e247 – PowerPoint is Amanda Dalton’s Swiss Army Design Tool – and CreativePro Week 2026!
Show Notes – Episode #247
Unlock the power of PowerPoint in ways you may not have imagined. In this episode, Troy, Sandy, and Nolan are joined by Amanda Dalton, a seasoned graphic designer turned presentation and instructional design expert, to explore how PowerPoint can be a central tool for presentation design, video creation, and instructional storytelling.
In today’s ever-evolving world of digital communication, few tools are as versatile, or as underestimated, as PowerPoint. Amanda shares her professional journey and offers insights into how she leverages PowerPoint alongside other tools to create impactful stories, engaging training content, and dynamic visual experiences.
Plus, CreativePro Week 2026 is just weeks away! Amanda is one of the presenter at this year’s conference, and we are fortunate to have David Blatner, Director of CreativePro, preview what to expect at this year’s Nashville event.
Highlights:
- Amanda’s career transition from graphic design to presentation design, to instructional storytelling.
- The use of PowerPoint as a versatile design tool beyond traditional slide presentations.
- Insights into creating templates, animated GIFs, and video content using PowerPoint.
- The importance of audience engagement in instructional content production.
- The role of AI tools in presentation design and instructional content production.
- Differences between explainer videos and tutorials in instructional design.
- Strategies for empowering non-designers to create content using PowerPoint.
- The challenges and benefits of using PowerPoint for document processing and feedback.
- Unique and unexpected uses of PowerPoint in creative projects.

Resources from this Episode:
- Hatch Show Print (letter press museum in Nashville)
- CreativePro Week 2026 (and special registration discount for any CP event in 2026! “PRESPOD”) /
- Grok AI
- Mark Heaps (LinkedIn)
- Hiacry gel pen – with double ball conical tip for reduced writing resistance of 0.7mm quick drying black ink (Amazon)
- Amanda Dalton
- YouTube Channel
- Amanda’s Weird Al parody “PowerPoint Crimes” YouTube video
- Instagram: @amandatory.adventure
- Screen Studio for screen recording
- Rev for transcription
- Descript as a collaboration video editing tool
- Planable.io social media posting (like Hootsuite lite)
- Gentle on github – the open source forced alignment transcription helper that Claude recommended
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