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Presentation Design: Beginner’s Guide (Tips, Tools & Templates)

Presentation Design: Beginner’s Guide (Tips, Tools & Templates)

Written by: Chloe West

An illustration of a person stepping on blocks to create a presentation.

A good presentation doesn’t just rely on presentation design. There’s your public speaking , the ability to connect with your audience and how well you understand your topic.

However, that doesn’t mean that presentation design isn’t important. Everything goes hand-in-hand when creating a presentation that will keep your audience engaged and talking about your topic for days to come.

Ready to design a presentation that knocks the audience’s socks off? We’ve put together a beginner’s guide to help you understand the types of presentations, beginner design tips and more.

You'll find some incredible presentation templates to help you get the ball rolling on your design. You can customize them however you want, and the best part is you don't have to be a design pro to make them pop!  

In this video, we've put together our top 13 presentation design tips to help you wow your audience and create the most epic slide deck they've ever seen.

Here's a short selection of 8 presentation design guidelines you can use when you edit, share and download your content with Visme. View them below:

presentation design best practices

Table of Contents

Why presentation design is important, what are the different types of presentations.

  • 20 Presentation Design Tips for Beginners

5 Presentation Design Trends to Inspire You

15 presentation templates for various use cases.

A presentation is so much more than a simple stack of slides with text and images on it; or at least, it should be. Especially since creative, colorful visuals are so much more memorable than simple text on a screen.

Presentation design is important because with it, you can envelop your ideas, narrative, visuals, data and statistics all into one place and tell a compelling story that leads your audience to the conclusion you want them to reach. 

When you create a presentation with proper design, you then have the opportunity to share your point of view, grow your business and get your audience to see your vision and hear you loud and clear. 

The sad truth is that many people dread going to presentation meetings because of the long, visually lacking and non-stimulating slideshow designs. 

Although what someone has to say during their presentation might be crucial to the business or even life-changing, a listener might lose all interest simply due to the poor design of the presentation.

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With proper presentation design, you can tell your story clearly, inspire your audience to take your next steps and have them engaged with what you’re saying all the way through.

Don’t miss a massive business opportunity just because of poor presentation design.

If you have an upcoming presentation but you don’t have the skillset of a professional designer, don’t worry. Just because you aren’t a designer doesn’t mean you can’t have a professional presentation like one.

With a tool like Visme, you can access professionally designed templates that will act as a guide for you to create your next inspiring presentation . Get started today for free.

There are a variety of different types of presentations and reasons that you would need one. Let’s cover the most common types so you know what to expect and when you might want to consider putting together your own presentation.

Type #1: Educational Presentations

There are a lot of reasons you might need to create a presentation for school – giving a book report, presenting an idea, sharing a hypothesis and study results, etc.

Additionally, teachers have to give presentations all the time, and are always looking for ways to create more engaging slides that keep students interested.

To help ensure your presentation is stunning, try using an educational presentation template like the one below.

An educational presentation template available in Visme.

Type #2: Investor Pitch Decks

This is an incredibly important type of presentation for startups and small businesses. Trying to get funding for your business idea? You’re going to need to create an investor pitch deck .

At Visme, we’ve actually put together the quintessential pitch deck theme with a variety of different slide ideas to help you craft the ideal, completely professional pitch.

An investor pitch deck template available in Visme.

Type #3: Webinar Presentations

Webinars are popular online presentations used for lead magnets and generating new sales and sign-ups. These tend to be informational presentations that lead to a sales pitch towards the end.

Here’s a great webinar presentation template you can use to get started with your own.

A webinar presentation template available in Visme.

Type #4: Sales Presentations

A sales presentation or sales pitch deck is a type of presentation you might need to give if you’re pitching a product or service to a potential customer or client.

These often share your company’s unique selling propositions, pricing information, testimonials and the like.

Here’s an interactive sales presentation template you can use to get started.

A sales presentation template available in Visme.

Type #5: Report Presentations

Oftentimes, you’ll be asked to present a report based on sales and marketing performance, website data, revenue or some other data that your team or supervisors want to learn more about.

This can come in many different forms, like a business report document or even an infographic, but many people also love to give simple report presentations.

Utilize a template like the one below to set the stage for your report data.

A report presentation template available in Visme.

Type #6: Keynote Presentations

A keynote presentation is more like a speech that is given in front of a larger audience. Think TED Talks and keynote speakers at conferences and events. While most of the speech is done by the presenter, slides are still helpful for keeping the audience engaged and on track.

A keynote presentation can use a template like the one below, that’s bright and includes only the main points from the presentation.

A keynote presentation template available in Visme.

12 Presentation Design Tips for Beginners

Are you ready to master presentation design? We’ve got 12 easy-to-follow tips to help you create a slide deck that keeps your audience’s attention and has every audience member handing on to every word.

For other tips to help you create and deliver the best presentation possible, become a certified presenter with our free online course.

Let’s dig in.

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Tip #1: Use No More Than 6 Lines of Text

An effective presentation isn’t filled with copy. You won’t be reading straight off your slides, so you want to include only your main points and must-know information on your slides. Your speech fills in the rest.

Not only does this help make your presentation as a whole much more engaging, but it also improves your presentation design.

Take a look at the example below. The minimal text option looks way better than the slide with paragraphs of copy.

Presentation do's and don'ts for how much text to have on a slide.

Tip #2: Stick to 2-3 Fonts and Colors

Our next tip focuses on your presentation’s typography and color scheme. While it may be exciting to use as many different fonts and colors as possible, design best practices dictate that you should only utilize two or three total.

Your fonts and colors should have jobs, as well.

Choose one font for your headers and another for your body copy. You might work in a third accent font as well.

Your color choices should be similar. Use one or two main colors throughout, then throw in an accent color for good measure. Make sure your colors work well together and help convey the right message.

Not sure why this is so important? Let’s show you an example of what we mean.

The slide on the left has too much going on. With all of those fonts and colors, it looks cluttered, and it’s hard to pay attention to the actual concept the slide is trying to convey.

But on the right, we see a nice mixture of three fonts and three colors, pulling the entire slide design together.

Presentation do's and don'ts for using fonts and colors.

Tip #3: Pay Attention to Visual Hierarchy

One big thing to remember when adding text to your next presentation is visual hierarchy . Essentially, this means that the order someone reads something on your slide should be obvious, based on font size, color or weight.

Take a look at this example below. On the right, it’s easy to read and makes sense. On the left, the visual hierarchy is all out of whack, leaving the reader confused.

Presentation do's and don'ts for visual hierarchy.

Tip #4: Take Advantage of Powerful Visuals

An engaging presentation takes advantage of visual elements. Think stock photos, icons, illustrations, videos, even charts and graphs. All of those can level up your Visme or PowerPoint presentation design.

You want to make sure that your visuals perfectly represent the words on your slides as well. Or, if you have no words on the slide, make sure they perfectly represent the words that you’re saying in your speech.

Visuals should always add to your presentation, rather than take away. But you also want to make sure that each of your slides has some kind of visual representation so you’re not sharing boring words on a slide, like in the example below.

The left slide is dull and boring. Sure, we can read what it says, but do we want to? On the other hand, the slide on the right is engaging, incorporating a high-quality image that visualizes the words on the slide.

Presentation do's and don'ts for using visuals.

Tip #5: Stay Away From Bullet Points

When learning how to create your first presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint way back in elementary school, one of the typical PowerPoint design tips was to use bullet points for each slide’s main points.

Don’t do that.

Any good presentation design tutorial these days will tell you that you should stay away from bullet points as best you can. They’re boring and outdated and there are better ways to showcase your content.

Take a look at the examples below. The left slide is already putting you to sleep. As we can see on the right, the bullet points aren’t necessary. 

It’s more engaging and conversational when the list is laid out in paragraph form, and it doesn’t look like the traditional PowerPoint template that we’ve all come to dread.

Presentation do's and don'ts for using bullet points.

Tip #6: Insert a Single Animation Style

Our next tip for creating a memorable presentation is to only use one single animation style throughout the entire slideshow. 

With a presentation tool like Visme, you can easily access custom animation capabilities that make your design elements seem like they’re floating on the slide. However, you don’t want to throw too many different animation styles into a single slide or presentation.

This can overwhelm your viewer and take attention away from your value proposition and the story you’re trying to tell.

Instead, find one animation style that works and stick with it throughout your presentation.

Tip #7: Highlight Key Points

Using shapes, bright fonts, characters pointing to your copy and similar elements is a great way to highlight your key information on each side. 

Not only does this help keep attention on the page, but it makes your design even easier. Take a look at the example below.

Adding the pink rectangle around the page content helps to highlight the point you’re trying to make and allow your audience to more easily understand your message.

Presentation do's and don'ts for pointing out key information.

Tip #8: Incorporate Data Visualization

Another important presentation design tip is to incorporate data visualization when showcasing numbers and statistics in your slides.

This can be anything from a bar graph or pie chart visualizing different data in a chart or graph all the way to a percentage radial or a pictogram visualizing basic numbers.

Take a look at this example below. Look at how much more engaging the slide with the data widget is. Using design elements like these make both complex and simple numbers and statistics easier to understand and remember.

Presentation do's and don'ts for using data visualization.

Tip #9: Keep Your Slide Design Consistent

Our next tip involves your slide design. This goes back to your fonts and colors as well as other design elements like icon styles, lines, shapes and more.

Each slide throughout your presentation should have a similar look and feel. You want to keep the design cohesive so that it’s obvious to your audience that your slides go together and you’re still talking about the same topic.

Take a look at the example below. On the right, we see a stunning, cohesive presentation design; on the left, we see a smorgasbord of colors, fonts and design elements that make no sense whatsoever.

You want your presentation to look like the example on the right.

Presentation do's and don'ts for consistent design.

Tip #10: Break Up Sections

Another pro tip is to break up the different sections of your presentation with section header slides. These can be anything from a blank slide with only a background photo, include a quote, share your new section’s title and more.

Take a look at the variety of section break slides we offer alongside our Modern presentation theme below.

Section break slides available in Visme.

Tip #11: Stick to a Single Transition Style

Your transition is how one slide exits off the screen and the next slide appears. While tools like Visme and PowerPoint offer a variety of transition options, it’s important to remember that simple is best.

With that being said, you only want to utilize one transition style throughout. Find a favorite or at least one you like for this presentation. If you have a few favorites, switch between them for each presentation you give.

Tip #12: Limit A Single Takeaway Per Slide

When creating a clean, crisp and clear slide design, you’ll want to center all your text and visuals around one single takeaway or idea.

If you crowd your slide with multiple main ideas, things look messy and unorganized, thus giving your presentation a poor design.

As you can see in our example below, when there are multiple main ideas and lots of crowded text, your slide will be immediately overwhelming and you’ll lose your crowd almost immediately.

Do & don't comparison for limiting your slides to a single takeaway.

But on the other hand, when you have a single takeaway with a few points to go along with your main idea, your slide is easily digestible and looks sleek.

If your presentation is on the longer spectrum, then it’s good to keep your slides moving and changing constantly as to not bore your crowd. 

Tip #13: Adjust The Size, Weight and Color of Your Font to Emphasize An Idea 

To enhance your presentation design, you need to ensure that each slide has a focal point; a place where the eye is immediately drawn to.

Typically, you want this focal point to be on your main idea. This way, your audience will immediately be guided to what you have to say next and what they can expect.

One way you can manipulate and direct the eye to go where you want it to is by adjusting the size, color and weight of your font, as you can see in our example.

Do and don't comparison of emphasizing an idea with your font design.

To highlight your main point or the driving force of your statement, you can change the color of a single word or adjust the font weight to bold. 

This will bring your idea to the forefront of your slide design, thus making it your focal point and emphasizing your main idea. 

The opposite of this idea stands true as well. If you have less important ideas that you need to have on your slide to jog your memory, you can use a lighter font-weight or complementary color to the background to make it stand out less.

Tip #14: Keep Your Presentation Notes Separate

The main rule for having a visually appealing presentation design is to keep things simple. This means that the less text you have on the slide, the better.

Your slide should highlight only your main idea, as we mentioned in a previous point, a few supportive statements and visual elements. 

Thus, you should not have your presentation notes written plainly on the slide for all to see. This will make your slide look and feel chaotic for your audience. 

If you are worried that you’ll forget your main idea or supporting arguments, then you can use a presentation presenter like Visme that keeps your presentation notes separate.

This way, you can still rest assured that all the information you need to convey for each slide is stored carefully away and you can quickly access it, without overcrowding your slide and forfeiting beautiful slide design.

Tip #15: Dedicate an Entire Slide to a Crucial Question or Remark

No one likes presentations that are limited to just a few slides, therefore obliging them to stare at the same slide for 10 minutes.

To keep up a pleasant presentation design and pace, and to keep things visually interesting, you can create slides that are dedicated solely to an impactful quote or a crucial question that supports your entire presentation scope.

So while you may be tempted to add all the answers to your question and supportive data to your slide, it may be best to keep things simple and let your statement do just that; make a statement.

Do vs. don't comparison of dedicating your slide to a crucial point in your presentation.

Tip #16: Embed Videos to Your Slides

If you have a video to share with your audience, don’t just boringly add the link to it to your slide; embed the video right within your presentation. 

This will bring your slide to life and will make things easier for you as a presenter, so you don’t have to leave your presentation and do the awkward dance of loading your video. 

You can use a presentation tool like Visme to help you create beautiful slides and embed your videos right into them.

A screenshot of Visme's editor and how to embed a video into your slides.

Tip #17: Use Negative Space to Your Advantage

Negative space, or white space, is your best friend when it comes to making a visually appealing presentation slide. 

While many times overlooked or seen as a design inconvenience, you can use extra space to actually make your design look ten times better. 

Let me show you an example.

Do vs. don't comparison slides showing how to properly use negative space.

As you can see, by simply decreasing the size of the design elements and without changing anything else, we were able to achieve a more minimal and professional-looking slide.

Make sure that you maintain the same amount of space between elements to create design cohesiveness. 

Tip #18: Use a Contrasted Background to Make Text Jump Out

One common mistake we see in presentation design is the failure to use color contrast to make your text pop.

Many times, the text gets lost or mixed in with the background because of complementary color usage. 

While staying within the grounds of a color palette is a great idea, you want to make sure that you use contrasting backgrounds and font colors in order to get your text to stand out to the reader.

As you can see in our example, when the text has a complementary color to the background, it’s hard to read. But when the text has a contrasting color, it’s appealing to the eye and is easy for the reader to see. 

Do vs. don't slide comparison showcasing how to use contrasting colors.

You can use a design tool like Visme to find professionally chosen, complementary-yet-contrasting color palettes to use for your presentation design.

Tip #19: Use Backgrounds to Bring Depth to A Visual

Why use a plain background when you can use shapes, photos, textures and more? 

If you want to bring some depth to your slide and really get your text and visuals to stand out, you can use high-resolution images or shapes as a background.

As you can see in our example, when you use a simple one-color background, it looks much plainer than if you were to add more to your background.

Do vs. don't slide comparison of how to use background elements.

Do choose a background that matches your slide design, though. If you pick a busy design, you risk overwhelming your viewer and losing their attention.

So make sure you choose a “calm” design if you have a lot of texts and visuals and a more bold design if you have less text and visuals to display.

Tip #20: Use a Presentation Template

Want a presentation design tip that will never go out of style? Start with a template rather than trying to create your own slide deck from scratch!

With a presentation software like Visme, you can start with a stunning presentation template that has been professionally designed by our team of graphic designers.

Browse our presentation template library below.

Presentation Templates

Ecommerce Webinar Presentation

Ecommerce Webinar Presentation

Buyer Presentation

Buyer Presentation

Company Ethics Presentation

Company Ethics Presentation

Technology Presentation

Technology Presentation

PixelGo Marketing Plan Presentation

PixelGo Marketing Plan Presentation

Work+Biz Pitch Deck - Presentation

Work+Biz Pitch Deck - Presentation

Create your presentation View more templates

Sometimes you just need a little inspiration to kick off your presentation design. 

If you want to create a show-stopping and attention-grabbing presentation, then it’s good to know what presentation design trends are in right now.

Here are 5 of the hottest presentation design trends that are popular amongst presenters.

B+W with a Splash of Color

One popular presentation design trend right now is to create your entire presentation in black and white and then to add a single pop of color to each slide. 

Take the presentation below.

Presentation trend showing black & white w/ color.

Image Source

By using a black and white color palette and using a bold choice of color, you can bring attention where it is needed and create a strong focal point for your viewer.

It’s up to you to decide where, how often and how much color you will use per slide. 

Sometimes you only need to add in a tiny colored shape to bring attention to your slide, and other times you may want to add in two to three large colored visuals to your slide. The choice is completely up to you.

Unexpected Neon Colors

You heard it here first, bold and contrasting neon colors are the way of the future for presentation design.

This design trend is great for product presentation and pitch decks, but not only. You can use this technique to spice up any presentation that you’re worried could be potentially lacking in the speech department. 

Neon colors in a presentation slide.

Because using neon colors is so unexpected, you can use this technique to grab your viewer’s attention and keep them wanting to see more.

The trick is to not use an overwhelming amount of different neon colors, but instead to choose one or two and use them as accents against a contrasting background.

Monochrome Color Palette

Monochrome color palettes that are used in presentation design are always seen as sleek and professional. 

A monochrome color palette is a single color displayed in different strengths, for example, lighter or darker variants of the color blue. 

A monochromatic color palette presentation slide.

One way to use the monochrome color palette technique is to use the darkest color for the background and the lighter variants of the color for the text, visuals and graphic design elements. 

You can also try it the other way around and use the lightest colors for the background and the darkest ones in the foreground. 

Play around with the monochromatic design until you find the perfect fit for your slide.

Isometric Illustrations

If you haven’t noticed already, many companies have been transitioning from a minimal design approach to using isometric illustrations for their branding.

If you want to have a professional-looking presentation design and make a statement to your team, you can use isometric illustrations to achieve that.  

Isometric illustrations on a presentation slide.

Because isometric illustration design is so versatile, what you choose to present while using this design technique is equally as versatile. 

Isometric illustrations will work perfectly for any type of presentation, from product presentations and corporate presentations to technical presentations and monthly reports.

Simple Minimalism

And finally, a design trend that will likely never go out of style is simple minimalism. 

A minimalistic presentation slide design.

Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it isn’t complex. Minimalism has always been show-stopping and that is because of the rule “Less is more.”

For each slide, a good rule of thumb is to convey just enough information for the reader to understand what’s going on and use a neutral color palette. 

Showcase your most important ideas in bold, use modern fonts and your minimal slideshow will have your audience captivated immediately. 

If you’re still hungry to find more presentation design trends, then no worries. We have an entire list of 100+ creative presentation ideas and design trends that we created just for you to draw inspiration from.

Ready to put some of these presentation design tips into action? At Visme, we have hundreds of presentation templates to help you get started. Take a look at these 15 presentation templates for various use cases below.

Template #1: Brand Guidelines Presentation Template

A brand guidelines presentation template available in Visme.

If you have brand guidelines created for your business, one great way to share them with your team and stakeholders is to put together a custom presentation showing off your style guide.

This presentation template makes it easy to display your font combinations and color palette for your brand. And if you’re just starting out or looking to rebrand, you can even design a logo in Visme.

Our Dynamic Field feature makes your presentation design quick and painless. You can create dynamic fields and change their values across your projects and presentations with a single click. 

Template #2: Pitch Deck Presentation Template

New businesses who are looking to secure funding for their startup need a clean and eye-catching pitch deck design for pitching investors.

Using a theme like the one above gives you access to a variety of different startup stories for you to choose from when creating your presentation and highlighting the most important aspects of your business.

Made in partnership with FounderSuite, this pitch deck presentation template is perfect for your next investor pitch.

Template #3: Competitor Analysis Interactive Presentation Template

A competitor analysis presentation template available in Visme.

If you’re going to have a successful business, you need to have a firm understanding of who your competition is and what they bring to the table. This will be essential in marketing, for your sales team and just as a general understanding for your company.

This competitor analysis presentation template comes with built-in interactive features to help you get a good understanding of who your competitors are and what potential threats they pose.

Template #4: Business Plan Presentation Template

A business plan presentation template available in Visme.

Another essential business presentation is your business plan. This template offers the exact presentation structure you need to build out your business plan. All you need to do is replace the placeholder text with your own!

Template #5: Marketing Plan Presentation Template

A marketing plan presentation template available in Visme.

And any good marketing team needs a thorough marketing plan. This presentation template is similar to our business plan presentation template in that we’ve laid out the entire presentation outline for you. All you need to do is input your own strategy.

Template #6: Webinar Presentation Template

A webinar template available in Visme.

One great form of lead generation is hosting a webinar . This webinar template allows you to insert all of the information and sales pitch you want to share with your webinar attendees, all in a stunning, cohesive design.

Simply insert your own info, then brand the design so it matches your company’s fonts, colors and other style guide elements.

Template #7: SWOT Analysis Presentation Template

A SWOT analysis presentation template available in Visme.

Have you ever conducted a SWOT analysis for your business? It covers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that your company faces.

Putting together a SWOT analysis is a great idea when starting a business or adjusting your marketing plan, and this template dedicated to laying out each section is the perfect place to start.

Template #8: Keynote Presentation Template

A keynote presentation template available in Visme.

Are you going to be a keynote speaker at an upcoming event? You should only be focusing on creating stellar content that will wow your audience, rather than how to create your design. Use a template like this to make sure your design is eye-catching no matter what.

Template #9: Employee Handbook Interactive Presentation Template

An employee handbook presentation template available in Visme.

If your business is bringing on new employees, you’ll likely need to put together an employee handbook to make sure everyone understands your company’s mission and the overall guidelines for working with your business.

An interactive presentation template like this one is a great starting point for creating and distributing your own employee handbook.

Not only can you insert helpful information within this presentation, but you can also link back to resources on your intranet or website and simply share the digital version of this presentation via a private or password protected link.

Template #10: Training Manual Presentation Template

A training manual presentation template available in Visme.

In a similar vein, it can also be helpful to create a training manual for the different roles and departments that your company hires for.

Training manuals like this help new employees start off on the right foot, understanding exactly what’s expected of them in their role and day-to-day tasks. Customize this template with your own training information to share with new team members.

Template #11: Case Study Presentation Template

A case study presentation template available in Visme.

Another great use case for your next presentation is to share a case study . Showcase how your customers are using your tool and highlight success stories that could drive potential customers to sign up for your product or service.

Template #12: Informational Presentation Template

An informational presentation template available in Visme.

Regardless of who your audience is, presentations are the perfect format for sharing information. Create an informational presentation to embed in a blog post or share on SlideShare. Present important information to your team. Create presentations to share useful information at conferences and events.

There are so many different reasons you might need to create an informational presentation, and this template is the perfect fit.

Template #13: Creative Brief Interactive Presentation Template

A creative brief presentation template available in Visme.

When working with a freelancer, contractor or designer, sometimes you’ll need to present a creative brief so everyone working on the project knows exactly what the outcome is supposed to be.

Using an interactive presentation template like the one above is a great idea for conveying the information in an engaging way that will be easy to remember.

Template #14: Guy Kawasaki Presentation Template

A Guy Kawasaki presentation template available in Visme.

Guy Kawasaki coined the 10-20-30 rule when it comes to presentations. 10 slides, 20 minute presentation, with fonts no smaller than 30pt.

If that’s what you’re looking for, this presentation template is exactly what you need.

Template #15: Ignite Presentation Template

An Ignite presentation template available in Visme.

Ignite is a special type of presentation. Speakers give a 5-minute presentation on their topic alongside 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds.

This means you can’t have too much text on any given slide, as you need to keep the tempo of the presentation.

If you’re planning to give an Ignite presentation, this template offers up the perfect starting point for ensuring you’re not using too much text.

Create Your Own Stunning Presentation Design

Ready to get started designing your own presentation? Give Visme’s presentation software a try and create the best presentation design you’ve ever made. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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About the Author

Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.

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Presentation design guide: tips, examples, and templates

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Anete Ezera January 09, 2023

Presentation design defines how your content will be received and remembered. It’s responsible for that crucial first impression and sets the tone for your presentation before you’ve even introduced the topic . It’s also what holds your presentation together and guides the viewer through it. That’s why visually appealing, easily understandable, and memorable presentation design is what you should be striving for. But how can you create a visually striking presentation without an eye for design? Creating a visually appealing presentation can be challenging without prior knowledge of design or helpful tools. 

With this presentation design guide accompanied by Prezi presentation examples , templates , and AI functionalities , you’ll have no problem creating stunning and impactful presentations that’ll wow your audience.

a man working on his laptop

In this guide, we’ll start by looking at the basics of presentation design. We’ll provide a simple guide on creating a presentation from scratch and offer helpful tips for different presentation types . In addition, you’ll discover how to organize information into a logical order and present it in a way that resonates with listeners. Finally, we’ll share tips and tricks to create an eye-catching presentation, and showcase some great presentation examples and templates you can get inspired by!

With our comprehensive guide to the best presentation design techniques, you’ll be able to develop an engaging and professional presentation that gets results!

What is presentation design?

Presentation design encompasses a variety of elements that make up the overall feel and look of the presentation. It’s a combination of certain elements, like text, font, color, background, imagery, and animations. 

Presentation design focuses on finding ways to make the presentation more visually appealing and easy to process, as it is often an important tool for communicating a message. It involves using design principles like color, hierarchy, white space, contrast, and visual flow to create an effective communication piece.

Mind map idea from Prezi AI

Creating an effective presentation design is important for delivering your message efficiently and leaving a memorable impact on your audience. Most of all, you want your presentation design to support your topic and make it easier to understand and digest. A great presentation design guides the viewer through your presentation and highlights its essential aspects. 

If you’re interested in learning more about presentation design and its best practices , watch the following video and get practical insights on designing your next presentation:

Types of presentations

When creating a presentation design, you have to keep in mind several types of presentations that shape the initial design you want to have. Depending on your presentation type, you’ll want to match it with a fitting presentation design.

1. Informative

An informative presentation provides the audience with facts and data to educate them on a certain subject matter. This could be done through visual aids such as graphs, diagrams, and charts. In an informative presentation, you want to highlight data visualizations and make them more engaging with interactive features or animations. On Prezi Design, you can create different engaging data visualizations from line charts to interactive maps to showcase your data.

2. Instructive

Instructive presentations teach the audience something new. Whether it’s about science, business strategies, or culture, this type of presentation is meant to help people gain knowledge and understand a topic better. 

With a focus on transmitting knowledge, your presentation design should incorporate a variety of visuals and easy-to-understand data visualizations. Most people are visual learners, so you’ll benefit from swapping text-based slides for more visually rich content.

presentation design guide to design presentations

3. Motivational

Motivational presentations try to inspire the audience by giving examples of successful projects, stories, or experiences. This type of presentation is often used in marketing or promotional events because it seeks to get the audience inspired and engaged with a product or service. That’s why the presentation design needs to capture and hold the attention of your audience using a variety of animations and visuals. Go beyond plain images – include videos for a more immersive experience.

4. Persuasive

Persuasive presentations are designed to sway an audience with arguments that lead to an actionable decision (i.e., buy the product). Audiences learn facts and figures relevant to the point being made and explore possible solutions based on evidence provided during the speech or presentation.

In a persuasive presentation design, you need to capture your audience’s attention right away with compelling statistics wrapped up in interactive and engaging data visualizations. Also, the design needs to look and feel dynamic with smooth transitions and fitting visuals, like images, stickers, and GIFs.

persuasive presentation design

To learn more about different types of presentations and how to structure them accordingly, read our article on presentation types .

How to design a presentation

When you first open a blank presentation page, you might need some inspiration to start creating your design. For this reason, we created a simple guide that’ll help you make your own presentation from scratch without headaches.

1. Opt for a motion-based presentation

You can make an outstanding presentation using Prezi Present, a software program that lets you create interactive presentations that capture your viewer’s attention. Prezi’s zooming feature allows you to add movement to your presentation and create smooth transitions. Prezi’s non-linear format allows you to jump between topics instead of flipping through slides, so your presentation feels more like a conversation than a speech. A motion-based presentation will elevate your content and ideas, and make it a much more engaging viewing experience for your audience.

Watch this video to learn how to make a Prezi presentation:

2. Create a structure & start writing content

Confidence is key in presenting. You can feel more confident going into your presentation if you structure your thoughts and plan what you will say. To do that, first, choose the purpose of your presentation before you structure it. There are four main types of presentations: informative, instructive, motivational, and persuasive. Think about the end goal of your presentation – what do you want your audience to do when you finish your presentation – and structure it accordingly.

Next, start writing the content of your presentation (script). We recommend using a storytelling framework, which will enable you to present a conflict and show what could be possible. In addition to creating compelling narratives for persuasive presentations, this framework is also effective for other types of presentations.

A close-up of a female entrepreneur using laptop for business and finances to work with personal data. She is utilizing AI, A.I., and ML technologies in daily life to enhance her working routine. Embracing the futuristic union of human and technology and meeting presentation deadlines.

Tip: Keep your audience in mind. If you’re presenting a data-driven report to someone new to the field or from a different department, don’t use a lot of technical jargon if you don’t know their knowledge base and/or point of view.

3. Research & analyze 

Knowing your topic inside and out will make you feel more confident going into your presentation. That’s why it’s important to take the time to understand your topic fully. In return, you’ll be able to answer questions on the fly and get yourself back on track even if you forget what you were going to say when presenting. In case you have extra time at the end of your presentation, you can also provide more information for your audience and really showcase your expertise. For comprehensive research, turn to the internet, and library, and reach out to experts if possible.

woman doing an online research

4. Get to design

Keeping your audience engaged and interested in your topic depends on the design of your presentation.

Now that you’ve done your research and have a proper presentation structure in place, it’s time to visualize it.

4.1. Presentation design layout

What you want to do is use your presentation structure as a presentation design layout. Apply the structure to how you want to tell your story and think about how each point will lead to the next one. Now you can either choose to use one of Prezi’s pre-designed templates that resemble your presentation structure the most or start to add topics on your canvas as you go. 

Tip: When adding content, visualize the relation between topics by using visual hierarchy – hide smaller topics within larger themes or use the zooming feature to zoom in and out of supplementary topics or details that connect to the larger story you’re telling.

4.2. Color scheme

Now it’s time to choose your color scheme to give a certain look and feel to your presentation. Make sure to use contrasting colors to clearly separate text from the background, and use a maximum of 2 to 3 dominating colors to avoid an overwhelming presentation design.

Storyboard Example – Water Cycle Project

4.2. Content (visuals + text)

Add content that you want to highlight in your presentation. Select from a wide range of images, stickers, GIFs, videos, data visualizations, and more from the content library, or upload your own. To provide more context, add short-format text, like bullet points or headlines that spotlight the major themes, topics, and ideas in your presentation. 

Also, here you’ll want to make a final decision on your font choice. Select a font that’s easy to read and goes well with your brand and topic.

presentation design tips

Tip: Be careful not to turn your presentation into a script. Only display text that holds significant value – expand on the ideas when presenting. 

4.3. Transitions

Last but not least, bring your presentation design to life by adding smooth, attractive, and engaging transitions that take the viewer from one topic to another without disrupting the narrative. 

On Prezi, you can choose from a range of transitions that take you into the story world and provide an immersive presentation experience for your audience.

5. Practice your delivery 

Even with a great presentation design, how you deliver it is crucial in leaving an impression. Practice your presentation’s timing to become familiar with the rhythm and pace. It might help to record yourself to pinpoint areas for enhancement. Practicing in front of a friend or family member can also offer insights. Keep in mind the more you rehearse, the more self-assured and at ease you’ll be when giving the presentation.

6. Engage your audience 

Engaging with your audience can enhance the impact of your presentation. You could prompt discussions, invite participation, or incorporate features such as surveys or puzzles. For instance, when introducing a marketing plan you could kick off with a survey to assess how well the audience grasps the subject. This boosts interactivity in your presentation and also fosters a connection with your listeners and sustains their interest throughout.

presentation design best practices

7. Use storytelling techniques

Using stories can be a way to captivate your audience and ensure that your message sticks with them. When creating a presentation, consider incorporating a narrative structure that incorporates a beginning, middle, and end. For example, when outlining a business strategy, kick off with a story that highlights a challenge in need of resolution. Then delve into your proposed solution before illustrating the results that can be achieved. This storytelling approach can foster a connection with your audience and enhance their grasp of the main ideas you’re conveying.

8. Prepare for technical difficulties

It’s common to encounter glitches, so being ready is key. Make sure you have a strategy in place if things go south during your presentation. For instance, store your presentation on devices like a USB drive and online storage, and keep hard copies of important slides handy. Also, get acquainted with the equipment and software you’ll use for the presentation. Planning ahead for any issues can help you navigate them smoothly and maintain the flow of your presentation.

9. Include high-quality visuals

Good visuals play a role in the success of your presentation. Incorporate top-notch pictures, graphics,3 and videos to ensure your slides are visually captivating and interesting. Steer clear of using low-quality images that may come off as pixelated and amateurish. When presenting data, think about using charts or infographics to present the information clearly. Prezi provides access to a selection of high-quality visuals that can elevate the design impact of your presentation.

10. Be unique

It’s crucial to make sure your design is original to set yourself apart from the crowd. If you’re a student, aim to craft a presentation that showcases your flair and avoid imitating others. This approach helps you differentiate yourself and ensures that your work is more memorable. In the business field, make sure that your design elements, such as colors, fonts, and overall aesthetics are different from those used by similar companies. Steer clear of templates that might give your presentation a generic feel. By developing a unique design, you establish your identity and leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Smiling african woman giving presentation at startup. Happy female professional standing in front of a large television screen with a graph.

For more practical tips read our article on how to make a presentation . 

Presentation design tips

When it comes to presentations, design is key. A well-designed presentation can communicate your ideas clearly and engage your audience, while a poorly designed one can do the opposite.

To ensure your presentation is designed for success, note the following presentation design tips that’ll help you design better presentations that wow your audience.

women working on her laprop

1. Keep it simple

Too many elements on a slide can be overwhelming and distract from your message. While you want your content to be visually compelling, don’t let the design of the presentation get in the way of communicating your ideas. Presentation design elements need to elevate your message instead of overshadowing it. 

2. Use contrasting text colors

Draw attention to important points with contrasted text colors. Instead of using bold or italics, use a contrasting color in your chosen palette to emphasize the text.

3. Be clear and concise

Avoid writing long paragraphs that are difficult to read. Limit paragraphs and sections of text for optimum readability.

4. Make sure your slide deck is visually appealing

Use high-quality images and graphics, and limit the use of text to only the most important information. For engaging and diverse visuals, go to Prezi’s content library and discover a wide range of stock images, GIFs, stickers, and more.

Prezi AI generated template for mind map ideas

5. Pay attention to detail

Small details like font choice and alignments can make a big difference in how professional and polished your presentation looks. Make sure to pay attention to image and text size, image alignment with text, font choice, background color, and more details that create the overall look of your presentation.

6. Use templates sparingly

While templates can help create a consistent look for your slides, overusing them can make your presentation look generic and boring. Use them for inspiration but don’t be afraid to mix things up with some custom designs as well. 

7. Design for clarity

Create a presentation layout that is easy to use and navigate, with clear labels and instructions. This is important for ensuring people can find the information they need quickly and easily if you end up sharing your presentation with others.

8. Opt for a conversational presentation design

Prezi presentation example created using Prezi AI.

Conversational presenting allows you to adjust your presentation on the fly to make it more relevant and engaging. Create a map-like arrangement that’ll encourage you to move through your presentation at your own pace. With a map-like design, each presentation will be customized to match different audiences’ needs. This can be helpful for people who have different levels of expertise or knowledge about the subject matter.

9. Be consistent 

Design consistency holds your presentation together and makes it easy to read and navigate. Create consistency by repeating colors, fonts, and design elements that clearly distinguish your presentation from others.

10. Have context in mind

A great presentation design is always dependent on the context. Your audience and objective influence everything from color scheme to fonts and use of imagery. Make sure to always have your audience in mind when designing your presentations.

Science project presentation template

11. Use white space effectively

In slide design, whitespace, also known as negative space, refers to the areas surrounding elements. It plays a role in decluttering your slides, enhancing readability, and directing focus towards content. Utilizing whitespace results in a sophisticated appearance for your slides. Remember, simplicity is key – avoid overwhelming your audience with information on each slide.

12. Incorporate visual hierarchy

When it comes to visuals, the key is to organize elements in a manner that naturally directs the viewer’s attention towards the crucial parts of the presentation. Utilize variations in size, color, and positioning to establish a flow for the viewer to navigate through. For instance, opt for fonts to highlight headings, colors for significant points, and position essential elements at the top of the slide. These tactics aid in ensuring that your audience grasps the ideas promptly and effortlessly.

QBR template from Prezi

For more presentation tips, read the Q&A with presentation design experts and get valuable insights on visual storytelling.

Make the presentation design process easier by pairing up with Prezi AI 

Presentation design may not come naturally to everyone, and time constraints often limit our ability to dedicate hours to perfecting our designs. Enter Prezi AI , a tool that streamlines the presentation design process enabling users to prioritize content over appeal. Let’s explore some ways in which Prezi AI can elevate your presentation design.

  • Template suggestions: Prezi AI provides a range of crafted templates that are customized to match your presentation’s theme, guaranteeing that your slides have a unified appearance with minimal hassle.
  • Smart formatting: When using Prezi AI , your text and images will be formatted automatically, eliminating the need for layout adjustments. This results in a professional appearance without the hassle.
  • Design consistency: Prezi AI ensures that your presentation maintains a design by keeping color schemes and fonts consistent, eliminating the need to fret over discrepancies.
  • Image and media integration: Enhance the appeal and engagement of your slides by adding relevant images, videos, and graphics with the help of Prezi AI smart media recommendations.
  • Customizable animations: Enhance your slides with custom animations using Prezi AI to create transitions and captivate your audience. These dynamic animations can emphasize points and ensure a smooth flow throughout your presentation.

Using Prezi AI allows you to simplify the design process and craft appealing presentations, even if you lack time or design skills.

Presentation templates

Creating a presentation from scratch isn’t easy. Sometimes, it’s better to start with a template and dedicate your time to the presentation’s content. To make your life easier, here are 10 useful and stunning presentation templates that score in design and engagement. If you want to start creating with any of the following templates, simply go to our Prezi presentation template gallery , select your template, and start creating! Also, you can get inspired by the top Prezi presentations , curated by our editors. There you can discover presentation examples for a wide range of topics, and get motivated to create your own. 

Business meeting presentation

The work desk presentation templates have a simple and clean design, perfectly made for a team or business meeting. With all the topics visible from the start, everyone will be on the same page about what you’re going to cover in the presentation. If you want, you can add or remove topics as well as edit the visuals and color scheme to match your needs.

Small business presentation

This template is great for an introductory meeting or pitch, where you have to summarize what you or your business does in a few, highly engaging slides. The interactive layout allows you to choose what topic bubble you’re going to select next, so instead of a one-way interaction, you can have a conversation and ask your audience what exactly they’re interested in knowing about your company.

Mindfulness at work presentation

How can you capture employees’ attention to explain important company values or practices? This engaging presentation template will help you do just that. With a wide range of impactful visuals, this presentation design helps you communicate your ideas more effectively. 

Business review template

Make your next quarterly business review memorable with this vibrant business presentation template. With eye-capturing visuals and an engaging layout, you’ll communicate important stats and hold everyone’s attention until the end.

History timeline template

With black-and-white sketches of the Colosseum in the background, this timeline template makes history come alive. The displayed time periods provide an overview that’ll help your audience to grasp the bigger picture. After, you can go into detail about each time frame and event.

Storytelling presentation template

Share stories about your business that make a lasting impact with this stunning, customizable presentation template. To showcase each story, use the zooming feature and choose to tell your stories in whatever order you want.

Design concept exploration template

Not all meetings happen in person nowadays. To keep that face-to-face interaction even when presenting online, choose from a variety of Prezi Video templates or simply import your already-existing Prezi template into Prezi Video for remote meetings. This professional-looking Prezi Video template helps you set the tone for your meeting, making your designs stand out. 

Employee perks and benefits video template

You can use the employee benefits video template to pitch potential job candidates the perks of working in your company. The Prezi Video template allows you to keep a face-to-face connection with potential job candidates while interviewing them remotely.

Sales plan presentation template

Using a clear metaphor that everyone can relate to, this football-inspired sales plan presentation template communicates a sense of team unity and strategy. You can customize this Prezi business presentation template with your brand colors and content.

Flashcard template

How can you engage students in an online classroom? This and many other Prezi Video templates will help you create interactive and highly engaging lessons. Using the flashcard template, you can quiz your students, review vocabulary, and gamify learning.

Great presentation design examples

If you’re still looking for presentation design ideas, check out the following Prezi presentations made by our creative users.

Social media presentation

This presentation is a great example of visual storytelling. The use of visual hierarchy and spatial relationships creates a unique viewing experience and makes it easier to understand how one topic or point is related to another. Also, images provide an engaging and visually appealing experience.

Leadership books presentation

Do you want to share your learnings? This interactive presentation offers great insights in an entertaining and visually compelling way. Instead of compiling leadership books in a slide-based presentation, the creator has illustrated each book and added a zooming feature that allows you to peek inside of each book’s content.

Remote workforce presentation

This is a visually rich and engaging presentation example that offers an interactive experience for the viewer. A noteworthy aspect of this presentation design is its color consistency and matching visual elements.

A presentation about the teenage brain 

Another great presentation design example that stands out is an engaging viewing experience. The zooming feature allows the user to dive into each topic and choose what subject to view first. It’s a great example of an educational presentation that holds the students’ attention with impactful visuals and compelling transitions.

Remote work policy presentation

This presentation design stands out with its visually rich content. It depicts exactly what the presentation is about and uses the illustrated window frames in the background image as topic placements. This type of presentation design simplifies complex concepts and makes it easier for the viewer to understand and digest the information.

Everyone can create visually appealing presentations with the right tools and knowledge. With the presentation design tips, templates, and examples, you’re equipped to make your next presentation a success. If you’re new to Prezi, we encourage you to discover everything it has to offer. With this presentation design guide and Prezi, we hope you’ll get inspired to create meaningful, engaging, and memorable content for your audience!

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10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED’s in-house expert

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When your slides rock, your whole presentation pops to life. At TED2014, David Epstein created a clean, informative slide deck to support his talk on the changing bodies of athletes . Photo: James Duncan Davidson/TED

Aaron Weyenberg is the master of slide decks. Our UX Lead creates Keynote presentations that are both slick and charming—the kind that pull you in and keep you captivated, but in an understated way that helps you focus on what’s actually being said. He does this for his own presentations and for lots of other folks in the office. Yes, his coworkers ask him to design their slides, because he’s just that good.

We asked Aaron to bottle his Keynote mojo so that others could benefit from it. Here, 10 tips for making an effective slide deck, split into two parts: the big, overarching goals, and the little tips and tricks that make your presentation sing.

Gavin-AllHands-20140710-1.0.001

Aaron used this image of a New Zealand disaster to kick off a slide deck from TED’s tech team — all about how they prepares for worst-case scenarios. He asked for permission to use the image, and credited the photographer, Blair Harkness. View the whole slidedeck from this presentation.

The big picture…

  • Think about your slides last . Building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation. Think about your main message, structure its supporting points, practice it and time it—and then start thinking about your slides. The presentation needs to stand on its own; the slides are just something you layer over it to enhance the listener experience. Too often, I see slide decks that feel more like presenter notes, but I think it’s far more effective when the slides are for the audience to give them a visual experience that adds to the words. .
  • Create a consistent look and feel . In a good slide deck, each slide feels like part of the same story. That means using the same or related typography, colors and imagery across all your slides. Using pre-built master slides can be a good way to do that, but it can feel restrictive and lead to me-too decks. I like to create a few slides to hold sample graphic elements and type, then copy what I need from those slides as I go. .
  • Think about topic transitions . It can be easy to go too far in the direction of consistency, though. You don’t want each slide to look exactly the same. I like to create one style for the slides that are the meat of what I’m saying, and then another style for the transitions between topics. For example, if my general slides have a dark background with light text, I’ll try transition slides that have a light background with dark text. That way they feel like part of the same family, but the presentation has texture—and the audience gets a visual cue that we’re moving onto a new topic. .
  • With text, less is almost always more . One thing to avoid—slides with a lot of text, especially if it’s a repeat of what you’re saying out loud. It’s like if you give a paper handout in a meeting—everyone’s head goes down and they read, rather than staying heads-up and listening. If there are a lot of words on your slide, you’re asking your audience to split their attention between what they’re reading and what they’re hearing. That’s really hard for a brain to do, and it compromises the effectiveness of both your slide text and your spoken words. If you can’t avoid having text-y slides, try to progressively reveal text (like unveiling bullet points one by one) as you need it. .
  • Use photos that enhance meaning . I love using simple, punchy photos in presentations, because they help what you’re saying resonate in your audience’s mind without pulling their attention from your spoken words. Look for photos that (1) speak strongly to the concept you’re talking about and (2) aren’t compositionally complex. Your photo could be a metaphor or something more literal, but it should be clear why the audience is looking at it, and why it’s paired with what you’re saying. For example, I recently used the image above—a photo of a container ship about to tip over (it eventually sank)—to lead off a co-worker’s deck about failure preparation. And below is another example of a photo I used in a deck to talk about the launch of the new TED.com . The point I was making was that a launch isn’t the end of a project—it’s the beginning of something new. We’ll learn, adapt, change and grow.

Here, a lovely image from a slidedeck Aaron created about the redesign of TED.com . View the whole deck from this presentation .

And now some tactical tips…

  • Go easy on the effects and transitions . Keynote and Powerpoint come with a lot of effects and transitions. In my opinion, most of these don’t do much to enhance the audience experience. At worst, they subtly suggest that the content of your slides is so uninteresting that a page flip or droplet transition will snap the audience out of their lethargy. If you must use them, use the most subtle ones, and keep it consistent. .

mask-3

  • Try panning large images . Often, I want to show screen shot of an entire web page in my presentations. There’s a great Chrome extension to capture these—but these images are oftentimes much longer than the canvas size of the presentation. Rather than scaling the image to an illegible size, or cropping it, you can pan it vertically as you talk about it. In Keynote, this is done with a Move effect, which you can apply from an object’s action panel. .
  • For video, don’t use autoplay . It’s super easy to insert video in Keynote and Powerpoint—you just drag a Quicktime file onto the slide. And when you advance the deck to the slide with the video that autoplays, sometimes it can take a moment for the machine to actually start playing it. So often I’ve seen presenters click again in an attempt to start the video during this delay, causing the deck to go to the next slide. Instead, set the video to click to play. That way you have more predictable control over the video start time, and even select a poster frame to show before starting. .

users-chart

Lastly, I’d love to leave you with a couple book recommendations. The first is Resonate , by Nancy Duarte. It’s not so much about slides, but about public speaking in general – which is the foundation for any presentation, regardless of how great your slides are. In it, she breaks down the anatomy of what makes a great presentation, how to establish a central message and structure your talk, and more. (One of her case studies comes from Benjamin Zander’s charming TED Talk about classical music, a talk that captivated the audience from start to finish.) Think of this as prerequisite reading for my second recommendation, also by Duarte: Slide:ology . This is more focused on presentation visuals and slides.

Happy slide-making.

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17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips From Pro Presenters [+ Templates]

Jamie Cartwright

Updated: April 26, 2024

Published: September 18, 2013

PowerPoint presentations can be professional, attractive, and really help your audience remember your message.

powerpoint tricks

If you don’t have much experience, that’s okay — I’m going to arm you with PowerPoint design tips from pro presenters, the steps you need to build an engaging deck, and templates to help you nail great slide design.

→ Free Download: 10 PowerPoint Presentation Templates [Access Now]

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Buckle up for a variety of step-by-step explanations as well as tips and tricks to help you start mastering this program. There are additional resources woven in, and you’ll find expert perspectives from other HubSpotters along the way.

Table of Contents

How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

Powerpoint presentation tips.

Microsoft PowerPoint is like a test of basic professional skills, and each PowerPoint is basically a presentation made of multiple slides.

Successful PowerPoints depend on three main factors: your command of PowerPoint's design tools, your attention to presentation processes, and being consistent with your style.

Keep those in mind as we jump into PowerPoint's capabilities.

Getting Started

1. open powerpoint and click ‘new.’.

A page with templates will usually open automatically, but if not, go to the top left pane of your screen and click New . If you’ve already created a presentation, select Open and then double-click the icon to open the existing file.

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10 Free PowerPoint Templates

Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation.

  • Creative templates.
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  • Professional templates.

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Creating PowerPoint Slides

3. insert a slide..

Insert a new slide by clicking on the Home tab and then the New Slide button. Consider what content you want to put on the slide, including heading, text, and imagery.

presentation design best practices

10. Present websites within PowerPoint.

Believe it or not, presenting websites within PowerPoint is something we’re still having to find work-arounds for.

From my experience, these are some tactics that have worked in the past that may be helpful depending on which version of PowerPoint you have:

  • Traditionally, to show a website in a PowerPoint slide you would just create a link to the page and prompt a separate browser to open.
  • Try adding the third-party program LiveWeb that you install on your PowerPoint program. Head to the LiveWeb website and follow the instructions. Unfortunately, Mac users don’t have a similar option.
  • Take screenshots of a website, insert the image on your slide, and link in through a browser. You can embed media (such as a YouTube video) by downloading it directly to your computer.
  • Some versions allowed a Web Viewer Add-on until Microsoft decided that was a security risk. Insert>Get Add-ons , search for Web Viewer , then click on the Add button.
  • Install ClassPoint , which essentially puts an internet window on top of your slide for use until you’re done with it, then you can just move to the next slide. You can even bookmark the webpage you want ahead of time to jump straight to it. Using this does introduce a new navigation bar along the bottom of your presentation. Here’s a video Introduction to ClassPoint:

  • Finally, PowerPoint Live is a new tool that enables you to do more seamless presentations during video calls and may be a better overall match for doing presentations remotely. Check out this video:

11. Try Using GIFs.

presentation design best practices

12 Free Customizable Resume Templates

Fill out this form to access your free professionally-designed templates, available on:

  • Microsoft Word
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  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Google Slides

15. Embed multimedia.

PowerPoint allows you to either link to video/audio files externally or to embed the media directly in your presentation. For PCs, two great reasons for embedding are:

  • Embedding allows you to play media directly in your presentation. It will look much more professional than switching between windows.
  • Embedding also means that the file stays within the PowerPoint presentation, so it should play normally without extra work (except on a Mac).

If you use PowerPoint for Mac it gets a bit complicated, but it can be done:

  • Always bring the video and/or audio file with you in the same folder as the PowerPoint presentation.
  • Only insert video or audio files once the presentation and the containing folder have been saved on a portable drive in their permanent folder.
  • If the presentation will be played on a Windows computer, then Mac users need to make sure their multimedia files are in WMV format.
  • Consider using the same operating system for designing and presenting, no matter what.

16. Bring your own hardware.

Between operating systems, PowerPoint is still a bit jumpy. Even between differing PPT versions, things can change. The easiest fix? Just bring along your own laptop when you're presenting.

The next easiest fix is to upload your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides as a backup option — just make sure there is a good internet connection and a browser available where you plan to present.

Google Slides is a cloud-based presentation software that will show up the same way on all operating systems.

To import your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides:

  • Navigate to slides.google.com . Make sure you’re signed in to a Google account (preferably your own).
  • Under Start a new presentation , click the empty box with a plus sign. This will open up a blank presentation.
  • Go to File , then Import slides .
  • A dialog box will come up. Tap Upload.
  • Click Select a file from your device .
  • Select your presentation and click Open .
  • Select the slides you’d like to import. If you want to import all of them, click All in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
  • Click Import slides.

When I tested this out, Google Slides imported everything perfectly, including a shape whose points I had manipulated. This is a good backup option to have if you’ll be presenting across different operating systems.

17. Use Presenter View.

In most presentation situations, there will be both a presenter’s screen and the main projected display for your presentation.

PowerPoint has a great tool called Presenter View, which can be found in the Slide Show tab of PowerPoint. Included in the Presenter View is an area for notes, a timer/clock, and a presentation display.

For many presenters, this tool can help unify their spoken presentation and their visual aid. You never want to make the PowerPoint seem like a stack of notes that you’re reading off of.

Use the Presenter View option to help create a more natural presentation.

Pro Tip: At the start of the presentation, you should also hit CTRL + H to make the cursor disappear. Hitting the “A” key will bring it back if you need it.

Your Next Great PowerPoint Presentation Starts Here

Now that you have these style, design, and presentation tips under your belt, you should feel confident to create your PowerPoint presentation.

But if you can explore other resources to make sure your content hits the mark. After all, you need a strong presentation to land your point and make an impression.

With several templates to choose from — both in PowerPoint and available for free download — you can swiftly be on your way to creating presentations that wow your audiences.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Presentation Design: Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Presentation Design: Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Great presentation design is as important as presenting. Are you creating your own slide decks? Here are some must-follow rules for awesome presentations!

Table of Contents

One-stop for all your designs. Flat monthly price, unlimited requests and revisions.

Whether you are pitching a business idea, telling about your new research, or sharing important data with your audience, presentations are a visual aid essential for your success. You could have awesome presenter skills, and a fantastic idea for the content. But without stunning presentation design, the whole thing will fall flat. Learn how to make a good PowerPoint presentation design with these 10 tips.

Presentations: you’ve seen many of them, and you've probably made several yourself. An ultimate visual communication tool to get your point across, presentations are deeply integrated into the academic and business world.

However, many individuals and businesses still make the mistake of thinking that PowerPoint presentation design always comes down to dark text on a white background, with a few images and charts sprinkled in. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Presentation design shouldn’t be walls of text or extensive bullet point lists, but rather a way to tell a story and inspire the audience with a beautiful and balanced design. And it’s not just about communicating with your audience. Visme found that 91% of presenters feel more confident when using a professionally designed slide deck .

Want to learn how to make a good PowerPoint presentation design? We can help. In this article, we’ll cover the basics, such as:

What is presentation design?

  • What types of presentations are there?
  • 7 Tips to design presentation slides yourself.

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Presentation design focuses on the visual look of your presentation as a tool to engage your audience. It is the way you present your information on the slide: the color scheme, combination of fonts, the way design elements are used as part of your slide. All of this comes together to present your message in a certain way.

Presentation design is about finding the perfect combination of design elements to create slides that will not bore or tire your audience, but rather engage them and glue them to the slides while attentively listening. Whether you are looking to inform your audience, entertain them, establish credibility, or something else, well-thought-out and executed presentation slides can help you achieve this.

image3.jpg

Types of presentations

What is the first step in designing an effective presentation? Knowing what the presentation is for, of course.

Presentations have different purposes. A quarterly presentation you are making for the investors of your dropshipping business will not be the same as an employee training slide. In the first case, your aim will be to inform and report, in the second case, the goal of the presentation is to educate. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, there are 5 types of presentations. Let’s take a look at each.

  • Informative - One of the most common presentation types, informative presentations aim to communicate important information with the audience and show new findings. Think of presenting company updates or planning a new project: informative presentations should be clear and straight to the point.
  • Persuasive - As the name suggests, the aim of this presentation type is to use important data to not simply inform the viewers, but to persuade them to take a specific action. Persuasive presentations are what you should show to potential investors when telling them about the user acquisition growth speed of your company.
  • Educational - Often confused with informative presentations, educational presentations are different because they aim to not simply inform, but to teach the viewers new skills and educate them about a new topic. Staff training slides or academic presentations are a great example of this slide type. You can go as far as making a tutorial video and including it in the slides, adding notes and key points next to it.
  • Inspirational - Often used by managers and team leaders, inspirational presentations aim to cause a spark and motivate employees to work harder. Presentations of this type usually have a highly emotional message the aim of which is to inspire viewers to take a particular action.
  • Problem-solving - This presentation type does a particularly good job at hooking the audience, as the key part of this presentation is the problem they are facing. Then, during the presentation, you are showing them how you are going to solve that problem. An example of this would be discussing how hard it is for large companies to hire qualified people by sharing statistics, then presenting your new HR automation tool and showing its benefits.

7 presentation design tips for beginners

Are you ready to jump into it? Here are 7 golden tips that will help you design presentation slides you can be proud of.

1. Outline your content and refine the key message

What is the first step in designing an effective presentation? You need to prepare your content and refine the key message. Try to understand what your audience wants to know, what they may already know, and what is more likely to keep them engaged. Then, keep this information in mind as you prepare your content for your presentation. What is the main takeaway from each slide?

Choose a working title and have a clear point for each of the slides. Understand what you want your slide to tell people. For example, instead of “Using hashtags for Instagram ” go with “Using hashtags for Instagram increases engagement by 12.5%.”

Keep your content specific and informative, but as concise as possible. Simplify your sentences, keep only the main point without writing an excessive amount of information on the slide. Below are two examples of a slide with the same information. Which one do you think is more readable?

image1.jpg

2. Pick a framework

Now it’s time to pick the framework you are going to use to make your professional presentation design. Do you want to create a presentation from scratch, or go with something pre-built?

There are many terrific presentation design templates available online, on platforms like Canva, Visme, and Venngage. Still, you should never use a presentation template without editing it .

Changing the color scheme or fonts to match your brand may seem like a small detail, but it will greatly improve the overall impression of your presentation. It also helps to strengthen your brand identity (whether for a personal or business brand marketing ), and demonstrates professionalism and care.

Another important thing is not to limit your creativity to pre-built presentations. That’s why it’s also advisable to explore presentation designs on platforms, such as Behance, Dribble, and 99Designs.

Sure, most of these will have been done by professional designers, and may be a little challenging for beginners to recreate. However, understanding just how creative PowerPoint presentation design can be will help you shed your preconceptions and explore new creative routes.

3. Choose a color scheme and fonts

The best presentation design will be limited to a handful of options as too many colors will create chaos on your slide and make it harder for the readers to understand.

If you have a brand guide in place, it’s best to stick to colors and fonts used in your branding. However, remember that a PowerPoint presentation design is supposed to keep viewers engaged. So, even if your brand colors are soothing muted tones, a bright element here and there can work well to draw attention to the key messages.

4. Make it visual

Sharing your information only as texts and bullet points is a lazy way out. When you design presentation slides, consider how you can present information visually. This will help your audience understand and take in key messages faster.

A simple example of this is adding relevant icons instead of simple bullet points. Colored or outlined texts next to realistic and relevant photos make the presentation a lot more enjoyable and keep the viewers entertained.

Graphs and charts are a business presentation design staple. However, you can also think about different design elements that can be both surprising and effective. For example, a simple illustration instead of a dull stock photo will delight your audience and keep them engaged.

image4.jpg

5. Pay attention to the layout

Your slide layout is the area where all of your presentation elements (photos, texts, icons, logo) are contained. Most presentation tools come with pre-built layouts you can use.

You can also create your own layout from scratch. In both cases, the main aim is to design a beautiful slide that doesn’t overwhelm the viewer. Include plenty of white space in your layout, don’t crowd it with too many text boxes and elements. If the elements are different, as they often will be, keep similar one close to each other. Keep your layout as clean and simple as you can.

6. Align and position

Nothing screams amateur more than jumping texts and layouts from slide to slide. Mismatching logos and design elements jumping here and there showcase a lack of professionalism and give an impression that you’ve put your presentation in a hurry. Not to mention that they are sometimes extremely annoying and distractive!

So, whenever you are working on your slides, always align and position them properly. No matter the presentation tool used, chances are, it will have an alignment tool.

Presentation software such as Keynote and Figma even offer an option to create background grids to help with the alignment. Below is an example of a slide, before and after aligning the texts and icons. Notice the difference?

image5.jpg

7. Stay consistent

As you progress through the design of your presentation, it is essential that you stay consistent. No matter how many slides your presentation has, they are still part of one presentation. And you don’t always have to keep the same background color, or slide themes for this. Consistency in design can be achieved through design elements, color schemes, and similar illustrations.

Take a moment to look at these three slides. Although some of the slides seem to be styled differently from the rest, the color scheme of design elements holds the presentation together. It’s crucial to make sure that each one of your slides is visually connected to the previous one, to make sure your viewers don’t lose track of what you were saying.

image2.jpg

Key takeaways

Now that you know the basics of professional presentation design, it's time to try them in practice! As with every other design type, there is no end to presentation design. Try to experiment with different tools, elements, and styles to find the one that works best for your audience. Research trends and best practices, and dedicate time to plan each slide thoughtfully. Don't be afraid to try new things, and you'll see the benefits a good presentation can have for your project in no time.

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35+ Presentation Templates for Every Use

35+ Presentation Templates for Every Use

Database Design: Tips for Effectively Presenting Data

Database Design: Tips for Effectively Presenting Data

presentation design best practices

presentation design best practices

Tips for creating and delivering an effective presentation

In this article.

Creating an effective presentation

Delivering an effective presentation

Tips for creating an effective presentation

Choose a font style that your audience can read from a distance.

Choosing a simple font style, such as Arial or Calibri, helps to get your message across. Avoid very thin or decorative fonts that might impair readability, especially at small sizes.

Choose a font size that your audience can read from a distance.

Try to avoid using font sizes smaller than 18 pt, and you may need to go larger for a large room where the audience is far away.

Keep your text simple and minimize the amount of text on your slides

Use bullets or short sentences, and try to keep each to one line; that is, without text wrapping.

You want your audience to listen to you present your information, rather than read the screen.

Some projectors crop slides at the edges, so long sentences may be cropped.

You can remove articles such as "a" and "the" to help reduce the word count on a line.

Use art to help convey your message.

Use graphics to help tell your story. Don't overwhelm your audience by adding too many graphics to a slide, however.

Make labels for charts and graphs understandable.

Use only enough text to make label elements in a chart or graph comprehensible.

Make slide backgrounds subtle and keep them consistent.

Choose an appealing, consistent template or theme that is not too eye-catching. You don't want the background or design to detract from your message.

See .

For information about using themes, see .

Use high contrast between background color and text color.

Themes automatically set the contrast between a light background with dark colored text or dark background with light colored text.

See .

Check the spelling and grammar.

To earn and maintain the respect of your audience, always check the spelling and grammar in your presentation.

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Tips for delivering an effective presentation

Show up early and verify that your equipment works properly.

Make sure that all equipment is connected and running.

Don't assume that your presentation will work fine on another computer.

Disk failures, software version mismatches, lack of disk space, low memory, and many other factors can ruin a presentation.

Turn off screen savers, and ensure you have the appropriate files and versions of software that you need, including PowerPoint.

To ensure all files are accounted for when you copy them to a USB drive and carry them to your presentation location, see 

Consider storing your presentation on OneDrive so it can be accessible to you from any device with an internet connection.

Verify that the projector's resolution is the same as the computer on which you created your presentation.

If the resolutions don't match, your slides may be cropped, or other display problems can occur.

Turn your screen saver off.

Keep your audience focused on the content of your presentation.

Check all colors on a projection screen before giving the actual presentation.

The colors may project differently than what appears on your monitor.

Ask your audience to hold questions until the end.

Questions are an excellent indicator that people are engaged by your subject matter and presentation skills. But if you save questions until the end of the presentation, you will get through your material uninterrupted. Also, early questions are often answered by ensuing slides and commentary.

Avoid moving the pointer unconsciously.

When you are not using the pointer, remove your hand from the mouse. This helps to stop you from moving the pointer unconsciously, which can be distracting.

Don't read the presentation.

Practice the presentation so that you can speak from bullet points. The text should be a cue for the presenter rather than the full message for the audience.

Stay on time.

If you plan a certain amount of time for your presentation, do not go over. If there is no time limit, take less time rather than more to ensure that people stay engaged.

Monitor your audience's behavior.

Each time that you deliver a presentation, monitor your audience's behavior. If you observe people focusing on your slides, the slides may contain too much data or be confusing or distracting in some other way. Use the information you learn each time to improve your future presentations.

Practice makes perfect.

Consider rehearsing your presentation with .

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The Top 10 Best PowerPoint Design Practices

compilation

PowerPoint Design

powerpoint design practices

presentation design

Nov 19, 2014

Designing a compelling PowerPoint presentation is crucial to delivering an engaging and memorable message. A well-designed presentation enhances your content and makes it easier for your audience to follow along. Whether you’re presenting to a small team or a large audience, following PowerPoint design best practices can significantly improve the effectiveness of your deck.

Here are the top 10 best PowerPoint design practices:

1. Keep It Simple and Focused

Simplicity is key to effective PowerPoint design. Avoid overcrowding your slides with too much text or too many images, which can overwhelm your audience. Each slide should focus on one main idea.

Why It’s Important :

  • Clear Communication : Simplified slides help your audience quickly understand the core message.
  • Avoid Overload : Too much information on one slide can make it hard for the audience to follow.

How to Do It :

  • Limit slides to one topic or key message.
  • Use bullet points sparingly—no more than 5-6 points per slide.

2. Use High-Quality Images and Graphics

Visuals are powerful in presentations, but poor-quality images can reduce the credibility of your message. Always use high-resolution images and relevant graphics to support your points.

  • Visual Appeal : High-quality images make your presentation look more professional and engaging.
  • Supports Understanding : Well-chosen visuals can help explain complex concepts or data.
  • Use high-resolution images that are crisp and clear, even when displayed on large screens.
  • Avoid using clichéd or irrelevant stock images—choose images that enhance your message.

3. Maintain Consistency in Design

Consistency in fonts, colors, and formatting across your slides creates a professional and cohesive look. Inconsistent design can be distracting and reduce the impact of your presentation.

  • Improves Professionalism : Consistency helps reinforce your brand identity and creates a unified look.
  • Enhances Readability : Consistent font and color choices make your slides easier to follow.
  • Stick to a set color scheme and use the same fonts throughout the presentation.
  • Use slide templates or themes to maintain uniformity.

4. Use Contrasting Colors for Readability

Choosing the right color contrast between text and background is essential for readability. Low contrast can make your text difficult to read, while high contrast makes it stand out.

  • Enhances Readability : High contrast ensures your text is legible, even from a distance.
  • Creates Visual Hierarchy : Contrasting colors can help emphasize key points and direct the audience’s attention.
  • Use dark text on light backgrounds or light text on dark backgrounds.
  • Use color contrast to highlight important points or titles.

5. Limit Text and Bullet Points

PowerPoint slides should not be text-heavy. Long paragraphs of text or too many bullet points will cause your audience to read instead of listen to you.

  • Prevents Overload : Short, focused text helps your audience absorb key points without getting bogged down by too much information.
  • Keeps Audience Focused on You : Limiting text ensures the audience listens to your explanation rather than reading the slide.
  • Stick to key points or summaries and elaborate verbally during the presentation.
  • Use no more than 5-6 bullet points per slide, and keep bullet points brief.

6. Choose the Right Font and Size

The fonts you choose can impact the readability and tone of your presentation. Ensure your fonts are easy to read, even from a distance, and appropriate for your audience.

  • Improves Readability : The right font size ensures that your audience can read your text, regardless of their distance from the screen.
  • Sets the Tone : Font choice can set the tone for your presentation—whether it’s professional, casual, or creative.
  • Use sans-serif fonts (like Arial, Calibri, or Helvetica) for clean, modern text.
  • Use at least 24pt font for body text and larger sizes for titles and headings.

7. Incorporate Visual Hierarchy

A clear visual hierarchy helps your audience follow your presentation by organizing the information in a logical flow. You can achieve this by varying font sizes, colors, and placements to guide the viewer’s eye.

  • Enhances Understanding : A well-organized slide makes it easier for your audience to follow the flow of information.
  • Prioritizes Key Points : A strong visual hierarchy helps you highlight the most important elements of each slide.
  • Make titles and key points larger than other text.
  • Use bold or contrasting colors to emphasize important information.

8. Leverage White Space

White space (or negative space) is the empty space around text and graphics. It helps break up content, improves readability, and makes your presentation look cleaner and more professional.

  • Prevents Clutter : White space keeps your slides from feeling overcrowded or overwhelming.
  • Increases Focus : It allows key elements to stand out and directs attention to what matters most.
  • Avoid filling every inch of the slide with content.
  • Leave space around images, text, and graphics to improve readability.

9. Use Animations and Transitions Sparingly

Animations and transitions can add dynamism to your presentation, but overusing them can be distracting. Use them sparingly and only when they serve a purpose.

  • Prevents Distractions : Too many animations or transitions can distract from your message.
  • Enhances Engagement : Well-timed animations can help emphasize key points and keep the audience engaged.
  • Use subtle animations for text and images to appear gradually.
  • Avoid using flashy transitions between slides—stick to simple fades or cuts.

10. Test Your Presentation on Different Devices

Presentations may look different depending on the screen size or resolution. Always test your presentation on the device you’ll be using to ensure everything displays correctly.

  • Prevents Technical Issues : Testing your presentation ensures that fonts, images, and animations appear as expected.
  • Optimizes for Audience View : Testing on a projector or external screen allows you to check how your presentation looks to the audience.
  • Run through your entire presentation on the device you’ll be using to present.
  • Test it in both Presenter View and standard view to ensure everything works smoothly.

Final Thoughts

By following these best practices, you can create PowerPoint presentations that are not only visually appealing but also effective in communicating your message. From keeping your design simple and focused to using white space and testing on different devices, these tips will help you deliver a polished and professional presentation.

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20 Basic PowerPoint Guidelines to Design Effective Presentations in 2024 (+Video)

Brenda Barron

No matter what kind of presentation you’re working on, make sure it's engaging and also well designed. Otherwise, you run the risk of dealing with death by PowerPoint and nobody wants to see their presentation flop. 

Rhea Presentation Template

To make sure your presentation is effective , there are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines you need to follow. In this post, we’ll share those guidelines. We’ll also show you examples of engaging presentation designs so you can save time and make sure your presentation looks polished and professional. 

The Top PowerPoint Guidelines to Design Effective Presentations for 2024 (Video)

Do you want to get started with the best PowerPoint design guidelines quickly? Review the quickstart video:

presentation design best practices

For evern more PowerPoint design guidelines, study the complete tutorial below.

Guidelines for Planning Your PowerPoint Presentation

Before you start with the design part of your presentation, plan your presentation. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation design guidelines to follow when it comes to planning:

1. Decide on the Presentation Goal

Decide on Presentation Goals

First, decide on the presentation goal. Are you sharing an annual report or creating a pitch deck? Is the goal to increase sales or get the higher-ups onboard with a new marketing tactic?

Whatever the case may be, the presentation goal helps you decide what to include in your presentation and how that information should be presented. It'll also help you with all the other steps involved in creating an effective and engaging presentation. 

2. Create an Outline 

With your presentation goal in mind, create an outline for your presentation. You'll save time in the long run. Plus, you'll be sure that your presentation covers everything you need to cover for your idea or data to be understood. 

3. Think About the Slides You Need to Include

The next step is to think about the slides you need to include in your presentation. For example, if you’re creating a pitch deck for potential investors, sharing information about your company on an About or Team slide is a must. 

But if you’re creating an internal presentation to share your sales report, including those slides would be a waste of time. Instead, your presentation should focus on numbers and data as well as individual product or product line performance. 

Sparrow - Creative Agency PowerPoint Presentation

4. Decide on Visuals

Your planning stage should account for visuals that'll help back up your story. This can include photos, icons, charts, infographic elements, graphs, tables, and anything else you need to make your data more visually appealing. Envato Elements is a great source for a wide variety of design assets .

Once you’ve decided on the visuals you want, gather them all in one place so you can easily locate them. Don’t forget that you can create charts and graphs from your Excel data if needed. Be sure to gather those spreadsheets as well. 

5. Establish Your Call to Action

Finally, decide what’s the next step your audience should take once you’re done delivering your presentation. Should they email you or call you to set up an appointment? Do they need to send over information? 

Make sure your last slide includes your call to action along with specific instructions on what to do.

PowerPoint Presentation Design Guidelines

Once you've get your presentation planned out, it’s time to tackle the design part of creating a presentation . When designing your presentation, keep the following guidelines in mind: 

1. Keep the Text to a Minimum

When it comes to your presentation, PowerPoint should assist you in delivering the presentation. It shouldn't be the main source of information. Less is more, so keep the text to a minimum. 

Stick to one main idea per slide and limit yourself to using no more than three bullet points per slide. This will help keep your audience engaged and not zoned out. 

Minimal Presentation PowerPoint Template

2. Use Large Font Sizes

Another thing to keep in mind is that not everybody in your audience will be close to the slides. Make sure to use larger font sizes. Consider using 40 pts for headings and going no smaller than 28 pts for the content text.

3. Make Sure Fonts Are Readable

While we’re on the topic of fonts, avoid using script or decorative fonts. They're hard to read. Stick to sans-serif fonts for body text. To emphasize your headings, use a readable serif font. 

4. Use Color Sparingly

Color can make your presentation more visually appealing. But that doesn’t mean you've got to color every slide differently or use different colors for your fonts. If you’re presenting in a dark room, consider using a dark background for the slide paired with a light color for the text. It'll make it easier for your audience to follow along. 

Avoid using light text on light background or clashing colors. They'll distract your audience. 

5. Enhance the Data With Charts and Graphs

We mentioned earlier you need to decide on the visuals you'll use in your presentation. Using charts and graphs is a great way to make abstract data easier to understand. So, don’t shy away from using them. 

6. Design for Wide Screen Formats

Keep in mind that most projector screens are optimized for widescreen 16:9 ratio. As such, design your presentation following those PowerPoint presentation guidelines. If you design your presentation in 4:3 ratio, your presentation will still work. But some parts of your slides might get cut off or not display properly. 

7. Be Consistent With Style Settings

Another important bit of PowerPoint design guidelines is to keep your design style consistent across all slides. This will reinforce your brand image as well as ensure that the entire presentation is visually appealing.

Batagor PowerPoint Presentation Template

8. Use Animations Sparingly

There's nothing wrong with using subtle animations or slide transitions to keep things interesting. But, avoid animating every single word or slide as this will make your presentation look amateurish and unprofessional. 

9. Proofread Everything

Be sure to proofread each slide to make sure there are no embarrassing typos. If you’re mentioning other associates or colleagues in your presentation, make sure their names are spelled correctly to avoid any awkward moments. Ask another person to go through your presentation and make sure it’s error-free.

10. Consider Using a Template

Akhara Template

Our last guideline for making an effective PowerPoint presentation is to consider using a premade PowerPoint template . A premade template will have a professional design. It'll also have all the slides you'll need: from section break slides, company and team slides to charts, galleries, and more. This will save you a lot of time in the design stage and ensure that your presentation looks polished. 

Presentation Guidelines for Delivering Your PowerPoint

Now that your presentation is designed, the last thing you need to do is deliver it. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines to follow for delivering your PowerPoint presentation :

1. Do a Practice Run

Before the actual presentation day, do a practice run. This will help you memorize the contents of your presentation, not to mention it'll help you build up the necessary confidence.

presentation design best practices

2. Test the Equipment

Show up early before the presentation and test the equipment. The last thing you want is tech difficulties or malfunctions that'll delay the start of your presentation. 

3. Maintain Eye Contact

Throughout your presentation, maintain eye contact with your audience. This will make them feel like you’re talking to them. Plus, it'll help keep them engaged and interested instead of losing interest. 

4. Ask Questions During Your Presentation

Ask your audience questions during the presentation. Get them involved or ask if they've got any questions that need to be clarified. Getting your audience involved is a great tactic for making your entire presentation feel more engaging. It also allows your audience to feel like they're active participants instead of being bombarded with data.

presentation design best practices

5. Don’t Read the Slides

The last bit of PowerPoint guidance we've got for you is to avoid reading the slides. If you read the slides you’ll not only bore your audience, but you’ll also come off as disinterested in your own presentation. This will make your audience disengage and forget your presentation as soon as it’s over.

Best PowerPoint Presentation Template Examples

Following the basic PowerPoint guidelines outlined above is a great way to ensure your presentation has an engaging design and is easy to follow. But there's no doubt that designing an entire presentation from scratch is a time-consuming task. That’s why using a premade PowerPoint presentation template is a great alternative. 

You can find thousands of beautifully designed PowerPoint templates over on Envato Elements. If you buy design templates on a regular basis, Envato Elements is a logical choice. You get access to unlimited PowerPoint and other design templates for one low monthly price.  

Look at some of our top presentation templates from Envato Elements: 

1. Galaxi PowerPoint Presentation Template

Galaxi PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Galaxi PowerPoint template has a clean and modern design. It’s versatile enough to use for all kinds of presentations and comes with five premade color schemes. The template comes with 30 premade slides based on master slides, image placeholders, and editable shapes. 

2. Buizi PowerPoint Presentation

Buizi PowerPoint Presentation

The Buizi is another minimal presentation template for PowerPoint with a versatile design. This template is a great choice for portfolio presentations and comes with 30 total slides, all based on master slides. You’ll also find custom vector icons and fully editable shapes. 

3. Aiony Creative PowerPoint Template

Aiony Creative PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a more creative solution, the Aiony template is a great choice. It’s very photo heavy. This is perfect for any presentation that relies heavily on images and photos. You’ll get a total of 50 slides and drag and drop image placeholders for easy editing. 

4. Agio PowerPoint Presentation Template

Agio PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Agio template is best suited for corporate presentations. It's got an elegant look and feel. Customize colors and fonts to your liking. 

Easily add photos using the image placeholders. You’ll get a total of 630 presentation slides designed in full HD resolution. 

5. Over PowerPoint Presentation Template

Over PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Over PowerPoint presentation template is a multipurpose PowerPoint template. Use it for corporate presentations as well as for pitch decks and webinars. The template comes with 32 slides designed in both standard and HD resolution. 

Envato Elements is a great choice if you need design templates on a regular basis.

Find More PowerPoint Template

And if you want to see more beautiful PowerPoint templates from both Envato Elements, check out the following articles: 

presentation design best practices

Envato Elements: Design Without Limits

Design Without Limits

Envato Elements has a compelling offer.  For a low monthly price, you get access to thousands of unlimited use PowerPoint templates, web templates, stock photos, fonts, and more. 

What’s more, you can download as many templates as you want and customize them to your needs. Sign up for Envato Elements and start downloading PowerPoint templates today.

Design a Stellar Presentation With the Help of PowerPoint Presentation Guidelines

Designing a stellar presentation might seem daunting. But once you’re familiar with and follow the basic PowerPoint guidelines for creating effective PowerPoint presentations, the task becomes easier. 

To save time while you’re designing your presentation, use one of our top PowerPoint presentation templates from Envato Elements. Why not get started today?

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Brenda Barron . A video has been added by Nathan Umoh . Brenda and Nathan are freelance instructors for Envato Tuts+. 

Brenda Barron

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PowerPoint Presentation Best Practices: Tips & Resources

  • Slide Content
  • The Presentation: Public Speaking
  • Tips & Resources

Watch your timing, both while speaking and going through your slides. You don't want to go too fast, but make sure you don't go over your allotted time, either. (This is where practice comes in!) You might want to leave a few minutes at the end for questions.

Sort Your Slides

Try breaking your slides into smaller chunks or segments, and make sure they flow. But don’t use too many slides, either; find a nice middle ground. If you look at all of them in the slide sorter, do they seem to flow logically without your speech backing them up?

The "B" Key

During your presentation (on either PowerPoint or Keynote) you can press the "B" key on the keyboard, and the screen will go blank. This is useful if you need to go off topic for a minute, or you want people to focus on you while you say something extremely important. Press "B" again and your presentation will reappear.

  • Keep it simple, but not simplistic
  • Have a theme and be consistent
  • Be smart with colors
  • Choose fonts wisely
  • Use high-quality graphics, not clip art
  • Try using video or audio
  • Minimize distractions in your slides
  • Pace yourself
  • Break up your slides into small chunks
  • Check your spelling and grammar
  • Don’t use stale built-in templates
  • Don’t throw off your audience with fancy fonts
  • Don’t use distracting animations and transitions
  • Don’t use clip art
  • Don’t put an entire paragraph in your slide
  • Don’t go too fast
  • Don't read from cue cards word-for-word
  • Don’t stress—act relaxed and natural, and your audience will be more receptive
  • "Design Tips" - Garr Reynolds Tips and slide examples from a communication expert.
  • "10 PowerPoint Tips to Make Your Slides More Effective" - iSpring Top 10 tips, written by Ferry Pereboom, the co-founder of a design agency.
  • Presentation Zen: "What is good presentation design?" - Garr Reynolds Tips and slide examples from a communication expert.
  • "Top 10 Tips to Make Your PowerPoint Suck Way Less" - Your PowerPoint Sucks Top 10 tips, other articles, examples, and resources.
  • "Speak up: Preparing an Engaging Presentation" - Amherst College Tips on presenting a public speech from Amherst College's Writing Center.
  • “Basic tasks for creating a PowerPoint presentation” - Microsoft A guide for getting started with PowerPoint, with tips for creating an effective presentation at the bottom.
  • "Delivery Tips" - Garr Reynolds Public speaking tips from a communication expert.
  • "Preparation Tips" - Garr Reynolds Preparation tips for presenting from a communication expert.
  • Canva Slide builder with professional and artistic templates.
  • SlideModel Professional slide and theme templates.
  • PresentationGO Free templates, slides, graphics, diagrams, tables, etc.
  • << Previous: The Presentation: Public Speaking
  • Last Updated: Dec 8, 2023 12:36 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.hccfl.edu/powerpoint

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How to create visually appealing presentations

A woman sitting at a home office desk with headphones participating in a virtual call on her laptop.

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Ever found yourself staring at a blank page, overwhelmed by the thought of creating a presentation that grabs people’s attention? Whether you’re pitching a new product, sharing insights at a conference, or training a team, a visually appealing presentation can be the difference between applause and crickets.

Let’s review how to make a presentation visually appealing while still getting your main points across. We’ll cover everything from choosing the right tools to incorporating interactive elements that spark engagement.

What is a visual presentation?

A visual presentation is a way to share ideas using elements like slides, charts, graphs, and images. It combines spoken words with eye-catching visuals to make the message clearer and attract your audience's interest.

What makes a visual presentation stand out is the mix of:

  • Relevance : Your visuals should link right back to your key message, helping the audience understand why what you’re sharing matters
  • Simplicity : Keeping things clean and straightforward makes it easier for the audience to get your points without getting lost in too much detail
  • Consistency : Sticking to a cohesive style throughout — like using the same colors and fonts — gives your presentation a refined look and keeps everyone focused on what you’re saying
  • Design : Smart design choices like eye-catching layouts pull the audience in and keep everyone's attention

Visual presentation examples: Core elements

Imagine standing in front of a room full of potential clients, only to see their eyes glaze over as they sift through dense text and uninspiring graphics. But don’t get anxious just yet. By incorporating a few elements into your presentation, you can go from boring to extraordinary.

Consider adding these visual presentation examples to your next presentation:

Typically created with visual presentation tools, these help organize your points in an attractive way. You can use presentation slides in meetings, business pitches, workshops, and even to onboard new collaborators on your platforms.

Example of agenda slides template in Mural.

Charts and graphs

These elements are great for breaking down complex data into easy-to-understand visuals, making information more accessible. Take advantage of an online diagram maker to present processes, create new workflows, and compare structures with ease.

Storytelling

Do you have a catchy topic? If not, grab a storytelling template and start by sketching out your narrative. Then, combine it with images, videos, and other visual elements to make your story compelling for the audience.

Example of storytelling template in Mural.

Related: Learn how to engage participants with immersive storytelling

Why are visuals important in presentations?

Incorporating visual aids in a presentation brings your message to life and keeps the audience alert from the very start — just like starting a day with a double espresso. By paying attention to the design of your presentation, you can:

  • Improve engagement and understanding: Visuals help break down complex ideas and keep your audience interested. Instead of overwhelming them with text, well-chosen images, flowcharts , or infographics make your points clearer and easier to grasp.
  • Elevate credibility: A well-designed presentation shows that you've put in the effort. When your slides look polished and cohesive, your audience is more likely to take your message seriously and trust the information you're sharing.
  • Enhance persuasion: Visuals can also make your arguments more compelling, which is a great strategy for closing a deal or convincing managers in a tech pitch presentation . Whether you use data visuals to back up a claim or impactful numbers to show potential outcomes, your design choices can make or break the success of your pitch.
Related: Explore 12 tips for building stakeholder engagement

How to create a visual presentation: A guide

Research by Workamajig shows that nearly 90% of US workers face distractions at least once a day, with almost one out of four being interrupted more than six times during their workday. To prevent your audience from getting distracted by small talk or phone notifications, consider these visual tactics to save the day with a great presentation.

1. Understand your audience and purpose

Before starting to create a visual presentation, ask yourself:

  • Who am I presenting to? Consider the participants' age group, background, interests, and level of knowledge on the topic.
  • What is my goal? Are you trying to inform, persuade, or inspire your audience? Knowing your purpose will help you tailor your presentation accordingly.

Understanding these factors helps you map stakeholders and select design elements that align with your objectives and audience.

2. Use visual presentation tools and templates to streamline the creation

No need to start from scratch. Whiteboard tools offer ready-made templates that save you time while ensuring your presentation looks professional. Consider platforms that provide features like:

  • Templates for planning your presentation faster
  • Mind mapping capabilities to brainstorm and structure your ideas
  • Sticky notes to cluster topics and create plot twists in the storytelling
  • An online design canvas that allows you to add icons, images, GIFs, and other visuals
Related: 6 tips for storyboarding your entire presentation in under 10 minutes

3. Apply design principles

Design is all about creating balance and flow, so make sure to use principles that enhance those elements, such as:

  • Contrast to highlight important information
  • Alignment to create a tidy layout
  • Bullet points to make your slides look clean and organized
  • White space to avoid overwhelming the viewer

Robust design keeps your audience focused on your message and prevents your presentation from looking like a jumbled mess.

4. Use high-quality visuals

High-quality visuals add depth and dimension to your presentations. Communicate complex information quickly with:

  • High-resolution images that grab immediate attention and evoke emotion
  • Videos that show processes in action or highlight your products effectively
  • Icons that convey ideas at a glance, making your content easier to digest
  • Infographics that present numbers and data in a captivating way
Related: 3 tips for bringing imagination to your next meeting

5. Keep it simple and consistent

When it comes to presentations, less is often more. To draw in your audience from start to finish, consider these best practices:

  • Focus on key messages : Highlight the main points you want your audience to remember, avoiding boring and unnecessary details
  • Use visuals wisely : Stick to a few key colors, fonts, and layouts throughout to create a cohesive look
  • Limit text : Keep your copy concise; you don't want people trying to decipher blocks of text, right?
Related: How Mural's product marketing team creates engaging, company-wide presentations

6. Incorporate interactive elements into the presentation

Adding interactive elements, like voting features, laser pointers, or real-time collaboration tools, can help get participants on board to co-create the visual presentation with you. It encourages them to share their thoughts and feedback right there, making your message stick even better.

Motivate your team, clients, or partners to participate by:

  • Breaking the ice: Start with some fun ice breaker ideas to get everyone comfortable and involved
  • Encouraging feedback: Ask participants to share their thoughts and questions throughout the presentation
  • Following up: After the presentation, thank participants for their input and let them know how their feedback will be incorporated into the final version

Bring your visual presentation ideas to life with Mural

Ready to draft your visual presentation? With Mural , you gain a visual work platform that centralizes all aspects of your projects, from planning to the final presentation. 

The good news is that you don’t need to be a designer or a professional presenter to get the job done. You have plenty of features to make your presentation interesting and interactive, even from remote locations. Make your meetings, training sessions, pitches, and workshops much more fun with:

  • Online whiteboard to whip up powerful presentations with images, icons, and other design elements that’ll wow your audience
  • Ice breakers to kick things off and get your participants involved before you dive into talk
  • Mural's library of templates to save you time and help you create visually stunning slides without the stress

‍ Get started with Mural for free and discover the best visual presentation tools to make your ideas pop.

Related blog posts

Related blog posts.

How to Give a Killer Presentation

Lessons from TED by Chris Anderson

presentation design best practices

Summary .   

For more than 30 years, the TED conference series has presented enlightening talks that people enjoy watching. In this article, Anderson, TED’s curator, shares five keys to great presentations:

  • Frame your story (figure out where to start and where to end).
  • Plan your delivery (decide whether to memorize your speech word for word or develop bullet points and then rehearse it—over and over).
  • Work on stage presence (but remember that your story matters more than how you stand or whether you’re visibly nervous).
  • Plan the multimedia (whatever you do, don’t read from PowerPoint slides).
  • Put it together (play to your strengths and be authentic).

According to Anderson, presentations rise or fall on the quality of the idea, the narrative, and the passion of the speaker. It’s about substance—not style. In fact, it’s fairly easy to “coach out” the problems in a talk, but there’s no way to “coach in” the basic story—the presenter has to have the raw material. So if your thinking is not there yet, he advises, decline that invitation to speak. Instead, keep working until you have an idea that’s worth sharing.

A little more than a year ago, on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, some colleagues and I met a 12-year-old Masai boy named Richard Turere, who told us a fascinating story. His family raises livestock on the edge of a vast national park, and one of the biggest challenges is protecting the animals from lions—especially at night. Richard had noticed that placing lamps in a field didn’t deter lion attacks, but when he walked the field with a torch, the lions stayed away. From a young age, he’d been interested in electronics, teaching himself by, for example, taking apart his parents’ radio. He used that experience to devise a system of lights that would turn on and off in sequence—using solar panels, a car battery, and a motorcycle indicator box—and thereby create a sense of movement that he hoped would scare off the lions. He installed the lights, and the lions stopped attacking. Soon villages elsewhere in Kenya began installing Richard’s “lion lights.”

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Best practices for making awesome PowerPoint slides

Whether you’re presenting a slideshow to your executives, clients, or peers, you want to convey your message clearly and successfully, and at the very least prove that you know how to use PowerPoint . Unfortunately, many mistakes can be made when creating PowerPoint presentations.

Choose the fonts wisely

Select pleasing colors.

  • Don’t overuse animations and effects

Use a standard presentation rule

From hard-to-read fonts to colors that hurt the eyes of your audience, here are some best practices to keep in mind for your next PowerPoint slideshow.

Using a fancy, dramatic, or even whimsical font can be tempting. But you must consider the readability of the font. You want your audience to easily see your headings and bullet points. Consider the two basic font styles: serif and sans serif.

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Serif fonts are more decorative, have a classic appearance, and are frequently used in print publications. Each letter has a stroke that extends from a point in the letter. Popular serif styles include Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, and Baskerville.

Sans serif fonts are more precise, have a clean appearance, and are frequently used in digital publications. Each letter is clear-cut without wings or curves at its points. Popular sans serif styles include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Calibri.

Because of the extended strokes, serif fonts can appear a bit blurry on a screen. This makes a sans serif font the favored choice. The bottom line is that you should remain consistent and use the same type, serif or sans serif, for all fonts in the slideshow.

The colors you use in your PowerPoint presentation can be just as important as the content. You want to use those that enhance the appearance of the slideshow, not distract or give your audience a headache.

As Microsoft’s Robert Lane explains in his article about combining colors in PowerPoint, mixing red and blue or red and green can cause eye strain. Plus, red and green mixtures are difficult to see for those with color blindness.

The article mentions that warm colors like reds, oranges, and yellows are eye-catching, whereas cool colors like blues, greens, and purples draw less attention. Additionally, lighter colors are more noticeable than dark.

One of the easiest ways to choose the colors for your presentation is to use a built-in theme. Select the Design tab and you’ll see a collection of Themes in the ribbon.

Once you select a theme, you can then use the Variants section to choose a different color scheme. Each scheme includes eight complementing colors. You can also pick the font style you want to use in the Variants drop-down menu.

Tip : You can also check out the Design Ideas if you need help with the layouts for your slides.

Don’t overuse animations and effects

Animations can be attention-grabbing additions to a slideshow. But if you overuse or misuse them, they can be detrimental to your presentation and actually turn off viewers. The best thing to do is consider your audience and slideshow’s purpose.

For instance, if you are presenting the slideshow to a classroom of 8-year-old students, animations can grab and hold their attention more than simple images or words. However, if you’re presenting to your company’s executive team or board of directors, animations can come across as unprofessional. Also, be wary of embedding videos in PowerPoint — only do so when relevant.

If you really want to include animations, make them subtle or purposeful. As an example, you may want to expand on each bullet point in your list. You can create an animation to display the bullet points one by one and only when you click.

To do this, select the first bullet point, go to the Animations tab, and choose the Appear effect. Then, in the Timing section of the ribbon, choose On click in the Start drop-down list. Do the same for each bullet point in your list.

This creates a simple animation that benefits your presentation. It doesn’t distract but instead keeps your audience focused on your current talking point.

What is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint? What is the five-by-five rule? What about the 5/5/5 and seven-by-seven rules? Rules, rules, rules. These are different standards that many recommend using when it comes to creating PowerPoint presentations.

  • The 10/20/30 rule : Have no more than 10 slides, a presentation no longer than 20 minutes, and a font size no smaller than 30 points.
  • The five-by-five rule : Have no more than five words per line and five lines per slide.
  • The 5/5/5 rule : Have no more than five words per line, five lines per slide, and five text-heavy slides in a row.
  • The seven-by-seven rule : Have no more than seven words per line and seven lines per slide.

What each of these rules basically means is: Keep it simple.

The first rule, 10/20/30, is a good rule to follow for your overall presentation. While it may not always be possible, the more succinct a presentation, the more successful it will be.

The last three rules are helpful ones to follow when you’re adding text to your slides. As you know, presentations are visual. Using too much text means your audience is reading more than watching.

Hopefully, these best practices will help you create a memorable and effective slideshow. For other ways to enhance your presentation, look at how to add audio to the slides or how to  include music in PowerPoint .

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Sandy Writtenhouse

If you're using Microsoft Office on your Windows PC, then you might want to keep your eye out for potential new security issues.

Microsoft has just backtracked on a decision it made earlier in 2022, and will no longer be blocking Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros in Office files by default across Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Visio.

Microsoft needs your help to shape the future of its Office suite of products. Five new default fonts are in the works for Microsoft 365 -- which covers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- and Microsoft is seeking out feedback for which one is best.

The five new potential default font families are now available as a download for testing and have various themes. The list includes fonts with the unique names of Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford, and Grandview. There's a separate artist behind each one, and the designs span different geometric, human, and industrial shapes, according to Microsoft.

Many of the apps from the Microsoft 365 suite now run natively on Apple's new M1-powered MacBooks. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote are now all able to take full advantage of Apple's custom ARM-based silicon.

These new Microsoft 365 apps for Apple M1 Macs are all universal apps, which means that they will also run on traditional Macs with Intel processors. This also means that the Office apps on Apple's M1 Macs -- like the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini -- should all feel snappier and faster than when they were previously running under emulation with Rosetta 2.

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Top 10 Best Practices for Creating a Winning Presentation

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Create winner presentations

We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process . If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

This article has been contributed by Anthony Powell.

Almost all of us have had to create and deliver presentations at some point in our careers. Some of us – especially creatives – need to do it all the time to win pitches and present work.

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But coming up with winning presentations can be time-consuming. Bringing together the components needed to make a compelling presentation requires a ton of planning.

Some presentations aim to persuade an audience to take action. Others propose beautiful design ideas. Whatever the case, the last thing you want to do is package your ideas in a drab, uninspiring presentation.

That said, making use of sites like SketchBubble for creative templates used for business, social, and educational reasons is compatible with software such as Google Slides and Powerpoint, and is practical to use.

Today, we’re going to show you a few tips and tricks for creating outstanding presentations to help you wow your audience and leave them in awe. There are 4 main areas you’ll need to address:

  • Best practices for creating presentations

Google Slides

  • Presentation templates

We could go on and on about how to make a captivating presentation, but we’ve boiled it down to six major points.

1. Know Your Audience

“It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.”

Walter Lippman, American Writer, and Political Commenter

Presentation audience

Are you presenting to a board of directors, an auditorium full of clueless potential customers, or a classroom of students who are as nervous about presenting as you? Before brainstorming ideas for your presentation, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Who am I presenting to?
  • What problems are they facing?
  • What can I do to solve those problems?
  • What’s the best way to reach out to them?
  • Will they resist and how?

2. Design High-Impact Slides

Don’t be afraid to let your creative juices flow. Planning a presentation involves coming up with a template or design that you think will appeal to your audience the most. Remember, designing is to create order out of chaos. The more thought that goes into the presentation’s design, the less chaos and misunderstanding there will be.

Here are a few things you can do to design slides that will leave an impression:

  • Use easy-to-read fonts (e.g. Arial vs. Blackladder ITC)
  • Use contrasting colors (e.g. dark background, bright text)
  • Respect the margins
  • Use drawing guides to maintain symmetry

3. Maintain Font and Color Consistency

The best templates maintain a flow of consistency from the first slide to the last. Being consistent in the layout and design of your presentation template can pique the audience’s interest and increase understanding.

Best Practices For Fonts

  • Use a maximum of three legible fonts
  • Choose a big font size
  • Use different sizes for headings and subheadings

Best Practices For Color

  • Stick to a consistent color scheme
  • Use a theme-appropriate color scheme
  • Make use of color opposites and different shades

4. Focus on Key Ideas

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem.”

Zig Ziglar, American Author, and Motivational Speaker

Key ideas for presentations

When it comes time to write the text, take your time to identify key takeaway ideas and build them up. Keep the points as simple as possible so that your audience understands what action or actions they should take. Every sentence in your presentation and every word you say should have a purpose.

Oftentimes, we find that words impede the message you’re trying to convey. Please note that visual elements like charts, graphics, and even videos can drive your point more easily than text.

5. Avoid Huge Walls of Text

The quickest way to lose the audience’s interest is to bombard their sight with huge walls of text.

Before you utter a single word, if you show them a slide containing more than 40 words , you’ve already lost. They’ll be daydreaming about the joyous moment they can exit the room and relieve themselves of your depressing presentation tactics.

So, how do you keep your slides within the 40-word limit? Take the following tips to the heart:

  • Avoid paragraphs
  • Use short sentences to highlight key points
  • Use visuals to emphasize the main idea
  • Use contrasting font sizes
  • Create more slides with fewer words in each

Please remember that fewer words in each slide will allow you to add larger, more eye-catching text. Bigger is definitely better when it comes to presentation text.

6. Use Audio and Visuals When Absolutely Necessary

Even though different media content like audio, charts, and videos can captivate audiences , there’s such a thing as too much . Nobody likes looking at boring chart after boring chart, watching 60-second videos every other slide, or listening to the repetitive ding every time you change slides.

Presentation Software (Including Alternatives to PowerPoint)

For most of us, PowerPoint is the go-to presentation software because, well, we don’t know anything else. That’s not a problem at all. In fact, even in the business world, companies rely solely on PowerPoint to present proposals and sales pitches.

PowerPoint has its fair share of advantages, from its simplistic interface and abundance of features. The main downside of PowerPoint comes from users’ inability to create compelling slides with meaningful content.

However, if you’re interested in learning other presentation software, consider checking out the following PowerPoint alternatives.

Canva presentation software

Image source: canva.com

Canva has a minimalistic interface to help users create enthralling presentations with as few visual annoyances as possible.

The free plan features over 8,000 attractive templates and drag-and-drop stickers. Canva was designed with designers and artists in mind, and it shows from the comprehensive built-in photo editor.

There are two subscription-based plans: Canva for Work ($12.95/team member/month) and Canva Enterprise (custom pricing).

Both of these plans offer unlimited storage and administrative control for team leaders.

  • Huge library of ready-to-use templates
  • Versatility, used for making presentations, brochures, infographics, and much more
  • User-friendly interface with in-depth how-to videos to get started
  • Long list of visual elements makes finding the right one difficult
  • Labeling and tagging images can be tricky
  • No unique elements (pre-defined shapes)

Google Slides presentation software

Image source: glints.com

Google Slides is probably one of those parts of Google Drive that very few of us use for reasons that are beyond us.

Google Slides offers a similar set of features to PowerPoint but has the benefit of allowing real-time collaboration between connected members.

Simply share the link with other members, and your team can begin creating and editing slides from your respective devices.

Google Drive is free to use, provided you have a Gmail account. The free version of Google Drive gives each user up to 15GB of free cloud storage.

If you opt for Google Workspace , it can cost your company as little as $4.20 every month to custom-make a company domain.

  • Free version offers all features you need
  • Real-time collaboration to edit shared files
  • Auto-save, so your data is never lost
  • Offline functionality
  • Limited themes, animations, and transitions
  • Importing to Google Slides results in formatting loss
  • Google restrictions in many countries

Prezi presentation software

Image source: pinterest.com

Prezi is arguably the most popular PowerPoint alternative of them all. It’s a highly interactive program that places emphasis on learning and business.

Its shining feature is Zoom Reveal, which zooms into different objects to uncover important details as you elaborate on key points.

There are three paid plans, ranging from $3 to $59 per user per month. It’s highly recommended that you purchase one of the paid plans unless you don’t mind sharing your presentations with the public.

  • Most visually-appealing presentation maker
  • Uses analytics to optimize future presentations
  • Real-time collaboration with connected users
  • Steep learning curve
  • Slow loading times
  • Can cause dizziness when zooming in and out

Visme presentation software

Image source: visme.co

Visme uses a drag-and-drop dashboard design that makes creating presentations a snap. This tool stores all of your files in its cloud storage and generates shareable URLs where users can open or download your presentation file.

This web-based presentation maker also lets you record voiceovers (great for students and designers), collaborate with connected team members in real-time, and gather analytics that you can access via the Dashboard.

Visme offers three paid plans—Standard for $15/month, Business for $29/month, and Enterprise with custom pricing.

  • User-friendly interface, great for novices
  • Rich library of templates, clipart, and stock images
  • Plenty of customizability
  • PC Browser-based only, no desktop app or mobile device compatibility
  • Lag spikes and even crashing
  • The standard plan only offers 250MB of storage

POWTOON

Powtoon is another alternative you can use to make presentations and create engaging videos.

While editing your presentation, it will feel like making just any presentation and by the time you’re done, you already have a professional video.

From our experience, you can edit the slides anytime. Each slide has animations you choose like on PowerPoint and it only takes as much time as necessary based on your slide’s content.

Powtoon can figure out the timing automatically and the bottom-right side of the editor shows how much time is used on your slide plus the total presentation.

While it has a free trial version, you’ll need to subscribe to access all of Powtoon’s features. For example, you can create videos longer than three minutes, download them as MP4 files, and lots of templates.

  • Timing changes automatically based on slide content
  • Can change presentation orientation
  • The free plan has limited features

Genially

Image source: genial.ly

Many presentation apps are built for presenter-led decks and Genially has interactive features and animated templates to simplify the process.

You also have access to a variety of templates for business proposals, reports, social media presentations, and so much more. However, keep in mind that most of those are available through premium plans only.

As a premium user, you can set branding guidelines that your team can use. After doing so, your team will be able to create on-brand presentations automatically.

Furthermore, Genially also supports additional content like infographics, images, and training materials.

  • Set branding guidelines that teams can use
  • Unlimited creations even on a free plan
  • The free plan has limitations

Where to Find Presentation Templates

Aside from the inbuilt templates that come with your chosen software, you can easily find creative business presentation templates online.

Depending on your budget, graphic designers specializing in brand strategy can design tailor-made templates as part of a comprehensive brand identity .

If you don’t have much to spend, don’t be afraid to give free template designers a chance; you’d be surprised how detailed their work can be.

Sites like SlidesGo offer creative templates for business, social, and educational purposes that are compatible with PowerPoint and Google Slides.

Tech Tips for Creating Presentations

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the importance of checking your hardware before you begin your presentation. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your presentation goes by without a hitch.

Tip 1: Examine the Audiovisual Equipment

Outsanding presentations - check audiovisual equipment

Before the day of your presentation, take some time out to evaluate where you’re going to present. If your office has a meeting room, examine the overhead projector, microphone, speakers, and other audiovisual equipment in the room.

Speak with technicians who can help iron out any problems that you notice.

Tip 2: Check Your Hardware

Don’t expect your audience to sit around and wait while you install those annoying Windows updates. Also, take some time to see whether your laptop or tablet is working properly.

Does your laptop’s battery hold a charge, or do you need to keep it plugged in? Do you need spare batteries for your laser pointer?

Tip 3: Store Backups of Your Presentation File Everywhere

Back up presentations everywhere

Image source: google.com

The worst thing that can happen on the day of your presentation is you forget to bring the presentation file. Even if you have it stored in your hard drive, you could accidentally lose it one way or another.

Do yourself a favor and make several backups of your presentation file (and other important documents while you’re at it).

Send a copy of the file to your email, save it to Google Drive or Dropbox , and send it to a trusted person via an instant messenger where you can easily re-download it.

One huge benefit of storing your files in a cloud-based system is that you can share documents with others. That way, your audience can refer to your presentation file in the future when contemplating what action or actions to take.

Tip 4: Print Hardcopies for Every Participant

Presentation hard copies for every participant

In the worst-case scenario, everything goes wrong on your big day. Perhaps there’s something wrong with the audiovisual equipment or maybe a majority of the invited participants couldn’t show up.

The best thing you can do is print out hard copies of the file for each participant before you need to deliver your presentation.

Here’s how you can convert your PPT files into PDF for easier printing:

In PowerPoint

  • Click Export
  • Click Create PDF/XPS on the right pane
  • Select where you want to save the file and click Save

In Google Slides

  • Select Download
  • Click one of the available formats

Alternatively, you can turn your PPT files into PDFs via free online PDF converter platforms like SodaPDF , PDFChef Converter , and Smallpdf.

These PDF editor tools also help in converting documents, spreadsheets, and images to PDF without overly compressing the files and reducing quality.

While the content of your presentation matters most, don’t sleep on the significance of how you’ve packaged your presentation. In today’s guide, we’ve offered you several tips on how to create the most eye-pleasing presentation designs that will captivate your audience and leave a deeper, longer-lasting impression.

About the author: Andi K. Nasruddin is a lecturer at Ujung Pandang State Polytechnic. He teaches business communication, financial management, strategic management, and more when he’s not busy screaming at his TV while watching NBA games.

Jacob Cass

About Jacob Cass

Jacob Cass is a brand designer & strategist, educator , podcaster , business coach and the founder of JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design consultancy that doubles as an industry-leading blog. Get in touch .

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