Not really, but here's what I've just made on my phone in five minutes (don't think of it as of a "serious" presentation, I just wanted to show how exported slides look like):
The text I typed on my phone to make this presentation is:
#SLIDE
#make a presentation
(even if you got no time to make one)
content *is* important
#Takahashi
#method
• short text
• big font
• many slides
@http://www.magic4walls.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/two-lines-between-black-and-white-circles-minimalism-wallpaper.jpg 140% top
minimal
#opensource
http://github/trikita/slide
#Feedback
#appreciated!
Anybody knows whats the catch with MacBook owners plugging their own laptops directly to projector during conference presentations, while others use already available common laptop and just transfer their ppt? It seems a bit snooty :) Although there are benefits, your ppt is not made available to everybody.
Probably using Keynote instead of PowerPoint. While Keynote can export to PPT, the result is not satisfactory. Usually Keynote presentations are exported as PDF instead.
PowerPoint for Windows can embed fonts, the Mac version cannot.
PowerPoint's cross-platform support is still a shitshow. Embedding a video on one platform and presenting on another is unlikely to work, especially now that QuickTime for Windows is end-of-lifed so one platform is even less likely to have those codecs. I think it's still possible for the bullet glyphs to not always match (set them to empty circles on one platform, get displayed as daggers on the other), though this is less common than it used to be.
Even today, there are issues with fonts and the like causing issues with PowerPoints made on a Mac running in Windows. It's not being snooty - it's the very real fear that something will go wrong. For any Mac users who have had that happen to them, it's very embarrassing. It is more common with embedded figures and things like that for fonts to go all wonky. Even a PDF export doesn't always go well. General rule of thumb - the more complicated your slides, the greater the likelihood that things will go wrong.
A bit OT: on the subject of presentation tools, I'm struggling to find something that suits me.
I really like Deckset[0], but found it sometimes limiting. For instance, I found that very few themes suite my style of presentation; and I often wish I could choose different color palettes, or left-align the text in a centered layout (e.g. when using bullet lists)
I generally dislike HTML-based presenting tools; I do not like the idea of using the browser; the PDF export is usually hit and miss, and I would not risk going to a venue with broken slides.
I have also tried to experiment with (La)TeX. Unfortunately I find LaTeX very boilerplate-y, and the de-facto standard for presentations, Beamer, is not easy to customize; even the most modern themes are designed with lots of text in mind, and I'd like Deckset-like layout with little text, many headings/large fonts (sometimes more than one section in one slide) and mostly source code.
I have experimented with `lecturer.tex` and even plain TeX [1]. The idea would have been to use it as a compilation target for Markdown (maybe using Pandoc). Unfortunately I could not find a satisfying way to typeset source code with syntax highlighting in plain TeX [2], and also working with modern fonts (TTF/OTF) in TeX is generally a pain (e.g. lecturer.tex doesn't play well with XeTeX; LuaTeX on the other hand is slightly less convenient with fonts)
I'm working on something that given a markdown file with a specific marker "---" splits it into slides and opens your browser with an impress.js version of your slides.
Is this something that interests you? The project is private but I may open source it sooner.
Also, I'm working on an HTML/JS Slide version - just download it and edit HTML contents. It uses the same markup as in Android Slide and no build system is needed, just edit, press F5, see how it looks like.
Yes, remark.js is cool. I've used it for a presentation before (see http://varkensmuts.nl/). The only thing that should be automated is running the video's locally. I've rarely had a venue that had a proper Wifi connection.
My Favorite of the bunch after finding Deckset unfulfilling is keydown[1]. It is easy to setup and easy to customize the CSS per slideshow or per project. It is not the best in terms of documentation, but the deck.js documentation has been sufficient where keydown hasn't been helpful. Hasn't been updated in years, but I haven't found anything it doesn't do that I need it to.
Have you tried Pandoc[0]? It's the best, simplest solution I've been able to find for writing content in Markdown, and then almost trivially exporting that same content into PDF manuscripts, or PDF presentations, or HTML presentations, or more, without having to change the source content. It seems to be increasingly popular in academia for handling class notes/slides/papers all in one go. It can have good citation processing with cite-proc [1]. One of my favorite things about it is, if you know you're just going to be exporting to a specific filetype like HTML or LaTeX, you can just plain throw in code for that language directly into the Markdown, and Pandoc will run/include it.
(shameless plug alert) I wrote a super-simple Makefile script for using Pandoc, called acadoc [2]. It lets you call "make beamer", "make manuscript", "make html_presentation", etc., in a directory with Markdown files to turn them all into whatever presentation/manuscript/paper/etc. you want. The key thing, though, is that for LaTeX presentations/etc. it uses an intermediary "style/manuscript.tex" file to customize how you want your resulting LaTeX to look -- so if you want the same content, but decide the presentation looks better with white-on-black instead of black-on-white, you only need make a few changes and create a "style/manuscript_dark.tex", copy-paste that style in the Makefile, and now you can call "make manuscript_dark". It's meant to be quick and easy to use, and theoretically easy to add new recipes to.
If you want some more serious power about multiple document-type exporting, check out the links in the Acknowledgements section of Acadoc, shown here:
(Yes, I know LaTeX styles/stylesheets are a thing, but I've never taken the time to learn them, nor figure out if they can do all the custom formatting a regular .tex stylization file can do.)
I recently gave a talk and crafted my slides using the good old LibreOffice Impress. Everything went smoothly and I only had some minor scratches with code highlighting.
I am always amazed by how much technical people underestimate office suites (MS Office and LibreOffice) and reinvent the wheel every month or so.
Blank sheet syndrome. It simply is several orders of magnitude easier to work on well-known problems than to first find a new problem nobody else has even thought of yet. For the same reason I prefer refactoring ("optimizing") my code again and again instead of implementing things on the TODO list...
Slide can be an option for people with different mindset - like some people prefer Markdown for documentation, while others are happy Word or Writer. Also Slide is a mobile app, so it's suitable for last-minute presentation makers, who do it on a plane, when using a laptop may be inconvenient.
I find editing of a slide on Powerpoint or Impress to be cumbersome. I'm going to take a closer looks at this Slide tool but I currently use Reveal.js [1]
I can just open up the HTML on any browser, no need to install some specific application. I can edit the file in a text editor and do a Ctrl+F to find any piece of text to change. Overall I just find it simpler.
Also, I usually just want an image and some text. When I see presentations done well in Powerpoint with arrows and parts animated, it is very impressive and I'm sure that would be harder to do in React. I just find that for technical presentations I find it distracting more than anything else.
My main issues with impress are that I like a Text based Format which give nice diffs between slides and that I like to copy slides from one presentation to another, probably using a different style. This always Breaks in impress.
Others may (will) see it differently, and obviously it depends on context - different things need different presentations - but I can't stand when people have text slides. You are already talking - seeing exactly what you say or the gist of it in text makes one of the two superfluous. Just yesterday I watched a JSConf presentation that I actually ended up sharing that I still found infuriating for the first 7 minutes: The speaker said exactly the sentence (plus verbal decorations, meaning no additional content, just more words) that he also showed on slides. A new slide, a new sentence. (This is the one: "Emanuel Kluge: Go Offline with Service Workers - JSUnconf 2016" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou6oPEEyjNQ)
I think a lot of presentations would gain a lot if the power went out. Imagine yourself in a round of people and you explain your idea to them. While common the handling of your smartphone or laptop during a conversation or explanation often is much more of a distraction than useful.
Obviously there are plenty of examples where you do need them when you want to show something concrete like code or the thing you are talking about (unless it's a common object everybody already knows), but especially "idea and concept presentations" often are better off without the visuals. And please don't add jokes just because you heard that you should.
I try to create a presentation by using "just me". And then only add other stuff if it's really necessary.
Thanks, I understand your point, and I sincerely don't want it to become a thread of infinite disagreement. But text slides can be helpful.
I often use just text. I rarely use images (no kittens or meme picures, images are good only if they really illustrate what you're saying). My slides are just text, lists and short code blocks.
(for the company meetings I use whiteboard instead of slides more and more often. I illustrate what I speak about in real time and keep people's attention. And I illustrate only when I see people don't follow my words).
People are good creatures, but we are so easily distracted. If someone missed what I just said and I have text slides - he may look at a slide and get the idea.
Also, people are bad a multitasking. If you are saying one thing and slide describes something additional or even different - people will lose their focus. If your audience could close their eyes and not fell asleep - they would be able to get 100% of what you are telling them. But they keep their eyes open. Their eyes focus on you, or their neighbors in the audience, on their phone screens or watches etc. It distracts. Having large, short, clear slides keeps their focus on what you're saying.
So right, it all depends on the audience, how they are interested in your presentation topic and how well you perform on the stage.
I find text slides to be frustrating when listening, but that's mostly because it highlights how mind-bogglingly slowly they're usually talking.
Also, I find it invaluable to have the slides able to stand on their own if I need to go back or missed the presentation. Even if the presentation was recorded (which doesn't seem to be the case, typically) in high quality (which seems to be even more rare), I find it much easier to just skim through the parts of the text that I care about.
I agree that presenters should put most of their effort into their verbal presentation. But also having the essence of what's being said displayed as text is a good enhancement. Comprehension and retention is improved when information is conveyed in multiple forms (e.g. audibly and visually). The combination can be particularly useful when the presentation is not in the audience member's first language. Also in the video you linked to, the presenter was speaking and displaying English which is not his first language and while he's quite fluent, his accent might be a barrier to some in the audience, one that may be overcome by displaying the essential points. The text can also help the hard-of-hearing.
I'm in no way affiliated with him, just found his rant online. I think his points apply to a lot of technical presentations (though certainly not all).
The bottom line is that the tool itself is probably less relevant than we think it is, though I agree with Tufte that text-intensive Powerpoint is great way to do your critical points grave disservice.
I ctrl+f'd for org-reveal, and didn't find it so I'll give it a plug.
I write org-mode files (kind of like a richer version of markdown), and use org-reveal and emacs' publishing system turn them into slide shows like [1] this: (pic: [2]). The best part about the workflow is including code snippets using org mode's add source block, which allows me to edit code in the usual mode that I edit code with. Also org-reveal uses emacs' code highlighting settings to do code highlighting.
Sure, here's a link to the repo: [1]. I followed the guide in the org-reveal repo to get it working, I'll find it, hang on... Found it: [2]! Happy hacking!
Great to see more text to presentation makers. May I highlight the free (open source) Slide Show (S9) [1] presentation maker. What's different? Offers many themes e.g. reveal.js, deck.js, impress.js, Shower, S6, G5, etc. [2] Cheers. PS: Try online [3] PPS: The command line also include a --takahashi switch e.g. lets you use One // Two // Three (for breaking slides)
[1] http://slideshow-s9.github.io
[2] https://github.com/slideshow-templates
[3] http://tryslideshow.herokuapp.com/
At first, I thought this was a terminal version of Powerpoint, akin to mdp[1], which has been my favorite. (I actually use mdp over powerpoint/keynote on my laptop at work these days, since I can checkin the markdown, write the presentation easily, and spend zero time on all the formatting garbage.) I do not work in marketing (can you tell?).
Thanks for the feedback! Slide is not something we're selling or trying to make profit of (in any form - no ads, no spying, no analytics, open source). We made a few presentations with it for internal company meetings, but that was mostly just text that I find very boring to share.
Below in this thread there is an example of a slide text, PDF and SlideShare upload. It should give an impression of how it looks like and how it works.
I agree that a presentation on the web site would make more sense, but I can't think of a good idea for the presentation, while some fake artifical example is not much different from what you see on the screenshots.
Finally, once you open the app - it starts with a quick tutorial which is a presentation itself. It was supposed to be a quick start for new users, as well as an example.
43 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 86.7 ms ] threadhttp://www.slideshare.net/SergeZaitsev/slide-201606051659
The raw PDF is available on Google Drive - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bztexa2TJWdcdlZXRk1MSTVoNj...
The text I typed on my phone to make this presentation is:
The theme is the default white-on-black theme.PowerPoint's cross-platform support is still a shitshow. Embedding a video on one platform and presenting on another is unlikely to work, especially now that QuickTime for Windows is end-of-lifed so one platform is even less likely to have those codecs. I think it's still possible for the bullet glyphs to not always match (set them to empty circles on one platform, get displayed as daggers on the other), though this is less common than it used to be.
A bit OT: on the subject of presentation tools, I'm struggling to find something that suits me.
I really like Deckset[0], but found it sometimes limiting. For instance, I found that very few themes suite my style of presentation; and I often wish I could choose different color palettes, or left-align the text in a centered layout (e.g. when using bullet lists)
I generally dislike HTML-based presenting tools; I do not like the idea of using the browser; the PDF export is usually hit and miss, and I would not risk going to a venue with broken slides.
I have also tried to experiment with (La)TeX. Unfortunately I find LaTeX very boilerplate-y, and the de-facto standard for presentations, Beamer, is not easy to customize; even the most modern themes are designed with lots of text in mind, and I'd like Deckset-like layout with little text, many headings/large fonts (sometimes more than one section in one slide) and mostly source code.
I have experimented with `lecturer.tex` and even plain TeX [1]. The idea would have been to use it as a compilation target for Markdown (maybe using Pandoc). Unfortunately I could not find a satisfying way to typeset source code with syntax highlighting in plain TeX [2], and also working with modern fonts (TTF/OTF) in TeX is generally a pain (e.g. lecturer.tex doesn't play well with XeTeX; LuaTeX on the other hand is slightly less convenient with fonts)
[0] http://www.decksetapp.com/
[1] https://twitter.com/evacchi/status/738018333228978176 , https://github.com/evacchi/lecturer-playground
[2] http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/312249/listings-for-p...
Is this something that interests you? The project is private but I may open source it sooner.
Also, written in Python
Also, I'm working on an HTML/JS Slide version - just download it and edit HTML contents. It uses the same markup as in Android Slide and no build system is needed, just edit, press F5, see how it looks like.
https://github.com/trikita/slide-html
[1]https://github.com/infews/keydown
(shameless plug alert) I wrote a super-simple Makefile script for using Pandoc, called acadoc [2]. It lets you call "make beamer", "make manuscript", "make html_presentation", etc., in a directory with Markdown files to turn them all into whatever presentation/manuscript/paper/etc. you want. The key thing, though, is that for LaTeX presentations/etc. it uses an intermediary "style/manuscript.tex" file to customize how you want your resulting LaTeX to look -- so if you want the same content, but decide the presentation looks better with white-on-black instead of black-on-white, you only need make a few changes and create a "style/manuscript_dark.tex", copy-paste that style in the Makefile, and now you can call "make manuscript_dark". It's meant to be quick and easy to use, and theoretically easy to add new recipes to.
If you want some more serious power about multiple document-type exporting, check out the links in the Acknowledgements section of Acadoc, shown here:
- https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2014/01/23/plain-text/ - http://jeromyanglim.blogspot.com/2012/07/beamer-pandoc-markd... - https://github.com/timtylin/scholdoc - http://scholarlymarkdown.com/
(Yes, I know LaTeX styles/stylesheets are a thing, but I've never taken the time to learn them, nor figure out if they can do all the custom formatting a regular .tex stylization file can do.)
[0] http://pandoc.org/
[1] https://github.com/jgm/pandoc-citeproc
[2] https://github.com/asoplata/acadoc
I am always amazed by how much technical people underestimate office suites (MS Office and LibreOffice) and reinvent the wheel every month or so.
I can just open up the HTML on any browser, no need to install some specific application. I can edit the file in a text editor and do a Ctrl+F to find any piece of text to change. Overall I just find it simpler.
Also, I usually just want an image and some text. When I see presentations done well in Powerpoint with arrows and parts animated, it is very impressive and I'm sure that would be harder to do in React. I just find that for technical presentations I find it distracting more than anything else.
1. http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/
So if you could save them in an uncompressed format you could diff them easily.
But dunno.
AFAIK LaTeX/Beamer should be The Tool for this, but it always is a PITA to use.
LyX is of very small help (when it doesn't break).
I think a lot of presentations would gain a lot if the power went out. Imagine yourself in a round of people and you explain your idea to them. While common the handling of your smartphone or laptop during a conversation or explanation often is much more of a distraction than useful.
Obviously there are plenty of examples where you do need them when you want to show something concrete like code or the thing you are talking about (unless it's a common object everybody already knows), but especially "idea and concept presentations" often are better off without the visuals. And please don't add jokes just because you heard that you should.
I try to create a presentation by using "just me". And then only add other stuff if it's really necessary.
I often use just text. I rarely use images (no kittens or meme picures, images are good only if they really illustrate what you're saying). My slides are just text, lists and short code blocks.
(for the company meetings I use whiteboard instead of slides more and more often. I illustrate what I speak about in real time and keep people's attention. And I illustrate only when I see people don't follow my words).
People are good creatures, but we are so easily distracted. If someone missed what I just said and I have text slides - he may look at a slide and get the idea.
Also, people are bad a multitasking. If you are saying one thing and slide describes something additional or even different - people will lose their focus. If your audience could close their eyes and not fell asleep - they would be able to get 100% of what you are telling them. But they keep their eyes open. Their eyes focus on you, or their neighbors in the audience, on their phone screens or watches etc. It distracts. Having large, short, clear slides keeps their focus on what you're saying.
So right, it all depends on the audience, how they are interested in your presentation topic and how well you perform on the stage.
Also, I find it invaluable to have the slides able to stand on their own if I need to go back or missed the presentation. Even if the presentation was recorded (which doesn't seem to be the case, typically) in high quality (which seems to be even more rare), I find it much easier to just skim through the parts of the text that I care about.
I'm in no way affiliated with him, just found his rant online. I think his points apply to a lot of technical presentations (though certainly not all).
Another helpful resource is "The Craft of Scientific Presentations": http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Scientific-Presentations-Critica...
The bottom line is that the tool itself is probably less relevant than we think it is, though I agree with Tufte that text-intensive Powerpoint is great way to do your critical points grave disservice.
I write org-mode files (kind of like a richer version of markdown), and use org-reveal and emacs' publishing system turn them into slide shows like [1] this: (pic: [2]). The best part about the workflow is including code snippets using org mode's add source block, which allows me to edit code in the usual mode that I edit code with. Also org-reveal uses emacs' code highlighting settings to do code highlighting.
I had not heard of the Takahashi method. I might use it for some informal talks or as a presentation prototyping tool.
[1] https://github.com/visit1985/mdp
Below in this thread there is an example of a slide text, PDF and SlideShare upload. It should give an impression of how it looks like and how it works.
I agree that a presentation on the web site would make more sense, but I can't think of a good idea for the presentation, while some fake artifical example is not much different from what you see on the screenshots.
Finally, once you open the app - it starts with a quick tutorial which is a presentation itself. It was supposed to be a quick start for new users, as well as an example.
Warning, one slightly NSFW slide in that link.