Creating powerful presentations: Some advice and an online Webinar.

I want to give you this link to the webinar: Creating Powerful Presentations with Nancy Duarte on vizthink.com. Nancy Duarte, principal of Duarte Design is one of the creative minds behind Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth presentation (wired.com). She also helped and collaborated on Gar Reynolds' Presentation Zen.

There are some good tips in the seminar and how to bring the story. Because a presentation should be about telling a good story. Don't start in powerpoint. Start sketching. Make a mindmap. Use sticky notes. Make a structure. But don't start typing away in Powerpoint. Just have a look at her Webinar for some good advice.

She also references some online websites about sharing presentations and related resources:

There are also lots of developments happening in the online application space. Google Docs, Slide Rocket, 280Slides and others are developing rich web-based presentation applications so multiple people can collaborate to build a presentation online.

Another phenomenon occurring is in the social networking space. Slideshare.net has become the YouTube for presentations. Some presentations have been viewed over a half million times.(source: wired.com)

Just have a look of some of my favorite presentations on Slideshare.net. Some might give you some inspiration. I also want to mention the book that Nancy will release in September: Slide:ology. Presentationzen had a preview of the book:

Slide:ology is not a how-to-use-slideware book, but it does teach solid fundamentals of how to make fantastic visuals that support your narrative. And Nancy knows what she's talking about. If she can help turn Al Gore into an Oscar-winning presenter, imagine what she can do for you (see sample slides from Al Gore's deck). Slide:ology is in full color and is as beautiful as it is illuminating and instructional. An absolute must-have book that will not only enhance your presentation and presentation-design skills but will make you a better visual-thinker in general.

I want to reference the following book again: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. I don't have it yet but it's on my wishlist together with Slide:ology now.

Previous articles:

• How to thank others in your presentations
• Presentations: Why less is more
• The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
• Don't use default powerpoint templates: Rule of thirds
• Presentations: Avoid writing slideumentation in powerpoint
• Free image resources for your presentations
• 5 Steps to Slide Design for Non-Designers
• Brain Rules, The presentationzen slides
• Using images to support your speech
• Is your presentation better without text?
• Compacting your presentations. Yes, you really can.
• Presentation skills: The 10/20/30 rule from Guy Kawasaki
• Looking at presentations