Make your presentations interactive
The traditional approach
Most people who want to present their business, products or services to a group of people automatically turn to MicrosoftPowerPoint ( https://products.office.com/en-GB/powerpoint ). You only need to convert a few texts and illustrations into a slideshow and that’s it. To make this presentation a bit more dynamic, you can call on the equally popular Prezi ( http://www.prezi.com ). This webtool enables you to integrate all kinds of animation and zoom effects into your presentations. You can pick one of the numerous templates to start from or import an existing PowerPoint file.
Presenting your slideshow
Office Mix. You can give your presentation to a group in a variety of ways. The cloud functions of Microsoft Office ( https://products.office.com/en-GB ) give you access to your PowerPoint slideshows wherever you are. If you use Office 365, you can also install the Office Mix add-in ( http://mix.office.com - free). It lets you transform an existing presentation into an interactive slideshow to which you can add spoken comments, video and screenshots, questions and surveys. You can live-stream the result, even remotely. The add-in provides statistics on the people who’ve watched it and gives answers to your surveys. Note. From 2018 onwards Office Mix will become a standard component of PowerPoint in Office 365 (see https://goo.gl/9b9FmH for more details).
Presentain. The Presentain webtool ( http://www.presentain.com ) lets you play existing PowerPoint slideshows on any device equipped with an Internet connection. You can control the presentation via your smartphone, while the audience can follow everything on their mobile device; they can scroll back to previous slides and ask questions via chat. The tool lets you organise live surveys. Prezi. The Prezi tool allows you to present your animated slideshows while simultaneously sharing them with your audience on their mobile devices. They only need to click on the link you give them to follow your presentation in real time (more details at https://goo.gl/PKYrQS ). Depending on the (free or paid) version of Prezi you use, you will be given an analysis of how your slideshow is watched.
A different approach
Swipe ( http://www.swipe.to ) focuses on interactivity and collaboration during presentations. This webtool allows you to upload items such as image files, PDFs and online videos. Each item loaded is shown as an individual slide, and you can change their order. However, the tool has a few other creative options. For instance, you can’t type text; it must already be integrated into the material you upload. Tip. The strength of Swipe is mainly in the way you can present your slideshow to your audience. First give the URL to the participants and use the Control Live button to get started. The bar will turn green. When you move to the next slide, this is done in real time on everyone’s screen who is currently following your presentation. You even tell how many people are following it. You can organise surveys which they can complete on their smartphones and you’re shown the results immediately. Swipe is free (with limitations), but there are paid-for plans as well (see http://www.swipe.to/pricing ).
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