How many times in your business have you heard the question, “Can we do that?" Sometimes the answer is, “No that’s too technical", or “We could if only…" With today’s technology you can make sophisticated, high-power multimedia presentations. A sweet little suite of audio/video software from AVnex Ltd (downloadable at www.audio4fun.com) might just enable the ‘yes’ answer you are looking for. While the products they market are primarily aimed at the younger demographic and their leisure activities, their software tools are really powerful audio and video editing suites disguised as fun software. The applications for businesses are almost endless.

Let’s say you have a new service you want to introduce to your current clients. It’s an easy appointment to make; they like you and they like your products and services, so of course, you will probably be able to get them to sit down long enough to make a persuasive presentation; but how will you do that? Will it be the same old PowerPoint silent, slow-moving slideshow, with your guy either reading a script or winging it, slide by slide? What if you had a professional voiceover to guide the viewer, to add that extra dimension of presentation? Well, AVnex offers a voice morphing program that can do that.

A morphing program has many different filters and effects that can be applied to an audio file or audio stream (read: live recording) to enhance and alter the output. In fact, you yourself can be the narrator, the great orator, representing the company and with your new voice, you can put the presentation over the top. Their Voice Changer Software Diamond 4.0 (detailed at www.audio4fun.com/voice-over.htm) comes with fun built-in voices like The Terminator, and Sexy Woman, and who knows, maybe they’d be appropriate for your application; however, the controls for this program are able to make less radical modifications to your voice, with rather astounding results. You can easily make subtle shifts in the timbre and pitch of your voice to add resonance and presence. You can add a filter to enrich the overall sound of your recordings. With the aid of a simple set of headphones and a mike you can, in real time, make adjustments to your ‘new’ voice. You can make it deeper or higher or older or younger, not by jamming the slides all the way over, but by the tiniest of adjustments, you can turn your own ordinary business voice into a polished narration. It all happens in real time, and you will be impressed with how different, how much better you can sound with just a few simple adjustments to the controls.

Once you have the audio down, you can easily combine it with the video. You can also, with software from AVnex, or even the built-in movie maker software in XP, create your videos and slide presentations with interesting transitions and effects, and import the narration you have created to go along perfectly with the visuals. Think about the impression you can make with a multimedia, high quality presentation with only a laptop and perhaps an LCD projector for equipment. You can also make these projects available for viewing by invitation on your corporate website. They make you look big, professional, sophisticated and cutting edge; just the perception that can lead to increased after-market activity for your company.

Think about this too; once you’ve prepared your creation in the right format, you can copy it to a memory stick, drop it in your pocket and walk into a meeting virtually empty-handed and still make a blowout presentation; just borrow one of their computers for the show. This way you can make the same creative impression one-to-one or to a room full of potential buyers, or conceivably the entire industry could view it on your website. Don’t ever underestimate the power of multimedia. We are a culture of commercials and marketing, and when it’s done right and presented professionally, it can make all the difference in your bottom line.

Author: Wayne Rice is a freelance marketing consultant; interested in photography and graphic arts. He currently resides in the United States.