How to use

Prepare a PowerPoint presentation

Use PowerPoint structure and slide notes so Timerinator can follow the deck instead of guessing, which is rude and usually wrong.

  1. Break the deck into sections

    Use PowerPoint sections for the major parts of the presentation. Timerinator imports each section name, counts only visible slides, and uses the section as the timing structure.

  2. Let Timerinator read timing hints

    Put section-level timing tags in the notes of the first visible slide in a section. Use SECTIONTYPE: Demo for a timed demo block, DURATION: to set the section duration, and MINTIME: to protect a minimum duration when time is redistributed.

  3. Mark speaker changes

    For multiple presenters, add SPEAKER: followed by a speaker name or initials as the first non-empty notes line on the slide where that person begins. Speaker tags on hidden slides carry forward to the next visible slide.

  4. Add slide annotations

    Add CALLOUT: for a short visible reminder or MAXTIME: for a per-slide time limit. These tags can appear on any notes line; Timerinator uses the first matching tag on each visible slide.

  5. Use imported colors intentionally

    Timerinator samples each section's representative slide color during import. Keep the imported color, pick your own in the section editor, or clear the color field to use the default palette.

  6. Plan breaks

    Add breaks in Timerinator and assign a slide to show during each break. The slide can be hidden in PowerPoint.

  7. Start the slide show

    Run the PowerPoint slide show from the presenting computer. Timerinator follows the active slide, current section, speaker, and break state.

PowerPoint note tags

SPEAKER:
Starts a speaker run. Put it on the first non-empty notes line.
CALLOUT:
Shows a short slide callout on the timer.
MAXTIME:
Shows a slide-level limit. Accepts seconds, minutes, or time formats such as 90s, 5 min, or 00:01:30.
SECTIONTYPE:
Use Demo for a time block instead of slide-weighted timing. The default is slide-based timing.
DURATION:
Sets the imported section duration.
MINTIME:
Sets the minimum duration Timerinator should preserve when redistributing time.