The following guest post is by Adam Tratt of Haiku Deck, the new iPad app that makes it easy to create great-looking presentations. You can reach him at founders@haikudeck.com or on Twitter at @adamtr.
When we first connected with the Dragonfly Effect team, we found that we have a number of shared passions, from design thinking to powerful storytelling.
We were also inspired by their crisp, memorable model–so much so that we created this Haiku Deck to illustrate the key Dragonfly Effect principles.
As we kicked ideas back and forth, it occurred to us that like The Dragonfly Effect itself, in the hands of a determined person, our app will help anyone who wants to get a compelling story airborne. Here’s our take on how Haiku Deck supports Dragonfly’s four wings.
FOCUS
Most presentation experts recommend focusing on one idea per slide, and Haiku Deck helps you do just that. Each slide you create has a maximum of two lines of text, forcing you to distill your message down to a handful of high-impact words. Focusing attention on a single concept instead of cramming slides full of bullets helps each idea stand out. Because when everything’s important, nothing’s important.
GRAB ATTENTION
Brain research and real human experience show that images grab our attention, speak to our emotions, and make meaning real more than plain text or data. Happily, there’s a treasure trove of over 35 million beautiful, Creative Commons licensed images out there, which we’ve made easily searchable right from the app. Our intent is to help you find the perfect backdrop for your words to really bring your stories to life.
ENGAGE
We believe that visual presentations (like the ones Jennifer and Andy do) allow you to be less scripted and more authentic, freeing up the underlying story in your deck for a more meaningful connection with your audience. We also love how the iPad with its portability and beautiful screen allows you to create and share stories in a less formal, more spontaneous way.
TAKE ACTION
Like the Dragonfly Effect team, we want to help your great ideas and stories fly into action! And when you tell your story well, the people who see it will want to not just sign up, but sign on and help drive your effort forward. Fast, easy sharing via email, social networks, and blog embedding helps stories spread, and we believe Haiku Deck can complement these channels to make your calls to action more memorable and thus more powerful. Here’s ours:
After all, we do need your help–we’re really trying to change the way people feel about creating, giving, and listening to presentations. We’d love for you to give Haiku Deck a try, use it to tell your story, and above all, let us know what you think and how we can make it better. Just drop us a line any time at founders@haikudeck.com. If we can help your ideas take flight, we’re doing what we set out to do.
For more inspiration and updates, you can visit our website, join our Facebook community, and find us on Twitter (@HaikuDeck). And big thanks to Andy and Jennifer for inviting us to guest post!