Creating your visual aids

Prezi Frames – should you use circles?

When designing a Prezi, the frames you use are important, as they are not only part of the structure of your presentation, they affect how it looks and even how you use it.

no to circular frames

If you are trying to move away from the traditional PowerPoint look, you may be tempted to use the Prezi circular frames. Although we recommend Prezi, we don’t recommend circular frames. Here’s why:

Our reasons for not using circular Prezi frames

Nearly all presentations are presented on a 16:9 or a 4:3 rectangular screen. By using a circular frame you immediately limit the use of space, rather than optimising the area your audience will see.

Imagine drawing a circle over this blog post, within the screen, and what effect it would have on what you could see and how it would look. It has the same effect in Prezi. When using circular frames, you compromise the space available to insert your text and images, leading you to try and ‘squeeze in’ content, or arrange it at awkward angles. This isn’t great news for your audience, or the effectiveness of your presentation!

There are better ways to make a stand out Prezi, than using circular frames. Think about interesting ways to plan your presentation, and use Prezi’s dynamic features without the circular frame. In our experience, it’s much more important to have a presentation which is individual and memorable because it is a great presentation and linked to you and your message. By using circular frames, your presentation identity is automatically linked to Prezi, and can have that ‘seen it, done it’ feel to it. A cliche.

What to do instead

Choose frames to complement your presentation and message, not detract from it. All the non-circular frames are useful to help you maximise impact and focus, and the invisible frames are great for keeping your presentation looking individual.

We aren’t saying not to use circles in your presentation! Do add circles, but remember to put them inside a bracket, rectangle or invisible frame to achieve the best results on screen.

If you haven’t given Prezi a go yet, you can get started at Prezi.com

 

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