Is it worth spending the time it takes to sketch out graphical ideas in advance, or is it better to get started quickly and spend the time on the version you plan to hand off? Does it make sense to spend resources storyboarding a video, or is it wiser...

There’s often a conflict between conveying information quickly and conveying it effectively. How simply can you show the information without crossing over into obscurity? That line is where pictograms live. Some pictograms cross over that line and contain...

The concepts behind Minimalism have been an accepted part of good technical writing and presentation style for some time, but it never hurts to hear it again. Eric Schmidt just finished a two-day writing workshop on minimalism, and he talks about the...

Geetesh Bajaj, PowerPoint MVP, designs and sells high-quality PowerPoint templates on his site, Ppted.com . He also provides in-depth how-to information on his other site, Indezine.com , as well as writing the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Complete...

In my last post , I talked about how I believe that appealing to multiple learning styles is the key to creating valuable instructional content. Obviously, one of the best ways to learn how to do a new (or frequently forgotten) task is to just do it...

We came across a blog post , written by a technical writer, who describes her personal experiences with creating screencasts. Her manager asked each member of her writing team to create a video featuring a product that they document. This line from...

Geetesh Bajaj, PowerPoint MVP, designs and sells high-quality PowerPoint templates on his Internet site, Ppted.com . He also provides in-depth how-to information on his other site, Indezine.com , as well as writing the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007...

Visual efficiency means creating graphical elements and placing them to take advantage of the way the eye and brain work. We based our discussion around a presentation given by Ryan Coleman (linked below), who discusses four things that the eye and brain...

If you didn’t want to log into Facebook to see the video tips, they’re now on YouTube. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Here are a couple of examples; the rest are on the Office Online channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficeOnlineVideos...

Geetesh Bajaj, PowerPoint MVP, designs and sells high-quality PowerPoint templates on his Internet site, Ppted.com . He also provides in-depth how-to information on his other site, Indezine.com , as well as writing the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007...

Part animated comic strip, part screencast, these short videos are designed to help you learn Visio 2010. What do you think about this strategy and the videos themselves? Visio video page on Facebook : http://bit.ly/VisioFBVideo If you use Visio...

A chance encounter at a coffee shop leads Clarity to a new case and a possible lead for information. Watch how Visio tames the client’s website through an easy-to-use wizard that pulls information directly from the site. Will we find out what people around...

A nervous client with a tight deadline needs to document his network, fast. Harrison Clarity applies his Visio skills to create a network diagram quickly and easily.     - Eric S.

What’s the best way to create a screencast that teaches people how to do something? Well, we don’t know the answer to that. Instead, we talk about one particular series that includes “how-to” screencasts as part of a dramatic narrative. The intent behind...

Harrison Clarity, visualizer-for-hire and Visio master, demonstrates how to convert data from an Excel spreadsheet into Visio organization chart shapes with just a few clicks.     You, too, can download the free trial of Visio 2007 here . -...

This presentation, which combines some of the new features in PowerPoint 2010 as well as a tasteful and integrated application of animation, provides five rules for matching your message and your presentation.   Office PowerPoint 2010 "Five...

Information is communicated not only by words in a message, but also in the way the message looks and the style of how it’s delivered. If these aspects don’t all work together, the message loses effectiveness. Listen to the episode Duration: 15:05...

Check out the first episode in our series that demonstrates the “film noir” side of Visio (and some helpful tips, too).   (We’d also like to thank Tom Johnson, technical writing guru, for mentioning these on his blog, I’d Rather Be Writing .) Stay...

This episode captures a meeting where two writers and their manager deconstruct their new video series called Top Templates (edited for time – who wants to sit through a whole meeting?). Take a few minutes and watch some episodes of the show so you know...

David Salaguinto joins us to talk about his comic Office Offline. David creates Office Offline to get people thinking, talking, and sharing in a way they never would with short text blog entries about the same subjects. He gives us some insight into his...

People get bored of seeing the same old things all the time. But they also don’t like things that are different. So what do you do when you’re planning how to back up your communication with effective visuals – go for novelty or familiarity? Listen...

Storyboards help you plan your video shot by shot. That way, you can make sure your video is at least as interesting as the audio, and you have a list of all the most important shots. If you just make a text-only script, it can be easy to overlook sections...

When you create a document or a presentation, is the information all that’s important? Is it worth spending time to make it look nicer, when there’s already barely enough time to finish? The answer may surprise you! Although probably not. And there isn...

Video has become an integral part of social media. Especially for younger people who are growing up with it, in some cases it’s easier to talk into the camera on the computer and upload it to Facebook, where all their friends will see it, than to write...

Visuals are usually created with the display space in mind. If the display area is a certain size, you make your visuals fit in that space by shrinking things, rearranging them, leaving things out, or breaking them up into related spaces. But in the digital...