Chelsi Nakano
March 10, 2017
This post is part of a collection of interviews we did for the winners of our Classroom to Boardroom contest. Applicants were asked to submit the story of their use of Prezi in the classroom, and how that discovery carried over into their professional lives.
Michelle Oswald discovered Prezi when, as a freshman in college, she was tasked with creating an end-of-term presentation for her business writing class. “It was love at first click,” she said. “The way Prezi moved and displayed information was way more captivating than slide-based presentations, and it’s easy to be confident in front of a room full of people when you can tell they’re impressed.”
Fast forward eight years later: Michelle now works as a senior marketing specialist for Landscape Forms, and is still using Prezi to keep her audience engaged. Landscape Forms specializes in outdoor fixtures for commercial or public spaces, and often partners with international designers to create products that encourage people to get outside (think outdoor power stations and shades that filter out just enough sunlight to see a laptop screen). “We aim to help you realize that you don’t need to be inside to work done,” she explained. “You can do your life out in the fresh air.”
While the salesforce at Landscape Forms relies heavily on making powerful presentations, Michelle explained that the marketing department had only ever been provided PowerPoint with which to make them. Soon after being hired into her position, she recalled her college presentation and recommended stepping it up a notch with Prezi. The results have proved to be long-lasting. “Instead of having to create six different PowerPoint presentations to cover each of our vertical markets, we’re now able to use one elegant Prezi that allows presenters to choose their own path— a novel presentation experience perfectly suited to the users and the content.”
Michelle added that the sales team has also adopted Prezi with enthusiasm.”Reports on the first uses of this Prezi say clients are commenting specifically on how much they enjoyed the new format. We are now standardizing on Prezi, and are thrilled to have this powerful new tool as a resource.”
Watch her tell her story below, and if you’d like to learn more about how the Prezi method can change the way you work, download our eBook on conversational presenting.
