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How to Turn Your Conference Talks Into Technical Blog Posts

For many of us, it’s easier to say what we mean than to write it down. Conference talks can make great blog posts, so if you’ve got a long list of presentations you give regularly, you might want to convert some of them to blog posts.

Which Conference Talks Make Good Blog Posts?

First, think about the Q&A section of your talk. Questions from your audience are a great way to get more material for your next blog post and find out if your speech was well received. We have to keep the audience in mind and give them something unique and exciting.

Committing to one of your talks for blog conversion can be difficult. Consider choosing a presentation that you get especially excited about. If you’re passionate about what you’re saying, translating the talk into text will be less tedious.

You can automate the conference talk to blog post process in two ways: speech-to-text software or slide-to-text tools.

Speech-To-Text Software

There are several options for speech-to-text software that can help you convert your conference talks to blog posts.

1. Dragon

Dragon utilizes Deep Learning technology, which is continuously learning your unique voice and variations in your environment. It has fast response times, 99% speech recognition accuracy, and advanced settings to analyze your existing documents and emails to enhance accuracy. You can create form-based templates and reports, easily import and export your text, and create custom commands.

2. Otter

While there is a free version, the premium plan is exceedingly better. Otter is powered by Ambient Voice Intelligence, which means it’s also learning voices and terminology based on your speech patterns. The live transcribe gives you real-time transcripts, and you can record conversations from other services like Zoom. The premium plan provides 6,000 transcription minutes, prioritizes email support, and more.

3. Dictation.io

Dictation.io uses Google Speech Recognition and is one of the best free options for basic speech-to-text. You can insert emoticons or begin new paragraphs with voice commands, though it’s unlikely you’ll be using those features during a technical talk.

4. Windows Speech Recognition

Developed by Microsoft, Windows Speech Recognition has bare-bones dictation abilities. While it’s not as accurate as some other options, it’s easy to use. The fact that you can control your PC without your keyboard and mouse makes this a good option for those working from the road while traveling to conferences.

5. Gboard

If you don’t want to have to bring a laptop to your talks, you can use apps on your phone instead. Gboard is the best option for Android users as it doesn’t require an internet connection to work.

6. Apple Dictation

If you use iOS, Apple Dictation is a great option. Again, it has a minimal list of speech-to-text capabilities, but it’s still a viable option. It comes as a built-in feature, but it does require an internet connection.

Presentation-to-Text Software

If voice-to-text doesn’t work for you, you can always just convert your PowerPoint presentation into a blog post. There are a few ways you can go about this.

1. Embed the presentation in your blog post

Rather than converting your talk to text, you could simply upload your presentation and embed it in your blog post. If you’re using PowerPoint, you can get the HTML code from PowerPoint for the web. Ensure that the Dimensions for your blog are correct and copy the code under Embed Code.

2. Export your presentation to a text file

Finally, you can export your presentation to a text file. Zamzar offers a free tool to convert .ppt files to .txt. Once you have the text, you’ll likely have to clean up the output to make it more readable. You can then take screenshots of any relevant slides and embed them in your blog post.

Conclusion

What tips would you add for selecting and converting presentations to blog posts? Email us so we can add them to our list.

By Alyssa Shea