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Thoughts and impressions of happenings in the world of PowerPoint and presentations, continuously updated since 2003.
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John Baluka has been developing software within the Microsoft stack for 30+ years. He has been an independent software developer for the last 15+ years. Most recently, John has been focused on how he can help people use PowerPoint to elevate how they create documentation and training.
In this interview, John discusses Multimodal Slides, a tool that will convert your PowerPoint files into a Multimodal website.
Geetesh: John, tell us more about Multimodal Slides, and what motivated you to create this solution.
John: In the past, I have given many presentations, recorded training sessions and written documentation for various software development projects that I have worked on. I noticed the more I used PowerPoint effectively, the more fluid my training sessions would be, and the less I wanted to create documentation in Word documents or in a Wiki. Once I discovered that I could use the Narration feature in PowerPoint, it was a game changer. I did not enjoy manually recording training sessions with tools like Camtasia, because the process of editing videos takes too long. Within PowerPoint, I like how I can easily re-record a slide when I make mistakes, easily change graphics, and then simply export to a video.
Since I have been programming within the Microsoft stack for many years, I have been aware of how to automate PowerPoint. I would generate web pages from presentations. I also created a utility to use Text-to-Speech from what I type in the Notes section.
I have been refining my various utilities, and I generated the Multimodal Slides website, itself.
Here are some aspects when using Multimodal Slides that may, or may not, be noticeable.
Geetesh: Tell us more about typical usage scenarios. Also, tell us about pricing and other specifics.
John: The “typical usage scenarios” – that’s a good question. The primary reason I released MultiModal Slides was to find who else needs a tool like this and how should it evolve. I want to hear from PowerPoint users, speakers, trainers, teachers, documentarians, and bloggers to find out what features are important.
As for pricing, I expect to release a free, unsupported Desktop version with few limitations. I want the free version to be the same as the paid version.
I am currently targeting $29/month or $299/year for the supported Desktop version. If you are using the tool within an organization that makes over $1 million a year, then you’d be required to use a paid version.
Eventually, a website will be available for users to upload a file and download the results.
Geetesh: How can someone start using Multimodal Slides today?
John: Simply email me to become a beta user or to join my mailing list to get notified on new releases.
Overall, I expect the roadmap to evolve as I get more input from users.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.
Filed Under:
Interviews
Tagged as: Interviews, John Baluka
Waterfall charts may sound complicated, but they are among the easiest charts to understand. Just like a story that builds up layer by layer, the columns in these charts guide us through rising and falling numbers. It’s almost as if you are on a journey, and by the time you reach your destination, you’ve understood the story hidden within the data.
Learn more about Waterfall charts in PowerPoint.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint All Versions
Tagged as: Charting, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Windows, Office 365, Office for Mac, PowerPoint 365, Tutorials, Waterfall Charts
We first look at Aristotle, a historical figure and his role as a salesman. Jerry Weissman explores Aristotle and sales, a topic that’s never been discussed before. In another story, we teach you how you can create full-featured waterfall charts with the think-cell add-in for PowerPoint.
In an exclusive interview, Richard Goring of BrightCarbon talks about their amazing, free add-in for PowerPoint, called BrightSlide. You can learn how to manage and remove connected services in PowerPoint for iPad. We also bring you quotes, press releases, and templates from the last few days.
Stay informed about updated tutorials and happenings related to PowerPoint and presenting.
Filed Under:
Ezine
Tagged as: Ezine, Indezine, News, PowerPoint
Waterfall charts do portray figures and numbers, but they also tell a story over a period. These stories relate to anything from inventories to staffing and sales to profits. While older versions of PowerPoint did not support creation of waterfall charts natively, newer versions can create some amazing waterfall charts. In this tutorial, we will explore creating waterfall charts in PowerPoint 365 for Windows, and will then look at some limitations that can be overcome with a third-party PowerPoint add-in.
Create waterfall charts in PowerPoint 365 for Windows.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint 365
Tagged as: Charting, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Windows, Office 365, PowerPoint 365, Tutorials, Waterfall Charts
Creating a waterfall chart in PowerPoint without using the think-cell add-in is doable, but it can be more time-consuming and include fewer features than using think-cell, as it requires manual editing of both the data and formatting. If you are looking for a more straightforward, quicker, and efficient solution that you can reuse often, then downloading think-cell is a great solution that will help you create over 40 chart types.
Create waterfall charts using the think-cell add-in for PowerPoint.
Filed Under:
PowerPoint All Versions
Tagged as: Add-in, Charting, PowerPoint All Versions, Think-cell, Tutorials, Waterfall Charts
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