We need high resolution photos to make stunning slides. But getting royalty free images is a struggle. Most images downloaded from Google are copyright protected and you cannot use them freely. Unsplash is one website which provides you free images which can be used in anyway you want. The site homepage says "Free (do whatever you want) hi-resolution photos" . This basically means you can download photos from this site and use it anywhere. On your website, blog or PowerPoint slides.  I downloaded few photos and found the resolution to be very good. Check out their photo archives here . For more free sites, check this link and thank Amit Agarwal (who has compiled the list).

Carmine Gallo , the author of 'The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs' is back with a new and better book; 'Talk Like TED' . Here is a presentation wherein I have summarized the lessons for you. You can view the presentation by clicking here as well. Do share it with others. Presentation Zero to Hero in 9 Steps from Vivek Singh

This is a guest post by Jessica Davis. You cannot shy away from presentations especially once you have started working. Being able to give presentation effectively is now a skill that any young professional covets. Presentation skills are so important that most interviewers check to see if candidates present well. However, most people use the same presentation style for all types of presentations. This can often be a mistake because presentations are all about catering to your audience. If you want to get the best effect and maximum engagement from your audience, you need to change presentation styles depending on where and to whom you are giving the presentation too. Here are some differences between business and individual presentations that will help give presentations more effectively. Business presentations are often group presentations Business presentations are often presented by groups rather than individuals. This is why business presentations need to be...

Despicable Me is an interesting movie. The movie talks about a machine called Shrink Ray, developed by the Chinese, which can shrink the size of anything. If you point the rays of the machine on a person, animal or object you can shrink its size immediately. Mr. Gru in the movie uses it to shrink the moon to the size of a football :) There is a big need of such shrink rays for presenters. Something which can cut down the size of big PPT files immediately. I have compiled 4 such technique which will act as your personal  Shrink Ray . 1. Compress your Pictures Large size of images is the biggest reason we end up with bulky PowerPoint files. One simple way to reduce PPT file size drastically is to click on every picture on your slide and compress its size. In MS PowerPoint 2010, left click on the picture. On the top, you can see Picture Tools Format . Choose Compress Pictures option. Choose Screen . Now save the PPT file. The options given under Compress Pictur...

Here is a real life instance. Radha stood up to present to her top management. She was supposed to talk about marketing strategy for the coming year. She had 50 slides and was looking at a 1 hour presentation. The presentation started and then the CEO asked. "Can you present everything in 10 minutes. I cannot listen to so many things and remember everything. I am stupid. I need to know what matters in just 10 minutes." Forcing someone to present their 60 minute stuff in 10 minutes is a challenge. But if you do prepare a 10 minute edit of your 60 minute presentation, it will help you retain the absolute core of your idea and knock off the unnecessary stuff. The top management does not have the time to listen to hour long presentations.

1. Going very fast. Give your audience time to understand. If they are not saying anything, does not mean they have understood everything. 2. Using jargon. If you have to, then explain it properly. Do not assume the audience knows all the jargon you are going to use. 3. Talking to yourself. A presentation is a conversation you have with the audience. Talk to them. Speak and then listen. Observe the audience. Do not keep talking (as if to yourself). 4. Skipping important details. While presenting tables and graphs, write down if the volumes are annual or per month. The amount is in USD or Rupees. Mention the source of your data. Mention everything that needs to be mentioned. 5. Presenting for too long. The longer the presentation, the lesser the audience understanding. Try to say the same thing in half the time (or half the slides). No one can remember content worth 50 slides. Cut down. Present the bare essentials and skip the details (unless the audience asks for it).