ellenfinkelstein.com

EllenFinkelstein.com is the personal site of Ellen Finkelstein, a PowerPoint and presentation-skills expert, and it serves as a hub for her blog, tips, e-store, training offers, and contact/about information. It is aimed at people who want to improve their PowerPoint skills or deliver more effective presentations — including business professionals, speakers, and educators. If you are looking for practical presentation advice, training options, or a newsletter with regular tips, this site is worth browsing; if you need unrelated design software or general office training, it is not the right fit.

Who runs the site

The site is operated by Ellen Finkelstein, described on the page as one of the top experts in the United States in presentation training. The page also notes that Microsoft has provided her with a free annual subscription to Office 365 for her participation in the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program. That MVP connection is a useful signal of her standing in the PowerPoint community, though it is a recognition program rather than a formal certification of the site's content.

What you can find

The main navigation and page content point to several areas:

• Blog and Tips — articles and resources for presenters and PowerPoint users.
• E-Store — a place to purchase products (the page does not list specific items or prices).
• Training — team and 1-on-1 training, positioned as a way to "transform your presentations."
• Contact and About — ways to reach Ellen and learn more about her background.
• Advertise — information for potential advertisers.
• PowerPoint Tips Newsletter — a free subscription with regular tips and resources for presenters and PowerPoint users.

The page also mentions a free training entry point: visitors who sign up are told to check their spam folder or Gmail Promotions tab if they don't receive an email from [email protected]. The site states that contact information is kept private in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

Who it is for

The content is oriented toward:

• Business professionals who need to build convincing PowerPoint decks — one testimonial on the page comes from a director at Citrix Systems who says the coaching made a "night and day" difference and drew compliments from his manager.
• Speakers and educators who want to keep audience attention and improve retention — a PhD reviewer notes that Ellen "walked the talk" by using slides to demonstrate her own advice.
• Sales and communications professionals — a founder and VP describes her tips on effective sales presentations as "lucid and valuable."

If your goal is to improve how you structure, design, or deliver presentations, the site's focus lines up with that need.

What to check before committing

• Training format and cost — the page promotes team and 1-on-1 training but does not list prices or schedules, so you would need to contact Ellen or follow the training links for details.
• Newsletter value — the newsletter is described as free and regular, but the page does not specify frequency or content depth beyond "tips and resources."
• E-store contents — the store is listed in the menu, but the page evidence does not show what is sold or at what price.

A reasonable next step is to browse the Blog and Tips section first to judge whether the advice style suits you, then look at Training if you want personalized help.

Choose the free PowerPoint Tips Newsletter if you want to sample Ellen Finkelstein's teaching style and pick up general techniques at your own pace. Choose the paid team or 1-on-1 training if you have a specific presentation that needs to improve quickly and you want someone to work through your theme and story with you. The site itself frames the paid option around a single question — "Are Presentations CRUCIAL to Your Success?" — which is a useful test: if a weak deck would cost you a sale, a job offer, or a promotion, the targeted option is the one built for that situation.

What the free option actually gives you

Subscribing to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter gets you regular tips and resources aimed at presenters and PowerPoint users, plus access to the training offered on the site. The site notes that if you don't receive an email from [email protected], you should check your spam folder or Gmail Promotions tab — a practical detail worth knowing before you assume the signup failed.

This path suits you if:

• You're not sure yet whether Ellen's approach matches how you like to learn.
• Your presentations are working well enough and you just want incremental improvement.
• You prefer to learn on your own schedule rather than in scheduled sessions.

The trade-off is that newsletter content is general by design. It can't look at your deck, your audience, or the argument you're trying to make.

What the paid training adds

Ellen Finkelstein offers both team training and 1-on-1 training, positioned around transforming your presentations. The site describes her as one of the top experts in the United States in this area.

The difference isn't just more content — it's a different kind of work. In the client story featured on the site, Mel Velez, Director of Procure to Pay at Citrix Systems, describes the process this way: he shared his presentation ideas with Ellen, and together they built a theme and story. He reports that his manager complimented the quality of his PowerPoint decks several times afterward, and calls the results "night and day" compared to struggling on his own.

That account points to where paid training earns its place: the value came from structuring the narrative, not from learning which button does what. If your problem is that your slides look fine but your argument doesn't land, self-study tips won't fix it.

How to decide

A reasonable sequence: start with the free newsletter to see whether her explanations click for you, then move to paid training when a specific presentation matters enough to justify the investment. The site doesn't publish pricing, so you'll need to contact Ellen directly to compare cost against your budget and the importance of the presentation in front of you.

What to expect from the training itself

Based on the client description, the work is collaborative and idea-first: you bring your presentation concepts, and the session focuses on shaping them into a coherent theme and story. That means you should arrive with raw material — your draft slides, your key points, your audience — rather than expecting a generic lecture. Samuel Boothby, PhD, who saw Ellen present, noted that she "walked the talk" by using slides to demonstrate her own advice on holding audience attention and improving retention, and described her as a lively, confident speaker who shared substantial experience freely.

If you want to see that style in action before committing, the free newsletter is the lowest-risk way to start.

Subscribing to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter on EllenFinkelstein.com gets you a free subscription to a newsletter with regular tips and resources for presenters and PowerPoint users, plus access to free training. The site states that it keeps your contact information private in accordance with its Privacy Policy. If you don't receive an email from [email protected], the site advises checking your spam folder or Gmail Promotions tab so you actually get the training.

What the newsletter includes

Based on the site's own description, the subscription delivers:

• Regular tips and resources relevant to presenters and PowerPoint users
• Free training content — the signup page says "Get the Training Now," and notes you'll receive the training after subscribing
• A free subscription to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter itself, described as arriving with regular tips and resources

The site frames the newsletter around a specific question: "Are Presentations CRUCIAL to Your Success?" That framing tells you the intended audience — people who present regularly and want to improve how they build and deliver slides, not casual users looking for one-off templates.

Who it's for

The newsletter is aimed at two overlapping groups the site names directly:

If you fall into either group and want ongoing tips rather than a single course, the newsletter is the low-commitment entry point. If you want structured, hands-on help instead, the site also points to team and 1-on-1 training by Ellen Finkelstein — a separate offering from the newsletter.

What to expect after signing up

1. You submit your email through the signup form on the site.
2. You receive an email from [email protected] containing the training.
3. You're also subscribed to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter for ongoing tips and resources.

The site explicitly warns that the email may land in spam or the Gmail Promotions tab, so check those folders if nothing arrives. This is a practical step, not a sign that something went wrong.

Privacy and contact handling

The signup page states: "We keep your contact information private in accordance with our Privacy Policy." That's the site's stated commitment — it does not describe selling or sharing your details. For the specifics of how data is handled, the Privacy Policy itself is the document to read.

Is it worth leaving your email?

Consider the newsletter if you want:

• Recurring, presenter-focused PowerPoint tips rather than a one-time download
• A free training item as the immediate payoff for subscribing
• Content from an author the site describes as a top expert, with testimonials from corporate and academic clients

Skip it if you're looking for a paid, structured course with direct coaching — that's the separate training offering, not the newsletter. The newsletter is the free, ongoing-tips option; the training is the hands-on option.

EllenFinkelstein.com offers two main training formats for improving PowerPoint presentations: team training and 1-on-1 training. Both are positioned around the same goal — transforming how you build and deliver presentations — and the site describes Ellen as "one of the top experts in the United States" in this area. If you're deciding between them, the practical split is simple: choose 1-on-1 if the problem is your decks and your delivery, and team training if a group needs to raise its presentation standard together.

The two training formats

1-on-1 training

This is the option described in the site's client testimonial from Mel Velez (Director, Procure to Pay, Citrix Systems, Inc.). The workflow he describes is worth noting because it tells you what the sessions actually look like:

• You bring your presentation ideas to the session.
• You and Ellen work together to build a theme and a story from those ideas.
• The output is a finished deck — Velez reports his manager complimented the quality of his PowerPoint decks multiple times afterward.

He also frames the value as pace-related: "enhance or learn PowerPoint quickly and at your pace." So 1-on-1 is the fit when you want the coaching built around your own material rather than a fixed curriculum.

Team training

The site's headline pitch — "Are Presentations CRUCIAL to Your Success?" — points to team training alongside the 1-on-1 option. Team training is the format to consider when the goal is a shared standard across a group rather than one person's improvement. The page doesn't publish a syllabus, duration, or pricing for either format, so those details need to come from the training page or a direct inquiry.

How to choose between them

What the site says about delivery quality

The testimonials on the page focus on two things beyond slide design: audience attention and retention. Samuel Boothby, PhD, describes a presentation where Ellen "walked the talk" — using slides to demonstrate her own advice on keeping audience attention and increasing retention of the material. Helen Foster-Grimmett (Founder and VP, Enlightened Communications Int'l.) highlights practical advice on sales presentations that members planned to apply directly.

That's a useful signal about scope: the training isn't only about making slides look better. It covers how slides support a spoken presentation, which matters if your problem is that your decks are technically fine but aren't landing.

How to evaluate the style before you commit

The page offers a low-risk first step: sign up for the free training, which also comes with a subscription to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter. Two practical notes from the site itself:

• If you don't receive the confirmation email from [email protected], check your spam folder or the Gmail Promotions tab.
• The site states contact information is kept private per its Privacy Policy.

If you'd rather see the full picture first, the site's navigation includes Training, Blog, Tips, and E-Store sections — the Training page is where format details beyond the two categories would live.

What isn't specified here

The page evidence doesn't include pricing, session length, group size limits, or scheduling for either training format. Treat those as open questions to resolve on the Training page or by contacting Ellen directly rather than assuming a structure. What is clear from the page is the format split (team vs. 1-on-1), the stated goal (transforming presentations), and the recommended first step (free training plus newsletter) for judging fit.

EllenFinkelstein.com is the home site of presentation-skills expert Ellen Finkelstein, and its main sections are reachable from a single top menu: Home, Blog, Tips, E-Store, Training, Contact, About, and Advertise. Use this guide to decide which entry point matches what you need — free reading, a purchase, or training sign-up.

The top menu at a glance

The site's own framing asks, "Are Presentations CRUCIAL to Your Success?" — and the menu is organized around that split: free content on one side (Blog, Tips), paid or guided help on the other (E-Store, Training).

If you want free content first

Start with Blog and Tips. These are the browsing sections for readers who want to learn without committing to a purchase or a training engagement. The site also offers a free subscription to the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter, described as delivering "regular tips and resources relevant to presenters and PowerPoint users." Note the site's own instruction: if you don't receive an email from [email protected], check your spam folder or the Gmail Promotions tab.

If you want training or a product

• Training is the entry point for team and 1-on-1 training, positioned as instruction from "one of the top experts in the United States."
• E-Store is where purchase-related activity lives.
• The PPT-EF.com home page carries a "Get the Training Now" entry, so training sign-up is reachable from more than one place.

Testimonials on the site describe the training experience in practical terms. Mel Velez, a director at Citrix Systems, describes working with Ellen to build a theme and story from his presentation ideas, and says his manager complimented the resulting decks. Samuel Boothby, PhD, notes she "walked the talk" by using slides to demonstrate her own slide advice.

If you need background or contact

Use About to review Ellen Finkelstein's credentials and experience, and Contact to reach out directly. Advertise is a separate section for advertising inquiries, not for learning content.

A quick decision path

1. Just exploring? → Home, then Blog or Tips.
2. Want structured help? → Training.
3. Want to buy something? → E-Store.
4. Need to verify who's behind the site? → About.
5. Need to reach a person? → Contact.

One disclosure worth knowing as you browse: the site states that Microsoft provided a free annual Office 365 subscription for participation in the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program.