I’ll be giving a presentation in a couple of weeks and I know that if I don’t use Power Point I lose about 99% of my credibility.
But it seems from my first efforts this AM I have to buy the latest MS Office version which runs about $500. That seems kind of obscene to me, expecially since I’ll only need to use some very tiny portion of the whole thing, and I’ll maybe use it twice a year, or so.
Any ideas?
Find someone willing to give you an older version of Powerpoint? AFAIK all the versions going back to '97 are pretty much the same and I bet you could find a version of Office '97 floating around somewhere inexpensive or free.
Is it solely the cost of the software that’s causing you the problem? OpenOffice includes a presentation package, supposedly compatible with Powerpoint files (i.e. in reality compatible with most MS files!), and certainly capable of doing what you need to do.
Why do you have to buy the latest version of MSOffice? Don’t you already have a version with PP on it? Is it a work presentation? If so, shouldn’t your work be paying (or more likely providing you with PP)?
I hate PP. Why not use Flash? Free 28 day download and much more flexible and capable.
Do you need PowerPoint specifically? If so, why?
There are numerous alternatives to Office generally and PowerPoint specifically.
Two of the more obvious choices these days are:
Open Office (free):
http://www.openoffice.org/
Star Office (<$80)
http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.xml
I don’t use either of them, so perhaps someone will address usability/compatibility issues.
I tried Open Office a few years ago and didn’t like it. Has it got a lot better recently? I still use the copy of Office 97 I got with my last-but-three computer. Office sucks but one needs a copy of it I find.
MSOffice usually comes with PowerPoint. But if yours didn’t for some reason: how will they know you are or aren’t using PPT? Do you have to provide electronic copies? If not, you can do whatever you need in either Excel or Word, also - you do the charts in Excel and can either do the rest of the page in Excel or use Word and import the charts. It’s all going to look the same when printed out. You can also convert it to Adobe, if you have the full version, and show the presentation that way.
Why do you need the latest version of MSOffice?
Adobe Reader also has a full-screen presentation mode, if you have a means for making PDF files.
Thanks for all the quick responses. I’ll check out these possibilities.
To answer a few questions:
I work for myself, that’s why the boss won’t just give me MS Office.
I don’t use computers much. I have no need for anything else in MS Office.
I can afford the $500. It’s much more the idea of spending that much for so little.
I should add that I’ll be going to a convention to speak. I was assuming that all these other presenters are using PP. What I need is something where I can put together about ten pages with about 25 words on each page to display on the screen. If I can bring a disc which is compatible with what they got then I’m glad to use whatever is most reasonable.
As others have suggested, OpenOffice should work. If you want to be safe, you can always have a friend with Powerpoint test your presentation for compatibility after you make it (I can do it if you need). Just be sure you save the presentation as a Powerpoint file and not OpenOffice’s default format.
I guess I am still confused. Do you mean you have no type of “Office” software on your computer right now? What do you type text in?
Easier than that - check it with the free Powerpoint Reader:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a94784af71a4&displaylang=en
One other possibility that nobody has mentioned yet is using a trial version of Office. You can get it from Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/trial/default.mspx
I think that, aside from the time limit, it can do everything the full version can.
Everyone loathes PowerPoint presentations. I wouldn’t worry too much about blown credibility so long as you can provide some sort of visual aid, whether it’s in the form of some freeware or whatever. There’s no need to spend $500 for that.
I can’t wait until the whole PowerPoint thing goes the hell away.
The Microsoft Office Standard Student and Teacher Edition 2003 costs about $125 and can be installed on up to three systems in your home. It’s supposed to be for non-commercial use and someone in the house needs to be a student or teacher, so I don’t know if you qualify. If you don’t already have Microsoft Office, it’s a cheap way to acquire it.
To fit in with the other speakers, and stay really up-to-date, you should provide handouts that are simply the PowerPoint screens in your presentation. The actual verbal presentation should just be a reading of the PowerPoint presentation. It will bore the shit out of everyone but seem really familiar. Most audiences now just switch off as soon as PowerPoint rears it’s mind-numbing head.
But if you’re gonna cheat the system, why not just pirate it completely and find a BitTorrent download?
And with a learning curve as steep as the Matterhorn.
If the OP has never used Flash before, and has to give this presentation in a couple of weeks, half that time will be spent working out the basics of Flash. And if s/he need to do anything requiring ActionScript, that’s another bunch of time right there.
Personally, if i want to do any sort of presentation for my students, i do it in html. It’s cross-platform, transportable, and can easily be placed on the internet aftwards without worrying about Powerpoint’s ridiculously bad html conversion.
In the OP’s situation, though, i’d probably just go for OpenOffice.
Perhaps you should use more animations and blinking text. That makes them prettier, you know.
Embedded movies, too. With sound.
Love this board. Definitely got more than my $14.95 worth right here. Can’t wait to get some free time this week to follow up on the above. Thanks again!