Old-fashioned PPT's presentations are from the 90's, and let's face it, we are in the age of the web browser. So, the last time I had to gave a talk, I decided to use a better technical support.
After a quick search for alternatives, I found many options, including well-known libraries, until I finally decided for reveal.js.
It is written in JavaScript with good CSS themes, and it does not require expert knowledge on those technologies. In order to play the presentation, you launch an HTML file from a web browser or you can also run it with a static server.
Advantages:
- Version control: Given the fact that your presentation is made from source code, it is possible to track changes by using git.
- A better cross-platform support: it does not rely on a particular software in a particular version to be present (web browsers are ubiquitous nowadays).
- Compatibility: WYSIWYG.
- Able to host your presentation in the cloud and access it from anywhere.
Reasons to use it / nice things about it:
- We are in 2014
- Supports Markdown language
To be clear: I am not saying that this is a better alternative because is newer of modern, but because of the advantages listed. In other words, if we count with developed tools at our disposal, it would be a good idea to use them.
Here are some simple and basic examples of presentations I am working on. (DISCLAIMER: they might be in different languages, and the page is in progress).