Toy or Tool? SlideShare

SlideShare, www.slideshare.net

What is it?

SlideShare is the world’s largest online community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million page views, it is among the top 200 visited websites globally. SlideShare supports PowerPoint presentations, documents, PDFs, videos, and webinars. It has been called “the YouTube for slide shows.”(Earlier this year, LinkedIn acquired SlideShare for $119 million in cash and stock.)

What’s the value?

You can make large presentation files viewable (either publicly or via a “secret” code) to others, rather than sending them via email. However, SlideShare’s greatest value lies in brand building, because you can easily show your knowledge about a subject by “presenting” it virtually to millions—even adding your own voiceover. Adding keywords when you post your slides means your presentation is easier to find on the web. Viewer statistics are available, so you can see how “popular” your presentations are. You can easily embed SlideShare presentations to your LinkedIn profile (or your business Facebook page), ensuring that others view you as a subject matter expert. Plus, you can view presentations done by other professionals, facilitating ideas for business trends and growth and giving you some new ideas for your own presentation visuals.

What’s the downside?

Unless you make your presentation private, your competitors will be able to see and “borrow” your content. Although you can add usage restrictions and limit the ability for others to download your slides, you do not ultimately have control. If you are a paid speaker, you may want to limit the content you post publicly (or develop a “teaser” version of your paid presentation).