the document.

The Document Inspector can find and remove information such as the
following:

• Comments
• Versions
• Tracked changes
• Ink annotations
• Hidden text
• Document properties
• Custom XML data
• Information in headers and footers

The Document Inspector can help you ensure that the documents you share with
other people do not contain any hidden personal information or any hidden
content that your organization might not want distributed. Additionally, your
organization can customize the Document Inspector to add checks for additional
types of hidden content.

Help prevent changes to a final version of a document

Before you share a final version of a document, you can use the Mark As Final command to make the document read-only and let other
people know that you are sharing a final version of the document. When a
document is marked as final, typing editing commands, and proofing marks are
disabled, and people who view the document cannot unintentionally change the
document.

The Mark As Final command is not a security feature. Anyone
can edit a document that is marked as final by turning off the Mark
As Final feature.

Accessibility Checker

Accessibility Checker helps identify and resolve accessibility issues in your
documents, so that you can fix any potential problems that might keep someone
with a disability from accessing your content.

If your document has any accessibility issues, the Microsoft Office Backstage
view displays an alert that lets you review and repair any issues in your
document, if necessary. You can see the alert by clicking the File tab. Under Prepare for Sharing, click Check for Issues, and then click Check
Accessibility.

Top 10 reasons to try Word 2010

Here’s an article from Microsoft which lists their “Top 10 reasons to try Word 2010“.

Discover an improved search and navigation experience.

Locating the information you need is faster and easier in
Word 2010. With the new and improved Find experience, you can now view a summary
of search results in a single pane, and click to access any individual result.
The improved Navigation Pane provides you a visual outline of your document so
you can browse, sort, and find what you need quickly.

Work  with others without having to wait your turn.

Word 2010 redefines the way people can work together on a
document. With co-authoring, you can edit papers and share ideas with others at
the same time.¹ You can also view the availability of others who are
authoring a document with you and can easily initiate a conversation without
leaving Word.²

Access and share your documents from virtually anywhere.

Post your documents online and then access, view, and edit
them from most any computer or your Windows phone.³With
Word 2010, you can take advantage of a best-in-class document experience across
multiple locations and devices.

• Microsoft
  Word Web App: Edit documents in a Web browser when you’re away from your
  office, home, or school without compromising the quality of your viewing
  experience.¹
• Microsoft
  Word Mobile: Stay current and take immediate action using an enhanced mobile
  version of Word on Windows Phone 7 devices.⁴

Add visual effects to your text.

With Word 2010, you can apply formatting effects such as
shadow, bevel, glow, and reflection to your document text as easily as applying
bold or underline. You can spell-check text that uses visual effects, and add
text effects to paragraph styles. Many of the same effects used for images are
now available to both text and shapes, enabling you to seamlessly coordinate all
of your content.

Turn your text into compelling diagrams.

Word 2010 offers you more options to add visual impact to
your documents. Choose from dozens of additional SmartArt® Graphics to build
impressive diagrams just by typing a bulleted list. Use SmartArt to transform
basic, bullet-point text into compelling visuals that better illustrate your
ideas.

Add  visual impact to your document.

New picture-editing tools in Word 2010 enable you to add
special picture effects without additional photo-editing software. You can
easily adjust pictures with color saturation and temperature controls. You also
get improved tools for easier and more precise cropping and image correction, to
help you turn a simple document into a work of art.

Recover work you thought was lost.

After working on that document for awhile, did you
accidentally close it without saving? No problem. Word 2010 lets you recover
draft versions of recently edited files as easily as opening any file, even if
you never saved the document.

Transcend communication barriers.

Word 2010 helps you work and communicate effectively across
different languages.⁵ Translate a word, phrase, or document more
easily than before. Set separate language settings for ScreenTips, Help content,
and displays. And, get additional assistance for English as a second language
with English text-to-speech playback.

Insert screenshots and handwriting into your documents.

Capture and insert screenshots directly from Word 2010 to
quickly and easily incorporate visual illustrations into your work. When you use
a tablet-enabled device such as a Tablet PC or Wacom tablet, you get improved
tools for formatting ink as easily as you format shapes.

Accomplish more with an enhanced user experience.

Word 2010 simplifies how you access features. The new
Microsoft Office Backstage™ view replaces the traditional File menu to let you
save, share, print, and publish your documents with just a few clicks. With the
improved Ribbon, you can access your favorite commands even more quickly by
customizing tabs or creating your own to personalize the experience to your work
style.

---

¹ Requires either Microsoft SharePoint
Foundation 2010 or a Windows Live account.

² Instant messaging and presence requires one of the following:
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 with Microsoft
Lync 2010; Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2; Windows Live Messenger, or another
instant messaging application that supports IMessenger. Voice
calls require Microsoft Lync Server 2010 with Microsoft
Lync 2010; Office Communications Server 2007 R2 with
Office Communicator 2007 R2 or an instant messaging application that supports
IMessengerAdvanced.

³ Web and smartphone access require an appropriate device and
some functionality requires an Internet connection. Web functionality uses Office Web Apps, which
require a supported Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser and either
SharePoint Foundation 2010 or a Windows Live ID. Some mobile functionality
requires Office Mobile which is not included in Office 2010
applications, suites, or Office Web Apps. There are some differences between the
features of the Office Web Apps, Office Mobile and the Office 2010
applications.

⁴ Word Mobile is not included in the Office 2010
applications or suites.

⁵ Translation features are free and do not require any add-ins.
The bilingual dictionary comes by default in the box (no download), and the
language and availability depends on the SKU version of your Office 2010
application. Internet service is required for machine translation, and languages
vary by provider; this will be determined automatically depending on your
selection.

Getting Started with Office 2010

For anyone who is contemplating upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010 there are some excellent training resources to let you see what’s new. 

Training Resources: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx

You could also download the FREE TRIAL :  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/try/try-office-2010-FX101868838.aspx?WT%2Emc%5Fid=mscom%5Fenus%5Fbnr%5Ftryq2

What’s new in Project 2010?

Here’s an overview of Microsoft Project 2010 from Microsoft’s website where you will find further details

Microsoft Project 2010 has a shiny new interface, but that’s not all. Under the hood, it contains powerful new scheduling, task management, and view improvements that give you greater control over how you manage and present your projects.

The new version of Project Web Access also has a new look and many new features to help you collaborate with your team.

What’s new in Project 2010

---

• Improved interface
• New viewing options
• Easier view customization
• User-controlled scheduling
• Easier collaboration
• Backwards compatibility

---

Improved interface

Project 2010 introduces several features to dramatically enhance how you see and work with your project.

Introducing the ribbon

When you first start Project 2010, you may be surprised by what you see. The menus and toolbars have been replaced with the ribbon, which helps you quickly find the commands that you need to complete a task. Commands are organized in logical groups that are collected together under tabs.

For Project 2010, all tabs and groups on the ribbon are fully customizable. If your organization has features unique to its business, you can group them on their own ribbon tab.

Welcome to the Backstage

Click the File tab and you are in the Backstage, a one-stop graphical destination for managing your project files. The Backstage contains the same basic commands available on the File menu in earlier versions of Microsoft Project to open, save, and print project files. Project Professional 2010 users can also use the Backstage to manage their Project Server connections, and to check out and publish projects.

The Options command that was on the Tools menu has been moved into the Backstage. This command opens the Project Options dialog box, where you can enter, review, or change preferences controlling how Microsoft Project works and appears.

Find commands quickly

The most commonly used commands can now be found with one click — one right-click, that is. When you right-click any item in a view, such as bar, table cell, or chart, a mini-toolbar with a list of commonly used commands is displayed. When you’re in a hurry, this is one way of using project that will pay you back in time saved.

New viewing options

New viewing features have also been added to help you understand with greater clarity how your team is performing and where they are overallocated. Project can also help you and others in your organization see the big picture (and potentially major resource problems) with the Timeline view.

The team planner

Project Professional 2010 users now have the team planner, a resource scheduling view that lets you interact with your schedule in a way that hasn’t been possible before in earlier versions of Project. With the Team Planner view you can see at a glance what your team members are working on and move tasks from one person to another. You can also view and assign unassigned work, view overallocations, and see task names as well as resource names — all in one efficient view. Managing your task and resources has never been so easy. For example, if a resource is overallocated, all you need to do is drag a task from one resource to another, and the overallocation disappears.

Fig. 1  A task that is behind schedule. This task could be dragged to Tom or Cheryl, who aren’t doing any work.

Fig. 2  A task that is on schedule.

Fig. 3  Tasks that are currently unassigned. These could be dragged to Tom or Cheryl, who aren’t doing any work.

The timeline

Project 2010 includes a timeline view that is automatically displayed above other views, showing a concise overview of the entire schedule. You can add tasks to the timeline and even print it for an attractive summary report of the entire project. Or you can paste it into an e-mail for an instant report with no fuss.

Easier view customization

Manipulating views has often been challenging in Project. No longer. Take a look at the new ways you can orchestrate how your project is presented and controlled.

Add new columns quickly

Adding new columns to Project is greatly simplified. Simply click the Add New Column heading at the right end of the sheet portion of a view, and type or select the name of a column. An existing column can also be quickly renamed by clicking on its title and typing a different column name. Customizing a column has never been so easy.

The zoom slider

Project 2010 lets you quickly zoom the timephased part of a view using a zoom slider in the status bar. Simply move the slider to the right to move zoom in (show shorter time intervals, such as days or hours) on your schedule and to the left to zoom out (show longer intervals, such as weeks or months). The zoom slider works in the Gantt Chart, network diagram, and calendar views, as well as in all graph views.

User-controlled scheduling

Project 2010 has several scheduling enhancements to improve your control over your schedule. You can also create initial task lists in Microsoft Excel or Word and paste them into Project without having to reformat them.

Manual scheduling

Project 2010 introduces a major shift in how projects are scheduled. Changes to factors such as task dependencies (task dependencies: A relationship between two linked tasks; linked by a dependency between their finish and start dates. There are four kinds of task dependencies: Finish-to-start [FS], Start-to-start [SS], Finish-to-finish [FF], and Start-to-finish [SF].) and the project calendar (calendar: The scheduling mechanism that determines working time for resources and tasks. Project uses four types of calendars: the base calendar, project calendar, resource calendar, and task calendar.) no longer automatically adjust task dates when a task is manually scheduled.

You can place a manually scheduled task placed anywhere in your schedule, and Project won’t move it.

Project managers who are accustomed to automatic scheduling with past versions of Project can turn the new manually scheduling feature off for specific tasks or the entire project. Some projects, especially complicated ones, may require Project’s powerful scheduling engine to take care of scheduling for you.

Inactive tasks

With Microsoft Project Professional 2010, you can make tasks inactive and still retain them in the project. Inactive tasks often have critical information (such as actuals and cost information) that can be valuable for archival purposes.

Top-down summary tasks

Project managers are no longer restricted to creating subtasks and then rolling them up into summary tasks. For Project 2010, you can create summary tasks first, and they can have dates that don’t exactly match the roll-up dates of the subtasks.

At the beginning of the planning phase, project managers may only have some high-level information on key deliverables (deliverable: A tangible and measurable result, outcome, or item that must be produced to complete a project or part of a project. Typically, the project team and project stakeholders agree on project deliverables before the project begins.) and major milestones (milestone: A reference point marking a major event in a project and used to monitor the project’s progress. Any task with zero duration is automatically displayed as a milestone; you can also mark any other task of any duration as a milestone.) of their projects. Using Project, you can divide projects into high-level phases (phase: A group of related tasks that completes a major step in a project.) based on the overall timeline and budget (budget: The estimated cost of a project that you establish in Project with your baseline plan.). This means that dates for individual work items do not necessarily need to line up exactly with dates for the high-level phases.

Project version comparison

The compare versions feature in Project 2010 now includes Gantt bars and graphical images to help you more clearly see how one version of a project differs from another version.

Easier collaboration

Projects don’t exist well in isolation from other people in your organization. Project has improved ways in which you can share project information.

Improvements in collaboration through SharePoint list synchronization

Project Professional 2010 users can export project files to a SharePoint list, which provides a quick and simple way for a project manager to share status or create reports that can be viewed across the organization. You don’t need Project Web App to sync with a SharePoint list.

Enhanced copy and paste

You wouldn’t think that collaboration could increase through something as simple and ancient as copying and pasting Project information. With this new functionality, you can now copy and paste content to and from Office programs and Project 2010 and keep its formatting, outline levels, and column headers.

With two clicks of the mouse, you can generate an instant report and copy it to most Office programs.

Backwards compatibility

Project 2010 is compatible with previous versions of Microsoft Project.

You can create files in Project 2007 or earlier and then open and edit them in Project 2010 in a reduced-functionality mode. In addition, you can create files in Project 2010 and then convert them to the Project 2007 or Project 2000-2003 file formats. Either way, you don’t need a converter!

 Note   Features unique to Project 2010, such as manually-scheduled tasks and top-down summary tasks, may not appear as expected when viewed with earlier versions of Project.

Microsoft Office 2010 is launched

Office 2010 has been launched and is available as a trial download.  I like the fact that it looks like Office 2007 (so no major upgrade path) but it contains several excellent new features. 

I have been reviewing the Beta version for a few months so you’ll find some Posts if you select the Category “Microsoft Office 2010” on this Blog. 

Edit AND enhance photos in Word or PowerPoint® 2010
Put more visual impact into your documents or presentations with easy-to-use photo-editing tools that let you crop, control brightness AND contrast, sharpen or soften, AND add artistic visual effects without leaving Word 2010 or PowerPoint 2010.

Access, edit, AND share from virtually anywhere with Office Web Apps
Get things done when you’re away from the office. Create documents in Office 2010 desktop applications, then easily post them online to Windows Live® SkyDrive™ to access, view, AND edit with Office Web Apps from virtually anywhere you have Internet access.*

Organize all of your information in a single place in OneNote® 2010
Create a digital notebook in OneNote 2010 to capture AND share text, images, video, audio — all your thoughts, ideas, AND important information in a single, easy-to-access location.

Analyze finances easily at home AND at work with Excel® 2010
Use Sparklines in Excel 2010 to create mini-charts that make it easy to highlight trends in expenses at a glance. Use Slicers to dynamically segment AND filter PivotTable® data to display precisely what you need, AND improved Conditional Formatting to highlight specific items in your data set with just a few clicks.

Take control of email conversations with Outlook® 2010
Track AND manage your email easily with Conversation View in Outlook 2010, a feature that lets you condense, categorize, AND even ignore lengthy email exchanges with a single click.

Customize your email AND simplify communication in Outlook 2010
Use Quick Steps in Outlook 2010 to create AND save custom multi-step tasks that you can execute with a single click, including: Delete AND reply, move to specific folder, create a new email to your team, AND more.

To find out even more / download the Trial version, visit the Microsoft website