I have been using Powerpoint for a good portion of my corporate life. It’s just another tool to communicate. With Powerpoint 2007 (and now Powerpoint 2010), you could be more creative than ever before in better communicating whatever you want. But Prezi is redefining the paradigm of presentations.
Think no more as slides and bullets. Start with a large blank white paper and draw your content out wherever you want. Take it in any direction you want and present ideas in any order, as long as they have some relationship and meaning.
Linear movement across content is pretty standard in most visual communication mediums – including books and movies. However, Our mind doesn’t not think or operate linearly – most often we jump not sequentially but tangentially. Experimental movies (nonlinear narrative) such as “Memento” will bore an average person, but will inspire others who have an appetite for defying logic. “Lateral thinking“, a well known concept in creative thinking circles, emphasizes non-linear approach to creativity. Which is exactly why Prezi has gotten all the attention and evangelical fellowship. Prezi will enable the presenter to present the information visually as close to how the information is perceived and possibly registered in our memory. The hope is that presenting information using tools such as Prezi will increase your success – be it influencing your audience or helping them learn something new.
We are so attuned to expecting things linearly that your first exposure to Prezi will not ring much bells. Although the fundamental concepts such as non-linear movement within content and zoom in/out will initially grab your attention more to the medium than the message, Prezi is redefining how communications will happen in the future.
Of course, no great presentation tool will make up for poor thinking and lack of creativity. In the end, it’s still you, who will make a great presentation – where it’s with a napkin or prezi.
Here is one Great Prezi by Kevin McAllister that I am really impressed – and hoping to use it as basis for my own Prezis.
Another good Prezi – Sweet Recipe to Solving Problems
