Dump PowerPoint, here’s how presentations are evolving.

In News by Command.app

Ok, let’s do it. Let’s talk about the dinosaur in the room. Yep that old presentation standby – PowerPoint. It’s 2021 and technology has long since surpassed what PowerPoint offers, yet so many people still use it because it’s what the company said to use since they already have the software. After all, why would it matter if you present your company image with software built nearly 40 years ago . It certainly isn’t because of ease-of-use, there are so many people out there still building slides into the wee hours of the night. Some of us have updated technology to a linear presentation app but still PowerPoint reigns supreme in people’s hearts. Why?

Tired of rehearsing presentation

Well first off, we’re following our fourth-grade teachers’ instructions and adding visual aids to our speech to make it more interesting. PowerPoint was easy to access and that’s what everyone was doing. Secondly, we’ve gotten comfortable with it. Transitioning to new technology is not easy. Since we had to do quite a bit of new adaptation this past year with other stuff, the last thing we want to do is give up our beloved PowerPoint. But now really is the time and here’s why.

How many times have you stayed up the night before a big presentation or pitch, reworking your PowerPoint slide deck. You’ve done your due diligence, you’ve researched your audience, you think you know exactly where the meeting will go. You have switched the order of your slides around five times. You’ve added some and taken away others, trying to anticipate what questions might come up. You’ve gone over the flow and the order of the slides trying to get it just right.  Maybe you make just one more slide. Wait, it’s 1:00 am, you should just go to bed.

Now you’re just getting going with the presentation, about on slide 4. Somebody interrupts with a question. Just your luck, the slide you need to answer that question was one you took out last night. It happens.

Or how many presentations have you sat through thinking “this is a waste of my time” or “get to the point.” The same boring slides spelling out word for word exactly what the speaker is telling you. It’s never a good thing. Remember a boring presentation is a bad presentation. And research suggests that there are “attention lapses” during the first settling-in moments of a presentation, every 10-18 minutes during and the final 3-4 minutes of the delivery.

PowerPoint Presentation
Reference: https://i.imgur.com/xiYlH2d.jpg

What do these two scenarios have in common? That’s right, unfortunately it’s PowerPoint.

Whether you’re misusing PowerPoint by creating text-heavy, redundant slides or using it in a situation that demands flexibility and something dynamic to engage the audience, both are reasons to ditch PowerPoint and find a new solution.

What PowerPoint Can Do:

The software that Microsoft created so many years ago definitely served its purpose. It made it easier to fill what could’ve been nerves or dead air for otherwise non-proficient public speakers.

It covers the basic needs of Word Art style graphics, adds annoyingly overused text and image dissolves and transitions, giving the show more pizazz. But most of all, it helped give birth to users having the confidence to create & present their company or individual message where they otherwise would’ve been stuck with poster boards. For that we applaud it.

What PowerPoint Can’t Do:

Out of the gate, PowerPoint is extremely guilty of being misleading and oversimplified in how people present their products. Because people don’t want to sit through a 45-page slide deck, users minimize their product breakdowns in a presentation to one or two slides and leave a lot of questions unanswered for interested parties.

Jump around. And I don’t mean House of Pain’s monster hit from the 1990s. It is linear, you present A to Z. You have no means of getting viewers more in-depth information when they ask questions during the presentation.

Look innovative. How many of you have been excited about sitting through a meeting when someone tells you they’ll be presenting a PowerPoint. No one…. Exactly. The standard slide deck has been worked over, we’ve seen it, it isn’t new or more cutting-edge.

Be Interactive. When you think of interactivity, computers, tablets, games or social media might come to mind. Although you might be using a computer to present your PowerPoint, it locks down the versatility of interaction to a static screen.

Data Collective. PowerPoint is for presenting. It isn’t made for gathering information on your audience. It isn’t designed to be collaborative, it’s meant to be that brick wall you look at. PowerPoint lacks the ability to create a feedback loop of question and answer, knowledge growth and engagement.

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Solvay-App-Command-App

What if you had a tool that could house all your materials? You wouldn’t have to pick and choose which things to include beforehand. All of it would be there when you need it, whenever and wherever! If a question came up and your main slide deck didn’t address it, you could quickly navigate to the material that you do need.

That tool exists.

What if you had a platform that let you design better looking, more engaging visuals that actually helped you and your audience interact? A solution that allows you to keep the versatility of your current softwares you like to use for design, with no learning curve? The information you were presenting would help guide the conversation, it would spark interest and more questions. It would make you look like the innovative company you are.

That platform exists.

What if there was a company who specialized in creating navigational templates to give your presentations the flexibility and freedom to engage with your audience in every kind of setting? What if this company could help you make the next step in technology adoption easier? And what if you didn’t have to pay to design the whole thing from scratch?

That company exists too!

Linear presentations are a thing of the past. We need to be able to adapt to any situation with a moment’s notice and we don’t want to reinvent the wheel each time a meeting comes up. The great news is there are tools out now that help you do all of the above and MORE.

The first step really is realizing that there is something better out there. We can let PowerPoint go. It was great while it lasted. It really did help put technology into the hands of every presenter and make us realize the power of visual aids. (Our fourth-grade teachers would be so proud.) But now is the time to take advantage of digital platforms that bring our presentations into the next century. We need to be able to use tools that help us address the specific needs of our audience. We need that tool to be on the devices that we use every day for work.  Check out Command.App and its platform to see how their tools address the needs of today’s businesses. Visually dynamic and thoughtfully designed to help move communications forward, Command.App can help you assess if now is the right time to ditch the dinosaur and make the leap to the next best tool in your toolbox.

For questions about Command.App and ways to revolutionize your presentations and delivery, find out more here.