People hate conventional presentations so much that they’ve coined the phrase “death by PowerPoint.” And they aren’t being melodramatic – some presentations are so bad, they’ll make you want to go into early retirement.
Some presentations never seem to end. Slide after slide of bullet points and bad clip art. The only view within eyesight is an insurmountable block of text. Outdated memes are sprinkled throughout. You’re guaranteed to check out after slide three in which someone tries to personalize their presentation and break the ice by adding a slide about their cat Mr. Jingles.
Fortunately, there are means at your disposal to avoid this mundane fate. We’ve rounded up the top PowerPoint alternatives that deviate from the conventional (read: boring) structure in order to help you deliver the most effective presentation possible.
1. Prezi
Prezi is a cloud-based crowd-pleaser because it deviates from the traditional linear approach to presentations. It enables users to pan and zoom across its digital landscape for a more dynamic demonstration. This solution is perfect for students and educators alike due to its “whole picture” perspective.
Top Features:
Presentations can be viewed and edited on any device
In-meeting presentation capabilities
All presentations are stored in the cloud
Sharable and collaborative capabilities
Presentations are downloadable for offline use
Advanced image editing tools
Privacy
Although Prezi has a lot of perks, it isn’t fully customizable. You also only have the option to create non-linear presentations versus having the ability to create any type of presentation that you like. Prezi starts at $5 per month per user, which makes it super accessible to smaller teams.
2. Piktochart
Piktochart is a super user-friendly slideless solution that has a huge library of infographics and images. The app provides very concise instructions on how to make the best presentation possible, so even rookie designers can achieve something critic-proof.
Top Features:
Dozens of templates to choose from; whether you need infographics, posters, presentations, reports, etc.
Presentations can be edited and modified by all users
Visualization of internal communications to streamline creative processes
Animated reporting capabilities to bring your analytics to life
Piktochart starts at a limited free plan with the option to upgrade for $24 per user/month. If you choose to stick with the free plan, you’re going to have to work with a cap of five visuals, two downloads, one folder, and only 100MB of storage. The upgraded plan includes unlimited visuals, downloads, folders, 100GB of storage, and more.
3. Powtoon
Powtoon simplifies slideless presentations by enabling users to create engaging videos via orienting the editor around the slide deck. The user-friendly editing options allow for a presentation-ready video display by the end of a fine-tuned brainstorming process.
Here’s an example of how freelance finder Fiverr uses Powtoon to create dynamic demonstrations.
Your audience will feel as though they’ve bought tickets to an educational, animated lecture that took months to put together. Powtoon determines the appropriate lapse of time intuitively; the app allows you to see the amount of time allotted for a specific slide versus the entire presentation, allowing you to adjust accordingly.
Top Features:
Pre-made video templates and animations
The ability to orient your videos
Downloadable files in various formats such as MP4
White-labeled presentations
The ability to publish straight to Youtube, Wistia, Facebook ads, and other video apps
Powtoon has a free plan that is very limited, so we would suggest upgrading to a paid plan to unlock all of its potential. Paid plans start at $19 per month and will give you access to five free exports, 10 min video downloads, some additional free content, and 2GB of storage. If you want to go for the free plan, expect to be limited to branded exports and limited video length.
4. Bluescape
Bluescape offers an enriched experience by providing Prezi-like content delivery that can be built upon in real-time.
This online whiteboard is a flexible and unique presentation tool that also houses hi-res images, editable documents, playable videos, and limitless content to reference or include directly in a presentation. And you don’t have to set up a separate meeting just to screen share your presentation; you can simply meet in the workspace and present from there.
Bluescape is perfect for creative teams who need to design and deliver vast quantities of visual content under strict deadlines. It enables teams to collaborate digitally just as effectively as they could in person, which is critical in today’s distributed world. Bluescape is a platform for polished presentations as well as design reviews, collaboration sessions, and on-the-fly presentations to share works in progress.
This solution has an edge over the competition because you can present an entire workspace to show “behind the curtain” material, zoom into a collection of content, or even flip through a PDF document or a slide deck embedded in the workspace. Having everything in one place streamlines workflows and decision-making, which shortens project timelines by 20%.
Top Features:
An infinite, collaborative landscape that enables you to hone in on key points within your presentation
Sharable and collaborative capabilities
A centralized communication hub that enables teams to meet and work in one place
Easy screen sharing
Innovative presentation capabilities
Real-time editing of assets and entire presentations
Video sync
Bluescape was made with growing creative teams in mind. Bluescape offers many more features than other solutions on the market while keeping costs down. Bonus points: there is also a free plan!
You can learn more about why people love Bluescape here.
Are You Ready to Dump PowerPoint?
Old habits die hard. We get it. PowerPoint has been the “go-to” presentation tool for decades – which is kind of the problem. PowerPoint presentations leave no room for creativity and tend to follow the same cookie-cutter equation that is sure to put your audience to sleep.
We promise when you finally cut the cord, you’ll see immediate results. All of these alternatives are exceptional deviations from traditional presentations that are sure to save you from the unfortunate fate of “death by PowerPoint.”
Obviously, you need to determine your needs before you choose the right solution for you. But it’s important to not feel pigeonholed into the solutions of the past and flex your creative muscles to see how powerful your presentations can be!
Keep collaborating, brainstorming, and developing until you create the next big idea.
