I often use google trends to get a feel for how popular or important certain things are in the mind of the public. If you’ve not used google trends, it simply plots the amount of web search activity relating to a word or phrase over time.

It gives you a feel for whether something is increasing or decreasing in popularity in terms of web content. It also shows whether interest in certain things is cyclical or not. If you want to, you can also compare terms for their relative interest.

I’ve been thinking a lot about presentations recently because I’ve witnessed some particularly bad ones and I’ve also been playing with new styles and methods for delivering my own presentations.

So today, I checked the word Presentation on google trends.

Two things that jumped out at me

1. Presentation is cyclical – there’s less interest before Christmas – as is the case with many business topics. But there are also 2 clear peaks around the middle of each half of the year. This could simply be a dip around the summer holiday time but it could also be something to do with peak periods of sales activity.

2. Presentations are declining in interest over time – or at least the amount of web search chatter relating to them is.

Google trends also shows the amount of Internet News articles relating to a given word. Weirdly, for Presentation, this is increasing.

Also, if I overlay the usual partner in crime to the word "Presentation" - "Powerpoint", I get a very similar cyclical and declining trend.

So, what is it about presentations that is creating a decreasing interest?

I actually think that people are getting bored of the same Powerpoint constricted format that we are expected to adhere to. People have forgotten that presenting is about making an impact and getting a message across. Instead, they see it as a routine exercise just like writing an e-mail or making a phone call. It has lost its art form and become a routine process.

So, if you’re getting disinterested in presentations and would like a taste of alternative medicine, here are a couple of future google trends to latch onto before the rest of the world does…

Pecha Kucha is a Japanese phenomenon created by two architects. It translates in Japanese as ‘chatter’ and it is a presentation format comprising 20 slides which are displayed for 20 seconds each (six minutes forty seconds to save your maths!) with each slide automatically advancing. The presenter has to deliver at a punchy pitch, ensuring that all of the key messages are made.

Another form of Presentation is Prezi - a kind of graphical kaleidoscope that takes your audience on a journey of spinning and zooming around they key points. It's really high impact and beats firing bullet points at your audience like an out of control Uzi.

Click here to view the Instant Impact Prezi online.