5 ms·

Ask HN: What alternative presentation formats to PowerPoint are there?

14 points by JacobEdelman 12y ago

If I want to use some sort of cool presentation format other than PowerPoint to make me look "hipster" what should I use? Not something like LibreOffice's alternative, something that will stand out.

mtmail 12y ago
Have a look at https://prezi.com/vvbk0zjisuqa/what-is-prezi/ https://prezi.com/vvbk0zjisuqa/what-is-prezi/. The presentation will be Adobe Flash though.
ColinWright 12y ago
I've seen Prezi used to amazing effect - way better than "PowerPoint" and equivalent. Effectively PowerPoint is computerized OHP transparencies, plus transitions. Prezi really uses much more of the potential of a computer-based presentation. https://prezi.com/ https://prezi.com/
- JacobEdelman 12y ago
  I've seen Prezi, it is quite nice but it seemed a bit too mainstream.
  - kayamon 12y ago
    Darn hipsters.
GFischer 12y ago
As the other two replies said, there's Prezi: https://prezi.com/ https://prezi.com/ It can be used to do much cooler things than PowerPoint, but it takes time. There are some cool sample presentations that show what you can do: http://prezi.com/explore/staff-picks/ http://prezi.com/explore/staff-picks/ http://prezi.com/explore/popular/ http://prezi.com/explore/popular/
ht_th 12y ago
I like to generate my presentations with the LaTeX package "beamer", offering well-typeset symbols, text, and figures (through Tikz) that all fit together nicely. It might not be flashy of hipster-y, but it certainly is different from you run off the mill powerpoint presentations.
fundamental 12y ago
For the more professional presentations I tend to stick to beamer, but for a quick presentation the deckjs backend for asciidoctor allow for a very fast setup.
jcchin41 12y ago
My favorite alternative: Reveal.js http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ Simple HTML slides with snazzy transitions Warning: A common pitfall of "flashy" presentations is that even if you can avoid making it look gimmicky, the audience is too busy watching the effects and not listening to you. Is your intention to dazzle people, or optimize the amount of information your audience absorbs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk
percept 12y ago
If you're interested in HTML-based options, there's a roundup here: http://www.sitepoint.com/5-free-html5-presentation-systems/ http://www.sitepoint.com/5-free-html5-presentation-systems/ I used Deck.js for a recent presentation, mainly because it seemed the quickest to get up and running at the very last minute, and seemed to have the least jarring/motion sickness-inducing transitions (among the various options offered by each tool).
- JacobEdelman 12y ago
  Oh, nice. I'll definitely look at this.
DanBC 12y ago
Adam Buxton[1] used photoshop layers in his BUG[2] talks. I think this will show him switching the layers. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ I'm not sure what you mean by "hipster" - wouldn't that be whatever was available on Windows2000? [1] Adam, from Adam and Joe. Joe Cornish went on to direct "Attack the Block". They started in a public access tv experiment; had a tv show; had a BBC Radio Six show (which is probably available online somewhere). [2] BUG - http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/what-is-bug/ http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/what-is-bug/ He does a bit where he voices-up Youtube comments, which is funny. http://youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ http://youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ
- thenomad 12y ago
  I've used Photoshop as a presentation tool recently - it's surprisingly good.
seekingcharlie 12y ago
For HTML5 / JS animations: Hype App For just a better PowerPoint interface: Sketch. Keynote is also good.
jac0204 12y ago
Still in preview, but Sway may be of interest to you. https://sway.com https://sway.com I have been fiddling with the preview. Only basic features are available right now, but it may grow to be what you need.
philippnagel 12y ago
I use http://www.decksetapp.com http://www.decksetapp.com which is based on using Markdown.
krmmalik 12y ago
Have you considered HaikuDeck? It's about as hipster as you can get.
1971genocide 12y ago
I use the CGP grey / Minute Physics way to do my presentations these days, They have won the evolutionary youtube game in disseminating most knowledge in the shortest period of time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3WrAk52e68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3WrAk52e68 Note: It takes about 1 hour for each minute of video footage, but its worth it.

14 points by JacobEdelman 12y ago

If I want to use some sort of cool presentation format other than PowerPoint to make me look "hipster" what should I use? Not something like LibreOffice's alternative, something that will stand out.

mtmail 12y ago

Have a look at https://prezi.com/vvbk0zjisuqa/what-is-prezi/ https://prezi.com/vvbk0zjisuqa/what-is-prezi/. The presentation will be Adobe Flash though.

ColinWright 12y ago

I've seen Prezi used to amazing effect - way better than "PowerPoint" and equivalent. Effectively PowerPoint is computerized OHP transparencies, plus transitions. Prezi really uses much more of the potential of a computer-based presentation. https://prezi.com/ https://prezi.com/

JacobEdelman 12y ago
I've seen Prezi, it is quite nice but it seemed a bit too mainstream.
- kayamon 12y ago
  Darn hipsters.

GFischer 12y ago

As the other two replies said, there's Prezi: https://prezi.com/ https://prezi.com/ It can be used to do much cooler things than PowerPoint, but it takes time. There are some cool sample presentations that show what you can do: http://prezi.com/explore/staff-picks/ http://prezi.com/explore/staff-picks/ http://prezi.com/explore/popular/ http://prezi.com/explore/popular/

ht_th 12y ago

I like to generate my presentations with the LaTeX package "beamer", offering well-typeset symbols, text, and figures (through Tikz) that all fit together nicely. It might not be flashy of hipster-y, but it certainly is different from you run off the mill powerpoint presentations.

fundamental 12y ago

For the more professional presentations I tend to stick to beamer, but for a quick presentation the deckjs backend for asciidoctor allow for a very fast setup.

jcchin41 12y ago

My favorite alternative: Reveal.js http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ Simple HTML slides with snazzy transitions Warning: A common pitfall of "flashy" presentations is that even if you can avoid making it look gimmicky, the audience is too busy watching the effects and not listening to you. Is your intention to dazzle people, or optimize the amount of information your audience absorbs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk

percept 12y ago

If you're interested in HTML-based options, there's a roundup here: http://www.sitepoint.com/5-free-html5-presentation-systems/ http://www.sitepoint.com/5-free-html5-presentation-systems/ I used Deck.js for a recent presentation, mainly because it seemed the quickest to get up and running at the very last minute, and seemed to have the least jarring/motion sickness-inducing transitions (among the various options offered by each tool).

JacobEdelman 12y ago
Oh, nice. I'll definitely look at this.

DanBC 12y ago

Adam Buxton[1] used photoshop layers in his BUG[2] talks. I think this will show him switching the layers. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ I'm not sure what you mean by "hipster" - wouldn't that be whatever was available on Windows2000? [1] Adam, from Adam and Joe. Joe Cornish went on to direct "Attack the Block". They started in a public access tv experiment; had a tv show; had a BBC Radio Six show (which is probably available online somewhere). [2] BUG - http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/what-is-bug/ http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/what-is-bug/ He does a bit where he voices-up Youtube comments, which is funny. http://youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ http://youtube.com/watch?v=gx-WBaSNrTQ

thenomad 12y ago
I've used Photoshop as a presentation tool recently - it's surprisingly good.

seekingcharlie 12y ago

For HTML5 / JS animations: Hype App For just a better PowerPoint interface: Sketch. Keynote is also good.

jac0204 12y ago

Still in preview, but Sway may be of interest to you. https://sway.com https://sway.com I have been fiddling with the preview. Only basic features are available right now, but it may grow to be what you need.

philippnagel 12y ago

I use http://www.decksetapp.com http://www.decksetapp.com which is based on using Markdown.

krmmalik 12y ago

Have you considered HaikuDeck? It's about as hipster as you can get.

1971genocide 12y ago

I use the CGP grey / Minute Physics way to do my presentations these days, They have won the evolutionary youtube game in disseminating most knowledge in the shortest period of time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3WrAk52e68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3WrAk52e68 Note: It takes about 1 hour for each minute of video footage, but its worth it.