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The right software can play a big role in how well your business presentation goes, so we've gathered the main presentation programs that make sense for small businesses. With small businesses in mind, we evaluated them with one overriding concern: do-it-yourself capability. Forget about waiting for the software, taking a training class, or getting someone else to create it from your notes. Small businesses today require programs that are quick, straightforward, and, above all, painless to figure out.
We rolled up our sleeves and built an eight-page home-selling pitch to test how easy (or difficult) it is to create and deliver a killer show incorporating video, audio, images, and text. In other words, we did what you do every day: try to make your business appear to the outside world like an immense organization. In addition to grading each package on setup, ease of use, and features (such as graphics and transitions), we rated them on performance and the company's support effort. As in so many other categories of business software, Microsoft's PowerPoint led the pack and, despite some flaws and weaknesses, is still the one to beat. Sure, it can be a pain to figure out, and it has more options than a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but it remains our first choice because of its comprehensiveness.
Where PowerPoint provides a nice balance between support for text and graphical elements, other programs focus on one area or another. For example, Apple's Keynote and Corel's Presentations emphasize graphics and media. And because the world of small business isn't always the way marketing managers at Microsoft, Corel, and Apple see it, we've included Photodex's ProShow Gold in this roundup. It can handily turn a pile of media into a professional-quality multimedia show, but it can't turn numbers into graphs. Finally, we also looked at the elder statesman of pitch-making, Harvard Graphics Pro Presentations. It's been around for two decades and has benefited from a good refresh, although it is the least integrated of the five programs.
The bottom line is that you can use any of these programs to put together a competent pitch. The difference is how quick and easy it is to do so. Regardless of whether you're selling a home or promoting yourself as a consultant, you can be a presentation god.
How we tested
Starting from the premise that sooner or later, every small-business owner will have to create and deliver a presentation, we did just that. Using the five aforementioned presentation programs and a Lenovo ThinkPad R51, we worked with video, images, and audio files to create an eight-slide presentation, then added transitions. Along the way, we looked at each program's installation, interface, and playback options. All actions were performed in light of the notion that there would be nobody to help, so everything had to be simple, straightforward, and well explained.
While we timed how long it took to add audio, video, graphics, and to save the completed show, we noted the media included. Because these are complex programs, we went through the manuals (when they were provided) and the company's Web site for tips, shortcuts, and basic instruction. Each company was asked a sample question to see how long it took to reply and whether the answer was acceptable. Finally, we actually used each pitch with a projector to gauge the program's presentation potential.
The programs were scored 0 to 10 on four main criteria:
- Setup and interface: How easy was it to load the program and get started? We put particular emphasis on how versatile the interface was. Finally, the program got points for including a file viewer.
- Features: We wanted to be able to import a variety of media and text, as well as have a variety of backgrounds, templates, special effects, and transitions to choose from. While making our presentation, we noted the program's export potential, printing capabilities, and third-party options.
- Performance: How long did it take to insert an image, a video clip, and audio for the whole show? And how long did it take to save a completed show?
- Service and support: For small-business people who don't have an IT staff, service and support is key. We looked at the warranty and technical support via phone, Web, and e-mail.
Finally, we weighted each criterion to get an overall score as follows: 35 percent for performance; 30 percent for setup and interface; 20 percent for features; and 15 percent for service and support.
Read the CNET editor's take
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6.7 out of 10
5.0 out of 10
4.0 out of 10
