ARE WE AMAZED BY EMAZE?????????

Today's generation is visually stimulated - the youth and indeed its elders are always logged on, surfing the net connecting with social media, virtual world is king rather than face to face interaction.

As a result, to deliver your lessons, to market your product, to sell your idea ...... presentations have become an essential mode of engaging with the audience.  Visuality is essential in order to convey a message.

What of the weapon of choice?  What is the Modus Operandi? with the ever present thirst for presenting and visual aids you would think users would seek out new and advancing ways to deliver to their customers....... Not so!

Figures reveal that Microsft Powerpoint remains the market leader with over 93% of presentations being delivered using their software.  Why so?

Well, we are creatures of habit, we cling with white knuckles to our comfort zone, to what we know......and powerpoint is our default setting - however much has changed and so many more options are available to the user, we have already covered a few in earlier bloggs:

Lets add a new ingredient to the mix, today we will step into the world of Emaze......the CEO (Moti Nisani) boasts  " the market is thirsty for new ways to produce and give presentations, simply and fast.  People are tired of powerpoint and they are looking for a viable alternative.  The market potential is huge".  According to Nisani, about 500 million people worldwide create presentations each year and roughly 30 million new presentations are created every day..... what makes Emaze a contender, Nisani would suggest is its ease of use, that's what sets it aside from other market contenders.  The user needs no previous tech know how...... the complete novice can create professional presentations because all you need worry about it the content, Emaze takes care of the rest....." too good to be true I hear you ask,  well, lets review...  

The video clip promises much to the user...... here's what Epp Krusenvald, an online blogger has to say 

" Emaze is prefect software if you have a clear vision in your head and you just need a simple output for visualising the idea you have.  The program does pretty much everything for you - it has built in templates and every slide has particular things you can enter. If you like to have most of the presentation options done for you already this is the program for you!  What makes this program stand out amongst others however is the possibility to add 3D effects to your slides.  Also, it is compatible with all devices - you can edit the presentation on the go from your phone......... Emaze has so many options and functions you might easily get lost or you simply wont be able to get the best of this program.  At the same time however, it is surprising how limiting it can be - for example, the font on the chosen template is the one you will have, you can't change it.  Also the colour palette for fonts is not the widest.  You might also mind that the free account is absolutely public so it might be a good idea to share a less delicate presentation content when using a free account.  Overall, Emaze is a truly modern presentation software allowing you to edit your presentation from all devices,adding 3D effects and making your life easier with pre made templates.  Though it can be somewhat limiting, it is not meant for those who are looking for ultra complex DIY presentations.  Emaze is for the 'on the go' people who are looking for easy yet professional and beautiful visual solutions". 

Well that's Epp's view, however the proof is in the pudding as the saying goes so lets give this bad boy a go.  Is it really idiot proof, user friendly and super quick ..... lets see!  Below is my first attempt at throwing together an off the shelf Emaze presentation.

Emaze Presentation

In short, having read the reviews, looked at the software, tried it out myself I feel that I'm in a good position to pull together an honest no frills pros and cons list, so here it is:

Pros
* New and unique presentation styles
*Supports rich text editing
*Includes themes to choose from
*Automatic spell check
*Free for simple presentations
*You can embed presentations to a website or share via facebook or twitter
*Share your presentation with others via a unique link
*Supports voice commands, so you can start, stop and move through presentations with  nothing more than a microphone.
*Hyperlinks can be set up to link other slides or objects in the presentation.
*Very user friendly, practically idiot proof

Cons
*Doesn't work well on old PC's with low computing power
*Many of the features are only available if you upgrade
*All free presentations are made publicly available
*Doesn't save your work automatically
*Not everything on a slide is editable
Cant save the presentation for offline use
* Cant change the font type of text
*Lacking common presentation features
*Difficult to get the option to import slides offline to work correctly.
*Only Premium users can download presentations and play offline in HTMLS format.
*Only premium users can collaborate
*Slow website
*Only premium can make their presentations private
*No ability to edit offline.

Ignore the elephant in the room, that is that there are more negatives than positives, Eaze is truly a modern presentation software accessible to all, the novice and tech saavy geek alike.  Great for those who need to throw something together quickly.  As long as you have the subject content - emaze has the know how.  What are you waiting for .. prepare to be amazed.