Conference Presentation Templates

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Conference Presentation Templates

Stand out in your conference presentation with free templates from ellty. professional, impressive, and easy to use..

Preparing for a conference requires not only deep knowledge of the subject but also the ability to effectively convey your ideas to the audience. Free conference presentation templates available on Ellty offer the perfect solution for creating professional and impressive presentations. With a wide range of designs, from formal and business-like to more creative and innovative, every speaker can find a style that best reflects the essence of their message.

The templates simplify the process of visualizing complex ideas and concepts, making information accessible and understandable to a broad audience. With Ellty's intuitive editing tools, users can easily adapt templates by adding their own text, images, and diagrams. This allows for the creation of unique and memorable presentations that emphasize the speaker's expertise and professionalism.

Additionally, the feature of saving works in the Ellty account ensures convenient access to your presentations at any time and from any device. This is particularly useful when traveling or when you need to make last-minute changes before a presentation. Presentations can be easily downloaded in the desired format, ready for display at the conference.

Using free conference presentation templates from Ellty not only saves time and resources but also provides the opportunity to focus on the most important aspects – the quality and content of your speech. With such tools, every presentation becomes not just a report but a powerful means of communication and knowledge exchange.

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Home Powerpoint Deck Conference Powerpoint Presentation Template

Conference Powerpoint Presentation Template

Conference Presentation Slides Template 1

The Conference Powerpoint Presentation Template is a pitch deck for preparing an engaging conference presentation. It fits business meetings, technological conferences, and science conference presentations. Academic conferences need such slides for organizing content within a PowerPoint or Google Slide theme to attract their audiences. All these powerpoint template conference presentation are amenable to adjust using edit options. Conferences are common in business fields so it can be downloaded for a formal meeting presentation that allows 100% insertion of messages with clarity and precision. It contains 15 slides for conference themes and concepts supported by thematic images, diagrams, and charts.  

The Conference Slide Template is designed to enhance your presentation even if you focus on a large audience. Fully customizable, it adapts effortlessly to your branding and messaging requirements, ensuring a compelling and informative delivery. Crafted with light background mode and PowerPoint vector designs, it shows professionalism while reflecting your brand’s unique personality. With this template, you can confidently showcase your business, leaving a lasting impression on your audience. It is perfect for business owners, marketers, educators, consultants, and managers when planning for a conference or a meeting.  

PowerPoint Conference Presentation Template has a yellow color cover slide and white background slides for the rest of the presentation. the white background template looks attractive in blue tints, so it makes the audience satisfied with its neat tone.

These 15 slides come with the following concepts and diagrammatic representations:  

  • Cover slide  
  • Table of contents  
  • Agenda slide  
  • Introduction  
  • Next generation leadership  
  • Make the member connection  
  • Everything you need  
  • Moving to mastery  
  • What we do?  
  • Our values  
  • Quote slide  
  • Our service  
  • Top quality  
  • Thank you slide  
  • Snippet view  

The conference slide template is an all-in-one deck that contains diagrams, charts, editable text and photo placeholders etc. It is suitable for company profile presentations to attract angel investors for fundraising. Download conference PowerPoint for multiple uses.  

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Can I customize the PowerPoint templates to match my branding?

Yes, all our PowerPoint templates are fully customizable, allowing you to edit colors, fonts, and content to align with your branding and messaging needs.

Will your templates work with my version of PowerPoint?

Yes, our templates are compatible with various versions of Microsoft PowerPoint, ensuring smooth usage regardless of your software version.

What software are these templates compatible with?

Our templates work smoothly with Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. Moreover, they’re compatible with Apple Keynote, LibreOffice Impress, Zoho Show, and more, ensuring flexibility across various presentation software platforms.

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Presentation templates

Captivate your audience with customizable business presentation templates. whether you're pitching clients, wooing investors, or showing off your latest wins, there are presentation templates that'll suit your next meeting..

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Free slide templates for presentations

Presentation decks can make or break your speech—don't risk boring or unprofessional slides distracting from your message. Set yourself up for success with free, eye-catching presentation templates that don't require graphic design skills to use. Whether you're pitching to investors or sharing a class project, using presentation templates allows you to focus on the content of your work without worrying about the design. Explore presentation templates for pitch decks, annual reviews, and conference slides, and get ready to wow your audience. Choose a presentation template and customize it with your business's branding and logo. If you work in a creative field, don't shy away from bold designs and vivid colors . Presentation templates offer versatile options for personalizing—get creative by customizing your template or opt for adding your own text to existing designs. When you use a template at your next meeting, you'll turn a simple presentation into an opportunity to impress. To make presenting even easier, you can download your template in a variety of formats, like PowerPoint and PDF, or share it digitally with your colleagues.

Home Blog Business Conference Presentation Slides: A Guide for Success

Conference Presentation Slides: A Guide for Success

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In our experience, a common error when preparing a conference presentation is using designs that heavily rely on bullet points and massive chunks of text. A potential reason behind this slide design mistake is aiming to include as much information as possible in just one slide. In the end, slides become a sort of teleprompter for the speaker, and the audience recalls boredom instead of an informative experience.

As part of our mission to help presenters deliver their message effectively, we have summarized what makes a good conference presentation slide, as well as tips on how to design a successful conference slide.

Table of Contents

What is a conference presentation

Common mistakes presenters make when creating conference presentation slides, how can a well-crafted conference presentation help your professional life, how to start a conference presentation, how to end a conference presentation, tailoring your message to different audiences, visualizing data effectively, engaging with your audience, designing for impact, mastering slide transitions and animation, handling time constraints, incorporating multimedia elements, post-presentation engagement, crisis management during presentations, sustainability and green presentations, measuring presentation success, 13 tips to create stellar conference presentations, final thoughts.

The Britannica Dictionary defines conferences as 

A formal meeting in which many people gather in order to talk about ideas or problems related to a particular topic (such as medicine or business), usually for several days.

We can then define conference presentations as the combination of a speaker, a slide deck , and the required hardware to introduce an idea or topic in a conference setting. Some characteristics differentiate conference presentations from other formats.

Time-restricted

Conference presentations are bounded by a 15-30 minute time limit, which the event’s moderators establish. These restrictions are applied to allow a crowded agenda to be met on time, and it is common to count with over 10 speakers on the same day.

To that time limit, we have to add the time required for switching between speakers, which implies loading a new slide deck to the streaming platform, microphone testing, lighting effects, etc. Say it is around 10-15 minutes extra, so depending on the number of speakers per day during the event, the time available to deliver a presentation, plus the questions & answers time.

Delivery format

Conferences can be delivered in live event format or via webinars. Since this article is mainly intended to live event conferences, we will only mention that the requirements for webinars are as follows:

  • Voice-over or, best, speaker layover the presentation slides so the speaker interacts with the audience.
  • Quality graphics.
  • Not abusing the amount of information to introduce per slide.

On the other hand, live event conferences will differ depending on the category under which they fall. Academic conferences have a structure in which there’s a previous poster session; then speakers start delivering their talks, then after 4-5 speakers, we have a coffee break. Those pauses help the AV crew to check the equipment, and they also become an opportunity for researchers to expand their network contacts. 

Business conferences are usually more dynamic. Some presenters opt not to use slide decks, giving a powerful speech instead, as they feel much more comfortable that way. Other speakers at business conferences adopt videos to summarize their ideas and then proceed to speak.

presentation template for conference

Overall, the format guidelines are sent to speakers before the event. Adapt your presentation style to meet the requirements of moderators so you can maximize the effect of your message.

The audience

Unlike other presentation settings, conferences gather a knowledgeable audience on the discussed topics. It is imperative to consider this, as tone, delivery format, information to include, and more depend on this sole factor. Moreover, the audience will participate in your presentation at the last minute, as it is a common practice to hold a Q&A session. 

Mistake #1 – Massive chunks of text

Do you intend your audience to read your slides instead of being seduced by your presentation? Presenters often add large amounts of text to each slide since they need help deciding which data to exclude. Another excuse for this practice is so the audience remembers the content exposed.

Research indicates images are much better retained than words, a phenomenon known as the Picture Superiority Effect ; therefore, opt to avoid this tendency and work into creating compelling graphics.

Mistake #2 – Not creating contrast between data and graphics

Have you tried to read a slide from 4 rows behind the presenter and not get a single number? This can happen if the presenter is not careful to work with the appropriate contrast between the color of the typeface and the background. Particularly if serif fonts are used.

Using WebAIM tool to check color contrast

Use online tools such as WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to make your slides legible for your audience. Creating an overlay with a white or black transparent tint can also help when you place text above images.

Mistake #3 – Not rehearsing the presentation

This is a sin in conference presentations, as when you don’t practice the content you intend to deliver, you don’t have a measure of how much time it is actually going to take. 

Locating the rehearsing timing options in PowerPoint

PowerPoint’s rehearse timing feature can help a great deal, as you can record yourself practising the presentation and observe areas for improvement. Remember, conference presentations are time-limited , don’t disrespect fellow speakers by overlapping their scheduled slot or, worse, have moderators trim your presentation after several warnings.

Mistake #4 – Lacking hierarchy for the presented content

Looking at a slide and not knowing where the main point is discouraging for the audience, especially if you introduce several pieces of content under the same slide. Instead, opt to create a hierarchy that comprehends both text and images. It helps to arrange the content according to your narrative, and we’ll see more on this later on.

Consider your conference presentation as your introduction card in the professional world. Maybe you have a broad network of colleagues, but be certain there are plenty of people out there that have yet to learn about who you are and the work you produce.

Conferences help businesspeople and academics alike to introduce the results of months of research on a specific topic in front of a knowledgeable audience. It is different from a product launch as you don’t need to present a “completed product” but rather your views or advances, in other words, your contribution with valuable insights to the field.

Putting dedication into your conference presentation, from the slide deck design to presentation skills , is definitely worth the effort. The audience can get valuable references from the quality of work you are able to produce, often leading to potential partnerships. In business conferences, securing an investor deal can happen after a powerful presentation that drives the audience to perceive your work as the very best thing that’s about to be launched. It is all about how your body language reflects your intent, how well-explained the concepts are, and the emotional impact you can drive from it.

There are multiple ways on how to start a presentation for a conference, but overall, we can recap a good approach as follows.

Present a fact

Nothing grabs the interest of an audience quicker than introducing an interesting fact during the first 30 seconds of your presentation. The said fact has to be pivotal to the content your conference presentation will discuss later on, but as an ice-breaker, it is a strategy worth applying from time to time.

Ask a question

The main point when starting a conference presentation is to make an impact on the audience. We cannot think of a better way to engage with the audience than to ask them a question relevant to your work or research. It grabs the viewer’s interest for the potential feedback you shall give to those answers received.

Use powerful graphics

The value of visual presentations cannot be neglected in conferences. Sometimes an image makes a bigger impact than a lengthy speech, hence why you should consider starting your conference presentation with a photo or visual element that speaks for itself.

an example of combining powerful graphics with facts for conference presentation slides

For more tips and insights on how to start a presentation , we invite you to check this article.

Just as important as starting the presentation, the closure you give to your conference presentation matters a lot. This is the opportunity in which you can add your personal experience on the topic and reflect upon it with the audience or smoothly transition between the presentation and your Q&A session.

Below are some quick tips on how to end a presentation for a conference event.

End the presentation with a quote

Give your audience something to ruminate about with the help of a quote tailored to the topic you were discussing. There are plenty of resources for finding suitable quotes, and a great method for this is to design your penultimate slide with an image or black background plus a quote. Follow this with a final “thank you” slide.

Consider a video

If we say a video whose length is shorter than 1 minute, this is a fantastic resource to summarize the intent of your conference presentation. 

If you get the two-minute warning and you feel far off from finishing your presentation, first, don’t fret. Try to give a good closure when presenting in a conference without rushing information, as the audience wouldn’t get any concept clear that way. Mention that the information you presented will be available for further reading at the event’s platform site or your company’s digital business card , and proceed to your closure phase for the presentation.

It is better to miss some of the components of the conference than to get kicked out after several warnings for exceeding the allotted time.

Tailoring your conference presentation to suit your audience is crucial to delivering an impactful talk. Different audiences have varying levels of expertise, interests, and expectations. By customizing your content, tone, and examples, you can enhance the relevance and engagement of your presentation.

Understanding Audience Backgrounds and Expectations

Before crafting your presentation, research your audience’s backgrounds and interests. Are they professionals in your field, students, or a mix of both? Are they familiar with the topic, or must you provide more context? Understanding these factors will help you pitch your content correctly and avoid overwhelming or boring your audience.

Adapting Language and Tone for Relevance

Use language that resonates with your audience. Avoid jargon or technical terms that might confuse those unfamiliar with your field. Conversely, don’t oversimplify if your audience consists of experts. Adjust your tone to match the event’s formality and your listeners’ preferences.

Customizing Examples and Case Studies

Incorporate case studies, examples, and anecdotes that your audience can relate to. If you’re speaking to professionals, use real-world scenarios from their industry. For a more general audience, choose examples that are universally relatable. This personal touch makes your content relatable and memorable.

Effectively presenting data is essential for conveying complex information to your audience. Visualizations can help simplify intricate concepts and make your points more digestible.

Choosing the Right Data Representation

Select the appropriate type of graph or chart to illustrate your data. Bar graphs, pie charts, line charts, and scatter plots each serve specific purposes. Choose the one that best supports your message and ensures clarity.

Designing Graphs and Charts for Clarity

Ensure your graphs and charts are easily read. Use clear labels, appropriate color contrasts, and consistent scales. Avoid clutter and simplify the design to highlight the most important data points.

Incorporating Annotations and Explanations

Add annotations or callouts to your graphs to emphasize key findings. Explain the significance of each data point to guide your audience’s understanding. Utilize visual cues, such as arrows and labels, to direct attention.

Engaging your audience is a fundamental skill for a successful presentation for conference. Captivate their attention, encourage participation, and foster a positive connection.

Establishing Eye Contact and Body Language

Maintain eye contact with different audience parts to create a sense of connection. Effective body language, such as confident posture and expressive gestures, enhances your presence on stage.

Encouraging Participation and Interaction

Involve your audience through questions, polls, or interactive activities. Encourage them to share their thoughts or experiences related to your topic. This engagement fosters a more dynamic and memorable presentation.

Using Humor and Engaging Stories

Incorporate humor and relatable anecdotes to make your presentation more enjoyable. Well-timed jokes or personal stories can create a rapport with your audience and make your content more memorable.

The design of your conference presentation slides plays a crucial role in capturing and retaining your audience’s attention. Thoughtful design can amplify your message and reinforce key points. Take a look at these suggestions to boost the performance of your conference presentation slides, or create an entire slide deck in minutes by using SlideModel’s AI Presentation Maker from text .

Creating Memorable Opening Slides

Craft an opening slide that piques the audience’s curiosity and sets the tone for your presentation. Use an engaging visual, thought-provoking quote, or intriguing question to grab their attention from the start.

Using Visual Hierarchy for Emphasis

Employ visual hierarchy to guide your audience’s focus. Highlight key points with larger fonts, bold colors, or strategic placement. Organize information logically to enhance comprehension.

Designing a Powerful Closing Slide

End your presentation with a compelling closing slide that reinforces your main message. Summarize your key points, offer a memorable takeaway, or invite the audience to take action. Use visuals that resonate and leave a lasting impression.

Slide transitions and animations can enhance the flow of your presentation and emphasize important content. However, their use requires careful consideration to avoid distractions or confusion.

Enhancing Flow with Transitions

Select slide transitions that smoothly guide the audience from one point to the next. Avoid overly flashy transitions that detract from your content. Choose options that enhance, rather than disrupt, the presentation’s rhythm.

Using Animation to Highlight Points

Animate elements on your slides to draw attention to specific information. Animate text, images, or graphs to appear as you discuss them, helping the audience follow your narrative more effectively.

Avoiding Overuse of Effects

While animation can be engaging, avoid excessive use that might overwhelm or distract the audience. Maintain a balance between animated elements and static content for a polished presentation.

Effective time management is crucial for delivering a concise and impactful conference presentation within the allocated time frame.

Structuring for Short vs. Long Presentations

Adapt your content and pacing based on the duration of your presentation. Clearly outline the main points for shorter talks, and delve into more depth for longer sessions. Ensure your message aligns with the time available.

Prioritizing Key Information

Identify the core information you want your audience to take away. Focus on conveying these essential points, and be prepared to trim or elaborate on supporting details based on the available time.

Practicing Time Management

Rehearse your presentation while timing yourself to ensure you stay within the allocated time. Adjust your delivery speed to match your time limit, allowing for smooth transitions and adequate Q&A time.

Multimedia elements, such as videos, audio clips, and live demonstrations, can enrich your presentation and provide a dynamic experience for your audience.

Integrating Videos and Audio Clips

Use videos and audio clips strategically to reinforce your points or provide real-world examples. Ensure that the multimedia content is of high quality and directly supports your narrative.

Showcasing Live Demonstrations

Live demonstrations can engage the audience by showcasing practical applications of your topic. Practice the demonstration beforehand to ensure it runs smoothly and aligns with your message.

Using Hyperlinks for Additional Resources

Incorporate hyperlinks into your presentation to direct the audience to additional resources, references, or related content. This allows interested attendees to explore the topic further after the presentation.

Engaging with your audience after your presentation can extend the impact of your talk and foster valuable connections.

Leveraging Post-Presentation Materials

Make your presentation slides and related materials available to attendees after the event. Share them through email, a website, or a conference platform, allowing interested individuals to review the content.

Sharing Slides and Handouts

Provide downloadable versions of your slides and any handouts you used during the presentation. This helps attendees revisit key points and share the information with colleagues.

Networking and Following Up

Utilize networking opportunities during and after the conference to connect with attendees who are interested in your topic. Exchange contact information and follow up with personalized messages to continue the conversation.

Preparing for unexpected challenges during your presenting at a conference can help you maintain professionalism and composure, ensuring a seamless delivery.

Dealing with Technical Glitches

Technical issues can occur, from projector malfunctions to software crashes. Stay calm and have a backup plan, such as having your slides available on multiple devices or using printed handouts.

Handling Unexpected Interruptions

Interruptions, such as questions from the audience or unforeseen disruptions, are a normal part of live presentations. Address them politely, stay adaptable, and seamlessly return to your prepared content.

Staying Calm and Professional

Maintain a composed demeanor regardless of unexpected situations. Your ability to handle challenges gracefully reflects your professionalism and dedication to delivering a successful presentation.

Creating environmentally friendly presentations demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and responsible practices.

Designing Eco-Friendly Slides

Minimize the use of resources by designing slides with efficient layouts, avoiding unnecessary graphics or animations, and using eco-friendly color schemes.

Reducing Paper and Material Waste

Promote a paperless approach by encouraging attendees to access digital materials rather than printing handouts. If print materials are necessary, consider using recycled paper.

Promoting Sustainable Practices

Advocate for sustainability during your presentation by discussing relevant initiatives, practices, or innovations that align with environmentally conscious values.

Measuring the success of your conference presentation goes beyond the applause and immediate feedback. It involves assessing the impact of your presentation on your audience, goals, and growth as a presenter.

Collecting Audience Feedback

After presenting at a conference, gather feedback from attendees. Provide feedback forms or online surveys to capture their thoughts on the content, delivery, and visuals. Analyzing their feedback can reveal areas for improvement and give insights into audience preferences.

Evaluating Key Performance Metrics

Consider objective metrics such as audience engagement, participation, and post-presentation interactions. Did attendees ask questions? Did your content spark discussions? Tracking these metrics can help you gauge the effectiveness of your presentation in conveying your message.

Continuous Improvement Strategies

Use the feedback and insights gathered to enhance your future presentations. Identify strengths to build upon and weaknesses to address. Continuously refine your presentation skills , design choices, and content to create even more impactful presentations in the future.

Tip #1 – Exhibit a single idea per slide

Just one slide per concept, avoiding large text blocks. If you can compile the idea with an image, it’s better that way.

Research shows that people’s attention span is limited ; therefore, redirect your efforts in what concerns presentation slides so your ideas become crystal clear for the spectators.

Tip #2 – Avoid jargon whenever possible

Using complex terms does not directly imply you fully understand the concept you are about to discuss. In spite of your work being presented to a knowledgeable audience, avoid jargon as much as possible because you run the risk of people not understanding what you are saying.

Instead, opt to rehearse your presentation in front of a not-knowledgeable audience to measure the jargon volume you are adding to it. Technical terms are obviously expected in a conference situation, but archaic terms or purely jargon can be easily trimmed this way.

Tip #3 – Replace bulleted listings with structured layouts or diagrams

Bullet points are attention grabbers for the audience. People tend to instantly check what’s written in them, in contrast to waiting for you to introduce the point itself. 

Using bullet points as a way to expose elements of your presentation should be restricted. Opt for limiting the bullet points to non-avoidable facts to list or crucial information. 

Tip #4 – Customize presentation templates

Using presentation templates is a great idea to save time in design decisions. These pre-made slide decks are entirely customizable; however, many users fall into using them as they come, exposing themselves to design inconsistencies (especially with images) or that another presenter had the same idea (it is extremely rare, but it can happen).

Learning how to properly change color themes in PowerPoint is an advantageous asset. We also recommend you use your own images or royalty-free images selected by you rather than sticking to the ones included in a template.

Tip #5 – Displaying charts

Graphs and charts comprise around 80% of the information in most business and academic conferences. Since data visualization is important, avoid common pitfalls such as using 3D effects in bar charts. Depending on the audience’s point of view, those 3D effects can make the data hard to read or get an accurate interpretation of what it represents.

using 2D graphics to show relevant data in conference presentation slides

Tip #6 – Using images in the background

Use some of the images you were planning to expose as background for the slides – again, not all of them but relevant slides.

Be careful when placing text above the slides if they have a background image, as accessibility problems may arise due to contrast. Instead, apply an extra color layer above the image with reduced opacity – black or white, depending on the image and text requirements. This makes the text more legible for the audience, and you can use your images without any inconvenience.

Tip #7 – Embrace negative space

Negative space is a concept seen in design situations. If we consider positive space as the designed area, meaning the objects, shapes, etc., that are “your design,” negative space can be defined as the surrounding area. If we work on a white canvas, negative space is the remaining white area surrounding your design.

The main advantage of using negative space appropriately is to let your designs breathe. Stuffing charts, images and text makes it hard to get a proper understanding of what’s going on in the slide. Apply the “less is more” motto to your conference presentation slides, and embrace negative space as your new design asset.

Tip #8 – Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation

You would be surprised to see how many typos can be seen in slides at professional gatherings. Whereas typos can often pass by as a humor-relief moment, grammatical or awful spelling mistakes make you look unprofessional. 

Take 5 extra minutes before submitting your slide deck to proofread the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If in doubt, browse dictionaries for complex technical words.

Tip #10 – Use an appropriate presentation style

The format of the conference will undoubtedly require its own presentation style. By this we mean that it is different from delivering a conference presentation in front of a live audience as a webinar conference. The interaction with the audience is different, the demands for the Q&A session will be different, and also during webinars the audience is closely looking at your slides.

Tip #11 – Control your speaking tone

Another huge mistake when delivering a conference presentation is to speak with a monotonous tone. The message you transmit to your attendees is that you simply do not care about your work. If you believe you fall into this category, get feedback from others: try pitching to them, and afterward, consider how you talk. 

Practicing breathing exercises can help to articulate your speech skills, especially if anxiety hinders your presentation performance.

Tip #12 – On eye contact and note reading

In order to connect with your audience, it is imperative to make eye contact. Not stare, but look at your spectators from time to time as the talk is directed at them.

If you struggle on this point, a good tip we can provide is to act like you’re looking at your viewers. Pick a good point a few centimeters above your viewer and direct your speech there. They will believe you are communicating directly with them. Shift your head slightly on the upcoming slide or bullet and choose a new location.

Regarding note reading, while it is an acceptable practice to check your notes, do not make the entire talk a lecture in which you simply read your notes to the audience. This goes hand-by-hand with the speaking tone in terms of demonstrating interest in the work you do. Practice as often as you need before the event to avoid constantly reading your notes. Reading a paragraph or two is okay, but not the entire presentation.

Tip #13 – Be ready for the Q&A session

Despite it being a requirement in most conference events, not all presenters get ready for the Q&A session. It is a part of the conference presentation itself, so you should pace your speech to give enough time for the audience to ask 1-3 questions and get a proper answer.

a Q&A slide to start the Q&A session

Don’t be lengthy or overbearing in replying to each question, as you may run out of time. It is preferable to give a general opinion and then reach the interested person with your contact information to discuss the topic in detail.

Observing what others do at conference events is good practice for learning a tip or two for improving your own work. As we have seen throughout this article, conference presentation slides have specific requirements to become a tool in your presentation rather than a mixture of information without order.

Employ these tips and suggestions to craft your upcoming conference presentation without any hurdles. Best of luck!

1. Conference PowerPoint Template

presentation template for conference

Use This Template

2. Free Conference Presentation Template

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85+ Best Free Presentation Templates to Edit & Download

85+ Best Free Presentation Templates to Edit & Download

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

best presentation templates - header wide

Looking for the best presentation templates to use for your next pitch deck , company meeting or training session ? You’re in the right place.

Creating a good presentation from scratch can be frustrating. Especially if you want to stand out and look professional, but don’t have a lot of time on your hands.

Thankfully, this is why top online presentation templates and slide themes outside of PowerPoint and Google Slides exist.

Scroll down for some of the best presentation templates in Visme across various categories. When you find one you like, click on the button below it to start editing it using the presentation software .

Visme's presentation software has 400+ pre-made presentation templates and 1,500+ slide templates created by professional designers. All of our slideshows are fully customizable, so you can fit them to your brand easily using our intuitive Brand Wizard .

Whether you’re looking for a business presentation template , a nonprofit slideshow or an educational presentation for school , you’ll find exactly what you need.

Looking to shake up your presentations? Watch this video for 31 fresh ideas your audience will relish!

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View 72 more templates below:

presentation template for conference

Best Presentation Templates for Non-Designers

  • Category #1: Best Presentation Templates for Business
  • Category #2: Best Presentation Templates for Training & Education
  • Category #3: Best Presentation Templates for Nonprofit

Best Presentation Templates for Business

In this section, we have compiled a list of the best presentation templates for all kinds of business purposes, such as annual reports, researches, investor pitches and even brand guidelines.

Scroll down to view our top picks for powerful business presentation templates or click through this navigable menu. You’ll discover plenty of creative PowerPoint templates, free downloads and designs.

  • Marketing Report Presentation
  • Project Status Report Presentation
  • Customer Service Presentation
  • Hiring Trends in the Fintech Sector Presentation
  • Employee Onboarding Presentation
  • Meeting Agenda Presentation
  • Sales Report Presentation
  • Press Release Presentation
  • Remote Team Working Agreement Presentation Template
  • Product Presentation
  • Market Analysis Presentation
  • Business Annual Report Presentation
  • Creative Product Presentation
  • Minimalist Fashion Design Presentation
  • Business Plan Presentation
  • Marketing Plan Presentation
  • SWOT Analysis Presentation
  • Best Workout Apps Presentation
  • Architecture Studio Presentation
  • Financial Report Presentation
  • Digital Marketing KPIs Presentation
  • Technology Research Presentation
  • Nature Background Presentation
  • Travel Presentation
  • Consulting Presentation
  • Business Case Study Presentation
  • Wedding Photography Presentation
  • Investor Pitch Deck
  • Mobile App Pitch Deck
  • CRM Go-To-Market Strategy Presentation
  • Online Marketing Webinar Presentation
  • Cab Service Pitch Deck
  • SaaS Pitch Deck
  • Social Media Pitch Deck
  • Influencer Marketing Pitch Deck
  • Visual Brand Identity Presentation
  • Professional Soccer Team Sponsorship Presentation
  • Corporate Sales Operational Report Presentation
  • Ecommerce Business Model Presentation
  • Company Win-Loss Analysis Report Presentation
  • LittleBlue Brand Guidelines Presentation
  • PixelGo Brand Guidelines Presentation
  • Talkie Brand Guidelines Presentation
  • HanaEatery Brand Guidelines Presentation
  • Atmoluxe Brand Guidelines Presentation
  • Creative Brief Presentation
  • Project Management Presentation
  • UX Strategy Presentation
  • Web Development Proposal Presentation
  • Human Resources Presentation
  • Team Project Update Presentation

1. Marketing Report Presentation

This monthly marketing report presentation template is a great way to present the results of your marketing efforts, such as your social media strategy . It features interactive slides, a clean design with icons and section dividers, modern fonts and a bold color scheme that you can replace with your own brand colors.

presentation template for conference

2. Project Status Report Presentation

If you’re looking through presentation templates for projects with which you can update your boss, colleagues or top management, this is the best one to get started with. It features a classy color scheme with plenty of charts, graphs and data widgets to help explain your project visually.

presentation template for conference

3. Customer Service Presentation

This presentation template is ideal for those involved in customer service. You can present all kinds of statistics and figures using this bold and edgy presentation template. It features nice, clean slides with large fonts, creative data widgets to visualize statistics and even a bar graph  you can customize.

presentation template for conference

4. Hiring Trends in the Fintech Sector Presentation

This striking presentation template is sure to grab your audience’s attention. It features a futuristic design with modern fonts , popping colors against a dark background, social media icons and a clean layout with numbers to fit any type of industry or purpose.

presentation template for conference

If you're struggling to find the right words or you're short on time to add text to your presentation slides , try Visme's AI text generator . With a simple prompt, you'll be provided with a copy for drafts, ideas, structures, outlines , and overviews. You can also proofread and edit existing text. It's quick and easy to use

5. Employee Onboarding Presentation

This onboarding presentation template is a great pick for HR teams who want to educate new employees about the company. With over 15 ready-to-use slides, this template uses a creative slide design–a black-and-white color scheme with a splash of bold color. Use it as is, or customize the colors to fit your company's brand identity .

presentation template for conference

If you're running out of time or creative fuel, use Visme’s AI Presentation Maker. Generate ready-to-use presentations with a single prompt in a matter of minutes. Click here to try Visme’s free AI presentation maker today.

6. Meeting Agenda Presentation

This robust company meeting presentation template consists of 15 well-designed slides. It has everything you need to present your meeting agenda, from Gantt charts and checklists to an appealing project timeline. Mix and match to communicate every single detail with ease.

presentation template for conference

7. Sales Report Presentation

The perfect sales report does exist! This sales presentation template is colorful, upbeat and just right for showing off those strong numbers to your boss or management. It consists of 9 professional slides with data visualizations , bold fonts and a corporate look and feel.

presentation template for conference

You can supercharge your presentation by tapping into Visme’s integration with your favorite data-driven apps like Tableau, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Salesforce, and more. Import data directly into your charts and graphs to easily keep your presentation charts updated as your sales data changes or grows.

8. Press Release Presentation

This press release presentation template is sleek and polished. It's just what you need to present company news and information to the media, potential investors, customers or the general public while maintaining your reputation. You can customize all nine slides with your own branding and content.

9. Remote Team Working Agreement Presentation

This remote team working agreement template allows you to document your working agreement in a professional presentation design. It features 18 slides to help you cover key aspects of your working agreement such as communication and collaboration, working environment and more. Easily customize this template or keep the

presentation template for conference

10. Product Presentation

Presenting a new product or idea is a big deal. This product presentation template utilizes the power of storytelling so you can eloquently highlight the benefits and value proposition of your product. It comes with vibrant and classy colors with the use of whitespace to guide the reader's eyes and keep them engaged. This presentation template is just one example of the many product presentation templates Visme has to offer.

presentation template for conference

11. Market Analysis Presentation

Looking to present market trends to your boss or colleagues? This business presentation template has all the graphs and charts that you need to instantly breathe life into your data and engage your audience. It even comes with a map and icons that you can make interactive .

presentation template for conference

12. Business Annual Report Presentation

This presentation template has a clean, corporate design and is great for presenting company information and financial numbers to your management or colleagues. Swap the images with your own and customize all elements with Visme’s drag-and-drop editor .

presentation template for conference

13. Creative Product Presentation

Looking for a creative presentation template for your SaaS or technology product? This template might be exactly what you’re looking for. It has 10 slides with icons, graphs and even a nice thank you page. Customize it to fit your brand and gear up to impress your audience. You can also take a look at the other templates listed below for more creative presentation designs.

presentation template for conference

14. Minimalist Fashion Design Presentation

This minimalistic presentation template will work well with all kinds of industries and purposes, especially fashion design. It has an elegant yet artistic design with images that you can swap for your own. Present your company in an attractive way and get potential investors interested .

creative presentation layout template - creative agency introduction

If you don’t have images on hand you can choose from a wide range of royalty free images from Visme’s asset library, or let AI help you to create your own.

Visme’s AI Image generator can help to provide a wide range of personalized images you can use in your presentation. Enter a prompt and choose from a range of output styles like photos, paintings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art, and so much more.

15. Business Plan Presentation

Catch the eye of potential investors and score funding with this beautiful and polished business plan presentation template. It features 16 well-designed slides with graphs, icons, lists and other visual elements to help you organize and present your idea in a compelling way.

presentation template for conference

In addition to creating a stunning presentation, Visme can also help to give you and your team a competitive edge. Use Visme analytics to make data-driven decisions.

That’s one of the ways Matt Swiren, Manager of Partnership Marketing for the Broncos, and his team use Visme to execute strategies and wow partners .

Matt uses the analytics provided by Visme to better understand how their presentations are viewed and understand the segments partners value the most. This empowers him to be more thoughtful with their future presentation flow, designs, layout and content, which in turn gives the team the power to construct better conversations and relationships.

Matt Swiren

Manager of Partnership Marketing, Broncos

16. Marketing Plan Presentation

This marketing plan presentation template is bright, upbeat and professional. If you’re tired of the boring PowerPoint presentations with plain bullets, this template is perfect for you. It comes with lots of icons, bold fonts and data widgets that help keep your audience engaged.

presentation template for conference

17. SWOT Analysis Presentation

This professional SWOT analysis presentation template is ideal for presenting your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This presentation theme is designed specifically for retail and eCommerce stores, but you can also use this presentation template for any other business.

presentation template for conference

Visme also offers a range of intuitive collaborative features , allowing your team to work on SWOT analyses and other projects together. This helps eliminate silo mentalities and provides a more collaborative space.

With features like Workflows , where you can assign tasks, projects, and sections to team members, leave comments, manage user and privacy permissions, and work simultaneously on projects, you can achieve so much more.

18. Best Workout Apps Presentation

This fitness presentation template is energetic and features plenty of images that you can easily swap for your own. You can customize the colors, switch up the fonts or play around with all the free vector icons and graphics in Visme’s library.

presentation template for conference

19. Architecture Studio Presentation

This elegant architecture presentation design template has a minimalistic look and feel with a sleek and classy layout, icons and thin, sans serif fonts. You can use this presentation template to showcase your company, team and services in a memorable way.

presentation template for conference

20. Financial Report Presentation

If you’re on the hunt for a clean, professional-looking presentation template to present your company’s financials, this might just be it. This finance slideshow has an eye-catching color scheme, and features multiple graphs and charts to bring your data to life.

presentation template for conference

21. Digital Marketing KPIs Presentation

This is the best presentation template for showing off your social media engagement , traffic and other metrics to your boss or colleagues. It has a professional color scheme that you can customize to fit your brand, statistics slides for displaying various KPIs and icons representing different social platforms.

Are you wondering where to get more free PowerPoint templates for your digital marketing presentation? There are hundreds of available templates in Visme that you can export to PowerPoint with one click.

presentation template for conference

22. Technology Research Presentation

Present your research findings in an engaging way with this technology presentation template. With 4 beautiful slides designed by professionals, including one with a pie chart, this presentation template offers plenty of customization options and flexibility to fit your brand.

presentation template for conference

23. Nature Background Presentation

This is the best presentation template for eco-friendly businesses or companies working in botanical and/or organic industries. This nature-themed slideshow features 4 beautiful slides with elegant fonts , a creative layout and even a contact page at the end with social icons.

presentation template for conference

24. Travel Presentation

This presentation template is ideal for businesses in the travel industry, such as tour organizers. It features a beautiful landscape background in all 4 slides, along with relevant travel photos that you can easily swap for your own. It even has a slide for your different plans or packages to help you communicate your services better to potential customers and clients.

presentation template for conference

25. Consulting Presentation

This upbeat, colorful sales pitch presentation template has 15+ slides that help you create a modern and impactful slideshow for your consultancy or any other business. You can customize this presentation template in Visme and swap the content for your own. Add free vector icons, images, data visualizations and more.

presentation template for conference

26. Business Case Study Presentation

This colorful case study template is a must-have asset for teams who want to build trust with clients and integrate social proof into their marketing strategy. Customize the colors to fit your brand, easily replace the content, add more visuals and move around the slides to fit your company's unique needs.

presentation template for conference

27. Wedding Photography Presentation

This elegant wedding photography presentation template is designed to help you showcase your best photographs with the use of full-sized and prominent background. You can swap the images and text for your own content and present your business in an impressive way.

presentation slides - services template visme

If you’re short on time to edit your own images before adding them to this presentation use Visme’s AI TouchUp Tools for a quick and stylish edit. Remove backgrounds, easter and replace objects, unblur, or sharpen images all inside of your Visme editor.

28. Investor Pitch Deck

This investor pitch deck template will accelerate your efforts to get funding and grab interest. It features a set of well-designed, polished slides with data visualizations, a pricing table and images that you can easily replace with your own in Visme's drag-and-drop editor.

presentation template for conference

Keep your pitch deck and presentation informed up to date with dynamic fields . Use them to instantly update company information and data across multiple projects, all with the click of a button, without having to manually type in the information and details.

29. Mobile App Pitch Deck

This beautiful pitch deck template with 17 fully customizable slides was inspired by Airbnb and is perfect for presenting to potential investors in an impressive way. This hospitality presentation template has a modern design with a focus on apps, important numbers and overall strategy.

presentation template for conference

30. CRM Go-To-Market Strategy Presentation

This go-to-marketing strategy presentation is suited to any product manager or marketing who needs to effectively lay out their plans to bring their products to the market. This template comes equipped with slides for market research, competition overview, product features and other crucial elements to complete your GTM strategy.

presentation template for conference

31. Online Marketing Webinar Presentation

This webinar presentation template is designed to ensure a seamless presentation session. With its cool blue tones and effective use of white space, it allows you to professionally structure your content.

This template includes not only a well-organized layout but also timestamps to help you and your audience stay engaged and manage your time effectively. Each slide features a minimal design, providing ample space to showcase your knowledge without overwhelming the viewer.

presentation template for conference

32. Cab Service Pitch Deck

This cab service pitch deck was inspired by Uber, and is just right for presenting a new app or service designed to help potential customers improve their lifestyle. This service presentation template highlights key features and stand-out differences up front, which increases your chances of scoring solid investment.

pitch deck template - uber ubercab hybcab

33. SaaS Pitch Deck

This SaaS pitch deck template is inspired by Front and comes with 18 professionally designed slides that have all the visual and text elements you need for a compelling business pitch . Customize the colors, icons and other elements to fit this presentation template to your brand.

pitch deck presentation layout template - upfront

34. Social Media Pitch Deck

If you’re looking for a pitch deck template that’s irresistible to potential investors, this is it. After all, it worked for Buffer! This Buffer-inspired presentation template is ideal for any marketing or SaaS product. It has 18 beautiful slides with data visualizations, timelines , headshots, icons and tons of other visual elements that you can customize with a few clicks.

presentation template for conference

35. Influencer Marketing Pitch Deck

This powerful pitch deck template is inspired by Launchrock, and is designed with the purpose of helping your brand stand out from the competition. It has 16 professional and customizable slides with complete information that you can easily swap for your own content.

presentation template for conference

36. Visual Brand Identity Presentation

Showcase your brand elements in style with this beautiful visual identity presentation template. Make sure your colleagues stay on the same page by communicating logo, font, imagery and other visual standards that help you stay consistent and strengthen your brand .

presentation template for conference

37. Professional Soccer Team Sponsorship Presentation

For marketing and sales teams that focus on sports, you can utilize this professional soccer team sponsorship presentation to reach out to potential partners in exchange for resources or financial support. This template includes a brief overview of the benefits you'll provide to sponsors in exchange for their financial support of a sporting event, team, athlete, or league.

Feel free to customize it by adding additional pages to showcase your activation ideas, past campaigns, and sponsors. You can modify all elements, including logos, fonts, colors, and images, to match your team’s colors and branding.

presentation template for conference

38. Corporate Sales Operational Report Presentation

Present your company's sales performance, strategies, and activities using this corporate sales operational report. This template includes key metrics, revenue figures, and key performance indicators met.

The template is designed to help you showcase major insights on the data collected and recommendations to optimize sales operations for decision-making and performance evaluation.

presentation template for conference

39. Ecommerce Business Model Presentation

This business model presentation aims to help you showcase your company's core strategy and approach to generating sustainable revenue, serving both internal use and potential investors.

The presentation boasts a playful design, featuring a muted background with bright green highlights and occasional dark background slides to break the monotony as readers navigate through the content.

With 21 slides encompassing your company mission, product category, value proposition, revenue model, target audience profiles, competitor analysis, strategies, and financial projections, this template offers comprehensive coverage.

Moreover, this slide allows you to integrate video content directly from platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or Loom, or upload videos directly to Visme.

presentation template for conference

40. Company Win-Loss Analysis Report Presentation

Ditch the boring Excel sheets and opt for this stunning win-loss analysis presentation to showcase your company's findings in a concise and highly memorable manner. It features a bold yet minimalistic design, blending dark and bright blue and purple tones throughout.

Each slide is thoughtfully designed to highlight critical aspects of your win-loss analysis, covering key performance indicators, strengths, recommendations, competitive landscape, and market trends aimed at enhancing your company's performance.

presentation template for conference

41. LittleBlue Brand Guidelines Presentation

This attractive food-themed brand guidelines presentation is fully customizable. You can change all the elements, such as logos, fonts, colors and images, and use this presentation template to communicate your own brand elements . It’s modern and visually appealing design will make your brand elements look even better.

presentation template for conference

42. PixelGo Brand Guidelines Presentation

This modern brand guidelines presentation template will help you communicate your brand standards to your team or employees. It has a versatile design that works with all types of businesses and has all the slides, such as for your logos , typography and color palette.

best presentation templates - pixelgo brand-identity-visme

43. Talkie Brand Guidelines Presentation

This creative presentation template is great for showcasing your brand elements and standards in a memorable way. You can customize the color scheme, add your own typography and logos, and plug in your own content easily using Visme’s drag-and-drop editor.

best presentation templates - talkie brand-identity-visme

44. HanaEatery Brand Guidelines Presentation

If you own a shop, or better yet, eatery, this is the best presentation template for you. It features 10 professionally designed slides to help you showcase your brand elements in style. Customize the images, colors, logos, typography and more with just a few clicks in the Visme editor.

best presentation templates - Restaurant-brand-identity-visme

45. Atmoluxe Brand Guidelines Presentation

This creative brand guidelines presentation template has a futuristic design and can fit any type of business with just some quick customization. Swap the existing logos, icons, text and colors for your own content and create a powerful presentation to showcase your brand elements.

best presentation templates - atmoluxe brand guidelines visme

46. Creative Brief Presentation

This creative brief presentation template can help you communicate your brand style and design requirements to video editors, graphic designers, creative agencies and freelancers. Swap the existing images, icons, text and colors for your own content and create a branded creative brief.

presentation template for conference

47. Project Management Presentation

If you're looking to impress your audience without breaking the bank, look no further! Our collection of the best PowerPoint templates, available for free download, will elevate your project management presentations to new heights.

This project management presentation template has a professional design and is perfect for all kinds of businesses. This project presentation design comes with a stylish timeline slide, a client overview slide, a budget slide and more to help you create the ultimate project management plan .

presentation template for conference

48. UX Strategy Presentation

This modern UX strategy presentation is ideal for web developers and UX designers who want to present the progress of their UX projects or create a sales pitch for clients. This user experience presentation comes with 15+ slides, including a Gantt chart roadmap slide, and you can customize it to fit your business and design needs.

presentation template for conference

49. Web Development Proposal Presentation

Pitch your ideas to clients and show them how you can help them achieve their website goals with this proposal presentation template. This presentation is crafted especially for web development companies, but any business can use it by simply replacing the text, colors and images inside.

presentation template for conference

50. Human Resources Presentation

This HR report presentation template is ideal for corporate human resources teams, but any department or business can use it by customizing the content and design in Visme's presentation editor. The clean and sophisticated design of this template reflects your company's professionalism. Add your logo and visual elements to align this presentation template with your brand identity.

presentation template for conference

51. Team Project Update Presentation

This project status update presentation template is designed with teams in mind, and helps project teams of all kinds and sizes report their progress in a visual and engaging way. Use this template for your own needs, and change the colors, fonts, text, visuals, icons and more in Visme's drag-and-drop editor.

presentation template for conference

Best Presentation Templates for Training & Education

Tired of dull and uninspiring training presentations? Spice up your slides with our selection of creative PowerPoint templates, all available for free download. Whether you're writing a book report or preparing a lesson, these innovative designs will add flair and impact to your message, leaving a lasting impression on your students.

In this section, we have put together a list of the best presentation templates for business training, webinars, courses, schools and educational institutes.

Scroll down to find your pick or click through the menu below.

  • Business Studies Presentationu
  • General Culture Presentation
  • Literature Presentation
  • Current Events Presentation
  • Entrepreneurship Presentation
  • History Presentation
  • Science Presentation
  • Health Presentation
  • Media Presentation
  • Worldschooling Presentation
  • Life Skills Presentation
  • Book Report Presentation
  • Training Plan Presentation
  • Science Trivia Presentation
  • Lesson Plan Presentation
  • Group Project Presentation
  • Graphic Design Course Presentation
  • Technology Webinar Presentation
  • Entrepreneurship Course Presentation
  • Public Speaking Workshop Presentation
  • Digital Marketing Webinar Presentation
  • Remote Team Training Presentation
  • Sales Training Presentation
  • Organizational Culture Presentation

52. Business Studies Presentation

This simple digital marketing presentation template is great for presenting in class by a student or a teacher. It has a useful “what is” layout that helps with explaining definitions and how something works. Perfect for educational purposes and you can customize it however you want.

presentation slides - simple marketing presentation template visme

53. General Culture Presentation

This creative presentation template is based on the topic of art and graffiti, but you can customize it for any other subject or topic. It features 5 beautifully designed slides with ample visual elements, including a pros and cons comparison table , to make any kind of information look instantly engaging.

presentation topic ideas - graffiti art general culture presentation template visme

54. Literature Presentation

Educate your class on the life of a famous author, poet or personality like William Shakespeare with this creative presentation template. It features 4 well-designed slides, including one with a detailed timeline perfect for highlighting important events or details of someone’s life.

presentation topic ideas - william shakespeare literature presentation template visme

55. Current Events Presentation

Want to present a global, national or social issue in class? This current events presentation template for students and teachers is the perfect fit. It has 5 complete slides with a pros and cons table and also a quote that you can swap for your own with just a few clicks.

presentation topic ideas - current events presentation slides template visme

56 . Entrepreneurship Presentation

This is the best presentation template to introduce a concept or idea, especially if you’re presenting to students in an entrepreneurship or business class. It has a visually appealing design with background images , graphic elements and a bright color scheme that you can edit.

presentation topic ideas - entrepreneur work life presentation template visme

57. History Presentation

This dinosaur timeline presentation template is great for use in history class or even biology class. It features 4 creatively designed slides, including one with a colorful timeline, which you can customize with your own images, fonts, colors and content in the Visme editor.

presentation topic ideas - prehistoric timeline dinosaurs history presentation template visme

58. Science Presentation

Present science topics in class with this engaging presentation template that focuses on a space exploration theme. This is one of the many stylish interactive presentations templates Visme provides. You can customize this presentation template with your own colors, icons and text. Add animations and interactive links, duplicate slides and do more with Visme.

presentation topic ideas - moon landing science presentation template visme

59. Health Presentation

Customize this how-to presentation template for your next project in health class. This is the best presentation template to create awareness around an important health issue or even for educating the general public on first-aid or other health-related knowledge.

presentation topic ideas - how to dress a wound health presentation template visme

60. Media Presentation

Need a fancy timeline? This media presentation template has got you covered. Show how an idea, concept, product or any other object has evolved over time with this creative timeline presentation. Customize the colors, add your own images, change the font and much more.

presentation topic ideas - evolution of the projector media presentation template visme

61. Worldschooling Presentation

This worldschooling presentation template is perfect for education-related topics. It features 4 well-designed slides with maps, images, fun fonts and other visual elements that make it a great pick for topics that are to be presented in class by students or teachers.

presentation topic ideas - worldschooling education presentation template visme

62. Life Skills Presentation

This visually appealing presentation template is ideal for illustrating tips, tricks, how-to tutorials and other purposes that require several sections. You can easily customize and duplicate each slide, add or remove elements and swap the content for your own in Visme’s editor.

presentation topic ideas - how to do laundry life skills presentation template visme

63. Book Report Presentation

This stunning book report presentation template has all the slides you need to dive deep into themes, storyline and other elements. The nine slides feature a mix of text-based content and graphics, such as a visual timeline and mini infographics. Customize it with ease in Visme.

64. Training Plan Presentation

This is the best presentation template for training plans and courses. It has a set of 13 slides that help you organize the training, break it up into different sections, and communicate course objectives and training content in a visually engaging, effective way.

presentation slides - training plan template visme

After customizing your training presentation you can share it as a live webpage, or PowerPoint file or upload it to an LMS (learning management system) of your choice. Visme allows you to effortlessly download your presentation as an xAPI or SCORM file that is compatible with top LMS platforms.

65. Science Trivia Presentation

Whether you want to present some fun facts in the class or quiz your students, this science trivia presentation template is a great fit. You can customize the color scheme, change the fonts, plug in your own content and you’re good to go! Make use of data widgets and icons for more impact.

presentation slides - trivia template visme

66. Lesson Plan Presentation

Creating a lesson plan from scratch can be frustrating. Use this pre-designed presentation template with 8 handy slides to help you communicate lesson objectives, methods, assignments and more. You can easily customize the colors, fonts, icons and more with just a few clicks.

presentation slides - lesson plan template visme

67. Group Project Presentation

This group project presentation template is great for students working and presenting together. It has several slides that are all fully customizable, including one for team members. The data visualizations help you communicate stats and figures in an easy-to-understand and engaging way.

presentation slides - group project template visme

68. Graphic Design Course Presentation

This colorful graphic design course presentation is ideal for webinars , online courses, training sessions and even the classroom. It's visually engaging with intuitive use of icons, lots of white space and an upbeat, lively design. Use it as it is or customize it to fit your unique design and content needs.

presentation template for conference

69. Technology Webinar Presentation

Looking for a creative technology presentation? Look no further than this technology webinar presentation template. Put together an informative and visually engaging presentation with professionally designed slides, lots of technology images and a geometic, futuristic design.

presentation template for conference

70. Entrepreneurship Course Presentation

Educate your students and attendees on entrepreneurship with this informative presentation template. This template can be used in classrooms or for business trainings, webinars and online courses. It's chock full of data widgets, icons, charts and other visual elements, and also comes with tailor-made, original content to help guide your own.

presentation template for conference

71. Public Speaking Workshop Presentation

Public speaking can be tough, which is why a presentation like this one can help you train the attendees effectively with its engaging design, data visualizations and bold images that instill confidence. Use this workshop presentation template as is, or customize it for any other topic.

presentation template for conference

72. Digital Marketing Webinar Presentation

Break down the concept of digital marketing, ads, social media marketing and other concepts using this educational presentation template. This template can be used in schools and universities or in business training and webinars. It can easily be edited to fit your topic, content and design needs.

presentation template for conference

73. Remote Team Training Presentation

This remote team training presentation template is incredibly useful for businesses that are transitioning to a partially or fully remote work environment. Your team needs to learn how to effectively manage a remote team , and this presentation can help you do just that. Use it as is, or tweak the content and design inside easily.

presentation template for conference

74. Sales Training Presentation

Educate sales teams on how to improve their sales processes, polish their skills and bring in more revenue for the company with this sales training presentation template. This template is designed with a modern corporate look-and-feel with bold colors, lots of visuals and a sleek, sophisticated design.

presentation template for conference

75. Organizational Culture Presentation

Nothing is more boring than a dry, plain-looking PowerPoint presentation. So, why not take things up a notch and create a bright, colorful presentation to keep your audience engaged till the very end?

This organizational culture presentation template can be used for training, webinars and the classroom alike. You can also use it for other purposes by editing the content and design. It comes with a nice process slide, images of people that you can easily replace and other useful visual elements.

presentation template for conference

Best Presentation Templates for Nonprofit

We also have a list of the best presentation templates tailored to the needs of nonprofit organizations. Find your pick from a selection of presentation templates on wildlife conservation, pet adoption, nature and environmental issues, and more.

  • Art Project Presentation
  • Nonprofit Environmental Presentation
  • Nonprofit Annual Report Presentation
  • Pet Adoption Presentation
  • Wildlife Conservation Presentation
  • Animal Background Presentation
  • Education Support Program Presentation
  • Public Health Awareness Presentation
  • Breast Cancer Awareness Presentation
  • Poverty Alleviation Presentation
  • Women Empowerment Presentation
  • Mental Health Presentation

76. Art Project Presentation

This art project presentation is great for all kinds of nonprofit organizations, schools and even businesses. It’s full of creative data visualizations that you can customize and even animate. Whether you’re presenting an idea for an art competition or just reporting project status, this presentation template can easily fit your purpose.

presentation slides - nonprofit art template visme

77. Nonprofit Environmental Presentation

If you’re looking to create awareness about the environment or just require a nature-themed presentation template for your next project, this green slideshow might be just right. It features several slides designed with the environment in mind, with nature images and even data visualizations to help you communicate your cause and project updates.

presentation slides - nonprofit environmental template visme

78. Nonprofit Annual Report Presentation

This nonprofit annual report presentation template is perfect for showcasing those strong numbers and building your case for fundraising. You can swap the existing content, colors, images and any other visual element for your own in Visme’s intuitive presentation maker.

When creating a presentation for a nonprofit, which template is best for ppt? Choose one that’s versatile and offers easy customization options.

presentation slides - nonprofit report template visme

79. Pet Adoption Presentation

This adorable pet adoption presentation template can be customized for your own nonprofit organization with a few clicks. It features a handful of cute pet images, which you can easily replace with your own photos or the ones you choose from Visme’s free stock image library.

presentation slides - pet adoption slideshow template visme

80. Wildlife Conservation Presentation

Raise awareness about wildlife conservation or any other related cause with this customizable presentation template. The creative slides feature an effective blend of images, text and data visualizations to help you communicate all the right information in a visually engaging manner.

presentation slides - wildlife conservation template visme

81. Animal Background Presentation

This is another wildlife or animal related presentation template that you can use for your project, cause or nonprofit organization. You can replace the images with your own, change the color scheme and do much more in Visme’s drag-and-drop presentation software.

presentation slides - nonprofit animals template visme

82. Education Support Program Presentation

Show how your nonprofit or social project is making a difference in the lives of children with this education support program presentation template. You can also modify this template according to your own content and design needs, add images, icons and data visualizations, and download it in PowerPoint or PDF format.

Visme also allows you to share or download presentations in PowerPoint or PDF format.

presentation template for conference

83. Public Health Awareness Presentation

This health awareness presentation is a great fit for government organizations, nonprofits and medical institutions that want to educate people on public health topics, such as COVID-19 and vaccines. Use this presentation template as is, or change the colors, text, visuals and icons inside to suit your own needs.

presentation template for conference

84. Breast Cancer Awareness Presentation

Educate your audience on the topic of breast awareness, and encourage others to support your cause using this cancer awareness presentation template. This template already comes with a feminine color scheme fit for the topic of breast cancer, but you can modify it easily according to your content and design needs.

presentation template for conference

85. Poverty Alleviation Presentation

Raise awareness, funds and support for your cause with this poverty alleviation presentation template. This template can be used by nonprofits, government programs and even businesses running corporate social responsibility projects. Customize the color scheme, fonts, text, images and other features of this presentation template, and use it to reach your nonprofit goals .

presentation template for conference

86. Women Empowerment Presentation

Just like the subject of feminism and women empowerment, this presentation template is bold and powerful. Use it as is, or modify the content and design to suit your unique needs. This women empowerment presentation template can be used by nonprofits, feminist organizations and even businesses looking to educate their employees on gender and diversity topics.

presentation template for conference

87. Mental Health Presentation

This mental health presentation can help you educate your audience on issues and topics that matter the most, such as psychological well-being and what to do if someone you love is affected by mental illnesses.

Use this presentation template as is to generate awareness or edit the content and design inside to suit your unique needs.

presentation template for conference

Find the Best Presentation Template For You

There you have it, the best free PowerPoint templates for 2024!

Finding the right presentation template is the first step in creating a powerful slideshow. This list of the best presentation templates will help you get started.

What are you waiting for? Unleash your creativity with our curated collection of free downloadable creative PPT templates. From modern and minimalist designs to bold and artistic layouts, there's something for every presenter.

Sign up for Visme's presentation software today (it's free!) and start using your favorite template.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

presentation template for conference

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About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

presentation template for conference

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Research conference presentation slide template + 3 design tips

Imagine this: research conference organizers send the participants a PowerPoint presentation slide template along with instructions that sound something like this:

Your presentation should be 20 minutes long; please keep the number of presentation slides to a maximum of 20.

A scientist who has 35 PowerPoint slides from the previous conference and might think:

OK, no problem! I will simply squeeze the information from the remaining fifteen slides into the first twenty to fit the provided presentation template.

The resulting presentation slides probably look similar to the figure below.

presentation template for conference

The scientist arrives at the conference, delivers the presentation, and receives applause at the end. He puts a picture from the conference on a social network and receives a comment: Sorry, I missed your presentation. Please email me the slides.

Ahh, he thinks , it’s a good thing I jammed that extra information into the presentation slides. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the person asking to get the full overview of my work!

It seems everyone is happy. The conference organizers got their 20 slides, the presenter successfully delivered his speech, and even the person on social media got the information she requested. But one thing is missing from the story – what about the people who actually showed up for the presentation?

The listeners were probably bewildered by the PowerPoint slides resembling an explosion of a hard drive disc over the screen. Their eyes were darting to follow the laser pointer from a figure in one corner of the slide to bullet points in the other. At around the third slide, many probably started daydreaming about the appetizers they can expect during the coffee break. They energetically clapped their hands at the end of the presentation because it was finally over. They forgot the performance as soon as the next speaker took the stage.

OK, but what about the person that asked you to send her the slides? Surely she would be disappointed when receiving a presentation which she cannot understand without you being there to present it. Well, send her the research paper (see my book to learn writing an impactful research paper). This is the piece of work that is meant for sharing and has to be self-explanatory. You are on the stage for a reason! Research conference presentation slides do not have to be self-explanatory.

In this post, you will learn three crucial tips for preparing scientific conference presentation slides to efficiently explain your research.

Tip No.1: One thought per slide

Presenters often use slides to keep the talk on track. Frequently this takes the form of the dreaded bullet-point list. Such an approach is a bad idea. Despite what some people claim, humans can not multitask at things that require deliberate thinking. Too much text will draw the listener’s attention away from what you are saying and toward reading the text on the slide. Since we read faster than we can speak, your listeners will already know what you are going to say, thus losing their attention.

The best approach for keeping the presentation slides light is to limit yourself to one single thought per slide. This could be, for example, a figure and several supporting bullet points taking up not more than one row each. But do not be afraid only to have one item, like a diagram, on the slide which takes only ten seconds to explain. There is no invisible jar that will start to spill over if you pour too many slides inside. A single thought per slide will allow the audience to better follow the presentation. This will also allow you to increase the size of text and images, thus ensuring that people in the back row can follow the talk.

Instead of using presentation slides as a teleprompter, use this valuable real estate for information that adds to your presentation, not duplicates it.

The “before” figure below presents a typical academic conference PowerPint presentation slide with three bullet points. I transformed it into three separate slides, each introducing one single thought. When displaying the “after” slides, the presenter would simply say out loud the information that was previously written.

presentation template for conference

You will notice that each of the converted slides uses visual information instead of text. Visuals draw human attention and can do a great job explaining things that would be difficult to put into words. Data charts, scientific illustrations, diagrams, or videos can all add another dimension to complement your presentation.

I am not claiming that you should strip your presentation slides of useful information or dumb them down. My reasoning stems from the vast majority of presentation slides that I have seen in research conferences. The slides are often overwhelmed with details that do more to confuse the listener than help. Focusing the slide content on visual information will help to support instead of distracting from your message. This brings us to the next topic.

Tip No.2: Presentation slides are for visual information

Even though I urge you to simplify the slides, it is clear that as a researcher, you will need to present complex information. This will most often take the form of different charts and illustrations (let’s call them graphics).

There is a lot to learn about the creation of graphics, but one element from the toolkit of designing graphics is particularly important for creating great scientific conference presentation slides. That is knowing how to guide the listeners’ attention. To do it, we must tap into a basic human instinct – people are drawn to outliers. Back at the dawn of homo-sapiens, this helped us spot danger or notice prey: think of a lion moving in a steppe – it is easy to imagine why our vision has evolved to pay attention to it.

Today we can take advantage of the 300 thousand-year-old instincts of our species to explain the all-important differences between two lines in a graph. Color, size, motion, white space, enclosure, and shape are some graphical features that can attract attention to particular elements in a chart.

presentation template for conference

Learn creating charts that tell a story

Knowing how to prepare efficient data charts and graphics will not only help you to create better slides; you will be able to use these skills to write clearer research papers and certainly it will increase your chances of obtaining research grants. My book Research Data Visualization and Scientific Graphics is a short guide that will help you to learn create charts that tell a story.

The example below directs the attention of the viewers within a single chart to the different topics that are being discussed (data from Evans et al. ). These could be presented in sequential slides.

presentation template for conference

The “Only 60 harvests ” left claims are exaggerated. Research by Evans et al. shows that depending on the soil management, only 7-34% of soils have less than 100 year lifespan.

presentation template for conference

Even most bare soils survive upwards of 300 years.

presentation template for conference

A good management practice can extend the soil’s life by several orders of magnitude.

A word of caution for those who might become too trigger-happy when discovering how easy it is to add animations to PowerPoint presentation slides: use these effects only when they add information to the story that you are telling. It quickly becomes irritating to see flying text, rotating slide transitions, expanding bullet points, and dissolving pictures. Revealing only one item at a time can be similarly annoying when done without a purpose.

presentation template for conference

Hint: Avoid using PowerPoint templates with busy backgrounds or colorful university logos on each slide. This limits your ability to draw the listeners’ attention to a particular item on the slide. On a busy background, the highlighted parts will not pop out quite as much as they would from a simple background.

Tip No.3: Use action titles

Instinctively we can probably agree that the most important information, regardless of the type of medium, should be the largest. For example, it would be weird if the largest letters on a milk bottle would rea “Recyclable”. Interestingly, almost none of us actually follow this logic when designing scientific conference presentation slides.

If you open PowerPoint, by default the largest text is the slide title. Since it is also located at the top of the slide, the title is going to be the first thing that draws the listener’s attention. But what do we put up there? Redundant, meaningless phrases like Methodology or Results of XYZ test . The figure below provides one such example.

presentation template for conference

The traditional PowerPoint title attracts all the attention while providing very little information.

You will probably agree that the tile Global temperature prediction does little to reveal what’s important about the information in the presentation slide. That is unless the listener has suddenly awoken from a nap and wants to understand what is the topic you are currently discussing. If this is the case, slide titles are the least of your problems.

Instead of wasting the title for redundant information, a much better idea is to follow the advice from the C.N.Knaflic’s book Storytelling with Data in using an action title . An action title should provide information about the results, highlight an important observation or a conclusion for the particular slide. For example, instead of a whole block of slides having the title Results , the individual slide titles would say Observations have high variability or Simulation supports the test results .

In other words, a conference slide title should present something important about the research that the audience should not miss. It sets the expectations for what to expect from the information on the slide.

See below the different ways in which an action title can be displayed in the presentation slides. Doesn’t this approach offer more information than the traditional PowerPoint slide title that we saw earlier?

presentation template for conference

An action title highlights the key information that the listeners should not miss

presentation template for conference

Placing the action title at the bottom (and graying it out) is another option, giving more emphasis to the slide content.    

presentation template for conference

The widescreen (16:9) slide size can be put to good use by dividing it into two columns: one for visual information, the other for key text.

presentation template for conference

Removing the title altogether allows increasing the size of the graphics. The presenter tells all the information that was previously written in the slide title.

presentation template for conference

Font size rule of thumb : Make sure that the listeners in the back rows can read your slides comfortably. Since you will rarely have the chance to test this, apply the rule of thumb by using 14 to 28 pt. font size for the main text and in charts. References and other background information could be smaller and grayed out to avoid distracting from the main content.  

A free scientific conference presentation slide template

Now that we have reviewed three key principles of academic conference presentation slide design, use them to prepare your own slides. An even better way is to prepare a PowerPoint slide template that automatically incorporates many of these tips.

Below you will find a free PowerPoint template that I designed specifically for scientific conference presentations. It holds six preformatted slide layouts which by default follow many of the academic conference slide design tips that we just went through, including the use of action titles, focus on visual information, and large enough font size. The presentation template also holds the three design tips to serve as a reminder from this post.

MS PowerPoint logo

You will access these free Powerpoint scientific presentation slide templates in the download

Great slides will not mask poor presentation skills

Creating great presentation slides is certainly important in order to make a memorable academic presentation. But no amount of slide polishing will mask other potential problems, including lack of substance, unclear presentation structure, and a presenter who is so stressed their mouth feels like a desert.

What you need is to add presentation skills to your scientific skill tool belt. My name is Martins Zaumanis and with my online course “Scientific Presentations Masterclass” I will show you how to become a masterful presenter using a system that I developed, called the “ Five S presenting pyramid ”. 

Learn to give powerful academic presentations and overcome stage fright using the Five-S pyramid.

Scientific Presentations Masterclass banner

The Five-S pyramid starts from the basics of putting together the presentation  Substance  (first S), advances to devising a presentation  Structure  (second S), shows how to put up a  Show  (third S), tell memorable  Stories  (fourth S), and finally, it will offer advice for how the  Speaker  (fifth S) can work on improving presentation skills, including dealing with stage fright.

presentation template for conference

The Five-S pyramid starts from the basics of putting together the presentation  Substance  (first S), advances to devising a presentation  Structure  (second S), shows how to put up a  Show  (third S), tell memorable  Stories  (fourth S), and finally, it will offer advice for how the  Speaker  (fifth S) can work on improving presentation skills, including dealing with stage fright.

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14th Annual CLE Conference Presentations

Note: Some presentations may have been amended and/or redacted by the presenters from the original presentation. 

MORNING SESSION I

  • No Bones About It - The Roberts Court 2023-2024: Chevron Deference, Abortion, and Presidential Juris Politics - Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
  • Taming the Pyroraptors: Contending with Political Speech Both Within and Outside the Workplace - FordHarrison LLP
  • A Primer on M&A and Navigating Antitrust Risks - Winston & Strawn LLP  

MORNING SESSION II

  • Don’t Be a Dinosaur! Staying Current on Corporate Governance Developments - Bilzin Sumberg
  • Evolve with AI or Become Extinct - Nelson Mullins
  • As the DOL/State Wage and Hour Law World Turns – Where Does the Current Law Stand and Its Impact on Employers? - Barnes & Thornburg  

AFTERNOON SESSION I

  • Shaping the Future: How the Supreme Court Ruling on Affirmative Action in Education Impacts Workplace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Jackson Lewis P.C.
  • Litigating Allosaurus (Big) Matters on Compsognathus (Small) Budgets - TCDI
  • Dino-Mitigation Plan: AI Risk Assessments and Compliance Obligations - Squire Patton Boggs  

AFTERNOON SESSION II

  • Every Adventure Pack Needs a Dino-mite Handbook: Here’s What to Pack Into Yours - Fisher Phillips
  • Dino-Mite Deals: Practical Advice on Reviewing Commercial Contracts - King & Spalding
  • Hackers Will Find a Way - Cybersecurity Preparedness and Incident Response in Post-Jurassic Times - Saul Ewing  

AFTERNOON SESSION III

  • The Dinosaur in the Room: A Refresher on Attorney-Client Privilege for Corporate Counsel with Specific Guidance for the Jurassic World of E-Discovery - Gunster
  • Corporate Transparency Act – Federal District Court’s Ruling that the Act is Unconstitutional - Akerman
  • Don’t Get Chomped! Mitigating Risk Through Indemnification and Liability Caps - Bilzin Sumberg  

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Speech by Justice Richard Cavanagh at the Personal Injury Commission Mediator Conference

Speech delivered by Justice Richard Cavanagh, at the Personal Injury Commission's Mediator Conference on 30 August 2024.

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Personal Injury Commission Mediator Conference

Speech delivered by Justice Richard Cavanagh

Friday 30 August 2024

Thank you for inviting me to address your conference.

When I was asked to speak, I enquired as to what you might like me to speak about and was told anything of my choice. I could speak about life on the bench or my memories of being a mediator in the years prior to taking my appointment in 2019 but alas, I came to the conclusion that I was probably being asked to speak for the purposes of addressing some legal matters of substance.

I feel that I am perhaps ideally placed to talk about matters which may impact upon, in particular, work injury damages claims. I have since 2020 managed the List in the Supreme Court known as the Long Matters List, although I am now managing the Professional Negligence List.

The Long Matters List was introduced in 2020 to provide for judicial case management of matters which would take 5 days or more hearing time because there seemed to be an increasing trend of matters not being ready to proceed on the first day of a hearing including for reasons such as the parties needing to amend the pleadings or the service of new evidence.

The approach I took in establishing and managing the list was to bring the matters before me at an early stage and on a regular basis up until the time of the hearing. Further, I decided to adopt the approach, perhaps adopted in the Commercial List of the Supreme Court, of enquiring of the parties what the real issues were and trying to flush out or eliminate false issues.

The result has been (I hope) much more focus on the issues in the proceedings and an increased focus on settlement. No one gets away without attending a mediation despite their insistence on a mediation being pointless.

I am sure that as experienced mediators you have heard many times that it is pointless continuing the discussions only for the matter to settle a short time later. I spent the last 10 years of my practice both participating in and acting as mediator in many mediations, I probably acted as a mediator about 100 times which of course may pale into insignificance when compared to your numbers, but I suppose I have a fair idea of what is involved.

Having said that, I am not really here to talk about mediation other than to say that just as mediation obviously provides the mechanism by which so many cases within the Commission settle, it also provides the mechanism by which so many cases within the Supreme Court settle. Indeed, of all the personal injury cases that I manage or are managed by others, only a small percentage run to a concluded hearing in the Supreme Court.

There has been a considerable reduction, even since when I started in 2019.

As a result of my case management and indeed hearing of personal injury matters over the past few years, I have come to realise that there are some topics that regularly arise.

As I am here to talk about legal issues, I have identified three of those topics as follows:

  • Vicarious liability and non-delegable duties of care.
  • Section 151Z of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) – why is it so hard?
  • Section 318 of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) (“WIM Act”) – how is it applied?

I will start with vicarious liability.

Vicarious Liability and Non-delegable Duties of Care

These concepts are sometimes confused. They arise often in the context of multi-party litigation but there may be some confusion as to their applicability and impact on liability and apportionment. They both provide a basis of attributing responsibility.

Vicarious liability is a mechanism whereby legal responsibility is attributed to a person arising out of the conduct of another person, even though the person held to be legally responsible was not at fault.

Whether a party is vicariously liable depends on the relationship with the person actually at fault. The Court has of course long recognised the application of vicarious liability in the context of the employment relationship but there remains some uncertainty as to its application.

An employer is vicariously liable for any wrongful act committed by an employee in the course of his employment. Put generally, a person being paid to work at a worksite as part of his employment during the course of employment would be acting within the scope of his employment unless he is off on a frolic of his own.

As Gleeson CJ held in New South Wales v Lepore (2003) 212 CLR 511 (“ Lepor e”) at [41], “[t]he antithesis of conduct in the course of employment is sometimes expressed by saying that the employee was ‘on a frolic of his own’.”

But when is an employee off on a frolic of his own?

Whether an employee is off on a frolic of his own is a question of fact. An employer is plainly vicariously liable for authorised acts of his employee. That much is uncontroversial, but what about unauthorised acts?

The line between being off on a frolic of his own and just performing an authorised act in an unauthorised way is somewhat blurred. It may also be that an employer is vicariously liable for unauthorised acts if they are so connected with authorised acts that they may be regarded as modes, although improper modes, of doing them.

However, the employer is not responsible if the unauthorised and wrongful act is not so connected with the authorised act as to be a mode of doing it but is an independent act.

The most famous case is of course Deatons Pty Ltd v Flew (1949) 79 CLR 370 (“ Deatons” ). In 1946, a drunk customer (having consumed 9 or 10 beers) was haranguing the barmaid, insulting her and questioning her morals and parentage. She responded by throwing beer at him and then the glass. Alas, he lost his eye and sued the hotel. Despite the connection with her work, the employer was found not to be vicariously liable as the barmaid was found to be off on a frolic of her own. Since that time the courts have sometimes struggled to articulate a clear line between the circumstances in which an employer would be vicariously liable and when the worker would be off on a frolic of his own.

Examples of the difficulties in determining whether the employee is engaged in an unauthorised mode of undertaking an authorised act may be found in the security guard type cases, that is when security guards injure patrons through their conduct.

A good example is Starks v RSM Security Pty Ltd & Ors [2004] NSWCA 351 (“ Starks ”).

The employer in that case was held to be vicariously liable for the actions of a security guard who head butted a customer. The security guard had approached the customer suggesting that he was drunk and must leave. The customer (who turned out to be a licensed security guard himself) said he would not leave because everyone else in the hotel was drunk so why should he leave.

It seems that that was enough provocation for the security guard to head butt the customer, breaking his jaw and rendering him unconscious. Beazley JA, (as the Governor then was), held that the actions of the security guard were unauthorised and unprovoked but so closely connected with a task that the security guard was required to perform that the employer was vicariously liable, that is the security guard engaged in an unauthorised mode of doing an authorised act.

In Prince Alfred College Inc v ADC (2016) 258 CLR 134 (“ Prince Alfred College ”), a case about a 12-year-old boy being sexually abused by a house master that went to the High Court on the limitation point,  the  High  Court observed that the Courts have struggled to identify a coherent basis for identifying the circumstances in which an employer should be held vicariously liable for a negligent act of an employee and liable for intentional criminal acts (at [39]).

Although the Court went on to consider the approaches to vicarious liability internationally, it did not actually determine in what circumstances an employer might be vicariously liable for the criminal conduct of an employee (as the appeal point was the limitation point).

However, it did state (per French CJ, Kiefel, Bell, Keane and Nettle JJ) at [80]:

“Even so, as Gleeson CJ identified in New South Wales v Lepore and the Canadian cases show, the role given to the employee and the nature of the employee's responsibilities may justify the conclusion that the employment not only provided an opportunity but also was the occasion for the commission of the wrongful act. By way of example, it may be sufficient to hold an employer vicariously liable for a criminal act committed by an employee where, in the commission of that act, the employee used or took advantage of the position in which the employment placed the employee vis-à-vis the victim.”

In SR v Trustees of the De La Salle Brothers [2023] NSWSC 66, I held that the school was vicariously liable for the conduct of the employed teacher who sexually abused the plaintiff. The teacher had been employed at the school for a lengthy period and was allowed to live on the grounds in a caravan as the caretaker. Unfortunately, the abuse complained of happened to a limited extent in the classroom but also in the caravan.

I accepted that the school should be vicariously liable as:

  • the defendant placed the teacher in a position of power, trust, authority and control over the plaintiff when the plaintiff was a young boy (in Year 6);
  • the position of the teacher vis-à-vis the plaintiff provided both the opportunity and the occasion for the teacher’s abuse of the plaintiff. He used his position, that is, as the plaintiff’s school teacher, to molest and abuse him – both in the classroom and out of the classroom – but always in his capacity as his school teacher. He dealt with the plaintiff as his school teacher, in circumstances in which his requests of the plaintiff were always made in his capacity as the plaintiff’s school teacher. He was thus put in that position by the defendant, such that he could exercise complete authority and control over the plaintiff; and
  • the defendant was aware of the teacher’s propensity towards young boys before the plaintiff commenced Year 6.

There was no appeal from that decision although the High Court is currently reserved on a Victorian case which has similar issues.

Two further things should be said about vicarious liability, particularly in the employment context.

Firstly, under Australian law, perhaps differently from UK law, there is no theory of dual vicarious liability ( Day v The Ocean Beach Hotel Shellharbour Pty Ltd (2013) 85 NSWLR 335 (“ Day ”); Mt Owen Pty Ltd v Parkes [2023] NSWCA 77).

Only one person can be vicariously liable for the conduct of another.

The other point is that despite attempts to extend the circumstances or relationships in which vicarious liability will arise, the High Court has consistently held that a principal is not vicariously liable for the conduct of an independent contractor.

In Hollis v Vabu Pty Ltd (2001) 207 CLR 21, a bicycle courier ran into a pedestrian. The issue of whether the courier company should be vicariously liable for the conduct of the courier went all the way to the High Court. The trial judge had held that the courier was an employee. However, the Court of Appeal disagreed, holding that the courier was an independent contractor and thus the company was not vicariously liable for the courier’s conduct.

The High Court disagreed, finding that the courier was an employee and thus the company was liable.  McHugh J held that the courier was an independent contractor and suggested that Australia should adopt a form of vicarious liability based on some form of representative capacity, that is, the principal would be liable for the conduct of its representatives. However, that approach has not been followed or adopted by the High Court in any other case. The law remains that the principal is not vicariously liable for the conduct of its independent contractor (unless of course the principal has directly authorised the wrongful act).

So how is the idea of a duty being non-delegable a basis for attaching liability different from vicarious liability?

It seems that the same relationships that give rise to vicarious liability also give rise to non-delegable duties of care. An employer, school authority and hospital owe a non-delegable duty of care.

The difference is that whilst vicarious liability is imposed on an employer, even in the absence of fault by the actual employer, liability based on a non-delegable duty of care remains fault based. That is the employer must have failed to have done something itself.

A non-delegable duty of care is not another way of imposing a strict liability. A strict liability is one in which liability is imposed irrespective of fault. Again, as Gleeson CJ held in Lepore at [20], to describe a duty of care as personal or non-delegable means that the person subject to the duty has a responsibility to perform the duty or see it performed and cannot discharge that responsibility by entrusting its performance to another.

Importantly, all duties of care may be discharged by the exercise of reasonable care ( Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Dederer (2007) 234 CLR 330). Suggesting that a duty of care is non-delegable does not impose an added burden or higher standard of care on the employer, school or hospital. The obligation is only to exercise reasonable care. However, an employer is unable to discharge that responsibility by delegating the task to a third party. The employer has an obligation to see that the task is performed.

This was explained by Brennan CJ in Northern Sandblasting Pty Ltd v Harris (1997) 188 CLR 313 at 330, when the Chief Justice observed that if a defendant is under a personal duty of care owed to the plaintiff but engages an independent contractor to discharge the duty, a negligent failure by the independent contractor to discharge the duty leaves the defendant liable for its breach. The defendant’s liability is not a vicarious liability but based on the liability for the defendant’s failure to discharge its own duty. That is the failure of the party owing the non-delegable duty to see that the other person took care for the worker.

Two recent examples that demonstrate some difficulties or misunderstanding as to how these principles work in practice.

DAC Finance (NSW/QLD) Pty Ltd v Cox [2024] NSWCA 170 involved an appeal from Acting Judge Levy SC in the District Court. The plaintiff sustained an injury at her workplace. She suffered a jolt when the descending elevator stopped without warning. It seems two maintenance workers had turned off the power without warning. The maintenance workers were employed by the same corporate entity as the plaintiff (DPG Services). That company was related to 2 other companies DAC Finance and DAC (NSW/QLD). The plaintiff’s whole person impairment was assessed only at 8%, as such, the plaintiff could not recover damages from her employer.

Instead, she sued these other two related companies on the basis that they were the owner and occupier of the premises. She asserted that the employer was not liable. His Honour found in favour of the plaintiff against the two related companies and agreed that the employer was not liable. Alas, the Court of Appeal disagreed finding that the two related companies were not liable at all, and that the employer was the liable party.

It seems that part of the plaintiff's case in the Court below was that other related companies were liable for the conduct of the two maintenance workers even though they were not actually employed by those companies.

However, his Honour did not actually deal with why the related companies should be vicariously liable for the conduct of the maintenance workers, simply accepting that they were and that in any event they had failed to discharge their own duties of care. As Leeming JA observed at [47], not only was DPG Services (the employer) vicariously liable for the tortious conduct of the maintenance workers but no other company was vicariously liable, citing Day and other cases I have already referred.

The Court went on to find that as the employer (DPG Services) had a non-delegable duty of care to provide employers with a safe place of work, a safe system of work and a safe plant and equipment, which extends to maintenance of that equipment.

The attempt by the plaintiff to overcome the restrictions on damages payable by the employer by asserting liability on the part of related companies such as owners and finance companies as if they owed the same duty of care rather backfired. The appeal was allowed, and a judgment was entered for the defendant.

In Badra v Value Constructions Pty Ltd & Ors [2023] NSWSC 1307 (“ Badra ”), the plaintiff sustained injury when he fell in a hole covered by plastic on a building site. There was a significant dispute as to whether he fell in the manner alleged, with the builder giving evidence that he did not and asserting various other versions in contemporaneous documents and statements allegedly made by the plaintiff.

The hole had been created and covered up with the plastic by the employer, but the builder was on-site at the time and knew or ought to have been aware of the fact that the hole had been concealed with plastic.

Despite this, the builder, as the occupier of the premises, maintained that it was not liable because it was entitled to rely on the employer to ensure that the hole was properly covered. The Court of Appeal rejected this submission. Whilst the occupier did not owe a non-delegable duty of care, it knew of the hole and was obliged to take steps to remedy the problem. This did not mean that its duty was non-delegable but it retained its own obligation to take reasonable precaution for the safety of workers on site.

I will come back to Badra in the next topic.

Finally, I should mention that the High Court should be handing down its decision in a historical sexual abuse appeal from the Victorian Court of Appeal shortly (see Bird v DP (A Pseudonym) [2023] VSCA 66). I am hoping they will have a lot to say about these topics.

Latest developments in assessing damages having regard to s 151Z

Since enacted, s 151Z of the Workers Compensation Act has provided an endless source of work for the judiciary.   Despite many years and many cases delving into the intricacies, new problems and pronouncements continue to emerge.

Section 151Z is, relevantly, in the following terms:

151Z Recovery against both employer and stranger

(1) If the injury for which compensation is payable under this Act was caused under circumstances creating a liability in some person other than the worker's employer to pay damages in respect of the injury, the following provisions have effect—

(a) the worker may take proceedings both against that person to recover damages and against any person liable to pay compensation under this Act for payment of that compensation, but is not entitled to retain both damages and compensation,

(b) if the worker recovers firstly compensation and secondly those damages, the worker is liable to repay out of those damages the amount of compensation which a person has paid in respect of the worker's injury under this Act, and the worker is not entitled to any further compensation,

Note: See also section 151N of this Act and section 10 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1965 in relation to the application of other laws concerning contributory negligence.

(c) if the worker firstly recovers those damages the worker is not entitled to recover compensation under this Act,

(d) if the worker has recovered compensation under this Act, the person by whom the compensation was paid is entitled to be indemnified by the person so liable to pay those damages (being an indemnity limited to the amount of those damages),

(e) if any payment is made under the indemnity and, at the time of the payment, the worker has not obtained judgment for damages against the person paying under the indemnity, the payment is, to the extent of its amount, a defence to proceedings by the worker against that person for damages,

(e1) if any payment is made under the indemnity and, at the time of the payment, the worker has obtained judgment for damages against the person paying under the indemnity (but judgment has not been satisfied), the payment, to the extent of its amount, satisfies the judgment,

(f) all questions relating to matters arising under this section are, in default of agreement, to be settled by action or, with the consent of the parties, by the Commission.

(2) If, in respect of an injury to a worker for which compensation is payable under this Act—

(a) the worker takes or is entitled to take proceedings independently of this Act to recover damages from a person other than the worker's employer, and

(b) the worker also takes or is entitled to take proceedings independently of this Act to recover damages from that employer,

the following provisions have effect—

(c) the damages that may be recovered from the person by the worker in proceedings referred to in paragraph (a) are to be reduced by the amount by which the contribution which the person would (but for this Part) be entitled to recover from the employer as a joint tortfeasor or otherwise exceeds the amount of the contribution recoverable,

(d) the amount of the contribution that the person is entitled to recover from the employer as a joint tortfeasor or otherwise is to be determined as if the whole of the damages were assessed in accordance with provisions of Division 3 as to the award of damages,

(e) if the worker does not take proceedings against that employer or does not accept satisfaction of the judgment against that employer, subsection (1) applies as if the worker had not been entitled to recover damages from that employer, except that—

(i) if the compensation paid by that employer exceeds the amount of the contribution that could be recovered from that employer as a joint tortfeasor or otherwise--the indemnity referred to in subsection (1) (d) is for the amount of the excess only, and

(ii) if the compensation paid by that employer does not exceed the amount of that contribution--subsection (1) (d) does not apply and the employer has, to the extent of the compensation so paid, a defence to an action for such a contribution.

As is well-known, the statutory modifications at the Common Law level were put in place many years ago for the purposes of restricting both damages payable by an employer to an employee and damages payable by a third-party tortfeasor.

Of course, the restrictions on damages payable by an employer to an employee are much more significant than the restrictions contained in the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW). This means that the plaintiff recovers judgments against an employer and a third-party tortfeasor for differing amounts. The result is that when a third-party tortfeasor is seeking contribution from an employer, pursuant to s 5(1)(c) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions Act) 1946 (NSW), the amount that the third-party tortfeasor can recover from the employer is necessarily less than the full percentage contribution that it would otherwise be able to recover at Common Law.

The determination of final judgment is further complicated in circumstances in which the plaintiff has already received workers compensation on behalf of the employer.

Two recent cases again highlight the difficulties.  Both in Badra and Synergy Scaffolding Services Pty Ltd v Alelaimat [2023] NSWCA 213 (“ Synergy ”), the plaintiff had sued his employer and the builder/occupier and succeeded against both.

In Badra , I assessed contribution between the builder/occupier and the employer equally.

The issue then became how to assess damages having regard to the fact that:

(1) the plaintiff had sued and obtained judgments both against the occupier and employer;

(2) the employer had paid workers compensation to the plaintiff;

(3) the employer sought to recover the payments made; and

(4) the payments included weekly payments and out of pocket expenses.

In Synergy , Simpson AJA set out a formula which explains the methodology in determining the judgment which should be entered against a third-party tortfeasor in a case such as this.

This was stated as follows at [139]-[140]:

“Expressed as an equation, the effect of s 151Z(2)(c)-(d) [of the Workers Compensation Act ] is that, where the conditions in s 151Z(2)(a) and s 151Z(2)(b) are engaged (that is the worker (plaintiff) has a cause of action for damages against both the employer tortfeasor and the third party tortfeasor), the sum of damages (D) ultimately recoverable by the plaintiff worker from the third party tortfeasor is equal to the total damages which would be recoverable from the third party tortfeasor but for the operation of s 151Z(2) (T), minus the difference between the sum that the third party tortfeasor would be entitled to recover from the employer tortfeasor as contribution under s 5 of the 1946 Miscellaneous Provisions Act but for the operation of s 151Z(2)(d) (C), and the amount of contribution that is actually recoverable under s 5 once s 151Z(2)(d) is taken into account (X).

That is, D = T – (C – X), where:

D = the sum of damages ultimately recoverable by the plaintiff worker from the third party tortfeasor;

T = the sum of damages which would be recoverable by the plaintiff worker from the third party tortfeasor but for the operation of s 151Z(2);

C = the sum that the third party tortfeasor would be entitled to recover from the employer tortfeasor as contribution under s 5 of the 1946 Miscellaneous Provisions Act but for the operation of s 151Z(2)(d); and

X = the amount of contribution that is actually recoverable under s 5 of the 1946 Miscellaneous Provisions Act once s 151Z(2)(d) is taken into account.”

Put simply, the amount that the plaintiff could recover by way of a judgment against the third-party tortfeasor was reduced to the extent that the amount that the third-party tortfeasor could recover against the employer by way of contribution was reduced by virtue of the provisions of the Workers Compensation Act .

I applied that formula in Badra with the result that the shortfall of $186,637.50 was deducted from the damages assessed against the third-party tortfeasor and the judgment in favour of the plaintiff against the third-party tortfeasor was reduced by that amount.

However, the issue that arose in Badra was then what was the amount that the third-party tortfeasor could recover on its cross-claim against the employer?

This gave rise to the application of section 151Z(2)(d) and its intersection with s 151A.

Section 151A is, relevantly, in the following terms:

Effect of recovery of damages on compensation

(1) If a person recovers  damages in respect of an  injury from the employer liable to pay compensation under this Act then (except to the extent that subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5) covers the case)—

(a) the person ceases to be entitled to any further compensation under this Act in respect of the  injury concerned (including compensation claimed but not yet paid), and

(b) the amount of any weekly payments of compensation already paid in respect of the  injury concerned is to be deducted from the  damages (awarded or otherwise paid as a lump sum) and is to be paid to the person who paid the compensation, and

(c) the person ceases to be entitled to participate in any  injury management program provided for under this Act or the 1998 Act.

As set out in section 151A(1)(b), the amount of any weekly payments of compensation already paid in respect of the injury concerned is to be deducted from the damages and is to be paid to the person who paid the compensation.

If the employer had paid say $150,000 in workers compensation, that amount must be deducted from the judgment to be entered against it pursuant to s 151A. The result would be that the third-party tortfeasor could not recover even 50% (if that be the assessed contribution) from the employer as the employer gets a credit for workers compensation already received.

You can see that this leaves the third-party tortfeasor short on its recovery. It ends up being liable to pay more than 50% of the total damages assessed against it to the plaintiff.

This was the approach I took in Badra .

However, by the time Badra reached the Court of Appeal in April 2024, that same court had handed down its decision in Synergy Scaffolding Services Pty Ltd v Alelaimat (No 2) [2024] NSWCA 11 (“ Synergy (No 2) ”), that is on 7 February 2024.

The issue which arose in Synergy (No 2) was the calculation of the judgment in circumstances where the worker had received substantial payments of workers compensation.

As Simpson AJA (with whom Meagher and Kirk JJA agreed) noted at [17], there are two classes or categories of case contemplated by s 151Z:

“(i)   cases in which the injured worker is entitled to compensation under the  Workers Compensation Act  from the employer and to damages from the third party (but not the employer) (s 151Z(1)); and

(ii)   cases in which the injured worker is entitled to compensation under the  Workers Compensation Act  and is or may be entitled to receive damages from the employer  and from the third party (s 151Z(2)).”

Sections 151Z(1) applies only where the third-party as distinct from the employer is the tortfeasor. It does not apply where the employer is also a tortfeasor liable to pay damages to the plaintiff.

Further, notwithstanding that s 151Z(1)(d) clearly contemplates that an employer that has paid compensation will be entitled to indemnity from the third-party tortfeasor for those payments, where section 151Z(1) is applicable, the employer will have no recourse for that indemnity, unless reference is made to s 151Z(2)(e).

In circumstances in which the worker does take proceedings against the employer it is difficult to understand how it could ever be established that the worker “does not accept satisfaction of the judgment against the employer”.

It might be suggested that the worker would only enforce a judgment against the third-party tortfeasor but until the employer could establish that the worker did not enforce judgment against it, it would have no recourse against the third-party tortfeasor.

So how does that play out in practice.  Not in a very practical or satisfying way it seems.

The amount of the judgment against the employer is not reduced by the amount of the workers compensation already received by the plaintiff.  The amount that the third-party tortfeasor recovers from the employer on its cross claim is not reduced on account of the workers compensation already paid by the employer and the plaintiff can recover full satisfaction from the third-party tortfeasor.  However, when he does, he must pay back the workers compensation to the employer.

In Badra , the workers compensation payments were $179,060.71. I wrongly deducted that amount from the judgment entered against the employer because the employer had already paid that amount to the plaintiff.

However, if and when Mr Badra accepts payment of the judgment sum against the builder, he will be liable to repay the amounts of workers compensation he has received from the employer.

As the Court also noted, it would have been open to the plaintiff to agree to orders requiring him to make that repayment in the interest of simplicity ( Value Constructions Pty Ltd v Badra [2024] NSWCA 181 at [76]) but the Court indicated at [59] of Synergy (No 2) that it will not make such an order absent agreement of the claimant.

It seems to be that whatever happens, when an injured worker sues both his employer and a third-party tortfeasor any judgments against the third-party must reflect the fact that it cannot be ultimately liable to pay anymore than its assessed contribution.

As for the employer, it will be liable to pay in full 50% to the third-party tortfeasor without any deduction of the workers compensation already paid but the plaintiff will be liable to repay the workers compensation already received if he recovers the full judgment from the third-party.

The sensible thing might be to just reach agreement in advance but if the plaintiff does not, like Mr Badra, it will up to the employer to then recover those payments from the plaintiff.

Section 318 of the WIM Act

Another issue that pops up regularly relates to the application of s 318 of the WIM Act. I regularly hear employers suggesting that there may be a s 318 issue which will have to be determined.

As I am sure you will all recall, the WIM Act was enacted as part of a package of reforms introduced in response to a 1997 report into the operation of the workers compensation system in New South Wales. That report had been commissioned to investigate what could be done to reduce the cost of the scheme. The 1987 Act Workers Compensation had not been successful in reducing the costs of workers compensation litigation.

Section 318 of the WIM Act was not introduced until 2001. It was inserted by the Workers Compensation Legislation Further Amendment Act 2001 (NSW) (“the 2001 Act”) that came to reform the dispute resolution scheme established by the 1998 WIM Act by placing renewed emphasis on alternative dispute resolution. You know a lot more about that than me.

The government’s primary objective, as recorded in the second reading speech, was to “prevent disputes arising and provide a simpler, fairer and faster system for resolving disputes in the workers compensation system.”

Of course, as mediators such objectives are music to your ears.

The 2001 Act inserted part 6 into the WIM Act. Part 6 governs court proceedings for work injury damages. That part includes s 318 and provisions relating to compulsory mediation of a claim before commencement of proceedings.

Section 318 is in the following terms:

318 Parties limited to pre-filing statement and defence

(1) For the purposes of court proceedings on a claim for work injury damages-

(a) the claimant is not entitled to file a statement of claim that is materially different from the proposed statement of claim that formed part of the pre-filing statement served by the claimant, except with leave of the court, and

(b) the defendant is not entitled to file a defence that is materially different from any defence served on the claimant in response to the claimant's pre-filing statement within 42 days after service of the pre-filing statement, except with leave of the court, and

(c) the defendant is not entitled to file a defence that wholly or partly disputes liability for the claim if the defendant has failed to serve on the claimant a defence to the claim as required by this Division within 42 days after the claimant served the pre-filing statement on the defendant, and

(d) a party to the proceedings is not entitled to have any report or other evidence admitted in the proceedings on the party's behalf if the report or other evidence was not disclosed by the party in a pre-filing statement or defence served under this Division, except with leave of the court.

(2) The court is not to grant leave under this section unless satisfied that—

(a) the material concerned was not reasonably available to the party when the pre-filing statement or defence was served, and

(b) the failure to grant leave would substantially prejudice the party's case.

(3) The regulations may provide for exceptions to this section.

The effect of section 318 is that, in the absence of a grant of leave, a party will be prevented from pleading a claim or defence in a way that is materially different to that disclosed in its pre-filing statement/response.

Similarly, in the absence of leave, a party will be prevented from relying upon evidence that it has not disclosed in its pre-filing statement or defence.

Further, the Court may not grant leave to rely upon additional material unless satisfied that the material concerned was not reasonably available to the party when the pre-filing statement or defence was served and the failure to grant leave would substantially prejudice the party's case.

It is therefore imperative that parties carefully consider how their claim is pleaded and the evidence needed to be relied upon at the pre-filing stage.

In Strasburger Enterprises Pty Ltd t/a Quix Food Stores v Serna [2008] NSWCA 354 at [37], the Court observed that the pre-filing scheme is one that contains “potential traps and strategic decisions for both parties”.

I am sure you are all aware of the process. I will say something about how s 318 has been interpreted and applied.

There are really two issues to consider being:

(1)  What is the meaning of materially different?

(2)  What is the meaning of not reasonably available?

Meaning of “materially different”

I considered the first issue in Sohailee v City Projects & Developments Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 1452 (“ Sohailee ”).

In Sohailee , the plaintiff sustained injuries in an accident at work on 23 March 2015. By way of an amended statement of claim, he said that while bending down picking up some end caps, a wall panel fell on him and he sustained injury. He pleaded that the wall panel fell as a result of being improperly placed against the wall near where he was working.

He sued both the builder and developer of the building site and his employer. The employer carried on business as a contract supplier and installer of wall panels.

The matter came before the Court on the application of the employer to strike out the amended statement of claim pursuant to r 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (“UCPR”) (to the extent that the pleading related to the second defendant employer).

The employer maintained that some of the particulars of negligence as pleaded in the amended statement of claim were new or, more specifically, materially different from the proposed statement of claim that was served with the plaintiff’s pre-filing statement as part of the procedures required by s 315 of the WIM Act. The case presented as an occasion to say something about s 318.

As I said (at [22] in Sohailee ), the purpose of requiring the claimant to file a pre-filing statement must be to assist in the process of resolution of the dispute prior to proceedings being pursued and to ensure that the employer/proposed defendant has proper, adequate and complete notice of the claim that is and will be pursued by the injured employee.

The expression “materially different” must be interpreted in the context in which those words appear having regard to the overall purpose of s 318(1)(a) of the Act. It is not necessary or appropriate to substitute other words to give meaning to the expression.

It is also important to emphasise that not just any difference will give rise to the application of s 318. The difference must be material. Whether there is a material difference between the two documents must depend on the facts in each case.

In my view, the pleading of a different mechanism of injury or an accident occurring in substantially different circumstances would be a materially different pleading. A pleading of a different cause of action would be a materially different statement of claim.

Further, raising a completely new allegation as to the conduct of the proposed defendant would be a materially different pleading. By that I mean that if the plaintiff asserted that the defendant did or failed to do something not raised at all, either generally or specifically, in the proposed statement of claim then that would be something which is materially different.

However,I did not accept that the addition of new particulars of negligence meant that the proposed amended statement of claim was materially different from the pre-filing statement served by the claimant.

Even though I accepted that the expressions used in the new particulars and some of the wording was new, each case turns on its facts and it did not seem to me that the new particulars were materially different from the old particulars.

At least in my view, there would need to be something more than merely the addition of new particulars of negligence to make the statement of claim materially different.

The opposite result was obtained in Hall v Ecoline Pty Ltd t/as Treetop Adventure Park [2018] NSWSC 1732 (“ Hall ”), another decision of the Supreme Court.  The plaintiff sustained injuries in an accident on 6 November 2009. At the time, he was employed by Mars Australia which was participating in a teambuilding exercise operated by Treetop Adventure Park, the first defendant. There was an issue in the proceedings as to how the plaintiff was injured in terms of what caused him to fall at the time he was moving from tree to tree using planks.

The plaintiff changed his description of the cause of his accident between the pre-filing statement and the statement of claim. The difference was in the description of the cause of the injury to the back.

In the pre-filing statement, the plaintiff asserted that the injury was caused by twisting his back after being required to lift and transport some wood. In the filed statement of claim, he asserted the injury was caused by a fall from the wood.

Davies J held that the statement of claim was materially different from the proposed statement of claim that formed part of the pre-filing statement.

His Honour accepted that the accident described in the statement of claim would require different investigation from that described in the statement of claim attached to the pre-filing statement.

Finally, in terms of the filed pleading, it is important to emphasise that s 318 does not require the plaintiff to file a statement of claim that is identical to the one which was filed as part of the pre-filing process. It just cannot be materially different.

It should be incumbent upon the plaintiff to ensure that the statement of claim filed in the court is properly pleaded. One of the issues I grapple with in case management is the adequacy of the pleadings.

Section 318 should not be used to prevent reliance on a properly pleaded case. Section 318 precludes a party raising new issues or changing the essential facts, but it does not prevent the filing of properly drafted pleadings. No doubt parties should endeavour to prepare their pre-filing statement in a proper and thorough way but if the document filed in the Court does not represent a proper pleading it will have to be amended to comply with the rules as to pleadings. Section 318 should not be a bar to that.

The scope of the disclosure obligation imposed under s 318(1)(d)

The effect of s 318(1)(d) is to reinforce the obligation of a party to disclose in its pre-filing statement all the evidence that it will seek to rely upon.

In Wilkinson v Perisher Blue Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 250 (“ Wilkinson v Perisher Blue ”), Hoeben JA (with whom Campbell and Barrett JJA agreed) at [219] described the obligation as not requiring a “verbatim transcript of the evidence which will be given at trial, but rather a disclosure of the nature and substance of the evidence to be given.”

Further, in Gower v State of New South Wales [2018] NSWCA 132, White JA observed at [135] that s 318(1)(d) “does not require that the disclosure of evidence take any particular form.”

Of course, in respect of evidence form witnesses, the disclosure requirements will be comfortably satisfied by attaching to the pre-filing statement or defence the relevant statement of the witness: Wilkinson v Perisher Blue at [57].

Meaning of “not reasonably available”

In terms of s 318(2), the key issue is whether the new material was reasonably available.

Section 318(2) precludes the granting of leave unless the Court is satisfied that, (a) the material concerned was not reasonably available to the party when the pre-filing statement or defence was served, and (b) the failure to grant leave would substantially prejudice the party's case.

The second hurdle may not be difficult to overcome but it is necessary for the Court to be satisfied of both.

Whether material was “reasonably available” to a party is “essentially factual”: Kubovic v HMS Management Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 315 at [105]. In Karzi v Toll Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCA 120, the Court of Appeal explained that the courts take a “practical approach” to determining this question.

In determining whether an expert report was reasonably available, it is necessary to determine “both whether the material forming the basis of the report, and the report itself, were available”: Ljubicic v Heat and Control Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 982 at [62] (“ Ljubicic ”).

In Ljubicic , I considered whether leave should be granted to rely upon an expert report that was not disclosed in a pre-filing statement. I observed at [65]-[69] that:

“The phrase ‘reasonably available’ must be given meaning. It does not merely mean ‘available’. ‘Reasonably available’ must be read in the context of the purposes of the WIM Act and, in particular, s 318. The party seeking to rely on the report must have taken reasonable steps to obtain it at the relevant time. The test is not simply whether the report could have been obtained. The test is whether there were reasonable steps which could have been taken, having regard to the material available in order to obtain the report.

[That does not mean that] the Court and the parties must undertake an exhaustive process to consider which documents referred to in an expert report were available and which documents were not. The purpose of s 318 is to ensure that the [parties] are aware of the case they have to meet as far as possible at the time of the pre-filing statement to enable sensible discussions about resolution of the matter.

There will be some cases in which the issues are complex and it is not possible to finalise an expert report prior to the pre-filing statement, despite the availability of many documents.”

In such a case the report may not be reasonably available.

I doubt that it could be generally said that simple medical reports were not reasonably available to a party. I doubt that there could be compliance with s 318 by merely referring to reports which may be obtained in the future. That would hardly be disclosing the substance of the evidence. The other party would not know anything about the content of that report.

The inquiry is fact specific but the onus would be on the party seeking to rely on the new material to demonstrate that it was not reasonably available at the earlier time.

Conclusion  

Perhaps as mediators you are not required to determine the rights and wrongs of these issues based on what can sometimes be fine distinctions, but I expect that, particularly in circumstances in which third-parties are involved and I understand they often attend these mediations, some of these issues will arise. I hope these thoughts have been of assistance.

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