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Some of the coolest improvements in PowerPoint 2007 are related to the overhaul of its diagramming features, which let you add much more than detailed diagrams and organization charts to presentations. Collectively, all the diagrams available in PowerPoint are now called SmartArt.

The Mini toolbar is a shy attendant. When you select some text, almost imperceptibly, the Mini toolbar faintly appears above the text. If you ignore the Mini toolbar, it fades away. However, if you move the mouse toward the Mini toolbar, the toolbar solidifies and offers you several text formatting options.

Taking your show on the road? Lisa Jahred presents a few essential and road-tested tips for PowerPoint presentation preparation in off-site locations, both in country and abroad.

Are you bored with that glazed-over look from your audience while giving a presentation? They may be bored with you, too! It's time to spice up those PowerPoint presentations and keep your audience lusting for more. With today's technology, almost anything is possible, as discussed by Lisa Jahred in this article.

While adding and formatting text in PowerPoint are fairly straightforward tasks, choosing the appropriate fonts, colors, and effects for your presentation is often more difficult. Become familiar with the sophisticated text formatting and customization options PowerPoint offers, as well as the automation it provides if you're in a hurry or have limited design skills.

Applying a packaged design can greatly streamline the design process, but it comes at a price. Although it does address a key issue, it may not be the answer for presenters who want to truly stand out from the pack. In this chapter, Tom Bunzel examines the PowerPoint Design Templates and looks more deeply into proven design principles and how to apply them to our own work.

Outline view lets you focus on the structure of your presentation's message and concentrate on your presentation's text, such as the main points and subpoints you want to convey. Learn how to use it effectively with this sample chapter.

The Microsoft Office drawing tools are very handy for creating line art, but if you want true power you'll combine Visio's capabilities with those of Office. In this article, Tom Bunzel shows you how to use Visio to create a true parametric timeline for your PowerPoint presentation.

The PowerPoint AutoContent Wizard can certainly help you get started. But when you need something outside its purview -- or you simply want to do something different -- you'll need to create a brand new presentation. In this sample chapter, you'll learn about bullet formatting, fonts, text boxes, and text editing.

Get the basics of storing Outlook information, and learn to manage that information so that E-mail becomes a time saver instead of a time waster. You'll discover how to navigate Outlook's new interface, create folders, move and copy information between folders, and manipulate folder properties to fine-tune your folders.