The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) is pleased to announce the forthcoming book Basic PowerPoint® Exhibits, by Deanne C. Siemer and Frank D. Rothschild, will be available August 15, 2003.
Electronic displays are an integral part of persuasive advocacy. PowerPoint is one of the easiest, most inexpensive, and reliable software programs available to create electronic displays for use at trial. BASIC POWERPOINT® EXHIBITS, the first volume in NITA’s new EasyTech Series, gives you the skills you need to prepare basic exhibits and illustrative aids.
Basic PowerPoint® Exhibits focuses on PowerPoint 2002, which became available at the end of 2001. Beginning computer users will find this book useful because it focuses on designing and constructing the most common exhibits used at trial. Creating slides is not difficult and does not require any extensive computer experience. The first chapter starts with turning on the computer, and goes from there. Each chapter tells you what you are going to do, describes in overview the steps necessary to get there, and guides you through the process one logical step at a time.
Summary of Contents
Chapter 1: Setting Up to Use PowerPoint, covers what you need to know to set up PowerPoint to make trial exhibits and to work with PowerPoint’s basic displays. Chapter 2: Basic Moves in PowerPoint, examines the five basic moves to create a "black slide," which is frequently used in slide shows prepared for use at trial. Chapter 3: Bullet Point Lists, outlines the skills that allow you to begin using polished bullet point lists right away. Chapter 4: Photo Slides, explores enlarged photos, cropped and labeled photos, and animation for photo slides. Chapter 5: Document Slides, features the basics: displaying a document on a slide; emphasizing portions of the document with lines, boxes, and highlighting; using callouts to focus on content; and applying basic animation. Chapter 6: Slide Numbers and Exhibit Numbers, demonstrates how to add these numbers to your slides and exhibits. Chapter 7: Showing and Printing Slides, focuses on displaying and printing your slides for trial and for your trial notes. Chapter 8: More PowerPoint Features, lists advanced features of PowerPoint.
Deanne C. Siemer, managing director of Wilsie Co., is nationally recognized for her handling of complex litigation cases, which include the fields of computer technology, energy, industrial construction, and franchises. She has been in practice for 28 years and spent 15 years as a litigation partner in the firms of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro and Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.
Siemer also served a three-year period of government service as General Counsel for the Department of Defense and Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy. She was previously an economist for the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C.
Siemer is a past chair of the NITA Board of Trustees. She has published numerous articles on evidence and trial practice, and several texts.
