Business For Sale » Business Cycle Powerpoint

Are there better presentation tools than MS PowerPoint on the market? It would seem so if one were to believe the many blogs and opinion pieces you can find by simply doing a Google search for "alternatives to PowerPoint". The fact of the matter is, however, to paraphrase one PowerPoint detractor: about 90% of the market uses PowerPoint, not because it is an inherently better program, rather, because it is so widely available and understood.

Casual Fridays, company picnics and the use of first names across hierarchies aside, big-business is conservative and being conservative equates to a certain reluctance to change.

Indeed the business argument for not changing presentation software is clear: license costs, re-training, implementing CI-Standards across software packages, etc. Is all the cost and effort really worth it because presentation software allows you to convert your PowerPoint to Flash more easily or because presentation software has more fancy graphics and sounds? I think not.

Are there significantly better alternatives to PowerPoint? Perhaps. Should you rush out to purchase one of these and invest your valuable time learning how to use it? Probably not. PowerPoint is the overwhelming standard, in domestic business presenting as well as internationally and that is not likely to change anytime soon.

Instead of searching for the next great software which will take your presentation "to the next level" you should be concentrating on the basics of how to create a solid, logical and convincing presentation. Chances are, more bells and whistles are not going to do the trick.

Benjamen Bauer is the pen name of an active management consultant who enjoys discussing and writing about good (and bad) presentation technique. Since he currently is in the employ of a big-name consultancy, he prefers to remain anonymous whilst writing about of contemporary business presentation culture from the front lines. You can read his blog and tutorials at http://www.professional-powerpoint.com

Source: www.isnare.com