A starter pack of presentation tools (4 min read)
This article is rated as:
Are you looking to elevate your presentation game?
Thanks to the worldwide pandemic, we are now living in a tech-accelerated reality where stakeholder engagement, presentations, and pitches are done virtually at an unprecedented rate. However, it is not an easy feat to capture the attention of a virtual audience for 1-3 hours.
As a solution, I’ve listed some awesome presentation tools along with ideas for how to use them in your evaluation practice. I’ve tried to pick out the ones that are easy to use and can help you to get started on elevating your presentation game.
Presentation Design Tools
These are some tools that can help you make slideshows that look and feel beautiful – regardless of your design background.
Canva
How does it work?
Canva is like the Amazon of design. It is very user-friendly and has editable design templates for everything – presentations, social media posts, websites, etc. When you’re making a presentation on Canva, you can use their vast library of stock images, icons, and data visualization graphics. Canva makes it very easy to create a stunning presentation. There are also options for exporting the files if you need it to work in PowerPoint or another platform. All features have both free and premium options available.
Good for: Making beautiful eye-catching presentations easily.
Alternatives: Slidesgo, Microsoft presentation templates, Prezi, Zoho presentation, Beautiful.ai
UnSplash
How does it work?
Unsplash is a website with high-resolution, free stock images. You can download and use them for commercial and non-commercial purposes. You can access additional photos with a paid membership as well.
Good for: Adding interesting and high-quality images to your presentation.
Icons8
How does it work?
Icons8 is a website where you can find design elements for your presentations. They have a great library of many different types of icons – available in groupings with the same look and feel. It has many free icons, but you can also get a paid membership for greater access.
Good for: Enhancing the look of your presentations with icons.
Alternatives: Flaticon, Noun Project, Freeicons
Interactivity Tools
These are some easy tools that can help you engage your audience. Although my suggestions are based on presenting virtually, you can also use some of these for in-person interactions. Tools that can be used to enhance in-person interactivity as well are asterisked*.
Slido*
How does it work?
Slido is an interaction app that you can use to engage your audience in live polls, quizzes, word clouds, and other types of questions that your audience can answer anonymously on their phones. These days, many people have experienced some format of this type of interaction, so it should be easy for your audience to use. Slido does have paid features, but the free version still lets you include up to 3 interactions per presentation.
Good for: Engaging the audience in interactive activities without much pressure.
Alternatives: Mentimeter*, Wooclap*, Kahoot*
Jamboard
How does it work?
Jamboard is a giant collaborative whiteboard. You can set up sticky notes, images, text, or whatever you want on it and ask your audience to interact. Multiple people can be on a single Jamboard and can comment, draw, write, and create together. It can also be really useful for creating placemats when facilitating a virtual data party.
Good for: Creating a more in-depth interactive experience and collecting qualitative data.
Alternatives: Miro, Microsoft whiteboard, Padlet, MURAL
Butter
How does it work?
Butter is a virtual meeting platform that is like a more interactive and prettier version of Zoom. It’s free to use and very easy to learn. The collaborative features of Butter are designed for facilitating workshops – rather than static presentations. Some of the things you can do include prompting conversations using flashcards, giving emoji reactions, and collaborating on other apps like Miro directly on the shared screen.
Good for: Delivering an entirely interactive experience and engaging youth.
Alternatives: Zoom, Microsoft Teams
What did you think of our starter pack of presentation tools? Have you used any of them before? Are there others that you would recommend? Please share your experiences in the comments!