FREE PowerPoint Twitter Tools

Ever wanted to make presentations a more interactive, Web 2.0 experience?

The PowerPoint Twitter Tools prototypes are now available. Created using SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius (but requiring only PowerPoint for Windows and Adobe Flash to run), the twitter tools allow presenters to see and react to tweets in real-time, embedded directly within their presentations, either as a ticker or refreshable comment page.

There are currently eight tools – you can easily cut and paste them into your own PowerPoint decks:

• PowerPoint Twitter feedback slides
• PowerPoint AutoTweet,
• PowerPoint Twitter voting — bar charts and pie chart
• PowerPoint Twitter ticker bar
• PowerPoint Mood meter
• PowerPoint Crowd meter
• PowerPoint Zoom text
• PowerPoint Twitter update bar

Download the PowerPoint presentation with embedded PowerPoint Twitter Tools as a .zip file (Office 2007)

Download the PowerPoint presentation with embedded PowerPoint Twitter Tools as .ppt file (Office 2003)

NOTE: Windows Only. See here for a Prezi prototype that works on a Mac

Read detailed instructions, frequently asked questions and troubleshooting

Display a feedback slide with questions and comments from Twitter

Get ahead of the backchannel! Put in feedback slides at regular intervals throughout your presentation, so you’re not the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on!

Original format:

Alternate format:

Worried about what the audience might say? Don’t worry – the tools support moderation with TidyTweet, which provides a free service to eliminate inappropriate tweets, either automatically (swear words) or manually.

The tools be preset and preconfigured for use in templates or presentations that others are going to give, and you can even use them within your organization in conjunction with a microblogging service such as http://status.net.

AutoTweet

You can even tweet out your key points during the presentation using the PowerPoint AutoTweet functionality, available as a PowerPoint Add-in.

Install the add-in, then add the text that you want automatically tweeted between the tags [twitter] and [/twitter]. Only supported in PowerPoint for Windows (the idea is based on similar functionality already available for Keynote on the Macintosh).

Because it’s very hard to use the new “OAuth” verification now required by Twitter directly from Office products, I’ve used a service provided by Supertweet.net — you create an account on that site using your twitter username, but a different password, and then you use those credentials in the AutoTweet window below.

Download the AutoTweet add-in (right-mouse click and “save as”) for PowerPoint 2007 or PowerPoint 2003 (apparently this version works best for PowerPoint 2010, too)

Alternatively, you can reply directly to comments and update your twitter feed from within your PowerPoint presentation using the update bar:

Real-time voting over Twitter

Make sure the audience doesn’t have time for snarky tweets by engaging them — let them vote on choices by sending a tweet! Chart choices include pie chart, or two to six choices, and up to 100 votes. If all is functioning smoothly, you can get votes from the audience in around 30 seconds.

Display a real-time twitter Bar at the bottom of each slide

A separate feedback slide isn’t real-time enough for you? The twitter ticker bar can sit at the bottom of each PowerPoint slide, displaying the ten latest tweets that contain a particular search string. Status is maintained across slide transitions.

Mood Meter

This is a variation on voting. Perfect for debates, it allows participants to signal their agreement or disagreement with a proposition over the course of a presentation (e.g. “Is SAP doing innovation in the Web 2.0 world?)

Crowd Meter

When you want to take a break from using Twitter for interaction, try the PowerPoint Crowd Meter – monitors and displays the noise of the crowd in the room, and shows the maximum volume over the last ten seconds – use it for crowd voting!

PowerPoint Zoom Text

Choose the text you’d like to see zooming into the screen – click on values to swoop them into the center:

Watch this space for more information about this technology. Contact me if you’d like more information! timo.elliott@sap.comor follow news about the project on http://twitter.com/sapweb20