Prezi

The guys over at TED.com just published another great prezi from TEDGlobal conference organized back in July 2009 in Oxford. We are very happy to introduce the video recording and embedded prezi of writer and aphorism expert James Geary, who used our tool to visualize his interesting topic about the influence of metaphors on our thinking. James also kindly accepted our request to share his thoughts about Prezi and give some advices on how to deliver a successful presentation. Check the interview and James' embedded prezi after the jump!

James, Thanks for choosing Prezi for your talk at TEDGlobal conference.
Why have you decided to switch to Prezi?

When I was invited to give my TED talk, I was also invited to use this new software called Prezi to illustrate it. I had never heard of Prezi before, so decided to check it out. One look was enough to convince me that Prezi was perfect for my TED presentation. My talk is all about metaphor, and how the power of association—the metaphorical linking of one thing with another—is behind so much of our thinking. The fluidity of Prezi, the ability to flow quickly and smoothly from one image to another, matched the subject of my talk perfectly, so I was very excited to be able to use it.

For you, what is the main difference between Prezi and other presentation tools?  

 We do not think or talk statically; that is, we don't move rigidly from one frame to the next. Instead, we leap around a lot, swiftly moving from one subject to another as ideas and images occur to us. So using Prezi is a lot like thinking; it's very intuitive. It enables your images to leap right along with your thoughts.

Metaphors are all about relations. How did Prezi’s approach help you to visualize your points and goals?

Most metaphors are highly visual, so it's very easy to see a picture in your mind when you hear a metaphor. One of the things I wanted to do in my talk was to explore the metaphors in the Elvis Presley song 'All Shook Up.' It was a lot of fun to place images side by side with the lyrics of the song. It also was crucial to show visually how powerful metaphors are. We are so used to hearing metaphors that we seldom stop to think about them, so when you see an erupting volcano next to the lines 'Her lips were like a volcano that's hot' it refreshes both the lyrics and the image. It was great to see how the words and the images could work so seamlessly together. I have to say, though, that I had a lot of expert help from Adam Somlai-Fischer, Prezi's founder and director of design, in preparing my talk. I had a lot of ideas for visualization, but Adam really helped me put them together coherently.

How do you think Prezi affects the audience’s understanding?  

 I'm sure Prezi increased the audience's understanding and appreciation of the talk because afterwards, I had lots of inquiries from people who wanted to know what software I was using!

What would you suggest to new Prezi authors, what are your key considerations when building a public talk?

I might be a temptation to just go for big effects. But I think a really good talk is one where you can't really tell where the talking stops and the imagery begins, both are so tightly integrated. The images or slides for some talks can often be mere repetitions of what the person is saying. But Prezi is so smart and so supple that it allows you to really use the imagery as an added dimension, enabling talks to deliver even more information and—just as importantly—entertainment.

Quick facts: James's prezi only took a couple of days to create. Working in cooperation, we used images from Flickr.com where we searched for commercially reusable images, and put the credits of the photographers on the pictures. This is a fast and easy way to add nice images to your prezis.