5 presentation softwares alternative to Powerpoint for your presentations

Let’s be clear: the purpose of this article is not to criticize Powerpoint which remains the standard to conceptualize professional presentations, but rather to discover other presentation softwares that are funnier to use, sometimes more intuitive and user-friendly than Microsoft’s mass market product.

What makes a good presentation software?

A good presentation software must:

• Allow you to bring your ideas to life in a short period of time
• Be intuitive and provide a large scale of graphic and typographic options
• Enable the import of innovative multimedia files

The best presentation softwares:

• Google Slide: for collaborative presentations
• Prezi: for creative and animated presentations
• Swipe: for interactive presentations
• Zoho Show: for live presentations broadcasted on the internet
• Keynote: for Apple enthusiasts and keynote presenters

Google Slides

For collaborative presentations

Google Slide belongs to the Google Suite which is available to all Gmail or Gmail pro users. Its strength resides in the Google ecosystem it is integrated to:

• All your Google Slides presentations are stored in the Cloud and / or your Gmail Drive, can be accessed and edited from wherever you are.
• You can share your presentations in a few clicks to your contact or invite them to edit the slides in a collaborative fashion.
• Google saves your work for each changes made and it is possible to go back to a previous version and track changes.
• All Google fonts are available as default, which offers a nice variety of typography.

In terms of graphic functionalities, Google Slide takes a minimalist approach compared to Powerpoint. The essentials are available: slide master edits, animations, shapes, graphs, etc.

Google Slide also allow to import .ppt and .pptx files despite a few import inconsistencies, as well as exporting to .ppt and .pptx.

Price : Free for Gmail users

Prezi

For creative and animated presentations

Prezi is like Powerpoint on steroids. No more linear approach to slides. Conceptualizing a Prezi presentation requires to map your ideas on a large canvas. Each slide becomes a zoom in on that map and the presentation follows a path within different areas of that map, taking your presentation to a form of journey between ideas and visual experiences. With Prezi, you have the guarantee to capture the attention of your audience and make an impression.

However, Prezi is a little bit complex to adopt and is more consuming. Keep that tool for special presentations where you need to wow your audience, such as in the scenario of a TEDX presentation for instance.

Price: From 7€ / month

Swipe

For interactive presentations

Tired of trying to bring your ideas to slides? Swipe may be the perfect tool for you with the condition that you have the content you want to present: a video, a picture, a diagram, a pdf file, etc. You can drag, drop and upload multimedia assets in a simple but efficient manner.

On top of this, you can add forms or questionnaires to collect your audience’s opinions. Share a link at the start of the presentation and this will allow great interaction with your audience who can follow your slides whilst giving inputs or feedback.

Price: Free up to 5 presentations, then 20$ / month (monthly subscription)

Zoho Show

For live presentations broadcasted on the internet

Zoho is more graphic-driven than Powerpoint or Google Slide thanks to Instagram-like features on pictures and animated sequences that are quite more advanced.

The creation of a Zoho Show can be done collaboratively as long as your colleagues own a Zoho account. But the main differentiator of Zoho resides in the live streaming capability that allows remote stakeholders to get access to your presentation in real time and participate through a chat.

Zoho is compatible with Powerpoint and Open Office, which is optimal for those working on different OS.

Price: From 20$ per month for 2 users

Keynote

For Apple enthusiasts and keynote presenters

Keynote is to Apple what Powerpoint is to Microsoft. Embracing the Steve Jobs philosophy, Keynote is clean, simple and fluid. It allows to create neat presentations with emphasis on typography, slick animations where Apple excels.

As part of the iCloud universe, you can save and store your Keynotes on the cloud and access seamlessly from your iphone, ipad or Apple computer.

Prix: Free on iCloud