8 Best Presentation Software for college students 2024

Technology is taking over all industries in the market. Educational tools have played a crucial role in improving education. Presentations are one of the tools used for class purposes. They are used to create educational materials and slides.

However, there are several presentation software on the web, and choosing the best is tricky and confusing. Most of the time, students choose low-quality and sub-standard tools. We’ve compiled some of the best presentation software to avoid all these problems.

1. Microsoft PowerPoint

Almost all college students are familiar with PowerPoint. It is the most commonly used software among windows users. Unlike other cloud-based software, the software has features and tools that allow customizing the document fully. There is easy and affordable to use, and thus it favors the budget of most college students.

On its ribbon, PowerPoint has fonts and graphics tools that can be used when editing the document. Secondly, you can use the software to add external media files to your presentation. Also, the tool has simple to complex transitions. Thus, PowerPoint is the easiest and perfect way to teach your students graphic design. To break the monotony of reading ‘thousands’ of pages of PDFs, lecturers can use PowerPoint to create presentable notes. Also, most college students enjoy reading presentation-based notes than PDFs.

Features of Microsoft PowerPoint

They include:

Home Tool: This is the tool that contains most of the editing and customization buttons. It is located on the ribbon of the software.

Insert Feature: Most of the time, colleges need to include other documents and images in their presentation; this is possible through features. It is found on the ribbon and allows users to embed and add external data, images, links, etc.

Design: The quality of a presentation depends on the type of designs used. PowerPoint has excellent design tools, easing the process of creating a high-quality presentation.

Transitions: Transitions in a PowerPoint document make it more interesting and eye-catching. Transition is a built-in feature in PowerPoint that allows users to choose a transition mode.

Animations: A presentation is more than a plain document. One way to make our document eye-catching is by utilizing the animations tool. The feature allows users to add animation effects, styles, and duration to their presentation.

Slide Show: A slide Show is what makes up a presentation. It allows pages to transit easily.

2. WPS Office

Did you know you can create interactive and amazing presentations with WPS Office? Well, WPS Office is one of the well-packed and all-in-one tools that can be used to create and generate amazing presentations for college students. The software is easy and affordable, making it popular among many students. However, the software is famously known for its PDF editing magics, and many need to be made aware of its presentation-creating tools.

Benefits of using WPS Office in creating presentations:

The software creates an eye-catching presentation. The software is easy to use than cloud-based tools. The software promotes customizations and the insertion of external components. The user does not need to be online to create a presentation.

Keyboard shortcuts

Many students opt to use keyboard shortcuts to ease the process of creating presentations. Here are some keyboard shortcuts one can use in the WPS office while creating presentations.

Shift+ Enter: These keys create a new or blank slide in your document.Ctrl + Delete: These keys are essential in deleting the current slide in your presentation.Drag + Shift: We use these keys when dragging items in your presentation in a horizontal or vertical direction.CTRL + Z: In case of an error, you can undo the actions using these keys.CTRL + Mouse wheel: These keys simplify the zooming in or out in your WPS presentation.

Features of WPS Office

Here are some of the features you’re likely to come across while creating a presentation in WPS Office:

Text: Text is a core element that contains the agenda of the presentation. This feature contains several tools for editing and customizing the fonts and size of the text in your presentation.

Shapes: Presentations are usually associated with visual designs and features. The shape tool in WPS allows users to visualize the slides.

Animation: Like any other presentation software, WPS Office is rich in animation tools. These tools are crucial in making your presentation more eye-catching.

Icons: The software has a well-packed library of icons that can be used in customizing your document.

3. Google Workspace

If you are a fan of cloud-based tools, then you know Google Workspace. Google Workspace is a general term used to refer to a collection of online tools that Google owns. The platform has several essential tools for manipulating your document and preparing documents. Some tools you can find in Google Workspace include Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Currents, Google Chats, Google Calendar, Google Keep, Google Slides, Gmail, ad Google Forms.

Under this topic, we will discuss Google Slides, a common tool for creating presentation documents among college students. Google Slides software is a cloud-based tool for creating slideshows and other presentations. The software allows users to collaborate in real time, easing the process of working on the presentation. Secondly, the software allows users to create and save documents on the cloud. Unlike other presentation software, Google Slides is crucial in creating transition documents.

Pros of Google Slides

They include:

The software is easy to use. The software is free to use. There’s no subscription fee required. The software favors real-time collaboration among users. Google Slides accepts files in multiple formats. Unlike other cloud-based presentation tools, you can use the software while in offline mode.

Features of Google Slides

Here are some of the common features you’re likely to find in Google Slides:

Pre-made Templates: This eases your work in Google Slides. The software has pre-made templates, which you can edit and add your information.

Insert: This is another great feature you can interact with in the software. The insert tool allows users to add other external media and files to their presentation.

The Format feature: The quality of any presentation relies on the formatting tool. Google slides are well-packed with tools that make your presentation more attractive and eye-catching.

The Slide: Most of the presentations are in slide format. In Google slides, the slide features homes all the tools you need to customize your slides.

Integration with other tools: Google Slides has an extension tool that allows the software to collaborate with other external software. This tool improves the quality of services offered by Google Workspace in improving your presentation.

Share: Lastly, the software promotes real-time collaboration. The software has share features linked to the user’s email and allows them to share the document with other individuals regardless of time or location.

4. Prezi

Prezi is a web-based presentation tool that is a perfect alternative to PowerPoint. Many students prefer using this tool due to its added features. The free plan of Prezi has better features than any other presentation tool, and if you need to upgrade these features, you’ll have to pay a subscription fee. Additionally, the software is found on the web, and thus there are fewer compatibility issues.

When you use Prezi:

When creating presentations for a large audience. When creating a map-based presentation. When creating free-movement presentations.

Benefits of Using Prezi software

They include:

The software has several pre-made templates. The software allows the importation of documents to other software. The software has overview and zoom features.

Features of Prezi

They include:

1. Animation: The Animation feature allows users to choose and create animation for the presentation.

2. Content Library: With Prezi, you can easily share your presentations on the cloud. The content library allows user to manage their presentation from one workspace.

3. Charts: The Prezi software has chart tools for creating charts and graphs. This tool helps the user to add charts to their presentations.

4. Media: The Prezi media is fully packed with GIFs, stickers, and Photos. Students can take advantage of these tools and add eye-catching items to their presentations.

5. Performance Analytic tools: The Prezi software has analytic tools that help the user determine the metrics associated with the performance of the presentation. These metrics include the time spent, shares, and Viewerships.

5. Keynote

Keynote is Apple’s presentation software. Just like Windows have Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple has Keynote, which allows users to create presentations. Thus, using Apple devices, students can easily create simple, attractive, eye-catching, and amazing presentations using this tool. The greatest advantage of this tool is that it has a simple and intuitive interface that is easy to learn and use. Secondly, the crucial software tools are strategically positioned, so you can easily see them.

Advantages of using Keynote

You can add external media to your presentation. It supports video conferencing. The tool has numerous in-built templates.

Features of Keynote

Here are some of the unique features of Keynote:

Drag & Drop: One of the features you’re likely to interact with in Keynote is the Drag & Drop tool. This feature allows users to drag media items and documents from other platforms and drop them into the software.

3D Objects: The software allows using 3D objects in your presentation. Thus, the software can be useful for engineering students.

Animation:  Like any other presentation software, Keynote is rich in animation tools. These tools are crucial in making your presentation more eye-catching.

6. Synthesia

Synthesia is an AI platform that is used for creating videos for presentations. It creates high-quality videos within a short time, saving you time. Today, many companies are using AI-based tools to ease their work. These AI tools are fast in generating a long, high-quality video presentation that can be used in schools and other places. Thus, if you’re a student, you must try this tool.

Benefits of using this tool in the creation of presentation videos:

It is a web-based tool. Thus, it is accessible. It has simple and intuitive interfaces that favor beginners. Since it's web-based, you can create, edit and update videos anytime and anywhere.

Features of Synthesia

They Include:

Collaborative tools Sharing and real-time communication features. Auto-save. Availability of charts. Text-to-speech features. Pre-made templates. Custom avatars

7. Renderforest

Renderforest is an online-based software that is used for creating animation. The tool is famous for creating logos, presentations, and websites.

College students can use this app software to create interactive class videos and other presentations. Other than making animated videos, the software can be used in making slideshows.

Pros: The software has all the tools that can be used in creating high-quality presentations and animations.

Features of Renderforest

They include:

1. Transitions and Animations: Renderforest has animation tools that ease video creation. Thus, Renderforest is the software to seek if you're a student.

2. 2D or 3D objects:You can create 2D and 3D objects using Renderforest software.

3. It has Capturing audio tools.

8. Visme

The other application that can be used in creating class presentations is the Visme. Visme is a cloud-based tool that creates presentations and other video content. This tool already has pre-made templates that students can use to create presentations.

Features of Visme

Some features of Visme are:

Streaming and Video Support: After preparing the document, the software allows you to stream it. Easy User Interface: The interface of the software, Visme, is easy to learn and use. Thus, new beginners can use it easily. Collaborative interface: VIsme allows users to use other external tools in creating and modifying the presentation Pre-made templates: Visme has a large collection of templates that can be used to create class presentations.Access management: Unlike offline software, Visme has access management.Content Database: The software has online-based storage where student stores their presentation after creation.

Our Verdict

Based on the type and quality of presentation you need, you can try different software and see which fits your tasks best. Therefore, there are several tools that students can use in preparing and editing their documents. Also, other software can design presentations offline—for example, the WPS office tools and Microsoft PowerPoint.