There’s a free alternative hiding
Right under your nose
Is that enough P’s for ya? I think they called that alliteration in journalism school.
One of the things that really enhances sales of audio products at the back of the room is a great presentation. And one of the things that can really enhance your presentation, are some really great visuals.
Unfortunately, really great visuals can be expensive. As in . . . Microsoft Office . . . 450 bucks . . . yikes!
Well there are actually a few very cool tricks for getting around that boondoggle. As long as your venue supplies the projector, you can create a great visual presentation for zero dollars.
That’s right – nada.
And we’ve got the how-tos right here:
The Adobe Acrobat Reader Option – Both Mac and PC
Bet you didn’t know Adobe Acrobat Reader – that free application you use to view PDFs – has a full screen mode. That means with the click of a few keys the only thing that appears on your screen is the page itself. No menus. No toolboxes.
Not only that, but there are other keys that will advance your PDF one page at a time. If this is beginning to look like a PowerPoint slide show, without the cost, you’re right. And aside from the fancy transition effects, which nobody uses anyway, your audience will never know you’re using old reliable Adobe Reader.
So here’s what you gotta do:
- Create your presentation as a PDF. In a minute we’ll look at some PDF conversion methods that won't cost you a dime.
- Be sure you set the orientation of your document as Landscape, with the width greater than the height, instead of the traditional Portrait (vertical) orientation which aligns it with the proportions of your screen.
That means either settting up your document as 11” x 8.5”, or a 4:3 aspect ratio (800 pixels wide x 600 pixels tall). - Open the document in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Toggle the Full Screen Mode On
On the Mac: Click the Command and the L key at the same time. On the PC: click the Control key and the L key at the same time. This will toggle into full screen mode. You can also find the Full Screen command under the View Menu.
Click on the forward arrow key to move one page (screen) forward. Click on the back arrow key on your keyboard to move one page back. (Just like PowerPoint.) You can probably even run it with the remote.
When you’re done, simply click on Command / Control and L keys to toggle out of full screen mode.
Creating Your PDFs on the PC and Mac
So terrific! All you need now is your presentation in PDF format. And that’s simple to do. In fact, there are quite a few ways to do this for free:
One of the most exciting is a website called zamzar.com. Its an online utility that allows you to convert amongst several different file formats.
- First create a document in your word processor or page layout program. And then save it in either .doc format or .rtf format.
- Then pop on over to zamzar.com. The site will then walk you through everything you need to know to convert the document to a PDF.
- You first upload the file. Then specify the format you want it converted to (in this case PDF). Finally, have zamzar convert the file. Then download the converted PDF. If only life was this simple.
Creating Your PDFs on the Mac
This is even simpler. Because in Mac OSX you can save ANY document as a PDF. But there’s a weird way you do this. You don’t save the document. You print it. But instead of clicking the Print button, there’s a Save as PDF button (or in newer versions of the Mac OS, a PDF button) in the lower left of the Print dialog box. Click that – and you can save the document you have open as a PDF.
Now if you already have PowerPoint, you’ve already got your presentation toolbox.
But if you don’t, you don’t need 500 bucks to look like you do. Simply access this hidden feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader and you’re off to the races.
As they say in the commercial: Priceless.
