If you're a fan of PowerPoint, you may have heard about Microsoft's latest presentation tool, Microsoft Sway. With Sway, you can create and share presentations like never before! In today's blog, we'll give you a basic overview as to what Sway can do as well as some of our personal favorite features. Let's dive in!
Microsoft has recently rolled out a new application for the purposes of Digital storytelling known as Sway. Sway is basically an extremely easy platform for the creation of presentations, infographics, or any kind of stories; whether it is for children's school work or professionals' work assignments.
How Does Sway Work?
So now that we have the basic functionality out of the way; let’s talk about the structure and some of the features Sway has to offer its users. The interface is such that you add relevant information into a series of cards. All you need to do is to fill out the cards and the application does the rest; it forms your very own digital story that is both creative as well as interactive to hold the audience's interest.
Admittedly, there have been other applications that have been created around similar ideas such as Animoto, Bubble and Cartoonist, but the flexibility Sway has to offer is much better. Regardless of whether you are a Student or a Sales Executive, Sway allows you to quickly chuck the content in a format that automatically creates a coherent story to show and explain to the intended audience in as few as three minutes. Moreover, formatting is not really worrisome, the text designs are easily transformable via the built-in design engine Sway has. On top of this, the designs are easily customizable as per your needs.
How to Build a Presentation in Sway
You can create an array of content types using Microsoft Sway, the digital storytelling app available online or with Microsoft 365. While there are some differences between the versions, making a basic presentation is essentially the same whether you use Microsoft Sway on your desktop or online.
Once you log in to or open the Sway app, you can start from scratch or base your design on one of the many templates provided.
1. Go to sway.office.com and log in with your Microsoft account to use Sway online. Type sway into the Windows Search box and select the Sway app to open Sway on your desktop if you have it installed.
2. Select a template that corresponds with the presentation you want to make, such as Business Presentation. Then choose Start Editing This Sway. A new presentation template opens.
3. Alternatively, select Create New to open a new, blank Sway.
Here's a 2-minute video to help you understand Sway a little better!
Sway and PowerPoint are Two Very Different Applications
It is true that Microsoft already had presentation software in the form of PowerPoint, but the concept of Sway is different because it is an online software. Presentations can, therefore, be accessed from anywhere or with the mobile app. PowerPoint, on the other hand, is a desktop application. Yes, you can get the online version of PowerPoint with Office 365 with limited features but that’s a completely different story.
These applications are intended for different uses. If you are creating a data-driven presentation with lots of graphs and charts, PowerPoint will be the ideal choice.
More You Should Know
Another likable aspect of Sway is that it is backed up on the Cloud, which allows users to share and embed their stories on their Website, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. This makes sharing with your friends, family, and colleagues really easy without even going through the hassle of signing up or downloading any additional software.
There is no doubt that Sway is a very interesting product. But one has to use it to become familiar with it. The software is available in the form of an application for Windows, iPhone, and iPad; and as part of Microsoft 365.
Last Updated 1 week ago
