The first flight & PowerPoint 2010 – Watch History Reimagined for a chance to win

Today's post comes courtesy of Kelby Johnson from the PowerPoint team.

I believe PowerPoint can be a great companion for sharing the stories of what we see. Think about some of history's greatest stories - what if some of the most well-known innovators had PowerPoint to help them share their ideas with the world? Could their stories have been more impactful and far reaching?  

Well, in this video, we thought it would be fun to imagine how The Wright Brothers might have used PowerPoint 2010 to chronicle the first flight. Watch the video for a chance to win a trip to the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC (or one of many weekly drawings for an Xbox 360 with Kinect). It's just that simple - watch and get a chance to win.* (Sweepstakes ends 8/17)

But really, imagine if we didn't have to read about the news, but rather could have watched the First Flight happen. In PowerPoint, embedding and trimming a video is easy. And it makes for a stellar visual aid. Video can capture the imagination and attention of your audience in a snap.   

Even with still images, the Wright Brothers could have built a more visual story of how they took to the air. In PowerPoint 2010, it's easy to crop images - making sure you're focusing your audience on what's really compelling.

With easy-to-add artistic effects, the duo could have even added more graphic flair to give people a real sense of the mood and experience around their trials.

And, let's not forget the importance of data charts. The Wright Brothers could have helped us visualize their progress with each and every flight attempt.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and with PowerPoint 2010, visual story telling just got easier. Just think if the Wright Brothers could have announced their accomplishment by showing people their first flight rather than just telling folks about it. They could have used the broadcast feature to share their story with the world, but Internet connectivity was limited back then.

We hope you'll use PowerPoint 2010 to enhance the way you tell your stories. We'd love to know how you're using these new tools and what you think of them, so leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. 

Oh, and enjoy the film.

-- Kelby Johnson, PowerPoint Team

*No purchase necessary. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of the 50 United States (incl. District of Columbia) and Canada age 18 years and older. Sweepstakes ends 8/17/2011. To enter and for official rules, including odds and prize descriptions, visit www.microsoft.com/office/office-documents-in-history/. Offer void in Quebec and where prohibited.