Adobe Voice: Easy Tool for Quick Presentations

I tried out the new Adobe Voice iPad app yesterday and made a video for my 9th grade students to view. In preparation for our Romeo and Juliet unit, we viewed and closely analyzed West Side Story. Keep in mind this is an English teacher's interpretation of film analysis.  We discuss mise-en-scene, composition, motifs, camera angles, types of shot, and the overall feel of the film.  I want my students to understand that artists make purposeful choices in the creation of their art and as an audience, if we look with an "informed eye" we can see the artists' intentions. Take a look and tell me what you think!




Adobe Voice is easy to use.  The tutorial guided me through the steps, recording my voice for each slide, selecting layouts, music, and themes.  It is limited on choices, but I can't complain because the price (FREE) more than makes up for the limited choices.  The templates that are available provide enough options to create a schnazzy final product.



 I would like the ability to add more text to the slides, but the app is called Adobe VOICE, so the obvious emphasis is on speaking rather than reading.  As a workaround, I could save PPT slides as jpgs and upload the jpgs to Adobe Voice.  The caveat is that you run the risk of resorting back to the proverbial "death by PowerPoint" phenomena.  This is designed to be short, quick talking points--- granted my example above is on the long side, but I wanted my students to see and understand the progression that I presented. Keep in mind, the longer your presentation, the longer it takes to upload to the Adobe Voice site on the web. Sharing to social media or via email is easy, and once the presentation has been uploaded, you can grab the link or embed code.

Here are some tips:

1. Write a script about what you will say for slide.  Stick to the script! Don't ramble!
2. Use inflection and articulation when recording your script. No one likes monotony. 
3. Vary the layout and size of the pictures to keep your viewer intrigued.
4. Use bigger pictures for more important moments.
5. Search for pictures to use or create your own.
6. Smash Adobe Voice with other tools by converting PPTs or other visuals to jpgs for easy use with Adobe Voice.

Adobe Voice can be used by experienced and novice iPad users.  For those who are looking to creating presentations for a flipped classroom experience on their iPads or want students to create their own, this is an easy and versatile tool.