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The New Corporate Template

Corporate Templates: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

To me, a corporate template is kind of like a pinstripe suit — professional and conservative, but (usually) not particularly exciting.

Most corporate templates are like a pinstripe suit: professional, but not exciting

Templates are like pinstripes: professional, but not particularly exciting

And let’s face it — the corporate template is as pervasive as bad PowerPoint in today’s business culture.

Nearly every company and brand has one, and in my role as Haiku Deck’s Chief Inspiration Officer, I’ve seen plenty of them — beautiful, bland, and downright hideous.

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This would fall into the latter category….

Now as a bona fide brand geek, I appreciate that there are plenty of great intentions behind most corporate templates — they keep brand expression consistent, they give presentations a cohesive, polished look, and (in most cases) they give presentation creators a leg up in terms of design, structure, and layout.

But I believe corporate templates also have a few drawbacks that are worth noting:

1. They take valuable space (and attention) away from the content being presented.

2. In the rush of presentation prep, slides from different templates are often combined into a single presentation, resulting in a mishmash instead of a polished whole.

3. Just like a presentation using endless header-and-bullet slides, corporate templates can set a tone of uniformity and, well, corporateness that subtly signals “This is going to be boring.” Especially in longer presentations, it gets monotonous.

Zooming out a bit, corporate templates do not exactly encourage creativity or inspiration on the part of the presenter, and I can’t help but feel that at some level they disrespect the intelligence of the audience. Putting a logo or a company name on every single slide seems to suggest that the audience is going to forget where they are, or who they’re talking to. It’s just overkill.

Putting a logo on every single slide seems to suggest that the audience is going to forget who they’re talking to.

Bottom line: It’s really only your company who cares about your company template.

A New Take on the Template

I love working with companies, large and small, to help them create beautifully branded Haiku Decks that loosen the tie, so to speak, on the typically stuffy corporate template.

Here’s one we created for our friends at OfficeNinjas:


The OfficeNinjas Story – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Here’s another example of a Haiku Deck that’s branded with a lighter touch:


Ideas that Stick – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

7 Strategies for a More Creative Corporate Template

You might not be able to abandon your corporate template wholesale, but perhaps you can experiment a bit. Here are my top tips to help you try out this new approach.

1. Try putting your logo on the first and last slides, not on every slide. (Tip: The new Haiku Deck logo layout is ideal for this.)


Haiku Deck: Startup Story – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
The new Haiku Deck logo slide layout makes this a snap[/caption]

2. Include boilerplate or legalese on one slide, not every slide.

3. Include your hashtag or Twitter handle at the beginning of your presentation (or sprinkle throughout), not on every slide.


Visual Storytelling with Haiku Deck – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
Include your hashtag at the beginning of your presentation, not on every slide[/caption]

4. Include your contact info at the end of your presentation, not (you guessed it) on every slide.

New corporate template: Sample contact info slide

Sample contact info slide to close a presentation

5. Instead of repeating slide headings, try using solid-color, standalone slides to introduce new topics or sections. (Tip: In Haiku Deck, you can now create solid-color backgrounds to match your brand colors using the new color picker.)

New corporate template: Sample section break slide

Try a solid-color section break slide instead of repeating slide headers

6. Use creative imagery to evoke or illustrate your brand — you don’t have to resort to logos alone. You can include images of actual products, people, places, or symbolic objects that relate to your brand or company.

For example, when I give talks about Haiku Deck, I prefer to represent our brand with beautiful images of colorful origami instead of showing our logo over and over again.


10 Tips to Transform Your Presentations – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires
Try using evocative imagery to express your brand in place of logos[/caption]

7. Experiment with choosing photographs and colorful backgrounds that showcase your brand colors in a more stimulating way.  If your company colors are, say, blue and green, try doing an image search for “blue green,” “blue green abstract,” or “blue green pattern.” (Tip: You can now match your brand’s colors exactly using custom color slide backgrounds.)

New Corporate Template: Using abstract colors

Try using abstract patterns in your brand colors for a creative twist

New corporate template: Using abstract patterns in brand colors

Your Turn

What ideas do you have for loosening the tie on the corporate template? We’d love to hear your thoughts and see your examples — feel free to share your creations at gallery@haikudeck.com.

More Helpful Resources

If you found this article helpful, you might enjoy these as well:

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide

1. Getting Started

Current Haiku Deck Users

If you’re already a Haiku Deck user, be sure to sign in to the iPhone App the same way you do for the iPad App or the Web App to access your Haiku Deck collection on your iPhone.

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide: Signing In

Sign in the same way you do on your iPad or on the website

New Haiku Deck Users

If you’re new to Haiku Deck, welcome! We’re thrilled to have you in our creative community. You can set up a free account with a tap using Facebook or Twitter, or enter your email and password. Be sure to make a note of how you signed in, so you can use the Haiku Deck Web App and enjoy the full Haiku Deck experience.

Read more about creating a Haiku Deck account.

Help

At any time, you can tap the Account icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner, then NEED HELP? to get a screen overlay with tips.

2. Browsing and Selecting Decks

Basic Navigation

Tap the orange selector at the top to switch between  FEATURED, POPULAR, MY DECKS, or HISTORY.

Scroll down to view all available decks as well as deck creator, number of slides, and views.

Tap any deck to open it for viewing.

Tap the share icon next to the deck view count to share it via email, Twitter, Facebook, or AirDrop.

Featured Decks

The Featured Decks are hand-curated by our team each week and cover a wide range of subjects. They’re a perfect source of inspiration and demonstrate a variety of ways you can use Haiku Deck.

Popular Decks

Popular Decks, also updated weekly, showcases frequently viewed and shared decks from our creative community.

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide

Browsing the week’s Popular Decks

My Decks

My Decks displays any decks you have created and published using the Haiku Deck iPad App or the Haiku Deck Web App. (Soon, you’ll be able to create new Haiku Decks right on your iPhone!)

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide: My Decks

Browsing My Decks

There will be no decks to view here if you haven’t created a Haiku Deck. (But you can fix that easily by signing in to the Haiku Deck Web App Beta and creating a quick deck!)

Screen Shot 2014-02-12 at 1.46.29 PM

History

History displays any other decks you have viewed using the iPhone App — for example, decks that have been shared with you via email, social media, or AirDrop. (There will be no decks to view here if you haven’t been sent a link to a deck.)

3. Viewing Decks

Displaying Notes

Hold your iPhone in portrait orientation (vertically) to view a deck that has Notes. (Read more about Public Notes and Private Notes.) If you’re presenting from your iPhone, you can use the Notes as a personal teleprompter — they will be visible only to you.

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide: Displaying Notes

Hold in portrait orientation to display notes

Swipe left or right to advance or go back.

Tap the Share icon to share via mail, Twitter, Facebook, or AirDrop.

Tap the CC logo to view the image credit and licensing information. (Learn more about Haiku Deck’s integrated Creative Commons image search.)

Tap the ? for a screen overlay with helpful tips.

Full-Screen Display

Hold in landscape orientation to view the slides in full-screen display.

Haiku Deck for iPhone User Guide: Full-screen display

Hold in landscape orientation for full-screen display

Swipe left or right to advance or go back.

4. Presenting a Deck

Using your iPhone as a remote with your iPad

If you are signed into the Haiku Deck app on your iPad and your iPhone, you can use your iPhone to control playback of any published decks on your iPad! Just make sure both devices are connected to the same wifi network or have bluetooth turned on, and that the deck you want to play is published (if it is, it will be visible on your iPhone), then tap the remote button in the top right corner of the iPhone app.

Remote button - iPhone app

The remote button in the top right allows you to control your iPad from your iPhone.

As long as you’re signed into the same account on both devices, you’ll be able to select your iPad from the menu that pops up. A pop up will appear in Haiku Deck on your iPad, so that you can accept or decline the connection. Then, just play any of your decks from your iPhone – and watch the magic happen!

Presenting to an AppleTV with Airplay

If you have an AppleTV on the same network as your iPhone, you can stream your deck wirelessly to play on the TV with Airplay, just like you can with the iPad. Simply swipe up from the bottom of your screen, and tap the Airplay button in the bottom right. Choose AppleTV in the menu that pops up, and viola! Click here for more info about streaming to an AppleTV.

Connecting to a Projector

You can also present while connected to a projector like you can with the iPad. Just find the appropriate adapter for your iOS device and projector, connect it to the projector, and play your deck. You can rotate your iPhone vertically to see your notes. If you run into any trouble, swipe upward from the bottom of your screen to check your orientation lock and mirroring settings in control center, or check out this article.

5. Troubleshooting

Missing decks on your iPhone?

You can tap the three horizontal lines in the top left corner of the iPhone app and choose IMPORT to prompt the app to check for any recently published decks. If it still doesn’t show up, make sure that it’s been published to the same account from the web or your iPad.

I can’t connect my iPhone as a remote.

Make sure that:

  • Your iPhone and iPad are on the same wifi network, or that they both have bluetooth enabled.
  • You have the latest version of Haiku Deck installed on both devices, by going to the App Store, and checking under the Updates tab.
  • The account you’re signed into on your iPad and iPhone is the same. If you haven’t signed out/back in on either recently, you may want to sign out and sign back in just to make sure you’re in the same account.
  • Your iPhone and iPad are both up to date. To check this, you can go to the Settings app, and choose General – Software Update.
  • If you’re on a public network, such as one in a hotel or conference hall, that you don’t have to agree to any terms and conditions in a web browser before utilizing the connection. To check this easily, just try to go to a website like haikudeck.com in your browser on both devices.

If you’re still stuck:

  • Swipe upward from the bottom of the screen, and turn on Airplane Mode on both devices. Then, turn it back off, make sure you’re connected to wifi and/or bluetooth, and try again.
  • Follow the steps in this article on both devices.
  • Drop us a line so we can help out!

I can’t start a new deck.

The ability to create decks on the iPhone is something we’re working on. It’s coming soon, but for the time being, you’ll want to download our free iPad app, or head to haikudeck.com to use our Web App beta.

The app isn’t acting as expected.

Follow the steps in this article and if that doesn’t help, drop us a line for speedy, personalized assistance!

 

Real Estate Marketing Inspiration – The Ultimate Resource List

Haiku Deck for Real Estate

Here’s a trend: Across the country, innovative, tech-savvy  agents and brokers are turning to Haiku Deck for real estate marketing inspiration. The mobile-first approach, focus on beautiful imagery, and speed with which standout presentations can be created seem to be an ideal fit with on-the-go, time-crunched real estate pros.


Real Estate Pros Talk Haiku Deck – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

We’ve seen creative real estate pros using Haiku Deck to land listings, market properties, demonstrate how they’re different, and build thought leadership (and business) — this resource list will help you work Haiku Deck into your own tech toolkit.

Step 1: Get Haiku Deck

  • Haiku Deck for iPad and iPad mini: You can download the free app here.
  • Other platforms: Click GET HAIKU DECK in the top right corner of this page. Add your email and the platform you’d like to request, and you’ll be among the first to try our Web App.

Step 2: Create a Haiku Deck Account

You can sign in with email, Facebook, or Twitter. Be sure to make a note of how you sign in, because you’ll need to sign in to the website the same way.

Step 3: Get to Know Haiku Deck

Here’s a quick video intro to Haiku Deck:

Meet Haiku Deck from Haiku Deck on Vimeo.

Ideas:

  • For inspiration, tap GALLERY to browse some popular and featured decks
  • Tap the + sign at the bottom to create a new deck
  • Try using the built-in keyword image search and using your own images (you can take them with the iPad camera, select from your camera roll, or import from Instagram, Dropbox, and other sources)
  • Try choosing a new theme to change the look of your deck
  • Try creating a pie chart or bar graph
  • Create a deck to introduce yourself
  • Create a list of favorite places or things to do in your neighborhood
  • Create a deck to capture your philosophy about real estate
  • Create a deck to present data about your market

Step 4: Explore More Features and Get Inspired 

Tutorials and Beginning Resources

Real Estate Marketing Inspiration: The Haiku Deck Way

Click to view the full Haiku Deck with Notes

Photos and Visuals

Just type a few words, find a matching (free) Creative Commons licensed photo, and apply stylish formatting with a couple of taps. The app pulls in photo attribution automatically, which is a huge time saver. You can also create a beautiful chart or graph or import your own blog photos from Instagram, Flickr, Facebook, and other services.

Real Estate Marketing Inspiration: Sample Haiku Deck bar chart

Sample Haiku Deck bar chart

Resources for Real Estate Pros

Training and Templates

12 Ways to Transform Your Real Estate Marketing with Haiku Deck

Click to view the full Haiku Deck with Notes

Power Resources

Step 5: Join our Community and Build your Network

If you have more questions about Haiku Deck or need additional materials, we’re always here to help! Just leave us a note in the comments.

The Secret Weapon for Blog Photos, Lists, and Killer Content

Haiku Deck for Bloggers

Haiku Deck is not just for stand-up-and-talk presentations; it’s also an incredibly easy (and fun) way to add rich content to your blog or website. Photos are one of the best ways to engage readers, and with Haiku Deck you can create killer slideshows like this one in no time flat

10 Ways To Add “Wow” To Your Blog With Haiku Deck – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

(For more detail and links to specific examples, be sure to view the deck with accompanying notes on the Haiku Deck site.)

Step 1: Get Haiku Deck

  • Haiku Deck for iPad and iPad mini: You can download the free app here.
  • Other platforms: Click GET HAIKU DECK in the top right corner of this page. Add your email and the platform you’d like to request, and you’ll be among the first to try our Web App.

Continue reading

The New Powerpoint for Education

Ultimate Haiku Deck Resource Guide

More and more, we’re hearing that creative teachers, students, and technology trainers are saying goodbye to Powerpoint for education and embracing Haiku Deck for a fresh, flexible way to collect and present facts, share ideas, tell visual stories, illustrate processes, capture evidence, and explore connections between words and images. Here’s what they have to say about Haiku Deck:


Teachers Talk Haiku Deck – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;
Teachers appreciate that Haiku Deck encourages students to focus on simplifying and communicating their message without getting too bogged down in formatting choices or sidetracked by fancy transitions. Students love that Haiku Deck is easy and fun to use, and they feel a sense of pride and ownership of what they create. We have even seen innovative administrators and counselors using Haiku Deck to communicate day-to-day information, raise awareness for important causes, and share uplifting messages for inspiration and support.

With enlightened fans spreading the word across the country via Twitter chats, conferences, and EdCamps, we created this toolkit to help educators get started with Haiku Deck.

Step 1: Get Haiku Deck

Step 2: Create a Haiku Deck Account

You can sign in with email, Facebook, Google, or Twitter.

Step 3: Get to Know Haiku Deck

Here’s a quick video intro to Haiku Deck:

Meet Haiku Deck from Haiku Deck on Vimeo.

Things to think about as you explore the app:

  • How the constraints encourage simplicity and focus
  • How words and visuals work together
  • How the app can encourage creativity and storytelling across content areas
  • How Haiku Deck encourages good digital citizenship through the Creative Commons image search

Ideas:

  • For inspiration, click/tap GALLERY to browse some popular and featured decks
  • Tap the + sign at the bottom of the iPad app, or  NEW DECK on the web to create a new deck
  • Try using the built-in keyword image search and using your own images (you can take them with the camera from the iPad app, select from your camera roll [iPad app] or computer [Web App], or import from Instagram, Dropbox, and other sources)
  • Try choosing a new theme to change the look of your deck
  • Try creating a pie chart or bar graph (iPad only)
  • Create a deck to introduce yourself
  • Create a list of things you love or things you believe in
  • Create a deck to articulate your philosophy about education
  • Create a deck that explains or collects facts about a topic

Step 4: Explore More Features and Get Inspired 

Tutorials and Beginning Resources

Resources for Educators

Advanced Resources

Power Tips

Step 5: Join our Community and Build your PLN

If you have more questions about Haiku Deck or need additional materials, we are always here to help! Just leave us a note in the comments.

Haiku Deck Tutorial: Getting Started

Getting Started with Haiku Deck

Welcome to Haiku Deck–we’re glad to have you in our creative community! Here’s an overview of how to get started from the Main Menu of the iPad app.

Looking for help with the Web AppClick here to go to our Haiku Deck Web App User Guide.

First, here’s a fun video where you can meet Haiku Deck.

When you first open the iPad app, you’ll need to sign in or create a new account to get started. You can create a new account using Facebook, Twitter, or your email address – for more information, check out our article about accounts here.

Important: Be sure to make a note of how you sign in, because you’ll want to sign in to our website and iPad app the same way to take advantage of all the awesome features available between the two.

Sample Decks

Once you’re signed in, you’ll see two sample Haiku Decks: “Haiku Deck In Action” and “What is Haiku Deck?”  Tap the PLAY button in the center of a deck to view it.

Haiku Deck Tutorial: Sample Decks

Tap the Play button to view a deck

Just use your finger to swipe left and right to try out the basic navigation and view the slides. You’ll get a sense of the visual style of Haiku Deck, an overview of how it works, and the kinds of things you can create with it.

Continue reading

Haiku Deck Tutorial – Edit Mode

Edit Mode

This Haiku Deck tutorial, the second in a series of three, will walk you through creating, editing, and saving slides.

If you’d like to start at the very beginning, visit Getting Started with Haiku Deck.

Looking for help with the Web App? This post is exclusive to the iPad app, but you can click here to go to our Haiku Deck User Guide, which covers both apps.

Entering Edit Mode

If you’re creating a new deck, you’ll enter Edit Mode automatically once you give your deck a title and tap RETURN. (Tip: Tap the + at the bottom of the screen to start a new deck.)

To edit an existing deck, simply swipe left or right on the Main Menu to select the deck, then tap EDIT.

Haiku Deck Tutorial: Editing a deck in Haiku Deck

From the Main Menu screen on the iPad, tap Edit

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Haiku Deck Tutorial: Present Mode

Present Mode

This special Haiku Deck tutorial will walk you through presenting your deck right from your iPad.

Looking for help with the Web AppClick here to go to our Haiku Deck Web App User Guide.

Looking for help with the iPhone App? Click here for steps specific to the iPhone.

Setup

There are four ways to present your deck using your iPad:

1. Directly from your iPad: This is ideal for sharing a Haiku Deck pitch or portfolio with a small group in an informal setting: At a coffee shop, across a table, on a plane, etc. Bonus: No special equipment needed!

2. Using your iPhone as a remote control. If you’d like to manipulate your deck from your iPhone, you can connect your iPhone to your iPad as a remote with the Haiku Deck app for iPhone.

3. With a projector and a VGA adaptor: If your presentation will be projected to a larger audience, you can connect your iPad directly with a VGA adaptor. (Tip: We recommend always bringing your own, and labeling it with your name!)

4. With AppleTV: If your venue is equipped with AppleTV (or if you have your own), you can project right from your iPad without being tethered by a cord.

Haiku Deck Tutorial: Presenting with Apple TV

Tap the AirPlay icon to connect to Apple TV

Preparation

Picture this: You’re up in front of the crowd; you’ve displayed your Twitter handle and the event hashtag on your first slide (nice going!), you’ve started talking, and all of a sudden the top of your screen starts blowing up with Twitter notifications. Trust us, you don’t want this. Here’s how to prevent it.

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