#hdbestof2013

As the year draws to a close, we want to acknowledge and showcase the many amazing, inspiring decks that have been created by our community in 2013. We’ve selected ten categories, and each day beginning December 16th, we’ll reveal the five finalists in two of those categories.

Pure Wow

Over the course of the week, we’ve celebrated outstanding awesome idea sharing, business case studies, conference & event decks, bloggers, education case studies, creative hooks, how-to decks, “about me” decks, and inspiring presentations. This last set of five, to us, couldn’t be categorized in any other way besides pure wow.

1. Ink, by Paula Guinto

This is one of those visually stunning decks that we all gathered around and ooh’d and aah’d over. Ms P, a middle school teacher a gifted storyteller, recounts the story of her first tattoo, shares her first Instagram, and, through a powerful combination of beautiful, vivid words and images, urges us all to find our story, believe in it, and honor it.

Click to be wowed by Paula’s story, and share it with the hashtag #hdbestof2013 to cast your vote for the year’s best Pure Wow deck!

Ink: On Celebrating Our Stories 3.0 – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Visual Storytelling, by Ken Shelton

In this deservedly popular deck, Haiku Deck Guru Ken Shelton shares tips for engaging our most dominant sense through color, texture, perspective, and  composition. (This also has to be one of the most arresting cover images we’ve seen!) He also concisely illustrates the difference between effective and ineffective visual storytelling.
Click for a lightning lesson in bringing your story to life visually, and share it with the hashtag #hdbestof2013 to cast your vote for Ken Shelton’s Pure Wow!

Visual Storytelling – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

3. The Book of Play, Alex Smith

The Book of Play is a fun, colorful, precious reminder of the power and beauty of play — for all of us. (Actually, all for one and one for all!) We love how Alex interspersed his own images with Creative Commons ones, and even the Zissou subtitles (in mostly lowercase) feel playful and perfectly placed.
Click to see how play is a little push and a little pull, and share it with the hashtag #hdbestof2013 to cast your vote for The Book of Play!

The Book of Play – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
by Alex Smith

4. GlobalFootprints: A Travel Photography Project, by Tercia Goh

This is surely one of the most stylish, cohesive, gorgeous Haiku Decks that’s been created to date. A series of beautifully composed Instagram photos and a compelling visual motif take us on a trip around the world, inspiring us to collect moments, not things (though we are kind of smitten with all of those cool shoes, too).

Click to find out how to travel is to evolve, and share it with the hashtag #hdbestof2013 to cast your vote for the Pure Wow of GlobalFootprints!

Globalfootprints: A Travel Photography Project – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
by Tercia Goh

5. The New Mindset, by Simon McKenzie

Expertly weaving in references to Sir Ken Robinson and the SAMR model, Haiku Deck Guru Simon McKenzie makes a compelling case for professional disenthrallment, asking educators around the globe: what are you prepared to do this year?  Thank you, Simon, for advocating for the new mindset of innovation, student-led learning, and green schools so eloquently!

Click to master the New Mindset, and share it with the hashtag #hdbestof2013 to cast your vote for its Pure Wow power!

The New Mind Set – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires