Whether you work with a global team or you’re just working from home, the ability to give a presentation remotely using the magic of the internet can make the difference between a powerful presentation, or a boring one.
The tools presented in this article all allow you to not only share your presentation online with others, but they all offer built-in tools that let you present in real-time, while others on your team are connected and collaborating with you.
1. Google Slides
Any list of the best online presentation tools would be lacking if it didn’t include Google Slides. You can access it anywhere from your Google Drive account and it is free. Even as you present Google Slides online you can use the built-in chat tools to interact with your team.
But the best feature? You can start a live Q&A session with an audience during a presentation with Google Slides
For creating slick designs, you have a choice of several themes and hundreds of fonts while you add embedded videos, animations, charts and diagrams. Up to 100 people can work on a collaborative presentation in real time.
How to Present With Google Slides Online
To create your Google Slides presentation, go to your Google Drive account, click on the New button in the navigation menu, and select Google Slides from the list.
You can choose a blank presentation or take the help of the free presentation templates. The easiest way to start is with the free themes so you don’t have to build the presentation from scratch.
After you finish your presentation, just share it with your team. You can control who can view, edit, or add comments to it with the right permissions even as they view it in real-time. Google recommends you use Chrome for best results.
Go to the top-right of your open presentation and click Present.
The presentation will open in full-screen Presenter view and you can control the flow with the toolbar at the bottom. Use the Esc key to exit full-screen.
Click on the button marked Q&A to open Audience Tools in a mini-window. This allows you to open the session to questions from the viewers. You can choose who can submit questions.
2. Microsoft PowerPoint
Business presentations often rely on Microsoft PowerPoint. And it no longer bound to your desktop thanks to Office Online that lets you create a PowerPoint presentation online.
There are some differences between PowerPoint Online and PowerPoint on Windows. But the ability to give remote presentations isn’t one of them.
In PowerPoint 2013 and newer versions, you can broadcast your slides by using the Office Presentation Service. This free, public service is like the bridge that allows others to join in from their web browser. No special setup is required.
How to Give a PowerPoint Presentation Online
To start broadcasting, go to Slide Show > Present Online > Office Presentation Service.
Click Connect to the start the service. You can allow remote viewers to download a copy of the presentation by checking the Enable remote viewers to download the presentation box.
Send your meeting invitation with the link on display or as an email invite so that your team members can join. You can use any email program for this.
Click Start Presentation to begin.
When it’s time to end your online presentation, press Esc to get out of Slide Show View. Again, on the Present Online tab, click End Online Presentation.
3. Zoho Docs
Zoho Docs a lot like Google Drive. You can create not only slideshows but also documents and spreadsheets if you like.
The presentation tool is Zoho’s suite is called Zoho Show. You’ll find that the presentation editor is just as functional—if not more functional—than Google Slides. It also offers a whole bunch of great templates for you to choose from to get started.
How to Give an Online Presentation With Zoho Show Broadcast
Create and save your presentation on Zoho Show. Now, you can broadcast your presentation to your team while retaining complete control from any location in the world.
Invite your participants by sending an email or by sharing the broadcast URL link. Access the Broadcast button from the File dropdown on the top-left or the Share button on the top-right.
All participants will receive the invitation to join the broadcast. When they join, a pop-up message will display to indicate their participation.
Click Start Broadcast begin with the first slide of your online presentation. You can invite missing members even after starting your show.
As a presenter, you can use all the different tools at your disposal like zoom controls, presenter notes, access timer, pen or highlighter tools, etc. to manage the flow.
Zoho also allows you to set edit access and allow collaborators to present with you. This can help you design group presentations when every team member is not at the same spot.
But what’s a presentation without some interaction? The presenter and the participants can ask questions and share comments using the Chat panel while having a remote session on Zoho Show.
4. Slides
Slides is another interesting and highly functional online presentation tool that can be used by individuals and teams, This service is not only simpler than all the others on the list but it has a few unique features for creating collaborative presentations.
It works on the browser and thus on all devices as you don’t need to download anything.
Slides is a subscription service with two paid plans for individuals, and one for teams. You can try out the service with the Free plan which is publicly viewable and comes with ads.
How to Create and Share Presentations With Slides
With Slides Team, your entire team can share assets and anyone involved can add to a presentation. The Slides editor is a drag and drop interface that is supported by a media library with reusable images, videos and slide templates.
The Open Source format of your presentation makes it unique among all such tools. So, you can access the code and customize it further with CSS.
Once your slides are ready and everyone is connected to the service, click the Start Presenting button and you’re good to go.
A control panel with your speaker notes, live streaming, and remote control from any touch-enabled mobile device enable you to present from any browser.
Slides for Teams is also equipped with Google Analytics integration to help you measure the impact of your presentation.
5. GotoMeeting
GoToMeeting is a paid tool that’ll cost you a small monthly fee. But it’s also the one virtual meeting tool that provides the capability of meeting with the largest number of people without freezing up or crashing. Free services like Skype and Google Hangouts have maximum limits of 50 and 25 respectively.
How to Give an Online Presentation With GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting isn’t a presentation designing tool. But think of it as the medium which will carry your presentation among other things. The big advantage of GoToMeeting is that it is a full featured screen sharing and meeting tool over video.
So, you can not only can you show your team the slideshow presentation you created, but also show them data from Google Spreadsheets, a document from Google Docs or even show them anything else on your computer or mobile.
For instance, the Virtual Whiteboard is also a powerful medium for holding webinars and live sessions with your team. GoToMeeting’s Drawing Tools like the Pen, Highlighter, Spotlight, and screen annotations let you mark up your screen as you’re giving your presentation.
And while you are doing it, share content on your screen and then pass presenter control to another user whenever you need to.
You can hold cross-platform presentations across any device and even while your team members are on the move.
The Perfect Online Presentation Software
Choosing the perfect platform for your online presentation will vary from person to person and the needs of the team. You may need a platform that no one needs to pay for. This makes Google Slides the right solution.
Maybe, your company is on the Microsoft suite. Then, PowerPoint is an obvious choice. Or maybe you just want to do a product demo for potential clients, in which case GoToMeeting is what you should use.
The other fallback option is to screen share the presentation software on your desktop with virtual meeting tools like Zoom and GoToMeeting. Zoom even allows you to present in one monitor while going through the presenter’s notes in another monitor.
Read the full article: 5 Tools to Give an Online Presentation From Anywhere
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