Embrace Video
A video has the potential to paint 25,000 words per second.
Possibly one of the biggest changes in how media is presented over the last 10 years has been the meteoric rise in ubiquitous video. Much of the western world now carries pocket devices that both record and playback video, and has the data bandwidth to be able to do so.
There’s good reason for this - if a picture paints a thousand words, a video has the potential to paint 25,000 words per second. So how can we make use of video to change the way we present, and change the way we reach audiences with our presentations?
There’s a couple of really easy ways to start.
Make video of your presentations
Sharing slides online is a great way to provide notes for people who were in the audience when you gave your presentation. Depending on the style of slides you’ve produced, they might even stand alone in communicating many of the key points your presentation makes.
But they’re not your presentation.
If you’d really like to reach a new audience online, an ideal way is to post a video of you delivering your talk. There’s a couple of ways you can make that happen. If you’re lucky enough that the event had a videographer to record your presentation and has made the videos available, then that would obviously be ideal.
If that’s not the case, then you’re looking at needing to create one yourself. You’d be surprised at how simple that can be. One option is to set yourself up with a screen for your slides and a phone, webcam, or video camera to present ‘live’ to camera. If that’s not for you, another option is to use screen recording software to make a video of your slides with your voice overdubbed, or with a picture-in-picture webcam video of yourself in the corner. Perhaps try recording five minutes of a presentation with different options and configurations and see what works best for you.
Once you have a video, you can add it to your presentation page on Notist. You do this by uploading it to a video sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo, and then pasting the URL of that page into the Video tab when editing your presentation on Notist.
If you have slides already added, the video will slot into place further down the page like this example from Rachel Andrew. If you don’t have slides and just add a video, it becomes the featured item at the top of the page, like this example from Aaron Bassett.
Use video in your presentations
Another great way to use video is within your presentation itself. Powerpoint, Keynote and the like are all capable of playing back video clips, and this can be a powerful way to illustrate a point as you present. (Although remember to think about copyright issues and be sure your case falls under fair use.)
If your presentation is technical and involves demoing something taking place on the computer (perhaps showing new software, or doing a live coding demo), consider pre-recording that segment as a screencast. This will not only free you up to describe what’s happening without needing to operate the computer at the same time, but it also means you can be sure it’s all going to work correctly before you step up on stage!
A related idea is the area of motion graphics. Sometimes showing moving on a slide can communicate an idea or a change in information much more clearly than individual static images. Modern versions of presentation software make it relatively easy (with a bit of practise) to add object movements and transitions into slides to help breathe some life into the content you’re delivering.
When it comes to sharing those slides afterwards, you might think you’re out of luck. If you export your deck to a PDF, you’ll obviously lose any video or motion. The good news is (of course!) that Notist enables you to add it back.
When editing your slidedeck, Notist Pro users can replace any slide with something new. That can be an updated version of the same slide (fix that typo!), an animated version as a GIF, or with a video URL from YouTube, Vimeo or other video sharing site.
When a visitor browses your slides, the video will appear in the correct context along with the other slides. You can see an example in this deck from Rachel Andrew again.
Video can be a really powerful tool for communicating ideas in an engaging way, so why not give it a try!
Advent speaker tips: this is part of a series of tips for public speakers that we’re posting throughout advent. Check back daily during December for more.