How to Create a PowerPoint Slide Show to Run Without PowerPoint

You've spent hours creating a top class PowerPoint slide show which you're going to send to some friends or colleagues or you might want to make the presentation available in a folder on a shared drive and you're just not quite sure who has and who hasn't got PowerPoint installed on their PC. And even if you do know you may not know if it's PowerPoint 20003 or PowerPoint 2007.

One way to be ABSOLUTELY SURE the PowerPoint presentation will run on any PC is to use the excellent "Package for CD" feature in PowerPoint 2003 and PowerPoint 2007. You could also use this facility to create archive folders of your PowerPoint presentations.

This feature will help you create a folder containing the relevant files which you can then burn to a CD and then send to your users. The CD will then auto-run your presentation. Alternatively you can make the folder itself available to your users directly. When you use "Package for CD" PowerPoint creates the normal PowerPoint slide show file along with a PowerPoint viewer and essential supporting files.

In this article we'll describe how to create the folder and then you can burn this to a CD yourself if you have the necessary CD burning software. You could burn the folder directly to CD by using "Burn to CD" option. Your users can then use the viewer to show the presentation irrespective of whether they have PowerPoint installed or not.

To use this feature we'll firstly create our slide show and then save it with an appropriate name. Suppose you've called it Demo1 for example. With the PowerPoint file still open, in PowerPoint 2003 choose File, Package for CD. In PowerPoint 2007 choose the Office Button, Publish, then select Package for CD.

How to Make an Attractive PowerPoint Presentation by Using PowerPoint Templates

Are you feeling tensed for making your PowerPoint presentation attractive? Don't feel so as there are endless PowerPoint templates on the web that helps to make a PowerPoint presentation attractive. By using Internet you can download various types of them for different types of needs.

You can get unique PowerPoint templates on the web and make your PowerPoint presentation valuable. It's no use of the PowerPoint presentation when it does not leave any impact on the audience. So why not make your presentation interesting? To gain complements on your presentation you need to use them in your presentation. There are different types of templates available on the internet. They are as follows:-

• Animated
• Medical
• Entertainment
• Business
• Education
• Sports
• Animal
• Mac
• Twitter

Apart from all the above there are other types of templates too. They are available free as well as premium. Making a template is not a difficult task but to make it attractive is little bit difficult for a person who has little knowledge of PowerPoint.

Now the question which arises in mind while making a PowerPoint presentation is how to make a perfect PowerPoint presentation. First of all you need to choose the specific topic and search for the related template. Plenty of PowerPoint templates are available on the internet which are available free. Premium version are also offered on each type of templates. There are pre designed PowerPoint templates which can make your presentation captivating and they will create a mesmerizing impact on the audience.

You can download the templates of your choice at any hour of the day in just few clicks. There are a set of 3 slides, 24 slides and 30 slides etc. available to download and one can download them according to the requirement. The slides in a PowerPoint template contain charts, diagrams, graphs etc to illustrate the points effectively.

They make the points of the presenter clearer and it is helpful for the presenter to convey his / her message easily to a number of audiences. It can be chosen on the basis of the topic and made according to the time set for presenting it.

Few points should be kept in mind while making a PowerPoint presentation:-

• Use a fabulous PowerPoint template.
• It should be brief, informative and catchy.
• Add descriptive images along with the content in the presentation to make it attractive
• Use tables, charts, diagrams and graphs for accuracy.
• Decent and bright colors should be used.
• Fonts size should be constant in the text of the presentation.

These are the few points which should be kept in mind while making a creative and useful PowerPoint presentation. There is a need to have knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint while making a presentation. It is also easy to customize and edit the downloaded template.

My Picks, Have The Powerpoint Slides Untouched And To Be Shared

Have this ever happened to you? You've created a compelling PowerPoint slide show with sound tracks and movie clips embedded, however，you have no choice but attach the huge package in an email to share it with others (If the file is larger than 2M, it is always unable to be sent by email), or save it in a flash drive and deliver the hard copy. The problem is, what if the recipients do not have computer or it is not convenient to use a computer?

I'll never forget those awkward moments I had in the past:

I created a PowerPoint photo slide show with engaging video and audio, but when I showed it to others on another computer, I found it was too slow to open the big PowerPoint file, and the attached media files can not be properly played during the presentation.

When I was ready to send it to my friends, I found some of my friends have no computer to view the slide show. What a pity that I have no way to send it to them! What's more, my father almost hadn't used computer, how can I get a clue to enable him to view my slide show?

Needless to say, the effort I spent on the presentations returned nothing to me but only complaints from audiences, pities of no way to share with friends, and lost opportunities with the customers if it is a business presentation.

Is there a way to wipe out these inconveniences?

After making a few searches, I found there are mainly two methods to solve the problem.
1. Using a screen capture tool to convert PowerPoint slide show to video (Not Recommended)

Take Advantage Of PowerPoint And DVD In School Activities

When the new term begins, we often tend to get some new ideas on how to make our school activities such as academic activity or administrative activity go better and better. Here I am going to tell you something which can improve your school activities like training, teaching, conference, speech, school ceremony, etc with PowerPoint and DVD player.

Love it or not, Microsoft PowerPoint is widely accepted and used, epically in school. We all know that PowerPoint can only be played on computer with MS PowerPoint installed. But things have been changed all the time, PowerPoint is such a wonderful presentation tool, we are always expecting more. For example, when we made some excellent slides, we often want to share or enjoy the information that contains in the slides with others, and sometimes, we must tell someone something, like training, speech...school requires more. But if you are skilled in PowerPoint, you know it's often not very convenient to show your PowerPoint Presentations, there must be a computer with MS software installed.

We want to find an easy and convenient way to Bridging the gap between the presenters and the viewers!
Ok, then why not play your PowerPoint presentations on TV with DVD player, the cheapest DVD player costs only $20, maybe less than that!

First, let's have a discussion on what we will benefit if we play PowerPoint presentations with DVD player.
DVD player is cheap, but it's not that easy, I am sure you care more about how to show your presentation in an efficient and effective way! We can take some examples to make this clear.
Training:

At the beginning of each term, school administration department need to arrange training for new teachers, sometimes including old staffs, it's wonderful to show training courses with PPT, but often need to prepare too many things. How about DVD presentation, you only need a DVD player which cost $20, then you can held your training anywhere with a TV, of course, there are almost one TV in each class room, and more than one set in the hall. Another reason is that school often different from other organizations, maybe the whole training need no instructor, school only want to show PowerPoint to teachers and let they learn themselves, Play PowerPoint presentations on TV with DVD player will be the best choice, school can also burn PowerPoint presentations about the training to DVD and give the DVD Disc directly to teachers, so they can learn at home!

How to convert PowerPoint to AVI?

What is AVI video format?

AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a standard container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback.This is a container video format that specifies certain structure how the audio and video streams should be stored within the file. AVI itself doesn't specify how it should be encoded ( just like the streaming format ASF), so the audio/video can be stored in very various ways. Most commonly used video codec that use AVI structure are M-JPEG and DivX . AVI contains code called FourCC which tells what codec it is encoded with.

Benefits of converting PowerPoint to AVI?

Because AVI is the most common video formats which can be played on different operating system or burn to disc, and we all know it's a problem that PowerPoint Presentations can only play on PC with Microsoft PowerPoint installed, sometimes you need the right version and operating system,So it's really not convenient for you to share or distribute your PowerPoint presentations. So convert your PowerPoint to AVI can solve this Problem, where AVI can be played means where your PowerPoint can be shown!

You can even enjoy your PowerPoint on Apple system; I don't know what Steve Jobs will do! Maybe figure out some thing to play his Keynote Presentation on PC.

How to convert PowerPoint to AVI?

Since Bill Gates didn't insert a plug-in into PowerPoint which allows you to convert PowerPoint to AVI directly, you must want to know: what is best software for converting PowerPoint presentations to AVI and other video formats. Best shareware?

Free method

Is there a free way to do this job? Yes, free but not easy and not very well.

You may notice that PowerPoint has the function of save PowerPoint as JPG files which are the key point; you just save PowerPoint as pieces of JPG, then import them to Windows Movie Maker to form an AVI video. Since you are so smart, you know what I am talking about, and you surely know disadvantages of this free pie! I once read an article just used this method to tell us how to view PowerPoint on iPod.

1. The presentation lost all the animations, transitions which it should have, and that's the charm of PowerPoint, how can you present such a dull presentation to your audience? Why not just show them photos?

2. I am sure you must add some music to the hole PowerPoint , buy you lost them now, then you want to add some one with Movie Maker , you have to import these JPG files and edit one by one, that's a dull work, more important, your fruit wouldn't be attractive.

All things seem to be under Microsoft's dominion in this rapid changing world, you surely have
other choices to receive a better result!

Commonly, there are two basic principles for converting PowerPoint to AVI:

PowerPoint Principles For Education

Most advice about using Microsoft PowerPoint is geared toward business users. Experts speak of creating presentations that entertain and motivate, while acknowledging that listeners can only absorb a small amount of information in one sitting.

But if you're a teacher, let's say in high school or college, your goals are different. Rather than motivating students to act or make a decision, you want them to learn. Ultimately they will be tested on content. You want to grab your students intellectually, not necessarily emotionally.

Patrick Douglas Crispen, a faculty training and support coordinator for the California State University at Long Beach, has written about the use of PowerPoint in education. He points out that there is quite a difference between a business PowerPoint presentation and a classroom PowerPoint presentation. Notes Crispen, "The primary goal of any classroom PowerPoint presentation isn't to entertain, but rather to teach."

Should you use PowerPoint at all? If so, when and how? Teachers want to know whether PowerPoint slideshows will help their students to learn, or hinder them. And because the education presentation and those used in business are different animals, teachers at all levels need to reconsider the standard business use of text and images, how best to organize their slides, and how to take advantage of PowerPoint's Notes feature.

The Mayer multimedia principles

A psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Richard E. Mayer has studied the way students learn from visuals and lectures. In his book, Multimedia Learning (Cambridge University Press, 2001), Mayer summarizes his research on how people learn when they see and hear multimedia content, taking into account the various combinations of words and pictures.

Mayer's work outlines several multimedia principles, the main one stating that people learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. He also notes that not all educational material lends itself to a visual representation, but when appropriate, visuals can help students learn. In addition, people learn better when words are near corresponding pictures and there is no extraneous information nearby to distract attention.

What should a PowerPoint-using educator take from this? And how do you know when an image is extraneous? Some teachers suggest not using images at all, not even logos or templates, unless it is necessary for explaining the content, the material is very difficult, or students need help understanding the topic. Remember, students are tested on facts and processes, not on the images.

So before you place an image on a lecture slide, consider the following:

* Is it specifically related to the text on the slide?

* Would leaving out the image remove crucial information?

While scholarly arguments on the usefulness of visuals in teaching may not be final, one thing is certain -- you don't use images in an educational setting the way you do in a business setting. "When in doubt, leave it out" is a good motto for educators.Keep slides organized

How to View PowerPoint on TV?

Microsoft is such a powerful tool for presentation, but sometimes we are limited by its requirement; you must have a computer with PowerPoint installed. Sometimes we want to send our presentation like photo presentation to friends or families and share with them, but on different operating system or different PowerPoint version , it doesn't work very well, that's really a disappoint thing. All things seem to be under Microsoft's dominion; is there anything we can do? Why not watch your PowerPoint on TV? Sounds great! I believe many people have already done this interesting and useful thing, and I'm so glad to share experience with you about how to view PowerPoint on TV.

Free way

The free way is connect your TV to computer, then use computer control PowerPoint presentation, there is a vast difference between the technologies of a computer monitor and a TV monitor, you can connect your PC to TV, and watch your PowerPoint on TV screen, but this job is not that easy!

Unlike computer monitors TV monitors are interlaced which has the effect of making thin lines and text shimmer. TV monitors generally (apart from broadcast spec) don't show the full image, so you may lose stuff at the edge of the screen (thus further reducing the amount of available resolution). Some graphics cards do compensate for this by squeezing the image into a window inside the video output - the only way you'll know is to test it.

This method depends on the output from your video card...if you have component video out, you can use that kind of cable, if you have a s-video out from the card and s-video input on your TV you can use that, otherwise you would need a convert from Radio Shack to connect to the TV. As I know, some laptops come with an S-video port, and if your TV or VCR has an S-video input then just use an S-video cable. Otherwise you'll need a cheap scalar/converter to take the VGA signal and turn it into a signal the TV/VCR can accept, most likely over a composite (RCA) or RF (like what your TV cable comes in on). In my opinion, this way cost a lot of time, and the result is not as we expect!