Explore a wide range of software applications, including their features, benefits, and best practices for maximising their potential in various business and personal contexts.
If you’ve used Excel for some time, you may want to learn more about the different logical functions such as IF, AND and OR. This post describes how these functions can be combined to perform very useful composite logical operations. IF Function The IF function will carry out one of two actions. One action is […]
The convert function is used to change data from one unit type to another in Excel. It’s often used to convert dates, but it can do so much more as there is a range of conversion units that you can use to make your life easier. The convert function is an engineering function. In Excel […]
This is a quick function to try out and can add a bit of fun to a worksheet. I’m creating a worksheet listing different forms of marine life for a quiz for some children visiting the local aquarium. It will make the screen look more inviting if I have a photo behind the worksheet to […]
This is quick to do and a useful way to add financial information from Excel to a Word document. This is an effective way to add a snapshot of financial data without the need for Excel’s tools. Tip: The Excel data will appear as a table in Word. It will show the figures but you […]
One of our trainers showed me this function when I was trying to find data in a huge worksheet. It is a fantastic function for List Management and saves me lots of time and stressing. Here is a simple example to demonstrate how to use filters in Excel. I have my worksheet with details of […]
If you are planning a budget for a trip involving two different currencies, fluctuations in conversion rates can create more work for you. The solution is to use a formula that automatically updates all the results if the conversion rate changes. At the top of my worksheet, I have added a currency conversion rate. I […]
Transitions are part of the animation tools available in Powerpoint. They are so impressive they get their own tab. Transitions refer to the ways you can change from one slide to another. You can have a simple transition but why not experiment to see if you can match the transition style to your audience. For […]
After all your hard work developing your slides, it’s definitely worth running through the whole presentation to see how long the whole presentation takes. This is the opportunity to edit down the slides if you find you are over-running or finetune your speaker’s notes to help you run to time. With your presentation open, select […]
In one of my earlier blog posts, I looked at how an Excel formula can add working days to a date. This was for a manager who wanted to set up deadlines for the tasks to be completed within the team’s appraisal meetings. I want to build on this and find out how to add […]
This is another thing I didn’t realise that Powerpoint could do. Using my garden project presentation, I want to add a basic chart from scratch that compares the costs of sourcing plants from a nursery, from donations or cuttings, or a combination of the two. Luckily, Powerpoint led me through the process for adding basic […]
I was working on a Powerpoint presentation this weekend, just a for my own amusement, and I noticed that I stayed in the same presentation view throughout my work. I had adopted my own default view setting – the view I get when I open a new file. It seemed easier at the start of […]
Powerpoint can give you the professional presentation – you can wow your audience with a presentation with a strong impact. Powerpoint can help you to create a presentation quickly and easily with ready made templates – it can help get your message across with smooth transitions between slides, animations on bullet points, and embed […]
Powerpoint has so many opportunities available, that it seems a waste to limit it to a business presentation. Often we find it easier to practise a skill if we are using something we are familiar with, and something we can use at home, or in our “other life” outside work. Here are some fun uses […]
Animations can be used to apply to whole slides, or you can use customise animations that can be applied to bullet points. This is an intermediate/advanced technique in Powerpoint. As I am new to this and still at the experimental phase – this is about familiarisation (instead of ignoring an entire tab because I don’t […]
After my recent Microsoft Powerpoint course, I felt inspired to explore what I’d learned at home. Exploring with computers can be like going “off road” for me, and I need some extra back up to help me cope with the bumpy bits as I learn. So when I try something and the result isn’t as I […]
There have been times when I’ve seen a PowerPoint presentation, which was heavy on the text. It’s the PowerPoint equivalent to a voice with no oompf. With my upgrade to 2010 comes the necessary upgrade of my attitude to presentations and how they have moved on. Upgrading to PowerPoint 2010 includes upgrading expectations and skills. […]
If you are used to working in an older version of Powerpoint, you may not be aware of this function – and you are missing out on something rather impressive. Co-authoring is a fantastic enhancement in Powerpoint 2010 and means that more than one person can contribute to a Powerpoint presentation at the same time. […]
I didn’t know this was possible, until I saw a presentation the other day with a video in it. It added a really professional edge and made the message all the more powerful. I could almost here the intake of breath from the audience…as they said “oooooo.” If you have a video that gets your […]
I’ve been using the little icons above the ribbon without knowing that they had a name, and that I could add to them too…this is another way I can customise the ribbon to speed up my work. This is the Quick Access Toolbar and it looks like this…The little down arrow gives you easy access to […]
It’s easy to put a bit of colour into your new presentations by using the ready-made themes. You can then add extra formatting touches to give your presentation that “wow” factor. From the backstage view select New. Click on themes, and Powerpoint gives you a range of themes to choose from. Click on the one you […]
You can add an extra “huzzah” to your presentations using this Powerpoint advanced technique. Adding narration to a presentation can be used to add variety and interest to your presentation. If you can’t be there to give the presentation or if you suffer from nerves, you can record your narration. The bonus of using narration […]
There is an option to customise your Save settings in PowerPoint, so that it will automatically save your presentation. This is a great security net, saving you from the “oh no” moments when you close a document without saving. And, it’s easy to do. From the Backstage view, select the Options icon. Select the Options […]
I have created a blank presentation, using the File menu, and then selected New, and Blank presentation PowerPoint gives me one slide. Now I know I’m going to need at least three slides for my presentation, so I want to add two more slides. I use the ribbon, I’m already in the Home tab, so […]
You can easily set up options to suit your way of working and customise PowerPoint, so you get more out of it, and more out of your presentations. You can get PowerPoint to keep a look out for errors for you. It can be an extra set of eyes to help improve the […]
Learning shortcuts is always a fun part of PowerPoint training. I like having a range of ways of accessing commands, opening programmes and files, and changing the view of my work – without constantly reaching for the mouse. Shortcuts are also called Key Tips – but whichever name you prefer, they are nifty little things. […]
The last time I used a PowerPoint presentation, I was using 2003. Today is a fresh start with 2010. And from opening of the program, the screen looks sleeker and is designed to make it easier for me to access the commands. There are three things that stand out at this stage and this is […]
Here’s a quick way to create a check list to print out. Type your list in Word, then select all the text. Now you can add the bullet points. In the Home tab, select the down arrow next to the bullet point (located in the paragraph section of the ribbon). You can roll over the […]
Here’s another quick trick from Microsoft Office. It’s an alternative way to open Word, complete with a new blank document. It has the added bonus of helping those “IT challenged” of us to feel a bit techy. This involves the Windows key…a key I have never used… By holding down the Windows key and the […]
You may be proofreading a huge document, and half way through, you spot a spelling error. This error may be repeated in many places in the report but you need to email the report to your manager in five minutes. You could proof read the report and try to spot each error and replacing it […]
A colleague taught me this…took all of ten seconds to learn and I use it all the time. You can quickly zoom in or out of a document, part of a document, or even an object in a document…without using the ribbon. by using your mouse…. To zoom in Hold down on the control button, […]
I use Excel for planning work and setting deadlines and I always work better if I know the due date for a piece of work. I used to manually work out the number of working days between dates, using my Outlook calendar, and then switching between screens to then add the dates to my Excel […]
I like to draft Word documents and I tend to have a few on the go at any one time. Now this kind of multi-tasking is a bit of a risk, as I don’t always remember to save the document. I often close a file and then have the forehead slapping moment (mine, not someone […]
You can easily add a professional look to a long document by adding different headers and footers on odd and even pages. Go to Page Layout tab then select Page Set Up options. Choose the Layout tab, and tick the Different Odd & Even box and make sure you have selected to Apply to whole […]
This question is not quite eligible for to be a QI question but still worth knowing. A document can look a bit bland without diagrams, and if you can’t get your point across quickly and easily, it can affect a business decision, project plan or sales analysis. A graphic or diagram can be much easier […]
I’m getting used to the Ribbon in Word 2010. I started spotting something happening when I clicked on a piece of text or image in my document. Not one to keep these things to myself, I will share them with you. The “ghost toolbar” Word 2010 has this little helper, so when I double click […]
One of the “wow” moments on my recent Microsoft Word Course was learning how to add a diagram to Word 2010. (Alright, I know, I’m easily pleased). I was worried that I’d have to try and figure out how to create boxes, get them to fit, then get the text to fit…I wasn’t looking forward to […]
Document themes are a quick way of adding a professional edge to your Word document. It saves time so you don’t have to spend time choosing the individual elements of colours, headings, fonts, and other effects. This is a bit more of an advanced word skill but it is very easy to do. You […]
I want to write a letter with a visual reminder not to send it to soon…what I need is a watermark with the word “draft”. It is no mystery and ridiculously easy… Here is a plain letter. The tab I need to use is Page Layout. I click on the watermark button and it gives me […]
I still have 2003 Word documents and I want to be able to view and edit them in Word 2010. Word 2010 is a clever little thing, and knows that I need to do this. It also has a fancy name for this, are you ready? Today’s new term is “compatibility mode”. How do you […]
Adding a screenshot to a Word 2010 document is easier than I thought and gives my work a professional edge. Here’s how to do it. Go to the screen you want take the screenshot from. Press the Print Screen button on they keyboard. (Word 2010 will save this into the gallery…) Go back to the […]
KeyTip? 5 minutes ago I had no idea what that was. So much so, that I thought, well, it can’t be that important if I haven’t heard of them before…such a little thing, but oh-so-useful. What is a KeyTip? Well, it’s another name for a keyboard shortcut using your Ribbon. In Word 2010, I can […]
Text wrapping allows you to make all the contents of a cell visible without adjusting the cell’s size. When you enter data, if that data is longer than the width of the cell, it appears in one of two ways: (1) If the cell to the right contains data, you will see only as much […]
Converting a list into a table for a better looking Word document I make a lot of lists. They are useful for quick references within a text, and often I used to type a list and spend too much time making it all fit. This often left the list looking a bit scrappy, almost like […]
I’ve been using Word 2003 for longer than I care to admit, but after seeing 2010 in action, and being a bit jaded with 2003, I recently upgraded. It’s still early days, but I love it…no really, I do – it has got a certain something that works for me. I like the new ribbon […]
I’ve recently upgraded from Excel 2003 to 2010 – and I’m scared. What if it’s too tricky, what if I break it…. and then I thought I could do save time by teaching myself… So I’ve made my list to overcome this fear…and I’m sharing it because I suspect that I’m not alone… I use […]
I use timings in worksheets alongside other key data, for example, in a project sheet, I have lists of individual tasks, with time started, time ended, total time taken, and then cost based on time taken multiplied by charge etc. So when I want to calculate a mixture of times multiplied by costs, I get an […]
Auto fill is a feature of Excel that automates the input of certain data such as days of the week, months of the year and quarters. It’s very simple to do and is a great time saver. If for example you needed to have days of the week on a spreadsheet, you only have to […]
I’m new to the charting side of things…I’m used to staring at numbers on worksheets and trying to figure out what it all means…and admiring those around me who use charts…so mysterious…so professional looking…so much nicer than my rows of figures. Charts make it so much easier to spot trends and analyse data – and […]
For those of us who can break out into a cold sweat at the mere mention of a “formula”, Excel has functions already set up to remove the need for towels and darkened rooms. I use Excel’s common functions every day – autosum, averages, count and minimum and maximum – all I have to do […]
I love time-saving tips and templates are a great way of setting up new worksheets without the hard work of formatting, setting up formulas and trying to make things look good. What I really want to do, is on get on with “the important stuff” of entering the data quickly, so that I can analyse […]