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Golden Business Ideas
Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2004. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.
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The Right Way to Use PowerPoint Do you use PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation software, to make sales pitches for new clients? Or do you use it, as a consultant would, to lay out in-depth analyses in an effort to convince a client or your boss to adjust complex business strategies? If you use it for the former task—as a persuasion tool to highlight major talking points—then you’re using it to its best advantage. Its illustrated slides are short and pithy, and they are effective in highlighting information in a presentation. But if you want to use it as a vehicle to provide detailed and complex analyses, you may not be using the right tool. PowerPoint slides, by their very nature, hold only a handful of words. While those words can be dramatically displayed with brief, cartoonlike illustrations and diagrams, there simply isn’t enough space in each slide to provide more than talking points. For one author’s view of “slideware” programs, see The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint ( www.edwardtufte.com ) by Edward R. Tufte, professor emeritus of political science, computer science, statistics and graphic design at Yale University, who is considered one of the leading theorists of information presentation. Bankruptcy Wisdom Reason: Sometimes assets are discovered later, and that puts you in line for some reimbursement. Also, don’t hesitate to obtain all the financial information filed with the bankruptcy court and compare it with the information the customer provided you when you extended it credit. If there is a discrepancy between the two, the court may not discharge the debt and you can continue your claim after the company completes the bankruptcy process. Better Cash Management
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STANLEY ZAROWIN, a former JofA senior editor, is now a contributing editor to the magazine. His e-mail address is zarowin@mindspring.com .
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