Death by Powerpoint has become commonplace. Initially thought to be the be-all-and-end-all for drop dead presentations, now the audience is dying of boredom. The visual spectacle of the different templates and colour schemes is now commonplace. The repetitive and consistent use of bulleted points diminishes the message to the simplistic overview of the subject. The animations no longer dazzle the audience with "Oh. The claw!" like reactions similar to those three little Pizza Planet squeaker aliens in the Toy Story films.
When you go to a formal meeting, don't you expect there will be a Powerpoint and that there will be a handout containing the printed slides and space for you to write notes in the margins? It doesn't make for a dynamic, interesting delivery if your audience knows exactly what to expect.
I'm going to absolutely straight with you-The Powerpoint is no longer the best tool for delivering a message that you want people to remember. It doesn't matter if you are a teacher, an entrepreneur, or a business associate. If you want people to remember YOUR presentation, you need to change YOUR approach.
There are many online tools and applications for presentation delivery that will help you to make your presentation visually dynamic, interesting and memorable. These tools not only create a more interesting presentation but allow you to break free from the linear presentation. It's not necessary to organize your information in a linear format. In fact, it would be better to NOT organize your information in a linear format since your audience will have questions, and in answering their questions, you can easily move in a new direction if you use a different presentation tool.
Prezi and Ahead are two such presentation platforms that I have been exploring for use by my students in classroom presentations. My students are definitely Powerpoint addicts, and I will be requiring them to use one of these two online tools in the future. Prezi allows you to create a presentation in a more visual format with all your presentation elements being placed on what Information Technology Specialist, Michael Zimmer, refers to as "an Infinite Canvas." There is zoom tool for focusing of whatever aspect of the presentation is the current focus when delivering your information. This platform allows you to integrate PDF, JPG and DOC files. You can even incorporate PPT files! Ahead is much like Prezi, but there are more font and colour options. There are also more types of files that can be uploaded. In Ahead, information is organized into Scenes, so you can determine the direction of your planned presentation; however, it's easy to veer off the path if necessary and then return to where you left off. These online software programs are considered three-dimensional presentation tools.
If you are an educator, Prezi offers a free education account! In addition, Prezi offers options ranging from a free public account to paid enjoy/pro accounts with annual subscriptions. Ahead offers two plans: free, for the public; and pro, for the professional which is a monthly subscription.
I plan to start using Prezi with an educator's account next school year. I encourage you to get off the Powerpoint bandwagon to prevent further deaths by PPT! For another entertaining perspective on ineffective Powerpoint uses, watch
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