Happy New Year

Have a rocking new year. Take care of your health and remember to have fun every day every minute.

Where have I been off late? [An Update]

Dear all

I have been on a holiday for the complete last week (May 29 to June 6). While I joined work from June 7 I have been keeping unwell. Mild fever for most of this week has kept me away from writing anything on the blog. I have been going to office and crashing once I am back at home.

The good news is... I saw a doc today and all should be well now. See you soon.

Another milestone: 200 posts

My blog has crossed 200 posts. This happened on the 3rd of this month. That's another small milestone that makes me immensely happy. I completed 475 days of blogging on May 3. 200 posts in 475 days. That means 2 posts every 5 days!

I thank all my readers, friends, colleagues and my better half for all the support and encouragement.

Background Image: Salvatore Vuono

1st Anniversary of the Blog

Image: Salvatore Vuono

I am very happy to share with you that our blog 'All About Presentations' has completed one year of existence. It was on January 14th last year that I started off the blog. I started the blog with two objectives:

1. Learn more about making presentations, and

2. Share all my learnings with you.

I have been trying my best to write useful content in simple language. I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing.

I would take this opportunity to thank my better half (it was her idea to start this blog) and to all the friends/relatives, readers and fellow bloggers who have commented, shared feedback and encouraged me.

As the blog enters its 2nd year, all I would say is: 'Expect more exciting stuff.'

Regards,

Vivek (aka Poza)

Do something new this 'new year'

2009 is a special year for me. I started my blog this year in January. I thank all the readers, friends and colleagues who provided all the support, critique and feedback. As the last post of this year, I would like to leave you with just one thought.

If you want to become better at presentations next year and are worrying about what are the things you can do. Just relax, listen to me and try just this one thing:

"Do something new this new year. Take the risk to be different."

Whatever style you have adopted till now is fine. But come out of that comfort zone and try something new. Give yourself time and go prepared. But do something new. For once don't worry what others will feel or say. For once put yourself in an uncomfortable position. For once prepare to fail. You will not regret it. If you can't do it this new year you will never be able to do it. So go ahead and do the new.

Wish you a New New Year.


Vivek

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Image: Danilo Rizutti

What is RSS Feed?

If you want to read a blog or a website regularly then RSS is a very useful tool for you. I will explain in brief what it means and how it works. If you know what RSS means and are already using it, you can skip this post.

What is RSS?
There are many ways you can read a blog or a news website.
1) You can visit it daily or weekly using your browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome or Mozilla).

2) You can subscribe to updates by email. So everytime I write a new post, it comes automatically to your inbox.

3) You can subscribe to RSS Feeds and read the posts on your computer. Everytime I write a post, your RSS reader will automatically download and store it for you. It will be marked as unread and you can read it at your own sweet time. The main benefit of using RSS is the ease of following all the blogs/sites you want to read at one place.

How RSS works?
You first need a Feed Reader. This is an application which aggregates feeds from all the websites/blogs you want to subscribe to. There are both online and offline Feed Readers. Google Reader, Bloglines are some of the popular online Feed Readers. Feed Demon, Omea Reader and MS Outlook 2007 are offline Feed Readers. I am using Omea Reader.

If you want to be able to download feeds (posts which I write on the blog) and store on your computer so you can read offline then you need an offline Feed Reader. This is similar to how we read emails on Outlook. When you connect to net it downloads your emails and then lets you read it even when you go offline.

In case of online Feed Readers, to read your feeds you need to log in (the way you log in for your gmail) and start reading on your browser.

What should you do next?
First decide on which type of Feed Reader you want. For online Feed Readers, just visit their site, create a log in and start subscribing. For offline Feed Readers, download the application and install it on your computer. Then subscribe to the feeds.

Suppose you have installed Omea Reader and you want to subscribe to my blog . Click on the RSS icon on the blog (as shown in the image above) and proceed with the subscription. Else, you can go to Omea Reader and click 'Subscribe to New Feed'. Then type the link (http://feeds2.feedburner.com/AllAboutPresentations) which is shown when you keep you mouse over the RSS icon. Alternatively, you can just type the blog URL (www.allaboutpresentations.com) and it will automatically detect the feed.

Read more on RSS here.
See you on Feed Reader soon!

Volunteers needed: 5 minute interviews

Hi friends.

I am studying how people present in teams. Presenting in teams is very different from presenting solo and it comes with its own set of complexities. I am studying the dynamics and problems of presenting in teams and how we can solve them?

To find out the problems and their possible solutions I need volunteers. If you have made presentations as part of a team I would like to interview you. To volunteer, drop me an email at vivek [at] allaboutpresentations [dot] com or leave a comment with your email id.

As a token of appreciation, I will mention your name and your blog URL on the blog. Awaiting your participation.

What do you hate the most in a Presentation?

All the time we think from the point of view of a presenter. I should do this and I should not do this. But remember that other than being a presenter you are also an audience. Why not learn from others' mistakes? So the question I have for you today is:

"What do you hate most in a presentation?"

Think as an audience. Try to remember the last presentation you saw. What did you dislike most? The amount of text on the slides, font size, template, sleepy voice, spelling mistakes, lack of passion, etc. etc. To reply leave a comment on the blog or mail to vivek [at] jazz factory [dot] in.

Interesting answers will find a mention on the blog.

What bothers you most before a presentation?

What is the one thing that bothers you most, just before you are about to deliver a presentation? It's on top of your mind and it bugs you. Think about the last time you were about to present. What was worrying you the most?

This is my question to anyone who is reading this post. Share your answer through email (vivek at jazz factory.in) or by leaving a comment here. I will try eliminating that worry forever. That's my promise.

6 months of AAP

Today on the invitation by GRIET, a prestigious college in Hyderabad, I addressed a group of 50 MBA 1st year students. I talked on Consumer Behaviour for around a hour and a half. My presentation went well and I had a nice interactive session with young students. I would share with you my experience in a few days. But today's post is for something special.

My blog completed six months yesterday.

I started blogging to share my views on presentations. I also wanted to learn more about presentations.

It has been a great journey for me so far. I have learned a lot and am sure you are also enjoying the blog. Thanks to every reader and to everyone who commented and critiqued the blog. Special thanks to my better half (who is the backbone of my blog).

Poll: How template savvy are you?

Most of us use templates for our presentations. Some people like to just use a standard one (already in-built in PowerPoint) whereas some take the pains of finding new templates online. Some even design their own templates.

I have put up a poll on the blog (look to your left) trying to find your template using behavior. Do take out 5 seconds and participate. I will share the results after the poll is over.

Yes I am talking to you

I started this blog in January this year and it has been quite a journey for me. Sort of extended my love for presentations to the blogosphere. Have written about a host of topics and there are many more to come. I believe in practical stuff and hence always try to relate everything I say to a real life incident.

Over the last five and a half months, have seen quite a decent number of readers on the blog. And so today this post is directed at you. Yes, YOU who is reading this post right now!

If you are reading my blog and have been visiting quite often, one thing is clear, that you are interested in presentations. But what more? I would like you to talk to me. Tell me what you like and what are you looking for. What brings you here and what keeps you with me. I want to talk to you, my invisible co-passenger in this journey called 'allaboutpresentations.'

Write to me at vivek [at] jazz factory [dot] in or comment on this post.