14 Responses

1. Audience

   It would also be interesting to hear answers from an audience / delegete persepective.

   Personally I prefer still images and short video clips to entertain me. Mini animations are also good but, like everything in life and relating to a previous post of mine (Yin-Yang) BALANCE is everything.

   I always us Al Gores An Inconvenient truth as an example of a "Mastercalass" Presentation. I think he was just using an upmarket version of PowerPoint?

2. Apple’s Keynote application

   The software Al Gore uses for 'An Inconvenient Truth' is Apple's Keynote application.

   http://www.apple.com/uk/iwork/keynote/

    

3. My immediate selection

   Altec Lansing USB powered Orbit speaker for good reliable loud sound reproduction from my laptop without having to rely on the client’s kit which can sometimes be poor.

   Sony Cyber-shot DSC-Rx100 Camera for video clips and photographs for insertion into presentations.

   A3 Desktop presenter for talking to individuals or very small groups where a PowerPoint screen might be overwhelming.

   Gliffy,com for free cloud based development of a huge range charts and diagrams which I can then insert into my presentations.

   iPad for quick presentations to clients either from the iPad itself or by plugging it into their display system using a VGA connector. Using the Slideshark app rather than Keynote.

4. steam

   ….I still rather like a flipchart and coloured markers some of the time!

5. A few thoughts

   A few thoughts about new technology.

   I work in an Apple free world so just spent a long time on YouTube seeing some amazing features of Keynote…(especially exploding words!) however…

   If you dont use technology very often it becomes quite stressful having to re-learn it again every time you need it.

   If we cant do Russ's" chalk and talk" it's very likely we will make an absolute hash of a Presentation even with the fanciest of software.

   So many people jumping on the Prezi bandwagon who couldnt use PowerPoint and now can't use Prezi.

   I think I agree with Russ. Heres William Kawakwamba using nothing more than a few pictures and a great story.

   As Punch (or was it Judy) used to say

   Thats the way to do it!

   http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

    

6. echoing Steve’s comment…..

   PowerPoint is much maligned but actually has some amazing features IF you can be bothered to make the time to actually get to know it

   My point with the flipchart is that prezi or powerpoint may be great tools for some elements but a whole day of either is almost always mind numbing…..so break it up inot little tasty morsels; a bit of video, a bit of flipchart, a bit of handout, a bit of powerpoint, a bit of coffee, etc

7. Prezi

   Prezi is good for VERY short presentations, but for anything longer I start to get a bit seasick!

   I use good old Powerpoint and transfer it on to Slideshark on the ipad.

   Like most things, simplicity is the key so if I think I can get away with not using technology and get people participating that's always better. If I do decide  to use Powerpoint, I keep it very simple and keep special effects to a minimum. I've seen people who have obviously found out it can do certain things and think they have to incorporate every special effect, colour, sound and animation into one presentation.

   I have also known people who couldn't train without Powerpoint. It then becomes the master rather than the servant

8. PowerPoint

   I'm sure most have seen this but if you haven't worth a look.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbSPPFYxx3o

    

    

9. Best PowerPoint alternatives

   I actually wrote a blogpost comparing several Powerpoint alternatives.  including PowToon, Sliderocket, Prezi and  Google Drive Presentation.  

10. PowToon
    Thanks for sharing PowToon…will definetely look into that one.

11. Great responses

    Thanks for all the responses guys. Very interesting indeed and I'll definitely be looking into PowToon as well.

    You might also want to try Sparkol's Videoscribe for those animated style videos we keep seeing on Youtube. 

    Sue's point about Prezi is so true. People who dont know how to use it make their audiences very seasick because they think the spinning and zooming around are what Prezis all about. The same goes for people who abuse PowerPoints animation features just like on the very funny YouTube clip Steve posted (Just had to watch it again)

    I think what's interesting here, and is probably driving me towards a whole new discussion is this……..Do you pick your presentation tool for the animation and movement it offers to your content, or do you pick it based on how it allows you to lay your content out and structure it?

    For me the answer is definitely the latter which is why I love Prezi so much. When done right it really allows you to show your content in a way that people can absorb a lot more than slides. The Mind-Mapping style is very easy for peoples brains to digest.

    Of course that is when its done right, which isnt that often because of peoples lack of knowledge with the tool.

12. There is no one tool

    It depends what you want to do. These days it is all about customisation so don't look to find one tool that does everything. If you want to present a stylish presentation at TED you should use a tool that lets you amaze your audience or make your presentation memorable. Prezi is that kind of a tool, but is certainly is not suitable for many other tasks (even for TED, you need to think twice before you use it).

    Power Point is actually quite extensive so you can morph it into many other tools if you know how to get it to work. 

    And some people like Seth Godin may just want to present using a series of images in which case, just about any tool will let you do that. 

    So the choice of tool highly depends on what you want to do and what you want to get in return and how good you are in using the tool; do you want to educate, lecture, impress or simply provide a pitch to appeal to an investor. 

    Ehsan Honary

13. PPT does have it’s uses

    I'll echo what a few others have said in that most of the bad rap PPT gets is due to its misuse by bad trainers and presenters.  And if used well, PPT 2010, especially with a few plugins such as  pptplex, it can be as good as anything else. 

    But I am sure my company is the same as many in that people have just used it very badly in the past, so there is a stigma attached to it and once you see a PPT on the screen you can pretty much guarantee you are in for a snoozefest.

14. pptplex

    Just been having a play around with pptplex. Easy to use and I can think of some great applications for it.

    Can anyone recommend any more plug ins?