How to add an automated start-time column to your agenda (in Word)

In a rush?
Jump to the tips.

Note: This post’s aimed at advanced users of Word or Outlook.

If you’re preparing a workshop, training session, or other event, there’s lots to organise.

So to reduce your workload, you can use Word to help work out your agenda’s timing. For instance, as I showed last month, you can make Word add up all the times and display the total like this:

Topics	Mins
Welcome	5
Icebreaker	5
Main content	75
Wrap-up	5
End:	1 hr 30 mins

In this post, you’ll see how to extend that to make Word work out the start time of each topic (given your event’s start time, and the length of each topic).

So in the steps below, you’ll add an automated start-time column to that table, like this:

Topics	Time	Mins
Welcome	9.30	5
Icebreaker	9.35	5
Main content	9.40	75
Wrap-up	10.55	5
End:	11.00	1 hr 30 mins

Want to follow along? Paste the 1^st table above into Word’s desktop app (or Outlook’s).

Note: If the table copies as a line of text instead of as a table, see these tips for copying the table.

You’ll find these topics in this post:

Timing your training – why you should build your agenda in Word (not Excel)

(In a rush?
Jump to the tips)

Suppose you’re putting together your agenda for a workshop or training session.

If it’s pretty simple, your agenda might look something like this:

Topics	Mins
Welcome	5
Icebreaker	5
Main content	75
Wrap-up	5
End:	1 hr 30 mins

In this post, you’ll see:

• How to make Word (or Outlook) calculate your session’s length, as shown above.
• The top 3 reasons why you might use Word or Outlook for that, rather than Excel.

And in my next post, you’ll see how you can take that further by making Word or Outlook tell you each topic’s start time.

 

BackgroundScroll to Contents ↓

Let’s take a step back for a moment. How do you adjust your session’s timing?

Do you start with a total length in mind, then tweak each topic’s timing – until it all fits?

Or, perhaps you do the opposite:

• You assign a length to each topic, based on its content.
• Then you find what the total duration comes to.

Either way, you might change the timings a lot while you develop your agenda – especially if there are many topics.

So, to avoid repeatedly having to add up the times yourself, you might put your agenda into Excel. (Which of course was made to add up numbers!)

But rather than using Excel, I suggest you use Word (or Outlook) to build your agenda – for these 3 good reasons:

Webcams: On or off? If you ask people to use them, be tactful – and get results! [Video] ·

Do you ever ask people to turn on their webcams in Zoom or Teams?

How do you tend to ask – and do people respond well?

For tips and insights, you might like the 2-minute video below. (It comes from the authors of the book Crucial Conversations, which has sold over five million copies.)

Intrigued about the book? You can download a 30-page excerpt (which you’ll find in the red section above the footer of that web page).

 

My take on the video – What’s yours?

Make your chart’s point CRYSTAL clear – visually & verbally [Video]

When you share a chart, how do you help your audience instantly get your point?

Often, presenters and analysts make people work way too hard to get the point of a chart!

So, to help you convey your point with punch, you’ll find 3 specific tips in this post. They’re inspired by a great 10-minute video by Donabel Santos, which I’ll share in a pair of short clips below. (Plus, you’ll find the full-length video at the end of the post.)

 

What do you think of this chart?Scroll to Contents ↓

In this 10-second clip, you’ll see a very busy line chart, which the speaker will later do a makeover on. (She’s using Tableau, but you could do the same makeover in Excel, PowerPoint, or any other charting software.)

The chart shows how market share changed over time – for over 70 phone vendors:

To see more clearly, click the Full screen (⛶) button during playback.
(To exit full-screen mode, click the button again, or press Esc.)

In this post, we’ll step through the makeover shown in the full-length video. And when­ever you do a chart makeover, I recommend you follow these 3 steps that we’ll use:Top ↑

How to give great demos – with Andy Kriebel & Eva Murray [Video]

If you do demos at work or online, check out this fantastic video (below) from Andy Kriebel and Eva Murray.

In it, Eva shares lots of excellent tips for giving better demos, and Andy shows how clear and helpful a good demo can be.

Andy happens to be demoing software. But many of these tips apply to other demo types too. For instance, Eva shares a story (at 5:57) about learning ballroom dancing by seeing someone demonstrate the steps.

In this clip, you’ll find what I think are the best 8 minutes of advice on how you can give great demos. (Or, watch the 1-hour video this clip comes from.)

Eva starts by contrasting slide presentations (which tend to be slow and fairly easy to see) with demos (which are often fast-paced and hard to follow).

If you prefer, you can also scroll down to read a list of the tips…

Here are Eva’s tips, plus some discussion points (in italics). After you go to any of these sections of this post, you can click a time (mm:ss) to watch the relevant bit of the clip:

Teams calls – stop “unruly unmute” (and “vulgar video”)

How often do your Teams calls get disrupted by background noise? You know, like when someone thinks they’re on mute, so talks to a person next to them.

And hands up if you’ve even watched swirling video of the ceiling – or worse – from an attendee who didn’t realise their phone’s camera was on.

The latter’s what you might call “vulgar video”, and it’s so distracting!

Luckily though, you can use little-known features in Teams to take back tech control. (That way, you and your audience get a great experience – as you both deserve.)

What’s more, you can do so either:

• During your meeting
• Or in advance.

And without nagging everyone to put themselves on mute 🙂

 

Here’s how

How to avoid YouTube ads when you play videos during your talk

If you play a YouTube video in your talk, training, or Teams call, you can really engage people.

For example, a video lets you:

• Demo a technique
• Novelly share a quote
• Share an expert’s opinion

For all those reasons, I wanted to play some clips in a couple of talks I gave lately. But I was at first put off by all the ads that tend to show up on YouTube clips.

In this post, you’ll see a quick way around the ads, without violating the terms of service by downloading the video or using an ad-blocker.

To learn more, you can click any of these headings – or, just scroll down:

Banish bullets – prove you’re a pro! [@NolanHaims video]

You’ve probably heard that if you base most slides on bullet points, you’ll bore people. (Making you and your message less effective.)

But what can you do instead?

Well, below is a great 45-second clip of ideas for you:

That’s from design expert and Microsoft PowerPoint MVP Nolan Haims. I love how he uses Morph transitions to walk you through 3 options to improve your bullet points:

Tableau trouble? Recent resources to the rescue! [Videos by @sqlbelle and @TableauTim]

Here’s what you’ll find in this post:

• The case for Tableau

• “Author” and “viewer” explained

The trouble with Tableau

• Give me data – how big is Tableau?
• A newbie’s view

Help’s at hand!

• Tableau authors: 2 short videos for you
• Tableau viewers: A short video for you

Your turn

Also check out…

 

The case for TableauScroll to Contents ↑

If you don’t yet use Tableau (or a similar data visualisation tool, such as Power BI), chances are high that you may well in future. As businesses become more data-driven, I’d say presenters will use tools like Tableau more and more.

 

“Author” and “viewer” explainedScroll to Contents ↑

As a presenter, your role when you use Tableau is likely to be as either:

• an “author” – you build charts and other visualisations, then present them
• a “viewer” – you purely present visualisations built by an author

Either way, Tableau can become a core part of your toolkit:

• As an author, you can even use Tableau as your presentation software
• As a viewer, you can easily export visualisations from Tableau to PowerPoint

 

The trouble with TableauScroll to Contents ↑

But if you use Tableau, I’m betting you’ve had trouble understanding some parts of it. (I certainly have!)

After 10 years (and almost a million views), it’s time for a change

For the last 10 years, I’ve been posting once a month (or more) on this blog.

Now, with 150 posts and almost 1,000,000 views under my belt, it feels like time for a change. That’s why from now on, I’ll post less often than before.

I’m still fascinated by public speaking, data visualisation, and business communication in general. And I believe people’s need for help and inspiration in those fields is just as great as ever. So I’m sure you’ll find new tips and videos shared here from time to time.

You could say:

“It’s not goodbye, it’s just au revoir”

So until the next time, all the best with your presentations. And as this blog’s header-image says:

“Here’s to better presenting!”

 

Also check out

• Thanks a ½ million! (5th birthday news at Remote Possibilities)
• 200,000 views – and counting!
• Who uses this blog most? (1st birthday news at Remote Possibilities)