In this step-by-step tutorial, PowerPoint expert and author of the brand new How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Ellen Finkelstein talks you through the process of recording your presentation to tape, and transferring it back to your PowerPoint presentation. This is a great way of distributing your complete presentation after the event, rather than simply sending on the PowerPoint deck.
Photo credit: 'PicPics'
Have you ever wanted to give people who missed your presentation the entire presentation, including what you said? You could use PowerPoint's narration feature as you present, but that solution requires some fiddling, and you need to attach the mike to the computer, which can keep you tethered.
You might find it simpler to use an old-fashioned tape recorder. But how do you transfer your talk from the tape to electronic format? (If you have a digital tape recorder, you don't need to convert the sound.) Here's one way that I've used successfully to convert sound from a tape to an MP3 file:
Hardware. You'll need the following:
- Tape player with a line-out connector (usually the kind that you have in your living room)
- Audio and Digital-Camera Cable (from Radio Shack $4.99)
- Stereo-to-Mono Headphone Adapter (from Radio Shack $2.99)
Software. You'll need the following:
- Audacity, an open-source sound editing program (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download)
- LAME MP3 encoder (from the same location, after clicking your platform (Windows or Mac OS); also read the instructions for installing it -- remember the location)
Follow these steps:
- Make an audio tape as usual
- Put the tape in your tape player with the line-out connector
- Put the end of the cable that fits in the tape player in the player's line-out connector (either left or right -- it doesn't matter)
- Attach the adapter to the other end and insert in your computer's microphone connector
- Click the down arrow for the sound in the Custom Animation task pane and choose Effect Options.
In the Play Sound dialog box (Effect tab), set the Stop Playing property to Affect and enter 999 to make sure that the sounds plays throughout the entire presentation
Test the presentation to make sure it works. I've heard reports of the sound lagging after several slides.
How do your viewers know when to move to the next slide? You have two options that I can think of:
- When you talk, say something like, "On the next slide, we see that ..." as a cue
- Add automatic timing to the presentation. The problem with this option is that it requires you to play through the entire presentation so see when each slide should be changed. If your presentation took an hour, that's more than an hour of your time, including the time to set the timings
To add timing to slides:
- Switch to Slide Sorter view
- Select the first slide and choose Slide Show > Slide Transition
- In the Advance Slide section of the Slide Transition task pane, check Automatically After and enter the number of seconds or minutes
- Repeat for the rest of the slides
About the author
Photo credit: Presenters University
Ellen Finkelstein has been using AutoCAD since 1986 and PowerPoint since 1996. She has been consulting and teaching AutoCAD, PowerPoint, and other computer programs, including Microsoft Word and Excel, since 1993.
Now she writes computer books and teaches Management courses. She has taught classes in Human Resources Management, Creating Usable Web Sites, and Web Writing.
Her website Ellen Finkelstein.com is stuffed full of free hints and tips on both PowerPoint and AutoCAD.
Among the host of books she has written is her brand new comprehensive guide to the latest incarnation of PowerPoint, How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
