On Tuesday, I noted that SlideShare’s “Tell-a-Story” slide presentation contest had closed, and results were in the hands of the judges.

The SlideShare folks had identified three of their own favorites, only one of which, The Short Story of Drunkenomics, I felt was actually a story.

I’m pleased that the judges recognized the storytelling capacity of Drunkenomics and awarded the presentation the contest’s $5,000 grand prize.

Other prizes went to:

• The comic-book-like Super Cool Dudes for Best Design. Cute story. I wondering in what context this presentation would be used.
• The well-done The Story of H. won for Best Storytelling (embedded below). Compelling, visually excellent, and carrying an important message, this story may not have a beginning, middle, and end — especially an end.
• Let’s Talk Poverty, which starts off well but then devolves into a typical fact-filled PowerPoint, for Most Popular. (What does that mean? Most popular with SlideShare visitors?). Really no story here, though the presentation supports a great cause.
• Preview of a new graphic novel adventure, White Shaka, for best use of multimedia. Really? Good storytelling here, but incomplete, since as stated, this is a preview of a graphic novel. What made this such good use of multimedia — the distracting rap music in the background? The hard-to-read comic-book balloons?

I can’t say I am in love with any of these winners. I do think The Short Story of Drunkenomics was the best choice for the top prize based on what I’ve seen.

I wonder if the 30-slide limit is a problem for storytelling?

I’m thrilled to see this spotlight on storytelling in presentations, but I’m betting slideshows that tell good stories will evolve into even better examples than these contest winners.

Your thoughts?