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Presentation Experts And iPads

Presentation Experts And iPads

Published on
May 16, 2016

Is presentation design and delivery achievable on an iPad?

The new iPad mini having just been released, we felt it would be a good time to discuss the validity of the iPad and iPad mini for presentation purposes. With more clients every day asking us to create presentations for their tablets, is it possible to imagine a complete shift of presentation hardware towards tablets? Are tablets appropriate for every type of presentation and presenter? What are the design limitations of working on iPads for PowerPoint designers?

There are two fundamental topics to look at when deciding to switch your presentations to iPad: Presentation design and delivery.

Will you be able to design the same presentations you are used to or will you need to adapt? How will you deliver your presentation from an iPad?

Stick to Keynote if you can

If your presentation is already in Keynote or on PowerPoint but you are willing to take the plunge towards the Mac presentation tool, then Keynote for iPad will be your best ally. The software itself is very cheap, a whopping $10, and is almost as powerful as the desktop version for presentation delivery. All your designs, text content, imagery, video and sounds should be kept intact when imported to the iPad. Unfortunately Apple left out a few animations and transitions as well as a selected list of fonts. In most cases we are able to work around these minor setbacks by converting the selected text into images to maintain original fonts (in the event that your font is not compatible with Keynote for iPad).

The iPad version of Keynote will be more problematic for content creation. Though Apple did a great job at making the app user-friendly and quite powerful for the small screen, there is not a single time where we recommended clients to create presentation within Keynote iPad. For the sake of it we tried once, but ended up spending 5x more time than on the desktop version, with an underwhelming result. On the other hand, the app has proven to be very handy for last minute adjustments, such as text edits, image positioning and data adjustments in graphics and charts.

There is some stigma with making the move towards Keynote. Many of you are unfamiliar with the desktop software or are simply not working with Macs at the office and fear the presentation will be stuck on the iPad. Though there are definitely some drawbacks to working on Keynote for non-mac users, we typically provide a PDF copy of the presentation and can also accommodate you with an animated video of the presentation which will be triggered by clicks on each slide, just like the original presentation. With these powerful complements you will be able to share your shiny new presentation with clients and prospects.

PowerPoint on iPad just got better

that works in tandem with their software. It’s important to note that while their PowerPoint viewer app is free, Brainshark will charge you to upload presentations on their website.

To get your presentation on iPad you will need to upload it on the Brainshark website where it will synchronize with your iPad within minutes. You’ll be able to make some minor edits on the Brainshark platform, but the real power of Sharkslide is its ability to play your PowerPoint with its full range of animations and transitions. There is no loss with using their tool, which is a first with iPad PowerPoint viewers. The app also lets you navigate to selected slides, auto-play the presentations, time the transitions and much more. The following video gives you a quick overview of these features.

 

Delivering your presentations from an iPad

If you are doing a sales presentation with your iPad, chances are you are presenting to no more than two people, and most likely to only one. We have found that when presenting to a single person, the iPad should be used as the visual support instead of using a screen or projector. Enabling your prospect to handle the iPad creates an automatic connection with them. Having to keep yourself close to them also helps create this connection and break barriers that could be created from presenting from across a table. As much as you can, use the iPad as your principal screen; you will automatically feel the impact of breaking the distance barrier.

If your audience is bigger and you are presenting for a product launch or any other internal or external communication you may want to stay away from presenting directly from your iPad, unless you feel that walking around to each and every individual in your audience will help build connections with them :). We recommend pairing the iPad with a projector or a large screen. If you are in a boardroom or amphitheater and there are VGA or HDMI plugs where you can plug your laptop use these to plug your iPad. You will need to buy a VGA or HDMI adapter to plug in the iPad. Make sure your iPad is fully charged as you won’t be able to plug it into a power source as you are presenting.

If the room is larger or not equipped with a reachable VGA cable you will need to pair your iPad with an Apple TV plugged into the screen or projector which will enable you to mirror the iPad’s content onto the screen wirelessly. The Apple TV is an additional $100 cost, but will easily be amortize when your audience is in awe with your technical skills, which are in fact very easily achievable. (see tutorial video below).

 
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Frequently Asked Questions

Working with Stinson: The Presentation Agency

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What exactly do presentation agencies do?

We provide all the help you may need to design presentations that achieve your goals. This can include content consulting, presentation slide design, custom icons and illustrations, and presentation handouts—ultimately, our team of PowerPoint designers and consultants develop a comprehensive presentation solution that meets your specific needs.

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Why do companies work with presentation agencies?

Consider how much time you (or your team) spend making PowerPoint presentations for meetings. Think about the back and forth over which fonts, colors, icons, and images to use. Is it okay to use bullet points? Did you use the right brand colors? Does the slide look too crowded and busy? Or does it look too plain? How do you create the look and feel that you're picturing? After the design is done, do you have enough time to practice presenting?

As presentation experts, it is our second nature to understand your goals and work with you to create the professional PowerPoint deck that you envisioned. You can learn more about our 3-phase process here.

By leaving the presentation design to an agency like Stinson, you save yourself the time and worry over the look, feel, and progression of your presentation—we make your PowerPoint presentation-ready so that you can focus on the presentation delivery.

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Which presentation design service will I need?

As a presentation company, we offer every service you may need to develop your you may need to develop your PowerPoint—however, it's tough to say exactly which services of ours would benefit you the most without having chatted about your company, industry, and presentation uses.

We've generalized the scenarios that we regularly see and help our clients with. If your situation is similar to any of the below, then rest assured that our presentation experts have proven success in developing solutions.

  • You have an upcoming presentation with investors or clients. You feel your slide deck looks outdated or dull, and you don't know how to help it. You're also not sure if the content in your presentation conveys your value. View our case study where our presentation development and content consulting services helped our client achieve their investor funding goals.
  • Your company has regular internal department presentations. Everyone works on their respective slides, which are then combined into one presentation deck. The resulting PowerPoint does not have a cohesive look and somehow, there are five new shades of your corporate colors. We can help you identify your common slide layouts and design easy-to-use custom PowerPoint templates so your team members can create seamless, unified slides.
  • Your company has a great PowerPoint template that strongly reflects your branding, but your team tends to include too much text and irrelevant images on their slides. During the presentation, key messages are lost. We offer presentation training for exactly this—we'll train your team to create better slides more efficiently.

Expectations when working with us

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How does partnering with a PowerPoint designer work?

Once you contact us, we'll meet with you and ask for as much context as possible regarding the project: what materials you already have, who is presenting, who is the audience, and so on—this is our Discover phase. From there, we move onto Develop and Design where we start defining the narrative and visual characteristics of your new presentation. For more details, please read our process.

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How long do projects take?

Our standard turnaround for presentation development is 2–4 weeks; for custom presentation templates, our typical turnaround is 3–6 weeks. We know this is a wide range, but due to the collaborative nature of our presentation design process (i.e. asking for and incorporating your feedback), our turnaround time also relies on your responsiveness and availability. We do offer a rush service if your timelines are short.

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How much does a presentation design cost?

We price on a project-by-project basis, involving a number of key factors outlined in our pricing model. However, we do require a minimum project cost of $1,500.

We often see companies that do not have budget allocations for presentation design and are hesitant to make the initial investment. We understand—at first, it can be difficult to see the value and difference a well-designed, practical presentation can make. For our clients that started in this situation, we worked on a smaller pilot test project; when they saw the positive ROI of the presentation, they were able to secure larger budgets and found more presentations that needed our help.

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What are the final files that I will receive?

All of our final PowerPoint (or other presentation software) deliverables are shared with you in its native, editable file format. We are also able to provide a PDF or video version of your presentation if you would like.

Any presentation collateral we design for your project is shared as a ready-to-print PDF, unless if you specify a different preference.

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Have you worked with other clients in my industry? Can you share related samples?

Our list of clients spans a wide range of industries, some of which we hadn't known of prior to the client's project. Since our approach involves familiarizing ourselves with the client's business and industry, we've become a team of jacks-of-all-trades for industry knowledge.

We're able to share blinded, industry-specific samples of presentations that our clients have consented to. Contact us if you're interested!

Technology

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Aside from PowerPoint, do you work in Google Slides? Keynote? Prezi?

Yes! While we prefer designing PowerPoint presentations due to its robust features that let us create advanced designs, we've created custom presentation designs in Google Slides and Keynote at our clients' request.

We generally do not design presentations in Prezi since it does not support the level of design customization that we need for our clients. Instead, we use PowerPoint to create the same animations and layouts that are characteristic of Prezi presentations—you can view examples in our portfolio.

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Will we run into issues if we use Mac and/or Windows PC?

There are some differences in functionality between PowerPoint for Mac and PowerPoint for Windows—but these are not for your concern! We use both Mac and Windows computers at Stinson, so we're able to ensure cross-device compatibility with every PowerPoint presentation we design. During our initial call with you, we'll ask you for these tech specs so that we know to bear them in mind when working on your project.

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Does it matter which version of PowerPoint we use?

Yes; the latest versions of PowerPoint have new functions and features that earlier versions of PowerPoint cannot load. We'll take note of your tech setup to ensure that our presentations for you run as intended.

Designing with branding

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How are you able to design with our company's brand?

If you have any brand guidelines, we ask you to provide them early on in the process so that we can familiarize ourselves not only with your logos, colors, and fonts, but the overarching brand tone. Our collaborative process includes rounds of revision for you to provide your feedback on the presentation design.

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Are you able to design within our very strict corporate brand guidelines?

Absolutely! Many of our clients are companies with well-established brand identities. We do our due diligence to maintain the integrity of their branding when designing their presentations and collateral.

Strict brand guidelines do not necessarily restrict the possibility of creating a sophisticated PowerPoint; our presentation designers thoughtfully use photos, animations, and other visuals to build the story.

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We don't have concrete branding yet or we're in the process of updating our brand. Can you work without defined brand elements?

Yes! When we work with clients who are still ironing out the details of their branding, we ask them to provide us any materials they have already and to share their design inspirations. From there, we lay out moodboards of different tones and styles to see which resonates the most with what our client has in mind.

Security

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We have highly sensitive information. Will my data remain confidential?

Absolutely—we respect the proprietary nature of businesses, and enforce a strict confidentiality policy company-wide. From the first point of contact with you, we assume a non-disclosure agreement (NDA); we are happy to sign your company's NDA as well.

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Where do you store my files and data?

All of our files are stored securely in an industry-leading content server. The server exceeds regulatory standards and encrypts each file using AES 256-bit encryption in diverse locations.

Additionally, the Stinson team works completely in-house, so your files will not cross borders.

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How secure is my data?

We take data security seriously. We enforce numerous internal policies and procedures to ensure that Stinson continues to meet compliance and security standards for data protection, including multi-factor authentication for all company accounts and access restrictions.

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