The age of the slide show.
Perhaps it started with “The Jobs’ Keynote,” (link to every Keynote 1996 – 2006 torrent) or maybe it was the infamous Doubletree Powerpoint posted above, or perhaps it was the Al Gore, Inconvenient Truth Keynote…
Whichever it was, I think it that the “Keynote” has, over the last few years, risen to a very prominent and central role in the communications arsenal. Of course, the presentation is intimately linked to the performance, and the power of the best performances is directly attributable to the power of the presenter. However, there are now so many ways for the slides themselves to be broadcast, distributed, and re-broadcast that they are now a legitimate candidate for a mass communications medium.
The slides from Slideshare’s “World’s Best Presentation” contest, created by Jeff Brenman, (who we just worked with and who is fantastic btw) has now been viewed by over 250K people. It has been downloaded over 27K times alone.
While these aren’t broadcast media numbers, the quality of the communication is much greater. Shift Happens is 67 slides long, it tells a rich, complex story – far more than is possible through most other forms of media and it has continued to help market Jeff’s company, Apollo Ideas, for 5 months and counting.
The best keynotes aren’t just communications, they are gifts. They educate and inspire. They are, in fact, perfect demonstrations or marketing as a service.
Here’s Mashable’s useful and comprehensive list of the 30+ presentation hosting and creation tools. Enjoy.