When I do a presentation, it’s rarely in Powerpoint, and no it’s not in Apple’s Keynote either.  Of course there are plenty of times you’re forced to do a few “slides” for part of a bigger presentation – but if you’re doing your own thing and you are still using Powerpoint you’re doing it wrong.  Let me introduce you to Prezi.

I signed up to Prezi five years ago, I’ve done speaking gigs with Prezi presentations as the backdrop, and I’ve done corporate presentations using Prezi – it’s different, and that’s what makes it work.

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Turns out, I’m not alone.  More than one million Australian and New Zealanders use Prezi – all of them through word of mouth and online discovery.  Who needs advertising right?

Australia is now one of Prezi’s top 10 markets globally, and some big businesses like Telstra, Zurich, MLC and Rio Tinto are part of that change.

So what is it?  A new way of presenting – but without too much difficulty in adapting.

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Prezi breaks the mould of  slide by slide presentation by offering users a canvas for design and layout.  From simple “frames” (like slides) that are animated by motion around the canvas, to one of the beautiful templates which might take the viewer on a journey up a mountain, or around a race track Prezi lets you show the full presentation without giving a thing away.  Frame by Frame might be a long zoom in or an extreme zoom out.

The motion normally surprises viewers and keeps them engaged in the presentation.

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It’s all done online, but with downloadable software now available to edit and present your Prezi on any computer, or remotely to someone on the other end of a conference call.

If you have any requirement to do presentations in your work, you have to check out Prezi and see how impressed your boss will be next time you do a presentation.