PowerPoint is a powerful presentation design software on its own, but there are a number of tools and plugins you can add to it that will make it even better. From increasing audience engagement to seamless data conversion, if you integrate the following tools into your PowerPoint presentation, you can bet the whole design process will be a whole lot faster and easier.
Oomfo
Our brains process visuals faster than text, so they’re critical to ensuring your audience follows and understands your presentation. Oomfo is a free plugin that lets you maximize the impact of your visuals by helping you create gorgeous custom charts. Featuring chart styles such as Waterfall, Pareto, and Funnel, this handy tool will transform your data into super compelling images with just a few clicks.
PowerPoint Labs
If you’re feeling like your presentation needs a little more of a wow-factor, then look no further than PowerPoint Labs. This free (for now!) plugin is killer for upping your presentation’s entertainment value. It allows you to create fancy-looking animations in just a few steps, narrate your speaker notes, apply compelling special effects, and sync your favorite styles—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg for this robust plugin.
ParticiPoll
At an annual fee of $199, this tool doesn’t come cheap, but it’s absolutely indispensable when it comes to increasing audience participation. Basically, it allows you to add polls to your presentation that your audience can participate in using only their smartphones. You don’t even need to preload questions or responses—this tool makes audience participation a total breeze.
ShapeChef
For a one-time fee of $39.99, this game-changer ensures you never have to use a boring and generic shape again. Once you add it, you’ll discover a new library pane that allows you to download an ever-growing collection of beautiful custom images. It’s also incredibly user-friendly, letting you easily drag and drop the images you’re interested in, as well as add the ones you already have to the library.
PPTools Merge
Working with a boatload of data that you need converted to a presentation? Then meet your new best friend. PPTools Merge is an add-in that makes it a cinch to merge data from Excel or CSV files and convert it to text, boxes, images, notes, and hyperlinks. It’s a bit of an investment at $69.95, but if you have a lot of data on your hands, then it’s absolutely an investment worth making.
Looking for more ways to make your presentation outshine the rest? Then check out Ethos3’s Catapult Training.
