PowerPoint is the cornerstone of business communication, strategy, and collaboration, with most of us spending a large percentage of our time on this Microsoft application. And we’re not just talking about junior members of staff either; 28% of the average company’s leadership team spends five hours or more in PowerPoint each week.
That figure only increases when you look at industries like finance, where the expectations are high, and precision is paramount. A staggering 90% of finance professionals dedicate a minimum of two hours a day to building pitchbooks, information memos, and due diligence reports within PowerPoint.
Many companies are missing a trick in not exploring the world of PowerPoint add ins. These plugins can help streamline your workflow, elevate your design game, and unlock new functionality.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into the realm of PowerPoint add ins and provide tips on how to choose the right tool for your company’s unique needs.
PowerPoint add ins: a summary
Microsoft provides a robust suite of tools within PowerPoint that cater to a variety of needs and use cases. However, the native software does have its limitations, particularly for finance professionals regularly building high-quality, customized reports for their clients. For these individuals, PowerPoint add ins could be a real game-changer.
But what exactly do we mean by a PowerPoint add in?
PowerPoint add ins are third-party tools or applications designed to enhance Microsoft PowerPoint’s functionality, offering users ways to automate repetitive tasks, integrate external data sources, or access advanced design elements.
The benefits of using PowerPoint add ins
PowerPoint add ins will revolutionize your workflow by:
Boosting efficiency
With the aid of plugins, users can streamline various aspects of document creation, such as sourcing content or automating repetitive formatting.
Elevating document quality
PowerPoint add ins can provide the precision and consistency necessary to deliver polished, brand compliant documents every time.
Increasing employee satisfaction
Teams will have more time to focus on the creative and strategic aspects of their roles rather than getting bogged down in tedious formatting or data sourcing.
When to use PowerPoint add ins
Here’s a breakdown of scenarios where add ins prove invaluable:
Automating manual tasks within document creation
- Add ins can automate data refreshes within presentations, ensuring that information remains accurate and up to date.
- Some PowerPoint add ins enable you to build an automated table of contents, saving time when structuring and updating presentations.
Reducing the risk of human error
- Add ins can be used to ensure consistent formatting throughout presentations, minimizing the risk of errors and maintaining a consistent aesthetic.
- PowerPoint add ins will streamline proofreading processes, eliminating errors such as incorrect fonts and misalignments.
Managing company-wide content
- PowerPoint plugins can be used to cement your content enablement strategy, making it easy to store and manage content in PowerPoint.
- For finance teams in particular, some add ins also offer the ability to manage and generate industry-specific content, like tombstones.
Rebranding effectively
- PowerPoint add ins can aid rebranding efforts by facilitating easy slide conversions.
- Once you’ve rebranded the materials, add ins can be leveraged to easily store and distribute all the new content to ensure it’s used from day one.
Presenting data visually
- Add ins can enable users to present data in a visually appealing and consistent manner, with automated on-brand charts, icons, and visuals.
- With some PowerPoint add ins, users can incorporate interactive and engaging content into presentations, enhancing audience engagement.
The different types of PowerPoint add ins
When exploring the world of PowerPoint add ins, it’s essential to understand the various categories available and their respective advantages and limitations.
Free add ins
- Pros: They’re a cost-effective solution with no financial investment required.
- Cons: They often lack advanced features and functionality, limiting their effectiveness in meeting industry-specific needs. Plus, there is usually limited to no support available.
Proprietary add ins
- Pros: Internal tools will be tailored to the specific needs and workflows of your business, offering customized solutions.
- Cons: Maintaining these tools requires significant internal resources and may become outdated quickly with each Microsoft 365 update.
Premium add ins
- Pros: Premium software will come with enhanced features, dedicated support, and guaranteed compatibility with Microsoft products – ensuring you get ROI.
- Cons: They will come with a price tag, requiring a financial commitment from users or organizations.
Understanding the distinctions between these types of add ins can help you make informed decisions when selecting the right PowerPoint plugin.
UpSlide is lightyears ahead of our previous add-in, with features to increase uniformity and productivity across teams.
The best PowerPoint add ins for automating document creation
Pexels PowerPoint add in
Pexels seamlessly integrates into PowerPoint, enabling users to access an extensive library of high-quality, royalty-free images and videos and add them into their presentation in a few clicks.
💡 How do financial professionals use this add in? To make your pitchbook more visually engaging with professional stock images.
Office Timeline PowerPoint add in
Office Timeline offers intuitive tools to quickly create visually appealing timelines in PowerPoint to illustrate project schedules and milestones.
💡 How do financial professionals use this add in? To map out a new M&A process effectively and clearly to your clients.
UpSlide Office add in
UpSlide is a Microsoft 365 add in that provides a wide range of automation features to boost productivity and ensure brand compliance throughout the entire document creation process.
💡 How do financial professionals use this add in? Finance professionals use UpSlide at every stage of the document creation process, from sourcing content to slide formatting.
This is the best all-in-one tool on the market for increasing productivity and enabling bankers to produce higher quality presentations more efficiently.
Poll Everywhere PowerPoint add in
Poll Everywhere enables real-time audience engagement through polls, quizzes, and live Q&A directly within PowerPoint presentations.
💡 How do financial professionals use this add in? To make monthly earnings and forecasting reporting to senior stakeholders more interactive and engaging.
Evernote PowerPoint add in
Evernote allows users to embed notes, screenshots, and clippings from Evernote directly into PowerPoint presentations for enhanced content organization and referencing.
💡 How do financial professionals use this add in? To better prepare for your client meetings, link notes to your calendar events and PowerPoint presentations.
Industry-specific PowerPoint add ins
If you’re in the market for a PowerPoint add in, we recommend looking into industry-specific software first. The tool will be tailored to your sector’s use cases and needs, from the features to the support. Here are a few examples of PowerPoint add ins for particular industries:
PowerPoint add ins for finance
UpSlide offers 65+ features designed to help finance professionals build better documents faster. From intuitive Excel to PowerPoint data linking capabilities to tombstone generation, the features are built with the finance industry in mind.
PowerPoint add ins for legal
Juro makes it easy for lawyers to access, review, and manage contracts directly within PowerPoint, streamlining collaboration and ensuring legal compliance.
Other Office add ins
There are many other plugins available to help boost productivity across the full Microsoft 365 suite. Here are a few of our favorites:
Outlook add ins
- DocuSign is a great tool to help you easily send, manage, and sign digital contracts.You can integrate it into Outlook to make it even easier to send contracts by email.
- UpSlide offers the most user-friendly email signature management tool on the market. The Outlook Signature Manager helps businesses guarantee that every email sent is on-brand and impactful.
Microsoft Word add ins
- Grammarly is a cloud and AI-based writing assistant that can be integrated into the Microsoft 365 suite to review grammar, punctuation, clarity and engagement.
- UpSlide offers many branding and productivity features within Microsoft Word, including Template Management and Excel or Power BI data linking functionality.
Excel plugin
- ChatGPT for Excel is an OpenAI-powered add in that helps you automate tasks, gain valuable insights, and save time and effort in Excel.
- UpSlide’s Excel plugin enables finance professionals to easily build and review financial models, plus create on brand, complex charts.
What’s the verdict?
When it comes to PowerPoint add ins, there’s no “one size fits all” tool.
Every company has different team dynamics, use cases, and challenges; therefore, you should approach choosing the right PowerPoint add in based on your unique needs.
We recommend always starting by looking at industry-specific, premium solutions – as they will have experience working with businesses like yours and can ensure you get the best ROI.
If you’re a finance company looking to boost productivity in PowerPoint, reach out to our expert team to find out how UpSlide can help.
