I’m sure you remember our last traffic tip, where we learned how to use slideshows to attract visitors to your site. If you’re stopping by for the first time, it may help to read that tip first.
What we’re doing now is taking that tip and with a few slightly more technical tweaks, take it to the next level. That next level is slidecasting.
What’s Slidecasting?
If you want to be technical, it’s podcasting but with a slideshow instead of a regular video. Since a podcast is an RSS feed with enclosures or attachments (most commonly audio), technically a slide with audio doesn’t qualify. But we’re going to go with the general use of the term, which is an audio-enabled slideshow.
So how do you create a slidecast?
It’s surprisingly much easier than it seems with the tools we have available. All you need is a slideshow (have a look at our last slideshow article if you don’t know where to start), and an audio to go with it. Then you can create the slidecast by synching the audio to your presentation with free online resources, or you can invest in programs to help make a slidecast that’s ready for even wider marketing.
Getting Your Slidecast On (As Talking Slideshows)
The first option is the easiest: record an audio to go with your slideshow separately, and sync it to the existing slideshow using online tools. Few mouse clicks and – Bob’s your uncle.
(Your uncle, not mine – have you SEEN my name? I have no uncles named Bob, trust me.)
SlideShare can help you do this, MyPlick supposedly has a similar feature, and Slideboom even supports your efforts to do this within PowerPoint before you upload. I hear their plug-in is neat, too.
Getting Your Slidecast Out (As Video Presentations)
Okay, now we’re getting a little more crazy with it. You can also make the Slidecast into a video.
Why would you want to do that?
Because it’s an easy way for the camera-shy to get in on that whole video marketing thing. For all we know in ten years, the web will be mostly video. If you think I’m crazy, remember that the internet started out as as ARPANET, just a bunch of shared text files on a handful of computers, then NSFnet in 1986. 23 Years later?
YouTube.
God, I’m old.
Anyway.
Now is the time to start producing videos (well, two years ago was the time but you’re still good). And this is the easiest way to get your foot in the door if you either don’t want to be on camera yet, or feel that your information is best conveyed in pictures. You can either use a program to do this, or record your synched audio slideshow made at one of the sites above with screencasting tools or screencast software.
Adding audio to Keynote isn’t as easy as Apple makes it sound, but it’s not like it’s harder than doing it in Powerpoint. However, if you can afford it, Camtasia works with Powerpoint to create a video version of your slideshow. (there’s a free trial), a PowerPoint plug-in will help you, or if you’re on a Mac, use a program called ProfCast, which will let you record Keynote while it’s playing, as you narrate in real time. It exports the result as an MOV file, which makes it perfect for uploading to any video site, or creating a video podcast to promote.
Or, you could just do it the easy way and use Amit Agarwal’s tutorial on using AuthorStream to create your slidecast video. It’s called How to Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Video Files (with Sound).
Yeah, yeah, I know, why didn’t I tell you the easy way first?
Well, what fun would that be?
