Looking for suggestions on how best to put a presentation on the web
I would welcome advice from you, dear reader, about how best to record a presentation and put it on my blog.
During the past six months, I have given a series of speeches that track the way that modern society was shaped by technology. These talks were pretty ambitious: my recent talk at Merging+Media covered 500 years of technology in a whirlwind survey.
Lately, I’ve received several requests from people who would like to watch the video online or download the presentation. So I am looking for a way to record and produce an interactive multimedia version of my speech, using the slides from the talk along with my voice narration, and if possible, links to other web sites.
Here’s my problem: I don’t have video of most of these presentations. And besides, a video of me talking wouldn’t be very useful because the important info is in the talk track and the visual images on the projection screen.
The speaker? Pay no attention to that man at the podium. Look at the big pictures!
In the past I used a nifty piece of software called FlowGram to create a virtual presentation. But now the company is defunct. FlowGram was great because you could record an audio narration to ANYTHING: PowerPoint slides, Flickr photos, a series of web sites, YouTube clips etc. So it was a like a guided tour. FlowGram was actually better than anything I can do live on stage with Keynote or PowerPoint.
Any recommendations for producing nifty interactive multimedia slideshows for a web site?
Thanks!
RT
December 6th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Since ” Flowgram” worked so well for you in the past. The inventor/creator of Flowgram Abhay Parekh is available for consultation http://www.tecknowbasic.com/bio.htm . His background is Sloan School of Management.. so he should very quickly… be able to understand the bigger picture/vision you have for sharing this wonderful resource of information you have created to educate.
Seems to me Flowgram was just ahead of it’s time ~ The need 4 what your proposing, as we accelerate, is arriving quickly as You can see ~
Seems flowgram was a easy format to share info but people were not FB a year ago when FG shut down. U have # on FB growth in a Year.
It is not slowing down .. the need you are looking for to broadcast yourself in most effecient way that reaches the most lines of communication might be something you have to develop to get exactly what want… ( I am a inventor… had to do this .. I had the product I invented.. but technology was not there to create it … so I am process of creating the tech.. All the pieces were there in tech field… it just no one put them together like I am doing… . This the beauty of being human… we all have unique perceptions and understandings… which is what makes life happen.with positive growth..)
FB just revamped my profile this AM. Great Monday morning surprise! ~ Poof they are uploading me into a whole other format I have no choice on… just to make the info sharing more efficient etc but also making it quicker for others to access whom you are.. etc All you can do is go along for the ride and your brain gets more techy to figure out how the whole thing works. It is all escalating very quickly~
The series of talks you have given are imperative to reach the masses as they enable one to make sense of where we been, why this acceleration is happening , TO NOT FEAR IT , and what to expect and that is all good and exciting..Every Day People need to know this as it empowers them to know they can create their own identity…and all this makes our lives work better on so many levels…
Fear is what limits us and your comprehensive approach to explain it all, will allow comprehension of REAL TIMES we are in @ 2011
December 6th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Hi Robert,
Just heard your wonderful presentation at CalTech. I had a brief moment to chat with you afterwards (PhD Candidate from the University of San Diego)
Thanks for the great perspective on rapid change we all are experiencing.
On to your question: If you were using PowerPoint, the program (at least the Windows version) has a recording feature that could work quite nicely. It allows you to narrate each slide as you go and create a video-based slideshow. Here’s how Microsoft describes the process:
In PowerPoint 2010, you can now save your presentation as a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file, and distribute it confidently, knowing that your animated, narrated, multimedia presentation will play without a glitch. If you do not want to use the .wmv file format, you can use a preferred third party utility to convert your file to another format (.avi, .mov, etc).
Some tips to remember when recording your presentation as a video:
You can record and time voice narration and laser pointer movements in your video.
You can control the size of the multimedia file and the quality of your video.
You can include animations and transitions in your movie.
Viewers do not need to have PowerPoint installed on their computers to watch it.
If your presentation contains an embedded video, the video will play correctly without your needing to control it.
Depending on the content of your presentation, creating a video may take some time. Lengthy presentations and presentations with animations, transitions, and media content will likely take longer to create. Fortunately, you can continue to use PowerPoint while the video is being created
Hope this helps!
Jeff
December 7th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Thanks Jeff, I am aware of this option. But I am looking for a tool that enables the person watching the clip to decide when to flip to the next slide, and which pauses when the person viewing the slideshow clicks on a link. FlowGram had these features but unfortunately they are gone.
December 8th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Hi Bob — have you considered using Slideshare, and the not-as-often-used method of recording audio along with slides? It takes a little bit of work, but when completed, makes a really compelling presentation (the audio plays over the slides, and users have full control). You can see an older version of one I did for an early fundraising presentation here:
http://www.slideshare.net/daveschappell/teachstreet-intro-deck
December 11th, 2010 at 4:33 am
Hi John,
Gotcha. I’d recommend you try a few products to see which is the best fit.
Adobe has free trials of Presenter and Captivate. Although I haven’t tried Presenter, it seems to be what you’re looking for in an easy-to-use package. http://www.adobe.com/products/presenter/
Captivate is what we used at USD to add more interactivity to PowerPoint or to develop more sophisticated interactivity.
http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/
Another product has a similar name and function to Adobe Presenter (coincidence?)
http://www.articulate.com/products/presenter.php
Feel free to email me if you have questions.
Best,
Jeff
December 14th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Robert,
Two options come to mind:
1. You could do a screencast of your powerpoint with audio narration and post the video. “Jing” is great for this (http://www.techsmith.com/jing/). There’s another good site called ScreenCastOMatic (http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/) and some of my colleagues like ScreenToaster (http://www.screentoaster.com).
2. Reorganize your presentations into non-linear multimedia presentations using Prezi. I love this tool! Check it out at http://prezi.com.
Best of luck!
Cheers.
May 5th, 2011 at 2:52 am
Just checked back to see if you posted your presentation from Humanity+ and saw Mikes last suggestion, and whole-heartedly agree…Prezi is worth the minor learning-curve. Just gave my first Prezi-based presentation yesterday, and was surprised at how easy it was to make. PowerPoint choking on video will be a thing of the past!