Deckset Creates Great Looking Presentations from Any Markdown File

Mac: PowerPoint and Keynote have been the main presentation tools for most people for a long while, but if you're looking for a simpler alternative, Deckset makes things a bit simpler by building presentations based on Markdown files.

Instead of using a visual format to design a presentation, Deckset lets you just type it out in Markdown using a regular old text editor. When you're done, open that file in Deckset and it's automatically turned into a presentation. You can pick from a number of themes, color palettes, and add images to spice things up. That's it. It's incredibly simple, but that's also the point. Deckset isn't really a replacement for something like PowerPoint. Instead, it's a tool for people who don't really want to mess around with visuals and would prefer to just present their ideas in a simple way.

Deckset ($19.99)

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Use the “Three Whats” Technique to Structure Your Presentations

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People retain structured information 40 percent more reliably than random information, writes Matt Abrahams in Inc., who also suggests a structure for your presentations: What? So What? Now What?

My favorite structure is What?-So What?-Now What?, which can help you not only in planned presentations but also in spontaneous speaking situations such as job interviews. When using this structure, you start with your central claim ("I am qualified for this position because of my experience") and then explain its significance ("This experience means I can start contributing to your firm immediately") before concluding with a call to action ("When can I start?").

The advice is meant to act as a guideline, but there's no harm in memorizing your script either, just don't write it down. Abrahams also advises practising the speech out loud, so that you are comfortable speaking in public.

2 Secrets Of Memorable Presentations | Inc.

Photo by 3V Photo.

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Create Online Video Presentations Easily With Movenote

Presentations are a great way to explain things and get important information across to an audience. However, there are times when it’s just impossible to conduct a presentation in real-time, be it due to distance or simply lack of time. Sure, you could just email your slides or publish them online, but without the all-important human element, it can be hard to communicate and get your point across. If you’ve ever wished for an easy way to overcome this problem by combining slides with audio and visual narration, you can stop wishing. Say hello to Movenote.

Movenote is an app and website that lets you create video slidecasts, which the app calls Movenotes. Movenote lets you accompany your slides with a video narration. If giving a presentation in real life is impossible for whatever reason, Movenote might just be the next best thing. If this sounds useful to you, read on to find out more.

Recommended Reading: Create Beautiful Presentations Easily With Slidebean

Getting Started With Movenote

To get started using Movenote, just log on to the website and register a new account if you don’t have one. You can also log in using your Google, Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. However, it looks like you’ll only have Google Drive integration if you login using a Google account.

Once you’ve logged in, go through Movenote’s terms and conditions. Once you’re done with that, you can watch some YouTube videos with tips on getting started with Movenote. Finally, Movenote will ask for your permission to use your webcam.

Using Movenote

This is what the main Movenote interface looks like:

Your slides take up the bulk of the screen, with your webcam’s output on the right side of the screen. This is so that you can see yourself while you’re recording the Movenote. Press the pencil icon beside the presentation title to edit the Movenote’s title. Archive is where you access older Movenotes.

Adding slides is simple as clicking on Add Slides and choosing whether to add files from your computer or from your Google Drive account.

Once you’ve added your slides, either from your computer or from Google Drive, you can rearrange and delete them however you wish. Just press Re-order at the top of the slide display and a new window will pop up allowing you to re-order and delete slides.

Recording Your Presentation

Once you’re satisfied with your slides, you can start recording your Movenote. Just press the red Record button; Movenote will start a countdown and then begin recording. While recording, just narrate as you normally would, and click the arrows above the slide display in order to move through the slides. You can also turn your mouse cursor into a laser pointer by holding your mouse button down; this can be useful for highlighting certain parts of a slide.

Once you’re done recording, click Pause. You can then either resume recording, start over if you made a mistake, or press Save & preview if you’re satisfied with your recording.

Once you press Save & preview, Movenote will take a few minutes to generate your Movenote. How long Movenote takes depends on the length of the presentation.

You have a number of ways to share your completed Movenote. You can email the link via Gmail, copy the public link, or share it on social networks including Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Movenote also has AddThis integration, letting you share your Movenote on a lot of other social platforms such as Pinterest and Tumblr.

There are a few other controls at the bottom of the screen. The seekbar and the slide counter work in tandem with each other, in that moving through the slides also advances through the Movenote. Viewers also have the option to download the slides in .PDF format.

There’s also a settings menu that lets you do a few extra things, including adding a link, editing the slides, generating an embed code as well as deleting the Movenote.

Conclusion

Movenote is an incredibly useful tool if you want to accompany slides and presentations with audio-visual narration and explanations. If you’ve ever wanted to keep the human element of presentations while sharing information across the Internet, then Movenote is definitely something you’ll want to try out.

Movenote is also available for mobile platforms, both Android and iOS. There’s also a Movenote Chrome app as well as a Movenote for Gmail extension that lets you create Movenotes directly from Gmail.

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Create Beautiful Presentations Easily With Slidebean

Presentations are part and parcel of our lives. Whether it’s a university assignment, monthly sales meeting or pitching a product to potential investors, a presentation has to look good and have great content. But there are always times when it’s difficult, if not impossible, to balance the two. Maybe you just don’t have an eye for design, or maybe you don’t have enough time to get both the content and design of your slides up to par. Well, that’s all a thing of the past with Slidebean.

Slidebean is a cloud-based app, currently in beta, that lets users create beautiful presentations quickly and easily. Slidebean changes the way you create presentations, by encouraging users to focus solely on the content, while the app handles the design side of the equation. No more having to worry about trying to balance content and design. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in using, read on.

Recommended Reading: 10 Presentation Tools To Win Over Your Audience

Getting Started With Slidebean

As usual, the first step is to register with Slidebean. You can either create an account or log in using your Facebook or Twitter account.

A nice touch is the fact that registering also logs you in instantly, without having to wait for a verification email or anything of the sort. Once you’re logged in, you’re taken to your Dashboard, which is where you create new presentations and manage the ones you’ve already created.

Creating A Presentation With Slidebean

Slidebean makes creating a presentation very easy. Clicking on Create new presentation in the Dashboard will begin the creation process.

The first thing you’ll be asked to do is to input the title of your presentation.

Then, Slidebean will ask you where the presentation is taking place. You have a choice of One on One, Classroom, Meeting, Auditorium or Online.

If you choose Classroom or Auditorium, there’ll be an additional screen where you’re asked to input the name of the institution where the presentation is taking place.

Once you’re done inputting this basic information, it’s time to get started on the content.

There are six types of slides that you can insert into a Slidebean presentation. They are:

• Header
• Text
• Bullets
• Quote
• Image
• Video

There’s also a Chart option available in the slide creator, but this slide type isn’t available yet.

Adding content to your presentation is simply a matter of selecting a slide type and inputting any required information. Here’s what inputting content into a Text slide looks like:

You have a few options when it comes to inserting images into your presentation. You have the usual options to upload your own images or link images already online, but Slidebean also has an image search function powered by 500px. If you don’t have the image you need with you, you’ll probably be able to find something suitable using the search function.

Designing And Presenting Your Presentation

Once you’re done creating the content of your presentation, it’s time to select the design. Just click on the Continue To Design link at the bottom and you’ll be taken to the design screen. You have a choice of six different designs and 11 different colour schemes to fit any situation.

After you’re satisfied with the content and look of your presentation, you can either download the presentation or present it directly from Slidebean. At the Dashboard, just mouse over a presentation and click on Present if you want to present it straight from Slidebean.

If you want to download it, click on More then click on Download. Slidebean will send you a link to a .PDF download. Be warned, though, that the .PDF will not contain any videos, animations or stock photos from 500px.

You can also share your presentation online. Just press the Share button and you’ll be given a public link, as well as buttons for sharing your presentation on Twitter and Facebook.

Conclusion

Slidebean is a great tool for creating beautiful presentations without the headache of dealing with a complex interface or having to come up with a great-looking design. Slidebean is free to use, but there’s also a paid plan that adds support for secure private presentations as well as the ability to present offline. The paid plan costs $4.99 a month.

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