To help your next presentation stand out from the pack and keep your audience entertained and engaged, we’ve put together a list of some of the newest software tools available for your next business presentation or matchmaking event.

Long gone are the days of physical slides meticulously arranged in cylindrical cartridges and stacks of transparencies piled next to overhead projectors. But just because digital projectors and PowerPoint rule the day now doesn’t mean innovation has stagnated.

Prezi

Founded in 2009, Prezi has found a strong following, especially among those of us with a flair for cinematic presentations. With its 3D zooming software, this platform can take viewers on a literal journey through and around your presentation. An excellent option for when you have more time to develop creative visuals and make a complete end-to-end, one-time slide show. If you are presenting to a more data-driven audience or need to be able to swap slides in and out easily, you may be better served looking to another solution. One last caution too: some viewers can become a little motion sick if your presentation features too much rapid 3D motion.

ClearSlide

With their recent purchase of SlideRocket, ClearSlide has become a player in the presentation software game. Though they focus on interactive, multi-modal sales and marketing presentations, the tools they offer allow deep interaction and extensive analytics for anyone using the product. Presentations can be shared with just a link so email file size limits are of no concern and lead information is collected whenever the presentation is viewed or forwarded. Video, website, animations and more can all be easily integrated with presentations and remain interactive as well. The biggest downside to ClearSlide is that with their limited focus on sales teams, individuals looking to make a slide show for a lecture, class project or their local charity may find the price tag a bit steep.

CustomShow

CustomShow has been around since 1998 but unless you work in the media industry, you have probably never heard of them. Beginning as a high end presentation service for major media purveyors (think broadcast television, magazine publishers and top-notch advertising agencies), CustomShow has made a name for itself helping companies deliver reconfigurable, customizable, visually impactful displays that look like they’re filmed in Hollywood. Unfortunately, it also shares the price point of a big-budget blockbuster (relatively speaking), so there’s little wonder why the companies using it tend toward the Fortune 100 side of the spectrum.

These days, there are many options for your presentation needs and most if not all of them provide similar abilities: built-in animation, embeddable video, cloud-based delivery and of course, the capability to be shown on every business presenter’s best friend the iPad. Even the old standbys of Keynote and PowerPoint have more functionalities than ever before; it’s just a matter of putting in the time and effort to make the most of them.

Have an idea for a new presentation but need some feedback on your ideas? Maybe you want some help developing a slide deck to knock investor socks off. Let us know! We’d love to chat.

To learn more:

• Prezi
• ClearSlide
• CustomShow