Presentation Software: What to Choose Instead of PowerPoint?

16 December 2019 Elizabeth Thistle

This is the fifth lesson of our Ideal Presentation Free Ultimate Course. Want to get the whole course? Hurry up – follow the link and subscribe!

Table of contents:

Why should you even think about trying some other software?
Presentation software alternatives

I guess everyone has tried using PowerPoint at least once in a lifetime. It is a default Windows software, 因此，如果你需要一个应用程序来为你的物理课或科学项目创建演示文稿，你更有可能使用已经可用的应用程序. Default software is really great when you need it barely once a year.

Other popular presentation software is Keynote and Google Slides. The first one is an app for Mac’s and the second is a default option of Google Docs. 他们都有各自的优点和缺点，如果你想看看比较-通过我们的 PowerPoint vs Keynote vs Google Slides article. Despite those three options are the most popular throughout the web, the variety of available presentation software is much bigger.

Why should you even think about trying some other software?

Of course, it is completely up to you. 无论你使用的是最流行的演示软件还是一些并不广为人知的演示软件，最重要的是你的舒适度. 实际上，便利性是人们开始寻找不同软件的主要原因. The interface could be just too complicated (or too simple) for the user. The lack of functionalities is, by the way, the second reason to deny PowerPoint or Google Slides and try something else.

Default and widely used apps are convenient for most of the common needs. However, 如果你必须经常使用演示软件，那么不太流行的应用程序可能是一个更好的选择. If you understood that PowerPoint, Keynote或Google Slides不适合你——这里有一些其他的变体可以满足你的要求，使演示创建更简单，更愉快.

Presentation software alternatives

Haiku Deck

俳句甲板创作者的哲学集中在三个词-简单，美丽，有趣. 演示大楼应该是一个美好和愉快的经历，但实际上它更多的是有点无聊和耗时. 这个软件试图帮助你改变这一点，并花费更少的精力来创建幻灯片. 订阅者可以访问大约4000万张专业制作的照片，这让用户在挑选合适的照片上节省了大量时间. 幻灯片的结构鼓励你简化信息，使其更清晰.

Price: from $9.99/month

Conversion to .pptx: yes

Templates: a few thousand

Collaboration: yes

Embedding: images and videos

Zoho Show

“Design. Discuss. Deliver” – those the main creed of Zoho Show. The designing process is simplified to make it faster and more convenient, just like in all the other presentation software. The app has some great collaboration functionalities, the whole team can work on the same slide together, leave comments or change the design online. 交付是这个应用程序最原始的功能-它可以在任何类型的设备上显示, be it iOS or Android one and has some broadcasting tools built-in. 这意味着演示文稿可以在网上向大量观众展示，世界各地的人都可以同时观看.

Price: free but has premium subscription

Conversion to .pptx: yes

Templates: 20+

Collaboration: yes

Embedding: images and videos

Visme

This is presentation software that has the fullest knowledge base I’ve ever seen. They have not only documentation, but they also shoot video tutorials and even do a weekly Visme 101 live webinar. So, 这是肯定的，你不会有任何问题处理应用程序-它是尽可能清楚. 像所有类似的软件一样，它允许你选择一个漂亮的模板，并根据你的需要定制它. All the operations are made online but you can also save the result as .pptx, .jpeg, .png or .pdf file for offline viewing.

Price: free but has premium subscription that starts at $15

Conversion to .pptx: yes

Templates: 60+

Collaboration: yes

Embedding: images, videos, audio, GIF’s

Slides

This is one of the most flexible presentation apps on the whole list. First of all, 它对开发人员非常友好，并允许我们以用户想要的方式更改幻灯片的编码. Probably, it is the only app, that has an open-source format and can be customized in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is also very convenient for people who can’t code. 幻灯片有一个内置的网格，可以帮助精确地定位不同的元素, as you would like to. 可能会给你留下深刻印象的功能是，你可以同时在多个设备上打开演示文稿，并在智能手机的帮助下在大屏幕上控制幻灯片的变化.

Price: starts at $5, has a free plan

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: no but you can clone finished presentations

Collaboration: yes

Embedding: images, videos, GIF’s, code

Canva

这个演示软件专注于设计，并会给你一个惊人的幻灯片创建的所有工具. Besides a huge collection of breathtaking images, Canva has also a specialized tool for building graphs. 你选择用来展示的所有照片都可以在一个单独的仪表板的帮助下在线编辑. In addition, there are lots of detailed guides and courses on the Canva website. 它们都是免费的，将帮助你掌握设计、营销和Canva的使用.

Price: free but photos are paid, the pro plan is $9.95/month

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: 50000+

Collaboration: yes

Embedding: images

Prezi

In a common presentation, the slides are organized as a list and you show them to the audience one by one. Prezi breaks that boring sequence and transforms a slideshow into an adventure. 这个演示软件的功能允许您显示大纲，就像一个具有里程碑的地图. 不断变化的幻灯片被设计成大地图的一部分，动画将它们放大或缩小. As a result – your presentation looks really gorgeous and impressive. 如果你正在寻找一个软件，将帮助你走出困境- Prezi是一个理想的选择.

Price: starts from $5/month, has a free 14-days trial

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: 120+

Collaboration: yes (for team plan)

Embedding: images, video, audio (in the premium plan)

Ludus

这个演示软件是所有列表中最有趣和动态的. The developers' team consider common, “static” slides boring, 所以他们给用户一个机会嵌入几乎任何东西到演示中. Any type of video, audio, 3D模型和大量其他选项完全可以插入幻灯片并向观众展示. Ludus also offers lots of images, icons, 你可以在你的项目中自由使用字体-不要浪费时间寻找一张漂亮的照片.

Price: starts at $19.99/month

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: no

Collaboration: yes (for team plan)

Embedding: images, video, audio, 3D models, videos, VR experiments, Dropbox files, designs from Figma, prototypes from Framer, InVision or Marvel, code

Swipe

如果你需要的软件，将允许您创建与民意调查，观众可以在你的演讲中投票的交互式演示文稿- Swipe将给你你需要的工具. 你可以给每个你想听和想看的人一个演示的链接，他们可以在自己的设备上在线观看. This app could become a great instrument for a developer who knows how to code. 专门的Markdown内置工具集让用户有机会构建任何他想要的设计. And when the work is done – you can download the presentation as a .pdf or .html file.

Price: free, pro version starts from $20/month

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: no

Collaboration: yes (for team plan)

Embedding: images, video, GIFs

Slidebean

This presentation software offers you a completely new level of automation. 你不需要构建布局或考虑设计-只需写下所有你需要说的，AI会将这些文本组织成幻灯片. 稍后您将能够更改布局，但这肯定会减少工作量. The Sidebean team creed says “Create a story, not slides”, 这意味着你不必考虑设计，可以专注于本质. 这个应用程序将节省你的时间来准备演讲，使它真正令人信服.

Price: free, pro version starts at $8/month

Conversion to .pptx: no

Templates: 100+

Collaboration: yes (for the pro plan)

Embedding: images, video, GIFs, code

Conclusion

Trying something new could bring you lots of profit and pleasure. Different software is made to fulfill different needs, 因此，如果PowerPoint不完全适合你，试着找一些其他的应用程序可能会很有用. 您很可能会找到一个理想的软件，它将理想地满足您的目标，并充分简化您的工作. 不要犹豫尝试新事物，在最坏的情况下，它会给你带来经验.

Infographic Icons to Spice Up Your Infographic Presentation

The Best Fonts for PowerPoint Presentations