How Presentation Software Can Enhance Your Meetings

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When you are having a meeting, whether it is with your teammates or with a client, it is important that you are fully prepared. Planning beforehand what you are going to say, it is a way of showcasing upcoming projects and proposals. However, simply standing up and talking about the project isn’t the most efficient and interesting way of doing business. In order to enhance the meeting, you can use presentation software to help visually aid each point you are making. But that’s not the only benefit that comes with presentation software. They will also allow you to:

Lay Everything Out Clearly

Not only are they a visual aid for you and your audience to follow, but they can also be used to lay the information out clearly. From images to statistics and infographics, you can demonstrate certain points in an engaging and creative way. You want to find a balance between the written content and the visual content, however, so that your audience will listen to what you are saying, whilst looking at the supporting information.

Collaborate with Teammates

When you are preparing a presentation for a client meeting, it is important that it includes all of the essential information. Therefore, it is good to have more than one person working on the presentation. When you are thinking about what to include, make sure you get a presentation software that lets you collaborate with your teammates by allowing you to send it to them to edit. By having more than one person working on it, any mistakes can be spotted and anything missed can be added in with a click of a button. Making the presentation more professional and accurate, it is an invaluable feature that can greatly enhance the meeting from the get-go.

Use Customizable Templates

Businesses want to have a fluid brand style. That’s why it is vital to use the same fonts and design on each slide presentation. By using the software, you can do exactly this, choosing the right template for each project. Anyone can edit them to look professional and beautiful - you don’t have to be a designer to create an unforgettable slide presentation. Breathing new life into an otherwise normal-looking slide presentation, the customizable templates create a visually compelling and impactful appearance. 

Be More Versatile

One of the reasons as to why more businesses are turning to presentation software is that it is incredibly versatile. Not only can you/your audience view the slides on desktop, but many platforms allow you to view the content on mobile or tablet – meaning that you can be anywhere viewing it. Ensuring that you never miss out on an important meeting, this flexibility is very beneficial in the long term. It also means that you can send clients the presentation to view again after the meeting, keeping your project fresh in their minds for longer.

Show Past Data

When you are having whole staff meetings to showcase how the business is performing, it is good to have slides demonstrating past vs. present statistics. Presentation software will allow for this, giving you the opportunity to input the essential information into tables and graphs. By using them in a meeting, staff will be able to see where they need to improve and start to think of solutions. For clients, you can also use it to display why they should choose your business over your competitors, with insightful percentages or relevant case studies.

Final Thoughts

So there you go. There are just four of the ways that presentation software can enhance your meetings – no matter if it is an in-house meeting or a sales pitch for a client. With so many benefits, it is clear that presentation software will be used by millions of companies across the world for years to come. However, it is essential that when it comes time to preparing for a presentation, you don’t rely fully on the slides. You need to use them to support what you’re saying and not make your audience think that you are using them as a crutch. 

When you are considering using it within your business, it is vital that you research and compare the different companies that offer presentation software, paying close attention to the pricing, how they work and the features that they offer. With a variety of software on offer (it is not only PowerPoint that offers it), you are guaranteed to find the right one for your requirements - whether you are a start-up or a long-established business that’s looking to upgrade their software and improve on their presentation skills.

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FREE: Try Scribd as a Frugal Alternative to Kindle Unlimited and Audible

Recently Eva asked about her Big Nate books we had put on hold at the library. I told her the library was closed all weekend for a computer maintenance situation, so we could not get our holds. Then it hit me that I should check Scribd to see if they had any Big Nate books. They did. TONS OF THEM, including the "complete" books that are over 350 pages long. Problem solved. Kid reading. Mother of the Year award on the way.

When my husband was out of town and I was too whipped to read aloud to the kids at bedtime, we all snuggled up in one room to sleep and I turned on a Magic Tree House book or something like Frindle or The Penderwicks, and it was the perfect way to go to sleep. Another problem solved. Listening to a book counts almost like reading it. Bam.

Still Alice was popping up all around me, as a movie suggestion and as a book suggestion. I like to read the book first if I possibly can, so I put it on hold at the library. Couldn't get it yet (see above). Logged in to my Scribd account. STILL ALICE! I've been reading it on my phone ever since, in a doctor's waiting room, all over the house, by the pool, anywhere. When Mommy gets some brain break sanity, everybody wins.

So let me answer some questions for you about Scribd.

What's the selection like?

The books I find on Scribd for homeschooling are wonderful. The bestsellers I find for myself are also fabulous ... I don't have a lot of time to read lately but I have been MAKING time, and it's easy when I always have something on my phone.

For those of you who are over 40 like myself, yes, you can adjust the size of the font. I am not in love with reading on my phone, but it works when I'm waiting in the car, when I have just a few minutes to myself, when I want to sneak away. I am absolutely in love with all the audiobook options and I always have something great to listen to when I'm walking. I'm discovering things to listen to that I would not normally choose.

The screenshot at the left shows how you can browse by what's on the top charts right now.

Downside: not all books are available as audiobooks. What I do like is that some are available as BOTH!

I also appreciate that I can save titles for later, whether I ever get to them or not. It's nice to have options. It also recommends books for me based on what I've saved in the past, both for myself and for the kids. This is going to be huge for making my Winter Reading List (see Summer Reading List here).

The book icon means it's a book and the headphones mean it's an audiobook. I haven't gotten into the
Magazines section yet. There's more exploring to be done!

How do you organize them all?

When you find a book that grabs you, you can SAVE it then put it in a collection. I have collections for each of my kids, for homeschooling in general, for myself (fiction and nonfiction). The picture below shows some of what I have so far: some books for Sam and something the girls are loving right now. There are more collections as you scroll to the left. I don't know about you, but I am NOTHING without organization! This screenshot also shows titles I might like that are available soon or that I have already saved, as well as what I'm listening to or reading now.

So how much do I pay for all this? 
Just $8.99 per month. (although if you sign up for a free 2-month subscription to Scribd to try it out and then decide you love it, I get a month for free ... full disclosure ... then you can start telling your own friends how much you love it and get a free month when your friends fall in love with it like you did!)

And hey, guess what? You don't even need a smartphone to do all this. You can do it on your COMPUTER or laptop! Read, listen, sort, all of it.

Why I didn't love Kindle Unlimited at $9.99 per month
Kindle Unlimited is a good price, but you really have to track down what's available, and the search function is not the best as far as holding your place, so you go down rabbit holes and forget what you were trying to find in the first place. I personally have my own books on Kindle Unlimited so I do think it's a great service sometimes. Obviously I think my books are a great value on there, but I have downloaded some really crappy books on KU. Also, it's not free to listen to books instead of read them.

Why I didn't like Audible at around $15 per book
Too expensive, even with freebies here and there and even with a plan where the more you get the cheaper it is. Yes, it's great to have the audiobook and own it forever, and I understand it costs a lot of money for an author to get an audiobook made. Hence the authors who choose to read their own book to save money, and we sure wish they hadn't. Not many people have a voice for reading books. I would never read my own books to save money because I have an annoying voice that would take away from the content. But I digress. This is too rich for my blood, and I felt a lot of pressure to make a good pick since I was spending so much money.

This is what the screen looks like when I'm listening to a book. Of course you can make the narration go faster or slower, fast forward, rewind, and even make it stop after a certain amount of time. This is in case you fall asleep quickly like I do when you're being read to at night or you just want to listen to 15 minutes then go to sleep.

Get two free months!
Like I mentioned, if you sign up using my Scribd referral code here, you get TWO FREE MONTHS to try it out, and I get a free month. We both win, and I love to bring you offers where we are both happily skipping around holding hands in interwebs land :-)

I also talked about Scribd here on my 2018 Summer Reading List. No, Smarty Pants, I didn't get to all of the books on my list, but I read others instead and next year will make my reading and listening list more realistic and will share with you! Maybe I'll make a 2018 Winter Reading List!

Originally posted August 2018. Since then we've listened to so many books! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wednesday Wars, The Wife Between Us, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Kristin Hannah books are about to be devoured by me as well. So many options!

How to Lose Weight Drinking a Yummy Orange Creamsicle Shake Every Day #HealthyLiving

This is a fabulous gluten-free meal/snack/treat! You can also check out my Kerrie the Kitchen Queen blog for lots of great recipes I'm going to try, post and share.

I wrote back here about giving the Trim Healthy Mama plan a shot. Except I still haven't cracked open the book. I have tried several recipes from the cookbook, but I'm definitely not sticking with the plan 100% ... or even 50%. BUT there is one thing I pretty much have every day because it feels like LIFE to me and doesn't give me a sugar headache and fills me up and makes me feel AMAZING.

It's the Trim Healthy Mama orange creamsicle shake. I have it nearly every day as my lunch and I'm slowly losing weight (also, walking daily doesn't hurt) and I'm not craving sugar and chocolate as much as I used to. When you see what is in it, you will see why I feel so great these days!

How to Upgrade Your Partner's Wardrobe

Sometimes, the people we love aren’t always hot on their own fashion sense. After all, shopping for clothes costs both money and time. However, sometimes we just want them to branch out a little bit, and not wear the same threadbare outfit that the so often rely on. If you want to upgrade their wardrobe into something that’s stylish and diverse enough for every occasion, here are some tips.

Encourage a closet purge

A closet purge not only gets rid of those dreaded, worn-to-death items, but it also provides a bit of education. By pulling out all of their old clothing items, you will get a sense of what they do and don’t like – and where room for improvement fits in. As well as that, a purge allows you to start from scratch to some extent. By weeding out all the less-appealing and unworn items, you can add to your partner’s wardrobe in a way that will have a much more profound effect.

Don’t drag them around shopping malls 

Upgrading your partner’s wardrobe requires a bit of tact. Chances are, if their drawers are a bit lackluster, it is likely to be because they don’t enjoy the process of shopping – or at the very least are intimidated by the prospect. While many of us enjoy days spent dipping in and out of shops while enjoying the odd coffee break, our partners might consider this to be the worst way to spend a day.

Quality, capsule clothing

A capsule wardrobe is essentially just a small but diverse wardrobe that you can happily mix and match from. However, if your partner has a tendency to wear their clothes to death, then you will want to prioritize quality. Choosing comfy and luxurious fabrics such as cashmere is great for capsule wardrobe items. Remember: even though you’re paying a little bit more, you are making a long-term investment for your partner. Companies such as State Cashmere have plenty of adaptable and timeless menswear items that would be ideal.

Find out what they like

Many people stick to the colors blue, brown, grey and black because they’re pretty timeless and they go with just about everything. In order to branch their taste out a bit, it’s a good idea to find out what other styles they like. They may have a secret desire to wear bold patterns, or they may have a soft spot for some European-style tailoring. By adapting it to their taste, you’re far more likely to have an influence on what they wear.

Be patient

It’s possible that your partner could really enjoy the idea of a complete makeover – which means you might be able to have an almost overnight influence. However, it’s important to remember that it may take some time. By encouraging them to try on new and exciting items of clothing and broaden their wardrobe, you can expand their taste over time – but it might not be an immediate transformation.

Upgrading your partner’s wardrobe isn’t always as simple as buying them a new outfit. By discovering their hidden fashion tastes and investing in quality pieces, you can create a capsule wardrobe that lasts.