Tuesday
Jan272009
Ideas follow form - about templates and Prezi
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 7:06AM
(... part 2, continued from yesterday) Relating the Prezi, in my experience, there are 2 kinds of people. Some can do amazing Prezi in 2 minutes, showing contexts, relations of concepts, just by scaling and positioning texts. This is what Prezi is great for. However, some others, and this is not at all related to creativity in general, just get stuck and can't manage the above task well. Frankly, I could not figure out yet what the cause of this duality may be.
However, remembering the example from yesterday, I think we can help those, who don't feel comfortable starting with a large white empty plane.
I think - instead of doing classic templates - we could just create some interesting Prezi, that is nice to look at, and inspires people to change them, add things, edit parts, take it and remix it. Very much like post modern culture in the end, but making this all first hand experience for the rest of us - every wished to be a DJ? Now you can remix a Prezi about Angkor temples into a business presentation.
What do you all think? Any good suggestions?
However, remembering the example from yesterday, I think we can help those, who don't feel comfortable starting with a large white empty plane.
I think - instead of doing classic templates - we could just create some interesting Prezi, that is nice to look at, and inspires people to change them, add things, edit parts, take it and remix it. Very much like post modern culture in the end, but making this all first hand experience for the rest of us - every wished to be a DJ? Now you can remix a Prezi about Angkor temples into a business presentation.
What do you all think? Any good suggestions?
Reader Comments (37)
I'm really curious, will prezi ever support writing equations?
Great idea. The experience of jumping into a completely blank canvas is a truly serene experience. I haven't been this excited about a new software tool in a long time.
The are so many of us, that even though we have been craving a solution like this for years, still have a lot of baggage to shake from the old paradigm of slides.
Its important that the infinite quality of prezi remain in tact, because I believe we have barely scratched the surface of whats possible.
That said, I think a few templates will work wonders to get people started. It will really help bridge the gap. Just from a simple change management perspective, this will make it easier for users to go out on the limb and use prezi for their next business presentation instead of what they are used to.
Sansz: Yes, as quite a few of us are into computer science, and one is writing his PHD, i would say it will come sooner or later. Until them, use you favorite equation editor, save to pdf, and upload that - will look great (keeps vector format)
Nathan: can you maybe hint at some examples you would like to see in a template? Some generic scenarios? Or "How to tell the lion that the meat fell off the truck on the way" or "How to convince the ant that he is big..."
I fell into the category of folk who took to ZuiPrezi (opps, I owe you money for the swear-box!) immediately, haveing a deep disdain for linear presentation tools such as PowerPoint and Keynote. Interestingly enough though, one of my largest presentations started from the left and travelled through to the right as the story (conference) unfolded.
Templates are a good idea for the quick-start, but they probably require a gallery of their own, perhaps even a parallel 'community' site where user-created presentations can be showcased.
BTW, are there any plans to start up the Forums again? I think they are invaluable for peer-to-peer interaction and support.
Keep up the good work Adam (and crew)
Sorry, call me stupid, just found the Feedback section!....Ben
I feel that some people may have difficulties using Prezi by starting with a blank canvas because they are not used to work in a non-linear and more visual way. I have the same experience when I teach Mind Mapping.
Education systems around the world value the linear form of words and texts and - with great effort and success - diseducate us not to use images and visuals but to write properly. Therefore many adults are not visual literate.
I'd agree that the best way for people to understand the patterns behind prezi would be to provide them with many many examples to look at and learn from. Generic templates for special situations might be helpful as a stimulus. It might also be good to have small tutorials where a prezi presentation is used and where people can hear the present speak.
Florian
I think this is a great idea. Templates are still blanks to be filled in, and have the detrimental effect of trapping people's thoughts into predefined containers.
Is it possible to append multiple Prezi into a single, bigger Prezi? That is, while some complete sample Prezi would be good to show people the different ways in which one might use the system, why not provide a library of short stubs that can have content added and be mixed together to provide a complete Prezi.
Nancy Duart suggests "storyboarding" presentations using different abstract elements drawn on post-it notes, and provides a number of such notes in her book, slide:ology. Having mini-Prezi that reflect similar concepts could really make snapping together a complete presentation very quick and simple.
Of course, this also starts to trap people into using only the provided pieces and not exploring on their own, as Nathan mentioned above, so it should be done carefully.
~KMarsh
Thanks all, great ideas!
Will definitely deliver something like this soon...
Kyle, we are working on loading a Prezi into another Prezi, so "in-map" examples or inspiration would make a lot of sense...
I think it's a great idea to have a couple of prezi's that people can then just modify with their own text and photos etc. Perhaps think of a topic that's something everyone might want to do... like "Who I am" or "What my Blog is about" or "My Resolutions".
Whatever the topic, it should be short and sweet. Maybe have a Prezi competition first...???
I've just been finding my way around Prezi, for the first time. Its very addictive but I think I may be one of the people that needs inspiration and guidance. In Pages, I find the templates really useful for helping me with layout, usually changing all the component parts with my own images, fonts etc. If Prezi could have more component parts and places to "fill in", I know I would find it easier. They don't need to be templates, maybe extra sub menus would help, or simply more suggestions of what I could do in the help section.
I happened upon this page because I was trying to find how to delete objects but this is much more interesting! Although if anyone can tell me how to delete objects, I'd be ever so grateful.
Inspired, so thank you!
Claire: sorry for our unclear documentation - you simple press the delete key on your keyboard (both del and backspace work) when an object is selected (it is selected if you see the zebra on it, or a green frame around multiple object when multiple are selected)
will do another post with template candidates soon - but here is one in the making - http://prezi.com/6978/
simple concept is to use a photo for layout narrative - could work for presenting any task one needs to achieve
Hello I think that's particularly suited to busy teachers. And of course students. Teachers really really need encouragement to use technology in their facilitation/assessment. Its got to be super easy/fun but build foundations for more independence as proficiency allows. You get hooked whence you think I cant and then you can and then new technology is irresistible! So it is for students.
If you can build into these templates clear (international) pedagogical/curriculum strategies/applications and outcomes, (maybe you have-excuse me please)then all the dryness of didactic teaching will be redundant!Students can then EXPECT nothing less!And v.v!
This suits Art and Design Technology teachers/students in particular. Textile Technology,Industrial Design,Graphics,Wood,Metal etc. So template ideas there...I imagine it will actually train us/our students to jump neurons...like mind mapping.
Of course I'll probably realise it's even more useful for non design topics...
In fact I hope politicians take it up quick!
Szia Adam is fogatom,
Great work so far! I work for an environmental NGO, and make frequent presentations for business, politicians and the public on climate change and its solutions. I made two presentations with Prezi so far (both available here: http://prezi.com/3756/) - to rejoicing audiences - and have some input to give regarding templates.
First of all, I would say that starting to use Prezi with a template approach would happen at the risk of not really appreciating the fundamentally different philosophy that the software allows. Sure, they would lower the threshold for new users, but templates could also end up hampering the sort of deep innovation the Prezi allows.
More productive, perhaps, would be to focus on giving people a chance to understand and learn the process of proper communication design in the open and free sense that Prezi allows. It will take considerable time and effort to free the mind from the limitiations on creativity imposed by ppt and the like, and process guidance would be more productive than templates, in my mind.
Another point concerning templates is that I would like to be able to reuse elements of a presentation again and again, without having to change (and lose) the original.
A third suggestion, which is not entirely linked to templates, is that it would be great to be able to add several paths to a single presentation, allowing the user to choose path.
It would also be great to be able to embed flash code, such as the one we have built into our new web site on carbon capture and storage www.bellona.org/ccs (under construction).
Keep up the good work - big thanks!
thanks all
Bjorn, good point - I think that is why I feel that sharing interesting Prezi examples that people can remix might actually lead to a higher variety in the end.
And the Prezi you made is really good! I hope it works as you'll manage to get more people carbon conscious :)
BTW, feature ideas are great, and always welcome - please check the feedback on Prezi.com
[...] have a very nice ongoing discussion about Templates here: http://blog.prezi.com/?p=29 which are clearly needed, and will offer great help [...]
Adam, I think you guys are doing a great job. I am officially the coolest mofo in all of my company thanks to your software. I do agree with templates and it could simply be an issue of leaving generic text in some of the example presentations for folks to replace when they build their own. On the other hand I LOVE the blank templates so please leave them as is.
On another note, I would love to have the ability to merge my presentations. I find that I use Prezi to explain portions of a complicated process and over time I've built up sets of processes that I would love to just copy and paste in to one GIGANTOR PREZI... Ooooo, I can just imagine how complex that would look yet easily conquered with Prezi.
Hi Charles,
thanks - we will leave the styles empty I think :)
and yes, we are planning the option to import prezi into prezi, also create wormholes where you can dive in and get out in another prezi, etc
I just did a new post on this blog yesterday called tips and tricks about another good alternative - simple layout ideas that can be good when doing a zooming presentation
please come over and share your thoughts :)
I would love to see some (IBM?) templates, or the ability for me to make a template that I can pass on to my co-workers for sales presentations. In true IBM style, sometimes there are slide decks of 40 slides, and I need a way to keep the "branding" as we move through the presentation... very important.
Also, maybe it would make sense to have some kind of wizard for creating a traditional "slide show" to help a user organize thoughts and content before being put into a prezi layout. Then use the slide show content in a way you can drag and drop it into the presi. I am finding myself making slides in a traditional way for content, then moving it over to prezi by hand.
Or, if there were an ability to import current slide show content for drag/drop into prezi.. that would be awesome.
This is SOOO COOL :) Great job!
Last week, after trying Prezi for a few hours working on a presentation which, while it's going to be mostly new material, would also benefit from being able to borrow from older stuff, I wrote down some notes on the general workflow of how I create these things, and where Prezi helped and where it became a hindrance. You can find it at
http://www.fishpool.org/post/2009/03/12/Working-on-presentations
Ready-made, beautiful or well-structured (or both!) templates are great, but you really need to solve the problem of applying style after substance, and how to encode the structural parts of the presentation (what relates to what) in a way which is not simply a stylistic convention. I know, from reading your FAQs, that this is against the general idea of how you think the tool should work, but it's just not going to fly otherwise.
Think of it from the Web point of view: two things have made Web great: first, most importantly, that it's open enough so that we can freely copy, pick and choose and modify each others' implementations and adapt them to new ideas, and second, that it separates structure from style (in its new, semantic form more than before, but always to some degree).
A template where you can replace the images is a way to copy and modify, but it doesn't allow pick-and-choose and remixing. For that, you need to be able to copy parts. And for that to work, the tools have to understand how things bind together. It simply can't be all left to visuals.
It looks pretty cool...but is there any chance in the future when Prezi gives users the freedom to create their own template?..(simply by mixing around different parts of the template by choosing from a set of choices Prezi could provide.)-(for example the freedom to change to any background colour, fonts and more shapes to choose from)
Hello there.
First of all, allow me to write some compliment, as it is a really good looking presentation maker stuff. ( i mean the presentation itself looks good)
On the other hand i would say, I firmly believe that the "classic template way" is neccessary, and i really hope you will not leave it out from this great application.
TO be honest, I just dont want to use real graphic designer, and as a business owner, i do need something that i can use whitin minutes, good looking, and all i need to do is just repleace the info and the content.
This mix thing is good good, but not instead of templates. It is good exaple. Right now i have 2 days to create a presentation, and i dont know where to start. ( that is the reasonw why i found this blog becuase i was looking for template:) i bought an account @ prezi.com, so im looking for template, how to use it tutorials, and any help that makes me better prezi user.
Thank you for your suggestion. While we can not promise anything specific, we regularly consider ideas, input from users.
Hi,
This issue happens when you have huge scales and tiny ones as well in a prezi. You might try to scale out and make the whole prezi bigger to have some kind of an equilibrium in your project.
Hi,
First of all I have to say, the prezi is a great concept for presentations, but...
I have two very important questions:
For using Prezi in a corporate environment, there are some important requirements:
1. It's necessary to be able to store prezis offline in a shared folder or a repository like svn. For company internal content, it's not possible to store prezis online.
2. ==> It's necessary to load prezis from filesystems or repositories, too.
Can I re-import prezis, which I exported, into the offline editor again? I didn't find a way to do this.
Until these requirements aren't met, prezi is not usable 100% for companies unfortunately...
Any help is appreciated!