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G.I.F 🎞 Sharpiepresents62
October 11th, 2019
⏰ 2 minute read
⏰ 2 minute read
My today GIF...
GIF
There’s a presentation tool which I’ve started to use alot. When I say alot I mean a lot, like every day! It’s a very simple tool, nothing new in fact it’s been around for a very long time . It just hasn’t been associated with presentations before. It’s more associated with my kids than me. What is this amazing tool? A gif. Here’s how I use them.
Make
First
I’ve been experimenting for a couple of years with GIFs. When I made my first version of the Sharpiepresents website, I used a GIF. It was taken out of a video shot on my iPhone when driving on the new Semanggi flyover. It shows a great view of Jakarta & added some movement to the website landing page.
Online
I then went a bit GIF crazy for the first time & added them to all the websites I made. It was a simple signature. But making the GIFs at that time wasn’t easy. I had to find some applications online & then upload the video into the app on my iPad. It took ages to learn how to do it & the quality of the results wasn’t great.
Keynote
As the results weren’t so great, I went off GIFs for a while. Then the Apple Keynote app which I use to make my presentations was upgraded & you could export into first movies & then GIFs. My interest in the GIF rekindled. It is now so simple to make a great GIF & you can manager what it’s going to look like by building it as a presentation first. The quality is way better.
Content
Prepare
So how do I make one? First your presentation has to be something which will work well as a GIF. Fortunately what we preach in the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation, is also perfect for a GIF; focussing on one thing, making it simple & having eye catching movement. That’s what we’re already doing!
Pick
Most presentations, cluttered without focus & hard to read wouldn’t work at all well for a GIF, but ours do. All we had to do was make them even more suitable by making them even more focused, more simple & with more movement. As our presentations are divided up into topics & then points with maybe 3 slides each, you can pick out one to export as it’s own GIF, easily.
Export
Exporting is also very simple especially compared to what I was having to do before. You just click export as GIF then choose the rate of movement & the quality. Even at low quality, if you have more slides included, the results are great. Video & pictures play perfectly in the GIF & it saves straight into your photos.
Share
Message
Then what do you do? You share it of course. So far the 3 ways I share are either in an iMessage to someone else with an iPhone, or via WhatsApp. WhatsApp didn’t work as well at the beginning, but it does now & the GIF plays immediately when the other person or group opens the message. I also embed the GIFSs in all my blogs.
Follow up
It’s an absolutely fantastic way to follow up with people after you met them or present to them. You can send a key clip from the presentation, or the whole thing if it’s as short as ours. I now also send out invitations & reminders to events using a simple GIF. It can just be one slide with a photo & some animation on it. Simple.
Fun
Once you get going with this type of tiny presentation then you can have tremendous fun. That’s what GIFs are supposed to be used for after all. It takes all the key elements of a presentation but exaggerates them in a way which is going to attract attention & get your audience to take action on what you want them to do.
Multiplier
Perhaps the best thing about a little GIF presentation is that it multiplies your content. You can now turn a keynote presentation into lots of tiny presentations without having to do any more work. The ability to make a GIF therefore multiplies your productivity & also helps you to get more creative & practice the key events of 7 Steps more often. I make one every day & you should too.
Be a great presenter!
Sebastian
There’s a presentation tool which I’ve started to use alot. When I say alot I mean a lot, like every day! It’s a very simple tool, nothing new in fact it’s been around for a very long time . It just hasn’t been associated with presentations before. It’s more associated with my kids than me. What is this amazing tool? A gif. Here’s how I use them.
Make
First
I’ve been experimenting for a couple of years with GIFs. When I made my first version of the Sharpiepresents website, I used a GIF. It was taken out of a video shot on my iPhone when driving on the new Semanggi flyover. It shows a great view of Jakarta & added some movement to the website landing page.
Online
I then went a bit GIF crazy for the first time & added them to all the websites I made. It was a simple signature. But making the GIFs at that time wasn’t easy. I had to find some applications online & then upload the video into the app on my iPad. It took ages to learn how to do it & the quality of the results wasn’t great.
Keynote
As the results weren’t so great, I went off GIFs for a while. Then the Apple Keynote app which I use to make my presentations was upgraded & you could export into first movies & then GIFs. My interest in the GIF rekindled. It is now so simple to make a great GIF & you can manager what it’s going to look like by building it as a presentation first. The quality is way better.
Content
Prepare
So how do I make one? First your presentation has to be something which will work well as a GIF. Fortunately what we preach in the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation, is also perfect for a GIF; focussing on one thing, making it simple & having eye catching movement. That’s what we’re already doing!
Pick
Most presentations, cluttered without focus & hard to read wouldn’t work at all well for a GIF, but ours do. All we had to do was make them even more suitable by making them even more focused, more simple & with more movement. As our presentations are divided up into topics & then points with maybe 3 slides each, you can pick out one to export as it’s own GIF, easily.
Export
Exporting is also very simple especially compared to what I was having to do before. You just click export as GIF then choose the rate of movement & the quality. Even at low quality, if you have more slides included, the results are great. Video & pictures play perfectly in the GIF & it saves straight into your photos.
Share
Message
Then what do you do? You share it of course. So far the 3 ways I share are either in an iMessage to someone else with an iPhone, or via WhatsApp. WhatsApp didn’t work as well at the beginning, but it does now & the GIF plays immediately when the other person or group opens the message. I also embed the GIFSs in all my blogs.
Follow up
It’s an absolutely fantastic way to follow up with people after you met them or present to them. You can send a key clip from the presentation, or the whole thing if it’s as short as ours. I now also send out invitations & reminders to events using a simple GIF. It can just be one slide with a photo & some animation on it. Simple.
Fun
Once you get going with this type of tiny presentation then you can have tremendous fun. That’s what GIFs are supposed to be used for after all. It takes all the key elements of a presentation but exaggerates them in a way which is going to attract attention & get your audience to take action on what you want them to do.
Multiplier
Perhaps the best thing about a little GIF presentation is that it multiplies your content. You can now turn a keynote presentation into lots of tiny presentations without having to do any more work. The ability to make a GIF therefore multiplies your productivity & also helps you to get more creative & practice the key events of 7 Steps more often. I make one every day & you should too.
Be a great presenter!
Sebastian