There is a relatively new presentation tool out there called Prezi. It is a different way of organizing your thoughts for presentations and presenting them in an interactive format. While Prezi is cool because it is different, it is not the solution for bad presentations as some have made it out to be. I have read some blog posts saying it is impossible to be boring with Prezi. My answer to that is never underestimate the human potential.
What makes presentations boring is lack of preparation, lack of research on the audience and lack of respect for the opportunitiy to present in front of a group of people. I went to the Prezi site. It is a unique program however some of the examples still show signs of too much text and detail. Some blogs have once again started the PowerPoint bashing saying PPT can only produce linear presentations. Sorry but these people must have had a whole ten minutes of PPT training.
To set the record straght, PowerPoint can be very interactive for presentations. Just ask Rick Altman or Robert Lane of Aspire Communications who have been creating interactive PowerPoint for ten years now. While Prezi has its advantages, I can still see the abuse taking place and poor presentations as a result.
In closing, no software will overcome bad presentations. Bad presentations are a result of bad planning. The final window dressing such as PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi or any other presentation software will not correct for lack of planning, not knowing or caring about your audience and not respecting the privilege of having the opportunity to present your thoughts to a group of people. As for Prezi, I suggest you take the money you would spend to buy a Prezi Pro license and spend it on some training for the presentation software you have existing on your computer at the moment.
Hang in there, this is going to be a journey.
Tags: communicaton, Corporate Presentations, non-linear Presentation, PowerPoint, Presentation Preparation, presentations, Prezi
Tags: communicaton, Corporate Presentations, non-linear Presentation, PowerPoint, Presentation Preparation, presentations, Prezi
May 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
from never heard of it to 24 hours later http://prezi.com/51221/ AND still only linear!
June 8th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Do I ever agree with you! I always tell my customers that the “tool” can’t be blamed for everything. It can’t think about message to convey or needs of our audiences…Offering a tool with fancy bells and whistles still won’t make great presentations if no human took time to think about the story they are about to tell.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Your post shows a lack of research: Prezi has a Version which you can use for free. Obviously the created presentations can still be lame, even if they are created with “Prezi”. Yet Prezi allows the user to create a way better overview than Powerpoint does. Saying that you should just stick to Powerpoint is rediculous, seeing that Prezi’s, if done correctly, are better that Powerpoints.
January 23rd, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I think that you will find in the conclusion of my post that both “great” and “not so great” presentations can be associated with both methods. My point is that the software is NOT the answer whether it is Prezi or PowerPoint or Keynote. As I stated, no software will make up for poor planning, lack of audience research and preparation. Indicating that a software can make a presentation out of this world is ridiculous. I guess I am just fed up with all the crap about this software being better than the other, blah blah blah.
Want a great presentation? Work for it! Research it!, Plan for it! Rehearse it!
Thanks for the feedback Mr. or is it Mrs. Anonymous