Get your presentation on the Web? Why and how?
I’ve come up with 4 reasons to put your presentations on the Internet and 6 ways to do it.
Why #1–as a handout for your audience at a live presentation
Let’s say you’ve given your presentation live and–
- Some important audience members couldn’t attend
- People who did attend would like to have your presentation as a handout
- You want people to have continued access to your presentation so they can review it and learn more from it
STOP! Don’t print out your slides! If you used the Tell ‘n’ ShowSM Method (see “How to design more effective slides with the Tell ‘n’ Show(SM) method“), most of what you say isn’t on the slides in text, so people who get your slides won’t know what you said. (If you need to send your slides, I recommend putting the text of your presentation in the Notes pane in PowerPoint and sending Notes pages or using the Send to Word feature, which can also include the notes.) Printing also uses lots of ink and paper–why not post your presentation instead?
Why #2–for marketing–to spread your message to the world!
Would you like a larger audience? Sure! Unless you get paid to speak and don’t want your talk available for free everywhere, or your presentation is confidential/for a select audience, you probably would like more people to hear you. Some scenarios:
- You gave a sales presentation and would like to expand your reach to more people
- You spoke about an important idea and want the world to hear it
- You want to use your presentation to let many people learn more about you
Why #3–to collaborate with colleagues
Do you need to work with others to develop your presentation? Why not post it so everyone can work on it together!
How much better is that than e-mailing back and forth incessantly and losing track of which version is the latest–and who has it!
Why #4–for training or reaching far-flung audiences
I often give presentations via webinar. I also post webinar recordings and short tutorial presentations on my website. In these ways, you can use the Internet to train people who can’t be in the same room as you.
You can put presentations on the Internet in many ways.
How #1–Upload to a slide-sharing site
Slide-sharing sites let you upload presentations for the world to view, although you can also keep them private if you want. The most commonly used slide-sharing sites are:
Check out each one, because their capabilities vary. Some support narration and animation much better than others.
How #2–Post on YouTube
You can convert your presentation to a video and post it on YouTube. YouTube is the #2 search engine and will give you the greatest exposure. The easiest way to convert your presentation to a YouTube-ready format is to convert it to video in PowerPoint 2010.
You’ll want to add narration first, however. Silent films went away a long time ago! You’ll also need to add automatic timing, so that the presentation runs itself. The video will then include both the narration and the timing.
How #3–Embed in a blog or webpage
Once you post your presentation on a slide-sharing site or YouTube, you can get Embed code and use it to post your presentation on your blog or on a webpage.
How #4–Display in a browser
Several sites let you create presentations online or upload presentations you’ve created on your computer. You can then display them in a browser and give people the URL. Examples are Office Web Apps, Google Docs and Zoho. Some that specialize in online creation are SlideRocket and Prezi. Office Web Apps offers Embed code so that you can post your presentation on your website.
How #5–Make available for download
You can just upload the presentation to a web server and give people the URL so they can download the presentation file. Again, make sure that you include the text of what you said in the Notes pane or offer a handout, rather than just the presentation file, for download.
How #6–Share during a webinar
Webinar services let you either upload slides or share your desktop so that people can view your slides and hear you speaking live. Most also record the webinar so that you can post the recording. I use GoToWebinar, but others are Webex and Adobe Presenter. (Update: I now use Zoom.)
Want more detail about the ways to get your presentations on the Internet? My recommendations for the best tools? My webinar recording on this topic includes that information as well as how to add narration and automatic timing to a presentation. Learn more…
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