HelloSlide

Give Slides a Voice

Published 05/03/2012 and rated 4 out of 5 stars
by Robyn Valenzuela

HelloSlide is an application that supplies a digital voice to the written content of slides. For example, users may have a presentation that they've converted into a .PDF. However, for whatever reason, they will not be able to present the content in person to their intended audience. To breathe some life into these presentations and make them enjoyable and interactive, users can tap into HelloSlide in order to give their digital slideshow a voice. Users of HelloSlide just need to simply type in what they would say with each slide. The user doesn't even have to record their own voice. HelloSlide generates an audio track that goes with the presentation simply from the text provided to it. In addition, users could upload any presentation to the HelloSlide platform and have their talk track translated into any of twenty different languages available on the site. So English text could be translated into French, Italian, Japanese, Russian and more! HelloSlide not only makes slides more engaging, but it could also provide more exposure and accessibility to content than ever possible before!

HelloSlide considers itself "a hybrid between slides and video." HelloSlide is maintained by Audiovisual Communications Laboratory, an operation based out of Switzerland. The site appears to have gone live in early 2012, and there isn't very much information about their origins available online. They have been features on KillerStartups, several teaching blogs and now AppAppeal!

HelloSlide isn't just another text to voice application. While some of the results of HelloSlide may not have the same inclinations and enthusiasm as an experience presenter, the computerized version and especially the translations, are not half bad! HelloSlide is also different from apps like SlideShare's Zipcast since the user doesn't have the record their voice, they simply need to type in what they meant to say instead. Replacing the "speaker's notes" section of many presentations, HelloSlide can offer a more engaging and interesting way to convey presentations effectively, especially when they couldn't be provided in-person.

Overall, HelloSlide is an easy application to use. It would be perfect if users could upload in the .ppt file format instead of having to convert the presentation into .pdf first. Although this isn't hard to do, some of the fancy transitional elements that a .ppt format can contain could get lost in the translation to .pdf.

To register for HelloSlide, users simply need to click on the "Login/ Register" link in the upper-right corner of the site's homepage. New accounts can be created by simply providing one's email address and a password. A verification email will be sent to the email address provided. Upon verifying the account, members will be able to browse through presentations or upload their own to be transcribed or translated. H

HelloSlide offer a free "Basic" plan for its services that includes the ability to upload presentations that are up to 10 MB is size. However, the site does charge for the ability to translate slides or to upload larger decks. For example, the site offers a "Pro" plan that runs $9 per month. This plan gives ont he ability to upload a slide that is up to 100 MB is size, to share presentations privately (as opposed to making them public), a versioning ability, search engine optimization features and 100 translation credits. Also there is a "Premium" plan that runs $49 per month and offers everything that the Pro plan does, but comes with 10,000 translation credits. HelloSlide offers discounts for these plans of 15% for users who purchase a year's worth and 50% off for educational purposes and users.

HelloSlide is a great tool for those who want to share presentations, but can't do so in person all of the time. Through this application they can add an audio track to their deck to make it more engaging and accessible to the intended audience, or in fact to the world. Additionally, for anyone who has wanted to translate something into another language, HelloSlide offers a way for users to do this as well. It's monthly pricing, particularly with the educational pricing discounts, makes the package a pretty good deal for most people.

• Upload presentation to HelloSlide
• Type in the speech for each slide using the app
• HelloSlide generates a voice for the presentation automatically
• Browse through other presentations for inspiration