Free Upgrades to ConceptDraw PRO

CS Odessa has just announced important free upgrades to the company’s ConceptDraw PRO business graphics and diagramming package.

ConceptDraw PRO 9.4 features an enhanced startup wizard, new connectors technology and ConceptDraw Solution Park additions to help users produce professional results more quickly, easily and cost effectively. The upgraded ConceptDraw PRO package demonstrates CS Odessa’s ongoing commitment to continuously improving its solutions suite.

Improvements include:

1. A new Start Up Wizard that allows users to set basic formatting features.
2. Arrows 10 technology to streamline object linking.
3. New Solution Park enhancements, including new templates and libraries to help users quickly and efficiently produce professional results.

"The new startup wizard can help users begin each new project more efficiently and effectively," says Olin Reams, General Manager, VP of Sales & Marketing Americas at CS Odessa. "Smart Connectors technology enhances the intelligent design of the product since it fits the way people think instead of program operations."

How to Present From ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Slides Exported From ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 map (click to forward)

Many people use mind maps every day, for any number of business activities. They brainstorm, organize their ideas and data, build documents, etc. But what if you could also deliver powerful presentations with all of that information from within your mind mapping tool?

With ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7, you can create professional, flexible presentations that utilize your map content you have already created.

The presentation functionality in ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 is a great tool for meetings. Quickly incorporate new data—like feedback from team members—so your presentation is always relevant and up to date.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7 also gives you flexibility with how and what you present. Select and present only the content that is relevant to your audience. Choose a map style that complements your presentation. This allows you to give different presentations to different audiences, all from the same file!

Imagine the time it normally takes to prepare a presentation. Then imagine all of the time you’d save by utilizing your existing mind map data to prepare your presentations, without having to use a separate application.

Contact us today to order ConceptDraw MINDMAP 7, and start saving time and money.

 

Effectively Use a Mind Map to Take Notes During Meetings and Presentations

Step 1. From ConceptDraw MINDMAP, open the presentation map “History Of Psychology”.

Step 2. Turn on the Full Screen mode from the View menu or press F5.

Step 3. During a meeting or presentation, as participant states something of importance that relates to a particular topic, insert a callout attached to this topic. Select a topic, and right-click. Select Callout Topic.

Step 4. Enter notes or comments in the new callout.

Step 5. If you would like to create a callout that pertains to the entire mind map, instead of a specific topic, in a blank space of the mind map, left-click the mouse button while holding down the Ctrl key. Add a floating topic.

Step 6. Throughout the meeting or presentation, continue to add Callouts and Floating Topics.

Step 7. Add details as subtopics. Use Ctrl+Enter (Windows) or Cmd+Enter (Mac OS X).

Step 8. Use Symbols to make small notes and save words. In our example, we use the heart to visually depict the “Sensations/Feelings” topic. Press F9 to view the Symbols panel.

Step 9. Repeat the above steps to modify and add to the mind map.

Result. At the end of a meeting or presentation, your mind map should be complete with important ideas, notes, comments, symbols, and callouts.

Project Reporting Using ConceptDraw MINDMAP and Microsoft PowerPoint

The ConceptDraw Office Suite has a very powerful built in project reporting tool that generates a variety of reports. Such reports range from visual scoreboards to mind maps reports that show the critical details.

Figure 1: Map template for Report Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint.

For those of you looking for a way to quickly prepare a PowerPoint presentation for status meetings, you can easily prepare your content in a mind map format, and then export to your template of choice using ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

Figure 2: Sample of PowerPoint output using a ConceptDraw template.

Download a sample ConceptDraw MINDMAP template here:

http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=160786010

Customize Your Maps with ConceptDraw PRO and ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Do you ever wish you could customize your mind maps more professionally?

Using ConceptDraw PRO (our powerful business graphics software) you can have complete control of how your mind map topics look.

Here is an example of a mind map that uses an image of a 1964 Mustang convertible as a topic type. Add a first level topic and up pops a Mustang! If only it were this easy for Ford to build automobiles.

Download the map here to see how it works.

Figure 1: Portion of a mind map showing a '64 Mustang as new topic type. Main topic and sub-topics have also been modified to show the range of change available.

Customize Topics

1. The first step is to select a picture or choose one of the 15,000 professionally drawn objects that come with ConceptDraw PRO.
   
   
2. Place the object or picture on to ConceptDraw’s canvas. Then drag and drop the object on to the topic you want to change, if you want to make a change to all topics at that level in your map drag the object to the 1 o’clock position.
   
   
3. When you drag the object from ConceptDraw PRO over to the topic that is in place, note the topic behavior in the topic. You will see a yellow rectangle that is divided into 3 boxes.
   
   
4. Drop the image on to one of the boxes and the image will then be part of the topic.
   
   
5. The location of the image is determined by the box that you place the image in.
   
   
6. Drift the cursor a bit to the right or left and there will appear a blue box.
   
   
7. Drop the image in the blue box and it becomes the topic.

Figure 2: Drag a ConceptDraw PEO object to your mind map. Once you see the blue rectangle place the object for a new topic type.

Figure 3: ConceptDraw MINDMAP changes to the margins increase the size of the topic.

Build a Theme

1. Click on the topic you have changed.
   
   
2. From the Format menu, select Map Theme then Apply to Current Level
   
   
3.  Once you have completed all of your modifications, go to the Format menu, and select  Map Theme then Save Theme. This new theme can then be applied to any map you build in the future.
   
   
4. You can modify the topic size, spacing tab, and margins. The topic will increase in size.

Now you can build unique and custom maps with ease!

3P: Pre Pitch Planning

Figure 1: A ConceptDraw MINDMAP used in a presentation

Baseball pitchers know all about “Pre Pitch Planning”. They use this technique to carefully plan out each time they are going to throw a baseball. They need to think about how they will hold the ball, the release point, the motion placed on the ball, the velocity at the time of release, the intended destination point, and of course-- the batter.

The same 3P technique can be use when presenting mind maps created from ConceptDraw MINDMAP. ConceptDraw MINDMAP is a great tool for creating informal presentations or when you what to interact with the group you are presenting to.

I have built a small map that is located at MindMapPedia.com: http://www.mindmappedia.com/?id=214646313. You can easily download this mind map to see how you can configure some of the items discussed in this posting. Keep in mind, this post is focused on how to present using ConceptDraw MINDMAP.


Here is a list of some of the things you want to take into consideration when you present your mind map.

• Not everyone is familiar with how to read a mind map. Knowing this, I like to have my main idea left aligned and all the topics aligned to the right.
  
  
• Ensure the default font is big enough at each level being presented, so it is legible to your audience.
  
  
• Adjust your background color and topic colors to match your team or company style.
  


• Ensure “Auto Arrangement” is on, and if you want to eliminate the distraction of the menu, press F5 (this toggles full screen mode on and off)
  
  
  
  
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Auto Arrange toggled on

• To present press the plus symbol to fold out a branch for display. When you are ready to move to the next branch, you collapse the branch you are viewing, using the minus symbol
  


• If you fold all of the subtopics out, when you open the branch they are attached and will be revealed at the same time.
  
  
• If the subtopics are folded in, when you open the branch, they will be revealed one at a time.
  


• For easy and rapid zooming on any topic or group of topics in your map, just rubber band the topics you want to view by holding briefly, and the objects will automatically zoom. http://www.blogger.com/video-play.mp4?contentId=53a4f85011dd66bf&type=video%2Fmp4
  
  
  

ConceptDraw zoom demonstration

• When you want to return to normal size, release the mouse and the map is restored to the previous view.
  

It is easy to present your map, but like baseball, you should always practice before you go in front of a live audience.

There are two other features contained in ConceptDraw MINDMAP that can come into play here and that is templates and themes. In the next few future postings I will delve into templates, because they are great tools with the potential to save you time. Templates can contain both a theme and information. A template has many uses.