Ultimate Presentation Tools

The common task of presentation making has become an all too regular part of our lives. No matter where or when, the responsibility of making a presentation seems to pop up out of nowhere. You can be in real estate having to create a slideshow of house offerings, in fashion looking to showcase the newest designs, in school fretting the new class project where you have to present in front of the entire class... You can even find yourself referring to presentations to make a point to your loved ones- in my case, that was creating a presentation to my family on “Why we need to buy a puppy”. When creating presentations is such a common feat, why does it have to be so difficult and time consuming? In fact, about 35 million presentations are created every single day; let’s say each slide takes approximately an hour of preparation and an average presentation is ten slides. Can you do the math to visualize how many countless hours of headache that adds up to. How are current presentation tools battling with this reality? Are they alleviating or augmenting the stress of presentations? Let’s take a look.

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1. PowerPoint

Many of us were born into a world where PowerPoint was THE presentation tool. Was that because it was good, or was it the only option we had? PowerPoint, initially named “Presenter” was created in 1987 and is now being used by 500 million users worldwide. Perhaps the pro of this tool is that it has become the norm and everyone is very much used to using the platform. But new and more practical tools are making us question if we are letting our standards fall too low.

Pro:

• It is easy to customize slides.
• It is reasonably affordable
• It is usually pre-downloaded on many devices
• It is relatively simple and straightforward

Con:

• Technical difficulties are the norm- the fact that there is no auto-save option may result in you losing all your day’s work
• It is easy to go overboard with text, color, and images
• There are ongoing costs
• Did you know that:
• It takes about 10 minutes for the audience tune out of a PowerPoint presentation.

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2. Prezi

All of us have used (or attempted to use) Prezi as a visually more engaging presentation tool alternative. As a high schooler, it was refreshing to see the slides jumping from side to side as the professor attempted to instruct on the material. But the tool has seemed to fall back on popularity nowadays. How can that be?

Pro:

• Increased flexibility in creating animated slides with non-linear alternatives
• More aesthetic and visually engaging slide material
• Multimedia integration

Con:

• Distractible nature of the visual stimulus from the content of the material
• It takes time to master how to use Prezi and understand the technicalities
• Ongoing costs

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3. Keynote

Yes, I too attempted to use Keynote for a presentation to look more professional while the content was somewhat insufficient. But, it is safe to say that it was no easy feat. I remember battling with the application for about 20 minutes, giving up and just copying the content to refer to a different presentation tool. Perhaps I tend to shy away from the unfamiliar. If you managed to figure the tool out, kudos to you! Here is what is commonly said about the pros and cons of Keynote.

Pro:

• Comes free with every Apple device
• Visually stimulating presentation templates and presentation design
• Easily exported or transferred

Con:

• Help files are not as comprehensive
• Can only access it on a Mac
• Not easy to figure out the system on your own

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4. Google Slides

Perhaps the go-to tool for collaborating on the same presentation. It is free to use on your browser, is extremely interactive, and you can easily track and adjust the changes on the slides. Yes, it is not the most visually appealing of the presentation tools, but it a practical tool that allows you to work together on a presentation.

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5. Decktopus

So far, we went over the most commonly used presentation tools listing out their pros and cons. Decktopus might just be THE next generation presentation tool that will make you forget all about these previous tools. You may think you are comfortable with the existing presentation tools you use; but research suggests that about 50% of the presentations created with existing tools are considered insufficient or unsatisfactory. It might be just the time to try something new and get out of your comfort zone. Here is a list of Decktopus features uniquely designed in response to common issues people have with other presentation tools.

• Choose the type/topic of presentation you would like to create and immediately find intuitively pre-prepared presentation structures and designs -The restricted amount of options offered per topic alleviates the trouble of choosing from endless options. Find effective presentation templates and visually stimulation presentation themes, presentation backgrounds and presentation designs on this tool!
• Automatic adjustments of alignment, size, color applied to all slides to preserve integrity
• A content suggestion engine that recommends relevant quotes, royalty-free images, and gifs.
• Video tips to enhance your presentation skills,
• Share your presentation easily with one simple link,
• Store the presentation online or offline
• A browser responsive mobile support interface to let users view, create and edit presentations- app free.

Simply put- all you have to do is create and fill in the content and the presentation is ready to go. To check out this product and try a free trial, check out decktopus.com

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6. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is an online presentation platform with outstanding image libraries. Like many other presentation platforms, Haiku Deck was designed with a user-friendly interface to help users avoid getting lost in details.

Pro:

• Professional library reach
• Affordable plans
• Simple user interface

Cons:

• Cannot add image captions
• No undo option available
• Not flexible enough

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7. Pitcherific

Pitcherific is a platform prioritizing the script of the presentation. Instead of guiding you with design, it guides you to write an introduction, closure, etc. The practice and speech assistant stands out compared to other presentation tools.

Pro:

• Practicing feature
• The high amount of templates
• Script assistant

Cons:

• Free version available only for previewing
• Editing and unlimited access is in the paid version
• Only one pitch can be saved

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8. Canva

Canva is not a presentation tool theoretically. Canva defines the platform as a place to create any kind of document and one of them is presentations. It has different templates designed and uploaded by other designers.

Pro:

• Image, illustrations, and sticker libraries
• Users can upload their videos on each slide
• A high number of templates

Cons:

• Watermarks on paid elements
• No auto-adjustment
• Only PDF export available

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9. SlideCamp

SlideCamp is a platform mostly for business owners. Users can upload their branding styles and create consistently branded presentations. Since it stands out for business purposes users can also build infographics with the platform.

Pro:

• Branding available
• Infographic builder
• Collaboration

Cons:

• Expensive relatively to other tools
• Only business templates are available
• No image library

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10. Powtoon

Powtoon is a tool to create animated presentations. Users can create informal and short presentations for products, brands, showcases, pitches, etc. Powtoon has created an onboarding that makes the creation process easier.

Pro:

• Animation and video recording
• Free version available
• Voice recording

Cons:

• Does not have a high amount of templates compared to other platforms
• Not convenient to create long presentations
• Not affordable for small businesses

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11. Beautiful.Ai

Beautiful.Ai is a platform to create good looking pitches and business proposals. Pre-designed templates and auto-adjustments offer a fast presentation making process. It includes infographics among its slide templates

Pro:

• Auto-adjustments available
• Infographics and image libraries available
• A free plan is available

Cons:

• Less flexibility compared to other tools
• No slide animation available
• Slow reply from the support team

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12. SlideShare

Slideshare offers lots of templates and real presentations prepared and used by its users. You can embed your slides anywhere you find appropriate; with a large number of users and shared decks you can connect with the owners of the decks.

Pro:

• Large audience
• Embed feature
• File conversion to PPT

Cons:

• No analytics for views
• Users cannot edit in the platform
• Video files uploads are challenging

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Some articles for inspiration:

An Effective Presentation, Why Does it Matter?

Presentation 101: How to Make a Simple Presentation?

Public Speaking Tips to Deliver the Perfect Presentation

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