explain everything presentation mode

What is Explain Everything and How Does It Work? Best Tips and Tricks

Explain Everything is a digital whiteboard system built for the classroom and beyond

Explain Everything is a digital whiteboard that is directly aimed at helping teachers and students express ideas clearly.

Unlike some other solid-state whiteboards, this is an online-based platform that supports teachers working in the classroom as well as those working remotely. That makes this ideal for a hybrid classroom setup.

Thanks to a selection of big-name tech brand partners, this is an easy system to integrate into existing school hardware. It also works with lots of different media types, which should make it easy to use -- so minimal training is required.

This guide aims to help explain all you need to know, as a teacher, student, admin or guardian, about Explain Everything.

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What is Explain Everything?

Explain Everything is a digital whiteboard that is based online so it can be used across a host of devices and accessed from anywhere. It works as a presentation tool with visuals and audio editable by the user.

The digital whiteboard is available in app form for iPad, Android, Chromebook, and browsers in web app form, so it can operate on nearly any device.

The app itself works as a presentation tool, essentially. Think PowerPoint only with a lot more powerful features aimed specifically at teachers working with a class.

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Explain Everything lets teachers, or students, create presentations that pull in rich sources of media, from images and audio to videos and websites. Thanks to compatibility with services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and iTunes -- to name a few -- there are many ways to pull in media from personal devices.

Crucially, this system is created for students also, with collaboration features, making it a great way to integrate digital skills learning with subject specific presentations.

How does Explain Everything work?

Explain Everything  is primarily an app so is best accessed from the dedicated app for the device in use, be that an iPad, an Android device, or a Chromebook. That said, the web app, accessed via a browser, also works very well, even on older devices.

To get started simply select the "Start Whiteboarding" option and you're immediately underway with the New Project page. Here you can decide to start from a blank canvas or pick from the template options available. You can also call up files and work from there.

If you pick a template, you're immediately placed into the editing page and a pop-up will appear offering to guide you through the basics. This explains how to pull in media such as images, videos, clipart, documents, and more. The sidebar tools are also explained with moving, drawing, zoom and pan, plus record being clarified. 

The above guidance was for the Explainer template. Within that, record is part of this as the central pane is a video window, with the option to add written or visual aids below in boxes laid out especially. 

You can get this far without even having to sign up as this is a very open platform. Once done, you can tap the share icon and either create a web video link, export to share in different formats such as PDF or PNG, or broadcast it live to another screen.

What are the best Explain Everything features?

Explain Everything is super easy to use, which is a big draw since it requires minimal training for teachers. Even younger students can use this tool without much difficulty.

The Explain Drive is a useful feature as it is effectively a cloud storage space. Uploading files and videos is easy, allowing you to work online and to jump between devices as needed. But it also saves projects automatically so when you return you can quickly search for anything you want to reopen.

If you're doing a video presentation, this tool will let you split that video up so you can re-do sections if you need to, without having to re-record the whole video. A useful feature for students who might otherwise feel under pressure to get it right the first time.

Collaboration is another useful feature, both for teachers and students working on projects. This allows students to work with peers remotely, in different classrooms or even across schools. This could be a good way to brainstorm ideas to one main screen in a classroom where everyone can contribute from their own devices, in class, remotely, or both.

The ability to add audio from voice recordings can be helpful as a way to annotate a slide, allowing a teacher or student to guide others through their thinking. From working through math problems to explaining art history, this has a wide range of uses.

How much does Explain Everything cost?

Explain Everything offers a one user account that is totally free . This is limited to three projects, one slide per project, and video exports limited to one minute. It works on any device, has collaboration with voice chat, web video link sharing, and 500MB of cloud storage.

The Teacher account is $24.99 per user, per year and works for between one and nine users. This offers all the above plus unlimited projects, slides and recording, 1GB of cloud storage, user and license management, plus shared folders.

The Class plan is $8.99 per user, per year and works for 10-100 users. This gets you all the Teacher features plus MDM deployment and advanced security and permissions.

The School and District tier is for more than 100 users and is charged at a custom price. This gets you all that Class offers plus priority support, training, reporting, custom clipart, and custom templates. 

Explain Everything best tips and tricks

Teach a lesson in video By creating a video that works through an activity, saying when to pause, a student can be taught as if you were there. Show a sentence in another language, ask which words are verbs, then highlight the answers after a short pause break.

Use in class Doing a science experiment? Have students take photos and record audio along the way to explain how it all worked as part of a homework submission for after the class is done. This could apply to more than just science classes too.

Work within Canvas Explain Everything works with Canvas so you can use the LMS and setup an online whiteboard within that. The below video explains how you can do that easily.

Luke Edwards is a freelance writer and editor with more than two decades of experience covering tech, science, and health. He writes for many publications covering health tech, software and apps, digital teaching tools, VPNs, TV, audio, smart home, antivirus, broadband, smartphones, cars and much more.

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How to Enable or Disable The Presentation Mode Settings in Windows 11/10

Presentation Mode is a feature in Windows 10 designed to help people carrying their Presentations on their portable devices. The User can specify certain settings like volume to be set, screensaver to be used, desktop background to be in place in Presentation mode and when the Presentations mode is enabled, these changes are done to the OS.

• Only people with Admin rights can enable or disable the Presentation Mode Settings
• This feature is only available in Windows Pro, Enterprise, and Education versions.

In this article, let us see how to enable or disable Presentation Mode Settings in Windows 10 in two different ways.

Method 1: Using Registry Editor

Step 1: Open the Run Dialog using the keys  Windows+R

Step 2: Type  regedit  and hit  Enter

Step 3: In the UAC window that opens asking for permissions, click on  Yes

Registry editing can harm the system even with the slightest mistake. It is advised to take the backup of the registry before proceeding. To take a backup, In the Registry Editor–> Go to  File –> Export –> Save your Backup file .

Step 4: In the Registry Editor window, on the search bar at the top, copy-paste the following location

Step 5: If you cannot see the PresentationSettings folder, create one, right-click on Policies, choose New > Key.

Step 6: Name the folder as PresentationSettings

Step 5: Open the PresentationSettings  folder.

Step 6: On the right-hand side, right-click anywhere on the empty area.

Step 7: ChooseNew > DWORD(32-bit) Value.

Step 8: Name the newly created Key NoPresentationSettings

Step 9: Double-click on the key to change its value.

Step 10: To Turn Off or disable the Presentation mode settings, Set the value to 1 click OK

Step 11: If you want to enable the settings ,  set the value to 0 .

Step 12: Restart the System.

Method 2: Using Group Policy Editor

Step 1: Open the Run Command Window using Windows+R.

Step 2: Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.

Step 3: In the Local Group Policy Editor window that opens, from the left-hand side, navigate to the following location. Simply double-click on the section to expand the selection.

Step 4: On the right-hand side, double-click Turn off Windows presentation settings.

Step 5: To disable this setting, tick on the Disabled option.

Step 6: To Enable, click on the Enabled option.

Step 7: Finally click on the Apply button, followed by OK.

NOTE: Ensure that this setting is applied. If not,

1. Open Run Dialog using Windows+R

2. Type cmd and hold the keys Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open a command prompt in Admin mode.

3. Type  the below command and hit Enter

Step 8: Restart your System.

That’s All

We hope this article has been informative. Thank you for Reading.

Kindly comment and let us know which fix helped you solve the issue.

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Use explain everything to explain… everything.

Available for iOS, Andriod, and Windows for only $2.99, it is easily accessible for any of your favorite devices. Like I mentioned above, Explain Everything is a presentation app that has tons of cool features. You can write and draw on the screen to annotate your slide, as well as typing text, and inserting any type of media file, from pictures to videos to documents to songs and anything else you could possibly need. There is also the option to record audio during your screencast, giving you the ability to speak instructions while showing something on the screen (or record a song for fun background music, if you’re into that). The app includes a laser pointer feature as well, which allows you to point to something on the screen.

Good things about Explain Everything

The greatest thing about Explain Everything is that each slide is totally customizable. Not only can you insert nearly any type of multimedia into the slide, but you can set up that multimedia any way you want it. Unlike PowerPoint where you’re essentially locked into a certain layout, each page on Explain Everything is a blank slate. You can chose your colors, where you want your words to be, what size you want your pictures to be, where you want your documents to be – the list of possibilities is endless.

With the screencast option, you can even zoom into certain parts of a slide for emphasis, and then zoom back out to continue teaching. Also, with the ability to write anywhere on the slide, you can annotate pictures and even videos to point out exactly what you want to show.

Another one of the really cool features is the laser pointer. When using the screencast option to present your presentation, you can use the laser pointer to point out where you want to focus attention. This gives you the ability to present through the computer in the most life-like way possible.

Problems with Explain Everything

This is what comes up when you choose to look at the welcome guide, teaching you how to put together a presentation.

This is a sample presentation I made. I was able to insert images and annotate them.

Granted I’ve only made two presentations with Explain Everything, neither of mine look anywhere near as nice as the ones from the tutorial. Maybe I’m judging it too quickly, and that the use of Explain Everything is a skill that I will eventually get better at the more I use it. If that is the case, however, that would turn me off to the app. As students, we don’t have time to learn how to use an expensive app when PowerPoint and Prezi work just fine. The same goes for teachers, the intended audience for this app. The fact of the matter is, when it comes to technology, people don’t care to learn how to use it.

With Explain Everything, there is no real way to present your presentation within the app. The idea is that you make your presentation in the app, export it to Google Drive or Dropbox or another app like that, and present it from there. This seems a little odd to me that you wouldn’t be able to watch it before you send it out to someone, but maybe there is a way to watch it and its just to confusing for me to be able to figure out.

Who it could work for

This is a presentation I made for my science class. I was able to design the slide exactly how I wanted it, making my presentation totally mine.

However, the screencasting would be helpful for cases where the teacher is not physically with the student. For example, these types of presentations would be very helpful for online courses. The teacher would be able to record his or her voice speaking the lecture while annotating the slides it appears on. Along with that idea, these presentations would also work well on teacher webpages. If a teacher could post the screencast of the work they did in class, students who were absent that day (or just forgot to pay attention that day) would be able to stay on track with the rest of the class.

Explain Everything could even be used by students to prove to their teacher they understand the concept. We’ve all heard that the way to make sure you know something is to teach it to someone else. Assigning a project on Explain Everything would be very interesting way to integrate technology into the lesson while making sure students are understanding the concept, provided your classroom has access to tablets.

Final thoughts

Amanda Cassaday

Amanda Cassaday is a freshman this year and is very excited to be working on the Writing With Thumbs project.

2 responses to “Use Explain Everything to explain… everything”

Thanks for taking the time to get to know Explain Everything! We did not set out to make a presentation tool, though many people are using the app that way. We just wanted to create a way for people (students and teachers) to share ideas in ways that were made easier with a touch screen device.

Your feedback is incredibly important as we like to learn from users who are experiencing the app with no prior knowledge of how to use it (or why to use it). We are going to take your suggestions and comments to heart and put them to work right away. We are already working on improving the User Interface and introducing some scaffolding to help a first-time user get familiar with the tools and the possibilities. We have users as young as five and as old as 85 using the tool – so it is always challenging to find the right balance of features and intuitive design. But we work hard every day towards getting there!

In K-12, some of the most common uses are not necessarily presentations but instead demonstrations of understanding: a student solving a math problem, a teacher modeling the annotation of a paragraph, students collaborating on a storytelling project.

In higher ed we are certainly seeing people creating voice over presentations (by importing a previously made PPT or PDF).

In professional settings we are seeing some pretty interesting uses including voice-over + annotated x-ray images in medical offices, markup of legal documents, and brainstorming.

Thanks again for the post, and I hope in the future you’ll take another look at what we are working on!

Reshan Co-creator of Explain Everything

Incredibly powerful app to get your point across in a clean and crisp manner. And your comment on the app “putting the fun back in presenting material” is right on the money!

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Display Switch - Change Presentation Mode to Project in Windows 10  

Display Switch - Change Presentation Mode to Project in Windows 10

How to Change Presentation Mode to Project Display in Windows 10 Display Switch is used to change the presentation mode of the main display of your Windows 10 PC to project on either the PC screen only , duplicate on second display, extend across all displays, or second screen only . See also: Set up dual monitors on Windows 10 | Microsoft Support How to use multiple monitors in Windows 10 | Microsoft Support This tutorial will show you how to project the main display to PC screen only, duplicate, extend, or second screen only for all users in Windows 10 . Projection Mode Description PC screen only Only the current main display is enabled. All other connected displays will be disabled. ( When you're connected to a wireless projector , this option changes to Disconnect . ) Duplicate The main display will be mirrored on the second display. Extend (default) The main display is extended across the all connected display screens and allows you to have a desktop that spans them. Second screen only The current main display will be disabled. All other connected displays will remain enabled with the second screen used as your new main display. Contents Option One: To Change Presentation Mode to Project Display in Project flyout Option Two: To Change Presentation Mode to Project Display using Command Option Three: To Change Presentation Mode to Project Multiple Displays in Settings OPTION ONE To Change Presentation Mode to Project Display in Project flyout 1 Do step 2 (Project) or step 3 (Action Center) below for how you would like to open the Project flyout. 2 Press the Win+P keys, or swipe in from the right edge of the touch screen, and go to step 4 below. 3 Open the Action Center , click/tap on the Project button, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below) 4 Click/tap on the PC screen only , duplicate , extend , or second screen only presentation mode you want. (see screenshot below) You can also press the Down Arrow key until you select a projection mode you want, and press Enter to apply. For example: If you have a blank black screen and can't see the menu, you can do this below to restore the default Extend setting. Press the Win + P keys, press the Down Arrow key twice, and press Enter . OPTION TWO To Change Presentation Mode to Project Display using Command 1 Copy and paste the command below that you want to use into a command prompt or the Run (Win+R) dialog, and press Enter . (PC screen only) %windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal OR (Duplicate) %windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /clone OR (Extend) %windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend OR (Second screen only) %windir%\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /external OPTION THREE To Change Presentation Mode to Project Multiple Displays in Settings 1 Open Settings , and click/tap on the System icon. 2 Click/tap on Display on the left side. (see screenshot below step 3) 3 Select Duplicate these displays , Extend these displays (default), or a Show only on <display number> for what you want in the Multiple displays drop menu on the right side. (see screenshot below) 4 Click/tap on Keep changes to apply, or click/tap on Revert to undo this change. (see screenshot below) You will only have 300 seconds to click/tap on a button before it automatically reverts back to previous display settings. 5 You can now close Settings if you like. That's it, Shawn Related Tutorials How to Create a Display Switch shortcut in Windows 10 How to Set a Display as Main Display in Windows 10 How to Connect to a Wireless Display with Miracast in Windows 10 How to Change Settings and Layout for Multiple Displays in Windows 10 How to Hide or Show Notifications when Duplicating Screen in Windows 10 How to Clear and Reset External Display Cache in Windows 10 How to Add a Project Display context menu in Windows 10 How to Remove Display from Desktop in Windows 10 Windows 11 Tutorials

@ Brink do you know if there is a way to change it via regedit ? I fail to indentify command with "DisplaySwitch" in Regedit

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CunC said: @ Brink do you know if there is a way to change it via regedit ? I fail to indentify command with "DisplaySwitch" in Regedit Hello, I'm not aware of a way to change this setting via registry.

Ok, thank you for your answer

Tutorial updated to add option 3.

Device name HPLAPTOPProcessor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.90 GHzInstalled RAM 8.00 GBDevice ID 01C2869A-EACD-48CF-ACA6-4CFED37BDFF3Product ID 00325-96176-65479-AAOEMSystem type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processorPen and touch Touch support with 2 touch points Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19043.1110](c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved . I have a question I would like to ask before I try resetting the first option of this tutorial as I do not understand the vocabulary and think I might just make matters worse. Since my sons did a clean install of Windows 10 for me, I can no longer switch between views of two accessible external hard drives so I can copy and paste files or folders between them. Nor can I access 2 identical views of the same HD to enable transferring files between folders on the same drive. Opening This PC view from Search Windows and clicking on the external hard drive brings up a single window showing the folders on that drive. I have tried the various options available on the Home View Menu but nothing seems to help. Is this a search folders problem or a directory problem ? It used to be possible to expand the ext HD entry on a left section of the window to access individual folders and files without affecting the right section tho I did have to keep a careful eye on the address bar to ensure I was still viewing the same HD. Any ideas what I have done or can do that will affect this ?

PostmanPuzzled said: Device name HPLAPTOPProcessor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.90 GHzInstalled RAM 8.00 GBDevice ID 01C2869A-EACD-48CF-ACA6-4CFED37BDFF3Product ID 00325-96176-65479-AAOEMSystem type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processorPen and touch Touch support with 2 touch points Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19043.1110](c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved . I have a question I would like to ask before I try resetting the first option of this tutorial as I do not understand the vocabulary and think I might just make matters worse. Since my sons did a clean install of Windows 10 for me, I can no longer switch between views of two accessible external hard drives so I can copy and paste files or folders between them. Nor can I access 2 identical views of the same HD to enable transferring files between folders on the same drive. Opening This PC view from Search Windows and clicking on the external hard drive brings up a single window showing the folders on that drive. I have tried the various options available on the Home View Menu but nothing seems to help. Is this a search folders problem or a directory problem ? It used to be possible to expand the ext HD entry on a left section of the window to access individual folders and files without affecting the right section tho I did have to keep a careful eye on the address bar to ensure I was still viewing the same HD. Any ideas what I have done or can do that will affect this ? Hello mate, Just to verify, I believe you are referring to folder view layout settings below instead of what this tutorial is for which mode to project the desktop to another display. Change Folder View Layout in Windows 10

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• PRESENTATION SKILLS

What is a Presentation?

Search SkillsYouNeed:

Presentation Skills:

• A - Z List of Presentation Skills
• Top Tips for Effective Presentations
• General Presentation Skills
• Preparing for a Presentation
• Organising the Material
• Writing Your Presentation
• Deciding the Presentation Method
• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
• Presenting Data
• Managing the Event
• Coping with Presentation Nerves
• Dealing with Questions
• How to Build Presentations Like a Consultant
• 7 Qualities of Good Speakers That Can Help You Be More Successful
• Self-Presentation in Presentations
• Specific Presentation Events
• Remote Meetings and Presentations
• Giving a Speech
• Presentations in Interviews
• Presenting to Large Groups and Conferences
• Giving Lectures and Seminars
• Managing a Press Conference
• Attending Public Consultation Meetings
• Managing a Public Consultation Meeting
• Crisis Communications
• Elsewhere on Skills You Need:
• Communication Skills
• Facilitation Skills
• Teams, Groups and Meetings
• Effective Speaking
• Question Types

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The formal presentation of information is divided into two broad categories: Presentation Skills and Personal Presentation .

These two aspects are interwoven and can be described as the preparation, presentation and practice of verbal and non-verbal communication. 

This article describes what a presentation is and defines some of the key terms associated with presentation skills.

Many people feel terrified when asked to make their first public talk.  Some of these initial fears can be reduced by good preparation that also lays the groundwork for making an effective presentation.

A Presentation Is...

A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team.

A presentation can also be used as a broad term that encompasses other ‘speaking engagements’ such as making a speech at a wedding, or getting a point across in a video conference.

To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information should be carefully considered. 

A presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often contain a ' persuasive ' element. It may, for example, be a talk about the positive work of your organisation, what you could offer an employer, or why you should receive additional funding for a project.

The Key Elements of a Presentation

Making a presentation is a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience and many of our articles on communication are also relevant here, see: What is Communication? for more.

Consider the following key components of a presentation:

Ask yourself the following questions to develop a full understanding of the context of the presentation.

When and where will you deliver your presentation?

There is a world of difference between a small room with natural light and an informal setting, and a huge lecture room, lit with stage lights. The two require quite different presentations, and different techniques.

Will it be in a setting you are familiar with, or somewhere new?

If somewhere new, it would be worth trying to visit it in advance, or at least arriving early, to familiarise yourself with the room.

Will the presentation be within a formal or less formal setting?

A work setting will, more or less by definition, be more formal, but there are also various degrees of formality within that.

Will the presentation be to a small group or a large crowd?

Are you already familiar with the audience?

With a new audience, you will have to build rapport quickly and effectively, to get them on your side.

What equipment and technology will be available to you, and what will you be expected to use?

In particular, you will need to ask about microphones and whether you will be expected to stand in one place, or move around.

What is the audience expecting to learn from you and your presentation?

Check how you will be ‘billed’ to give you clues as to what information needs to be included in your presentation.

All these aspects will change the presentation. For more on this, see our page on Deciding the Presentation Method .

The role of the presenter is to communicate with the audience and control the presentation.

Remember, though, that this may also include handing over the control to your audience, especially if you want some kind of interaction.

You may wish to have a look at our page on Facilitation Skills for more.

The audience receives the presenter’s message(s).

However, this reception will be filtered through and affected by such things as the listener’s own experience, knowledge and personal sense of values.

See our page: Barriers to Effective Communication to learn why communication can fail.

The message or messages are delivered by the presenter to the audience.

The message is delivered not just by the spoken word ( verbal communication ) but can be augmented by techniques such as voice projection, body language, gestures, eye contact ( non-verbal communication ), and visual aids.

The message will also be affected by the audience’s expectations. For example, if you have been billed as speaking on one particular topic, and you choose to speak on another, the audience is unlikely to take your message on board even if you present very well . They will judge your presentation a failure, because you have not met their expectations.

The audience’s reaction and therefore the success of the presentation will largely depend upon whether you, as presenter, effectively communicated your message, and whether it met their expectations.

As a presenter, you don’t control the audience’s expectations. What you can do is find out what they have been told about you by the conference organisers, and what they are expecting to hear. Only if you know that can you be confident of delivering something that will meet expectations.

See our page: Effective Speaking for more information.

How will the presentation be delivered?

Presentations are usually delivered direct to an audience.  However, there may be occasions where they are delivered from a distance over the Internet using video conferencing systems, such as Skype.

It is also important to remember that if your talk is recorded and posted on the internet, then people may be able to access it for several years. This will mean that your contemporaneous references should be kept to a minimum.

Impediments

Many factors can influence the effectiveness of how your message is communicated to the audience.

For example background noise or other distractions, an overly warm or cool room, or the time of day and state of audience alertness can all influence your audience’s level of concentration.

As presenter, you have to be prepared to cope with any such problems and try to keep your audience focussed on your message.   

Our page: Barriers to Communication explains these factors in more depth.

Continue to read through our Presentation Skills articles for an overview of how to prepare and structure a presentation, and how to manage notes and/or illustrations at any speaking event.

Continue to: Preparing for a Presentation Deciding the Presentation Method

See also: Writing Your Presentation | Working with Visual Aids Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions Learn Better Presentation Skills with TED Talks

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• Presentations

Presentations 101: The Absolute Basics of Making a Presentation

Presentations don’t require PowerPoint, Keynote, or any specific app. They don’t require a projector, a laser pointer, or a long stick. And they definitely don’t require bullet points, animations, and soundtracks.

All they require is the info you want to share, simplified to show one bit of info per screen. That’s it.

There’s no reason that making a presentation should be a daunting process. Here’s everything you’ll need to make a perfectly good presentation, in any app you have on your computer.

The Presentation Basics

Making a presentation can feel intimidating, since the best look so polished they’d require an art degree to make, and the worst cram so much information into a slide deck that they seem like they’d take forever to put together. And yet, neither should be that intimidating. The PowerPoints of today are simply digital refreshes of the original overhead transparency presentations that date back to World War II and the couple-decades-newer photographic slide projectors. Both of those were, again, a refresh of another idea—a large poster you could point to with a stick while speaking.

Of all things, the first version of PowerPoint wasn’t even designed for making digital presentations to be shown on a projector from your laptop. It was instead designed as a simple way to make transparencies you’d print out and then show on an overhead projector, or perhaps print on paper and show as a flip chart. That first version only had a few tools, including text and basic shapes, but it was enough for Microsoft to acquire the company that made it for $14 million.

PowerPoint and Keynote of today have far more features than that early presentations app that started it all, but the basics of a presentation haven’t changed. All you really need to for a presentation is a full-screen clear view of the text and images you want to share. Backgrounds aren’t really necessary, and more often than not are simply distracting and make the text harder to read. Animations and transitions can be nice, but they’re not necessary either, as long as you can easily shift from one slide to the next.

So all you really need to make a presentation could be the built-in Paint app on a PC. You’d add text and images, save each “slide” as an individual picture on your computer, then open them full-screen with the Photo Viewer app. Voila, you’ve got a full presentation. You could do the same thing with practically any graphics app, and—with somewhat worse results—could do something similar by putting large text and pictures on individual pages in any basic word processor—including the built-in apps like TextEdit and Wordpad—and a quick PDF export that’s then opened full-screen in your PDF reader. For the most basic of presentations, there’s literally no need for a specialized presentations app.

That’s why presentation features are cropping up in all types of apps you’d never expect to include presentation features. Evernote recently added a basic presentation mode that turns your notes and included images and more into a basic, clean presentation. Draft , the online writing tool, just added a similar tool to turn a plain text document into a presentation, and Deckset is a Mac app that’s coming soon for the same purpose.

You really, really don’t need that much for a presentation.

The Stuff you Do Need

Now, all that’s needed is to make your presentation, in any app you’d like. If you have PowerPoint or Keynote, go ahead and use them—or use their free online counterparts, or Google Docs Presentations. Or, perhaps, just use any graphics app as mentioned above. Either way, the only things you need to focus on are the essentials: a decently basic background, your images and other graphics you’ll include to press your points, and—most importantly—your text. Nothing else matters.

Start with a simple slide design, and work up. A plain color, offset by a contrasting font color, is plenty. Then, if you want to include graphics, make sure they’re very clear from a distance, and then figure out where they’re going to go in your slide lineup.

Now, focus on your text, the most important part of your presentation. Guy Kawasaki famously said that PowerPoints should adhere to the 10/20/30 rule : 10 slides, shown for 20 minutes, using at least a 30 point font. The first two rules are great for not losing your audience’s attention, but the latter is crucial if you want people to be able to quickly grasp what your slides say. Use the largest font possible—far larger than 30 points works great, too—and simplify your concepts to the most basic so they can be communicated in the fewest words possible. And there’s no necessity to stick with the typical larger title and smaller bullet points on your slides. Instead, you can make each slide showcase only one idea, presented in a larger font, to keep everything from being so cluttered.

Finally, you’ll need a simple way to present. Every slide app—the web apps included—let you take your presentation full-screen in a tap, typically on a small Present button on the bottom of the screen. If you choose to make a non-traditional presentation with individual images as slides, then just open the set of “pictures” in your photo viewer app. All you’ll need then is to tap your arrow keys to proceed through your presentation, no matter which app you’re using. You could use animations and transitions, but those aren’t necessary. What is necessary is the info you’re trying to share, and these steps are all you’ll need to do that.

There’s one more thing: the device you’re using to share your presentation. The obvious choice is a laptop connected to a projector. That’s far from the only way, though. You could play back your presentation on almost any device these days, and can make it in similarly simple tools even on a tablet or phone. The important thing—large text and images in a simple, full-screen view—works universally.

And That’s All.

It might sound crazy, but that’s really all that’s needed for a presentation. The PowerPoint and Keynote alternates, and even their own web apps, aren’t nearly as fancy and don’t include all the snazzy animations, charting and diagramming tools, and more that you’d perhaps expect. But then, all of that isn’t needed for a presentation.

What is needed is your ideas, simply presented, and your speaking skills that will bring your message across to your audience. For that, be sure to check our newest Tuts+ business tutorials on presentations that’ll help you make the best of your presentation, regardless of what app you’re using:

• Jump-Start Guide to Essential Business Presentation Skills
• Deliver Engaging Presentations Like Steve Jobs

Graphic Credit:  Presentation  icon designed by  Alexander Bickov  from the  Noun Project .  Idea  icon designed by  Joe Harrison  from the  Noun Project .