Alternative to PowerPoint: Prezi
By Alesha Miller
Today when people give speeches, many use visual aids. One well known visual aid use very often is PowerPoint. But does PowerPoint still grab the attention of those listening to the speech? Gary Chapman from the University of Texas wrote about what he called “The Ten Sins of PowerPoint.” He made points saying that the changing of slides and all of the colors can be overbearing by the transitions used. He said, “it shifts attention from the speaker to the screen, which detracts from the speaker’s ability to engage with his or her audience.” It is also distracting when a speaker reads straight from his slides. That becomes boring to those trying to listen to the speaker. Another thing people do when giving speeches is putting too much information onto one slide, which can be overwhelming.
So what else could someone use as a visual aid besides PowerPoint where everyone has already seen the exact same slide transitions and themes used in the design aspect? They could try Prezi. According to Wikipedia, “Prezi is a web-based presentation tool using a map layout and zooming to show contextual relationships which addresses some of the shortcomings of Microsoft PowerPoint.” Bringing something new to the table could be more interesting and engaging to audiences. They may pay more attention to the presentation, just because it is something new that hasn’t been used much. So next time, when you’re looking for a new way to present, be spontaneous and break away from the old and average PowerPoint and try Prezi, which you can find online, instead!
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