A few months ago I posted a blog about an exciting new presentation tool called emaze. This neat little tool can make for some really interesting presentations, and is still very much in its infancy as far as user base goes. You can see an example emaze below, and also the same content delivered in the all new and exciting Microsoft Sway. I’ll let you be the judge of which you prefer!
Emaze
I created a non-linear emaze about how to build the perfect presentation. Below you can see the finished product. Click on one of the three headings to go into a section, and then scroll down the page until you come to a HOME button that will return you to the start.
It’s a pretty exciting way to deliver content, and whilst the user interface and software is constantly being improved it didn’t really cause me any big head aches. I was pretty free to add content in and layout my information as I wanted. I actually found it a really enjoyable tool to use, and a refreshing change from a slide by slide presentation.
Microsoft Sway
And now for the newest kid on the block. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Microsoft Sway. We aren’t really 100% sure what Sway is yet! Microsoft does make reference to presentations in it’s promotional Sway material online but we really struggled to see how a presenter would use this when giving a presentation.
Just like emaze this tool is still in it’s infancy. You are able to bring in content from tonnes of sources which is a really nice feature. One of the things Sway supposedly does for you is takes care of design and layout so any content you chuck at it will always look great. I’m not sure that’s true right now, and not being able to align items myself lead to a poor design in my opinion.
I will let you be the judge by viewing the Sway below. It has exactly the same content as the emaze but you can be the judge of which works best. Scroll down through the Sway to view all of it’s content.
So what do you think?
It doesn’t have the same non-linear option as the emaze does but it was very quick and easy to put together, and can be viewed on any device.
Conclusion
In my use of both of these tools I tried to keep a very open mind and give them both a fair shot. I have to say that my preference would definitely be to use emaze over Sway…..Sorry Microsoft!
The reasons are pretty simple. Emaze gives you more freedom to layout content as you want, and to present it back how you want (non-linear). Sway said it was going to do all the designing for me, but it actually did a poor job at that. Sway also is very linear, you either travel left or right, or up or down! That isn’t any different to PowerPoint so I’m not sure why anyone would use Sway.
I am excited to see where these two tools go as it is still early days, and pleas tweet me on @ThePrezenter to let me know your thoughts on Sway and Emaze.
Take care,
Russell (aka The Prezenter)
