Abstract:
A method for managing speaker notes in a slide presentation is disclosed. A method for creating a plurality of speaker notes files to be used in support of a slide presentation includes: creating a first speaker notes file including a first plurality of speaker notes instances to be used each respectfully in support of one slide among a plurality of slides of the slide presentation; creating a second speaker notes file including a second plurality of speaker notes instances to be used each respectfully in support of one slide among the plurality of slides of the slide presentation, wherein the first and second speaker notes files are grouped in a speaker notes component; and creating links between the slide presentation and the first or second speaker notes file to allow a respective first or second speaker notes instance to be used in support of the one slide.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a Continuation application of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/065,385, filed Feb. 24, 2005, entitled “System and Method to Manage Speaker Notes in a Computer Implemented Slide Show.” 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates generally to slide show programs, and more particularly to a method to improve the management of speaker notes for such programs. 
   2. Related Art 
   Slide show programs have been developed to help a user in creating, editing, developing and managing slide presentations on a computer. Generally, a slide show contains several electronic slides that display information to an audience. Each slide may be presented as a screen or a page output. Moreover, each slide show may contain one or more objects, such as text, graphical images, animation or sound. A slide may also include text usually defined as “speaker notes,” developed by or for the speaker in order to give written support during the presentation. 
   To initiate a presentation, a user calls the “slide show” functionality to sequentially display the slides contained in the presentation on a computer display or to project it on any other surface. During this operation, the user controls the progress of the presentation by invoking a command to “go to the next slide” and may comment on each current slide, having the respective text of the speaker notes available for support. 
   Typically, a speaker uses the same slide presentation for a specific audience, using speaker notes only for his personal purposes and providing to participants a set of electronic slides without those speaker notes. 
   It may also be convenient to have one slide presentation shared between different speakers not having the same native language and thus to have a set of the same speaker notes in different languages. 
   In present products, a user has to manually manage speaker notes, and when needed, to manually modify the speaker notes associated with each slide of a presentation. The user has to save multiple versions of the slide presentation, and has to edit the speaker notes of a specific slide in each version and modify or remove text, or translate it as required. 
   The above manual processing presents important drawbacks. The main drawback is that the manual action is performed in a repetitive manner and thus is open to human errors, such as keeping undesirable speaker notes, for example. Another drawback is that the author of the presentation file must manually manage several versions of the same presentation, and the size of the basic presentation file is multiplied by the number of versions on his computer hard disk. 
   No solution exists to automatically manage a set of speaker notes related to a single slide presentation. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, one object of the invention is to achieve a method for managing in an efficient way a plurality of speaker notes files to be linked to one slide presentation. 
   Preferably, the invention operates in a computer implemented slide presentation product. Particularly, a method for creating a plurality of speaker notes files to be used in support of a slide presentation is provided, comprising: creating a first speaker notes file including a first plurality of speaker notes instances to be used each respectfully in support of one slide among a plurality of slides of the slide presentation; creating a second speaker notes file including a second plurality of speaker notes instances to be used each respectfully in support of one slide among the plurality of slides of the slide presentation, wherein the first and second speaker notes files are grouped in a speaker notes component; and creating links between the slide presentation and the first or second speaker notes file to allow a respective first or second speaker notes instance to be used in support of the one slide; wherein the links comprise a bundle link between the slide presentation and the speaker notes component, a file link between the slide presentation and a selected one of the first or second speaker notes files; and a plurality of slide-by-slide links between each of the plurality of slides of the slide presentation and a respective speaker notes instance in the selected speaker notes file. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be better understood by reading the following more particular description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG.  1 - a  is a general conceptual view of the system of the present invention. 
     FIG.  1 - b  is a detailed view of a set of speaker notes files linked to a slide presentation. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the main steps to create a slide presentation along with a speaker notes file as defined by the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart of the main steps to modify a speaker notes file within a slide presentation as defined by the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the main steps to use the speaker notes manager to link a slide presentation file to a set of speaker notes files as defined by the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a pictorial representation of the speaker notes manager main window in a preferred embodiment. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart of the main steps to save a slide presentation file without speaker notes files as defined by the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   A system according to the invention is illustrated in FIG.  1 - a . System  100  comprises a slide presentation component  102 , a plurality of speaker notes components  106 , and a speaker notes manager component  108 . Speaker notes component  106  may comprise one  104  or a plurality ( 104 - 1  to  104 - n ) of speaker notes files. The speaker notes manager  108  operates to maintain a file link between one speaker notes file  104  and the slide presentation component  102  as illustrated with arrow  112 . Moreover, speaker notes manager  108  also operates to maintain a bundle link  110  between the slide presentation component  102  and a plurality of the speaker notes files grouped in a speaker notes component  106 . 
   Each component of system  100  is now detailed, and firstly it is to be noted that the slide presentation component  102  may be a slide presentation created and/or modified and/or displayed by/with a slide presentation product, such as the well-known PowerPoint from Microsoft, Freelance from Lotus Corporation, or StarOffice from Sun. 
   The speaker notes manager  108  is a routine which allows the global management of a speaker notes file  104 , and maintains dynamically the file link  112  between the slide presentation component  102  and the speaker notes file  104 . It is to be appreciated that the speaker notes file  104  is created via a speaker notes function generally provided by the slide presentation program currently used. 
   The speaker notes manager  108  routine also allows the management of a plurality of speaker notes components  106 - i  each of which groups a plurality of speaker notes files  104 - i , and thereby also maintains dynamically a bundle link  110  between the slide presentation component  102  and the bundle of speaker notes files. 
   Finally, the speaker notes manager  108  routine also allows the management of slide-by-slide links  114 , between each slide of the slide presentation component  102  and the corresponding speaker notes instance of a speaker notes file  104 - i.    
   A more detailed view of these links is shown on FIG.  1 - b.    
   The skilled person will easily appreciate that a plurality and a variety of functions may be performed via the speaker notes manager  108 . For example, file link  112  may be changed from one speaker notes instance  104 - i  of speaker notes file  104  to another instance  104 - j  as it will be more detailed later with reference to  FIG. 4 . Another example is that bundle link  110  may be changed from one instance  106 - i  of speaker notes component  106  to another instance  106 - j  or may be deleted as it will be more detailed later with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the main steps to create a slide presentation along with speaker notes as defined by the present invention is described. 
   The process starts on step  202  with the creation of a slide presentation. Next step  204  allows the creation of the first slide of the presentation. While it is not deeply described, it is to be appreciated that the creation may be performed using common slide presentation programs as already mentioned. On next step  206 , the process allows the user to access and create a speaker notes instance related to the previously created slide. 
   Next step  208  allows the user either to declare the speaker notes instance internally into the presentation or to create an external set of speaker notes files to be linked to the presentation. If the user selects to have the speaker notes instance in the presentation (branch Yes), then the speaker notes instance is stored into the slide presentation as part of the slide presentation menu on step  210 , and the presentation is saved on step  220 . On a next step  222 , the user is asked for the creation of a new slide. If the answer is Yes the process goes back to step  204  otherwise the process ends. 
   If on step  208  the user selects to create the speaker notes instance as an external file (branch No), the process goes to step  212 , where it is checked if it is a first slide creation or not. If the speaker notes instance previously created is the first external speaker notes (branch Yes), then the process creates on step  214  a bundle of speaker notes files in a repository of the computer system. If it is not the first created one (branch No), the process then creates a new external file on step  216  and updates it with the speaker notes instance defined by the user. The various links, bundle link  110  (between the slide presentation component  102  and the bundle of speaker notes files  106 ), file link  112  (between the slide presentation component  102  and the speaker notes file  104 ) and slide-by-slide link  114  (each link between the slides of the slide presentation  102  and each speaker notes instance of the speaker notes file  104 ) are created on step  218 . 
   Next, on step  220 , the slide presentation is saved. On step  222 , if the user wants to create a new slide, the process loops back to step  204 , else the process ends. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the main steps to modify a speaker notes instance in a slide presentation as defined by the present invention are described. 
   The process starts on step  302  with the editing of a slide presentation and the editing of one specific slide among the plurality of slides of the presentation on step  304 . Again, while it is not deeply described, it is to be appreciated that the edition may be performed using common slide presentation programs as previously mentioned. 
   Step  306  allows the user to select a create/modify function using the default speaker notes interface provided by the slide presentation product in use. 
   Step  308  checks whether the speaker notes instance selected by the user is internal or external to the current slide presentation. If the speaker notes instance is internal, then it is updated with the appropriate modifications (step  310 ) and saved into the slide presentation as part of the slide presentation menu on step  320 . 
   If the speaker notes instance is not internal, the process goes to step  312 . 
   Step  312  checks if the speaker notes instance is the first external instance (the slide presentation file  102  was defined previously without speaker notes). If Yes, the process creates on step  314  a speaker notes file bundle in a computer system repository and then on step  316  creates a speaker notes file  104  and stores it with the speaker notes file defined by the user. All links, bundle link  110 , file link  112  and slide-by-slide link  114  are created on step  317 . 
   If the user is not creating a first speaker notes instance on step  312  (branch No), the process updates the existing external speaker notes file on step  318  with the modifications defined by the user and then updates a slide-by-slide link  114  on step  319 . 
   Next, on step  320 , the updated slide presentation is saved with the new speaker notes instance. If on step  322  the user wants to update a new slide (branch Yes), the process loops back to step  304  otherwise (branch No) the process ends. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the main steps to use the speaker notes manager  108  to link a slide presentation file to a speaker notes file as defined by the present invention are described. 
   The process starts on step  402 , with the selection of a slide presentation. The user selects the appropriate slide presentation preferably through a speaker notes manager graphical user interface as it is for example illustrated on  FIG. 5 . 
   Step  404  checks if the selected slide presentation is already associated with an internal set of speaker notes. If it is not the case (branch No), which means that the slide presentation is associated with an external set of speaker notes, then the user is able to select another speaker notes file  104 - i  on step  414  (in the bundle of the speaker notes linked to the slide presentation  102 ), and on next step  416  the previous file link  112  is deleted and a new file link  112  is created. During the same step, the existing slide-by-slide links  114  are replaced by new ones, based on the new speaker notes file  104 - i  selected. The process then ends. 
   Back to step  404 , if the slide presentation is associated with an internal set of speaker notes files (branch Yes), the process allows the user (on step  406 ) either to keep this configuration (branch No) and the process ends, or to create a set of speaker notes file in a computer system repository (step  408 ). Next, a speaker notes file based on the internal existing speaker notes is created and saved in step  410 . On step  412 , all links, bundle link  110  (between slide presentation  102  and the bundle of speaker notes files  106 ), file link  112  (between slide presentation  102  and speaker notes file  104 ) and slide-by-slide  114  (each link between the slides from slide presentation  102  to each speaker notes instance of speaker notes file  104 ) are created. Then, the process ends. 
     FIG. 5  illustrates a preferred embodiment of the speaker notes manager main window  500 . This window is displayed in response to a speaker notes manager start action. The window includes a slide presentation area  502  to display a list of the slide presentation files available for the user either locally or on a remote linked computer. The user may select one slide presentation  516  in this selection list  502 . 
   The main window also includes a speaker notes area  504  listing all the speaker notes files available to be linked to the presentation selected into the presentation list  502 . The speaker notes file selected  518  in the speaker notes list  504  is the one linked to the selected presentation  516 . 
   The main window  500  also includes several push buttons. A Link push button  508  allows the user to create the previously described links. 
   A Cancel push button  510  allows to cancel all actions while maintaining the existing links that have been defined before the speaker notes manager start. 
   The main window may also include a Help push button  512  to start a help process for the speaker notes manager. 
   If the user selects a slide presentation  516  in the presentation selection list  502  that has embedded speaker notes and then clicks on push button  514  “Create Speaker Notes,” the process creates the speaker notes file bundle in the computer system repository, then creates an external speaker notes file and updates it with the speaker notes defined by the user. All links, bundle link  110 , file link  112  and slide-by-slide link  114  are then created as described in  FIG. 4 , and the speaker notes file  518  is added to the speaker notes list  504  and highlighted. 
   If the user selects a slide presentation  516  in the presentation selection list  502  and clicks on a push button “Save W/ Speaker Notes”  520 , a slide presentation  516  is saved without any speaker notes embedded or the existing bundle link  110  is moved to an empty speaker notes file. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the main steps to save a slide presentation without speaker notes file associated are described. 
   The process starts on step  602 , with the user selecting a slide presentation through the speaker notes manager main window  500  and clicking on the “Save W/ Speaker Notes” button  520 , as previously described with reference to  FIG. 5 . 
   Step  604  checks if the slide presentation is already associated with an internal set of speaker notes. If it is not the case (branch No), the process allows to select on step  616  an empty speaker notes file included in the external set of speaker notes files or to create a new empty one if it does not exist previously. On step  618 , the file link  112  and the slide-by-slide links  114  are updated by first deleting the previously defined ones and creating new ones. Then the process ends. 
   Back to step  604 , if the slide presentation is not associated with an external set of speaker notes (branch Yes), the process allows the user (on step  606 ) either to keep the internal configuration (branch No) or to create a bundle of speaker notes files in a computer system repository (branch Yes). 
   If the user wants to keep the internal speaker notes files, the process on step  608  deletes automatically all speaker notes files from the presentation file  102 , and the process ends. 
   If the user chooses to change the internal speaker notes files, the process allows to create a bundle of speaker notes file in a computer system repository (step  610 ). 
   On next step  612 , an empty speaker notes file is created and all speaker notes files are automatically deleted from the presentation File  102 . 
   Then on step  614 , all links, bundle link  110  (between slide presentation  102  and the bundle of speaker notes files  106 ), file link  112  (between slide presentation  102  and the speaker notes file  104 ) and slide-by-slide link  114  (each link between the slides of slide presentation  102  and each empty speaker notes instance from speaker notes file  104 ) are created. And the process ends. 
   Finally, it is to be appreciated that the present invention offers an easy and efficient solution to have a plurality of speaker notes files linked to a single slide presentation. 
   The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.