How to Make a Better Slide Show

Slide shows are addicting. Even more, they're a snap to make. The age of digital cameras has made this delight possible with various features and video software that allow you to create, edit and manage your photos. Some video editing software even allows advanced features like a transition option, special effects and the opportunity for narrating the progression of the pictures. All slide shows can be improved with just a few tweaks, and with a little preparation you can bring greater quality to all of your photo presentations.

Because of the difference between digital cameras and monitor screens, you may need to adjust a few of the monitor settings so the photo's qualities will match the way it looked on the camera. Depending on your settings, you may need to alter the screen's brightness, sharpness or color contrast. Speaking of color, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when using it for printed images or pictures on a screen. When you use colors to print an image, the mix tends to lean towards black. Ever mix different colored paints as a kid? The more colors you used, the darker it became; eventually you ended up with black. Conversely, pictures projected onto a screen will lean more towards white. Because these days the printed photo is usually generated on a high-resolution printer, most cameras will have default settings to accommodate those printers and make the image sharper and richer. This is why it's necessary to change the settings to better suit your computer monitor.

The next thing you need to pay close attention to is the order in which you present your photos. Obviously, the best way to do this is to create some kind of logical (chronological to be specific) order. This is a fancy way of warning you not to put the cart before the horse. What's the point in showing photos of your family enjoying a buffet if your next shots are of them walking into the restaurant? If you know you're going to create a slide show when you're taking pictures for it, keep that in mind when you're lining up your shots.

Want a panoramic shot for the slide show but don't have the equipment? Take progressive pictures of the area starting from the left. When you're displaying your prized shots, take the timing into account: don't keep changing the slides every few seconds. Instead, figure out which pictures are particularly important and leave them on longer than the shots that don't matter as much. If you change the slides every five seconds without variation, you take away the special quality of those shots you really care about. By giving each shot the time needed to take it in, whether that time is three seconds or twenty, you automatically imbue your important pictures with the meaning they deserve.

Perhaps the most exciting option offered with modern-day slide shows is that of being able to add a narrative to them. Previously the only way we were able to include a narrative with the presentation would be to give the commentary live-with all the stutters, awkward silences, and the polite reception from your audience that gave the overwhelming impression they'd rather be somewhere else. With the aid of computers we're able to clean up all that awkwardness and give a smooth, cleanly edited presentation everyone watching can appreciate. There's software that will enhance or alter your voice to better fit the slides. AV offers a few interesting options, such as Movie Morpher to dub the presentation (contrasted with the company's Voice Changer software, which will create a separate track altogether.) With this software you'll need to learn how to output your slides and open them inside the program, which isn't as difficult as it sounds. Both programs can change your voice to sound as pleasant (or as strange, depending on the mood of the presentation) as you want it to be. You can sound like a documentary narrator, or like a member of the opposite sex. No matter what you choose, make sure the mood matches that of the images on the slide show.

Your narrative is an important part of your presentation, so now that we have the technology to attach a previously recorded message to our slides, you might as well use it to its fullest potential: write out what you want to say ahead of time, then read it aloud to make sure nothing sounds empty or out of place. When you're happy with what you've written, hit the record button and go for it.

When you keep all this in mind for your next slid show, you should notice a remarkable improvement in your presentations. Don't be surprised when you no longer have to drag people over to watch your slides, and find yourself with a willing audience who actually wants to see your brilliant work. A simple slide show that's well done will breathe new life into any memory.