Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Slide Shows..and how!

So we were having this Power Point presentation by a Big Shot in one of the conference rooms today. Moiself, the Boss, Foxy and a couple of other Marketing types (MT) were present. Towards the end of the fourth slide I saw Foxy frowning. Then he leaned forward and leaned back immediately as though he had had seen something horrible on the slide. The two Marketing types who were yawning and fighting sleep and snoring (in that order) were quick to follow Foxy’s gaze. Suddenly the two lost all traces of sleep and started peering intently at the slides.

MT: Sir, could you please repeat Slide number 5?
Big Shot (pleased): Sure!!!
MT: Interesting!
Big Shot (beaming): Thank you!
MT No 2: Now could you please show us Slide no 2 again?
Big Shot (beside himself with joy): Here you are!
MT : And can we see Slide No 7 once again!
Big Boss: Tell you what! I will mail this ppt to you all. I am not supposed to share this but hey, you guys have a keen interest in BTL activities I see! *BEAM*
Boss (hissing): What’s wrong with you both!!!
MT (whispering): Look at the Print Screen Image on Slide Three!!

We peered and saw that the Big Shot had taken the entire print screen image of his desktop to show our competitors webpage on the slide. On tab one, he was on the competitor’s website. On tab two he was on tarladalaldotcom. On tab three he was on herniadotcom. On Slide Two, the tabs were on pilesandfissuresdotcom, colonoscopydotcom and naughtygirldotcom. On slide four the tabs were….never mind….I do not want you all losing your dinner.

Foxy was looking very disapproving. Boss was going blue in the face trying not to laugh while I looked like I was going to puke! The two MM’s on the other hand were near the screen peering at the screen shots on Slide 6, 7 and 8. Big Shot looked absolutely thrilled and self important. As I write this post, the PPT is winging its way to stardom and fame.

Poor Big Shot.

Anyways here’s what I learned from this episode.

1. While it is a very good idea to use Print Screen shots to illustrate a web page during presentations, it would be even better if you did not take the entire print screen image for your presentation.

2. If you insist on keeping the full image, make sure you are using only one browser tab.

3. And if you insist on using multiple tabs, please ensure it is parked on Family Audience kinda pages.

4. If you see people peering with great interest at the slides, do not think you have written the Harry Potter of corporate presentations. It is really hard to see from a distance what the content of the chat window is. And who is that hot gal is who wants to spank you.

5. Please hide your Taskbar. It is a dead give away. And hotdaddy@yahoodotcom is niiiice! We like it!

6. Please close pop ups instead of minimizing them. It downright embarrassing sometimes and a dead give away to the sites you visit.

7. And lastly…Websense makes web sense.

Mind it!!

Please do not forward this to the big bosses. Their ppts with print screen images are the only source of entertainment in our dull corporate lives.Thank you!

43 comments:

Binu Jose said...

hey i am the first..I Like ur blog mate...keep up the nice work

Malavika said...

LOL-ed!!

Amey said...

Get yourself a Screenshot program... keeping all the skeletons firmly in the closet for last something-or-other years :D

Then again, you don't get to be a PPT-wielding Big Shot if you can avoid such mistakes.

Big Shot said...

Tee hee, Atleast they didn't notice hotchubbyoldiegirls.com. Anyway I'm glad that for the first time in the history of this company, people were actually AWAKE! during a ppt!!! You see, that's the big picture here!

P.S. By the way, havn't you noticed this site in the 8th tab of my browser. ;)

RukmaniRam said...

IF Marketing types is "MT", is Big Shot "BS"?

Mohan said...

I can only pity those BigB's who don't even know how to take screen shots in the RIGHT way!

Doesn't matter what what they do in their cubes.. at least in meetings leave not foot prints for others to make a fool out of you is the moral of the story :)

Destiny's child... said...

Lol!
You really know how to make life interesting right? ;)
I mean, a boring ppt...and here you coem up with this!
Keep up the good work girl!

Grayquill said...

Now that's a doozie. I hope no clients were in on this great presentation. Hey, Big Shot - tape your helmet - that was uncool.

Grayquill said...

RukmaniRam - you nailed it! :)

Useless Bugger said...

Ahem!! Please excuse me while I clear my throat, put on my most intelligent computer geek expression and say:

Hitting Alt + PrintScreen keys would give you just the active window minus all the those taskbar tabs

Naughtygirldotcom, ha ha... the jackass Big Boss' sense of taste is surely old fashioned. Ask him to contact me, I'll suggest him some better ones ;-)

Good one, Silv. :-)

Anonymous said...

This hppn to me once.....I sent a Lotusnotes error screen shot to the IT guy and my taskbar hd fcbk and orkut windows...every next day he promptly blocked both of them :(

Prats said...

ROFL!!!!!

Print Screens in the corp PPT are true source of entertainment...

Once I saw a corp PPT where they had a porn website open in the Taskbar...Every time I see the person again I just see the name of the site :-)

Anonymous said...

OMG. The only remedy to this is to send humurous print screens of things to your frnds. They look at your tabs more than what you want them to see.
like:
'ooooh! nice wallpaper! Whats that file next to My Computer?'
'What are you doing on xyz.com?'
'whose mail is that?'
It certainly has cured me from sending uncensored print screens. But I agree, bosses should not be let in on the secret.

Guruji said...

Sherlock Holmesical analysis on BS’s character – From the fact that he was looking at T.dalal’s website while making the ppt, it means he is either a divorcee, widower or a chronic bachelor. And from the three medical websites he was looking at, it means he is a 40-50 something with multiple health problems. Now on the naughty girl part, there can be multiple interpretations – One is that he has a daughter who is very mischievous and he was looking at how to manage her, which again underlines the initial hypothesis on his marital status. The other interpretation is that naughtygirldotcom is a p*rn site, which again strengthen the initial hypothesis. Either way, one thing is sure our man is a multifaceted personality.

Anonymous said...

LMAOF :) ...omg tht was hilarious, (as usual :) )
@ I am not supposed to share...ROFL....
in between anjali,U got the guts to write about u'r office stories :).....that too about your boss and all ?
even we had a few of this kinda experiences during some presentations and requirment avi's .but that was viewable by 'Family Audience'

Anonymous said...

LMAOF :) ...omg tht was hilarious, (as usual :) )
@ I am not supposed to share...ROFL....
in between anjali,U got the guts to write about u'r office stories :).....that too about your boss and all ?
even we had a few of this kinda experiences during some presentations and requirment avi's .but that was viewable by 'Family Audience'

skar said...

nice@title pun

Flickering Cursor said...

Hernia. Piles. Fissures. Now I know why all these Big Shots only stand during presentations. They can't do sit.

Hilarious post. And awesome blog. First timer and already loving it. **<< Quickly goes to archives >>**

Anonymous said...

Awesome. A friend once took a PrintScreen for a presentation, and the taskbar had her chat window with another guy. That's how the entire office got to know that they were having a roaring affair..

I am sure you guys use Windows. Win 7 and Vista come with an utility called Snipping Tool. Can be got separately for Win Server 2K8 also.
Very helpful, will take the screenshot of the area you want to. Just like TechSmith's good old SnagIt!

Anonymous said...

never.. EVER.. press the 'PrtSc' button without pressing 'Alt'..
THE only rule :D

Dreamer said...

lol. thats true! corporate presentations can be amusing, amazing and anti-depressant cum anti-sleep agents. I have seen many screenshots with all the funky things around. Probably the best one so far was one with an "illegal argument exception" and a chat from his girl friend (an argument about him cheating her with another girl - really illegal and argument). :)

Jim said...

Oh my god, this is my favourite past time, when people are done with their power points and still leave the laptop projected on screen... the best ones are when there are popups from the email program :)

hammy said...

Scandalous!

Disgusting!

An abomination, Silverine, an absolute abomination.

So, when are you going to share the PPT?

:D

"Excuse me, but your slide is showing"

Aniket Thakkar said...

You Big Boss is a bloke and proud of it! I praise him. lol

I so wish my Big Boss ever gave remotely as interesting a presentation as this one. Sadly, he never even creates a presentation by himslef. :(

Philip said...

:) Poor guy. I doubt whether he'll be able to handle the superstardom.

Blunt Edges said...

"alt + printscreen" isn't all that famous after all...is it?

hotdaddy@yahoodotcom stole the cake...hilarious :D:D

lena said...

that seriously made my day, it is amazing how dumb some people might be, but then its good fun for the rest of the world

lena said...

umm... when i said "dumb" in the previous comment, i rather meant how dumb some of us might act in certain situations, nobody can be spared :D

BloggerMouth said...

Bwahahahaha! And hotdaddy@yahoodotcom???!!!! This guy can initiate a new genre in porn. Dilf.

Girl-Nexxt-Door said...

hey silverine...i so look fwd to reading ur blogs every single day...do write more often..!!!:) its real gud stuff...keep rocking!!

Dhanush | ധനുഷ് said...

He He .. Not just PPTs, during the Webex or online desktop sharing also, I am so scary to share my entire desktop. Who knows some body will ping me on the chat or a wicket alert will come up on cricinfo :)

silverine said...

Binu Jose: Thanks for dropping by buddy! Nice to see you here! :)

Malavika: :)

Amey: That last line is a Catch 22 situation :p

Big Shot: Ah! So thats why you kept those tiny details! lol!

And you go to "that' site? :- O *gasp* I had high regard for you till this confession! :(

Rukmani Ram: Guess you nailed that!

Mohan: Well said!! :)

Destiny's child: Thanks girl! Hope that cheered you up from your website writing! :)

Grayquill: :) Luckily no clients....but who will bell the cat? i.e. tell him about this before he makes a client presentation! :p

Parikshith: Thanks buddy. I used to cut it in paint or photoshop. This tip is really handy! :)

Anon: lol!! That was downright mean and sneaky of him! :p

Prats: Unbelievable!!! The things people forget to do! :p

indiashoes: You are right...after this episode I am extra careful! :)

Santhosh: That was a good analysis!! He is divorced! :p

Anish: :p What to do. I work with a bunch of real interesting folks or maybe I notice their quirks! :)

Karthik: Thanks! :)

Slash: Thank you and welcome to my blog! :)

Ms Taggart: Thanks for the tip. Apparently pressing Alt after PS does the job too acco to some learned (read 'experienced) people here! :p

silverine said...

Pratz: :)

Anon: So I learned today! :)

Dreamer: lol! Good one!!

Jim: Man...I wish I knew this before! :( So many presentations I did not pay attention too and hence missed the fun..sigh!

Hammy: LOL!! One chamaat for you! Better copyright that last line! :p

Aniket: I feel really sad for you. This way you will never see a blooper! :p

Philip: hehe it has become a rage all over the company! :D

blunt edges: No it is not that famous!! :p

Lena: True...! :)

Bloggermouth: :D He might be a inspired by a porn star for all you know!

Girl next door: That was very sweet! Thank you! :)

Dhanush: This post has apparently been a learning lesson for many I am told. People are now scared to share their desktop! :D

Divs said...

lol!!

lemme add one more.. if u have a .wmv and you were viewing some other video previously.. plz don't open tht video n then try to open the new .wmv file.. its horrifying to see what the 'big boss' was watching some time ago!

:P

LoL-ed..

skar said...

@hammy: Too good@"Excuse me, but your slide is showing"

hammy said...

@silverine:

At the risk of sounding like a COMPLETE dullard (I am quite confident that so far I have managed to create the illusion of merely a partial dullard), what is chamaat?

@Karthik:
:) Thanks

Amol Naik said...

Cool post!

I know once during my Master's thesis, yahoo messenger popped up in front of my supervisor...very embarrassing..

Hb said...

LOL. The big shot doesnt know you blog. Does he?

Gauri said...

LOL!!

two posts down and i am already luving ur blog.

following ya! :)

silla said...

Hahahaha! Wonder if he realised.. embarrasing!

silverine said...

Divs: Thanks for the info. Now onwards I will be very watchful! :|

Hammy: Check your mail! :|

Amol: Chat windows are very embarrassing indeed! :

my exp with cooking: No he does not! :p

gkam: Thanks a lot girl. Delighted to see you here! :)

Silla: I was positively embarrassed to see that! lol!

Nona said...

:) And also, when you return the company laptop, clean up history and cache. That is also a giveaway!

Anonymous said...

hey i am the first..I Like ur blog mate...............MAHESH
mahesh.nest@gmail.com