PowerPoint is a very powerful tool and when used well can really have a great impact during a presentation. But the biggest problem when using Powerpoint is the sequential flow of thoughts.
When you had a presentation where you are not sure about the flow or do not fully control the flow of the presentation (say a discussion around a number of topics), then it becomes quite difficult to design a PPT for that. Also if you have a scenario where you are not sure how in-depth you will be diving into a topic, you need slides if you dive deep, but what if you do not. Currently most of us, try and use link and buttons to create a kind of non-sequential flow. But the problem here is that, we are really only creating different paths, but what if the conversation flows in a path that we had not foreseen.
That is where an PowerPoint Add-in from OfficeLabs (This a site by MS Research focused on Office Related Innovations), called PPTPlex really comes in. This Add-in that works with PowerPoint 2007 (and to an extent 2010. I have had a few crashes and some things like adding a canvas do not work with PP 2010), allow you to create something like categories into which you can put slides. Then you can jump from slide to slide or category to category. You can also follow the sequential flow if required.
Do note, you will not be able to use a lot of animations that come with PowerPoint as PPTPlex does not seem to support too many of those yet.
I have used this for around six months now and every time I have used it, it has evoked a tremendous response and everyone asked me how I did it and wanted to know where to get the add-in. The best part of course is that this is a free download and I really hope they integrate this into the next version of PowerPoint.
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