Rule 5: PowerPoint Is Not the Only Option

Please take a few deep breaths if the air just got sucked out of your lungs.

Don’t get me wrong. I am fully aware that Microsoft has more than the lion’s share on the operating system market (1). But even with their design prowess and clever marketing strategies, sometimes I’m just not in the mood to be a PC. PowerPoint definitely has its advantages (namely, accessibility), but if you aren’t aware of your options, then you’re just being mindless and your preso might be destined to suck.

So. Before getting to some other options that don’t suck, I want to make a quick point: Not only is PowerPoint not the only option, you don’t even need an actual presentation. Some of the best presentations I have ever witnessed were simply incredibly captivating people. The intellectual conversation and the manner in which they assured me that they were an expert on the topic was all I needed to be utterly engaged. If you know your stuff (and I mean really know your stuff) you should be able to do your thing without a presentation on PowerPoint or anything else.

But, if you’re not convinced, read on!

I’ll start off with one of my favorite options that anyone can use now and for free.

1. Prezi – I like Prezi for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that is the basic version is free and the next step up is free if you’re in education. My “.edu” e-mail account gets me access to the “Enjoy” level (normally $60/yr.) for free! You can check out the My Preso Sucks Prezi at http://prezi.com/1gvna0veg3mb/.

2. Keynote – Obviously I’m not going to go into a bunch of detail on Keynote. The fact is most PC users have weathered the Windows storm for many years and cannot imagine anything different. I get it. Either way, Keynote is more capable, easier to use, and flat out classier than PowerPoint. All you need to do is visit their site and check out their videos. Unfortunately, better software does not necessarily imply better presentations… there is definitely plenty of room in Keynote to suck.

I know there are other options, but these two (+ presenting w/o a PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote) are the most available and the most likely ones to replace your sucky PowerPoints. Also, there is a small sector of presentations that only need one interactive site to help the presentation reach its potential. A really great example of this can be seen below as Hans Rosling gives an excellent talk at TED|India 2009 using GapMinder.

I’m not saying this is the best preso ever, but it has some really excellent visuals that are crucial to the story.

At a point in the future, we will also have to explore options for creating un-sucky group presos and presos that are cloud-based. Until then, do what you can do not suck.

fibo.out

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