Last week at the Voices That Matter Conference, I was privaleged to attend a great presentation on how to give great presentations. Garr Reynolds, the author of Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, wowed the crowd by creating a compelling and informative presentation using Power Point (actually he was using Keynote, but Power-Point has become the "Band-Aid" of slide software). Unlike other information design experts (ie. Edward Tufte), Garr has a lot of hope for Power-point presentations, but with a few helpful suggestions (paraphrased here):

I have to post a rave for Apple's new version of Keynote (part of iWork 2008). For a first time user I learned the program and blazed through two critical and substantial presentations in just one weekend (for the AOL Programming All Hands this week). Most remarkable are the text and slide transitions that could only have been previously achievable through building out decks in Flash at considerable time and expense (anyone else have painful memories of coding animated decks at 2 in the a.m?). I formally recommend every Creative Director, Art Director, and UI expert on my staff learn this program to quickly create mini-prototypes and present their ideas throughout the organization. Remember that sometimes the way you share an idea is as important as the idea itself.

Two slide samples: Imagine elegant transitions, chairs spontaneously flipping in, type elegantly fading in on time, etc...


Since we often have to share our decks with Powerpoint users (hey, I was one just last week!) there is a simple way to save presentations out in that format as well as PDF and HTML (of course, you will lose the m-a-g-i-c). You can also record narrative over your decks to make simple podcasts in one step. Embed video captures of site walkthroughs in seconds. Crazy. I sound like a brochure! As simple as it is I think I have scratched the surface in how to express ideas with it.

OK, now, Reality Check:

Of course, content is king, and pacing is critical, and the presenter has to deliver the goods, no software will make your presentation good but YOU, but the presence of the decks was greatly enhanced by the near instant multi-media feel that the software helped me graft onto my basic and simple designs. I think it is safe to say I will never use PowerPoint again.

It is an exciting week as I am delivering the keynote at the iDMA conference in Philadelphia this Thursday. That hefty acronym stands for the International Digital Media & Arts Association by the way. Consistent with their theme of "Beyond Boundaries" I am going to discuss some of the challenges AOL faces and how we need to keep innovating to be successful. I am also going to hit on what skills are expected from future graduates of academic interactive education programs.

The iDMAa was founded in early 2004 by a group of 15 universities and is dedicated to serving educators, practitioners, scholars, and organizations with interests in digital media. God bless them.

I'll let you know how it goes and post the presentation soon afterward. I have noted that our old pals at Schematic will be presenting as well. Schematic was one of the forces that helped my team and I get the Live8 experience done in record time back in 2005.