Presentation Software

Some new presentation software packages allow presenters to import and export content to and from other programs. This is good news for those who want to avoid the ubiquitous PowerPoint look by augmenting their presentations with artwork from outside the program. The most sophisticated programs allow a seamless transition to HTML for presentation on the World Wide Web. Just beware of a program's limits: Some cannot be viewed by users with certain browsers (for example, Netscape users can't view a presentation developed in Microsoft's PowerPoint).

Many tools are more Web-friendly. No truly bilingual (presentation soft- ware/HTML) programs exist yet, but today's presentations can be more easily integrated with the Web. Jim Endicott, owner of Distinction Communication, a presentation design and consulting company in Portland, Ore., says users often have to sacrifice animation because viewers' browsers may not support it. As time goes by, says Endicott, "there will be more WYSIWYG [what you see is what you get] between these programs and the Web's HTML, but it's not there now."

All the major software packages use a slide structure to walk users through presentation design. Once designed, a presentation can actually be viewed in five ways: on slides via projector, electronically with a computer, via the Web, on overhead transparencies or on paper.

PowerPoint is "by far the 1,000-pound gorilla in this field," says Endicott. "It doesn't have the strongest set of features, but it's so widely distributed." That makes it hard to stray from the Microsoft fold, because most users want to share their presentations easily and even let others edit them.

The newest version of PowerPoint (just released in June) will help users apply consistent styles to heads, text and so on. It uses pop-up messages to warn users of poor layout choices, such as too many bullet points, or fonts that are too small.