If you know me at all, you know I love creating presentations. For me, there's just something about the process that's quite rewarding and very fulfilling.
A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a presentation tool available exclusively as an iPad app. If you own an iPad and have ever desired to try something other than Keynote, give it a try. It's called Haiku Deck. In short, I love it, not only for its ability to help me create compelling presentations, but also for its uncanny simplicity.
What some might view as limiting, I see as stopping boring presentations dead in their tracks. Here's what I mean. While you can certainly include PowerPoint-type bullet-ed lists in your Haiku Deck slides, the app encourages you to think metaphorically instead, putting an emphasis on images and fewer words (a typical slide contains a maximum of two lines of text).
Before you think this too narrow a framework, I would ask you this: Is it really necessary to put everything you plan to say in your slides? And if it is, then what do we need you for exactly? Print the slides, hand them out and shut up.
However, if you're understanding of a great presentation is one that tells a great story while chock full of compelling content, and you recognize your slides serve to help sear that content into your audience's brain and not to take center stage, then Haiku Deck may be a revelation to you. And by the way, it's completely free. There are a few additional themes available through an in-app purchase, though, if the half-dozen or so offered by default aren't enough.
Arguably the best feature is Haiku Deck's image search capabilities. Simply enter in your potential slide copy, or a few key words from it, and the app searches the internet for related images using freely available, creative commons-licensed image sources. Haiku Deck even credits the images in your slides automatically. The amount of awesomeness in this feature alone cannot be overstated when you realize what a time-saver it is.
Another cool aspect of this search feature is the related words (and images) that come out of these searches. Often times, I find this process supercharges my creativity, sending me off in directions I never would've thought to go on my own. Sure, this can send you down the occasional rabbit trail, but I find that, more often than not, the end result is a better, more engaging and more compelling presentation.
Need a Mother's Day Gift? Tell Her What She Means to You in a Haiku Deck!
Coincidentally, just this week I entered a contest sponsored by Haiku Deck. They asked users to create a presentation for mom in conjunction with the theme "Things I Learned From Mom" (that's my attempt embedded above). The grand prize for the over all best presentation was an iPad mini for mom.
While I'm sad to say my presentation wasn't chosen as the grand prize winner, the folks at Haiku Deck sent me an e-mail to let me know my presentation had been spontaneously chosen for a runner-up prize.
It's interesting to note that, while I'd worked on it a small amount a few days ago, I didn't get really serious about finishing it up until Thursday night just 2 hours before the submission deadline. In all, I probably spent a total 60 to 90 minutes on it. Who knew it could be this easy to create an award-winning presentation? With Haiku Deck, it's super simple. The results are pretty solid too.
What about you? Do you have a favorite presentation tool that you use? If so, why is it your favorite? Be sure to leave your answer in the comments.
As a presentation designer, one of the first things I do when I sit down with a client is explain the power of images over bullet points and the importance of telling a compelling story in your presentations. This slideshare presentation from HubSpot outlines exactly what you need to know to create presentations that will move audiences to act. (Hat tip to Michael Hyatt).