Given the opportunity to design a presentation, most of us might respond with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks.” This is understandable knowing what typically comes to mind are bulleted talking points, crude diagrams, org charts…and PowerPoint. We all love to hate it, especially designers. A PowerPoint presentation done right, however, can capture the audience and be memorable –- it’s just that you have to leverage its strengths, have deep content, a good script, and a presenter who is comfortable in front of a large audience and able to engage the audience.

Now let’s say you have all of the ingredients for a successful presentation. Wouldn’t it be nice to design it with the same level of creativity, cutting–edge technology, and attention to detail that goes into other online and print communications? Meet Keynote, the Mac-based presentation software. Keynote enables presentations to be designed and produced with a level of slickness and sophistication that most will find difficult to achieve with PowerPoint. 

Here’s a good example: We recently designed a keynote presentation titled “Molecular Medicine and Beyond,” for Greg Lucier, Chairman and CEO of Life Technologies. Greg was one of several speakers at the TEDMED conference in San Diego, which is an annual gathering of some of the most brilliant minds in the medical and healthcare fields.

In wide screen format, the presentation served as a visual backdrop while Greg talked about the potential of molecular medicine and ways in which Life Technologies is helping to improve the human condition. The presentation begins with two short videos: The first represents the current limitations of cancer treatment, and the second represents a paradigm shift, where cancer is understood at the molecular level.

Other graphic elements including several 3D animations produced by Boston-based Digizyme, Inc., as well as a variety of high-impact image builds, supported Greg’s discussion in areas such as DNA sequencing, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, and bio-engineering. In Keynote, the graphic elements were integrated seamlessly allowing for a natural flow throughout sections of the presentation.

Call me crazy, but designing a presentation can actually be enjoyable. And this is coming from a designer. The end result was a hit, and recognized by several conference attendees as one of the best presentations at TEDMED.