How to Create a Budget Presentation That Gets Approved
Last Updated: 9/16/2019
The main difference between Visme and PowerPoint is that Visme has the capabilities for users to create stunning, dynamic, interactive and engaging presentations, while PowerPoint has limited features and design elements, leading its users to create more basic presentations.
While PowerPoint may have some redeeming qualities, we’re comparing it to our intuitive presentation design tool Visme to show you just how good things can get.
But first, here are some quick stats from G2:
Ready to dive deeper into the comparison? Keep reading!
*Disclaimer: The comparisons and competitor ratings presented in this article are based on features available as of September 16, 2019. We conduct thorough research and draw on both first-hand experience and reputable sources to provide reliable insights. However, as tools and technologies evolve, we recommend readers verify details and consider additional research to ensure the information meets their specific needs.
There are many different reasons you may need a presentation, whether you’re giving a speech at a conference or networking event, presenting numbers or findings to your team or company executives, creating a project for class or giving a sales pitch.
However, finding the best presentation software that fits your needs and your design capabilities is important to make putting together your slides the easiest part of your prep.
Take a quick look at this infographic that shows how Visme and PowerPoint stack up against each other when it comes to the most important features in presentation design.
Scroll down to read more about each feature in detail.
We have also included screenshots from each software to help you determine which platform is best for you to create your next presentation.
Let’s dive in, starting with creating your presentation and running through the end to sharing and presenting your slideshow.
First things first, you need to decide on what your slides are going to look like. This could entail your overall look and feel, a color scheme that matches your topic (unless you’ll be using your brand colors) and slide layouts that match the content you’ll need to include in your presentation.
On PowerPoint, you have about 24 built-in layouts/themes to choose from and use as the basis for your presentation design.
Once you choose a basic layout, you have the same nine slide outlines to customize to fit your presentation.
This is why nearly every PowerPoint presentation looks the same. You get a Title Slide page, a Section Header page, and just a handful of different Content pages.
With Visme, you’re able to choose between a presentation template and a presentation theme.
Templates are complete, pre-designed presentations with 3-15 different slides. Visme currently offers over 100 unique templates to choose from, and is always adding more options.
Visme’s presentation designer also offers a couple of different themes to choose from when creating your presentation. A theme includes 400-900+ different slide designs all with the same look and feel.
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The templates are more intricately designed and are perfect for presentations that match their intent. However, if you’re going to need multiple presentations for different things that all have the same look and feel, our themes are perfect for you.
Our Classic theme has over 400 slide layouts while our Modern theme has over 900 different slide layouts to help you find one that matches your exact vision for your presentation.
After you have chosen the overall look and feel of your slide layouts, you need to edit your presentation slides so they fit your brand and content.
When editing and designing your presentation in PowerPoint, you’re extremely limited. PowerPoint’s slide editor really only allows you to edit in the content areas provided in the slide layout chosen.
While you can always move those to a more ideal spot, or add more text and content boxes if you need to, your range of customization is simply not what it could be.
Meanwhile, Visme gives you full range design options on your slide.
You can turn on the grid layout to align items and help guide margins, but you have no limitations to where any of your text, images, charts and other elements need to go.
Visme also has a drag-and-drop editor, allowing you to easily choose design elements, photos, content blocks and more from the left sidebar and quickly drag them to the area you want it to be on your slide.
If you’re creating a presentation that will represent your business, it’s a good idea to have it match your brand. This includes your colors, fonts, logo and the like.
In PowerPoint, you’re automatically given a list of preset color schemes to choose from, but there’s no ability to add in hex codes.
Instead, if you click on Customize Colors, you have to use a color wheel to find your colors or a color picker to grab them off an image.
However, it is possible to grab your brand colors if you input your logo onto the slide and then use the color picker to create a custom color scheme.
Once you’ve chosen your colors, you are able to save them as a custom color scheme to go back to later.
Now let’s talk fonts. If you have a set font or two that your brand uses for its headers and body copy, you want to be able to use them within your presentation to help increase brand recognition.
You’re absolutely able to download fonts to your computer and use them in your PowerPoint presentation so that it’s customizable.
But if you’re sending that presentation to someone else or presenting it on a different computer that doesn’t have those font files, your custom and branded fonts disappear.
Furthermore, if you create a slide that you’ll need to use in multiple presentations throughout your business (like your thank you/contact page), you have no way of easily duplicating it without opening both files and copying and pasting your slide(s).
In Visme, you’re able to create an entire brand kit on your business account for you and your entire team (if you have one) to access.
You can upload your brand fonts and use them within your presentation. And, unlike PowerPoint, your presentation is hosted online, which means your fonts of choice stay in place.
You are also able to upload various color schemes and themes to choose from in your presentation design. These remain in the color chooser for you to easily access throughout your design.
Your brand kit also includes an area for you to add templates that you use often for your business, various logo files, and quick grab links for your website and social media platforms.
There’s another great feature called your Slide Library that allows you to create slides that you add across various presentations. If you create an end slide that you want to add in every presentation, simply save it to your library to access it later.
Now let’s say down the road, you’ve created a good couple of hundred different presentations, but you end up changing your Twitter and Instagram handles during a rebrand.
You don’t need to go through each individual presentation to update that information.
Jump into your slide library, fix the information there and it will automatically replace the old handles in every single one of your presentations.
Whether you’re giving a live presentation or embedding a slideshow on your website, interactivity is always a good idea. You can add interactivity by creating links, call-to-action buttons and more that allow your audience to engage with your presentation.
If you’re giving a live presentation, you might stop for a minute and click on a link to open a video. If you have a slideshow presentation embedded on a page of your website, it allows your audience to have more fun with your slides.
Keeping your audience engaged during your presentation is key. You don’t want to see people starting to pull out their phones and zone out from your speech.
When we think interactivity, there are a few things that come to mind. The ability to click around your presentation, for one. Like we mentioned, links and call-to-action buttons within your slides can be a great way to engage your audience.
However, adding in videos and audio narratives to your slides can also be a unique way to engage your audience and give them a different voice or perspective during the presentation.
In PowerPoint, you’re able to add in links by going to the Insert tab and clicking on Link.
First, you’ll want to select the text or object that you want to link and then add in a link to a web page, file, another slide or an email address.
You’re also able to add audio clips into your PowerPoint by going to Insert > Audio.
From there, you can choose to add in an audio file or record within your PowerPoint. This will add a speaker icon and playback controls to your slide. You can then edit the settings on your audio file to play automatically or upon clicking.
If you want to add a video to one of your slides, you can also use the Insert tab on PowerPoint. Then you can upload a video file or embed a video from YouTube or another online source.
However, it’s important to note that there is no Mac version of PowerPoint that supports embedding online videos. In that case, you must download your video file and upload it to your slide.
And on the PC versions, you’re required to have Internet Explorer 11 downloaded on your computer in order for PowerPoint to support embedded videos.
In Visme, you have a lot of the same interactivity options alongside a couple more.
There are three different link options: hyperlink, slide or pop-up. All you have to do is select your object or group of objects, and click on the hyperlink icon in the top navigation.
All of your hyperlink options are right here in this easy-to-use tab. Link to a website and choose if you want it to open in the same window or a separate window.
You can also link to a different slide in the presentation. Or create a pop-up link, which means you essentially hide elements in your slide until you click on the object they’re linked to.
To do this, it’s a good idea to first turn on your objects list so you can rename various elements, or at least find their automated title.
You’ll then select object(s) that you want to appear on click, choose the element you want to click on for them to appear and then tap on Apply.
This can be a great way to offer suspense to your audience and even give you interactive options like creating a quiz or Q&A within your presentation.
You can also add audio or video directly into your slide by going to the Media menu in the left sidebar. You’re able to easily insert a video link, add audio or embed online content without any workarounds or other software needed.
Visme doesn’t offer the option to upload videos directly to your presentation as that would increase your presentation size and cause potential loading issues. We recommend simply embedding an online video.
When you click Add Audio, this also gives you the option of uploading an audio file or recording audio directly in your slide. Check out how this Visme user has capitalized on the recorded audio feature.
Another great way to spice up your presentation design and keep your audience engaged is by animating your slides. This can be transitions between slides or even animated elements on your slide.
Just remember that you want all of your animations to be consistent. Too many animations on a single slide looks messy and gives the opposite effect of what you’re looking for.
PowerPoint allows you to set animations for both your slide transitions and your elements within your slides. There are two separate tabs to do this: Transitions and Animation.
PowerPoint offers a lot of transition and animation options, but this is more of a curse than a blessing. When posed with too many options, users tend to go overboard with transitions and animations, ending up with a presentation with twelve different transitions and fifty different animations.
We always recommend that you stick to a single one throughout your entire presentation.
Remember: less is more.
When editing your transitions in PowerPoint, you’re first able to choose your preferred transition before then selecting which part of the screen you want that transition to start.
Your Animations tab is similar.
First, you choose from one of PowerPoint’s element animation effect options.
Then you’re also able to click on the three tabs next to the choices to further edit Emphasis Effects, Exit Effects and your Path Animation.
There’s also an animation pane available so that you can see all of your animated elements at once and ensure none of them are happening on top of each other.
The purpose of Visme is to allow non-designers to create beautiful designs, whether it’s a presentation, an infographic or a social media cover photo. This is why we only provide a handful of transitions and animations guaranteed to impress.
In Visme, your transition and animation features are much simpler. We have eight different transition options for you to choose from, some that move all of your content as once, and some that also automatically move your elements in a cohesive transition.
This means you can have a seamless transition that automatically transitions your slides and animates your elements with just a couple of clicks.
Tap the gear icon at the corner of your slide in the right sidebar, choose Change Transition, select your conditions and Transition style then click Apply to all slides. Voila, you’re all set!
Visme also offers some great animation options if you want to add extra emphasis.
Click on the element(s) that you want to animate, then just click the Animate option in the top settings bar to view your options.
You can choose how your element enters and exits, set the time you want it to start and then choose your animation effect before clicking Apply.
We love the use of icons in any kind of design, whether it’s a presentation, infographic or a social media image. They can help visualize any topic or information without having a wall of text.
So when creating a presentation, you definitely want to take advantage of icons when it makes sense.
In PowerPoint, you can go to Insert > Icons to access 500 single-style icons to include in your presentations.
While we love that the icons all match, you are limited with your options.
You can also change the color of your icons to match your brand or your presentation’s color scheme, but all icons are a single color.
In Visme, we have over 10,000 different icons in four distinct styles: flat, multi-color, outline and isometric.
You can access all of our icon options by navigating to the Graphics tab in the left sidebar. Browse through our categories or search for the type of icon you’re looking for.
When you click on a category, you’re also able to choose which style of icon you want to look through so that you can keep all of your icons consistent. Remember, just because you have more style choices doesn’t mean you want to use them. Consistency is key.
Furthermore, if you choose one of our multi-colored icons, you’re able to change each of the colors in the icon to match your branding and your presentation style.
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Including charts and graphs in your presentation is the perfect way to present data in a visual way and offer a compelling argument to your audience.
You want these visuals to be just as engaging and visually appealing as the rest of your presentation or they’ll seem out of place.
To add a chart in PowerPoint, head back to the Insert tab and select Chart. From there, you’re able to choose which type of chart you want to add, like a bar, line or pie chart.
You can choose which colors your graph elements should be, but you’ll have to edit your chart data in the Excel sheet that pops up. This means you’ll need access (and know-how) to both PowerPoint and Excel in order to add in any charts or graphs to your slides.
If you want to animate your chart, PowerPoint automatically just animates the entire object.
You have to go into the settings and choose to animate by series, category or element in order to make pieces of your chart become animated.
When creating a chart or graph in a Visme presentation, you have two options.
First, you can start with a premade Charts and Graphs slide from one of our themes. There are radials, statistical representations, thermometers, progress bars, bar charts, line graphs and more.
Or, if you’ve chosen one of our templates or are adding a chart or graph into a slide you’ve already created, click on the Data tab in the left sidebar to access all of our available data visualization tools.
There are over 50 different data visualization types to choose from so that you can represent any kind of numbers in front of your audience.
Once you choose your data visualization tool, your Graph Engine will appear, allowing you to further customize your chart or graph. Add your data manually in the area provided or import it from a Google or Excel sheet, then update your settings to customize axis information and more.
Visme also automatically animates your individual chart elements so that they grab your audience’s attention as they appear on the slide. You can choose from our four different chart animation options or turn the animation off in the settings tab as well.
Of course, once you finish creating your presentation, it’s time to share it!
You might first want to share it with a colleague and hand off editing access so they can proofread after you. You may want to share it on your website or in an email with your customers. Or you could share it with the host of the event you’re speaking at so they can get it ready.
Regardless, there are many reasons you’ll want to share and show off all of the hard work that you put into your presentation.
In PowerPoint, you have three sharing options: Invite People, Copy Link, or Send a Copy. However, you have to log into and connect your app with Microsoft OneDrive first to upload the file.
To do this, click Share in the top right corner to log in before sending it off.
This allows you to send off a single presentation at a time. PowerPower doesn’t offer the ability to collaborate on folders and multiple projects at once; only individual projects.
If you want to share a folder of projects, you’ll have to save each one into a folder on your computer, zip up that folder, and then go into your email client to send it to each person that needs it, rather than being able to do that all in one place and with minimal effort.
Remember that in PowerPoint, if you don’t want the person accessing your presentation to have editing access, you’ll have to mark your presentation as read-only.
You can do this by going to File > Info, then clicking Protect Presentation and Mark as Final.
Be sure you don’t delete your editable PowerPoint file after creating a final version or you’ll lose access to editing your presentation completely.
With Visme, you also have the option to send your presentation both for editing and view-only. Once you finish up your design and want to have a team member take a look at it, head back to your dashboard.
Click on the hamburger menu icon and then click on Share Project.
This allows you to easily share your presentation with a team member so that they can also edit or make comments on your slides.
You can choose to share with specific people via name, email address or even groups of people in your team settings, so the entire marketing team can preview your presentation before you publish it.
With Visme Enterprise plans you can even create your own custom roles, giving larger teams with specific sharing requirements even more flexibility.
When you’re ready to share with your audience or want to send a view-only option, jump back into your presentation and click Share in the top right corner.
This will lead to a pop-up with three different sharing options.
You’re able to publish your presentation online and Visme will host it for you. You can share it privately with colleagues and connections. Or you can generate an embed code to place it on your website.
One perk about Visme is the ability to share entire folders with your team. If you’ve created a folder of presentations surrounding a specific topic or type of report, you can easily share it with your teammates directly in the Visme dashboard.
You can also set user permissions, like giving editing access to the group of Admins on your team and view-only access to the group of regular users on your team.
Furthermore, you can embed presentations on your website for your audience to interact with or send presentation links in email newsletters without you or your reader ever having to download anything.
Visme also offers an HTML5 download feature for presenting offline, which comes in handy when you’re presenting in places where you’re unsure about the WiFi access. Although most locations have some sort of internet available, you can never be too careful.
One great perk that Visme has over PowerPoint is the ability to be used as a lead generation tool.
Everyone has eBooks and digital documents as their lead magnet. And while these tools are still incredibly effective, why not stand out from the crowd and try something different?
Create a pre-recorded webinar or an interactive presentation with Visme and use it as your email list-building tool by sharing it with your audience upon registration.
When you hit Share in your presentation design, click Advanced Settings at the top of the pop-up. Go to the Social / Engagement tab and turn on the option to require registration.
This gives you the ability to collect contact information from anyone who is interested in reading through or listening to your gated content.
You can then view your form results in your Visme dashboard to download the data and upload it to your CRM or email marketing platform.
Visme also offers analytics for your projects, yet another feature PowerPoint is unable to offer.
Since PowerPoint only provides you with an offline file, there’s no way for them to supply analytics on views and interaction in your presentation.
But since Visme is an online software that hosts your projects for you, we can give you this data so that you’re able to see how successful your presentations, webinars and even your other projects are.
Our analytics will show you an interactive line graph with your data at a glance as well as a table with the name, type, views, unique visits and more for each of your published projects.
The last thing on our list covers the ability to design visuals other than presentations. And this is definitely where Visme has PowerPoint beat.
PowerPoint focuses on presentation creation, but you have to bring Excel in if you want to add a chart or graph to a slide, and you can't create many types of visual content other than presentation slides.
But Visme is a full range graphic design software, allowing you to create presentations, infographics, eBooks, reports, social media graphics and so much more. Browse through our thousands of available templates to see just how many different creations you can design.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a free Visme account today and take it for a test drive.
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