which of the following are presentation online platforms (choose 3)

Cloud Storage

Custom Business Email

Video and voice conferencing

Shared Calendars

Word Processing

Spreadsheets

Presentation Builder

Survey builder

Google Workspace

An integrated suit of secure, cloud-native collaboration and productivity apps powered by Google AI.

Tell impactful stories, with Google Slides

Create, present, and collaborate on online presentations in real-time and from any device.

• For my personal use
• For work or my business

Jeffery Clark

T h i s   c h a r t   h e l p s   b r i d g i n g   t h e   s t o r y !

E s t i m a t e d   b u d g e t

Make beautiful presentations, together

Stay in sync in your slides, with easy sharing and real-time editing. Use comments and assign action items to build your ideas together.

Present slideshows with confidence

With easy-to-use presenter view, speaker notes, and live captions, Slides makes presenting your ideas a breeze. You can even present to Google Meet video calls directly from Slides.

Seamlessly connect to your other Google apps

Slides is thoughtfully connected to other Google apps you love, saving you time. Embed charts from Google Sheets or reply to comments directly from Gmail. You can even search the web and Google Drive for relevant content and images directly from Slides.

Extend collaboration and intelligence to PowerPoint files

Easily edit Microsoft PowerPoint presentations online without converting them, and layer on Slides’ enhanced collaborative and assistive features like comments, action items, and Smart Compose.

Work on fresh content

With Slides, everyone’s working on the latest version of a presentation. And with edits automatically saved in version history, it’s easy to track or undo changes.

Make slides faster, with built-in intelligence

Assistive features like Smart Compose and autocorrect help you build slides faster with fewer errors.

Stay productive, even offline

You can access, create, and edit Slides even without an internet connection, helping you stay productive from anywhere.

Security, compliance, and privacy

Secure by default

We use industry-leading security measures to keep your data safe, including advanced malware protections. Slides is also cloud-native, eliminating the need for local files and minimizing risk to your devices.

Encryption in transit and at rest

All files uploaded to Google Drive or created in Slides are encrypted in transit and at rest.

Compliance to support regulatory requirements

Our products, including Slides, regularly undergo independent verification of their security, privacy, and compliance controls .

Private by design

Slides adheres to the same robust privacy commitments and data protections as the rest of Google Cloud’s enterprise services .

You control your data.

We never use your slides content for ad purposes., we never sell your personal information to third parties., find the plan that’s right for you, google slides is a part of google workspace.

Every plan includes

Collaborate from anywhere, on any device

Access, create, and edit your presentations wherever you are — from any mobile device, tablet, or computer — even when offline.

Get a head start with templates

Choose from a variety of presentations, reports, and other professionally-designed templates to kick things off quickly..

Photo Album

Book Report

Visit the Slides Template Gallery for more.

Ready to get started?

Like what you're reading?

6 online presentation tools that’ll engage your audience

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Meghan Ryan April 09, 2021

Online presentations are more common in the workplace than ever before. Maybe you just launched a new product and you need to create a product demo for a remote client. Or maybe you want to do online sales training for your employees. Presentations like these are really different online than they are in person, and many things that helped you stand out and engage your audiences in the office won’t help you when you present online. It helps to have all the virtual presentation tools at your disposal to make your presentations stand out and get people’s attention online . 

What we look for in online presentation tools  

A free version to try.

Free trials and free basic plans allow you to try out the platform and decide whether you like it before you make a purchase. You don’t want to spend a lot of money buying the product and then realize you’re not going to use it. 

Ease of use

Good online presentation tools should be easy to learn and easy to use. Learning how to use a new tool takes a little time and effort, so you should choose a virtual presentation tool that has clear instructions, intuitive design, and starting blocks like templates and color schemes to help make designing presentations easier. 

Audience engagement

It’s tempting for online audiences to multitask or tune-out during a presentation, so your online presentation tools should help you grab their attention and keep them engaged. . Use virtual presentation tools that allow you to add interactive multimedia elements, such as moving text, audio, images, GIFs, and videos to your presentations. Something as simple as a unique slide animation can help your presentation stand out. 

Cloud storage and access

With cloud storage and access, you don’t need to carry your computer around to edit or use your presentations in different places. Your online presentation tools should have online access, so you can work on your presentation anywhere, anytime as long as there is an internet connection.

Team collaboration features

Got a project you need to work on with your teammates? It’s very inefficient if only one person can work on a project at a time, especially in a remote work environment. Find a web presentation tool that allows multiple people to edit at the same time. Real-time teamwork and collaboration leads to better productivity and communication. 

What online presentation tool could possibly cover all of those requirements? Keep reading to discover our top online presentation tools for 2022:

1. Prezi Video

Prezi Video is a video presentation tool that lets you bring text, video, images, and GIFs onto the screen with you, resulting in a professional-looking presentation that’s more engaging for your audience. At the same time, your audience can react with unlimited on-screen responses using Prezi Video. Creating a presentation is easy with Prezi’s free video templates or by reusing slides from a past presentation. You can sign up for a free trial or get your whole team using Prezi with our business solutions . Reach out for more details.

Presenters love the ability to make unique presentations that help them stay connected to their virtual audiences. Try out Prezi Video for your next training, sales pitch, webinar, online class, team update, and more.

Otter is a note-taking tool that can transcribe audio to text. Run Otter in an online meeting to record the conversation and create a written record of what was said. Afterward, Otter will provide an automatic summary of the most commonly said phrases and generate a nifty word cloud.

Virtual audiences can use it to capture information without breaking focus during a presentation or an event, and presenters can rely on it to connect with more audiences. Check out Otter to learn more about using it for your virtual events .

3. Creatopy

Creatopy lets you create animated GIFs for slideshows, emails, banners, and presentations. You can use one of their pre-designed templates and customize it with your own text, or start from scratch and make a GIF with your own imagery and content. Either way, you’ll create animations that’ll pop on screen.

Creating a GIF is easy with Creatopy’s drag-and-drop editor, so you can create professional designs in minutes. Get started and learn more at Creatopy.

Grain is a tool for recording and sharing highlights from virtual meetings. It’s great for record-keeping and recapping for your teams. Instead of reading or listening to the summary of a presentation, your team can just watch the best moments themselves.

Grain is a useful addition to the virtual presentation toolbox, especially in the post-event phase of a presentation. Send attendees highlights of the most important parts and avoid diluting your message through different media. Check out Grain to learn more.  

Docket is a workspace for collaboratively building meeting agendas and creating reminders so no items go undiscussed. Since it’s a shared workspace, it helps keep your team aligned and up to date on learnings. Use it to organize a virtual presentation with a client or stakeholder and to store notes on the presentation post-facto. 

Integration is currently available on several platforms , including Google and Zoom. Check out Docket to learn how it can help your team.

Krisp is a noise cancelling tool that can be used to improve audio quality on any conferencing, voice messaging, and communication app. Turn it on and remove background noise from yourself and other people on the call. It’s quick to set up and works with a wide range of headsets and microphones. 

Krisp is a crucial online presentation tool whenever you’re presenting from a shared space. Try it during your next call or presentation.

See these tools in action and explore the best virtual presentations on Prezi when you visit the Video Gallery . Or get started today and make your own virtual presentation on Prezi Video.

Give your team the tools they need to engage

Like what you’re reading join the mailing list..

• Prezi for Teams
• Top Presentations

The 9 best presentation software platforms in 2023

You’re in the middle of a busy work week, and you‘re winding down after a particularly productive day. There’s still a lot more to accomplish, but you’ve got momentum and you’re making good progress. As you check your calendar for the following day, you see a two-hour morning time slot blocked out for a company-wide meeting. What’s your gut reaction?

Is it something like “I can’t wait—this is going to be so fun and interactive!” Or is it something more like “Ugh—I’ve got so much to do, and this is going to be such a long presentation. Maybe I can get some actual work done while it’s on in the background.”

If your inner monologue sounds more like the second example, you’re not alone. Research from Zippia shows 65% of employees believe meetings inhibit them from getting their work tasks done and that people are multitasking in at least 41% of meetings.

With so many potential distractions lurking in inboxes, Slack channels, and smartphones, meeting leaders must do everything they can to make their presentations interactive and engaging.

Fortunately, many presentation software platforms offer powerful tools to help presenters tell more captivating stories. Let’s take a look at a few of the factors that separate good apps from great ones.

What makes a great presentation app?

From pitch decks to progress updates, presentation apps have countless uses within the modern business environment. But regardless of the content being shared, there are a few things the best presentation software all has in common.

Intuitive, user-friendly interfaces

If an application is loaded with incredible features that are difficult to use, most users will prefer to take the path of least resistance rather than spending hours Googling how to accomplish their goal. Best-in-class presentation software makes it easy for users to learn the basics and get started, often with built-in tutorials.

Easy customization

Platforms that make it easy to plug in your logo, colors, fonts, and photos create polished presentations that wow internal and external audiences alike. Look for an app with a variety of tweakable templates that allow teams to share different types of information while sticking to your brand and identity standards.

Visual storytelling

If you’re squeezing several hundred words onto each presentation slide and then reading them all aloud, your audience’s attention is likely to wane. Research has long shown people absorb a combination of visual and verbal content much better than spoken lectures alone. All the best presentation software streamlines the use of visual aids to help your audience retain information more effectively.

Sharing and collaboration features

As asynchronous work becomes increasingly common, it’s important for your presentation software of choice to streamline collaboration between teams who may not be in the same location (or even the same hemisphere). When done well, sharing and collaboration features can save time and confusion regarding the latest versions or revisions.  

Integrations with other apps

Software that plays nicely with its binary counterparts can elevate a typical presentation into something compelling and visually stunning. Apps which enable embedding and presenting interactive features make outstanding add-ons that improve audience engagement while using your main slideware or communication tools.

1. Poll Everywhere

A versatile and customizable software platform for engaging your audience and encouraging participation, Poll Everywhere adds interactive elements to your presentation like polls, surveys, quizzes, word clouds, and much more. Made to turn dry lectures into two-way conversations, Poll Everywhere makes it easy to set up a variety of interactive activities for audience members. People can share their input via text, smartphone app, or web browser, which is then reflected on the screen in real time (don’t worry, there are moderation features for open-ended text responses).

Not only does Poll Everywhere enable more interactive presentations, it’s also a useful tool for things like employee surveys, group brainstorms, or submitting questions and agenda items ahead of meetings. It’s intuitive for new users to pick up and enables more open communication and team collaboration at every level of your organization.

For larger organizations, Poll Everywhere’s Enterprise plans let you customize the platform to reflect your company’s branding, logos, and colors (and remove the Poll Everywhere branding to give your presentations a more bespoke look). You also get additional features like Shared Activities for cross-team collaboration, upgraded security protocols, and robust reporting tools to translate audience responses into actionable insights.

• Easy integration with most industry-standard slideware and communication apps
• Encourages audience participation and engagement
• Wide variety of functions and activities
• Paid plans required for audiences larger than 25 people
• Audience members must have Internet or cellular access to participate

Poll Everywhere offers a free plan that allows polling limited audience sizes and paid plans starting at $120 per year. Higher-tier plans include additional users, greater audience sizes, and increased moderation and support tools. Custom enterprise solutions for large organizations are also available.

Powtoon takes your presentations to the next level by helping you create polished, professional-looking videos that are more captivating than your traditional text on a screen. Users edit “slides” similarly to how they would with most presentation software, except when you’re done, your deck becomes a seamless video complete with animations of your choosing. The software even figures out the correct timing based on how much content you add to each slide.

In addition to making your presentations sparkle, Powtoon is also useful for creating other marketing or social media assets. You can orient your videos to fit different dimensions and publish your finished creations directly to YouTube, Meta’s Ads Manager, and other platforms.

• Makes your presentations more captivating and memorable
• Useful for creating all types of videos
• Wide variety of templates, animations, and characters
• Limited templates on free version
• Paid plan required for MP4 downloads

Powtoon’s free offering is somewhat limited, though paid plans start at a reasonable $20 per month. Premium plans include more storage space, unlimited exports, and the ability to customize characters and add your own branding.

3. Genially

In the era of remote teams working across different time zones, not every presentation needs to have a presenter. Genially makes it easy to create interactive, self-led presentations that engage your audience much more than simply sending them a deck or a document to review. A huge variety of templates include predefined interactive elements, or users can customize their own.

A well-planned assortment of content blocks lets you showcase everything from image galleries to data visualizations. And while it takes a bit of work upfront, you can also create your own template using your organization’s branding and then have anyone on your team use it to create their own presentations.

• Anyone can create entertaining and interactive self-led presentations
• Solid variety of templates, even on free version
• Unlimited creations for all tiers, including free version
• Paid subscription required to view presentations offline
• Variety of options can be overwhelming at first

Premium plans range from $7.49 per month to $80 per month. As you go up the pricing tiers, you get access to more privacy and personalization features, plus integration with other platforms like PowerPoint and Google Analytics.

A software platform that’s shaking up the linear-presentation model, Prezi takes users out of the sometimes stifling flow of traditional slide deck design in favor of a more free-flowing approach. Prezi users list out ideas or topics they want to cover before threading them together into a compelling, visually striking presentation that’s more conducive to group conversations.

Prezi integrates particularly well with video conferencing tools, making it a great option for remote-first teams. You can even build your presentation as a Zoom overlay, which means your audience can see you and your slide content at the same time. It’s a nice way to maintain a human touch in video presentations, where audiences often miss out on seeing the presenter’s body language and facial expressions.

• Can inspire more creative thinking when developing content
• Robust library of templates and features
• Excellent integration with video conferencing platforms
• Can be a challenging transition for people used to the traditional slide deck model
• Free version limited to five projects

While you can create five projects for free, paid plans starting at $19 per month include much greater import and export options. The $59 per month Premium plan includes phone support, presentation analytics, and advanced training tools. Custom enterprise packages are also available for large teams.

5. Google Slides

Truly free presentation software—not just a free trial or a limited feature set—is increasingly difficult to come by. However, anyone with a Google account can use the full version of Google Slides, with no recurring subscriptions or trial periods to speak of. And because it’s fully cloud-based, teams can collaborate on the same presentation without having to keep track of multiple versions.

While its offerings of features and premade templates may not quite equal some of its subscription-based peers, Google Slides remains a viable solution due to its simple interface and easy integration with the rest of Google Workspace. You can also add powerful third-party add-ons to make your presentations more interactive and visually appealing.

• Cloud-based platform enables easy collaboration
• Shorter learning curve than some other platforms
• Can utilize add-ons to supplement the simple functionality
• LImited templates and transition effects
• No built-in asset library

The full version of Google Slides is free to use for anyone with a Google account.

If you need to create a beautiful presentation really fast, Canva is a fantastic software option. Its free plan offers some of the best-looking templates around, and because it’s a self-contained solution, you won’t need other apps like Photoshop to create eye-catching visuals. Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to add your own content and visual assets, or you can pick from an extensive library of free photos and graphics (even on the free version).

While it’s an excellent tool for creating polished presentations, Canva has other uses too. It’s incredibly helpful for creating marketing materials like videos, social posts, and even logos. While it’s not a replacement for your design team, it can free them up for other tasks while empowering anyone in your organization to embrace their creative side.

• Simplifies the creation of eye-popping presentations
• Massive variety of templates, even on free version
• Versatile platform for creating all types of materials
• Can be difficult to make complicated charts or graphs
• Cloud-based platform has limited offline functionality

Canva’s free version is excellent, though cloud storage space is limited. Paid plans start at $120 per year and include 24/7 support and an even bigger library of templates, photos, animations, and audio.

7. Beautiful.ai

If you’re the hawk-eyed type who spends just as much time fixing those annoying spacing issues as you do developing the actual content of your presentation, Beautiful.ai could be the software you’ve been looking for. As you might suspect from the name, it’s an AI-enhanced presentation platform that automates many aspects of layout to keep your slides looking professional and visually pleasing.

To help you get inspired when first starting a new project, you can browse through a number of slide types to find a layout you like, which then automatically applies to the rest of your presentation-in-progress, even on slides with other types of content. While templates and themes are somewhat limited compared to other platforms, all the included options are clean, modern, and well-designed.

• Automated layout for polished and professional designs
• Clean and intuitive user interface
• Helpful tutorial videos to minimize the learning curve
• Template, theme, and color options are somewhat limited
• Bare-bones collaboration features on the free version

Individual subscriptions start at $12 per month and unlock most of the app’s best features. Monthly Team plans with added customization and collaboration tools start at $40 per user, and large–scale enterprise plans are also available.

8. PowerPoint

We’d be remiss if we didn’t include this category-founding behemoth in our list, as it’s still one of the most popular presentation softwares in use around the globe. (There’s a reason many other presentation apps feature PowerPoint integration as a selling point.)

With a wide variety of templates, effects, animations, and customization options, experienced PowerPoint users can create presentations every bit as compelling as you’ll get with any other platform. And with useful extension apps available for both Mac and Windows versions, you can integrate additional interactive elements to make your next meeting more memorable.

• Compatible with the world’s most popular software suite
• Solid selection of templates and effects
• Easy to get started creating simple presentations
• Steep learning curve for advanced features
• Can take longer to create visually stunning presentations

PowerPoint is included in the Microsoft 365 software suite with plans starting at $6.99 per month. Standalone licenses are also available at a flat rate of $159.99.

If your organization makes heavy use of Apple products, Keynote is an excellent free presentation software option that rivals PowerPoint in terms of rich functionality. The interface is mostly intuitive, though perhaps slightly more complicated than the ultra-stripped-down feel of Google Slides (which makes sense, given Keynote’s additional features).

Built-in templates and asset libraries are plentiful, and in keeping with Apple’s brand aesthetic, help you create contemporary-looking presentations that wow your audiences. And while PowerPoint may have a wider variety of add-ons, Keynote still works with numerous third-party apps to incorporate interactive elements like polls, quizzes, word clouds, and more.

• Excellent variety of templates and built-in assets
• Creates clean, modern, and polished presentations
• Mobile, desktop, and web-based platforms
• Requires some time to master
• Few truly unique features

Keynote is free to use for all Apple users.

When done well, presentations are still one of the best ways to inform and invigorate an audience and align everyone regarding goals, priorities, and progress toward achieving them. With so much user-friendly presentation software available in 2023, there’s no need to host boring, lecture-style meetings that test your attendees’ attention spans.

If you’re looking for more ideas about how to make your presentations more engaging and interactive, check out our free guide detailing best practices for prese nters .

Related articles

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Speak & Present Effectively

10 How to present online

While many of the basics remain the same, presenting online is different than speaking in person. in this chapter, we’ll look at tools and strategies for successful online meetings and presentations..

Presenting online is different than presenting in person. You need to think about tools and lighting, as well as structure and delivery.

You can choose from different apps, including: Zoom , FaceTime , Skype , Webex and MS Teams . When deciding which one to use, consider the following:

• Security   Some workplaces or institutions have restrictions on what apps you can use, due to security and privacy concerns
• Familiarity  Try to choose the app that’s most familiar to you and your attendees
• Ease of use Choose an app that’s easy to use
• Fees & limits  Some services have fees or limitations. For example, in MS Teams you can only see a maximum of four people at time, and free Zoom accounts limit your meeting time and number of participants
• Features   Make sure the app has the features you want, such as polls, surveys, reactions, whiteboard, chat, an option to phone in, and conference vs. webcast (2-way vs. 1-way communication)

Download the online meeting app you’ll be using onto a second device, for example your phone, in case your main device crashes.

• Use headphones, earbuds or a mic   This helps isolate your voice from background noise, and prevents feedback
• Minimize background noise   Close windows and doors, turn off anything making noise, put pets away, and ask anyone nearby to keep their sound to a minimum
• Mute yourself when not speaking   This is especially important if you’re an audience member, or are part of a presentation but aren’t actively speaking

Camera & lighting

Your camera and lighting should create a polished, professional visual. Here’s how to do that:

• Centre your camera & raise it to eye level   Put your camera or device on a book or cardboard box if you need to
• Put your camera near your screen   This helps you seem to be looking at the audience
• Clean up! Or use a virtual background   What’s behind you counts. Make your background tidy and professional (we’d rather not see your dirty laundry or roommates wandering around in their underwear). Some apps let you use a virtual background.
• Avoid backlighting   Have more light in front of your face than behind it. Otherwise the audience can’t see your face. (You might look like a secret agent who’s hiding their identity!)
• Laptop & Desktop applications are best   These typically have more features and stability than tablet and mobile versions
• Keep devices & apps up to date   To ensure security, reliability, and availability of all features
• Close non-essential apps   This helps your device run more efficiently and reduces the possibility of lagging or crashing
• Be empowered   Plug your device in or make sure the battery is fully charged

Internet connection & wifi

• Do a speed test ahead of time   Many platforms, like Zoom, recommend minimum bandwidth speeds for various meeting types, typically starting at 2.0 Mbps for a single screen
• Reduce bandwidth hogging   If someone else in your home is streaming video or online gaming, your connection speed will slow down
• Ensure wifi strength   If you’re far away from your router, the wifi connection may be poor. Move closer to the router or use a hardwired connection

Best practices for online presentations & meetings

Professionalism.

Oops! By now many of us have laughed or cringed at the “Zoom fails” videos we see online. They’re entertaining, but many people have been fired, embarrassed, or damaged their professional reputation because of unprofessionalism in online meetings. Make sure you remain professional!

• Don’t let your tech embarrass you   Clear your desktop and any unnecessary open windows or browser tabs. Turn off notifications (do not disturb mode). Always assume that your mic and camera are live
• Set your environment   Alert housemates, put pets away and tidy your physical background. Never attend meetings from bed
• Dress appropriately   You probably don’t need to dress formally, but it’s important to wear appropriate attire
• Pay attention to the meeting   Act as professionally in an online meeting as you would in person. This means no sleeping, browsing, facebooking, cooking, vaping, driving, or anything else that competes for your attention. Keeping your camera on is a great way to show that you’re paying attention
• Connect 3 minutes early   Punctuality is very important

Many online meeting platforms allow you to set your name and a professional picture in your meeting profile. Use a small professional headshot , and change your name to what you want people in the meeting to call you.

Attending a meeting

Even if you’re not running the meeting, you still need to be professional.

• RSVP   Reply to all invitations – let them know if you plan to attend
• Prepare your tech tools   Update or download any required apps. Do a practice call with a colleague or friend if you’re unsure of the app or your equipment
• Use the mute button   Always keep yourself muted when you’re not speaking. Know how to unmute yourself quickly (some programs like Zoom allow you to hold down the spacebar to temporarily unmute yourself)

Hosting a meeting

Great news! Your boss asked you to host a meeting with some important clients. But how? Here are some tips.

• Choose the app   See the app section above
• Decide the agenda & structure   Is this a formal meeting or more of an informal discussion? How long will it be? What items need to be discussed? Who will be speaking or presenting? How long will each speaker have? Will you share the agenda ahead of time?
• Send invites with clear instructions   Make sure you invite all speakers and participants well in advance of your meeting. Invite the audience as soon as possible too. Send reminders a week before, and the day before. Include the meeting link, instructions on how to connect, and offer help to anyone who needs it.
• Plan and practice   If possible, get a colleague to act as co-host. Decide who will admit people, start the recording, take notes, watch the time, watch the chat, show visuals, share polls, create breakout rooms, manage tech problems, etc. Whether or not you have a co-host, do a practice a day or two before the event.
• Start the meeting   As the host, you’ll start the meeting at least 5 minutes early. Wait 2-5 minutes after the official start time to allow for late arrivals
• Welcome   Warmly welcome everyone, introducing yourself and any guests that attendees may not know. In smaller meetings, you may introduce all of the attendees.
• Provide agenda & norms   Remind everyone to stay muted unless speaking. Do you want to invite people to comment and ask questions during your presentation, or should they wait until the end? Do you want questions asked verbally or in the chat?
• Keep it as brief as possible   Online meetings are tiring so be efficient and respectful of everyone’s time and energy
• Take notes   You or your colleague can take notes during the meeting, or you can write a brief recap immediately after
• Thank and summarize   Send the guests and attendees a thank you and brief summary of the meeting. Include next steps, action items or information on the next meeting

Tech problems happen. No matter how prepared we are, sometimes things just don’t work.

Don’t panic! If the problem is minor, just keep going. If it’s major, stop and address the issue. Thank everyone for their patience.

 Test your knowledge 

A dreadful echoing screech loop created by your mic picking up sound from your speakers

Small, well-lit photo of your head and shoulders, looking at the camera

Let someone know if you'll attend an event or not

Business Presentation Skills Copyright © 2021 by Lucinda Atwood and Christian Westin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

The Ultimate Guide to Delivering Effective Presentations Online

That means all your important business communication – strategy meetings, sales pitches, presentations – is now virtual. And if you’ve already held at least one remote meeting with your team, you know that presenting virtually is not the same as doing so in person. 

As the lockdown continues to keep us at a social distance from each other, virtual speeches and presentations aren’t going away. If you’re not proficient at presenting online, then now’s the time to hone your virtual presentation skills. 

But don’t fret, mastering virtual presentations isn’t impossible. You just need a little practice, the right equipment, and this ultimate guide to online presentations from a presentation design company . In this guide, we’ll cover the following three topics:

• Requirements (non-tech and tech) for an effective online presentation
• Choosing the right video conferencing tool for you
• The differences between presenting remotely and in-person

 …plus our four best tips for nailing your virtual presentation. 

Let’s get started. 

Non-Tech Requirements for an Effective Online Presentation

For writing and delivering a presentation online, the most important considerations are:

• Your background – Try to set up in a neutral room or space in your home, without distractions behind you. If you don’t have one, then experiment with blur backgrounds or uploading a background on your video conferencing platform. If you’ve got a messy bookcase behind you, try draping it with a pretty scarf or throw for an instant arty backdrop (just make sure it’s not going to fall down mid-presentation!)
• A dedicated presenting space – Setting up a desk or room reserved for writing, practicing, and delivering your virtual presentation will help you focus. Having boundaries – like a locked door – will keep distractions at bay. Also, make sure your presenting space has good lighting and acoustics. You can add soft cushions or furnishings to the room to absorb some of the sound.
• Comfortable desk and chair – Working at the kitchen table or on the couch seems like it would be more comfortable, but it’ll kill your back and bring down productivity. Get a proper desk chair so you can sit squarely in front of your webcam, at eye-level, while presenting. If your chair won’t give you the height you need then propping your camera up on some books is a simple work-around.

Tech Requirements for Online Presenting

Your tech requirements comprise of three main things:

• Strong Internet connection – The last thing you want is your connection dropping out in the middle of your presentation. Make sure your WiFi signal is strong enough by doing a test-run of your video conferencing platform while practicing your presentation. For minimal interruptions, hook up your laptop or computer to ethernet instead.
• Good audio quality – Test the sound quality with your laptop speakers by recording yourself. If they’re shoddy, consider getting a USB microphone.
• Video conferencing platform – You should pick the best platform for your presentation’s needs. Read on for advice on selecting the right tool. 

How to Choose the Right Video Conferencing Tool

There are many video conferencing applications and platforms available – some free, some paid. GoToMeeting, Zoom, WebEX, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, and Skype are just a few of the most popular. You’ll want to consider the following things when picking your video conferencing platform:

• Audience size – Some platforms only accommodate a certain number of users at a time. Others let more people join the call, but only if you pay for a subscription. Tools like Zoom and Teams are perfect for a virtual sales pitch to a small group of investors. For a remote conference or speech, webinar platforms like WebEX or Demio work better.
• Security measures – If your presentation contains sensitive information or is only meant for specific listeners, then a platform with a user login feature is a must. It can’t hurt to check out the application’s terms of service and privacy policy as well, to see what measures they take to protect your video conference.

Remember to do test-runs of the application before your presentation starts. You should make sure it works and familiarise yourself with it. Know the platform well enough to teach it to your audience members if necessary. 

Presenting Remotely vs. In-person

Presenting online and in-person are not the same. The three biggest differences are:

• You can’t gauge audience reactions during a virtual presentation
• You can’t interact with your slides physically (i.e. gesturing)
• Your audience has many more distractions than a usual presentation

To address these differences, your remote presentation needs to work overtime. Your focus should be as audience-centric as possible. 

How do you drive audience engagement with online presentations? We have four solutions for you:

• Don’t let your listeners stare at a static screen for more than 30 seconds
• Ask more questions than usual – every few minutes is good
• Learn your video conferencing application’s interactivity features – like chat or live polling – ahead of time, so you can teach your audience how to use them
• Encourage your listeners to keep their webcams on. They’ll naturally stay more engaged if they’re on camera. Plus, seeing faces (rather than staring at your webcam) will help you with your delivery.

Our Top Tips for Presenting Online  

Create Visually Engaging Slides

To keep your audience’s attention during an online presentation, your slides must be twice as engaging as usual. Animations are a great way to do this, but only if they’re used correctly. 

Keep Your Content Short

Make your content direct. What’s your objective for this presentation? Everything you include should serve that objective. Good presenters are direct while still being engaging. So, using hooks like statistics or anecdotes at relevant times will keep your audience listening for longer. 

Make You Presentation Succinct

Chunk relevant information together, giving your presentation a clear structure. Rather than a big call-to-action (CTA) at the end, sprinkle smaller CTAs throughout the presentation. These could be as simple as asking discussion questions or doing a live poll. Finally, include a menu slide in your deck with hyperlinks to the parts of your presentation. With a menu slide, you can jump between topics while making your slide deck keep up with you. 

Don’t Forget About Your Audience

Although it’s tough with a virtual presentation, always remember that you’re speaking to people, not to a webcam. Relax and engage your audience. If both you and your listeners have your webcams on, it’s easier to build engagement. And, if possible, increase the size of your webcam window onscreen so your audience can see you more clearly. 

Giving an effective presentation online has become a must-have skill since the coronavirus outbreak. With the resources in this guide, you’ll have the right tools to give an engaging and impressive virtual presentation. Browse our website for more resources and blogs about designing and delivering effective presentations.

To become more confident in your own presentation delivery please consider taking a Presentation Skills Training Course In London .

We also offer Presentation Design and Pitch Deck Design Services to really bring the X- factor to your presentations and make sure they seal the deal!

A Guide to Slide Count in Presentationsn

6 essential presentation skills for pitching successn, a guide to crafting powerful endings in presentationsn, what can our clients tell us about social media usen, a comprehensive guide to presentation openingn, a guide to relaxing before your presentationn, the definitive guide to longer presentationsn.

A Guide to Slide Count in Presentations

6 Essential Presentation Skills for Pitching Success

A Guide to Crafting Powerful Endings in Presentations

Find out more

Our services.

Online Presentations: 3 Ways to Present Live Online in PowerPoint!

Demand for online presentations, and the programs to deliver them, has increased exponentially, especially in the last couple of years . Whether for business or in educational settings, being able to present well online is crucial in 2023, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to modern technologies, we can now present long distance . So you’re no longer tied to a meeting room and can reach a much wider audience through the internet. Theoretically, it’s possible to work from anywhere and present to anywhere, saving time and costs all round. We’ll outline three different ways to deliver your PowerPoint presentations online.

In today’s blog post we would like to introduce you to three variants of live streaming PowerPoint presentations.

Online Presentations: An absolute must in 2023

It’s not a completely new thing that events and (PowerPoint) presentations are being delivered via video link rather than in person, but the pandemic has hugely accelerated the trend. There are now many online presentation options on the market allowing you to share your presentation live and let your audience actively participate .

Thanks to modern technologies, it is possible to show presentations over long distances . This means you are no longer tied to a meeting room and can reach a wider audience via the Internet. In theory, there is the possibility to work from any place and thus save time and travel.

Nowadays you can broadcast your presentation (live) and let your audience actively participate in the presentation.

We’ll show you three ways to present online, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. If you need help creating an online presentation, this blog post can help. Tips for delivering your online presentation can be found here .

Addressing data protection and security concerns

It is important to consider privacy and security issues to ensure the privacy of participants and the security of data . By paying attention to these aspects, the trust of the participants can be gained, and a successful and safe live presentation can be conducted.

Select only reputable providers that offer a secure connection and encryption . Find out about the provider’s privacy policy to ensure that no personal data of participants is stored.

Preparation of a PowerPoint presentation for online sharing

To ensure a smooth process when sharing your presentation, you should check your presentation in advance . If possible, view the shared presentation yourself and make sure that all elements are displayed correctly.

Check your notes or comments . Are they sufficient for the presentation or do you need to add more?

Tip: For jumping from slide to slide faster, you should include links or hyperlinks in your presentation in advance. This way, you can jump directly to the corresponding slide if there are any questions.

3 options on how to present your presentation live

Option 1: online presentation, option 1: share as a link.

The first way to share your presentation with your audience is really simple: just send a link. This allows you to present to a wide and unlimited audience directly, easily and hassle-free . If you’re doing it this way, the more compact and concise you can make your presentation, the better, so as to minimize loading delays. Some features may need to be compromised, however.

• Live stream your presentation by clicking the Share option in the File tab, and then clicking Show Online.
• This opens a dialog box that displays the custom URL of your presentation.
• Simply copy the link and email it to your audience.
• When they receive the link, click Start Presentation and you can present to your audience in real time.
• When you are done with the presentation, just click End Online Presentation .

Online Presentation, option 2: Office Mix

You can use this method if you subscribe to Office 365 or use PowerPoint 2013 and download the free Office Mix add-in . This blog post explains how to download add-ins.

Office Mix is designed to facilitate interaction between different Microsoft Office programs, and offers many features and possibilities.

The advantage of this program is that Office Mix works fluidly with your slide content, allowing you to add audio files, videos, polls and quizzes to your slides and make them more interesting . This is especially useful in an educational environment to track the progress of students outside the classroom. It helps you, as a presenter, to maximize the motivation and engagement of your audience. These features can be found under the Mix tab and Quizzes and Video apps. Office Mix also offers a live feature that allows you to guide viewers through the slides in real time using videos, audio files, and illustrations . Office Mix also has its own website to help users navigate through the handy features and provides several tutorials to help new users get started. The program just requires an internet connection, and you then share your presentation online with your audience. A major advantage is that the audience can return to the slides after you’ve finished your online presentation and access them again .

Online Presentation, option 3: Upload to a platform

SlideShare is a collection of websites where you can upload, share and archive your online presentation. You can also search and view online presentations yourself using the search box. Similarly, others can find your presentation using keywords. This sounds great, but the platform does not allow you to interact directly with your audience.

If you don’t want your presentation to be private, y ou can share it on all possible channels and gain a wide audience . Do keep in mind that people have to be able to understand your presentation even without your accompanying lecture. As your audience is unable to interact, there is no room for follow-up questions . When creating your online presentation, then, try to create appealing and comprehensive slides in order to keep the audience’s attention.

Click here to go to SlideShare.

PowerPoint for the web

PowerPoint offers a free, pared-down, web version . This lets you create, upload and share your presentations directly. To use the service, you must have a Microsoft account. You can find more information about the platform in this post .

The big advantage of the web version is being able to present online presentations live . To access this, select whether the presentation is publicly accessible or only to be seen by a selected audience (e.g. employees or customers) under Screen Presentation . When you start the broadcast, a link and a QR code are generated that are unique to your online presentation. Participants can then scan the QR code or enter the link in their browser to join the online presentation.

Click here for PowerPoint for the web.

Group-chat software like Skype (for business), Zoom or Microsoft Teams

Group-chat software was around long before the pandemic, but is now increasingly relevant. Such software allows you to interact with your audience, broadcast your presentation live, and respond directly to questions .

You can use all three programs for free after registration , then share your presentation with your audience using the Share Screen option. Note that Zoom has a screen sharing time limit in the free version; you can bypass this by upgrading to the paid version.

All three programs allow you to interact directly with your audience and, if you want, to see your audience through the camera option. The options for viewers to raise their hands to ask a question or write a comment in the chat, mean that you can respond directly to questions.

Click here for Skype, here for Zoom and here for Microsoft Teams.

Tip: Skillfully deliver your online lecture

You’ve created the perfect PowerPoint presentation to share? Great, now consider the next step: the online lecture.

This type of presentation differs in some respects from a presentation with an audience on site . You need to focus even more on keeping the attention of the audience . After all, ending your presentation is just a click away.

You will get many tips & tricks around the online lecture in the article on “Virtual Lectures”.

Conclusion: There are so many ways to present well online

Presenting your presentation live online has never been easier. Most of the options available are even free ! Do bear in mind, though, that on some of the platforms you can’t interact with the audience.

Have a look at the options and choose the one which suits you best .

If you have any questions about online presentations, or indeed about PowerPoint in general, please feel free to contact us on [email protected] .

Are you looking for visually supportive and professionally designed slide templates ? Feel free to have a look around our store. Here we have numerous slides prepared for you to download on a wide variety of (business) topics. Take a look today! ► To the store

You might also be interested in the following articles:

• PowerPoint Online
• Virtual presentations
• Body language while presenting

Share this post

• share  
• save  

Design Thinking: Problem Solving with a Difference

Why Corporate Mission Statements Are So Important

7 Tips & Learnings from the Apple Keynote

Top 5 Free online Presentation Platforms

You need not necessarily download an office suite if you want to create a perfect presentation for work, as you have many online options too that will work easily on your desktop or laptop. Using such online presentation platforms is a great idea because many of them come free of cost, they store your data online and you can access it when needed, and to give your presentation you will not have to carry your own computer with you. As long as a good web browser is available you can easily give your presentation anywhere using any laptop or computer present at the place. Let us now get to learn about 5 such free online presentation platforms that are getting increasingly popular day by day.

1. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a unique online presentation platform that is powered by Artificial Intelligence. Using it you can create instant presentations without any difficulty whatsoever. The slides you make using Haiku will focus on graphics and imagery, with each slides having few words, but you can customize your slideshows in a way that it helps you tell your story the exact way you want to.

People love Haiku Deck because it is very easy to use, it has many presentation options, and you can make your slideshow public, private, or restrict it to a few people, just the way you want. It is a perfect option for those who want to create an attractive presentation but do not want to spend the entire day on it.

2. Google Slides

The other online presentation tools though have a more dynamic approach and try to avoid the PowerPoint kind of presentations, but Google Slides uses it, and many people find that helpful. If you have used PowerPoint before, and are looking for something easy and simple to use, then Google Slide is apt for you. It offers a professional feel and look together with dynamic transitions, presentation themes, images, and other tools that make it fun to use.

People usually prefer Google Slides because it is easy to use, and offers features that are as good as the complicated ones, but with a user interface that makes it easy to understand and use things. Though it is not dynamic and flashy, it is its simplicity that makes it attractive to its users.

ezTalks is the most popular online presentation platform. Apart from offering easy collaboration and interaction amongst the different participants in a meeting, it also allows the participants, no matter where they are, to follow your actions real time. It further lets you enjoy computer screen sharing and is compatible with most versions including RM, RVMB, ASF, and MP3.

People like ezTalks because of its simplicity of usage, and also owing to the fact that it has so much more to offer than serving only as a presentation platform, including whiteboard tool, video conference, and so on.

Prezi, together with being an online presentation tool, is a great alternative to PowerPoint. Using it users have been able to create non-linear, fluid, and dynamic presentations with great motion effects and animation, which offer such energy to a presentation that the static one-after-one slides will not be able to offer.

Those who support Prezi do so because it allows users to create and edit presentations on any device that has a browser, and it allows your work to sync with any device, even your mobile phone, thus making things a lot easier. It may not be perfect, but many people do like the way it works.

5. Slides.com/Reveal.js

Slides.com and Reveal.js is a perfect tool for those who want their presentation tools to be open-source, free, and hosted on their GitHub repository or on the web. This framework allows you to create robust slide presentations and decks using Markdown or HTML, directly in your browser, so that there is no need to download things. The builder is easy to use, simple, well put together, and robust.

People who like Slides.com and Reveal.js do so because of the way the tool is built, and the ease with which things can be done including adding speaker notes, nested slides, and so on, by using the free web app or doing it on your own and running it yourself.

So, these are the 5 most amazing free online presentation platforms that have become very popular with many users. Each of them is famous and has proved to be of great help, and which one you shall choose amongst these is just a matter of personal choice.