PowerPoint design + alternatives

One of the critical skills students need is the ability to communicate well. I am sure that we will have many opportunities to communicate ideas as a student and teacher. Learning some simple design principles will be a big advantage.




PowerPoint has been THE go-to tool for presentations for a generation. I wanted to be a bit controversial and say that most of the PowerPoints we experience are not that great. Bullet points on a white background might remind the presenter of what they want to say, but are not engaging for listeners.

Check out this great little guide that outlines 5 mistakes we commonly see in PowerPoint. This would be a great little tutorial if you are creating a presentation as the principles apply to any tool.

         You Suck At PowerPoint! from Jesse Desjardins - @jessedee

    I could summarise the points in a Powerpoint like this:

  1. Too much info on one slide
  2. Not enough visuals
  3. Horrible quality
  4. All over the place
  5. Lack of preparation

OR this:


Which works better?? Creating visual, engaging presentation is one of the 21st Century fluencies students need today.

Enter a host of tools that help communicate ideas in a creative and engaging way. All of these are free, web-based, collaborative and make slides that look great! I will mention four:

Prezi 

      www.prezi.com Prezi is the tool of choice for TED presentations – a non-linear, zooming, infinite palette. If you have never seen Prezi in action, do yourself a favour and have a look.

Haiku Deck 

      https://www.haikudeck.com/  allows you to create beautiful slides easily with great looking design templates and images as the basis of each slide.



My Simple Show 

      https://www.mysimpleshow.com/  I am sure you have seen the “explainer” videos that feature moving objects on a canvas with narration. My Simple Show is a tool to make a video like that. Your students will love creating one of these



Sway

Sway is a free tool that is part of Office 365 that makes digital storytelling quick and easy. Here is a post that goes into more depth.



Of course the substance of a presentation is important, but even the best ideas can be drowned with an awful boring PowerPoint. Have a go at one of these next time you need to create a presentation.