Prezi For Dummies E-Book

Stephanie Diamond

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 370

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

A one-stop resource for an exciting new Web-based, slide-freepresentation tool! People who have been seeking a flashier version of PowerPointhave found it--and it's Prezi. A Web-based, slide-freepresentation tool, Prezi allows users to create and give rich,Web-based presentations complete with dynamic content, contextuallayouts, and eye-catching visuals. Prezi For Dummies getsyou rapidly up to speed, including how to think outside thetraditional slide, create your project, insert Flash and othergraphic files, and publish your presentation to a public domain.You'll also learn valuable tips on what makes a goodPrezi. * Introduces Prezi, a Web-based, Flash-friendly, dynamicpresentation tool * Explains how to use online and offline editors and insertimages, video, sound, Flash files, and other complex graphics * Covers presenting a Prezi, publishing it to a public domain,and collaborating with others * Offers tips and insights on what makes a good Prezi--andhow to think visually to create content that benefits your businessor organization Move beyond slides, put your visual thinking cap on, and get thevery most of Prezi with this timely, practical guide.

Leseprobe

Prezi™ For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Conventions Used in This Book

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Establishing a Prezi Mindset

Part II: Exploring the Prezi Universe

Part III: Creating Show-Stopping Prezis

Part IV: Using Prezi beyond Presentations

Part V: Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Appendix: Resources for Presenters

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Establishing a Prezi Mindset

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Prezi

Evolving Presentations

Finding Out Just What Prezi Is

Breaking the slide barrier

Getting to know the Prezi menu

Publishing online

Working offline with Prezi Desktop

Understanding what Prezi is not

Signing Up and Picking the Right Plan for You

Technical requirements

Meeting Prezi’s public face

Changing the Way You Present with Prezi

Telling your story

Planning differently

Thinking visually

Representing movement using layering

Exploring the big picture and details at the same time

Getting Ready to Present

Presenting online or offline

Working with Collaborators

Displaying Your Prezis

Developing a Presentation Partnership

Interacting with the Prezi Community

Seeing That Prezis Aren’t Limited to Presentations

Problem solving and brainstorming

Business plans and other business uses

Scrapbooks, recipes, hobbies, and so on

Understanding How Professionals Can Use Prezi

Educating with Prezi

Chapter 2: Preparing for Your First Prezi

Gathering Your Ideas in Analog

Suggested tools to use

Presentation planning basics

Things that make planning with Prezi unique

Developing Your Story

Defining your selling direction

Finding your key messages

Communicating with design

Creating your story design

Incubating your ideas

Testing your ideas

Reviewing before moving to the next phase

Opening Your First Prezi

Exploring Styles

Collecting and Creating Images, Text, and Graphics

Collecting digital objects for presentation

Developing text elements

Using content from other programs

Framing and Positioning Ideas

Creating a Path of Ideas

Following a unique order

Creating a definite focus

Iterating until You’re Ready to Present

Proofing your presentation

Practicing until you feel confident

Part II: Exploring the Prezi Universe

Chapter 3: Getting Familiar with the Online Interface

Introducing Prezi Components

Viewing Edit mode

Discovering Show mode

Navigating the Canvas

Interacting with the Bubble Menu

Using the Write bubble

Embedding Web links in your presentation

Grouping with the Frame bubble

Positioning your Frames

Creating your story line with the Path bubble

Styling with the Colors & Fonts bubble

Moving around using the Transformation Zebra

Taking Advantage of Smart Zooming

Printing Your Prezi

Chapter 4: Discovering the Prezi Desktop

Downloading the Offline Editor

Putting Prezi on your desktop

Installing Adobe Air

Getting the manual for the Desktop

Using the Desktop

Activating Prezi Desktop the first time

Editing your offline prezi

Using Prezi Desktop commands

Chapter 5: Navigating the “Your Prezis” Page

Managing the “Your Prezis” Page with Commands

Open

Download

Save during online revisions

Save a copy

Delete

Setting Up Prezi to Share the Work

Making your presentation public

Allowing reuse of your presentation

Keeping your prezi private

Sharing Prezis

Sending a private prezi

Sending a link to a public prezi via e-mail

Collaborating with Coeditors

Inviting coeditors

Embedding a prezi on a Web page

Publishing to a social media site

Rating and Commenting on Public Prezis

Checking out the Explore tab

Sharing your opinion

Delivering Prezis to an Audience

Using a projector to simplify the delivery

Navigating with Smart Zooming

Presenting from a browser

Setting up a Path

Using remote clickers

Autoplaying your prezi with timing intervals

Chapter 6: Engaging the Prezi Community

Scouting for New Ideas

Viewing prezis on the Explore page

Determining what makes a good prezi

Checking Out Prezi’s Online Resources

Prezi Academy

Live from the Prezi Universe

Manual

Quick Help

Sharing Your Questions and Answers

Part III: Creating Show-Stopping Prezis

Chapter 7: Making Great Presentations

Understanding How the Mind Watches a Presentation

Avoiding visual mistakes

Benefitting from the Prezi style

Recognizing your presentation style

Creating the Presentation Partnership

Understanding the context for your presentation

Gaining the audience’s trust

Establishing the promise: What’s in it for me?

Tapping into audience learning styles

Acknowledging internal clocks

Using simplicity to make your presentation powerful

Researching for Content

Google Alerts

Talking to experts

Finding influencers

Discovering Stories That Connect with Your Audience

Devising the plot

Finding the hero of your story

Creating the hook to capture attention

Using a Five-Point Plan to Construct Your Story

Understanding the problem

Recognizing the constraints

Presenting the question

Uncovering the answer

Delivering a call to action

Putting the Show Together

Developing your speaking notes

Supporting online materials

Social media networks

Preparing to answer questions

Printing Your Show

Understanding the Back Channel

Chapter 8: Using Graphics to Increase the Value of Your Message

Creating the Best Design

Storytelling Using Visuals

Viewing the Big Picture

Looking at the Details

Using predetermined designs

Choosing backgrounds

Using Single Visual Elements

Presenting Multiple Elements

Flash Animation

Choosing Frames as Information Containers

Chapter 9: Helping Designers Use Their Creations

Understanding the Design Process

Evaluating Your Designs

Using Design Applications

Protecting Your Original Work

Understanding copyrights

Creative Commons license

Creating a Branded Prezi for Your Company’s Use

Creating your own branded prezi

Understanding what goes into your brand’s design

Developing a Prezi template

Adding a logo and tagline

Adding third-party graphics

Including copyrights and service marks

Part IV: Using Prezi beyond Presentations

Chapter 10: Brainstorming New Ideas

Generating New Ideas

Nonlinear thinking

Understanding your creative style

Techniques for new ideas

Dealing with presentation procrastination

Generating ideas within groups

Mind Mapping Your Thoughts

Benefits of using Mind Maps

Rules for great Prezi Mind Maps

Creating your first Mind Map

Using keywords versus long sentences in Prezi

Using New Scientific Findings to Visually Sell Your Ideas

Chunking your messages

Ordering information presented

Ten-minute transitions

Creating experiences

Using colors

Creating spatial relationships

Developing patterns

Applying visuals

Chapter 11: Presenting Business Plans

Introducing a Prezi Business Plan

Developing Visual Concepts That Sell

Plan Presentation Logistics

Collaborating with Team Members

Covering the Basics

Understanding the Business Model

Making the Numbers Interesting

Using Movement to Add Momentum

Using Web links

Sending without a Presenter

Sending a private prezi via e-mail

Designing special comments

Chapter 12: Educating with Prezi

Using Prezi in Schools and Universities

Obtaining an Education license

Understanding learning styles in the classroom

Communicating information

Thinking Visually in the Classroom

Applying Success Strategies

Using Prezi in Conferences

Getting Attention with Prezi Resumes

Chapter 13: Displaying Your Hobbies and Special Events with Prezi

Exploring Some Uses of the Digital Canvas

Choosing a Theme

Selecting a Style

Using Text to Set the Mood

Adding Fun Facts

Collecting Your Media

Demonstrating Movement

Embedding YouTube videos

Collaborating with Family and Friends

Printing Your Show

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 14: Ten Ways to Fill a Blank Screen

Planning in Analog

Setting the Stage

Looking at Examples

Choosing a Potential Layout

Uploading Some Media

Thinking Up Questions Your Presentation Will Answer

Describing the Hero

Adding a Quote

Using Keywords to Describe the Problem

Creating a Timeline

Chapter 15: Ten Things You Should Know about Visual Thinking

It’s the Ability to See with Both the Eyes and the Mind’s Eye

It Helps People Learn Faster and Remember Better

It Includes Sketches, Doodles, Images, Photos, and Other Pictures

It Helps with Procrastination and Increases Productivity

It Affects the Ability to Understand an Environment

It Helps People Solve Problems

It Helps People Be More Empathetic

It Helps People Collaborate More Effectively

It Doesn’t Require Artistic Skills

Its Use Will Expand Due to the Graphical Internet

Chapter 16: Ten Tips for Mind Mapping with Prezi

Expanding Your Mind Maps’ Dimensions

Presenting Multiple Layers of Detail

Demonstrating Your Nonlinear Thinking

Enhancing the Experience with Visuals

Adding Dramatic Portrayals of Space

Extending Understanding through Color

Communicating with Keywords

Viewing Mind Maps to See What’s Missing

Recognizing the Patterns in Mind Maps

Collaborating for Consensus

Chapter 17: Ten Worst Things to Do with Prezi

Keep an Old Mindset

Lose Track of Your Story

Use Weak Clipart

Omit the Use of Movement

Miss Out on Sharing Presentations

Neglect to Use the Built-In Design Tools

Repurpose A Slide Show into Prezi without Making Revisions

Forget about the Prezi Community

Leave Out the Path

Fail to Use Prezis for More Than Presentations

Appendix: Resources for Presenters

Prezi™ For Dummies®

by Stephanie Diamond

Prezi™ For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Stephanie Diamond is a thought leader and management marketing professional with 20+ years of experience building profits in over 75 different industries. She has worked with solopreneurs, small business owners, and multibillion dollar corporations.

She worked for eight years as a marketing director at AOL. When she joined, there were less than 1 million subscribers. When she left in 2002, there were 36 million. While at AOL, she developed a highly successful line of multimedia products that brought in an annual $40 million dollars in incremental revenue.

In 2002, she founded Digital Media Works, Inc. (http://digmediaworks.com), an online marketing company that helps business owners discover the hidden profits in their business. She’s passionate about guiding online companies to successfully generate more revenue and find their company’s real value.

As a strategic thinker, Stephanie uses all the current visual thinking techniques and brain research to help companies get to the essence of their brand. In the Marketing Message blog (www.marketingmessageblog.com), she shares her perspective about how companies can improve their marketing by understanding and communicating their value using stories.

Stephanie received a BA in Psychology from Hofstra University and an MSW and MPH from the University of Hawaii. She lives in New York with her husband and 14-year-old Maltese named Tyler.

Dedication

To Barry, who makes all things possible.

To my family for their encouragement and love.

Author’s Acknowledgments

It is my great privilege to write this book. I want to offer great thanks to Wiley Publishing, Inc. for letting me introduce Prezi For Dummies. Specifically, I want to thank the wonderfully creative group — Acquisitions Editor Amy Fandrei, Project Editor Chris W. Morris, Copy Editor Virginia Sanders, and Editorial Manager Leah Cameron for sharing their talents and support.

I want to thank the folks at Prezi for letting me share their great accomplishment with a waiting audience. Thanks to Adam Somlai-Fischer, Angelie Argawal, Zoli Radnai, and Patrick Wenger for their help and enthusiasm.

Thanks to Matt Wagner, my agent at Fresh Books, for his continued work on my behalf.

Finally, thanks to you for choosing this book to learn about Prezi. I wish you enormous joy on your exciting journey.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Senior Project Editor: Christopher Morris

Acquisitions Editor: Amy Fandrei

Copy Editor: Virginia Sanders

Technical Editor: Angelie Agarwal

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond

Layout and Graphics: Amy Hassos, Joyce Haughey, Ronald G. Terry

Proofreader: ConText Editorial Services, Inc.

Indexer: Infodex Indexing Services, Inc.

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Welcome to Prezi For Dummies. You’re entering the magical world of digital storytelling. I’m honored to introduce Prezi to you in this book. It will change your thinking about how presentations are created and delivered.

The developers of Prezi started with the notion that slides were the wrong medium for making persuasive arguments. Instead, they dreamed of an unlimited whiteboard as a powerful starting point. With Prezi, you now have the chance to create presentations of all kinds without limitations.

Like most people who begin to explore a new application, you may be approaching it with some trepidation. You ask yourself: “Will it be quick and easy to learn?” “Are there things that I won’t understand?” Be assured, as you begin working with Prezi, you should feel anticipation, not fear — it’s easy and fun! My advice to you is just to charge in and start playing with the digital canvas. Think back to a time when a blank slate was an opportunity to explore and create without fear. Prezi gives you the tools. You supply the creativity.

If you follow the steps I’ve detailed in this book to plan and get content on the canvas. you’ll feel a weight lifting from your shoulders. No more shoehorning charts, numbers, and words to fit on a single slide. No more counting bullets or wedging images together to represent a great idea.

Your prezis can start a whole new line of thinking, tell a persuasive story, or get you that raise you deserve. It’s all in the execution. So get started now!

About This Book

Because Prezi is such a unique and flexible application, I’ve made sure to highlight how to get up and running fast by covering the most important topics.

These topics include the following:

Using the main Bubble menu

Picking the right subscription plan to suit your needs

Planning in analog to jump-start your presentation

Setting up your storyline using the Path function

Working with the Smart Zooming feature to display the big picture and the details of each presentation

Uploading a variety of digital media to make your prezi stand out

Using the Transformation Zebra tool to make editing easy

Developing your story to sell your ideas

Navigating the Prezi canvas to work smarter

Mind Mapping to brainstorm using Prezi

Sharing your prezis with colleagues and friends

Presenting with a projector and remote clicker

Interacting with the Prezi Community

Using Prezi for more than business applications

Foolish Assumptions

As I wrote this book, I tried to cover all the different situations you would come up against when creating new presentations using Prezi.

I have a picture of you in my mind and make the following assumptions about you:

You’re not a professional presenter.

You’ve used other presentation software in the past and are looking for something with greater flexibility.

You’re willing to spend time finding out about using visual persuasion and storytelling to deliver your message.

You’re comfortable using your browser to view online software.

You want to use presentations to give yourself a competitive advantage.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make sure instructions are clear and easy, I follow these conventions:

When you need to take a specific action in a step list, they are printed in bold.

When you see something printed this way — http://prezi.com — you’re looking at a Web address (URL).

How This Book Is Organized

In this book, I cover what you need to know about Prezi to make the most of its powerful features. This book consists of five parts that show you how to use Prezi to develop amazing presentations. I’ve also brought together information about visual thinking and storytelling that will make your use of Prezi more effective. The chapters are modular so that you can skip around and focus on topics as they become pertinent to the current stage of your presentation.

Part I: Establishing a Prezi Mindset

In Part I, you start with the basics. First you look at what goes into creating a Prezi mindset. When you begin working with Prezi, you realize that it’s not going to fit into an old-style presentation mold. I introduce you to a new way of thinking about presentations. Chapter 1 covers how you can develop a mindset that makes your presentations more powerful. In Chapter 2, you find out how to create your first prezi from start to finish. You get to see the freedom a no-slide medium can deliver.

Part II: Exploring the Prezi Universe

Part II is an exploration of how the main interface — the Bubble menu — is used. In Chapter 3, you see how you navigate the open digital canvas and what the main functions are used for. Chapter 4 covers the use of the Desktop version of Prezi, which is available for Prezi Pro subscribers. Chapter 5 gives you an overview of the Prezi home base you set up online and shows you how to set up and collaborate with workgroups. Sharing prezis with friends and family is built right into the interface. Chapter 6 gives you a tour of the active Prezi community and how to find reusable content for your own prezis.

Part III: Creating Show-Stopping Prezis

In Part III, you discover how visuals impact your ability to persuade. Chapter 7 walks you through the complete planning process. You see how to create a structure, tell interesting stories, and deliver a memorable presentation. In Chapter 8, you look at the use of graphics to increase the value of your message. Chapter 9 covers what designers can do with Prezi to show off their custom work.

Part IV: Using Prezi beyond Presentations

Part IV introduces you to other uses for Prezi beyond the business presentation. In Chapter 10, you get an in-depth look at brainstorming for new ideas. You see how you can use Mind Mapping and new research about the brain to deliver more powerful messages. Chapter 11 shows you how to use Prezi to develop a business plan that sells your ideas. Chapter 12 introduces you to the use of Prezi in the classroom. Prezi has created a special education license that makes it affordable for teachers and students. In Chapter 13, you tour the wonderful world of Prezi for scrapbooks, collections, recipes, and much more.

Part V: Part of Tens

Part V is the popular Part of Tens section found in all For Dummies books. This is the section where you find all sorts of useful information in groups of ten. In this section are ten ways to fill a blank screen, ten things that you should know about visual thinking, ten tips for Mind Mapping with Prezi, and the ten worst things to do with Prezi.

Icons Used in This Book

To make sure that you are alerted to specific information, I use the following icons:

When you see this Tip icon, it means I want to share some information that will make things easier or quicker for you.

If this icon pops up on the page, it’s there to point out the information you need to store in your memory bank to use when you’re working with Prezi.

Pay special attention when you see this warning icon. Hopefully, it will prevent you from making a big mistake or having to backtrack.

Appendix: Resources for Presenters

The appendix includes resources that help round out your knowledge of presenting in a digital environment. I include some Web sites and books that you may find helpful in taking a deeper dive into specific topics.

Where to Go from Here

I hope this book helps you to use Prezi in ways you hadn’t thought of before. There’s so much you can do. Using this book, you can create presentations with a whole new attitude. As the application expands and Prezi incorporates new ideas, I expect it will become a staple of presenters around the world.

I’d love to get your feedback about how you’re using the book and what new things you’re doing with Prezi. Feel free to leave comments for me on my blog at www.marketingmessageblog.com.

Please note that some special symbols used in this ePub may not display properly on all eReader devices. If you have trouble determining any symbol, please call Wiley Product Technical Support at 800-762-2974. Outside of the United States, please call 317-572-3993. You can also contact Wiley Product Technical Support at www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Part I

Establishing a Prezi Mindset

In this part . . .

Welcome to the No-Slide Zone. You’re entering a world where presentations are not all alike. Your audience will be delighted that you can entertain as well as inform them. That’s a potent combination. But what makes this application so different from other presentation applications? And what do you need to do to dazzle your audiences with Prezi? The answers to these questions follow.

In Chapter 1, you see what you need to do to develop a Prezi mindset. You find out why Prezi is so different and how you can use it in a number of different ways. In Chapter 2, you create your first prezi and see what all the fuss is about. Fasten your seatbelt!

Chapter 1

Getting Started with Prezi

In This Chapter

Understanding the Prezi paradigm

Presenting without slides

Discovering unique uses for Prezi

Picking the right plan

Welcome to a new way of presenting. Hopefully Prezi can inspire you to think differently about your next presentation. Prezi can take your slide-driven talks in a whole new direction. Part of the appeal of Prezi is its totally unique way of presenting ideas. But it’s more than that: It’s a way to free yourself from the boundaries of time and space. Does that sound magical? I hope so. Your journey into Prezi will be exciting.

Unlike more conventional presentation applications, Prezi gives you the tools to work in several dimensions at once to wow a formerly bored audience. When you see how to traverse layers and zoom around, you’ll see what I mean.

In this chapter, I introduce you to a new presentation paradigm. And the price is right. You can start with the free version and decide where to go from there. Prezi is also hosted online so everything is just a little bit easier. The key to getting comfortable with Prezi is to jump right in and experiment.

Evolving Presentations

If you were unlucky enough to attend a business presentation before the mid-1980s, you saw a person standing in the front of the room, clicking through 35mm slides in a carousel or you saw a person slapping transparencies on an overhead projector.

Unfortunately, these presentations usually required a darkened room, which was a recipe for disaster. When the lights came back on, you’d see a bunch of bleary-eyed colleagues pretending they were awake the whole time. Of course, no one was fooled — or persuaded.

When computers came on the scene, there was some relief. Professional-looking graphics could be created without a camera or an extensive art department. People could show presentations as they had before, but now the slides were digital.

For 20 years, this method has prevailed. Some people are very comfortable with it and don’t plan to try anything new. Others, though, see room for alternatives. They want something that adds a more visual way of telling a story.

Enter Prezi. It provides something that the other presentation software applications don’t: movement. When you watch a prezi for the first time, you’re struck by the fact that your screen has layers. You can zoom into them and out again to explore the canvas. And you can put it on Autoplay and let it roll. That’s when the fun begins.

Finding Out Just What Prezi Is

Prezi describes itself as a digital storytelling tool. This is a deceptively simple description. To understand the difference between Prezi and other presentation tools, you need to look at the difference between a process and its content.

Most slide programs dictate a process. They’re set up to organize material for a presenter to talk about in a linear fashion, which is great for the presenter but not always great for the audience. Prezi, on the other hand, uses content to create a story line. With Prezi, the organization of the material doesn’t dictate a particular process — the story does.

Just like any tool, you have to figure out how to make Prezi work for you. It’s easy to use, however, and when you get rolling, you’ll probably prefer it to other presentation software. But you’ll have to open your mind to a different way of thinking about what goes into presenting.

First and foremost, Prezi helps you tell a persuasive story that can change people’s minds. With Prezi, your only limitation is the amount of time you have to spend on creating something unique.

Breaking the slide barrier

Can you imagine creating a presentation that doesn’t include slides? Up until now, you likely couldn’t. Breaking your addiction to information in rectangular bullet lists is going to be key to using Prezi. If you think I’m kidding, I’m not. When you first try Prezi, your impulse may be to try to put all your information into the built-in Frame tool (brackets, circles, and rectangles) and show them one by one like a slide show. Resist this urge!

What if directors had taken the new medium of TV as an opportunity to show people reading radio scripts at a microphone? At first, this might have been acceptable, but eventually people would have started to balk, because this approach didn’t take advantage of the visual medium that television is. The medium of television meant that storytellers no longer had to just tell, they had to show as well. That’s what Prezi lets you do.

With Prezi, you need to use the visual medium and the ability to zoom in and out — not make it fit an old paradigm. You need to think differently about how things are displayed and discussed. When you get comfortable with it, though, this new paradigm will spur your creativity. Don’t be afraid to put anything on the canvas and play with it. Your results will be better, and your audience will thank you for it.

One of the best ways to retrain your eye is to look in the Prezi Explore tab and see what others have done. You’ll begin to notice how some people try to experiment with new ideas and others just try to re-create a slide motif. When you recognize this, you’ll be able to avoid it.

Getting to know the Prezi menu

The Prezi Bubble menu is the heart of the application. In keeping with Prezi’s uniqueness, it doesn’t look like the ordinary Windows-style menu. It’s called a Bubble menu because each menu choice is a circle that looks something like a bubble. The main menu consists of one major center bubble with five smaller bubbles around it. (See Figure 1-1.)

All the action takes place here. Using these command bubbles, you can create anything you can imagine. In Chapter 3, the menu is presented in complete detail. Here I list the main bubbles and their functions.

The menu consists of the following bubbles:

Write bubble: This is where you can add and format text.

Transformation Zebra: Located in the Write bubble. It allows you to move, resize, and rotate any object you upload to the canvas.

Insert bubble: The submenu includes Load Files and Shapes bubbles.

Frame bubble: The submenu offers you Bracket, Circle, Rectangle, and Hidden Frame bubbles.

Path bubble: Here you find the 1-2-3 Add, Capture View, and Delete All bubbles.

Colors and Fonts bubble: Here you select the style for your prezi. It includes several choices of colors and fonts.

Show bubble: This is the mode from which you present. When the prezi is in Show mode, the Bubble menu recedes, and the canvas lines are removed. From here you can set timing intervals and Autoplay, manually zoom in and zoom out and expand to use the full screen.

It doesn’t take long to understand how to use the menu. Just dive right in and experiment. You can’t break anything. Nothing is irreversible. All you need to do is click the Undo link in the upper-right corner if you don’t like something.

Publishing online

Prezi wants to make it easy for you to distinguish between Prezi, which is the company name, and prezi, which is a presentation created with Prezi. This capitalization convention is used throughout the book. Prezi is hosted online, so publishing your prezi is very easy. Your options are dependent upon which license you have. If you have the Free license, your prezi is automatically published (made public) and appears in the Explore tab.

If you have the Enjoy or Pro license, you can decide when or whether you want to make your prezi public. To put it in the Explore tab to share with others, you must make it public. (See Figure 1-2.)

Figure 1-1: Prezi Bubble menu.

Figure 1-2: A public URL for your prezi.

Working offline with Prezi Desktop

With Prezi Desktop, you can work on your desktop without worrying about staying connected. No Internet today? No problem. (See Figure 1-3.)

Using the Desktop software offers you several benefits, including the following:

You can work offline anywhere without an Internet connection.

You aren’t limited by the designated online space for your account. You’re only limited by your hard disk.

It provides an extra layer of security because you can work offline and then upload your Prezi online or do the opposite, so that you have a duplicate in another place.

The Prezi Desktop is available to subscribers with Pro or Edu Pro licenses. The Bubble menu works exactly like the online application, so there’s no learning curve. After you download the application to your desktop, you can quickly get started. At the opening screen, you can see both your online and offline prezis on the desktop if you log in. If not, you only see the prezis you have on your hard drive. The available prezis look like sticky notes. When you open one by clicking it, you see the familiar Bubble menu.

Figure 1-3: The Prezi Desktop before you open a prezi.

Understanding what Prezi is not

Because Prezi looks different and changes well-worn presentation paths, some people may have some misconceptions about using it.

Before you get started, you should be aware that Prezi is not the following:

A way to reuse slide presentations as-is: You can take a slide presentation and just convert it to a prezi, but the end result is just boring. Some have tried, all have failed.

A program that requires design skills: There’s no need for design skills. You can use any kind of graphics that suit your presentation, and you can show the big picture and the details at the same time. Prezi offers a Smart Zooming feature so that the best way to zoom is predetermined. No algorithms need to be harmed in the process of creating your prezi.

Like any other presentation software: Because Prezi developers threw out the slide motif on day one, you need to rethink how you present. Don’t worry; it will be fun. It will spur your creative thinking.

A way to make weak art look good: No software program is going to make that smiling-bear-holding-a-sign clipart look right in your presentation. On the other hand, if you have good visuals, you can use them in ways you haven’t done before.

Only for presentations: There are lots of other uses for Prezi, including Mind Mapping, note-taking, and sharing information such as photos and recipes. When you see what Prezi can do, you’ll find your own favorites.

Signing Up and Picking the Right Plan for You

Prezi offers five subscriber options, so you can pick the one that works for you: Free, Enjoy, Pro, Edu Enjoy, and Edu Pro. All the plans allow you to create a Prezi online and download it to present offline. If you’re just experimenting, the free 30-day trial may be the right choice to start. When you see how much online storage space you think you’ll need and how you’ll use it, you can choose either the Enjoy or Pro plans. The available plans are as follows (see Figure 1-4):

The Free plan: The Free plan allows you to create and edit prezis online. You get 100MB of free storage space and you can present a downloaded prezi offline. On the flip side, you can’t make content private or remove the Prezi watermark. If you don’t have the need for large storage or private prezis, then this might be the choice for you.

Enjoy: Cost $59 annual fee; 30-day free trial. The Enjoy plan gives you 500MB of online storage space to use for your prezis. When you present, you don’t see the Prezi watermark on the left side of the screen like you would if you had the Free plan. Your prezis remain private unless you make them public.

You can share a public or private prezi. Using the Get link or Share downward arrow, you can send an e-mail via Prezi with a link to the prezi.

Pro: Cost $159 annual fee; 30-day free trial. The Pro plan gives you 2,000MB of online storage space. When you present, you don’t see the Prezi watermark. With this plan, your prezis remain private unless you make them public.

Edu Enjoy and Edu Pro: Prezi is becoming hugely popular in the classroom. Teachers want to be able to use the software and have their students use it as well. Prezi recognized that educators were not able to afford the program for themselves and their students, so Prezi created separate educational plans. Teachers and students who request and qualify have the option of using the Edu Enjoy Plan (500MB of online storage) for free or the Edu Pro plan (2,000MB of online storage) for $59 annually. Nonprofits that request and qualify for the Edu Enjoy plan may also access the Edu plans.

If you choose to cancel your account, you’ll be able to show the prezis you’ve already created if you leave your account open. This means that you won’t lose the work you’ve completed. But you won’t be able to create or edit new ones unless you sign up for a new free account.

Figure 1-4: Prezi plans.

Technical requirements

To use Prezi, your computer must have the following:

Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher: You don’t need a Flash Player installed on your computer, but you do need to be able to run it online.

Minimum 1GB memory.

A mouse or touchpad.

You must have one of the following operating systems to use Prezi Desktop or Prezi.com:

Windows: XP, Vista, 7

Mac: OS X

Meeting Prezi’s public face

When you go to Prezi.com (http://prezi.com), you find three tabs in the upper-left corner of the site. They are Your Prezis, Learn, and Explore. Before you sign up, the Home tab shows you the features and benefits of Prezi. After you sign up, the Home tab changes to the Your Prezis tab

The following content is found on each of the tabs (see Figure 1-5):

Your Prezis: After you sign up, the Home tab becomes the Your Prezis tab, and this is where you access all the prezis you create. In this tab you see all your prezis laid out for you. You can also sort your prezis by title or by last opened. You can display this sort by all, those owned by you, or those shared with you.

Learn: There are three columns on this page where all the e-learning content is located. In the first column, you see the Prezi Academy where you can find Basic, Advanced, and Expert lessons. Next you see the Live from Prezi Universe column where you find tips, ideas, and updates from Prezi. The third column is where you find a link to the manual and links to the different Prezi tech support sites.

Explore: This area is a great resource. Here you can find all the prezis that have been created by those with Free licenses. You can also find prezis that have been made public for the purpose of sharing them with others. People may also designate their prezis as Reusable so that you can use them as a foundation to build your own prezi. The Explore area is searchable by topic and whether or not it is reusable.

Figure 1-5: Prezi content tabs.

Changing the Way You Present with Prezi

If you’re comfortable with a presentation process that can’t be varied, then Prezi is not for you. Prezi gives you options. Options can be scary, but only until you try out a few. Then they can be liberating.

Comparing Prezi to traditional, slide-based programs is like comparing a large digital whiteboard to a deck of cards. On the whiteboard everything is laid out before you. No content is hidden. With the deck of cards you need to go card by card to see the content.

Imagine starting a slide presentation with slide number five and then zipping back to one and then out to ten. The audience would be frustrated for two reasons: first because the information is out of order, and second because moving back and forth seamlessly is clumsy and awkward. I’m sure you’ve seen a presenter scanning back and forth, frantically trying to find information on a slide near the beginning. It’s not pretty.

With Prezi, you avoid this problem completely. All your data is available to you on one canvas. If you want to speak about something, you can access your presentation content like you would on a whiteboard: You point at it. It’s all there to see at once. If you want to tell the story in a different way to each audience, you don’t need to reorder anything. You just follow the story in a different way.

Telling your story

Fiction writers have it much easier than business writers when they want to plot a story, or so some people think. They can make up anything they want and let the story take them anywhere they want to go. When it comes to telling a business story, however, there are constraints based on facts, figures, and outcomes. But is this really such a limiting factor?

Actually, it’s not, if you think about it differently. You aren’t trying to make up a story. Your job is to tell one that already exists. Your job is different. You need to take the ideas you want to convey and weave them into a story that people can understand and relate to. This is covered more thoroughly in Chapter 8.

Take the following actions as you construct your story:

Look at the plots. You don’t need to get too complicated with your plotting for a business presentation. Luckily, you know how it turns out before you begin your presentation so that you can pace it effectively.

Decide who the hero is. Even in a business presentation, the hero is still important. You need to make the audience care about the outcome. That’s what the hero does. Remember, in this case the hero doesn’t have to be a person. It does have to resonate with the audience.

Figure out the hook. Every story needs a hook — the thing that makes people sit up and pay attention instead of texting their friends or looking for a great sushi restaurant in the neighborhood. If you don’t supply one, don’t wonder why your audience can’t seem to settle down and listen at the beginning.

Figure out the sequence of events. Prezi gives you the opportunity to create a story line and set a Path to follow. Creating a story line makes your presentation stronger. You can also ensure that people can see the content in the order you intended if you’re not present by having them set specific timing intervals you suggest.

Planning differently

Even if you’re a die-hard keyboard user, I recommend that you plan your first prezi using a pencil and paper or other sketching medium. Prezi presents you with options that require you to think in ways you haven’t before. To do this effectively, you need to think and draw first.

For example, your first prezi might include the following planning sequence:

1. After your story is created as described in the preceding section, decide what you’ll use as your key phrases and text content.

2. Find and assemble the visuals that support your ideas. You determine what visuals you already have, what you need to create, or what you need to purchase.

3. Figure out how to place these visuals on the digital canvas in a way that provides meaning just by looking at it. Should you use a metaphor? What about using a familiar pattern that relates to the content?

Because you want to show both the big picture and the details, a random arrangement without grouping will be inefficient.

4. Figure out what order you want the content to be viewed in and how to zoom in and out to reach that content.

You can see how planning on paper would support this process more easily. When you get the hang of it, you may want to work directly online.

Thinking visually

When you creating a prezi, you translate some of your ideas and concepts into visuals. Thankfully, prezis don’t lend themselves to heavy text passages and ponderous bullet lists. There are built-in design tools that Prezi provides to help you break down the text into more easily digested pieces.

Throughout this book, I also talk about how to use visuals that you create with other software programs or find from outside sources. I list the acceptable formats in the next section.

The visuals themselves might include the following:

Story illustrations

Word art

Custom designed keywords and phrases

Metaphors

Mind Maps

Flow charts, graphs, statistics

Maps and timelines

Personas

Photos and stock images

Hand-drawn images (see Figure 1-6)

Animation, video with audio

Scrapbooking material

Representing movement using layering

When you lay your elements on the Prezi canvas, you can focus on it using three built-in movements: You can zoom in, zoom out, and rotate it. Think about how different this is than just placing a static image on the screen. (See Figure 1-7.)