Google Slides vs Zoho Show

September 23, 2023 | Author: Sandeep Sharma
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Google Slides
Ceate a new presentation and edit with others at the same time. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Slides to edit PowerPoint files.
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Zoho Show
The online tool for making powerful presentations.Whether you are a professional, a teacher, a student, a businessman, a salesman or anyone looking to put together a cool presentation, you have come to the right place. Zoho Show's pre-built themes, clipart and shapes coupled with features like drag-and-drop makes it an easy application to use.
Google Slides and Zoho Show are both cloud-based presentation software tools, but they have differences in terms of their features, collaboration capabilities, and integrations. Google Slides, part of the Google Workspace suite, offers a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It provides a wide range of templates, slide customization options, animations, and multimedia support. Google Slides emphasizes collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on a presentation simultaneously, with real-time editing and commenting features. It integrates seamlessly with other Google Workspace applications, enabling easy file sharing and collaboration within the Google ecosystem. Zoho Show, on the other hand, is a cloud-based presentation tool offered by Zoho. It offers features for slide creation, customization, and animation effects. Zoho Show also supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work together on a presentation. It provides integrations with other Zoho applications, making it convenient for users who utilize the Zoho suite of productivity tools.

See also: Top 10 Online Presentations
Google Slides vs Zoho Show in our news:

2018. Google Slides gets real-time automated captions



Google is introducing an exciting new addition to its Slides presentation tool, allowing users to activate real-time automated captions during their live presentations. This feature proves to be immensely valuable for individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf, as well as for those who prefer reading over listening. The capability is currently being rolled out to all Slides users who have set their default language to U.S. English and utilize the Chrome browser. Google has plans to expand this feature to support additional languages in the future. To activate the feature, users can simply click on the new "CC" button in the Slides navigation box and continue using their computer's microphone as usual.


2018. Zoho Show adds contextual interface and broadcasts



Zoho has introduced the all-new version of Zoho Show featuring a contextual interface designed to prioritize users' ideas and provide a seamless formatting experience that adapts to their actions. The aim is to eliminate the need for users to search for the right tools, ensuring that their creative vision takes center stage. Zoho Show offers a comprehensive set of tools to bring ideas to life in alignment with users' imaginations. It includes features such as custom text boxes, silhouettes, image filters, pre-defined layouts for charts and tables, a wide range of animation options for each slide element, and more. The robust commenting system within Show enables seamless collaboration, brainstorming, and suggestions for enhancing slide elements. Users can add rich text comments to emphasize key points or attach images when words fall short. Additionally, Show allows users to broadcast slides to remote audiences or utilize the Presenter View for in-person sessions, enabling them to deliver impactful presentations from anywhere.


2016. Google Slides adds Q&A feature to help presenters connect with their audiences


Google has introduced a new functionality for its presentation service Slides, enabling presenters to receive questions and feedback from their audience. Additionally, audience members can vote for their preferred questions. Presenters can initiate a Q&A session by clicking a button in the Slides presenter view. On mobile devices, this feature will be accessible through the "audience tools" button. Subsequently, a link to the customized Q&A for the specific presentation will appear above the slides. This feature enhances the efficiency of post-presentation Q&A sessions, particularly at events where it can be assumed that the audience has smartphones or laptops at their disposal. This is especially valuable for individuals who prefer not to approach a microphone and ask questions in front of a large audience (as those who do might be excessively enthusiastic about being in the spotlight).


2015. Google Slides now allows to present from Android phones


Google Slides, Google's equivalent to PowerPoint, has introduced a new feature that enables users to deliver presentations from any Android phone or tablet directly to a Hangouts video call. With the Slides app, all you have to do is click on the present button, and if the meeting is scheduled on your calendar, you can commence your presentation immediately. Throughout your presentation, you can utilize your phone or tablet to navigate through slides, access your speaker notes, and keep track of time using the app's built-in timer (as no one wants a presentation that goes overtime). Google emphasizes that even while presenting, you can still see the participants of the video call.


2015. Zoho Show viewer is available for Android and iOS Devices



Zoho has introduced a mobile slideshow viewer for its presentation app Zoho Show on Android and iOS devices. As a user of Zoho Show, you now have the flexibility to carry your presentations on any device of your choice, including smartphones, tablets, or laptops. The Sideshow Viewer enables you to utilize a slide pen to mark or highlight content on the relevant slide. The highlighted content is instantly reflected on the screen visible to your audience, eliminating the need for pocket lasers that presenters often struggle with when emphasizing key points. Furthermore, you can darken slides to direct your audience's attention solely towards your narrative during the presentation. By blackening the slide, the audience's focus shifts entirely to you and your speech, rather than the content or visuals displayed on the slide. This feature is particularly useful when you want to regain the audience's attention or address their questions directly.


2015. Zoho Show allows to integrate Twitter feeds to online presentations



By incorporating Twitter into the online presentations tool Zoho Show, an innovative feature has been introduced to bridge the gap between the presenter and the audience. This new functionality allows users to seamlessly insert and broadcast Tweets directly into their slides, enhancing audience engagement and active participation. Regardless of the geographical location of the audience, they can remain at the core of the discussion. Integrating Twitter feeds into presentations creates an open, dynamic, and interactive atmosphere. However, ensuring control and moderation is essential for maintaining the desired level of dynamism. Tweets can vary in tone, ranging from positive to negative, respectful to insulting, and relevant to the topic or not. Hence, Zoho Show provides presenters with the flexibility to moderate and filter these Tweets as needed.


2011. Google Presentations adds real-time collaboration



Google continues to compete with Zoho and SlideRocket for being the online presentations champion. Today Google rolled out completely new Google Presentations editor. It adds more than 60 new features, but the main one - is the ability to collaborate on a presentation in real-time. Everything is very similar to collaborative tools in Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets that appeared last year: in the right pane you can see who is currently working on the presentation, chat with them. And in the presentation view, you can see what objects the collaborators are currently editing (these object are highlighted with the corresponding colors). And with the help of Google+ Hangouts you can even video chat with colleagues while co-creating the presentation. ***


2011. Online presentations go HTML5: SlideShare and Zoho Show


It seems that the days of Flash as a platform for the Rich web interfaces are really coming to an end. Online presentation services, for which the Rich-interface is most important, are ditching Flash in favour of HTML5. Last year, the market leader, SlideRocket released the HTML5-viewer and today the most popular presentation sharing service SlideShare has done the same. Moreover, SlideShare not just added the HTML5-view option but completely removed the Flash-option. Developers say the new HTML5-viewer is 30% faster and displays presentation on tablets (like iPad) and smartphones. In addition, you can now select and copy text from a presentation with the help of the mouse. ***


2008. Zoho Show 2.0 Upgrades: Flickr, Picasa Integration

Introduced amidst a wave of Zoho Suite releases last year, Zoho Show 2.0 impressed many with its ability to compete with Google Presentations. Today, Zoho Show receives another significant upgrade, introducing key features such as the option to export presentations to PPT, PPS, PDF, and ODP formats. This expands its compatibility beyond HTML support and enhances integration with other presentation creation platforms. Additionally, users can now conveniently copy and paste Zoho Show presentations within the tool itself, streamlining the process of reusing existing content for new presentations. An exciting addition for users of web-based document creation tools is the integration of Picasa and Flickr photos, allowing easy insertion of public images from these services into Zoho Show presentations. Streamlining this process is essential, as visuals play a crucial role in documents. Zoho Show's latest release also extends support to 11 new languages, reflecting the company's global efforts for its presentation creation tool. Chinese, Danish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Swedish are among the newly supported languages. Other minor updates include the introduction of groups as a sharing option, enhanced embed settings to customize the appearance of embedded presentations, and improvements in remote presentation capabilities for effective communication during web demos. These advancements in Zoho Show follow recent upgrades to Zoho Sheet and Zoho Writer, which also focused on enhanced sharing options and import/export functionalities. As Zoho establishes itself as a valuable web-based document creation tool, it must continue pushing boundaries to stay competitive and establish web-based applications as standards in comparison to their offline counterparts.


2007. Zoho Show 2.0 is not ready for the real world

Zoho is set to release an update for its presentation app, Zoho Show, in the coming days, which has come a long way since its basic beginnings. The new version, Zoho Show 2.0, offers a more professional and useful experience with an improved interface and a good selection of templates and shapes for creating visually appealing presentations. Collaboration is made easier with the option to open a chat window while working on a presentation. Zoho Show allows for full-screen viewing, embedding shows on websites, and remote control of slide advancement through shared links. However, despite these improvements, there are still some frustrating limitations that hinder its recommendation. The absence of an undo feature, non-resizing text boxes, and lack of integration with other Zoho apps like word processor documents or spreadsheets prevent seamless workflow. It suggests that Zoho may be expanding too quickly, focusing on new products rather than enhancing the integration of existing tools. While Zoho is making progress with its apps, the 2.0 version of Zoho Show is not yet suitable for widespread adoption by real-world users.

Author: Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep is a marketing expert with a wealth of knowledge in various domains: customer relationship management, social media management, advertising, search engine optimization, website building, Sandeep has established himself as a multifaceted professional. He honed his skills while working at Salesforce and Hubspot, where he gained invaluable insights into the industry. Now, as the proud owner of a small advertising consulting agency, Sandeep continues to provide innovative and effective strategies to businesses, helping them thrive in the competitive landscape of digital marketing. You can contact Sandeep via email sandeep@liventerprise.com