Great Utility Presentation Tool
December 16, 2024

Great Utility Presentation Tool

Peter Hemingway | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Google Slides

I use Google Slides when my priority is to either collaborate or share my presentation with colleagues. The major advantage is that no matter how knowledgeable the coworker is, he/she can either present or edit the presentation without having to conduct a lot of training on how to use the tool. Sharing with others is easy, and as long as the presenter has access to the internet, they can present on just about any device.

Pros

  • Great for sharing basic presentations.
  • Great for collaborating with peers of different skill levels.
  • Great for presentations in different environments (high compatibility level).

Cons

  • Other programs are better at creating fancy or professional presentations quickly.
  • Off-line usage usually defaults to a PowerPoint, which makes the program feel like an off-brand PowerPoint.
  • The program makes it too tempting to rely on a strong internet connection for all presentations.
  • There are just under 100 teachers at my school. When I need to share something with all of them, Google Slides causes the least amount of hassle and confusion, as they all know how to use and access the program (or click on the link to open the presentation).
  • Thanks to an expanding list of extensions available in Google Slides, I have had an easier time introducing more programs and skills to my fellow teachers through the familiarity of Google Slides.
  • In many ways, Google Slides has replaced PowerPoint as the benchmark to which other presentation tools are compared.
For older users, Google Slides provides the PowerPoint familiarity that many other programs lack. The differences are where Slides has made some simplifications to create an even more user friendly interface. The built-in templates and default settings make quickly creating a basic presentation very simple and easy. The only downside are some small missing options that other programs have. Additionally, if you want one program to create all types of presentations without focusing on a single style, then Slides or PowerPoint are your two main options, with Slides being easier to learn and share, while PowerPoint can become a little more technical to use.
Google Slides is easier to learn and share than PowerPoint. While Miro is better for a working collaboration, Slides is a better presentation tool. Lumio and Nearpod are great for leading presentations where each person has a device, Slides is more compatible for presenter directed presentations outside of educational settings. I do not like the transitions for Prezi presentations. Finally, Canva makes beautiful products, however getting to that final work product can take a more skilled creator than is required for a quality Slides presentation.

Do you think Google Slides delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Slides's feature set?

Yes

Did Google Slides live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Google Slides go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Slides again?

Yes

If I am unsure of how technology-friendly the coworker is, I am more likely to recommend Google Slides, as it is very intuitive for making normal to basic presentations. However, the more advanced the user, or the more specific the need, the more likely I am to point the coworker in a different direction.

Using Google Slides

100 - The majority of users are teachers presenting information to students in an educational setting. There is also a fair amount of presentations for professional development sessions. Lastly, a number of teachers use and teach Google Slides usage to students where the students are the creators of the presentations. Lastly, sometimes we use Google Slides as a collaboration tool to help share information and presentations between peers.
2 - Our team of techs usually deal with hardware or networking issues at our school. In terms of software usage however, our school has two technology integration specialists serving approximately 100 teachers. Together we very rarely have issues or questions about Google Slides usage as it has a very small learning curve and its usage is very straightforward for most teachers.
  • Presenting information in an educational setting.
  • As a backdrop for students to collaborate and create classroom presentations.
  • Presenting Professional development information to teachers.
  • As an informational slideshow with news updates for our school.
  • Our librarian uses a repeating Slideshow with any school announcements to share with the public for our school website (teachers can easily upload any information that needs to go out to the public).
  • Teachers have students submit work on a specific slide for grading and evaluations.
  • Teachers collaborate and create lessons from their own classrooms with easy sharing among peers.
  • Making videos and movies for our classrooms.
  • Exploring extensions to expand Google Slides usage in the classroom.
The popularity for Google Slides among the casual technology tool users is so great that we are not in a position to replace this tool with anything else. Every other tool either doesn't have the popularity, or doesn't match the ease of sharing level of Slides. The training needed to learn a different tool is too great. Google Slides is very easy to pick up and master.

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