If you suddenly find yourself in a position where you have to present information to other people, you might wonder what software is the best to use to deliver a professional presentation. There are different options to choose from and you just don’t know what to use.
The biggest advantage of using PowerPoint is that PPT files are the most commonly used and widely accepted file formats. PowerPoint is easy to use, cost-effective and boasts a huge online community for support. You also get access to thousands of templates to make your presentation look good.
But, there are several other advantages of using Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentations too. In this article, I’ll some of the most effective benefits of using Microsoft PowerPoint for presentation design!
Note – If you are on the fence but interested in getting PowerPoint, check out this limited-time deal to get Office 365 1-year subscription for the lowest price on Amazon!
1. Most Widely Accepted File Format
Microsoft PowerPoint is a widely accepted file format where slides are used to convey information. It is a standard component of the Microsoft Office Suite and is compatible with Google Slides, Keynote, and other open-source presentation software.
According to some research results regarding the popularity and use of presentation software, it is estimated that PowerPoint is currently installed on more than a billion computers worldwide! It is believed that there might be about 30 million PowerPoint presentations created every day.
The advantage of using such a popular and widely used software program is that it is most probably a familiar program for the person you share a presentation with.
2. Wide Variety of File Export Options
A great advantage offered by PowerPoint is that you can export the whole presentation, or parts of it, in a variety of formats. PowerPoint presentations can also be made available on many different devices, and you can always control what content you want to display.
As you don’t have to send a presentation necessarily in .ppt or .pptx format, the receiver doesn’t require PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer to open the presentation.
You can export in PDF format and your layout and design will not be altered. The presentation’s slides can also be saved and exported in .png or .jpg format.
If needed, a presentation can also be exported to a video and saved in Mp4 format. If gifs form part of your presentation, they can be saved and exported as Animated GIFs.
You always have the print option to export your presentation or parts of the presentation to Word. When you’ve exported it to Word the content can be edited before printing it.
Whichever way of exporting you decide on, you can export the presentation either as a whole or only some of the slides. And it can be sent as an attachment with an email or you can use the Cloud to facilitate the saving and exporting processes of the presentation.
3. Provides huge Flexibility in Design & Creativity
PowerPoint provides huge flexibility in design and creativity. You can, for instance, use its visual hierarchy features when you create your slides. With this feature, you assure that the right elements and content catch the eye.
Other features include the merging of shapes, the creation of layers, and the creative use of color. You also get an eyedropper tool in PowerPoint that allows you to use any color from your screen in your presentation!
With the Design Ideas feature, you can create the content of a slide and PowerPoint will offer you a variety of design choices to make it better.
The design features PowerPoint offers can in many aspects be compared to advanced design software solutions like Adobe InDesign. You don’t need separate software to design your slides – PowerPoint provides you with built-in features.
4. Allows you to Use Creative Templates
The designs of your presentations are what catch the eye and help you to convey your message to your audience. PowerPoint’s creative templates spare you the time of designing your own templates.
However, if you are a good designer yourself, PowerPoint allows you to create your own templates if you want to.
Note – Check out some of the most popular PowerPoint templates on the internet!
When using PowerPoint’s creative templates feature, it automatically generates design ideas to choose from. You get virtually unlimited options because this feature matches the content you are creating to professionally designed layouts in the background.
This template creation feature is a great advantage for users without any design background. It lets you design presentations that look professional even if you don’t have a design background.
5. Functionality to Use Both Online and Offline
PowerPoint offers you the option to work either online or offline. When you’re using PowerPoint online you can create and share basic presentations directly in your browser.
But it must be remembered that web-based PowerPoint doesn’t have all the features that you’ll have access to with desktop PowerPoint. For “normal” presentations the online web version is good enough and you can present your slide show from anywhere where you have internet access.
To utilize all the features of PowerPoint you have to install the software on your desktop device.
PowerPoint offers you the freedom to work online or offline whichever mode suits you the best for a specific presentation. Many PowerPoint users work with both modes – depending on what they are creating and for what purpose.
6. Allows easy Collaboration and Sharing with other Team Members
PowerPoint is an ideal tool to share and collaborate with team members when you are creating a presentation as a team. You have various options.
You can independently create a presentation and then send it to team members for comments or editing. Or you can work simultaneously on the same presentation with others via web-based PowerPoint or by saving your desktop-created presentation in the Cloud.
7. Option to Add a vast Variety of Multimedia
PowerPoint provides you with tools to make any presentation more interesting by using multi-media. When using PowerPoint you can in the same presentation have
- text with the option to install additional fonts,
- videos and video snippets,
- background music,
- a narrator’s voice explaining the visual material on the screen,
- graphics to illustrate tendencies,
- tables to compare information, and more.
And you don’t need separate tools to create interesting presentations – everything is built-in into PowerPoint. You can either just add the various types of files to the presentation or you can add the formats as such into the presentation.
8. Suitable for Beginners and Advanced Users alike
The versatility of PowerPoint ensures that on the one hand, presentation creators with advanced design skills are not disappointed with the design tools and possibilities offered by PowerPoint and on the other hand, beginners and people without any designing background can create professional-looking presentations.
This is one of the most important advantages of PowerPoint – anyone can use it successfully.
9. Cost is relatively Inexpensive
PowerPoint is normally part of the Microsoft Office package and is included in the Microsoft Office one-off price or subscription. But if you are not a Microsoft Office user, you can purchase PowerPoint from the Microsoft Store at a reasonable price of about $160.
Note – Check out this limited-time deal to get Office 365 1-year subscription for as little as about $60 on Amazon!
Once you’ve purchased PowerPoint you can use it without extra charges to create presentations and to present them for non-commercial purposes. However, there are licensing and relatively small annual fees involved if you use the PowerPoint presentations commercially.
10. Suitable for Teaching
A PowerPoint presentation in the class is an effective way to reinforce content that has to be retained.
With features like the possibility to record your voice to accompany the PowerPoint slides, it is also easy to convert the presentations that have been used in the class into videos to post online. The students can then review the work done in the class at home. T
his method works effectively for academic lessons and training sessions.
PowerPoint presentations online can also sometimes be the only way to teach and train students. During the Covid pandemic, for instance, classes are sometimes not possible and online sessions are the only way to keep on teaching.
A large percentage of these online sessions have started as PowerPoint presentations.
11. Huge Online Community and Microsoft Support for Troubleshooting Issues
Microsoft offers 24/7 support for PowerPoint users and there are literally hundreds of articles online available on how to troubleshoot issues. The huge online community of PowerPoint users is also actively involved on websites like Quora to help fellow users to get solutions for their issues.
Credit to benzoix (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)