presentation apps and tools special collection by Adzrif Effendy

3/29/2016

Web2.0 etc

Sidek Ab Aziz (Editor)

A List of 20 Free Tools For Teachers To Create Awesome Presentations and Slideshow Source from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/05/list-of-20-free-tools-for-teachers-to.html

Below is a list of some of the best free tools teachers and students can use to create awesome slideshow and presentations.

1- Knovio Knovio gives life to static slides and with a simple click you will be able to turn them into rich video and audio presentations that you can share with your friends and colleagues via email or popular social media websites. Knovio does not require any software installation or download, it is all web based. http://www.knovio.com/

2- Ahead Ahead is a great presentation tool for educators. It works in such a way that it instantly transforms your layouts into a zooming presentation. Check it out its is great. http://ahead.com/#view/lilaspaces/main/welcome?scene=HOME

3- HelloSlide HelloSlide is a cool web tool that allows its users to create awesome slides together with voice narration. http://www.helloslide.com/

4- Jux Jux is one of the best showcase for your stories. You can embed videos and photos from your hard drive or from a URL. https://jux.com/

5- Slidestaxx Slidestaxx is a great presentation tool. It allows its users to create amazing social media slideshows. You can now gather media from different sources and put them together in

an engaging slideshow using Slidestaxx to embed it in your blog, website or wiki. http://www.slidestaxx.com/

6- Present.me It allows its users to record and share their presentations using their webcams. http://present.me/

7- PhotoPeach PhotoPeach is a free online service that allows it users to create media rich slideshows.What i like the most about this tool is the fact that it supports background music .Integrating audio into photo slideshows makes them quite engaging and presentable http://photopeach.com/

8- Slideboom Slideboom is a slide hosting service where you can store your presentations and share them with the rest of the world. http://www.slideboom.com/

9- Zentation Zentation is one of the best video presentation tools . It combines both videos and slides into presentations making out of them engaging pieces of multimedia in education. http://www.zentation.com/

10- Slidesix It enables users to share multimedia presentations using a rich web based application where they â&#x20AC;&#x153; they can import presentation material and personalize their message by narrating each slide with video or audio.â&#x20AC;? http://slidesix.com/

11- Zoho Show It helps you create interactive presentations using simple yet sophisticated tools .It has several features that sets it apart from other presentation applications. http://www.zoho.com/

12- Prezentit It allows its users to create alone or with others , share and show online memorable presentations. It is a very handy tool that we can use with our students. http://prezentit.com/

13- Popplet Popplet is a unique web2.0 tool . It is one of the best applications for visual ideas . It combines presentations , mindmapping and online bulletins. http://popplet.com/

14- Prezi Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas ... http://prezi.com/

4 WEB Tools To Create Presentations Without Installing Any Software Source from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/04/4-web-tools-to-createpresentations.html

There are a slew of useful web tools that teachers and students can use to create awesome presentations and slideshows without having to install any piece of software. I am sharing with you below my four favorite tools that I have been recommending to teachers and students:

1- Google Presentation

This is by all my means one of the best free presentation tool out there. Google Presentation is part of the productivity suite that comes with Google Drive. It allows you to integrated text, images, videos, import/export slides, customize the size of our slides, insert themes and many more. To learn how to use Google Presentation read:" 9 Steps to Create A Good Presentation Using Google Presentation"

2- Haiku Deck

This is probably the best addition to the web-based presentation tools. Haiku was initially working only on mobile devices, but a couple of days ago the web version was launched; however, to use it you need to request an invitation. http://www.haikudeck.com/account/signup

3- Prezi

This is another great presentation tool that I have been using for a while now. What I like the most about Prezi is the dynamism and interactivity it adds to the animation of the slides. Prezi slides can also be embedded in your classroom blog or website. http://prezi.com/create/

4- Zoho Presentation Zoho Show is an online presentation tool that helps you to create and deliver presentations. You can now take your presentations wherever you go, apply new ideas instantly, review, edit, share and deliver presentations on the go. Watch this video to learn more about Zoho Presentation.

https://www.zoho.com/docs/online-presentation-tool.html

GREAT TOOLS TO CREATE CLASSROOM MULTIMEDIA MAGAZINE AND BOOKS http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/05/great-tools-to-create-classroom.html

Web 2.0 technologies have radically transformed the education landscape, shifting the concept of agency from the teacher and placing it in students' hands. Leaners now are empowered with a variety of tools to connect, create, share, collaborate, and negotiate meaning making processes in ways never available before. Instead of merely consuming what others have produced, learners actively take part in the production of new insights and through the affordances of new technologies they can collaborate and crowd source support on a global scale. Image credit: Vancouver Film School These new venues of learning have opened new communications channels for students to use to access a larger audience. Their voice can now have a wider reach. It is this very idea of empowering students voice through the use of digital technologies that I want to draw your attention to in this post. Providing students with a space where they can freely create, innovate and share their production is one of the best strategies to enhance their learning. One way to do this is through engaging students in the creation of multimedia magazines and books. There are some useful web tools that you can use with your students to create a classroom 7

magazine or books and the titles below are the ones I would recommend the most. The purpose behind using these tools with your students is twofold: First, they provide them with a virtual space where they can create, share and document their learning and showcase their work. Second, they offer them an opportunity to exercise their functional literacy and employ their digital literacy skills to make meaning using a system of multimodal signs that comprise, text, graphics, pictures, charts, and videos.

1- iBooks Author

iBooks Author is a wonderful app that students can use to create gorgeous multitouch magazines and books . iBooks Author's authoring features can not be beaten by any other free app out there. It provides some excellent ready-made Apple templates to help your book or magazine look professional. You can customize the look and feel of your template to match your design needs. iBooks Author also allows you to type directly into your book or simply drag and drop text from your word document.The layout of your book is automatically formatted as you add more pages to it. You can easily add photos, graphics and videos to your book and if you want to make it alive you can even add dynamic multitouch elements called widgets to expand your story. When you are ready to publish your magazine you can export it in a variety of formats including PDF and Text. You can also submit it to the iBooks store or even share it on the iTunes U.

Using iBooks Author with students does require some extended training before students can feel comfortable using it. To this end I would propose this series of video tutorials that explain

the whole process of creating iBooks from start to finish. http://www.apple.com/ibooksauthor/

2- Glogster Edu

Glogster Edu is ideal for creating a one page magazine or an interactive graphic where students can use a set of multimedia materials including pictures, hyperlinked text, audio and videos. Glogs provide learners with a number of templates and a neat canvas to mix text, graphics, audio and video and create a stunning one page magazine that can be shared with others through emails, social media websites or be embedded on classroom website or blog. Glogster Edu is not free but it does offer some reasonable prices for teachers depending on the number of students they have. http://edu.glogster.com/what-is-glogster-edu

3- Lucidpress The great thing about Lucidpress is that it allows users to collaboratively create multimedia magazines using the same collaboration concept found on Google Docs. It supports synchronous chat between different collaborators and provides a wide variety of features that make creating multimedia documents as simple as drag and drop. Working in small groups, students can use Lucipress to create their own customizable multimedia magazine using text,

audio and videos. They can also import files and documents from their Google Drive and use it on Lucidpress documents. Watch the video below to see Lucidpress in action.

https://www.lucidpress.com/

4- Widbook

Widbook is another great tool I have tried with my students in the past and found it really great. Widbook allows users to create awesome books using text, audio and videos. The feature I like the most about this tool is the collaboration part of it. Students can invite each other to collaborate together to finish their books or to provide comments on them. Widbook is

completely free but it does require a sign-up using a valid email. Watch the video below to learn more about Widbook. http://www.widbook.com/

5- Glossi

Glossi is a rich digital magazine that students can make and share with others. Glossi provides different forms of magazine templates to choose from. Each of these templates can be easily customized using text, images and videos. Glossi also allows for the use of animated pictures and different backgrounds. Here is a video explanation of what you can do with Glossi. http://glossi.com/browse/#!/featured

10 USEFUL EDUCATIONAL APPS AND TOOLS FOR 1:1 CLASSROOM http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/07/10-useful-educational-apps-and-tools.html

If you happen to teach in a 1:1 classroom, then you will definitely be concerned about the educational apps to use with your students. There are tons out there for sure, but many of them are not worthwhile. To this end we curated this selection of some of the most popular apps and tools among 1:1 classroom teachers. Browse through the suggested titles and see what you want to adapt in your class. Enjoy

1- Socrative

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Socrative is designed in such a way to help teachers make classes more engaging and interactive.It also helps teachers initiate activities and prompt students with questions to which students can respond using their laptops or smartphones. The good thing about Scorative is that it can run on any kind of device with internet connection: iPads, iPods, laptops, smartphones so students will never miss out on any learning acidity. http://www.socrative.com/ 12

2- TodaysMeet

TodaysMeet is a great web tool for creating backchannels with your students. It is very easy and simple to use. You can use it in your class to engage students in sideline discussions and chats around a given topic. The process to set up a backchannel via TodaysMeet is very easy: first, create a room and given it a name and a duration, then share the URL of that room with your students and start the chat. https://todaysmeet.com/

3- Telegami

Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated video called a Gami.A Gami can be an exciting tweet or status update. It can be a fun way to tell a story. It can be a thank you message or a vacation postcard. It can be a birthday greeting, party invite or cool way to share photos. The possibilities are endless! https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tellagami/id572737805?mt=8

4- Haiku

Deck

Haiku Deck is the simple new way to create inspired presentations – whether you’re pitching an idea, teaching a lesson, telling a story, or igniting a movement. Featured on the iTunes “New and Noteworthy” and “What’s Hot” lists! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/haiku-deck/id536328724?mt=8

5- Educreations

Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Creating a great video tutorial is as simple as touching, tapping and talking. Explain a math formula... Create an animated lesson... Add commentary to your photos... Diagram a sports play. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/educreations-interactive-whiteboard/id478617061?mt=8

6- MindMeister

This is a very good that students can use to create, share and collaboratively edit their mind maps. MindMeister is deeply integrated into Google Drive, allowing users to open and edit many mind map formats. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mindmeister/bdehgigffdnkjpaindemkaniebfaepjm ?hl=en

7- Edmodo

Edmodo is a web-based platform that provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices. It is like Facebook but in a safe and controlled environment appropriate for school.

https://www.edmodo.com/

8- Explain Everything

Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.Create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer. Rotate, move, scale, copy, paste, clone, and lock any object added to the stage. https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/explain-everything/id431493086?mt=8

9- Teacher Kit

TeacherKit is a personal organizer for the teacher. It enables the teacher to organize classes, and students. Its simple and intuitive interface enables teachers to track the attendance, grades and behavior of students. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id389584618

10- Stick Pick

Pick a student at random just by giving your device a shake or tapping the screen -- but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just the beginning. Stick Pick suggests question starters for learners at different levels and also records how well students respond during classroom discussions. If a student is consistently scoring near the top or bottom, simply change the level so students aren't bored or frustrated. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stick-pick/id436682059

10 Presentation Tools To Win Over Your Audience http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/presentation-tools/ If your work or studies need you to make presentations in front of an audience, a crowd or your peers, then you know the importance of having good, engaging and effective presentation content in your hands. Powerpoint may not be cutting it for most of us anymore, but fret not, we have here 10 great Powerpoint alternatives as fine replacements.

Whether you need presentation tools for business proposals, HR training, a viva voce, or for teaching a class, these tools will probably help you keep your audience entertained through and through. Manipulate your videos, images, animation, audio clips and more into a winning presentation that will definitely help you win over the crowd. 1. Prezi Prezi is a zooming presentation tool that lets you create and present your ideas on a large and zoomable virtual canvas. You can easily place ideas, images, and videos and arrange them in a natural flow to tell your story. It works on Cloud, desktop and even on the iPad or iPhone. It offers a Free account which gives you public presentations plus 100MB storage space. http://prezi.com/

2. EWC Presenter Looking for a way to create free and interactive professional-looking, HTML5 presentations? Try EWC Presenter. It provides an HTML5 WYSIWYG editor for you to design simple presentation content in HTML5. Users can animate their presentations with a Flash-like editor where you can select keyframes, set the length of the various animations, and so on. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still under Beta and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free to register an account.

http://www.ewcpresenter.com/ 3. SlideRocket SlideRocket is a presentation platform that helps you to create and manage your presentation. Import your existing presentations from PowerPoint or Google, and start using SlideRocketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s authoring and tracking tools to create a vibrant and dynamic presentation. You can work with HD video, audio, charts, pictures and Flash. SlideRocket has since been acquired by ClearSlide, if you would like to try it out, check out thislink.

http://www.sliderocket.com/product/ 4. Vuvox Vuvox offers 3 main features: Collage, Studio and Express to create a multimedia presentations with feeds, links, music, audio, video and photos from Flicker, SmugMug or Picasa. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a useful tool to create a documentary-style slideshows. It is also perfect for multimedia collage presentations that require the use of rich media elements.

http://www.vuvox.com/

5. Empressr Empresser is an online rich media presentation editor which allows you to add photos, music, audio, video, and even Flash into your presentation. Users are allowed to share their presentations via link or embed them on their websites. Registration is free and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no limit to the number of presentations you can create and store.

http://www.empressr.com/Default.aspx 6. Oomfo Charts are importaint in a presentation and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re including Oomfo in this list. In short, Oomfo helps you to design interactive charts like Pareto, Waterfall, Funnel, Marimekko, Pyramid and etc. Oomfo allows you to connect your chart data from your Cloud application or multiple Excel files. You may start by choosing a chart template from its gallery and it only supports Microsoft Office 2003 and above.

http://oomfo.com/

7. Scrollshow As the name suggested, ScrollShow is a scrolling presentation editor for iPadwith multi-speed backgrounds. With ScrollShow, can create panoramic presentations with parallax effect. It is ideal to present timeline presentations, animate infographics online or at a personal level, present your vacation photos. It is cool, fun, easy to use and costs only $4.99.

http://www.scrollshow.net/ 8. Knovio If you always share your presentations on the Web, Knovio can help you show your personality by letting you attach your voice or a video alongside the presentation. You can coordinate your narration to run parallel to the slides. You can even import PowerPoint presentations that are already done and work on that with Knovio. Your slides can then be shared on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn or shared privately with close friends.

http://www.knovio.com/ 9. Present.me Similar to Knovio, Present.me supercharges your presentation by adding videos side by side to your slideshows whether it is in Powerpoint, PDF, Excel, Word, Google Docs or Open Office format. You can even watch the edited presentation on mobile devices using Present.me exclusive apps.

There are limitations for free account. Check it out to find out more.

https://present.me/ 10. VCASMO VCASMO is an online presentation editor for multimedia slide shows, business presentations, training, academic teaching and etc. It lets you easily place videos with subtitle and PowerPoint presentation side by side and publish in on your desktop, iPad or even iPhone. Free account comes with 512MB storage with unlimited presentations.

http://www.vcasmo.com/

DESIGNHOW TO

10 FREE PRESENTATION TOOLS TO HELP YOU DELIVER THAT PERFECT PITCH http://www.creativebloq.com/design/free-tools-create-presentations8133772

A great presentation can help you win pitches and influence people. Here are 10 free tools to help you. Whether you're giving a talk or pitching to a client, attractive presentations are vital in communicating complex information, ideas and concepts to general audiences in a simplified manner. But the secret of how to create a presentation that engage the audience immediately requires a combination of different presentation and graphic tools. Here we've shortlisted 10 of the best free apps to help you discover how to create a presentation that will blow them away...

01. Prezi

How to create a presentation that will impress - use Prezi Prezi is a stylish online presentation creation tool that lets you use images, videos, objects or simple text, and animate them using a wide range of effects. It supports all the major mobile and desktop platforms and allows you to run your presentations as executable files as well. The finished presentations can also be shared directly from Prezi on all major social networks. Prezi comes both as a free and paid service, but even the free version has all the options you need. http://prezi.com/

02. Zoho Show

Zoho shows you how to create a presentation Zoho Show is a web-based tool that comes with all you need to design highly attractive presentations, and is available in both free and paid versions. You can use one of the predesigned templates or import your own PowerPoint presentations and edit them online. Zoho Show also gives you the option to publish your presentations in a variety of formats including HTML, PDF, and PowerPoint. https://www.zoho.com/docs/

03. EWC Presenter

Create awesome, claims EWC Presenter... This free, web-based application has everything that you need to create stunning presentations using user friendly drag-and-drop options. The EWC Presenter comes with a number of beautiful presentation templates that can be used at a single click. You can add different data illustration tools such as graphs and charts to present numeric values as easy to understand and eye catching objects. To add further colour to your presentations, you can choose from a wide range of objects like icons, shapes, images, infographics and text designs. Simply drag & drop these objects into your presentation slides and adjust their dimensions according your liking. This tool is notable for its speed and flexibility. It renders files in HTML5 and supports all major mobile and desktop devices, which means you can access your presentations anywhere on any device. http://www.ewcpresenter.com/

04. Google Drive

Yes, even Google Drive provides solutions for how to create a presentation Google Drive might not be the most beautiful looking presentation tool, but it is certainly one of the most complete and detailed online tools for creating presentations. Whether you want to import your existing presentations or create entirely new ones, Google Drive offers features and tools ideal for both the scenarios. You can import your multimedia files to enhance the effectiveness of your presentations or add different data illustration tools like graphs and charts to display numeric data. You can either grant public access to your presentations or share them with a limited audience of choice. http://docs.google.com/

05. Empressr

Sounds like a character from Star Wars but Empressr will create great presentations Empressr is a powerful online rich media presentation tool that helps you create highly attractive presentations using a wide range of designing features and options. You can use predesigned presentation templates to kick start your presentations or import images and audio/video clips from websites like Flickr and YouTube to add more color to your slides. Particularly useful for corporate and business presentations, Empressr presentations can be seamlessly integrated into any website or blog and can be shared via social media for enhanced exposure. http://www.empressr.com/

06. iPresent

How to create an iPresentation made simple with iPresent iPresent is a leading online interactive and rich media presentation tool that not only offers great flexibility in terms of presentation designing and editing options but also provides you a simple interface. It's not entirely free but does offer one month of free service during which you can use up to 500MB of space for your presentations. You can add images, videos and audio files to your presentations, and integrate them with all the major social media platforms as well. http://www.ipresent.net/

07. Spresent

\ How to create a Spresentation made simple with Spresent Spresent is an online tool for creating presentations based on Flash animations that can be activated from a list of pre-developed effects. It also allows you to seamlessly integrate your audio, video and visual files to add further colour to presentation. The finished presentation can be shared publicly on different social networking websites as well. http://www.spresent.com/v2/

08. Vcasmo

Cool name, cool tool - and how to create a presentation with ease Vacasmo is an online video based tool you can use to create presentations for online publishing. Whether you need to design a business presentation or an academic training, Vacasmo is a good option. You can place your conventional presentation slides and your video clips side by side to create a highly engaging experience for your audience. Vacasmo comes both as a free and paid tool, with a limit of 512MB in the free version. http://www.vcasmo.com/

09. Knovio

You'll soon Kno how to create a presentation with Knovio

If you want to add a personal touch to your presentations and engage your audience directly, then Knovio is a great tool. This free online video based presentation tool lets you add your video in a small window adjacent to the main presentation. You can either read out the whole presentation for your audience or add explanations on selected points to increase the effectiveness of your presentations. Knovio allows you to import existing PowerPoint presentations or create entirely new ones, and gives you all the basic designing and editing features needed to create highly interactive presentations. http://www.knovio.com/

10. Oomfo

How to create a presentation with oomph - use Oomfo!

Charts, graphs and other data illustration tools play a critical role in creating engaging presentations. Omfoo can help you create almost every type of chart and graph you need to increase the effectiveness of your presentations. You can create highly interactive and animated charts like Pareto, Waterfall, Funnel, Marimekko Pyramid and a few others, and connect them directly with your presentations. http://oomfo.com/ Words: Joseph O Joseph O is an expert marketer and professional blogger. He writes for HindSite Interactive, a top web design and development agency.

Best Free Presentation Software and Tools for 2015 http://slidedog.com/blog/best-free-presentation-software-tools/

There’s a tipping point in the market dominance of a product we could call the ‘Hoover point’. When it switches over to being the name for the whole class of products, the way Hoover came to mean vacuum cleaner, that makes it look like its market dominance will be hard to dent. And when it comes to the best presentation software, it can be hard to see past the biggest name in the game. Everybody’s making a PowerPoint. Microsoft is there. But that doesn’t mean it has the best product. Some of the tools you could be using instead come with functionality you can’t get from Microsoft at all, others offer tricks and tools you have to pay extra for. In 2015, the range of choices is greater than ever before, and functionality like file type export, free images bundled or cloud functionality are needed to avoid falling behind. And some of the best presentation tools have something to offer that MS PowerPoint can’t give you: the price. They’re all free. In no particular order, here are the best 7 alternatives to the mighty PowerPoint in 2015: Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is already well established as one of the best presentation software out there, and is distinguished from the pack by its images. Not only is the tool completely free, but it also comes with 35 million images and 6 ready-made presentation themesto fit them into. You can also upload your own images (you know, if you check out all 35 million and the one you need’s just not there) from services like Flickr, Google Drive and others. Haiku Deck has always emphasized imagery and style, favoring slides built around gorgeous graphics intended to convey ideas without the dense text beloved of… well, of people who don’t make very good presentations. Haiku Deck is entirely web based and stores files in the 38

cloud, meaning you can use it on PC or Mac, and mobile apps for iPhone and iPad, and you can export your presentation in .pptx format and edit it in PowerPoint.

https://www.haikudeck.com/

SlideDog SlideDog is a presentation tool that comes packed with features. Its major USP, though, is that it lets you create presentations from a mix of different sources. If some of your presentation is a Prezi and some is a PowerPoint, with Gifs, video, various graphics formats and more, SlideDog will cue all your content up seamlessly. No loss of quality, no glitches â&#x20AC;&#x201C; everything plays through just as if it was one coherent file type. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to become more and more important; the days when a presentation was an imitation slideshow are over, and the fluidly multimedia presentation offered by SlideDog represents where the whole industry is headed. An additional benefit is the ability to share presentations live online, meaning the audience can follow your slides on their tablets simultaneously. Live polls and quizzes can also be added to the SlideDog playlist, and is answered by the audience from their tablets or smart phones. Add in interactive presentations, a mobile-friendly web remote and seamless support for PDFs, Excel and Word, any image format, any video format and all PowerPoint file types, and you have an agile, effective tool. Like many of the tools in our list today, SlideDog is freemium. The paid plan version offers more advanced features like dual-screen mode, looping, custom background images, and prices start at $8.33/month. http://slidedog.com/ Download the latest version of SlideDog for free!

Prezi

Prezi was one of the first presentation tools to turn its back on the digital slideshow concept and replace it with fluid, non-linear presentations that could respond to audiences. Prezi is free to use, but all your presentations will be visible to the public as it’s all stored on public cloud. That’s not so great if you’re using it for proprietary or confidential data, so if that’s you you’ll probably want to check out the premium service which offers storage for files, offline editing and, most importantly, privacy. Animation and motion effects that don’t form a part of the ‘next slide, please’ outlook mean Prezi is more expressive and you can do more with it and that versatility makes it one of the best presentation software around – and sometimes, one of the worst. Take note: ‘can’ doesn’t mean ‘must.’ Just like a really bad PowerPoint presentation looks like pages of a very large, dull book taped to a wall, so a terrible Prezi is like a technicolor version of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, all whirl and zoom, slews of images and rollercoaster pans. If PowerPoint is a list, though, Prezi is a spider diagram, so it works best when the subject matter itself is nonlinear. If you need to explain something that’s about a complex web of interactions, or you’re going to need to go back periodically and readdress the same material as you go through your presentation, Prezi may be the tool for you. http://prezi.com/

OpenOffice Impress

Impress is part of the free-to-download OpenOffice suite from Apache, a desktop-based office suite intended as a free alternative to Microsoft and Apple’s proprietary bundles. As such, OpenOffice is very much a PowerPoint clone, with similar functionality and facilitating a similar style of presentation. It’s easy and intuitive to use if you’re used to PowerPoint or KeyNote, and you can export files in .pptx format to use with PowerPoint on other computers so there’s no danger of compatibility issues. It’s not features-rich out of the box but extensions are available for free download from the OpenOffice website to enhance it. It makes the list of best presentation tools because it’s a solid workhorse that’s just as good as PowerPoint, and since it’s on this list (and we’ve already mentioned it!) you know it’s free. https://www.openoffice.org/

Slides.com

Slides.com works from the browser window, and stores files in the cloud on the company’s servers. Again, if you’re handling proprietary or confidential data, that’s a mixed blessing. The advantage of Slides.com, as implied by its deliberate inclusion of the .com suffix in the product name, is its compatibility with online services. Presentations (‘decks,’ to Slides.com) can be sent out as emails, exported to blogs or websites and downloaded. It’s even mobile-optimized, with touch-optimized versions of presentations available for phones and tablets. A features-packed tool that’s easier to integrate with a range of distribution services than most, Slides.com is one of the best presentation software for syncing with a content plan. It’s freemium, with a free single-user version and business versions available from $6.00/month. http://slides.com/

SpeakerDeck

More than creating presentations, SpeakerDeck is primarily a way to share them across the web, increasing your potential audience and letting people view your presentations via SpekerDeck’s website. Mobile versions are available and optimization of content takes place automatically. Speakerdeck also offers the opportunity to share content easily via social media, direct from the SpeakerDeck website. The process is about as simple as it could be – you just sign up (for free), and upload your PDF using SpeakerDeck’s website. That’s it. https://speakerdeck.com/

Keynote for iCloud

Keynote is part of Apple’s iWork suite of productivity tools – direct competition for PowerPoint’s crown, in theory at least, and deriving some cachet from its reputation as a Steve Jobs-era presentation tool (though Steve Jobs’ presentations aren’t always the best thing to copy; even he had trouble pulling off that black poloneck). Like many Mac products, it basically did the same thing as the Windows equivalent, but faster and while looking better. However, while it was restricted to Apple products by running only on their OS, it was the best presentation software that most people couldn’t use – kind of like being the fastest train in Canada. Now it’s available through iCloud, free and entirely web-based, Keynote will run on anything with a browser and its capabilities are intriguing a lot more people. Your presentations are saved in iCloud privately (which does mean paying for more than 5GB of storage) and you can present from any computer with a web browser, or run it through iOS devices. You will need an Apple ID, though, and it’s important to remember that this is still technically in Beta and might be changed or withdrawn. https://www.apple.com/support/iwork-for-icloud/keynote/

27 PRESENTATION SOFTWARE & POWERPOINT ALTERNATIVES FOR

2015 http://www.customshow.com/best-powerpoint-alternatives-presentation-programs/

At CustomShow, we like to think that everyone can use our presentation software to create better looking presentations, thus serving as a great powerpoint alternative to people. But that won’t always be the case. We cater to businesses greater than 10 employees and organizations that need an all-in-one presentation program. We also don’t usually promote our competitors. Shout out to Clearslide on that one. But at the end of the day, we want you to have a pick from the full list of presentation tools that are on the market and that could fit your needs. Presentation software is great, but we know there are plenty of options to choose from. Some have their advantages and disadvantages while others are perfect for a certain audience. We’ll examine the presentation maker programs we believe would be great and even the ones that may not be but could still be another viable solution. CustomShow – Business Presentation Software Summary – Customshow is a presentation software program used mainly for businesses and companies with more than 25 employees. With over 40 years of rich presentation history, the software company was created out of the presentation design agency, Sales Graphics. The software allows companies and organizations to build better custom branded presentations that look light years better than your typical powerpoint presentation. We would consider ourselves a great sales enablement tool because sales professionals benefit a great deal from the software. Advantages – Ability to create customized and branded presentations; slide library; cloudbased; analytics; ability to conduct web meetings; connects to Sales Force; ability to deliver online and off-line as well as via multiple devices (desktop, iPad); great with video; can upload powerpoint slides and customize to your own brand standard; import powerpoint presentations into the software Disadvantages – More data intelligence could be added to their analytics platform Perfect For – Sales Professionals, Marketing Professionals, CEO’s, Design Agencies Website: www.customshow.com

ClearSlide (SlideRocket)

Summary – Clearslide purchased Sliderocket several years ago. If sales is important to you, Clearslide could be a good tool for you. There is more emphasis on the sales and tracking than the presentation creation side of the software. After going through a series C $50 million round of funding, the company is making investments into the software platform. Nonetheless, the tool is worth reviewing. Advantages – Can upload files from Keynote, Powerpoint, PDF, Excel and other formats; Good with Video; online delivery; slide sharing Disadvantages – Interface is complex and limited in the ability to create “better looking presentation” Perfect For – Sales & Marketing Organizations Other Review Sources – Edward Mendelson from PC Mag; Jessica Still at Gigaom

Prezi

Summary – The mothership of powerpoint alternatives, they’ve been around for many years. Leveraging the concept of ZOOM and transitions to new spaces on a slide, they give the effect that the presention has not moved to a new slide. Prezi provides people with creating better style and effect in their presentations. Prezi uses the concept of Pathway Points instead of slides to give the visual cinematic appeal of their presentations. These guys just raised another $50 million in November in order to compete with Microsoft. Advantages – Present on multiple devices; can share with coworkers; can be used by practically anyone; easy to learn how to use; cost effective; can work on the presentation offline; Disadvantages – Very template driven; cannot necessarily customize slides; Perfect For – Educators; Keynote Speakers; Organizations; Students Other Review Sources – Erez Zukerman From PCWorld; Edward Mendelson of PCMag

Slideshark

Summary – Taken directly from the horses mouth, SlideShark is an app used by sales professionals and other presenters worldwide to present and share PowerPoints via their chosen devices. It’s features include cloud storage integration, sharing and tracking views, broadcasting or presenting over the web, creating annotations on the slides, and of course presenter mode. Advantages – Can present powerpoint slides anywhere; cloud-based; free but paid version is known as Business pro; can be utilized for webinars Disadvantages – unable to customize presentations; more of a delivery system (good and bad thing); Perfect For – sales and marketing professionals; individual business owners Other Review Sources – Dylan Herx of AppStorm; Phillip Michaels of ComputerWorld

Haiku Deck

Summary – The presentation software is a template-based platform that allows for people to create elegant looking presentations. The software comes with 35 many templates and over 35 million stock photos that can be used within the slide templates. This platform is a step between a company like CustomShow and Powerpoint. Advantages – easy to use; fast onboarding process Disadvantages – cannot do offline work with the App; cannot truly Customize presentations anyway you want Perfect For – students; educators; presenters in general Other Review Sources – Joel Mathis of MacWorld; JR Bookwalter of MacLife

Slide Dog

Summary – Known as a presentation launch pad, SlideDog mainly takes all of your documents, presentations, pictures, or video and places them into a play list that can be moved around and presented in a seamless way. You can upload just about any type of file from videos down to other presentation software devices such as Prezi. Advantages – Make transitioning smooth; can share across multiple devices; live polling; free version Disadvantages – Not used for creating presentations Perfect For – People who want to present more seamlessly across multiple documents; individual presenters Other Review Sources – FPPT Overview Slide Bureau

Summary – Slide Bureau is an interesting software device. It is mainly used for iPads, but it does allow for people to create presentations that are more customized than your traditional

powerpoint slide. The interface is centered on pre-made templates but they are categorized to fit the profession and overall need of the slide. Advantages – Easy to use this presentation platform Disadvantages – Limited to only iPads; cannot truly brand and create presentations more customized than the templates that are given Perfect For – Educators; Individual Professionals Other Sources – Benjamin Romano of XConomy; Taylor Soper of Geekwire Powtoon – Animation Presentation Software

Summary – Probably one of the leaders in the DIY presentation animation space, Powtoon allows consumers to create presentations and videos that are animated, interesting, and engaging. It is not difficult to learn how to use and the software is a breath of fresh air to those looking to create presentations that are different and engaging. Advantages – Ease Of Use; Truly Customizable Animated Presentations Disadvantages – Not suitable to live presentations (but that’s OK) Perfect For – Educators (Check out their new app for educators); businesses that want to create a service/product video; small business professionals; trainers Other Sources – Sarah Perez of TechCrunch; Cathy Moore’s Blog Keynote – Powerpoint Alternative

Summary – One of the standard bearers in the presentation software space, Keynote is meant to allow presenters to create customizable presentations. it comes with 30 themes that you can start with and pre stock photos. Advantages – Present on multiple devices (Apple owned); easy to share; powerpoint friendly; inexpensive ; allows for animations. Disadvantages – Can only be used for MAC (ios systems); fairly template driven; no slide library Perfect For – Business owners and individuals Other Sources – Joe Kissell of MacWorld; John Martellaro of The Mac Observer MediaShout

Summary – To switch things up a bit MediaShout is a presentation software tool for religious institutions and churches. It is a powerful platform that can be utilized by churches of all size and combines. The software works well with the team that is managing the media and productions during any religious service but particularly during the sermon.

Advantages – Stage mirroring; announcement deck; great with video; add scripture from 65 different bibles; include sermon points; sound and music enabled Disadvantages – Hmmm…we’re not going there. Perfect For – Religious institutions and churches Other Sources: Gavin Courtney From Church App Kineticast

Summary – Built mainly for B2B sales people, Kineticast is a cool presentation tool that enables sales people to be more effective in their sales and marketing. Their process includes creating the presentation (uploading files), emailing to your list of contacts, and then tracking the results. The purpose of this tool is to create customized messages with slides that are meant for specific prospects. Advantages – Enables sales professionals to improve effectiveness Disadvantages – Cannot create customized presentations (wasn’t built for that anyway though). Perfect For – B2B Sales Professionals; Possibly Marketers Other Sources – Rich Bohn of SellMoreNow KnowledgeVision

Summary – Knowledge Vision is one of the newest players on the block when it comes to creating better looking presentations that are customizable. The company has a collection of software tools that are combined into 1 that companies can use. You can also creative videos within the software package. Advantages – Complete Package of Production Tools; Cloud-Based; Analytics; Live Webcasting Disadvantages – Maybe ooo many tools; Could be challenging to learn Perfect For – Business; Producers; Digital Agencies GoAnimate – Video Presentation Software

Summary – One of Powtoon’s biggest competitors, GoAnimate is all about animated video presentations. You can create DIY professional animated videos without having to hire a video producer. It integrated with other software sales apps and is a solution that can be interesting for the budget busting video animation companies. Of course there are other whiteboard animation companies, but GoAnimate does showcase another alternative. Advantages – Great For Video; Cost Effective; Think Product Videos 55

Disadvantages – Only Video Centered (Not a real disadvantage though) Perfect For – Business; Producers; Digital Agencies Other Sources – Joe Ganci of Learning Solutions Mag Wink – Powerpoint Alternative

Summary – Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users. Advantages – Free; multilingual; good support Disadvantages – No ‘undo’ feature, audio compatibility issues Perfect For – Individuals and small businesses who just need to create simple animated tutorials and software demonstrations. SnagIt

Summary – Offers advanced features and extra tools for organizing, simplifying, and editing screen captures. If you produce Windows screen shots on a regular basis, SnagIt is a great tool for that. Advantages – Easy-to-use screen capture program, Disadvantages – Windows only Perfect For – Window’s screen shot-ers Other Sources – Tom Negrino of MacWorld Camtasia

Summary – Camtasia Studio is an integrated suite of applications for producing professional videos of on-screen activity.

Advantages – 5 applications provide solutions for end to end video production, multiple output options Disadvantages – Costly for the value; for windows only Perfect For – Creating Video demonstrations for customer support, employee training, and product presentations. Other Sources – Daniel And Sally Grotta of PCWorld Camstudio – Video Presentation Software

Summary – Free and simple, straightforward program to record screen activity to AVI or SWF format. Advantages – Free Disadvantages – no movie editing, hard to use annotation tools Perfect For – Recording basic activity for webinars and basic presentations Other Sources – Michael Muchmore of PCMag Articulate Presenter

Summary – Articulate Presenter is a program that acts as an add-on to Microsoft PowerPoint. It capitalizes on what PowerPoint can do already, and provides several added features, such as quizzing, narration, and other interactive features Advantages – Supercharges the existing functionality in PowerPoint; narration syncs easily to screen animation; functionality is super intuitive Disadvantages – Content positioning is imprecise, takes ages to publish the content, Published files are BIG Perfect For – Educators; Individuals Windows Movie Maker

Summary – freeware video editing software by Microsoft. It is a part of Windows Essentials software suite and offers the ability to create and edit videos as well as to publish them on OneDrive, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. Advantages – Free, simple to use for beginners, great for photo slideshows 59

Disadvantages – Only one video track, freezes and crashes randomly, lots of versions that aren’t compatible with each other Perfect For – Essentially Anyone; Video Production Other Sources – Michael Muchmore of PCMag Slideshare

Summary – Allows easy sharing of presentations between businesses and consumers Advantages – Easy embedding in websites, great for sharing audio and video, custom privacy settings Disadvantages – Must use other programs to create and edit material, atypical transitions, cannot track views Perfect For – Students, teachers, small and large businesses Other Sources – Tanya Lewis of PR Week US VisualBee

Summary – Automatic graphic designer for PowerPoint’s presentations that designs a Showcase automatically with just some clicks Advantages – Easy to Use, Fast, User Friendly UI, Attractive Templates Disadvantages – Getting appropriate images requires some selection by hand. Some features redundant to PowerPoint’s own. Perfect For – Individuals Other Sources – Jill Duffy of PCMag Projeqt

Summary – Projeqt gives creatives the ability to weave together stories dripping with style and personality from Flickr photos, RSS feeds, tweets, YouTube or Vimeo videos, and any media stored on your own computer. Advantages – freemium model, create professional-looking, branded, shareable, and embeddful presentations without much fuss Disadvantages – very few layout options

Perfect For – students, creative industry Other Sources – Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable Emaze

Summary – The Emaze user can easily build sophisticated presentations with little effort. The company’s vision was to free up users from having to spend time studying and preparing the presentation tool, so that they can better spend their time concentrating on the actual content of the presentation Advantages – Cheap, designed for ordinary users, Disadvantages – Will not work smoothly on older computers with low computing power Perfect For – Basic user base, current PowerPoint users wanting better visualization Other Sources – Avishay Bassa of Geektime Preseria

Summary – Now we’re in the world of conferences. Preseria is all about presenters uploading their presentations and organizing your conferences. This can be a nifty tool if you’re managing large conferences where you have several presenters. Advantages – Great for Sharing; can Organize and gather content seamlessly Disadvantages – Can’t create custom presentations. Perfect For – Event Coordinators; Conference Leaders Proclaim – Church Presentation Software

Summary – Now we’re in the world of churches. Proclaim is all about pastors and assistants uploading their presentations and having the functionality to make many changes to it in order to provide a experience to people listening and watching the sermon. Advantages – Incredible software for sharing and collaborating with teams of people who are working on the presentation; Organize and gather content seamlessly; Comes with a remote app that can be controlled by your ipad. Disadvantages – Can’t create super customized presentations, but they can be fairly unique. Perfect For – Churches; religious institutions Reallusion

Summary – Moving back into animation, this software is pretty nifty. You can create animated figures for your presentation in a shorter period of time. Great for presenters to quickly add animated avatars and comic effects into PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Doc and other presentation software Advantages – Full editing capabilities; well categorized content libraries; added to other presentations Disadvantages – Can’t create presentations within the software, however Reallusion does have other software in its suite that can do this. Perfect For – Individuals; Business; Keynote Speakers; Designers Other Sources – NYC Post Production Reviews Slides

Summary – To finish off the list, slides.com is a cloud based presentation software that allows for easy collaboration, Advantages – Full editing capabilities; can present from anywhere; cloud based; comes with analytics; incorporate html and css in the presentations Disadvantages – May not have as much functionality as CustomShow but is great for individuals Perfect For – Individuals; students; teachers There are probably an additional 50 – 80 presentation software tools we missed on this list. We know there are others we likely left out, so we look forward to your comments and other powerpoint alternatives that can be useful for presenting or organizing/delivering presentations. If presentation ideas and design is something else important to you, visitwww.salesgraphics.com.

And if you believe you are a good match and should be added to this list, feel free to email us and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll consider adding. Thanks for reading.

Presentation Tools http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Tools

Presentation Tools Google Sites

Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share webpages. Create rich web pages easily. Collect all your info in one place. Control who can view and edit http://sites.google.com/

PreZentit

Create presentations in a few clicks, wherever you are. Work with your team in the same presentation at the same time. Your presentations can be private or public. And each one has its own web address. Download your presentations and show them even without an Internet connection. The presentations are web pages (HTML) so you could even edit them manually. http://prezentit.com/

Animoto

upload a video - Animoto analyses the video, demo feels the music, customises the video. Publish to any webpage http://animoto.com/

Viddix

Upload your video and support notes, images, etc. View on double presentation screens. Publish to any webpage. http://viddix.com/

demo

Vcasmo

A multimedia presentation solution for photo-video slide show. Synchronise a video and a slideshow side by side. Embed into any webpage. http://vcasmo.com/

Prezi

Create maps of texts, images, videos, PDFs, drawings and present in a nonlinear way. Move beyond the slide. http://prezi.com/

Creaza

An integrated, web-based toolbox for creative work. Integrates professional and user-generated content, creative tools and a social network. Share work and can give comments and suggestions. http://www.creaza.com/

Present.io

Simple rich web-presentation functionality. No registration, no downloads, no installs. You can upload presentation files (documents, pictures, video, audio) and be giving it in seconds. Free conference call line and rich chat functionality. http://present.io/

MyBrainShar k

Upload your presentation, document or video. Narrate it, share it, track it. Create voice-over presentations. Make talking photo albums. Upload a video or screencast. Narrate documents. Produce podcasts. Share your content. http://my.brainshark.com/home.aspx

tutorial

Sliderocket

Upload your slides, keynote or powerpoint and video. Publish to any webpage. http://sliderocket.com/

Slideshare

Upload powerpoints to share with others http://slideshare.net/

Authorstrea m

Present and share powerpoints. Port directly to YouTube. Start a meeting online, invite contacts to discuss live. Embed into any website, blog or share by email. Create your own channel to showcase your presentation. http://www.authorstream.com/

Slideboom

Share powerpoint presentations online. Play as movie with audiond l links. http://slideboom.com/

Photoshow

Turn your photos into a musical PhotoShow in just minutes http://photoshow.com/

Voicethread

Create a slideshow of images or video and you and others can comment on each photo by text, audio or video. Embed into any webpage. http://voicethread.com/

MuseumBox

Provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. You can add text, images, video and sound to the side of the cubes. http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

exampl e tutorial

Shwup

Personal online space where you can easily share and view photos and video with those you choose to invite. Also create fun home movies (called muvees) to share and post them to your blogs, Facebook and other social media sites. http://www.shwup.com/

Empressr

Rich media presentation tool. Tell your story anyway you like. Add photos, music, video, and audio, and share it publicly or privately in an instant. http://www.empressr.com/

DoYouBuzz

10+ elegant and professional resume templates. In the click of a button, try on the design that best accentuates your personality. Your resume will automatically adapt to the theme. Enrich your resume with videos, images, presentations and documents. http://www.doyoubuzz.com/us/

Free PowerPoint Resources

Free PowerPoint templates, free music, free photos for presentations, free advice and all sorts of other free PowerPoint stuff http://freepptresources.com/

Publishing Tools: Scribd

Upload any document. Share or embed your published document.

http://www.scribd.com/ Youblisher

Make your pdf documents flippable and quickly loading. It is like touching a realdocument. Can embed into any website. Just upload Pdf, and your book is made. http://youblisher.com/

Letterpop

Create professional looking newsletters and brochures. http://letterpop.com/

FormatPixel

Create your own online magazines, brochures, catalogues, portfolios and more. Design page based projects, layout text, upload your own images, add interactivity and customise their appearance. Move, insert or delete pages to create multi-page presentations. http://www.formatpixel.com/go/en/index.p hp

Calameo

Upload all major formats and convert them instantly in digital publications. http://en.calameo.com/

Issuu

Upload your documents, publish as professional publications. Embed into any webpage. http://issuu.com/

Openzine

Quickly create an online magazine and collaborate with friends. Create a blog that groups your posts with a magazine style cover you design. http://www.openzine.com/aspx/

Apture

Broadcast Tools Mogulus

Put links and embeds on your web pages. Integrate reference guides, images, video, maps, music, documents, presentations and more from 50+ sources. Layer media into your site with one click. http://www.apture.com/

Watch and produce live broadcasts. http://www.mogulus.com/

Ustream

Live, interactive broadcasting. In just tutorial minutes, you can broadcast and chat online with a global audience. Completely free, all it takes is a camera and Internet connection. http://www.ustream.tv/

Zentation

Save your live presentations with powerpoints, or other media, to support. http://zentation.com/

Freepath

Just drag and drop your favorite stuff into Freepath's playlist, no need to convert files, upload videos or embed links. http://www.freepath.com/

Multimedia Posters and Pages: Scrapblog

Combine your photos, audio, video and text to create multimedia pages and mix things up with a bunch of creative elements. Share your creations with family and friends or post them directly to your favorite sites. http://scrapblog.com/

Glogster Edu

Combine images, video, music, photos and audio to create mulitmedia pages. Embed into any webpage.

tutorial

http://edu.glogster.com/ Wix

Import favourite pictures and movies from your own computer or from the web. Create stunning pages using creative elements. Embed into any webpage or share directly. http://www.wix.com/

WebPoster

This tool allows educators to create a lesson, worksheet, or class page and immediately publish it online. Teachers can also set up classes and assign projects to students. Students complete the assignments by creating their own online projects or reports. Teachers and students can even add images and links to their pages. http://poster.4teachers.org/

Adam

Bring life to your dusty old static documents. tutorial Add videos, HTML, stylized text and more to a static PDF or image file. http://adamsapp.com/

Yola

Website builder that requires no technical skills. No ads, no banners. No hidden fees. Now download, works securely in your browser. Unlimited free hosting. Previously known as Synthasite. http://www.yola.com/

BeeClip

A fun and creative place where you can create amazing scrapbooks. A unique way to collect and share your digital photos and videos. http://www.beeclip.com/

Review: Top 5 Webbased Presentation Tools Comparison http://www.sitepoint.com/top-5-web-presentation-tools-compared/ Recently we looked at a few alternatives that can help you translate your raw data into some delicious visual goodness. Today I thought we’d talk about ways you might present it. Most of us — at some point in our careers — need to present our ideas to an audience. Maybe it’s a client pitch? Sometimes it might be for colleagues or even potential employers. Other times it might be for a bigger audience at a meet-up night or conference. While your data may be easy to read and understand, applying it to some slides and adding some text can actually benefit you. Now, not everyone has access to the established desktop presentation applications such as PowerPoint or Keynote. Happily, there are now some great online alternatives out there. And being ‘web-native’, means they’re not only better suited to social sharing platforms than their desktop brethren, but can be launched from ANY computer with a web browser — a huge relief during rare but inevitable hardware disasters. Today I’m sharing my first impressions on five online presentation services that will keep your audience engaged without tapping your wallet.

Slides

http://slides.com/ First Impression: Slides doesn’t take too long when it comes to getting started. You begin by picking one of three price plans: Basic, Pro and Team. From there you have three more options but this time it’s about how you want to sign up. You can register an account or simply sign in via your Facebook or Google account. This is where the fun part comes in. After choosing to “create a deck” I was taken to the very sleek editor workspace. While Slides clearly wants to make things as self apparent as possible, it does offer a nifty walkthrough tutorial — a thorough guide that shows you where everything is and the function such as the “Top Level Options”. Slides is friendly enough that you’ll most likely quickly figure this out through trial and error, but it is nice to have an option. Creating your slides is really an easy task. With ten default slides designs to choose from, you can do everything from upload background images, tinker around with your type and even add speaker notes. Speaking of type, there are 12 distinct type options to choose from. If that’s not enough variety, you also have multiple color style choices to choose from as w ell as transitions. All in all, I think Slides is a winner. However, if I were to have one complaint, it’s the fact that you have to go Pro in order to export your deck to either PDF or sync it to your Dropbox. Until then you’re only options are to export as an HTML doc or to embed it (and pray your WiFi doesn’t fail at the wrong moment).

Features:  View your slides either online or on the go via your mobile device  Control your presentations through the power of any touch enabled mobile device  The ability to present your slides live in real-time anywhere in the world  Variety of themes and transitions at your disposal  Teams can streamline their presentation workflow  Share and fork your presentations  Revisions are saved so you can always go back if you make a mistake  HTML ability allows you to edit your markup and customize your decks

ZOHO Docs

http://zoho.com/ First Impression: To get started on your first presentation with Zoho Docs, you do have to register for an account. Thankfully, if the last thing you need is one more login to remember, you can sign in via your Google, Google Apps, Facebook or Yahoo accounts. Once that’s done it’s time to start creating. The workspace is rather attractive and userfriendly, guiding you along without actually forcing you into a structured tutorial from the get go. Presentation formats are broken up into three options: document, spreadsheet or presentation. Take each one for a test-drive by clicking the “Create” button on the left hand screen.

Creating a fresh presentation opens up a new tab to pull up Zoho Show. While this may not be appreciated by everyone, it does allow you to switch back to your Zoho Doc’s workspace whenever you need it without having to press the back button. Right away you’re prompted to choose one of the 17 available themes as well as selecting a preferred aspect ratio (16:9 or 4:3). This is a nice touch especially if you know you will be presenting on a wide-screen monitor or projection screen. I don’t believe any other tool offered this functionality While choosing your theme, you can also decide your preferred color palette and font. From there you are taken through a thorough walkthrough of the creation process. There are tons of customization options plus you have four export options for your presentations. Features  Unlimited users with the Free Forever plan  Shared storage is more than generous even with a free account  Share your work through email, embed it into your sites or even publish it publicly  Word documents, spreadsheets and presentations can be easily created  History of your changes in documents are there for you if revisions are needed  Ability to sync right to your desktop  Enabled document and user management  Export your presentation as a PDF, PPTX, ODP or PPSX

Google Slides

http://www.google.com/slides/about/

First Impression: I must admit that I have used Google Slides once in my life, but that was for a film presentation during my last year of university. If you, like most people, have a Google account, you already have access to Google Slides ,so no registration is required. To get started you only have to go to your Docs/Drive, open the hamburger menu to the left and click “slides”. Should you have no presentations already created, you only have to click the “+” in the bottom right corner to get started. As with Zoho, you’re immediately tasked to choosing your theme and aspect ratio. While there are 20 available theme options, they are rather plain when compared to the templates offered by competing products . While other apps do a good job at ‘prepping’ first time users, this is a case where Google won’t take your hand and walk you through you what Slides has to offer. This may not be a big issue for most, but is likely to discourage anyone who isn’t 100% confident with web apps. That being said, the UX of Slides isn’t very different to the UX of other Google apps, so many users will feel a sense of familiarity from the start. Adding images and text or even aligning them, changing the type or color are all just a matter of a few button clicks. To add in a new slide you but only need to press the “+” button to the far left on the toolbox. In order to change up your slide’s layout you need to click the “layout” button which is between “background” and “theme”. This will give you a few more options to choose from and add some dynamic to your final presentation. As expected there are some transitions to make the slides run smoothly and a bit m ore options to get something you’re proud of before you share it. Features  Similar Google Docs layout makes using Slides relatively easy  6 available download formats including SVG, PDF and PNG  Edit and collaborate on your work in real-time  Chat and comment right there in your window  Changes are automatically saved as you work  PowerPoint compatible  Enabled offline editing for when you need it  Absolutely free

Emaze

http://www.emaze.com/ First Impression: Emaze prides themselves on allowing you to easily create your own presentations so that you can “emaze” everyone. Once you register with e-mail address and password, you’re ready to start building your first presentation. Of course you have to decide which plan you want: Free, Pro or Emazing. Choose and you’ll be immediately presented with an excellent selection of good quality templates — from fun to professional-looking. Unlike some of the other presentation creators, these templates are thoughtfully categorized to make it easier for you to find the best fit for your presentation. Even though some categories only have one available color choice for that particular theme, there are still 34 themes to choose from. Like Zoho, creating a presentation in Emaze pulls up a new tab to bring you to the workspace. Instead of the typical walk-through, Emaze uses animated arrows to show exactly where things are and what they do, which is a nice take on the general tutorial. Because the templates are pre-conceived each new slide template already has a built in layout that only requires you to insert your desired graphics, video and text. Emaze has

some cool features as well which include adding sections to your presentations and even adding effects to create motion to your objects. Creating and editing your presentation with Emaze is rather simple and can be done relatively quickly if you know what you’re trying to achieve. Clicking on text will automatically open a text editor tool to allow you to change text sizes, color, as well as add effects. There are some limitations to Emaze however. The preset font for your chosen template is the one you’re stick with, plus you have limited color palette to apply to your text. Also, as is often the case, free accounts are always publicly accessible. Not a big deal for many, but a consideration for some. Features  Automatic translation tool allows for your presentation to be seen by everyone  Multi-device compatibility lets you view and edit your work no matter where you are  3D effects can be added to your elements  Share and download your presentations  Cloud based and HTML5 enabled to allow for seamless and efficient workflow  A variety of pre-designed templates

Visme

http://visme.co/ First Impression: After getting yourself signed up with Visme you are thrown right into creating by first naming your project. Once you have your project named it’s time to decide whether you want to create a presentation, infographic, banner ad or a blank canvas. The first thing you will notice is the comparitively low number of templates available to you when creating your presentation. There are 7 templates in total. Of course, you’re quite free to design your own layout by choosing a blank canvas, but it’s a little disappointing when Visme’s own marketing boasts about the ‘tons of template and presets‘ that are available to you. The dashboard for your presentation is mapped out for you in your first go round, in a very similar method to Emaze’s approach. The layout for creating is as simple as you can get so if you don’t need or want all the fancy effects and all that jazz Visme is definitely for you. While there isn’t anything amazingly new that Visme brings to the table, their presentation creator there are some nice touches. The first thing worth noting is the thousands of free stock images that are available for you to use in order to make your presentation stand out. Simply search on a given topic and ninety percent of the time a viable result will seem to pop up. Photos aren’t the only visuals available — you’ll find hundreds of vector images too. In my opinion, whatever Visme may lack in features, they certainly make up for with their easy-to-use editor and their large, free asset library. Visme also does allow you share, embed and download your presentation, but unfortunately you’re stuck with the branding and fewer options unless you upgrade. Features  Free templates and presets available to you from the start  Customizable assets  One-click security settings to keep your work hidden from the public  Pre-loaded fonts, images and vectors all for you to use  Share via social networks or URL links  Downloadable and embeddable for when you want to share offline or online  The ability to create anything from presentations to banner ads

5 Free (and Way Better) PowerPoint Alternatives http://officeninjas.com/2014/10/22/5-free-powerpoint-alternatives/

We, along with our bosses and our co-workers, have been seeing the same slides, text effects, and animations from MS Office PowerPoint for the past 10 to 15 years. A phrase has even been coined as a result of PowerPoint ennui: DEATH BY POWERPOINT.

If you are not in the business of assassinating your organization via boring slides (we know that you’re not THAT kind of office ninja), take a look at the following 5 presentation alternatives. Did we mention that these websites and apps are free and simply “way better”?

1. Canva Interactive. Online. Beautiful. Canva is a website that allows you to create slides with built-in high resolutions images, vectors, and text effects. Many of the backgrounds and other design elements are free, but the premium design elements may cost you a bankbreaking $1.00. It is a user-friendly tool, and when you sign up, they even offer you an interactive tutorial. Share your slides via link faster than your boss can demand a PowerPoint on a flash drive.For an in-depth tutorial about Canva from your favorite office experts (#NinjaLife), click here.

2. Bunkr

Bunkr offers a presentation platform that puts your social sharing options right beside the presentation! This works very well for ninjas who have to communicate with remote audiences online. Not only is the interface and design clean, it is super easy to use. What it lacks in pure artistic options, it makes up for in readability and interactivity. Also, because we love making your life easier, Bunkr allows you to export content to PDF files, HTML5 files, and (yes, it still makes an appearance) PowerPoint.

3. emaze

Cloud-based, responsive, and downright pretty templates are the draw of this online presentation website. Emaze makes creating attractive and dynamic presentations easy by providing you with free, pre-made templates. Just populate the templates with content and graphics, and then youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready to amaze your boss with your emazing creation (see what I did there?). In the event their free package is not enough for you, their highest tier package offers unlimited space and sharing, as well as a host of other handy premium features (like offline viewing and privacy controls), for only $9.90 per month. Dive right into emaze with our step-by-step tutorial (written by yours truely)!

4. Slidebean 85

If you are a no-nonsense ninja, then Slidebean may be your presentation medium of choice. Stressing the idea that “less is more,” Slidebean is a highly content-oriented platform that can be displayed on any browser and on any device. It is significantly less graphic intensive than the other PowerPoint alternatives, allowing it to be easily viewed and shared. In other words, no more excuses from people who claimed, “I couldn’t access the presentation… [insert null complaint here].”

5. Google Slides This may alarm you, but you may have held the secret to creating compelling slides ever since you started using GMail. If you have no idea what Google Drive is, you HAVE to visit your Google account NOW. At the top right hand corner, you will see an icon that looks like nine itty-bitty squares. Click it and visit Drive. Once inside your Drive, you will be able to create presentations with Google Slides. Although the interface and design options are PPT-esque, Slides allows you to share the presentation easily via link or attachment.

Coming Soon: Microsoft Sway It looks like Microsoft was aware of DEATH BY POWERPOINT too. Although their Sway presentation application is still in development, its concept is to bring together many different mediums- YouTube, social media, image databases, wikis, etc.- and offer drag and drop functionality that allows you to integrate them into your presentation. It looks promising, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to see where Microsoft decides to take this idea.