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Why would you want to use a PowerPoint background that looks like this?
Give yourself the halo effect. Besides its evocatively purple-and-gold Easter egginess, you can glean yet another big benefit from this particular PowerPoint background: the halo effect. When you stand and deliver your presentation, make sure you position your head within the "yolk".
Put yourself in this presentation, and you can make yourself look downright saintly. Perfect for pastors presenting to Easter congregations, nonprofits asking for donations, or salesfolks who need to subliminally reinforce their trustworthy images.
Either that, or the concept is perfect for being perfectly silly!
(Download the full-sized Halo Effect PowerPoint Background.)
Labels: fun, PowerPoint Background
¶ 3/19/2008 04:54:00 PM 2 Comments Links to this post
You didn't forget Valentine's Day -- or did you?Oh, how could you! It's not like you haven't been bombarded with commercials and ads for the past few weeks!
But just in case you forgot, you can make your own glorious PowerPoint Valentine. Why send a card, when you can stand and deliver a sweet, sweet presentation?
Just make sure you present yourself in the best light! Last winter, I was deeply chagrined when I saw an image of myself as I stood in front of the projector. Because my PowerPoint background was blue, I was blue, too!
So why not create a beautiful pink keylight for yourself in PowerPoint? Easy to do -- and just about everyone looks great in a soft pink keylight. Beats blue, anyday!
Need more Valentine PowerPoint inspiration? Here's a roundup of free heart shaped backgrounds and templates. Download away: no one will ever suspect that you forgot Valentine's Day this year!
Labels: PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 2/13/2008 04:42:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
I can understand the popularity of Valentine Hearts -- on Valentine's Day. But I am frequently flummoxed by sudden surges in popularity for requests for all things heart-related at my site -- in love's off-season.
Let's take right NOW, for instance. It's not wedding season. It's not Sweetest Day or Valentine's Day. It's not even prom season.
It's September Back-to-School season. Hardly heart-worthy -- right?
Yet here I sit, suddenly inundated with September requests for heart-shaped images -- to use in PowerPoint backgrounds and templates. I guess romance is always in season???
So here you go: free heart backgrounds, perfect for PowerPoint. All kinds of links to free, no-obligation heart-shaped PowerPoint backgrounds. Download away. Feel the love.
On this site:
- Growing Hearts
- Lots of Heart-Shaped PowerPoint Downloads
- Old Red Heart Template
- Old Pink Heart Template
- Tiny Little Hearts
(Yes, I remarked on this phenomenon last November, too. Hearts are back in style again in Fall 2007!)
Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 9/04/2007 01:44:00 PM 3 Comments Links to this post
Each speaker on your conference panel is presenting their part of the session's topic. How does the audience know that all the speakers are part of the same team?
- Well, first, there's the program. The audience might have a playbill in their hands, telling them who'll be speaking, and what part of the story they'll be telling.
- Secondly, there's the positioning. Many conference speakers sit at the head table or in chairs toward the front of the stage, waiting for their turn to speak.
- And thirdly, all of the speakers are wearing the same uniform. Like a sports team, all speakers have perfectly coordinated clothing, clearly demonstrating that they've practiced together before and are prepared to deliver a unified, cohesive pitch.
Maybe not so much. Huh? OK, so maybe we don't see perfectly coordinated outfits that much at conference panel discussions. But we see the PowerPoint equivalent of a uniform quite often!
Conference speakers often show the spirit of collaboration by coordinating the look and feel of their PowerPoint presentations. They throw away their corporate templates, or modify them to show solidarity among their fellow presenters.
- Same font, same color. Sometimes, speakers unify their presentations by using the same font and font color. If the font and color is very unique, say Coolvetica and lime green, this may work quite nicely. But Arial and black are too common to offer enough distinction.
- Same backgrounds, same colors. Other times, speakers may decide to use the same backgrounds and colors in their PowerPoint presentations. This can work for very short panel discussions, but after a while, the same colors and backgrounds can be very visually monotonous.
- Similar graphics, different colors. Perhaps the most Garanimals way to coordinate speakers is to use a similar graphic theme to introduce each speaker. The graphics can be different colors, but like a logo -- the mere shape provides the visual consistency among speakers.
Here's a quickie example:
Now, apparently, florals like these are not manly! But the above backgrounds decidedly show a coordinated effort among the speakers while potentially shaking things up visually for the audience.
And while a floral arrangement of PowerPoint backgrounds isn't exactly manly, the above backgrounds are at least man-friendly for a mixed panel!
What's your favorite method for visually coordinating your conference speakers?Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 6/08/2007 09:21:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
No fooling! April really is the season for downloading purple PowerPoint backgrounds and templates. It was last year at this time -- and the year before that -- so it must be about time for pastels, purples, passover, and passion all over again. Think spring!
Labels: PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 4/01/2007 07:42:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Oh hurray! It is finally spring!
Winter is over! Double hurray!
It is time for a change. Time for a shake up...
The arrival of spring means it is time to pay homage to this beautiful season with a free spring PowerPoint background. Filled with sixties-inspired hippy-trip flowers, this just might be the ideal background for:
- announcing your spring dance
- forecasting second quarter sales
- advertising a scintillating seasonal special
- alerting congregants to the arrival of Easter
- giving your audience a break from the corporate blue background...
Yes, this PowerPoint background is yellow and pastel and flowery -- and yellow is not exactly a popular background color for PowerPoint slides.
But yellow can be refreshing. And your audience just might appreciate a wild dash of bright color after a long, cold, grey winter.
Remember, the beauty of a background is that you do not have to use it on every single slide in your presentation -- you can introduce a wildly contrasting PowerPoint background to your break slide or maybe even a transition slide.
Why not use the vernal equinox as an excuse to shake things up visually for your audience?
Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 3/20/2007 11:04:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
This year, Daylight Saving Time occurs on Sunday, March 11. Make sure you "spring ahead" this weekend by setting your clocks ahead one hour.If you are using Microsoft Windows and/or Outlook, you might want to visit the Microsoft DST Help and Support Center to see if you have the latest updates. The updates make sure your computer and calendar programs reflect the new calendar year timing of DST.
(This usually happens automatically, but Congress gave us four extra weeks of DST this year. And Congress didn't tell your computer about it. That's why you might want to check to see if your computer needs the updates.)
Hmmm. So far I wasted about a half hour updating my computer, and will waste another running around changing all the clocks in my homes, cars, and offices. And software companies had to expend time and resources creating, posting, and publicizing the updates. So, I wonder if Daylight Saving Time is really making the nation more productive and energy efficient? ;)
Anyway, download your free Spring Ahead PowerPoint background here!
Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 3/09/2007 03:58:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Great Shamrocks and Shillelaghs! 'Tis almost Saint Patrick's Day again.
You know what that means - it is time to start seeing some green. (For those of us who are staring at mounds of snow outside our windows -- it is about time!)
You can download your new free Shamrock PowerPoint background here. (OK, technically, it is an abstraction of a four-leafed clover and not a shamrock, but it is all in good fun. Click on the image, then right click to save to your hard drive.)
And did I spell Shillelagh correctly? (According to Merriam-Webster I did.)
- Click on Design tab
- Click Background Styles
- Click Format Background
- Select Picture or Texture Fill
- Click the File button and select an image file from your hard drive
- Click Insert
- Click either Close to apply to one slide, or Apply to All to Apply to All!
Want more green PowerPoint for St. Pat's? Here is last year's abstractly Celtic template.
Labels: PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 3/07/2007 02:27:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Since this the year of Cute, I bring you a free Valentine PowerPoint background featuring tiny little hearts.
(Click on the image, then right click to download. Apply as a background to your Valentine PowerPoint presentation.)
But if you are a rugged, manly sort, you will probably want to avoid tiny hearts and go for one big massive heart.
Choice is yours!
Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 1/24/2007 04:02:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
What's your favorite icebreaker? You know, the activity that loosens up your audience, gets them interacting vocally or physically, shakes up the crowd, motivates the masses, or otherwise re-invigorates a tranquil meeting?
I posed this question to a bartender, and he quickly replied, "More cocktails!"
But for a business person or educator, the simple application of alcohol is (sometimes) not an effective presentation strategy! And in many cases, it's not even legal.
That's why presenters often turn to other forms of icebreakers -- aka motivators, games, warmups, or energizers -- to get an audience interacting and involved. And while many of us roll our eyes when presented with an overly complicated icebreaker scenario, I have witnessed many great icebreaker applications before and during presentations.
Compare/contrast these two situations:
Situation 1: A team of people who don't know each other will be working together on a project. They are attending their first company training session. The trainer introduces everyone to each other, and explains what their role will be during the project.
Situation 2: The same team, the same situation. The trainer asks each team member to introduce themselves to the group, describe their role in the project, and share one thing about themselves that not many people know.
I've been in both situations, and I have to say, I liked Situation 2 much better! The use of a classic introduction icebreaker instantly put more energy and involvement into the room.
The icebreaker technique doesn't have to be a cheap trick used by presenters....of course, many times they are. For example, I am not overly fond of passing an orange from neck to neck with a group of people I don't know very well.
But you know, that's just me. You might like being groped by sweaty strangers.
So let me ask you: what are your best and worst examples of icebreakers?
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PS - Download your free "icebreaker" PowerPoint background. Pretty blue!
PSS - And here is an amazingly comprehensive list of popular meeting icebreakers.
Labels: PowerPoint Background
¶ 12/20/2006 01:03:00 PM 3 Comments Links to this post
Boo! It's that time of year: the last day of October calls for scary Halloween clip art or photos to pepper throughout your PowerPoint presentations.Ghosts, skeletons, skulls, bats, haunted houses, pumpkins, spiders, witches, and goblins... and all sorts of other creepy crawlies that go bump in the night! You can trick or treat yourself to some awesome Halloween graphics, available for free download at the following sites:
- Microsoft Halloween Clip Art - Creepy clip art from the MS site
- Hershey's Trick or Treat Clipart - the famous candy company offers free clip art for kids
- Indezine Ten dark and disturbing PowerPoint Templates
- Brainy Betty Seven more Halloween .pot files
- Shawn's Web Art Fun Ghoulies from Shawn Kearny
- Abstract Pumpkin - a Halloween inspired PowerPoint Background
updated: September 28, 2007
Labels: images, PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 10/31/2005 11:37:00 AM 2 Comments Links to this post
Ah, spring at last! Time for birds, bunnies, blue skies, buds -- and Easter PowerPoint backgrounds and templates, of course!
You can download quite a few for free.
Here are six URLs with Free Easter PowerPoint offers --
- Abstract blue egg background
- Spring colors
- Passionate Purple Powerpoint background
- Baby Chick Animated PowerPoint
- Pastel Easter Eggs
- Microsoft Easter Templates
Happy Easter!
Labels: PowerPoint Background, PowerPoint Templates
¶ 3/24/2005 09:22:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
