lydia_m_OTA

Powtoon is a powerful tool for video presentations that is effective for personal, business, and educational use. Instantly familiar feeling and easy to use, you won’t want to go back to your old apps. Powtoon is engaging and keeps your audience’s attention with

You get video and text communications and video presentation features all in one app. Intuitive and professional, yet simple to use with its drag and drop items features, Powtoon is one of the best presentation software products. This short introduction is just the start. Read our full review and try this efficient application for yourself.

Powtoon Review - All the Best Features Explained in Detail

Powtoon Features 

Easy to use

Powtoons’s interface allows for beginners to experts to create top quality and appealing presentations in little to no time. Some of the ways that they’ve done this are by enabling individuals to drag and drop items, import and export not just images, video, and audio, but also datasets. All of the templates are customizable. If you can use a computer, you can use Powtoons.

You can get professional results in an incredibly short amount of time with the drag and drop feature mentioned above. If you are having a rough day or forgot a deadline and have to put something together quickly, Powtoon has you covered between its ease of use and its ready-made templates.

Integration

One of the most beloved features of PowToon is the fact that you can integrate it into all major social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more. This makes it an ideal tool to get your professionally appealing videos spread across the internet.

You can upload a link to your social media platforms or even perform webinars through your website. Live webinars open up the door for you to do training or many other events and collaborations.

Your media

Not only can you integrate your videos onto major platforms, but you can integrate your media into your videos, from other video clips, or images, to voice recordings and GIFs. This makes PowToon an ideal tool for anyone who’s looking to not only be professional but to also be original.

Library of Templates and Images

So, you want a professional and quality looking presentations, but you do not have any templates, images, or props? That’s okay. 

Powtoon has a sizeable library of top-notch templates, soundtracks, text options, and images among many other things necessary for making this your go-to platform for video creation.

Cost-effective

Powtoon offers a free version of their services which limits video quality to standard definition, with 100MB of video storage. Alternatively, their PRO version of their services offers 2GB of storage for video and audio, with high definition quality. 

Finally, they offer a higher tier of paid service which includes 10GB of video storage. To top all of this off, all of their plans are royalty-free, which means that you get to keep whatever money you make off your videos.

Collaboration and Communication  

Communication within Powtoon is simple and straightforward. It includes all the basics – like call forwarding, caller ID, instant messaging, conference calling, and basic chat features.

This allows you to collaborate with your business partners or whoever you are sharing your presentations with from afar with ease. Screen sharing and content management are simple, even with several people conference call to view the presentation. This allows for professional viewing and sharing every step of the way.

Data Storage

Your data storage is secure with Powtoon, and you can safely import and export your video presentation. We all like to feel more secure with our data, and Powtoon’s two-factor authentication feature adds that extra measure of security.

How Do You Use Powtoon?

Your bright idea

If you are not familiar with Powtoon at this point, take some time and get to know the libraries of images and templates it has to offer before jumping in. You might see something that will help jump-start your ideas.

You’ll want to make sure that you have a great idea that you want to convey using Powtoon. Perhaps you have some video clips, audio, or some images that you want to incorporate into your presentation. If so, get them ready by moving them to an easy to find a location, such as your desktop.

Select a template

Once you’ve logged in, and started a new video, you’ll want to find a template. Powtoon has a vast library of templates to search from and choose the one that is right for you. Alternatively, you can take a whack at making your video without a premade template and just go with what feels best for you.

Your color scheme and font choices can make your presentation go from childish to professional quickly, so do be careful about your choices here. Be mindful of your audience when choosing your theme, as they are who you want to impress. 

Children will love bright colors and bubbly fonts, while a strict business environment may prefer Times New Roman and black and white.   

Adjust times

Whatever you choose to use in your video, but sure to adjust the timeframes for each item. You can do this by adjusting the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen to change how long items appear in the video.

Pick a font

One of the neat things about Powtoon is that you can incorporate text features. Use this to your advantage and capitalize on the various ways that you can engage your audience. Pick a font that fits best with what you’re trying to convey. 

The way that you incorporate text is by adding in a textbox. This is where you’ll eventually write what you want. Whether you choose to use paragraphs, and bullet points, is entirely up to you. Keep in mind the theme and fonts, as mentioned above.

Expertise Not Required

You might think that you need to be a software expert to make the type of animated presentations that you see online, but with Powtoon, expertise is not required. 

You can do it all yourself without having one made for you for some expensive price. All you need to do is figure out the beginning steps to creating a Powtoon, which is as easy to create as a PowerPoint presentation once you get started.

Starting from Scratch

You have a lot of options when it comes to your available templates on Powtoon, but you can also easily create a Powtoon from scratch if you have a specific idea in mind. Just start with a blank canvas and pick a look that you’d like to create. Keep all of your text and characters consistent as the studio leads you to the blank stage to get started.

Just click around in the Powtoon studio to add in the features that you want. If you’re having a little trouble, you can go through some step-by-step tutorials on how to add in more features that you want specifically for your project.

Simple Steps

To get started with some simple Powtoon creations, you can begin with a script. A script is what will happen in every scene, and once you have yours, you can add to it, shorten it, and figure out where you want all the pauses.

That means that you can also get started with any voicing you want to do, and add in background music. Look into recording your voice yourself, or use an online text to voice software. From here, you can divide your slides for the script, add in your graphics, and give your presentation some visual flare before you have it done in time to present.

Getting Started and Learning Powtoon

You know the basic steps of getting started with a Powtoon. Now let’s go more in detail about what tools you have available to you and what you need to know to understand the software.

Building Powtoons

First off, you should know that the area where you build your scene is on the stage. Then you can look to the side panel, which will let you add, delete, and duplicate slides. You can also look over to the timeline so that you know what the timing of your items on the slide is and can coordinate how you would like your end presentation to look. This can be done with the sound control panel too, along with the tabs and stage tools.

No matter what you do, remember that the Powtoon workspace is your personalized workspace, and you can use it to create whatever you want based on your preferences. This means that you can customize it for your specific needs.

My Space

Not Myspace as in the old social media system, but My Space, as in the space where all of your ideas sit and wait for you to engage with them. This is one part of the workspace that’s made specifically to work with you. Take a look at it to see the multiple blocks in it. Those blocks each represent a goal for your Powtoon, all of which are customized from your preferences when you sign up. You can always customize this space manually by clicking on the “Customize” button.

Top Bars

If you’re looking for a place to find everything while you’re working, take a look at the top bar, which includes the quick menu, your Powtoons, Studio Mode, and edit option, and the help option too in case you get stuck somewhere. This is where everything will be whenever you need it.

Fun and Easy to Use

Powtoon is made to be easy to use, so once you learn the ropes, it’s not hard to get into more complicated pieces of software like adding in your own voice to the characters. Well, none of it is necessarily complicated, since you can easily create something amazing in such a short amount of time. Meanwhile, the people watching will think that you spent tons of time putting it together.

For instance, you can get started using one of the available templates if you happen to be a little short on time. These are professional templates, and are made to be easy to navigate so that you can drive the message home for anyone watching.

The Fun Part

You’re stressing about your next meeting, which is definitely not fun, but building a professional-looking Powtoon is. The animations are made to keep people’s attention, which means that all your hard work will never go to waste. People will pay attention to the movement and animations of the slides, which you can change up and emphasize to keep people interested.

Pitching Your Point

It’s easy to make your pitch using a Powtoon. That’s because you have a lot of elements in it like visual, audio, and more dynamic movement than usual slide transitions. Thanks to this, you can even use Powtoon to create a video for your home page.

Scenes/Timelines

Let’s talk more about your scenes and timelines, which are integral parts of creating your Powtoon. The timeline is made to be a visual representation of the timing of all objects on your slide. When you use the timeline then, you can control the timing of what’s going on in your presentation.

Timing

Take a look at the time indicator and the playhead, both of which are features of the timeline. The playhead can be used for inserting something at a specific time while you continue to view the slide at the same time. This means that you’re able to check out what the changes you make look like right away.

The time indicator will help with that too. You can check out the duration of your slides and the entire Powtoon. When you think you’ve got the timing right, you can click play, and if there are any problems, the slide duration controls can help you change the timing by one second. All you have to do is add or reduce a second with just a click.

Just remember that by default, the duration of the Powtoon slide is 10 seconds, and can be increased to a maximum of 20 seconds.

Adding Time

When you’re adding seconds, all you have to do is position the playhead above the slide you want to add or subtract time to or from. It will let you know how many seconds you have. Just adjust your seconds to what you want and take a look to see if it’s what you want.

Export Functionalities

Many of us want to export our presentations either when we’re working on them or once we’re done, either to work on them together as a term or to share them with others. It’s fairly easy to export your Powtoons, since you only need to click on the “Export” button to get it to go for the first time. You can then go to the “Manage Exports” tab. Using that download link, you can export it to anyone you’d like.

Export

The first time you export your Powtoon, rest assured that you will be shown a preview of your presentation. You can check over all your details before you send it along in whatever format you’d like.

Manage Exports

From this tab, you can do a few other things with your exports too. Check on the date to see when you’ve exported what, and take a look at where you exported your Powtoon to. You can then click the link to publish your Powtoon in any format, or download it to your computer.

Sharing

You can actually share your Powtoon on social media as well. All you need to do is click on the “Share” tab to get it published. You can also check on the “Share” tab to find the embed code of your Powtoon. This is very similar to many other websites that have multiple export formats.

Powtoon Pricing Overview

You can use Powtoon for free, but if you’re trying to use it for business, you’ll want to check into the paid plans that will provide you with more options for your Powtoons, both for the creation and for exporting.

Monthly and Annual

First off, know that you can choose to pay for your plan monthly, or you can pay ahead for an annual price. Just choose your preference before you get started on signing up.

Pro Plan

The Pro Plan is made to be either $19 a month or $228 per year. This plan gives you access to five premium exports per month, 2 GB of storage, and access to both Pro and free content. Essentially, you’ll have a lot of options with what you can do for a lower price per month.

Pro Plus

The Pro+ pan clocks in as $58 per month or $708 per year. With this plan, your premium exports will be unlimited, you will have 10 GB of storage, and will be able to access all content without any problem. This type of plan is for real professionals.

Agency

And now we have the Agency plan, which is $99 a month or $1188 per year, making it one of the more expensive plans. This plan is made more for businesses, since you have unlimited premium exports, access to all content, 3rd-party reseller rights, 100 GB of storage, and the ability to upload even custom fonts.

Free

Yes, there is the option to use Powtoon for free. You do not have to pay to use it, but remember that if you use the free option, you will only have access to the free content, and will only have 100 MB of storage. Powtoon branding will be included on everything you create as well.

All Plans

No matter what plan you choose though, you will be able to Download your Powtoon as an MP4 file, and can make use of full HD video of 1080p for all of your presentations. You will also have full privacy over your content, and commercial rights to whatever you create. If you ever have any problems too, the 24/7 support is available to everyone regardless of your plan.

Pros

The real question is what real users are saying about using Powtoon. Well, rest assured that Powtoon really is easy to use. It should only take you about 20 minutes to get started, and maybe an hour to gain some advanced proficiency in all the features.

If you’re in a rush, Powtoon is a great option too. It includes several templates which are ready to use, and built-in assets like animated avatars, objects, short videos, graphics, and so on. Really, there’s everything you could need right there. Even the updates happen automatically, so you never need to worry about doing any of it yourself.

It helps that it’s easy to switch out features of your existing presentations as well. If you’re taking a look at some of your old presentations, know that you can take out old items to put in new ones and still use the same animations.

Cons

One thing you should know though is that Powtoon is cloud-based, so it will end up using a lot of power on your computer. You might notice that your computer gets hot when you’re using Powtoon for a while then, and that some of your typing might lag thanks to how much power your computer was using.

There are bugs in the programming too at times, which means that your items may move to the wrong place sometimes, or you might have to click multiple times. This is generally a minor annoyance, but if you’re rushing to get it done or if you’ve been working for a while, you might find yourself getting more frustrated over time.

Like this, you might find that building your presentations take longer than anticipated, but if the final product comes out like you imagined, you may find that you don’t mind too much. 

There are many options out there for presentation software, but none are quite like Prezi. That’s why this simple online presentation tool has become increasingly popular, especially thanks to how creative it can be. Don’t let the creativity and smooth transitions fool you though, because Prezi sets itself apart as a professional presentation tool that allows anyone to use slides, videos, and animations to reach your audience. Your audience won’t ever be bored either, not when you have the ability to really grab their attention with this unique tool.

Prezi Reviews and Buying Guide

Overview of Prezi Features

If you use Prezi well, you can really make something unique and cinematic. Not only that, but with these features, you can pull your audience in. With so many features though, you might feel a little lost, so let’s do a quick overview of one of the best presentation software tools out there.

Sizing and Visuals

The visual aspect of Prezi is what makes it unique. You have the ability to size different parts of your presentation to emphasize what you want people to remember and what you think isn’t as important. Not only will this help you keep track of what you’re saying, but this will help anyone listening to you to more easily understand your main points.

This is especially true thanks to the way Prezi works. It allows you to zoom into certain pieces of your presentations, it lets you pan out, and you can even zoom from left to right. Really, you have total control of all your images and details from font size to angles, and can even use templates that are readily available when you log in.

Timelines

It can be difficult to remember which project you’re doing or what needs to be done next, which is where Prezi’s timeline feature comes in. This feature will keep you aware of what’s coming next and what still needs to be done.

Choices

One of the best features of Prezi is how much choice you have when you get down to it. You can add your own background image, can share it with everyone on the internet or within your group, and can access it from any device.

You can even present using Prezi if you’re not directly with that person, since you can present to an Android phone while you’re on call with that person. You have a lot of choices when it comes to Prezi, which is part of why it’s so unique.

Presenting With Prezi

When you present with Prezi, there are a few unique presentation features that ensure you’ll be able to have something professional and good-looking. For example, you can use ALT and B when you’re presenting to turn the screen black for just a second. If your presentation ever becomes too distracting, this puts your audience’s attention back on you.

Basic Presentation Tools

It’s actually quite simple to present with Prezi. All you really need to do is click from Edit Mode to Present Mode, where all your tools will disappear and you’ll just be left with your presentation. It’s as simple as clicking into “present” and pressing “escape” to get out of it.

From the presentation mode, you only need to click your back and forth arrows to go along the path you’ve set. If you see any issues that need to be fixed before you make the official presentation, all you need to do is back out of it and fix it up.

Connection

You do not need to be connected to the internet to present with Prezi. Just download the desktop app to present without the internet, although you will need internet to play any videos you have.

Navigation Tips

If you want to move through your presentation with greater ease, just navigate through the presentation by clicking on the topic or subtopic. You can even use the mouse’s scroll wheel and the touchpad to zoom in and out. Really, this means that you can move from topic to topic without much more than moving your finger.

It’s very simple to present then, with a very small learning curve. Once you’ve figured out how to do it, you won’t need to even think about it to go from place to place in your presentation.

Simple But Great PowerPoint Alternative

When most people think about making a presentation, their minds go right to PowerPoint. If you’re looking for a PowerPoint alternative though, Prezi is a great option. It doesn’t rely on traditional slides, but it does make usage of creative methods to give your presentation a unique spin.

Different Look

Prezi provides you with a completely different look to your presentations. You have the ability to zoom in and out to show the relationships between details and to emphasize the parts of your presentation that you want people to pay attention to. It’s more of a visual map than other presentation tools, and allows you to interact more with both your audience and with your own work.

Options

You have a lot of options when you use Prezi, especially since you can choose from about 100 templates to build your presentation with. Make frames that you can zoom in and out on, and share your Prezi with up to 10 people—all of whom can work on one Prezi at once.

Usage

You can use Prezi with lots of people, but beyond the shareability, you’ll probably appreciate how uncluttered the entire system is. It’s made to be easy to use, meaning that all you have to do is drag and drop different items from place to place.

You can even use it on any device or computer. No matter what computer you have or what device you’re using your Prezi on, you can access it, since it’s completely compatible. It’s great that it’s completely free to use as well, or you can add a premium plan that has a cost per month depending on what you need in terms of presentations. Either way, you’ll find that this presentation builder is easy to use, and definitely not much more difficult to learn than the traditional PowerPoint. 

Exponential Improvement for the Slides to Elaborate

Easy Slide Alteration

With Prezi’s recent improvements, it’s easier than ever to alter and customize slides. Even if you import them from an existing PowerPoint, you can use Prezi to personalize the slides. You can change entire layouts with only a few clicks, and save palettes that you plan on using for later presentations. 

Seamless File Transfer

While many presentation programs make it difficult, if not impossible to import slides from another program, it’s a different story with Prezi. If you already have a Powerpoint presentation, just choose to import it, and get started. You can even pick which slides to include, and use the drag and drop functions to group them as a topic. 

Slide Resources

Prezi has an extensive library of resources you can use to give your presentation that extra polish. 

There are plenty of fonts, layouts, color themes, and images to choose from. They also include handy, and intuitive icons that instantly make a point to your audience. With the wide variety of visual aids available, you can get your point across right away, and use your speaking time for the most necessary points. 

Prezi also includes smart layouts, to help you create a more coherent, linear presentation, even if you want to present to multiple groups in a more conversational style. 

A Cool Twist on the Interactive Whiteboard Content 

Encouraging Engagement

New digital whiteboards are quickly becoming a popular tool for presenters ranging from educators to entrepreneurs. These whiteboard applications are most often facilitated with special software that connects the user’s drawing or writing to their display, whether by using a special stylus or drawing with a finger. 

It creates real time interaction that can be modified as the presentation goes on, making a more personalized experience. You can emphasize important points or terms by underlining them, highlighting them, or drawing in any symbol that you need to make your point. 

Benefits of Using Interactive Whiteboard Content

Interactive whiteboard content is no longer used for education only. In fact, it presents several unique advantages when used during a meeting or even a formal presentation. While the digital interactive whiteboard may resemble the physical whiteboards of a classroom, their function within presentations goes much further. 

For instance, if a shareholder has questions regarding a specific aspect of a project, and interactive whiteboard allows you to make notations while going through your presentation. These notes can easily be saved and incorporated into the next presentation. 

The whiteboard also allows you to highlight important information to make a point, or address ideas that you want to expand on further. 

You don’t have to use the whiteboard content solely within your presentation; if you want to create more dynamic interaction (having notes on subjects to address post presentation, for example), you can easily connect the digital whiteboard to another device or screen. 

Keeping Ideas for the Future

As we mentioned, using an interactive whiteboard allows you to save your ideas. Not only that, you can export your whiteboard notes into another file, as well as save them to your current presentation if needed. 

It also makes it easy to email the whiteboard notes to yourself, a colleague, or any other relevant party with only a few clicks. You can also print the whiteboard information directly, and save a hard copy of the notes from your presentations. 

Prezi Benefits

Upgrade From Slide Presentations

The typical slide by slide presentations are quickly becoming a worn out way of making your point. Slide presentations were popular years ago, when they were nearly the only option for creating your own presentation. 

As such, the Prezi app has a more dated feel, and make presentations seem more stiff and less engaging. 

The Prezi software has moved away from the slide model of the past; you can create more interactive, engaging presentations that have a better flow. As a result, it’s much easier to tailor your presentation to fit the way you need your story told, and your information presented.

Ease of Use

Even slide presentations can be frustrating to set up, especially if you need a professional, polished appeal. The Prezi interface is straightforward, and it’s designed to make creating a presentation easy, even for beginners. All the features are easy to access, and designed for intuitive use. It won’t take long (if it takes any time at all) to learn to seamlessly use Prezi. 

Design Control

Prezi gives presenters a higher level of control over their design than ever before. From layouts, fonts, and color, to transitions and flow, everything can be customized to your needs. You can zoom in on certain points, or pan across to reach the next point you want to speak about. 

Because Prezi doesn’t require a linear flow like other presentation software, you can alter your presentation to fit what you need at the moment. Of course, there’s an extensive resource library at your hands, so you never need to worry about having your own pro grade photos and fonts to add. 

Dynamic Access

Prezi is a presentation software that actually allows you to collaborate with team members in real time. Anyone with access to edit the presentation can do so, all while others are working on it. Because it works without installation, and everything is cloud based, there’s no need to run to a specific computer to work. 

Prezi Pricing Plans

Prezi offers a variety of pricing plans to fit everyone from individual users to corporations and businesses. Of course, there’s always a 14 day free trial before you purchase it. The Standard Plan is $7 monthly, and allows you to import existing powerpoints, create unlimited presentations, and gives you more privacy. 

The Plus plan is $19 monthly, and includes everything the Standard plan does, but also adds the option of PDF export, offline presentations, and access to a library of icons and images. The highest tier is the Premium plan, at $59 per month. This includes everything from the other plans, as well as training and analytical support. 

Pros

Animation

Prezi incorporates animation as part of the presentation in a unique way. You can zoom in and out of nearly any feature to get to the next point of focus. You can use this movement and animation to elaborate points, show examples, and more. 

Always Available Online

The nice thing about Prezi is that you can access it from any device, provided you have internet access. Many other presentation programs are only available on the device they’re installed on. 

Unique

Prezi creates impressive presentations, especially because the layout is so much different than slide presentations. This gives you more control over the design, content, and flow of your presentation, while impressing your viewers.  

Imports

You can use Prezi even if you have already started creating a Powerpoint presentation. Simply import your slides and keep going. 

Cons

Occasionally Distracting

Because Prezi doesn’t use the typical linear, slide by slide format, it can be easy for presenters to lose their train of thought. 

Likewise, it can be easier to lose track of the flow of your presentation if you’re not used to the program. New users should be wary of adding too many animations that distract from content. 

Offline Disadvantages

If you don’t have a steady internet connection, you won’t be able to access your Prezi presentations. It isn’t installed like some programs. At least, the free versions aren’t. Offline access is only through paid Prezi subscriptions. 

Prezi Vs Powerpoint

Familiarity - Many people have learned to use Powerpoint at some point, and it’s frequently used because of familiarity. Though there have been updates, the layout and general functions are the same. In contrast, there is a learning curve with Prezi. Most people take some time to learn to use Prezi, since it’s a new software. When learning, the ‘Zoom’ function can make people dizzy if not used correctly. 

Add-in Options - Powerpoint includes plenty of design options for your presentation, and nearly any aspect of a slide can be customized. You can also add in animated transitions, as well as hyperlinks. Prezi uses a more fluid, open canvas style for presentations. It allows for more versatility, especially when presenting to different groups. With the ‘Zoom’ function, you can zero in on topics.

Availability - Because Powerpoint is installed, you can use it even without an internet connection. You can run presentations, and print out your slides to use as an extra resource. Prezi works via the cloud, and as long as you’re online, you can access all your materials. There’s virtually no need to use computer storage.

Structure and Navigation - Powerpoint is extremely linear, and that can present problems with getting to a specific point. It makes presentations seem more like reading a script than having a conversation. 

Size and License - Powerpoint takes a lot of storage, as do the presentations you create. You have to buy a license for most devices. As Prezi is a cloud based app, you don’t need storage on your device.

Collaboration - It’s easy to use Prezi for group projects; up to 10 people can work simultaneously on the presentation. Conversely, it’s not as easy to collaborate with Powerpoint.

Prezi vs Sway

Intuitive Resources - Sway is great at getting you information and visuals to use in your presentation. It automatically looks for Creative Commons material.

Refreshed Look - Sway has an updated look on presentation software of the past. It’s easy to create a fresh, aesthetically pleasing presentation. 

Availability - There are plenty of free, or budget friendly options when using sway, especially if you’ve already purchased Microsoft products. 

Presentations - The way Sway is set up, it’s difficult to add in sections, and alter or move them. 10 slides or under is easy, but any longer and it gets tricky. When you use Prezi, you don’t have to go by a script. It’s designed to be more versatile and conversational. Simply zoom and you can change your flow. 

Image Issues - Here’s where navigation and function are somewhat tricky with Sway. While you can upload photos from nearly anywhere, it uploads every time you add it in. Delete a photo, and you have to upload it again, rather than having it in a ‘Recent’ folder. With Prezi, adding your own images or linking to a video is easy. You can also use their resources and templates, customize them, or create your own. 

Use Past Presentations - Prezi makes it easy to switch to their software, or continue Powerpoints. With a few clicks you can import a Powerpoint file and keep working. 

Upgrades - When switching from a free to paid version, it can be difficult to transfer presentations. Within the free versions of Prezi, there are limited layouts and resources included, although others can be purchased. 

Links

While you can add links to your Prezi presentations, it’s more difficult to hide a link (for instance, clicking an image to direct to online resources).

Conclusion

Prezi is certainly one of the most innovative presentation programs out there, but it’s important to know how to use it properly. While it’s easy to learn, and fairly effortless, new users should be wary of adding too many features that can distract their audience. However, once you’re familiar with it, it’s a great way to improve your presentations with little effort.