I forgot to blog this when it happened, but consider it a historical pointer. SlideShare ran the “World’s Best Presentation Contest.” Winners are here.  My primary comment is that I hope these are not, in fact, the world’s best presentations. Not to be a downer.
The winners are all extremely strong as examples of graphic design and layout. And that’s great, but that’s not the same thing as a great presentation.  In many cases, the stunning visuals aren’t used in the service of a sticky idea. The visuals aren’t used to make ideas concrete, they’re simply adding decoration. For instance, check out the presentation for the Sustainable Food Lab. This is a great example of a feel-good presentation — anyone who watches it will say, “Wow, that was cool.” And a week later, no one will remember anything about it.  There’s no focus, there’s no sharp unexpected hook to call us to attention, there’s no story. I wish it were stickier — it’s a great cause.
To add a dash of unexpected perhaps the best slide share is not to share slides and to make your point with stories while PowerPoint is not a program, power point is the point of real connection between you and the audience.
Dan — I love the book and can’t wait for the Marketing Profs Book Club to start up!
To this point, have you considered creating your own contest using SlideShare for people to create “The world’s most sticky presentation” using your points in the book? I think it would be an exciting challenge that I for one would love to take part in.
Keep up the great work!
Matt, you’ve inspired me. The wheels are turning. I’d love to motivate people to tackle a big idea challenge of some kind, using the principles of stickiness … how to educate the public about a health issue? Or to explain the basics about the warring factions in Iraq? Let me ponder this one — and others please chime in if you have brainstorms! If we get this right, we could do something powerful.
Interview with Slideshare founder Jon Boutelle.Jon Boutelle was born in Boston and grew up on a farm in Massachusetts. A degree holder in Psychology from the Brown University, RI, he along with Rashmi Sinha and Amit Ranjan have been on the helm of SlideShare along with the rest of the team based in Delhi and the US.
Read more about it at http://www.loscreador.com/2007/06/16/interview-with-slideshare-founder-jon-boutelle/
I think Matt’s def. on to something, Dan. The presentations should be live, though, and not in “slide show” format. This is inherently limiting! I’m seeing the stickiest presentation having props! or a dance! or puppies! or something.