04/29/96 SLIDE SHOWS WITHOUT PAIN

SLIDE SHOWS WITHOUT PAIN
This software is easy to use-and makes distribution over the Web simpler
Graphics can be a powerful way to impart information. And in the course of even a week's worth of product demonstrations, I watch a lot of computer-generated slide shows. Unfortunately, whether the slides are shown on a computer or projected on a screen, they lose impact because they tend to look alike. I think I know why: People using such programs as Microsoft PowerPoint or Lotus Freelance rarely use more than a tiny fraction of the power available.
It's not that the folks preparing the slides lack imagination. The presentation graphics programs are just too hard to use. It's not much help to have dozens of color schemes, layouts, transitions, and animation effects available if you can't figure out how to use them. That's why anyone who finds preparing a presentation daunting might want to try ASAP WordPower from Software Publishing Corp. (800 336-8360, or download a trial copy from http://www. spco.com). A $99 edition includes versions for Windows 3.1 and 95.
ASAP makes it simple to create an effective and visually compelling presentation. Beyond that, it gives you an easy way to distribute your slide show via the World Wide Web, an increasingly important ability as companies turn to Web technology for internal communications.
How simple is ASAP? In line with a growing trend, it has no manual. In addition to a good tutorial and extensive online help, there's a 25-page brochure that focuses more on how to design a presentation than on how to use the program. The software itself is simple enough that I didn't miss a printed manual.
The key to the program's success is its straightforward design. At the start, you have a choice of outline or preview mode. In outline, you simply type the text of your slides, the fastest and easiest way to enter your material. If you use Microsoft Word, you can enter the material in Word's outline format, select the text or graphics, click on the ASAP toolbar button that appears after you install the program, and your work is converted into slides.
Preview mode is where the fun starts. You can select one of 14 basic designs and one of 18 color schemes for your slides. Normally, you will want to keep these consistent throughout a presentation. But you can select from 22 layouts for each slide, choosing the one most appropriate for the content. For example, you might use a bulleted list for your introduction, a set of checkpoints for an agenda, and a flow diagram to describe a decision-making process. If you don't like the format you've chosen, just click another one and the slide instantly changes.
PAYING A PRICE. Of course, you pay a price for all this simplicity. You can't do fancy animations, such as making text appear to move into place, as you can with PowerPoint. And you can't choose from among the 45 different methods PowerPoint offers for transitions from one slide to the next.
What you can do--easily--is make your presentation available to the public over the World Wide Web or to colleagues over an internal network. Once you have put your show on a server, viewers will need the Netscape Navigator 2.0 browser and a free add-in called Webshow, available from the Software Publishing Web site. Using Webshow, slides appear almost instantly, even if someone is connected with a 14.4 kbps modem. Using Progressive Network's RealAudio technology (http://www.realaudio.com/), you can add narration synchronized to the slides on the Web, a feature that has long been available for when you use your computer to make a presentation to an audience.
The best software will never take the anxiety out of presentations. But a program that at least takes some of the pain out of preparation can make life a lot simpler and help you get your point acrosss better.
BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM