by Philippa Leguen de Lacroix, Co-Founder
Bespoke PowerPoint training will help you get good at PowerPoint, and fast. Of course, reaching expert level in anything takes time. And it’s hard to find the right training course for your particular needs.
I expect many of you have heard of the 10,000 hour rule. I have probably logged that time in PowerPoint easily. Not all of it was quality practice though (and I don’t want to be guilty of oversimplifying the rule here).
Certainly, I didn’t do a PowerPoint course to reach my now (admittedly self-proclaimed) expert level. Initially, I was entirely self-taught. Back in 1998 I literally spent days doing complex animations (the office was quiet) but for the era they were quite cutting edge. Or at least I thought so! By today’s standards they were terrible, but I enjoyed the creativity.
I next spent many years working in desk top publishing departments within investment banks. They provided 24/7 pitchbook service to the bank employees, and I “hotdesked”, covered shifts that included evening and graveyard, and had bankers breathing down my neck. Everything was deadline driven and had to follow strict house style. They did provide in-house PowerPoint training, but it very specific to the needs of that industry. However, I became fast, efficient, and finessed a very high attention to detail. Yet I was also over reliant on client templates, built-in macros, and found my creativity somewhat sapped.
When my friend and co-founder Pani Theodorou and I started our presentation design company in 2009, we again acquired knowledge as we went. There were no bespoke PowerPoint training courses available for the level of design and animation that we wanted. We now lead a team who frequently share tips and tricks to help us all get faster, stronger and more creative in using PowerPoint.
Since our work is of such a high standard, in both design and technicality, our clients are often asking us is we deliver training: We don’t!
Bespoke PowerPoint training courses
Courses with fewer attendees can cut through many of the boring standard elements and get straight to what’s useful and relevant. The smaller the number of participants, the better the quality of the course – especially when attendees are roughly grouped by existing knowledge or ability.
Common themes include wanting to make PowerPoint slides look more “designy”, how to prevent people taking the deck off-brand, and how to save time.
Often when I demo the “reset” button, there’s an audible reaction from the room. A template sounds like it’s going to be a boring thing, but when they are set up correctly, using layouts will save stacks of time and energy: allowing you to focus on the message of your slides, rather than pouring hours down the drain perfecting the aesthetic.
So whilst we are not a training company and we don’t run courses (currently), please do ask in case we can help you with some targeted tips for a small team, or a 1 to 1 session just for you (or someone in need!). You’ll find if we have created a template for you, that template will come with some guidelines and pointers to help get your teams using PowerPoint more efficiently.
In all cases, simply get in touch and ask us about your learning needs.
