Recently I have noticed something good, which is leading to something not so good.
Steve Job’s has very publicly changed the way many people present. The days of bullet pointed, text filled slides are numbered. More and more presentations are now being done with images, video and simple, one line sentences. And this has been partly achieved by the Steve Jobs’ Keynote presentations.

But this now leading to another problem.
I have noticed an increasing number of presentations presented using the black to grey gradient background and the standard Gill Sans font. In fact, when I look around slideshare the number of presentations now done using the standard ‘Apple Keynote’ style is alarmingly large. It is true that this style is a great style. It has a pleasing hue, it does not hurt the eyes and it is simple.
But here is the problem. If you look around the presentation blogs, You Tube and other media resources, you will read countless criticisms on PowerPoint because of its “standard” setting. But what I am seeing is now the same thing happening with the “standard” Keynote slide. Everybody seems to choose the slide design above.
There is an an expression in English “too much of a good thing is a bad thing” and my fear is that is is beginning to happen with Keynote. Keynote is great. I do believe it is better than Powerpoint. But there is so much more to Keynote than the slide above.

Above is a screenshot of the slide design options in Keynote. There are many more than the “Gradient” and if we really want our presentations to stand out, then we need to start using the other design options to give our audiences variety and something different.
I know that most people using Apple products today, do so because they want to be different. The old Apple slogan “Think Different” really means something to these people, as it does me. But that is what Keynote users really need to remember to do. “Think Different”
I am not Steve Jobs, and you are not Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is a great presenter and we can learn from him. But we do not need to copy him. Copying him is not the way forward. Copying is not creative. To me creativity means taking an existing idea and making better by putting our own individuality on it.
It is time to continue the change from bullet pointed, text filled slides, it is time to be creative and it is time to move on from the “gradient” slide design and bring in your own individual creativity.