A very famous man once said “good artists borrow, but great artists steal.” It is also said that “imitation is the best form of flattery”, but what about originality? Can any presentation be truly original? Are all your presentations a work of thief?
All of My Presentations
I don’t know about you guys, but probably all of my presentations are copied from somewhere.. at least in part. They have to come from somewhere. I try to get inspiration whenever and from wherever I can. Of course, I don’t steal someone else’s work and claim it as my own. However, I do try to imitate the same style and the same persona as the original master version.
Is Imitation Unethical?
As I just explained, I think it is ethical when your imitation is only copying the style and character of the original. Unlike copying, which is direct and very unethical (and usually illegal); Imitation is ethical if you’re making your presentation by yourself and only taking inspiration from parts of other people’s work.
Putting Things Together in a New Way
When you take parts of something and put them together in a new way; you get something new. Thats how new things are invented. People don’t literally invent every part of it. They only put things together in a novel way. Everyone gets the same alphabet to write from.
Some Places To Find Inspiration for New Ideas
The best place to find inspiration for making presentations are places that have well made presentations. These presentations are full of approaches that work. You can apply the lessons you learn from well made presentations to make one yourself.
Slideshare‘s featured presentations are examples of great presentations for online audiences. Watch Ted Talks to get inspiration for how to design and deliver influential presentations. Note and Point has a nice collection of presentation slides to take hints from.
Images: [CC BY 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons
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