While you can use this book if you're completely new to PowerPoint, Creating Cool PowerPoint Presentations will serve you better if you have some knowledge of the program's means of operation. The authors spend most of their time detailing how to elicit neat effects--such as undulating text and embedded sound effects--from PowerPoint. They give attention to related software, such as Kai's Power Tools and Adobe Photoshop, as well. On top of its explanations of techniques, this book includes a fair amount of subjective advice on how to design an attractive presentation.
There's a good-looking, full-color section in the middle of the book that shows how certain effects look in real life. While this section is helpful, it might have been better used to explore the specifics of using color effectively in presentations. This book ships with a CD-ROM containing the authors' examples, plus clip art, some backgrounds, and a handful of evaluation software. --David Wall