Make powerpoint suck less

Powerpoint as a communication medium is over-rated and has been almost flogged to death by boring presenters who make us want to kill ourselves. It is, however, easy to use and this makes it good to use with kids. It is good to see some designers trying to make it a little more exciting and useful.

SlideRocket

Beautiful layout, great transitions and easy to use, SlideRocket is fantastic. It also has a desktop app so you can view your slideshows from your desktop as well as the web.

web site: http://www.sliderocket.com/

280 Slides

A new kid on the block and just released in beta, 280 Slides is very easy to use and looks like Powerpoint with a makeover.

web site: http://280slides.com/Editor/

pptPlex

If you are using Powerpoint 2007, Microsoft Labs has a plugin called pptPlex which you can download and install. It allows you to put your slides onto a canvas and then pan and zoom each slide, making it a bit different and more interesting.

web site: http://www.officelabs.com/projects/pptPlex/Pages/default.aspx

There is also a good review of pptPlex here:

Give PowerPoint Presentations with pptPlex and Impress Audience from Digital Inspiration

Flowgram

Flowgram is another way to create presentations, using powerpoint but also combining web pages, photos, videos and more.

web site: http://www.flowgram.com/

SlideShare

SlideShare isn’t for making powerpoints, but is a good way to share them easily – it’s a bit like YouTube for presentations.

web site: http://www.slideshare.net/