When giving a presentation there are several key choices you have to make beforehand: what key information to present, what you should wear, or even what funny joke you should open up with. Deciding on which presentation software is one of them. Before you begin making your dazzling media masterpiece, it’s time to decide which software is for you. And to do that you have to ask: are you a PowerPoint or Prezi person?

You might be a PowerPoint person if…

1. You want it straightforward. Where some might want creativity and color, you just want something that is going to put across your information with a simple background and no distractions. PowerPoint, while giving some options for customization, is great at providing a simple presentation template for those who just want to give the information without all the frills.

2. You want a simple theme. Some presentations are best when the star of the show is the information. If you’re looking for a simple theme, PowerPoint comes with several clean pre-made themes that users can choose from.

3. You want fewer design options. Sure, you want to change the background design and the font, but you don’t want to create the next Michaelangelo. PowerPoint has a lot fewer design options than Prezi and makes customization a breeze for those who just want a few custom changes.

4. You want to fill in a basic template. While moving text around a screen is good for some, you just want to put your information in a template made by someone else. PowerPoint comes with lots of text templates that you can just type in. No moving around required.

5. You are not computer-savvy. You don’t have to be able to crack the NSA to use PowerPoint effectively. It’s built for beginner users and is easy to follow with their pre-made templates. If you’re a beginner or just new to presentation software, PowerPoint will be a good beginning spot due to it’s fill-in interface.

You might be a Prezi person if…

1. You want it to be visually capturing. Let’s say your information isn’t that interesting. Make it interesting by taking the moving magic that is Prezi with animations, vibrant colors, and unique text boxes.

2. You want to be more creative. Sure PowerPoint lets you move stuff around, but you want complete creative control. You want to put your text where you want, decide on every font color, and add some fun shapes around your text. You’re can accomplish that on Prezi.

3. You want everything custom. While some might like pre-made templates, you like to make everything yourself. Prezi allows you to make your entire presentation from scratch. You can even take their pre-made templates and customize them exactly to your liking.

4. You don’t want to fill in a basic template. If you’re sick of sticking to the mold, Prezi’s unique interface is for you. While the program has templates, Prezi allows you to make your own design completely. They don’t even assign slide numbers; they let you decide what order they go in.

5. You are a little computer-savvy. While you don’t need a computer science degree to use Prezi, you most likely know what you’re doing with your mouse. While anyone Prezi, you will be more comfortable with the software if you know some computer tips and tricks. If that’s you, then Prezi might be a good fit for you.

Tell us, are you a PowerPoint or a Prezi person?

Featured photo credit: morgueFile via mrg.bz

Technology has taken a vantage leap in providing solutions for man. Before now, technology used to appear complex and would require a great deal of expertise to handle solutions available. Today, we have technology applicable in the simplest human activities as smart products with intelligent algorithms powering them as they make error-free judgments and provide intelligent and analytic solutions.

Does technology have all the answers?

This article from Credit Suisse, tells us that technology does not have all the answers because it has been found to exhibit “similar biases,” as humans. No one can discredit the impact of technology, but it is not totally free of human input and this is the reason we experience these biases in many areas we have technology holding foot.

Creating technological solutions transparently

This article suggests that the process of creating technological solutions be made transparent and subject to contribution from many people who would end up as users of the product – male, female, young, old, learned, unlearned and all other preferences as we have them. It also underscores the importance of having women on product development teams. This approach is not sure to eliminate all forms of bias, but it is a good way to start in order to appraise the full benefits of technology.

Technology as the connecting tool

Technology so far has been a major connecting tool amongst us humans. It is used and appreciated by all regardless of race, language and sex. In order to keep it less subjective to these arguments about human biases. I believe we should gather opinions on products and solutions before making them available to the public. This could be done by gathering input from intended target users and receiving feedback across the stages of production.

“Recognizing the problem is a start…success will depend on inclusive technologies that meet this vast untapped market.” This cannot be more apt especially at a time when we look up to technology for solutions. We should not muzzle our progress with technology by battling algorithm bias. The first way to avoid this battle is by reading this article here.