thewikiman

Update: the Prezi itself, below, was updated in May 2013 with some more tips, examples, FAQs, and also to cover the new Prezi interface.

I’ve been meaning to do this for ages, so here we go: a complete guide to the presentation software Prezi, from what it is and why to use it right up to advanced techniques for making your presentation absolutely killer.

Works best on full-screen, as ever.

I created this for a workshop next week in the library, so I was going to launch it then – but Prezi themselves have started promoting it via their Facebook presence and on their Explore page. (You should really check out the Explore page, some of the Prezis on there are amazing!) So seeing as it’s gone global already, I’ve brought things forward.

I created a hand-out for the workshop, which features screen-grabs of the nuts-and-bolts instructions on how to use Prezi, plus this basic overview for those completely new to it:

The basics

The basic principle of Prezi is to put objects on the canvas and link them together with a ‘path’. Your presentation will then consist of Prezi moving from object to object, zooming in on them in the order you’ve chosen.

Objects can be text boxes, images, youtube videos or graphics. You can write and structure your presentation exactly as you would a PowerPoint, or you can do something completely different.

Just click on the canvas anywhere to start adding stuff.

A typical process of creating a Prezi might consist of these stages:

1. Plan the structure and outline of the presentation
2. Add the text, plus any images / videos etc
3. Move them around and arrange them in a coherent order on the canvas
4. Plot the path between them in the order you want to use
5. Click ‘Show’ and watch the presentation back, then refine it if you need to
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If you found this guide useful, I’ve written a bunch of others to various things like twitter, blogging platforms, netvibes and so on – they can all be accessed here.

Happy presenting!

- thewikiman