I am highly visual in my approach to life, art and my work in marketing. I am sharing this short video that explains how visual storytelling in the form of “infographics” is transforming journalism and storytelling in the 21st Century. As I mentioned earlier in the year, I am in the process of rethinking my brand. Stories are a powerful way to communicate. Include visuals to illuminate and illustrate your story, and that is a recipe for impact with emotional punch.

I think you will enjoy this visual feast created by Francesco Franchi.

Francesco Franchi: On Visual Storytelling and New Languages in Journalism from Gestalten on Vimeo.

 

There are a number of screen sharing applications out there. Some work to varying degrees on both the Mac and PC.

If you ever attended a webinar and had to go through installing software and plug-ins each time, you may have said never mind.

Screen sharing should be easy.

I’ve tried many solutions and found that there was always something difficult or unsatisfactory about the process.

Today, I was introduced to “join.me” an online provider that doesn’t make you sign up for an account, give them your e-mail, and in a few seconds you can be sharing your screen and inviting up to 250 other people to join you.

I forgot to mention that it’s free. They have a Pro version as well. I can’t wait to take it for a spin. Screen sharing is a great way to collaborate at a distance.

If you have the need to share information, if you do training, or if you’d like to get help and troubleshooting problem on your computer, real-time screen sharing is a great option.

 

I just made a video using Stupeflix. It didn’t take me very long, under an hour, and the results are high quality.

I used still images that I uploaded from my computer. I had a choice of using images stored on line as well. I could add video clips too.

For this video, I recorded a vocal track,  saved it as an MP 3 file and the process to upload it into the project was as simple as loading the photos. You can add music or narration, both if your audio program has multiple tracks. I’ll talk more about audio in a future post.

I was able to preview the movie before exporting it. This gave me an opportunity to rearrange, or delete images before completing my project. I was able to save the project, reopen it, and continue editing.

I decided to export the movie using the free option to test it out. My 1 min. video was processed quickly and I posted it to my Facebook page. I was able to upgrade the quality of the video to an HD version once I had one like on Facebook.

The project was reprocessed in the HD format and with one button I uploaded to my YouTube channel.

From there, I could get the embed code and I popped into the GLB architect’s web site and into this post.

From start to finish in less than an hour and the results are already posted to YouTube and Facebook.

Stupeflix  is anything but stupid. Give it a try and decide if you want to upgrade to one of their premium versions. I think you’ll like.

 

If you have been waiting to purchase Camtasia for Mac, this is a great time to buy it.

If you aren’t already familiar with what Camtasia can do,  You can see an example in my previous post, Sounds Good to Me – Tips for Video Production on Your Computer. I used it to create a promotion for a presentation. It is great for developing web based learning tools. I am taking a class now that uses videos made with Camtasia.

The Fall Mac SuperBundle includes Camtasia for Mac and some other great software tools at a ridiculous price of $49. Camtasia alone is usually $149. This is a limited time offer, so don’t wait too long or it will be gone.

Check this out.

 

This weekend was the official launch of the Wine Country WordPress Meetup. It was a refreshing to be on the receiving end of tips and resources to make my blog better. I learned something new from every person who was there. I appreciate the wisdom in the room. It reminded me that sometimes the most valuable contributions come from holding the space for others to shine.

Building on that idea, I want to share an update on a great resource: SlideShare. They just introduced HTML5 SlideShare. This is important because your slides will now play flawlessly on mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. No more digital divide between the desktop and mobile devices. Everything will display as intended on all platforms.

If you are mobile, take a look at their site and download the new mobile app so you can see clearly where ever you are.

 

This is a twelve minute, 44 second movie I made using Keynote. It is a recap of a live presentation made to Softech at their October 2011 meeting.

I will not confess that up until I was working on this particular presentation, I had a passing acquaintance with the amazing capabilities in Keynote. In fact, I have just scratched the surface. Having struggled mightily with Powerpoint, I am convinced that I have found a new reason to love my Macintosh computer.

After watching a couple of short tutorials, I was well on my way to presentation nirvana. I created a custom background image for my slides and In a few hours, I was able to create an effective and visually engaging presentation.

I promised the audience they could get a copy of my slides. Following the live event, I came back to my office where in a relatively short time I did the following from within Keynote:

• Recorded  narration for the slides
• Added live hyperlinks to slides and text
• Exported the slideshow as a Quicktime Movie
• Exported the slideshow as a pdf file that retained all of the live hyperlinks

The built-in ease of use and well thought out workflows for sharing saved me a lot of time with no sacrifices in quality. I have other tools in my arsenal for making slideshows and movies. None are as easy to use as Keynote. Most of them would require significantly more time and resources to produce similar results.And I know there is a lot more I can do with Keynote.It takes visual presentations to a new level. If you have to, you can import or export to Powerpoint.

Keynote also works on the iPad. You can download an app to turn your iPhone or iPad into a presentation controller.

If you make presentations for a living and are on a Mac, take it for a test drive.  You can purchase it as a stand alone application or as part of the iWork suite of software tools from Apple. I am sending out another thank you to Steve Jobs for making something so “insanely great.”

 

These a some tips and recommendations for making viewable video using your computer. It is a preview of a presentation created for Softech.

I used two TechSmith software applications: Camtasia:Mac and Snag-It for the visual portion of this movie. The audio narration was input with a Yeti Microphone. The movie was uploaded from Camtasia to YouTube.

 

I attended a presentation by Kurt Shaver’s at the Bay Area Consultants Network. His topic: ” Get LinkedIn to Sales”.

That’s Kurt to your left. Why is he smiling? He knows the secrets of making LinkedIn work to find customers. Below are a few things I learned from Kurt.

Improve Your Profile

He gave great tips on how to make it easier for people to find you on LinkedIn, the first step if they are going to hire you.

• Use a great photo – a headshot that fills the space, is flattering, and that shows you as the professional you are
• Use keywords to describe yourself and what you do (that’s what people are searching on)
• You can reorder the sections of your profile by dragging and dropping
• Make sure your summary is keyword  rich and describes your accomplishments
• Ask for recommendations

Making changes to Your Profile

I spent about a half an hour and made some significantI changes to my profile .

I  moved sections around and I added a video clip to my profile.I have more updates planned.

See the results on my LinkedIn Profile

Want More Sales?

Kurt teaches how to get more clients using LinkedIn. Find out more here. He has a series of online workshops coming up in August. I give him two thumbs up.

Watch this short clip (49 sec) of Kurt to get a sample of his high energy and high impact training style.

 

I made a short video (1 minute, 48 seconds) of a presentation made by Niki Camerin, an Interior Designer. In this brief movie, Niki explains why it pays to work with an interior designer. She makes her points clearly and is able to visually give us insights into what it would be like to work with her. She keeps the tone light and conversational while including metrics to back-up her statement that she can deliver quality results within the budget of her client.

Why Her Presentation Works

• It is short
• The tone is light and conversational
• She uses words and pictures
• She tell a story

Is there a conversation that captures what it is like to work with you? I recommend you find a way to turn that conversation into a video. Put it up on YouTube and on your web site. It will bring you one step closer to working with clients who are a good match for who you are and the value you provide.

The Tools I used to Make the Video

I captured the video with my iPhone 4. The movie was made using iMovie ’11 and iPhoto. The music came from istockphoto. I got a few tips on using iMovie the way I wanted it to perform from “iMovie ’11 & DVD, the missing manual” by David Pogue and Aaron Miller (available from O’Reilly).

 

Creating visuals for public presentations and as aids for training can be challenging. A good speaker can help their audience and keep them engaged with well thought out visuals that complement what they are saying. As a speaker and trainer, I appreciate the challenge of providing information that is clear, understandable, and concise. I am always looking for better ways to communicate with my audience when I come across tools that make this task easier I am compelled to share this with you.

Taking screenshots to show the steps of of process to someone who is unfamiliar with it, is useful for creating instructional content. There are numerous screen capture applications available on both Windows and Mac OS. Recently I started using TechSmith’s SnagIt. What distinguishes this product over others is the ability to add callouts, annotations, effects and everything from simple frames to a torn paper edge to your images.

Straight out of the box, SnagIt is intuitive and easy to use. The interface is clean and icons make sense. You can set the type of output you want, JPEG, PNG, and other common graphic formats. You also have the option of setting a slight delay in the timer when you capture the screen. It is also possible to capture a rolling screen in Firefox with the addition of Firefox plug-in.

Comparing SnagIt to Snapz Pro X for still screen capture, SnagIt is my new default choice because of its additional features. It is worthy addition to any instructional designers toolkit.

Best of all you can try it before you buy it. For this and other great software go to www.techsmith.com.