It has been a little over three decades since technology giant Microsoft released the first version of PowerPoint, a software application that has become synonymous with business presentations.
During the coronavirus pandemic, physicians and researchers who watched press conferences given by the World Health Organization noticed that the onscreen data and statistics were displayed on PowerPoint slides; this is a testament to how relevant this application has managed to remain in the 21st century.
Naturally, you do not have to strictly use PowerPoint in 2021 if you need to create a slideshow or a digital presentation. There are several options in this regard, and you could safely argue that some of them are better than PowerPoint in some specific use-case scenarios.
In fact, some analysts who evaluate productivity software believe that Microsoft Sway will replace PowerPoint in the near future, and this leads us to our first tip: If you have a Microsoft account, which could be a free Outlook email profile, you need to give Sway a try.
Unlike PowerPoint, which has always been all business, Microsoft Sway is friendlier for both creators and audiences. The user interface, workflows, templates, and themes offered by Sway feel modern and refreshing. Sway encourages creativity, online collaboration, and storytelling; these are all design paradigms you can certainly achieve with PowerPoint, but they are the foundations that Sway was developed on.
Sway’s online collaboration features do not necessarily set it apart from PowerPoint, but it should be noted that the former was always intended to work as a cloud service while the latter had to be adjusted to this effect.
If you need to share a slideshow, pitch deck, or presentation online, you are better off using Sway or other cloud-native services such as Prezi or Haiku Deck. Sending a .PPT file as an email attachment is still a valid maneuver in 2021, but you should really look into cloud platforms if you need to collaborate with partners, associates, co-workers, or colleagues.
With regard to posting your slideshow online, you can still use PowerPoint if you wish, but there may be caveats when uploading the .PPT file if it has too many multimedia elements such as videos and audio recordings. You can definitely import PowerPoint slides into Prezi, for example, but they may not display well if they are overly complicated, and this brings us to our final tip.
The PowerPoint presentation here is an example of the simplicity you should strive for when uploading files. The slides follow the infallible format of images and text; these elements will display correctly when uploaded to just about any online slideshow maker.
Once your simple .PPT slides have been uploaded to Prezi or Haiku Deck, you can add the style and pizazz you desire. It is always better to work this way, and there is an additional reason for doing so: In 2021, the most popular presentation templates these days feature minimalist design, which means that your simple designs will resonate better with younger audiences and people who are attuned to data visualization trends.
