Building a basic presentation that records and uses voice may be an important tool for communicating information. This project is based on employing two programs, Impress, which is the presentation program with OpenOffice, and Audacity, an easy to use sound editor, for building a voice presentation.

This project has four phases:
Phase One - Build a Basic Slide
Phase Two - Record Digital Voice
Phase Three - Modify Digital Voice
Phase Four - Insert Voice into the Presentation

Phase One - Build a Basic Slide

Impress will start by default with an AutoPilot that will take you through 3 quick steps to the place where you will be entering information into your presentation.

Step One is the decision whether you are starting an empty presentation or if you are opening an existing one from a template or a presentation you have already started. Note the preview window that is available and the option to start Impress without the AutoPilot.

Step Two allows you to choose one of the default backgrounds to get going quickly.

Step Three asks you to make a decision on the transition between slides. Each time you click on a transition the preview will show you what it will look like when the transition is made. The speed of the transition is an additional option. The next setting is an important one, deciding what settings you want to trigger the next slide. The default does not change slides until you click the mouse. You can set how long a duration for the pause and you can set the slide to make an automatic transition.

Once you click Create, you will have the option to choose a slide that is pre-formatted for the project that you will start working on. You may choose a blank slide but often it works better to make a choice in terms of the first slide. In the example, the Title, Clipart and Text slide was chosen, which makes for a good informational slide.

Notice that the Background and Objects boxes are checked to display those items. At this point it is easy to make the mistake of selecting a layout that doesn't fit your needs, so be careful. Experiment with different layouts and you will soon get the hang of it.

Here is what Impress will look like when it opens for the first slide.

When the new slide opens all you have to do is click the title and and then enter the title that you want, double click the image area and the program opens to for inserting images. Click on your image and it is inserted. One problem that users often run into when inserting images is trying to figure out where they placed the images in the file system that they want to use. Be careful to place your images in a location that is easy to find when you want to use them. Then add text to the bulleted list and you have one slide ready to go.

Now if you want to add to the slide show or make modifications there is a Presentation Menu that is opened when you start that you can use for quick choices. Click on the “Insert Slide” and you will have the option to add a slide and choose a name for the slide. If you choose “Modify Slide layout” you are able to modify the layout of the slide you are viewing. “Slide Design” allows you to choose any designs that you have already created from previous work. You can also duplicate or expand the slide.

Often you will use the duplicate feature to create a slide that you can quickly modify with an addition of text and images.

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