by Patricia Luzi

1. Keep slides uniform: same color scheme, design templates, background and casing (sentence case preferred)
2. Use no more than 3 font styles
Serif font styles for Title
San Serif font style for body / bullet text, objects and diagrams
3. Plan 3 to 5 slides / concept 
One main concept / slide
4. Use no more than 6 bullet / slides; 2 lines / bullet; use 5 or less data series /chart
5. Avoid juxtaposing red and green (especially in chart series) hard to read
6. Use no more than 2 types of animation
1 for the opening and closing
1 for the body of the presentation
7. Incorporate build techniques when animating bullet lists
8. Use parallelism on bulleted text
9. Emphasize main points using graphics, clip art, pictures, diagrams
10. Print handouts using 3 slides / page

Please feel free to contact me and/or post your comments and questions below.

Though I wasn’t the impetus for Windows 7, I do know that the new features and enhancement would have been my idea. Windows 7 has simplified your computing experience. Windows 7 has better ways to find and manage files—like Jump Lists and improved Taskbar previews—to help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 also has great features like HomeGroup, Windows Media Center, and more to make new things possible.

The Taskbar has bigger buttons and full-sized previews—and you can pin programs to it for one-click access. Jump Lists provide shortcuts to files, folders, and websites. And Snap, Peek, and Shake give you easy (and fun) new ways to juggle all those open windows.

Besides all of this, there is a new set of Theme Galleries with real-time previews so you can customize the interface to look, feel and be Yours!

Isn’t it beautiful?

What you need to know to be successful!

Getting Started with Microsoft Office 2010

• Learn the terminology of the new interface
• Tour the new environment
• Learn how to navigate the new environment
• Overview of Backstage view, Quick Access toolbar and Ribbons
• Working with Backstage view
• Work with the Recent Document List
• Saving, Printing and so much more….
• Customize the User Interface both Quick Access toolbar and Ribbons
• Identify and work with Contextual Tabs
• Work with the Status Bar
• Review program Options
• And so much more…..

When you open multiple windows on the desktop, sometimes it can be a challenge to view separate windows and switch between them. Using the Windows 7 Aero Peek feature you can quickly preview the desktop without minimizing all your windows or preview an open window by pointing at its button on the taskbar.

Point to the new Windows 7; click the Show desktop button at the right end of the taskbar. The open windows fade from view, revealing the desktop. Click it again and the windows return.

In Windows 7 use any program Taskbar button to take a quick look at other open windows without clicking away from the window you are currently working on. Point your mouse at a taskbar button, and thumbnail previews of any open windows associated with that button appear above the taskbar. If you want to open a window you are previewing, just click its thumbnail

by Patricia Luzi

The Quick Access Bar, which is displayed in the top-left corner of the window above the Ribbon, has only minimal core commands that we used to see on the Standard Toolbar in previous versions. To make this more personal and user- friendly you can customize it to includes commands for your requirements. The Quick Access Toolbar commands are independent of the tab that is currently displayed.

Customize the Quick Access Toolbar

You can customize commands to the Quick Access Toolbar using the Customize Quick Access Toolbar Command.

1. Click the Customize Quick Access Toolbar Command.
2. Select the comman to add.
Selected commands will be added to the right of the existing commands.

Add a command or group to the Quick Access Toolbar

You can add an individual command or ribbon group to the Quick Access Toolbar directly from commands that are displayed on the Office Ribbon.

1. On the Ribbon, click the appropriate tab or group to display the command or group that you want to add to the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. Right-click the command or group, and then click Add to Quick Access Toolbar on the shortcut menu.
 Command or Group will be added to the right of the existing commands.

Please feel free to contact me and/or post your comments and questions below.

Only you know this answer but from a technical, productivity, proficiency point of view I would say YES!

To make sure the right decision is made for your organization and your users you first may want to assess the way that Office 2003 is being used. Is this an opportunity to address training from multiple perspectives? This answer will enhance the transition training by including new ways of doing old activities. Not only addressing the “What’s New” aspect of Office 2010 but also addressing “How do we Work”. Which tools do we use and how? How often are we using these tools?

With the first look at Office 2010 user’s reaction will be “where are the menus?”, “where are my commands and toolbars?”, “where is the “X” command that used to be right here” and more. There’s a good bit of free Microsoft Office 2010 training tools and information available but… Do your users have the time to teach themselves and get up to speed to continue performing well?

Though we use computers daily will the new Office 2010 interface be easy to navigate and locate what is needed quickly, easily and intuitively? Only you can decide but remember not only has the interface changed, commands have been re-organized and re-positioned, there is new terminology and new approaches to working smarter and better if you know where to look.

Only you can answer “Do we need Training”. If the answer is yes, ISIS Training is ready to help. Give us a call 415.563.4747 we are here for you.

Pinning programs to the taskbar in Windows 7 complements pinning programs to the Start menu, like in earlier versions of Windows. When you pin a favorite program to the taskbar, you can always see it there and easily access it with a single click. Right click the program in the Start menu and Windows 7 displays a menu with pinning options.

The return of the File “Menu”… not exactly, but definitely an improvement over the Office Button in Office 2007.

The Office Button in Office 2007 forced users to let go of the File menu whether they liked it or not. But by upgrading to Office 2010, you can once again embrace the File tab (menu). Though it has a new name “Backstage View” it is still your File menu expanded on steroids and completely revamped.

The File tab user interface combines file-level tasks and actions that replace the functionality of the Office button in Office 2007 and the File menu in Office 2003 or prior. The Backstage view allows you to quickly manage settings as well as access Quick Commands that are located in the left pane of the Backstage view – commands like “Save”, “Save As”, “Open”, and “Close” as well as “Options” and “Exit”.

To access the Backstage View, click on the File tab (left of the Home tab) and make your selections from the Left pane of commands.

We think people might initially be resistant to a new way of doing things no matter what your previous version was, but once you get used to using the Backstage view for all of your file management needs, we think you’ll find it useful and efficient to having access to everything in one place.

In Windows 7 it is easy to compare the contents of two windows. Drag the windows to opposite sides of the screen. Each window will resize to fill half of the screen.

Use Aero Shake in Windows 7 to quickly minimize every open window except the one you want. You can then restore all of your windows just as easily. The window you want to keep open, shake the title bar back and forth quickly. Then when you are ready to restore the minimized window, simply shake the open window again.

To use Snap, drag the title bar of an open window to either side of the desktop to align it there, or drag it to the top of the desktop to maximize the window. To expand a window vertically using Snap, drag the top edge of the window to the top of the desktop.

Backstage view / Share

The Share command in the Backstage view of Office 2010 is a compilation of commands that in Office 2007 and Office 2003 were under Save As (File types), Send (Send Using E-mail) and Publish (Document Management -SharePoint and Blog Post). The Office 2010 new Share command option is…Save to SkyDrive. This new command will allow you to store, share, and edit documents from virtually anywhere.