Tips for an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

Making an effective PowerPoint presentation is an acquired skill, and one that can help you succeed in your career. It's important to make sure you know what is necessary to deliver a good PowerPoint presentation before you step in front of a room filled with an expectant audience. Otherwise, whatever important information you present will likely be lost on your listeners.

Write a Script

A little planning goes a long way. Since the point of your slides is to illustrate and expand upon what you are going to say to your audience, you should first plan what you intend to say. Then, figure out how to visualize and present it in PowerPoint.

No Paragraphs
Your slides are the illustrations for your presentation, not the presentation itself. They should underline and reinforce what you are saying as you give your presentation. Save the paragraphs of text for your script.

One Point at a Time
Plan your presentation so just one new point is displayed at any given moment. What should be on the screen is the thing you are talking about. Your audience will almost instantly read each slide as soon as it’s displayed. If you immediately display the next four points you plan to make, the audience will be three steps ahead of you waiting for you to catch up rather than listening with interest to the point you are making.

Avoid clutter
A headline, a few bullet points, and maybe an image. Anything more than that and you risk losing your audience as they work to sort out the information on the slide.

Ask Questions of Your Audience
Engage in a little Q&A with your audience. Questions arouse interest, pique curiosity, and involve audiences. Build tension or anticipation by posing a question and letting your audience think a moment before moving to the next slide with the answer.

With a little preparation and attentiveness to the needs of your audience, you will effectively deliver the important information from your next PowerPoint presentation.

Your Goals Should Always be SMART

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

You prepare goals for many situations. Whether for project management, employee performance management or personal development, use goals to validate a level of achievement and success. In order for a goal to provide value, it must clarify exactly what is expected and identify the measures used to determine if the goal is achieved. Your goals must be SMART!

Specific: Clearly write and define what you are going to do. Your goal must identify what you will accomplish, an expected result, the purpose or benefit, who are involved, where the work will occur, and any external requirements or constraints to consider.

Measurable: When your goal is measurable, you can determine the progress you are making towards its successful completion. It is difficult to stay motivated to complete your goal when it has no milestones to assess your progress.

Achievable: While a goal should make you feel challenged, the goal should not be extreme. Do not set a goal that is out of reach or well above your ability to perform. You must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to achieve the goal.

Relevant: Choose a goal that is important to successfully complete. Your goal needs to pertain directly to the performance or challenge you manage.

Time-bound: Give your goal a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on the completion of the goal on or before the due date. This is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise, and to establish a sense of urgency.

Setting goals is a powerful way of motivating people and of motivating yourself. SMART goals are effective in providing the details and clarity needed to ensure you complete your goals successfully.

Should You Back Up Your Data to the Cloud?

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

Cloud-based backup solutions enable companies or individuals to store their computer data and files via the Internet using a storage service provider rather than storing the data locally on a hard drive or tape backup. While the cloud backup solutions are robust and efficient, you need to be aware of the disadvantages, as well as the advantages to make an informed decision to determine that the technology is right for you.

On-site backups are hard drives or other backup devices that are directly connected to your computer or network. You maintain all responsibility and control of the backup media and environment. Cloud-based backups are servers that connect remotely to your computer or network via the Internet. The storage service provider maintains responsibility and control of the backup media and environment.

Advantages of a cloud-based backup solution, which you must validate and verify with each storage service provider you consider, are:

• Backups of backups: Your data is always stored off-site and is redundantly copied to other servers in different locations. If one location goes down, your data can be backed up, or retrieved from, elsewhere on the backup network without a service interruption.
• Security: Data is encrypted by the backup service provider’s software program on your computer or network before it is sent to the cloud, so thieves on the Internet cannot access it.
• Virus protection: The backup service software detects any virus or infection before data is sent. If a virus is found, that file is not copied to the backup service. You will be notified that the corrupted file has not been deleted from your computer. In this case, you won’t lose any data, but that data won’t be backed up online.

Disadvantages of a cloud-based backup solution are:

• Cost: Cloud-based backups can be more expensive than on-site backups often requiring monthly or annual fees based on the amount of data stored on the storage service provider's servers.
• Capacity: Cloud-based backups may not be best for large backups such as a large number of files, or very large files such as data bases. Since some Internet providers limit the amount of data you can send and receive in a month. You must be careful to avoid large backups that cause you to exceed their stop-limits or trigger over-utilization charges.
• Speed: It can take a long time to back up large backups online, even with a broadband connection.
• Out of Business: If the storage service provider goes out of business, you may never be able to recover your backed up data.

You may be able to mitigate the disadvantages of the cloud-based backup solution with a robust back up strategy. The cloud-based storage service provider can assist you with understanding the options they recommend and support. Make sure you understand how they can mitigate the disadvantages for both backing up and recovering your data.

Both on-site and cloud-based backup storage options allow you to protect your data. Each type of backup solution has advantages and disadvantages. You need to be aware of the disadvantages, as well as the advantages, to make an informed decision to determine whether cloud-based backup storage is right for you.

How to Tell if an Email is Real or Fake

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

Fake emails, also called "spoof" or "phishing" emails, try to look like they are from real companies or people you know. They are a common way criminals use to steal your personal or financial information, such as bank account details, credit card information, passwords, etc. Fake emails often link to fake ("spoof") websites where your information can be collected as you type it. So, be very cautious! Here are some ways to determine that the email you received is a "spoof":

Fake Sender's Email Address
You can check who sent the email by looking at the sender's address. For example, the message may say it’s from "South Bank", but the email address may be something unusual like "southbank_support@hotmail.com". A reliable company's email should not be using a public internet service provider account like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc. Typically, real companies have their own domains. So, you should expect the email address to look something like "support@southbank.com".

Requesting Private Information
Companies contacting you will not ask via email for your private information. Be very suspicious of emails requesting your social security number, account number, security code, personal identification number (PIN) or other sensitive information.

Not Addressed to You
A legitimate email from a business with whom you have a relationship will address you by name rather than as “Valued Customer” (or something similar). Since a reliable business likely has a customer file with your contact information, they will address you directly.

Typos
Emails which have misspellings or grammatical errors, or grammar that indicates they are not properly formatted for the language in which they are written, are additional signs that the message is a fake.

Incorrect Links
Some email message will make a request for you to click on a link (e.g. View your account statement here). Hover your mouse over the link to see the content of the link. Similar to "Fake Sender's Email Address" above, the link should have the company's URL in the beginning of the link (e.g. "www.southbank.com/customer/statement.aspx"). Don't click on a suspicious link. Clicking on a fake link will likely allow a hacker access to you computer and stored information, or will download malware to your computer.

Low Resolution Images
Another tip-off to a fake email message is poor image quality of the company’s logo or other images in the message.

What if the Sender is Someone you Know?
Spoof emails from people you know usually ask you for you to do something that a friend might not ask you to do, such as to click on a link to an unusual website. Sometimes, you will see that the "friend" sent the email to a number of email addresses in the "To" box. In this case, it is likely that your friend was "spoofed", which is causing that email account to contact you.


When you suspect you received a fake email from a company with whom you do business, call that company's customer service department. Ask them about the content of the message. If the message is legitimate, the customer service department should be able to assist you with the message request. If the message is not legitimate, delete it right away.

When you suspect you received a fake email from a somebody you know, send that person a separate, new email asking if they sent the prior message you received. Do not reply via the suspected message which may (or may not) be sent to them. If the person replies that the message is not legitimate, delete it right away.

Chiropractic Benefits the Heart

Dr. Debra DeMarco
DeMarco Wellness Care
Wellness Care/Chiropractor

Your heart is the reason you are reading this, it is the center of your cardiovascular system and is vitally responsible for giving your body life. Keeping your heart healthy may seem like a difficult task. After all, you have to maintain a nutritious diet, stay active, and manage things like cholesterol levels. Your heart health is something that should be taken very seriously. In recent years, studies have shown that chiropractic manipulations can help to prevent heart attacks, reduce heart rate, relieve chest pain, and lower blood pressure.

A chiropractic adjustment, also known as spinal manipulation, refers to a chiropractor applying manipulation with his or her hands to the vertebrae that have abnormal movement patterns or fail to function at their optimal peak. The object of this treatment method is to reduce the subluxation (trapped gas in the joint) with the goals of increasing range of motion, reducing nerve irritably and improving function. With chiropractic care, a patient may not only be able to manage the current condition of their heart, but they may be able to fend off heart disease for good.

How Chiropractic Care Helps the Heart

Receiving chiropractic treatment doesn’t cure heart disease, but it can certainly help prevent it. Chiropractic adjustments can possibly treat people suffering from heart problems, specifically because chiropractic care is based on the theory that the nervous system is responsible for maintaining optimal health in the body. When there are disruptions in the spine, this can interfere with how efficiently the nervous system is transmitting information to the brain and other parts of the body. When the spine is misaligned, the normal function of the nerves is affected and vertebral subluxations have been shown to adversely reduce heart function. When the spine moves back in line, after a few chiropractic adjustments, the body is able to return to its natural state, benefiting the muscles, nerves, tissue, and most importantly, the heart beating in your chest.

Although chiropractic care is mainly associated with alleviating soft tissue discomfort and musculoskeletal issues, the benefits extend way beyond manipulations of the spine. Please consult with your doctor to see if chiropractic treatment is right for you.

This newsletter/website is not intended to replace the services of a doctor. It does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Information in this newsletter/website is for informational purposes only & is not a substitute for professional advice. Please do not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating any condition.

Why You Need a Succession Plan

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

An organization uses succession planning to ensure that it recruits superior employees, develops their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and prepares them for advancement. You need to develop a succession plan to ensure that your employees are constantly developed to fill each needed role as the organization evolves.

As your organization expands, loses key employees and provides promotional opportunities, your succession plan guarantees that you have employees on hand ready and waiting to fill new roles. Through your succession planning process, you will retain superior employees because they appreciate the time, attention, and development that you are investing in them. To effectively do succession planning in your organization, you must identify the organization’s long term goals. In addition, successful succession planning builds bench strength to protect your organization against the challenges associated with these 3 occurrences:

Organizational Growth & Reorganization
Organizational growth has the potential to provide a company with a variety of benefits, including greater efficiencies from economies of scale, increased marketplace visibility, a greater ability to withstand market fluctuations, greater profits, and increased prestige for employees. While it spurs job creation, organizational growth also has challenges. A company may outgrow the skills or abilities of its leaders and employees. All those involved may quickly become stressed out trying to keep up with the demands of expansion. Without proper succession planning, the expansion may become ineffective and stall.

Loss of a Key Employee
Every corporation has key leaders or employees that make substantial contributions to the operation, profitability, and success of the business. Any individual who has critical intellectual information, sales relationships, product knowledge, and/or industry contacts that may adversely affect profits in the event of their absence, may be considered key. A succession plan will ensure that an organization can tolerate the short term and permanent loss of a key employee.

Easily Replace a Poor Performer
A poorly performing employee can negatively affect team and organizational performance. Sometimes, they can undermine their coworkers' efforts through their incompetence or uncivil behavior. When attempts to correct their behavior or improve their performance fails, it may become necessary to terminate that employee. A robust succession plan will ensure that an organization will have cultivated other employees to fill the void caused by a staff termination. In addition, it will allow you to plan ahead to replace that employee with a new recruit in a timely fashion.

Manage Your Email Onslaught

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

The volume of email we receive is one of the biggest productivity challenges that managers and their staff face. Sorting through the daily deluge can consume an incredible amount of valuable time that is much better spent elsewhere. The good news is that this is a solvable problem once you learn how to efficiently and effectively manage your everyday email communications.

Don’t Constantly Check For Email

Just like planning other important work activities during your day, schedule daily time for email. Depending on your typical email activity, plan to look at your email only at a specific time each day. For example, 30 minutes before lunch and 30 minutes before you end your work day. As an alternative for high volume email recipients, only check your email at specific time intervals, such as every two hours.

Read Only the Subject Matter

Learn to quickly discard irrelevant or unimportant messages right away by reading the subject matter and the sender’s name. You will likely purge more than half of incoming messages this way. Then, you can more efficiently attend to the important email messages.

Practice “OHIO”

Only Handle It Once. Immediately decide what to do with each email message. Answer the important ones quickly instead of filing them away. If you don’t, and you later are ready to answer them, you’ll spend a lot of time searching through folders to find the needed message.

Create Topical Folders

For messages that you must keep for a period of time, store them in a folder that is not your “Inbox” or “Sent Mail” folders. Name the folder based on your need, such as by customer name or product name. Once you conclude the nature of that business, delete those messages, and even the folder.

Email Trivia: "Crackberry" is a term used to describe the excessive use of checking email on a SmartPhone (initially on a Blackberry device) by its owners, and is a reference to the unfortunate addictive nature of crack cocaine. Use of the term "Crackberry" became so widespread that in 2006 Webster's New World College Dictionary named "Crackberry" the "New Word of the Year."

A Wonderful Reference: "NetiquetteIQ: A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email", by Paul Babicki.

To Solve a Problem, Make Sure it’s Well Defined

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” - Albert Einstein. It may be obvious that you can't solve a problem that's not well defined. However, people often neglect this detail. The next time you think you're ready to go into problem-solving mode, consider the following:

Establish the basic need for a solution

Why does the problem need solving? Articulate the problem in its simplest and most basic terms. Focus on the heart of the problem and the desired outcome, not the solution. This clarifies the importance of the problem, and helps to identify the resources needed to solve it. Defining the scope of the problem is also important to set the priority for its solution.

Justify the need

Is the required effort aligned with the company's strategy? Explain why your organization should attempt to solve the problem. Understand if the effort to solve it is aligned with the company's strategy. It may be the case that an issue is perceived as a problem only because it is no longer aligned with the company's current strategy.

Give it perspective

What approaches have you or others already tried? Find out if there are already solutions to solving the problem that you can apply in this instance. Examining past efforts to solve the problem can save time and effort. In addition, determine if there are constraints on the solution that you must consider.

Write a problem statement

Take your answers to the above questions and write a full description of the problem you are seeking to solve and the requirements the solution must meet. This will establish a consensus on what the solution will be, the urgency, the effort required, and the resources required to achieving it.

Companies and staff need to be effective at assessing issues and tackling problems. Without the above steps, a company can waste time, resources and costs, miss opportunities, and pursue initiatives that may not be aligned with the company's goals.

Are Your Passwords Safe?

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

With the growth of social media websites, and more businesses letting you do transactions via the Internet and mobile devices, you have a growing number of online logon ID's and passwords that you must remember.  Every time you sign up at a new website, you face the challenge of what to enter as your password. Here are some password dangers you need to avoid, and steps you can take to mitigate them:

Picking Bad Passwords

Selecting a simple or common password that is easily remembered by you (e.g. “password”, “123456”, “qwerty”) is also easily guessed by hackers.

A best practice is to create “strong” passwords that are difficult to guess. Strong passwords have all of these qualities:

• Length of 8 or more characters

• Includes a mix of upper and lower case letters

• Includes numbers

• Includes special characters (e.g. !, @, #, %, etc.)

Not Locking Your Mobile Devices

With new mobile devices, the default setting is to not have an unlock code to access the device.   If you lose your phone and don’t have an unlock code, and you don’t have a way to remotely wipe it, the finder has free reign to go through your emails, contacts, apps and other personal information you store on, or access via, your device.

As soon as you set up your new mobile device or phone, create an unlock code or password.

Reusing Passwords Across Multiple Sites

You run the risk that if one of the website sites you use gets hacked and the website doesn’t store passwords in encrypted format, hackers will use automated programs to scan 1000’s of websites trying to see if your username and password works on one of them.

To mitigate this issue, use a number of different logon ID and password combinations. This is especially true for “like” accounts. If you have multiple bank or credit card accounts from different banks, use a different logon ID and password for each. That way if a hacker does learn the access for one, the hacker does not have the access to the others.

Sharing Your Passwords

When you share your password, you share your identity and possibly your personal and financial information. If you share your password with someone that uses that information to commit a crime, you will likely become a suspect in that crime.

Do not share your logon ID and password with others.

Not Changing Your Passwords

Having old passwords means that someone who previously had access to your accounts, still has access to your accounts.

Change your passwords several times each year. It could be as simple as changing one character. In addition, do not reuse prior passwords within the same logon ID.

Writing Your Passwords Down

If you write your passwords down on a piece of paper, remember that it’s just a piece of paper. You run the risk that you may lose it, it may not be with you when you need to login on, or someone may simply take that piece of paper and gain access to your accounts.

Do not write down your passwords on a piece of paper.

There other high-tech ways to secure passwords and account access, such as password storage programs, biometric readers and smart cards. Some are costly or require the host system to accommodate them. We'll investigate those in a future post.

Overcome Systems Integration Challenges

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

Difficulties with the integration of systems is a challenging obstacle organizations face when planning growth. Sometimes systems you need to integrate reside on different operating systems, use different database solutions and computer languages, and may be legacy systems that a vendor no longer supports. So how can you ensure a successful systems integration project?

Agree on business needs

Integrating different systems almost always involves addressing the needs of multiple departments. It’s crucial to build consensus among all departments as to what are the core business needs, and identify the priorities of those needs. Without clarity around the requirements and priorities, the solution can become a messy process that leads to project overrun.

Analyze and review all technical requirements
Identify the installation and integration requirements each system has to run smoothly and properly. This will include operating environment, input data and format, output data and format, reporting, error handling, and operator intervention. In addition to identifying each specific requirement, identify the differences of those between the integrating systems. Where you identify differences, create a specific plan making each point compatible and reliable.

Document everything
Embrace detail. Information that does not seem important at the beginning may prove critical further down the line. You will need to refer back to the documentation as issues and new requirements arise.

Access skills needed to perform the integration
Take stock of the skills, backgrounds and timely availability of the in-house resources already accessible to you. Then, determine the skills and availability that you need to complete your project. If there are gaps between those two reviews, consider bringing in new hire staff, external contractors or technicians from the product vendor. In addition, plan time to train or hire staff that will provide needed post implementation operational support.

Expect the unexpected
As the systems integration project progresses, people may uncover new needs or unplanned issues. Review each new need and issue against the agreed business needs and priorities before changing the project scope. Update the documentation when you agree on a scope change. Plan to separately perform the deferred new needs to post implementation.

Agreeing in advance to the goals and priorities for any systems integration project, along with proper planning, are the keys to its successful implementation and acceptance.

Tips For Taking Photographs In The Snow

By: Tom Myers
      Bundle of Paws Photography, LLC
      Photographer

Whew New Jersey! Depending where you are, you’re able to see anywhere from 14″- 33″ of snow outside your window right now. What to do? Well, how about getting out and making some pictures! Before you plunge headlong into the nearest snowdrift, check out a few of our tips for making the most of your time with your camera in the snow:

1. Bundle up and stay safe.

This is first and foremost. If you are not dressed appropriately at best the whole experience will be uncomfortable, at worst, dangerous. Frostbite sets in quickly, especially on wet fingers and toes. Be mindful of where you walk – overhanging snow and ice can come down at any time. Tell somewhere where you’ll be and when you expect to be home.

2. Protect your camera.

You’ll likely be carrying a camera worth a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars – do what you can to protect it from the elements. Keep your lens cap on until ready to shoot. Try to avoid blowing on the lens….the warm breath you generate can form a thin layer of ice or condensation (you did bring your microfiber cloth to wipe it, right?).


3. Manage image exposure.

Without getting into a deep technical discussion regarding camera exposure – trust us when we tell you your camera’s sensor always looks to find a neutral 18% grey in your image. So when you’re out shooting those brilliant white landscapes….your camera will likely dull the actual capture to approximate a grey. Who wants grey snow? NOT US! If you are comfortable shooting in Aperture Mode on your camera, and/or dialing up +1 stop of exposure compensation on your camera to help the whites stay white, you’ll likely be much happier with the result.


4. Preserve your work.

When you’re done and headed back to the car or to home. Pull your memory card out of the camera and pop the camera into a ziploc bag and seal it. This way any condensation that will be formed when the camera begins to warm up will form on the ziploc bag, and not ON, or most importantly, IN, your camera with it’s sensitive electronics.

Tips for an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

Making an effective PowerPoint presentation is an acquired skill, and one that can help you succeed in your career. It's important to make sure you know what is necessary to deliver a good PowerPoint presentation before you step in front of a room filled with an expectant audience. Otherwise, whatever important information you present will likely be lost on your listeners.

Write a Script

A little planning goes a long way. Since the point of your slides is to illustrate and expand upon what you are going to say to your audience, you should first plan what you intend to say. Then, figure out how to visualize and present it in PowerPoint.

No Paragraphs
Your slides are the illustrations for your presentation, not the presentation itself. They should underline and reinforce what you are saying as you give your presentation. Save the paragraphs of text for your script.

One Point at a Time
Plan your presentation so just one new point is displayed at any given moment. What should be on the screen is the thing you are talking about. Your audience will almost instantly read each slide as soon as it’s displayed. If you immediately display the next four points you plan to make, the audience will be three steps ahead of you waiting for you to catch up rather than listening with interest to the point you are making.

Avoid clutter
A headline, a few bullet points, and maybe an image. Anything more than that and you risk losing your audience as they work to sort out the information on the slide.

Ask Questions of Your Audience
Engage in a little Q&A with your audience. Questions arouse interest, pique curiosity, and involve audiences. Build tension or anticipation by posing a question and letting your audience think a moment before moving to the next slide with the answer.

With a little preparation and attentiveness to the needs of your audience, you will effectively deliver the important information from your next PowerPoint presentation.

Your Goals Should Always be SMART

By: David Schuchman
      Princeton Technology Advisors, LLC
      Innovative Solutions for Your Growing Business

You prepare goals for many situations. Whether for project management, employee performance management or personal development, use goals to validate a level of achievement and success. In order for a goal to provide value, it must clarify exactly what is expected and identify the measures used to determine if the goal is achieved. Your goals must be SMART!

Specific: Clearly write and define what you are going to do. Your goal must identify what you will accomplish, an expected result, the purpose or benefit, who are involved, where the work will occur, and any external requirements or constraints to consider.

Measurable: When your goal is measurable, you can determine the progress you are making towards its successful completion. It is difficult to stay motivated to complete your goal when it has no milestones to assess your progress.

Achievable: While a goal should make you feel challenged, the goal should not be extreme. Do not set a goal that is out of reach or well above your ability to perform. You must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to achieve the goal.

Relevant: Choose a goal that is important to successfully complete. Your goal needs to pertain directly to the performance or challenge you manage.

Time-bound: Give your goal a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on the completion of the goal on or before the due date. This is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise, and to establish a sense of urgency.

Setting goals is a powerful way of motivating people and of motivating yourself. SMART goals are effective in providing the details and clarity needed to ensure you complete your goals successfully.