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Google Slides

Score7.8 out of 10

218 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Google Slides?

Google Slides is a presentation tool that enables users to create, edit, collaborate, and present. It is free for personal use, and available to businesses via a Google Workspaces subscription.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Google Slides.
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Google Slides the best of the best

Incentivized
Verified User
Employee in Sales (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Slides daily in my current role. We leverage the tool to create slide decks and training documentation. The presentations are then used in training, internal use as well as customer facing presentations. The slide decks are a way to better communicate a large amount of information in an easy to understand way.

Pros

  • Sharing capabilities
  • User friendly
  • Collaboration
  • Creating templates

Cons

  • Create sections within slides
  • An easy back to home slide
  • Animations could be improved

Return on Investment

  • Clear goals to align to
  • Better visibility of said goals
  • Better alignment with our customers to showcase our goals

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Powerpoint and Apple Keynote

Other Software Used

Google Drive, Google Sheets

Great Utility Presentation Tool

Incentivized
Peter Hemingway
Teacher at Kershaw County School District (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Slides when my priority is to either collaborate or share my presentation with colleagues. The major advantage is that no matter how knowledgeable the coworker is, he/she can either present or edit the presentation without having to conduct a lot of training on how to use the tool. Sharing with others is easy, and as long as the presenter has access to the internet, they can present on just about any device.

Pros

  • Great for sharing basic presentations.
  • Great for collaborating with peers of different skill levels.
  • Great for presentations in different environments (high compatibility level).

Cons

  • Other programs are better at creating fancy or professional presentations quickly.
  • Off-line usage usually defaults to a PowerPoint, which makes the program feel like an off-brand PowerPoint.
  • The program makes it too tempting to rely on a strong internet connection for all presentations.

Return on Investment

  • There are just under 100 teachers at my school. When I need to share something with all of them, Google Slides causes the least amount of hassle and confusion, as they all know how to use and access the program (or click on the link to open the presentation).
  • Thanks to an expanding list of extensions available in Google Slides, I have had an easier time introducing more programs and skills to my fellow teachers through the familiarity of Google Slides.
  • In many ways, Google Slides has replaced PowerPoint as the benchmark to which other presentation tools are compared.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Powerpoint, Miro, Lumio by SMART, Prezi, Nearpod and Canva

Other Software Used

Miro, Nearpod, Microsoft Powerpoint, Kami

Google Slides is a great options for collaboration and version control

Incentivized
John BeadleView profile
Director of Product Management in Product Management at Code and Theory (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Slides served as a central platform to collaborate on and organize internal presentations. It was used to share meeting content on a recurring basis, helping to consolidate communication, facilitate discussion through comments, and maintain version control of edits. Since the team was fully remote, cross-location and cross-timezone collaboration was seamless, with deeper discussions managed through comment threads. Overall, it made team-wide meetings more productive by giving people a chance to review materials and address comments ahead of calls.

Pros

  • Version Control
  • Commenting/Discussion
  • Design Templates
  • Managing large slide decks (50+ slides)

Cons

  • design tools are lacking compared to Figma and Keynote
  • Offline access is not ideal
  • File storage locally is sometimes a plus (which Google doesnt have)

Return on Investment

  • Increased Meeting Efficiency
  • Faster Decision-Making
  • Improved Collaboration Across Locations

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Apple Keynote, Figma and Microsoft Powerpoint

Other Software Used

Figma, Gemini, GDocs

Great for collaboration, bad for design

Incentivized
Verified User
Strategist in Sales (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Slides is absolutely essential to our business driving both sales deck and production documentation.

Pros

  • Collaboration
  • Sharing
  • Export

Cons

  • Design tools precision
  • Video integration
  • Desktop app

Return on Investment

  • Time saving from async slide making

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Figma, Pitch, Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote, Canva and Adobe InDesign

Other Software Used

Notion, Google Drive

Excellent free alrernative to Powerpoint!

Incentivized
Anastasia GlobaView profile
Lecturer in Computational Design and Advanced Manufacturing (Architecture) at University of Sydney (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Slides are mainly used as a means to support the online delivery of lectures and tutorials at the School of Architecture Design and Planning at the University of Sydney. I use them to accompany live (synchronous) delivery of units for Master and Bachelor levels (Architecture). While the lecture is happening in Zoom, I share the link to my Google Slides so that students can stay on certain slides longer or skip ahead if they wish. Google Slides also allow me to add interactive links if I need students to access online polling or Miro activities. The slides can be shared beforehand, and students will have access to them after the lecture is finished, which is very handy.

Pros

  • Easy to create and manage (lecturer side).
  • Intuitive and easy to use (students side).
  • Various sharing options, well integrated in most web browsers.

Cons

  • More options for slide animations and transitions.
  • Keep developing real time collaboration options.
  • You need a Google account to use Google Slides, some of our international students from China might find it complicated (due to current restrictions).
  • Limited themes and visual appearance.
  • Not all types of export file formats are available, which is limiting.

Most Important Features

  • Free
  • Easy to use/intuitive.
  • Very easy to share.

Return on Investment

  • Better levels of engagement.
  • Improved collaboration.
  • Improved student satisfaction.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Powerpoint and Microsoft Powerpoint Online

Other Software Used

Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Powerpoint Online, Adobe Acrobat