A decade ago, back in the dark ages of the Internet, I’d often put presentations that I delivered at conferences into HTML so that I could readily display them on my website (check out this old chestnut on using the Internet for legal research, circa 1997 – it predated Google!). Posting a PowerPoint presentation online proved cumbersome with the tools then in place, and listing it as a link for users to download wasn’t really an effective option.
So imagine my delight at discovering SlideShare (www.slideshare.net), a site that allows users to upload Power Point presentations and embed them in a blog or website, in a manner similar to YouTube. Last week, I spoke at a Symposium sponsored by the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law and in a matter of minutes, I posted my presentation
online here in a user friendly format. And I envision uses for this tool beyond just creating a virtual paper trail of past presentations: bloggers might put together a 4-5 Power Point "how to" on one topic or another and post it online for users to flip through or download.
Word of caution: be sure to copyright your slides. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat through my own presentations, delivered by other attorneys with no attribution. I’m a huge supporter of free information, but my support ends where other lawyers appropriate my work for their advantage without giving me credit.
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