According to April 2023 research from Statista, over 1.3 million companies worldwide still use Microsoft Office as their core business productivity suite. Worldwide market share is split relatively even between Microsoft’s Office 365 (~46%) and Google Workspace (~48%). More larger, enterprise-level companies use Office while smaller, entrepreneurial ventures tend to use Workspace. At their core, they are quite similar. Workspace is essentially a slimmed-down version of Office. To continue the analogy, Google Slides is Microsoft PowerPoint on a diet.
Presentation software is an essential tool for business professionals. It is widely used to communicate both business strategies and results. Business students who choose to become power users will find themselves with a competitive advantage over others. Here are several critical value propositions:
- Complex Made Simple: Presentation software adds visual elements to help convey complex information more engaging and memorable. You can create compelling visuals and infographics that will communicate messages more effectively.
- Team Collaboration: Both software suites allow team members to collaborate on the design and editing of presentations. This increases everyone’s efficiency and makes communication easier.
- Use of Templates: Templates are the foundation for consistent design and content structure across multiple presentations. They ensure a company’s brand identity remains consistent.
- Judicious Use of Animations and Transitions: A little goes a long way to make a presentation more interesting, especially if the material itself is relatively dry.
- A Visual Tool To Support Your Presentation: Too often presenters lean too heavily on their deck to communicate critical messages. Presentation software is a powerful resource that enhances your words, style, voice inflection, etc.
In summary, there are many reasons to become adept at working with presentation software. It can help professionals and business students develop important communication skills that are essential for success in the business world.