use vim as a presenting tool, give presentations using vim

/I use vim and I don't like bloated pointy-clicky applications like PowerPoint and Impress. However, from time to time I need to give a presentation. Here is the solution I use.

presenting.vim

See presenting.vim source code repo

Preparing to install presenting.vim

Before presenting.vim can be used, one must install it. I chose to use pathogen for this:

Install pathogen:

mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload ~/.vim/bundle && \
curl -LSso ~/.vim/autoload/pathogen.vim https://tpo.pe/pathogen.vim

Add to bottom of ~/.vimrc

" pathogen
execute pathogen#infect()
syntax on
filetype plugin indent on

Installing presenting.vim

With pathogen enabled, installation becomes as simple as cloning the relevant git repo in the ~/.vim/bundle directory:

cd ~/.vim/bundle
git clone https://github.com/sotte/presenting.vim

Choose your slide separator

Your presentation will be a text file in a vim buffer. Apparently, the name of this file will determine the slide separator that presenting.vim looks for. I prefer the reStructuredText slide separator ~~~~ but consult https://github.com/sotte/presenting.vim#configuration if you don't like this.

Prepare and run a minimal presentation

Use vim to start editing a text filed called presentation.rst - the important thing here is the file extension:

$ vim presentation.rst

Inside that file, put the following text:

slide 1

~~~~

slide 2

~~~~

slide 3

Now, tell presenting.vim to start the presentation:

:PresentingStart

Use the following keys to control the presentation:

• n - next slide
• p - previous slide
• q - stop the presentation