Several years ago, I saw a presentation at a conference in which the presenter used web pages in a browser instead of Powerpoint (or any of its kin).
It was a nice idea but didn’t do many of the things I need a presentation to do-mainly, work with a wireless remote, but also do builds and other effects we take for granted when using traditional presentation software.
That’s why I was so intrigued when I read about S5, a set of templates in a directory structure that lets you use HTML and your browser to create presentations
S5 stands for Simple, Standards-based Slide Show System. It’s from Eric Meyer, the CSS guru (I have a couple of his books). I took a look at the brief presentation Meyer created and after seeing how well it worked-coupled with a positive notice from MasterViews-I was impressed enough to download it and give it a try.
There are a few drawbacks I can think of that have nothing to do with the S5’s capabilities. Some of the companies where I deliver presentations ask for the file so they can put a print-out into binders. It’s easy to send them the PowerPoint (or a PDF of the PowerPoint). I’m not sure yet how I’d do that with S5. But this is an application in its infancy, and that’s a problem that could be addressed down the road.
In the meantime, I’m pleased with how it’s going so far. Right now, I’m working out how to switch themes from among the four that are available so far. I have a couple presentations coming up, and I’ll probably try one of them using S5.
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.
As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.
