Microsoft Sway – PowerPoint Killer or Fashion?

Microsoft Sway is a so-called narration application and has been in reputation since the publication of the PowerPoint age. The application is available in the Windows Store as a free application for Windows 8 and Windows 10. Sway is also part of Office 2016 – not in replacement, but in addition to the proven PowerPoint. Let’s take a look at the application and its advantages.

Images instead of foils

What is the difference between the demonstration of a very sorted powerpoint presentation and a well -told story? Spontaneously, it is the presenter: a usual presentation reaches your goal thanks to someone who shows a film for the film and explains the content. The elements of a presentation are sheets (PowerPoint) or slides. The presentation technology has changed a lot during the thirty years since PowerPoint and comparable presentation programs have been available: air spotlights and projectors to play a computer screen have now been replaced by presentation screens by multimedia skills. Networking via the Internet and social platforms create other ways to transmit the desired message to the target group. So, today, there are the technical possibilities to tell a story with electronic means and to use audiovisual stylistic devices to have a lasting impression on those that can be told the story.

With Sway, the old storyteller is almost back, who captivated his listeners with his interpretation and knew how to create images in the head. Where PowerPoint ends with self-represented and interactive presentations, the swinging continues: the stories are assembled in a simple way and shared with the others. The swing is therefore neither PowerPoint Killer nor a short -term fashion. The two programs have their justification for very different purposes.

Microsoft Sway is a new digital narration application to create and share interactive reports, presentations, newsletters, personal stories and VA (all examples: Microsoft). Sway supports the creation of professional conceptions in a few clicks of the mouse and also guarantees that the result on all reading devices seems just as good. Based on actions and texts when creating, the program also tries to guess what could be useful for the presentation of the content.

Although all the elements are arranged on individual leaves in PowerPoint, it is a kind of (continuous) canvas on the swing on which the cards thus called are organized. The content of social networks and services can also be easily integrated. Overall, the representation of a size does not remind you of a presentation of PowerPoint or a slideshow, but rather a digital magazine that the spectator can travel.

As interactive as the creation of history, you can also acquire the operation of the program as interactive: Microsoft provides a variety of YouTube tutorials in the Office chain.

But the application itself also supports the first steps with examples in the field of «My Sways». Anyone who leaves there will receive many suggestions for your own story.

Before clicking on «Create» for the first time, you must be aware of the particularity of the influence: you must have at least one subject and a basic idea of ​​the type of story you want to tell. Otherwise, you are initially helpless by the large number of tools. Basically, it’s like Oldie PowerPoint: after all, you don’t want to show what you can do with the program, but focus on the story you want to deliver to the public. The swinging and the PowerPoint should only be considered as a way to reach an end.

The program helps as much as possible to collect cards and support your own idea with suggestions from various sources, also usual social networks. But be careful: the dangerous thing when collecting images and other internet content is aware of the small imprint: «You are responsible for respecting the rights of others, including copyright.» If this principle is not observed, a successful story at the origin can quickly become a criminal affair.

For the story over, the cards called are therefore gradually attached to the script – the script for a film is not different. What a card absorbs what content, in what order they are arranged and how everything is assembled, which should not be left to chance, but the history subordinate. When you try it, this fact turned out to be the most difficult thing about influence: always stay on history and not be distracted by the multitude of possible design elements.

Conclusion

Present in front of an audience with PowerPoint in the most objective way or the narration with Balançoire-deux applications have its place in the Circle of Office Applications. Although the facts are in the foreground during the presentations, it is the story in Sway, which, in addition to the common thread of the process, is what influences the spectator (English: to swing). So, if you have a story in your head, you will find the means to provide your message to the target group. There is no limit to creativity at least thanks to the program. The funds to be distributed are practically integrated: using your own Microsoft account, the company’s account or school, history is available for everyone immediately after publication. Alternatively, you can of course also prepare the story for a presentation on the podium and present the story to a breathtaking audience with a complete multimedia effect. There remains a conclusion for the presentation of this interesting application: get suggestions and start!

Intrografik: Microsoft

(33 Votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
Loading…