If you see a professional presentation, it’s almost guaranteed that the presenter has used Microsoft Office PowerPoint to put it together. It’s by far the best and virtually the default program for slideshows and presentations. Microsoft is well aware of this, and to keep the competition far behind, they’ve introduced some exciting and innovative features for PowerPoint 2010. They’re easy to use, so you won’t need further training from IT support, but they’ll help your presentations become more customised and more professional the more you dip into the advanced options.
Some of the most exciting new options presented in this version of PowerPoint are the image editing features. When your image is projected onto a huge screen, you want to make sure it looks its best. Previously, you would probably have had to use a different program to get it to look just right. Microsoft doesn’t want you to have to switch any longer and have built surprisingly robust photo editing tools into this version of PowerPoint (as well as into the rest of the 2010 Office suite). You’re able to crop, change colour saturation, temperature, brightness, and contrast, and apply a host of artistic filters like paintbrush, watercolour, and mosaic. You can even remove unsightly backgrounds, focusing on the part of the picture you need the most.
Even more helpful for business users is the ability to collaborate real-time on presentations with colleagues near and far. You won’t find that you’re locked out of a presentation because someone else is working on it. Instead, you’re able to see their changes in real-time and can start a conversation right in the window, so you can work together without extra steps or hindrances.
Video is a huge focus these days in the professional world. Rather than switching between programs to display your video and the slides relating to it, you can now embed and even edit videos right inside PowerPoint. You’re also consistently linked into the web, so the minute you’ve given your presentation at a conference, you can share its URL worldwide at the click of a button. Even if your audience doesn’t have PowerPoint installed, they’ll be able to see your slides. And if you really want them to feel like they were there, you can turn your presentation into a video and share it through any video site you like.
PowerPoint has also had a few smaller changes to the way it normally works. There are a few new slide transitions and animated effects that replace and add to the existing, somewhat old-fashioned options. Microsoft has also changed the “ribbon” navigation bar slightly to make things a little bit easier to look at and find, with a new feature called “backstage view” where you can share, save, print, and publish presentations easily. You will also be able to open multiple presentations in different windows – so if you need to tweak two at once, you can even have them open in two different monitors for ultimate ease of use.
From a business perspective, Microsoft Office is one of the most valuable and most important productivity suites available. It’s virtually a requirement. With these upgrades, PowerPoint is certainly going to get better, and we’re already looking forward to viewing some of the amazing slideshows that will result from the improvements.
