Prezi.com is a web application that allows you to create a map of your presentation in a mind map like style, and then when you present, you zoom around the map with ease.  For those who do not like the linear strait jacket that Power Point forces their presentation into, Prezi will be a breath of fresh air.

Converting an existing presentation, or creating a new one from scratch is not difficult after watching Prezi’s tutorial for new users.  I ended up converting a presentation I am giving next week on “Backing Up for Disaster” from PowerPoint to Prezi, and the results I think are impressive.

Not only is the navigation engaging, but it also allows the presenter to give the audience a better overview of the presentation up front (if he or she wants to), and allows the presenter to skip to different parts of the presentation with ease.  No more paging between slides to find the right one, you just have to zoom out, find the area you want to speak to, and then zoom in to it.

Here is a Google Apps version of my “Backup” presentation, and here is the Prezi version.  You be the judge of which one you’d rather sit through.