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8 tips to make the best powerpoint presentations.
Want to make your PowerPoint presentations really shine? Here's how to impress and engage your audience.
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Table of contents, start with a goal, less is more, consider your typeface, make bullet points count, limit the use of transitions, skip text where possible, think in color, take a look from the top down, bonus: start with templates.
Slideshows are an intuitive way to share complex ideas with an audience, although they're dull and frustrating when poorly executed. Here are some tips to make your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations sing while avoiding common pitfalls.
It all starts with identifying what we're trying to achieve with the presentation. Is it informative, a showcase of data in an easy-to-understand medium? Or is it more of a pitch, something meant to persuade and convince an audience and lead them to a particular outcome?
It's here where the majority of these presentations go wrong with the inability to identify the talking points that best support our goal. Always start with a goal in mind: to entertain, to inform, or to share data in a way that's easy to understand. Use facts, figures, and images to support your conclusion while keeping structure in mind (Where are we now and where are we going?).
I've found that it's helpful to start with the ending. Once I know how to end a presentation, I know how best to get to that point. I start by identifying the takeaway---that one nugget that I want to implant before thanking everyone for their time---and I work in reverse to figure out how best to get there.
Your mileage, of course, may vary. But it's always going to be a good idea to put in the time in the beginning stages so that you aren't reworking large portions of the presentation later. And that starts with a defined goal.
A slideshow isn't supposed to include everything. It's an introduction to a topic, one that we can elaborate on with speech. Anything unnecessary is a distraction. It makes the presentation less visually appealing and less interesting, and it makes you look bad as a presenter.
This goes for text as well as images. There's nothing worse, in fact, than a series of slides where the presenter just reads them as they appear. Your audience is capable of reading, and chances are they'll be done with the slide, and browsing Reddit, long before you finish. Avoid putting the literal text on the screen, and your audience will thank you.
Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD
Right off the bat, we're just going to come out and say that Papyrus and Comic Sans should be banned from all PowerPoint presentations, permanently. Beyond that, it's worth considering the typeface you're using and what it's saying about you, the presenter, and the presentation itself.
Consider choosing readability over aesthetics, and avoid fancy fonts that could prove to be more of a distraction than anything else. A good presentation needs two fonts: a serif and sans-serif. Use one for the headlines and one for body text, lists, and the like. Keep it simple. Veranda, Helvetica, Arial, and even Times New Roman are safe choices. Stick with the classics and it's hard to botch this one too badly.
There reaches a point where bullet points become less of a visual aid and more of a visual examination.
Bullet points should support the speaker, not overwhelm his audience. The best slides have little or no text at all, in fact. As a presenter, it's our job to talk through complex issues, but that doesn't mean that we need to highlight every talking point.
Instead, think about how you can break up large lists into three or four bullet points. Carefully consider whether you need to use more bullet points, or if you can combine multiple topics into a single point instead. And if you can't, remember that there's no one limiting the number of slides you can have in a presentation. It's always possible to break a list of 12 points down into three pages of four points each.
Animation, when used correctly, is a good idea. It breaks up slow-moving parts of a presentation and adds action to elements that require it. But it should be used judiciously.
Adding a transition that wipes left to right between every slide or that animates each bullet point in a list, for example, starts to grow taxing on those forced to endure the presentation. Viewers get bored quickly, and animations that are meant to highlight specific elements quickly become taxing.
That's not to say that you can't use animations and transitions, just that you need to pick your spots. Aim for no more than a handful of these transitions for each presentation. And use them in spots where they'll add to the demonstration, not detract from it.
Sometimes images tell a better story than text can. And as a presenter, your goal is to describe points in detail without making users do a lot of reading. In these cases, a well-designed visual, like a chart, might better convey the information you're trying to share.
The right image adds visual appeal and serves to break up longer, text-heavy sections of the presentation---but only if you're using the right images. A single high-quality image can make all the difference between a success and a dud when you're driving a specific point home.
When considering text, don't think solely in terms of bullet points and paragraphs. Tables, for example, are often unnecessary. Ask yourself whether you could present the same data in a bar or line chart instead.
Color is interesting. It evokes certain feelings and adds visual appeal to your presentation as a whole. Studies show that color also improves interest, comprehension, and retention. It should be a careful consideration, not an afterthought.
You don't have to be a graphic designer to use color well in a presentation. What I do is look for palettes I like, and then find ways to use them in the presentation. There are a number of tools for this, like Adobe Color , Coolors , and ColorHunt , just to name a few. After finding a palette you enjoy, consider how it works with the presentation you're about to give. Pastels, for example, evoke feelings of freedom and light, so they probably aren't the best choice when you're presenting quarterly earnings that missed the mark.
It's also worth mentioning that you don't need to use every color in the palette. Often, you can get by with just two or three, though you should really think through how they all work together and how readable they'll be when layered. A simple rule of thumb here is that contrast is your friend. Dark colors work well on light backgrounds, and light colors work best on dark backgrounds.
Spend some time in the Slide Sorter before you finish your presentation. By clicking the four squares at the bottom left of the presentation, you can take a look at multiple slides at once and consider how each works together. Alternatively, you can click "View" on the ribbon and select "Slide Sorter."
Are you presenting too much text at once? Move an image in. Could a series of slides benefit from a chart or summary before you move on to another point?
It's here that we have the opportunity to view the presentation from beyond the single-slide viewpoint and think in terms of how each slide fits, or if it fits at all. From this view, you can rearrange slides, add additional ones, or delete them entirely if you find that they don't advance the presentation.
The difference between a good presentation and a bad one is really all about preparation and execution. Those that respect the process and plan carefully---not only the presentation as a whole, but each slide within it---are the ones who will succeed.
This brings me to my last (half) point: When in doubt, just buy a template and use it. You can find these all over the web, though Creative Market and GraphicRiver are probably the two most popular marketplaces for this kind of thing. Not all of us are blessed with the skills needed to design and deliver an effective presentation. And while a pre-made PowerPoint template isn't going to make you a better presenter, it will ease the anxiety of creating a visually appealing slide deck.
Blog > Tips for good PowerPoint Presentations
Tips for good PowerPoint Presentations
08.14.21 • #powerpoint #tips.
If you know how to do it, it's actually not that difficult to create and give a good presentation.
That's why we have some examples of good PowerPoint presentations for you and tips that are going to make your next presentation a complete success.
1. Speak freely
One of the most important points in good presentations is to speak freely. Prepare your presentation so well that you can speak freely and rarely, if ever, need to look at your notes. The goal is to connect with your audience and get them excited about your topic. If you speak freely, this is much easier than if you just read your text out. You want your audience to feel engaged in your talk. Involve them and tell your text in a vivid way.
2. Familiarize yourself with the technology
In order to be able to speak freely, it is important to prepare the text well and to engage with the topic in detail.
However, it is at least as important to familiarize yourself with the location’s technology before your presentation and to start your PowerPoint there as well. It is annoying if technical problems suddenly occur during your presentation, as this interrupts your flow of speech and distracts the audience from the topic. Avoid this by checking everything before you start your talk and eliminate any technical problems so that you can give your presentation undisturbed.
- Don't forget the charging cable for your laptop
- Find out beforehand how you can connect your laptop to the beamer. Find out which connection the beamer has and which connection your laptop has. To be on the safe side, take an adapter with you.
- Always have backups of your presentation. Save them on a USB stick and preferably also online in a cloud.
- Take a second laptop and maybe even your own small projector for emergencies. Even if it's not the latest model and the quality is not that good: better bad quality than no presentation at all.
3. Get the attention of your audience
Especially in long presentations it is often difficult to keep the attention of your audience. It is important to make your presentation interesting and to actively involve the audience. Try to make your topic as exciting as possible and captivate your audience.
Our tip: Include interactive polls or quizzes in your presentation to involve your audience and increase their attention. With the help of SlideLizard, you can ask questions in PowerPoint and your audience can easily vote on their own smartphone. Plus, you can even get anonymous feedback at the end, so you know right away what you can improve next time.
Here we have also summarized further tips for you on how to increase audience engagement.
4. Hold eye contact
You want your audience to feel engaged in your presentation, so it is very important to hold eye contact. Avoid staring only at a part of the wall or at your paper. Speak to your audience, involve them in your presentation and make it more exciting.
But also make sure you don't always look at the same two or three people, but address everyone. If the audience is large, it is often difficult to include everyone, but still try to let your eyes wander a little between your listeners and look into every corner of the room.
5. Speaking coherently
In a good presentation it is important to avoid jumping from one topic to the next and back again shortly afterwards. Otherwise your audience will not be able to follow you after a while and their thoughts will wander. To prevent this, it is important that your presentation has a good structure and that you work through one topic after the other.
Nervousness can cause even the best to mumble or talk too fast in order to get the presentation over with as quickly as possible. Try to avoid this by taking short pauses to collect yourself, to breathe and to remind yourself to speak slowly.
6. Matching colors
An attractive design of your PowerPoint is also an important point for giving good presentations. Make sure that your slides are not too colorful. A PowerPoint in which all kinds of colors are combined with each other does not look professional, but rather suitable for a children's birthday party.
Think about a rough color palette in advance, which you can then use in your presentation. Colors such as orange or neon green do not look so good in your PowerPoint. Use colors specifically to emphasize important information.
To create good PowerPoint slides it is also essential to choose colors that help the text to read well. You should have as much contrast as possible between the font and the background. Black writing on a white background is always easy to read, while yellow writing on a white background is probably hard to read.
7. Slide design should not be too minimalistic
Even though it is often said that "less is more", you should not be too minimalistic in the design of your presentation. A presentation where your slides are blank and only black text on a white background is likely to go down just as badly as if you use too many colors.
Empty presentations are boring and don't really help to capture the attention of your audience. It also looks like you are too lazy to care about the design of your presentation and that you have not put any effort into the preparation. Your PowerPoint doesn't have to be overflowing with colors, animations and images to make it look interesting. Make it simple, but also professional.
8. Write only key points on the slides
If you want to create a good presentation, it is important to remember that your slides should never be overcrowded. Write only the most important key points on your slides and never entire sentences. Your audience should not be able to read the exact text you are speaking in your PowerPoint. This is rather annoying and leads to being bored quickly. Summarize the most important things that your audience should remember and write them down in short bullet points on your presentation. Then go into the key points in more detail in your speech and explain more about them.
9. Do not overdo it with animations
Do never use too many animations. It looks messy, confusing and definitely not professional if every text and image is displayed with a different animation. Just leave out animations at all or if you really want to use them then use them only very rarely when you want to draw attention to something specific. Make sure that if you use animations, they are consistent. If you use transitions between the individual slides, these should also always be kept consistent and simple.
10. Use images
Pictures and graphics in presentations are always a good idea to illustrate something and to add some variety. They help keep your audience's attention and make it easier to remember important information. But don't overdo it with them. Too many pictures can distract from your presentation and look messy. Make sure the graphics also fit the content and, if you have used several images on one slide, ask yourself if you really need all of them.
11. Choose a suitable font
Never combine too many fonts so that your presentation does not look messy. Use at most two: one for headings and one for text. When choosing fonts, you should also make sure that they are still legible at long distances. Script, italic and decorative fonts are very slow to read, which is why they should be avoided in presentations.
It is not so easy to choose the right font. Therefore, we have summarized for you how to find the best font for your PowerPoint presentation.
12. Do not use images as background
In a good presentation it is important to be able to read the text on the slides easily and quickly. Therefore, do not use images as slide backgrounds if there is also text on them. The picture only distracts from the text and it is difficult to read it because there is not much contrast with the background. It is also harder to see the image because the text in the foreground is distracting. The whole thing looks messy and distracting rather than informative and clear.
13. Never read out the text from your slides
Never just read the exact text from your slides. Your audience can read for themselves, so they will only get bored and in the worst case it will lead to "Death by PowerPoint". You may also give them the feeling that you think they are not able to read for themselves. In addition, you should avoid whole sentences on your slides anyway. List key points that your audience can read along. Then go into more detail and explain more about them.
14. Don't turn your back
Never turn around during your presentation to look at your projected PowerPoint. Not to read from your slides, but also not to make sure the next slide is already displayed. It looks unprofessional and only distracts your audience.
In PowerPoint's Speaker View, you can always see which slide is currently being displayed and which one is coming next. Use this to make sure the order fits. You can even take notes in PowerPoint, which are then displayed during your presentation. You can read all about notes in PowerPoint here.
15. Do not forget about the time
In a good presentation, it is important to always be aware of the given time and to stick to it. It is annoying when your presentation takes much longer than actually planned and your audience is just waiting for you to stop talking or you are not able to finish your presentation at all. It is just as awkward if your presentation is too short. You have already told everything about your topic, but you should actually talk for at least another ten minutes.
Practice your presentation often enough at home. Talk through your text and time yourself as you go. Then adjust the length so that you can keep to the time given on the day of your presentation.
16. Avoid a complicated structure
The structure of a good presentation should not be complicated. Your audience should be able to follow you easily and remember the essential information by the end. When you have finished a part, briefly summarize and repeat the main points before moving on to the next topic. Mention important information more than once to make sure it really gets across to your audience.
However, if the whole thing gets too complicated, it can be easy for your audience to disengage after a while and not take away much new information from your presentation.
17. Choose appropriate clothes
On the day of your presentation, be sure to choose appropriate clothing. Your appearance should be formal, so avoid casual clothes and stick to professional dress codes. When choosing your clothes, also make sure that they are rather unobtrusive. Your audience should focus on your presentation, not on your appearance.
18. Adapt your presentation to your audience
Think about who your audience is and adapt your presentation to them. Find out how much they already know about the topic, what they want to learn about it and why they are here in the first place. If you only talk about things your audience already knows, they will get bored pretty soon, but if you throw around a lot of technical terms when your audience has hardly dealt with the topic at all, they will also have a hard time following you. So to give a successful and good presentation, it is important to adapt it to your audience.
You can also ask a few questions at the beginning of your presentation to learn more about your audience and then adapt your presentation. With SlideLizard , you can integrate polls directly into your PowerPoint and participants can then easily answer anonymously from their smartphone.
19. Mention only the most important information
Keep it short and limit yourself to the essentials. The more facts and information you present to your audience, the less they will remember.
Also be sure to leave out information that does not fit the topic or is not relevant. You will only distract from the actual topic and lose the attention of your audience. The time your audience can concentrate and listen with attention is rather short anyway, so don't waste it by telling unimportant information.
20. Talk about your topic in an exciting way
Tell compelling and exciting stories to make your presentation really good. If you speak in a monotone voice all the time, you are likely to lose the attention of your audience. Make your narration lively and exciting. Also, be careful not to speak too quietly, but not too loudly either. People should be able to understand you well throughout the whole room. Even if it is not easy for many people, try to deliver your speech with confidence. If you are enthusiastic about the topic yourself, it is much easier to get your audience excited about it.
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About the author.
Helena Reitinger
Helena supports the SlideLizard team in marketing and design. She loves to express her creativity in texts and graphics.
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10 Good PowerPoint Presentation Examples
A PowerPoint presentation stands out when it grabs the audience’s attention. With the help of these good PowerPoint presentation examples, you can create PPTs like never before. These examples showcase innovative designs, engaging visuals, and effective storytelling techniques that captivate viewers.
Engaging presentations are the secret sauce of effective communication, bringing life to ideas and transforming information into inspiration. They are the heartbeat of any memorable message, connecting with your audience. With the power to captivate, educate, and motivate your audience, a good PowerPoint presentation can turn complex ideas into easy-to-understand visuals.
An engaging PowerPoint presentation perfectly blends content, design, and to-the-point information. The visual appeal of a presentation can significantly shape perceptions of credibility, commitment to a project, and relatability. Therefore, in a world full of dull and monotonous presentations, we have curated a list of good PowerPoint presentation examples for you to take inspiration from and make your next presentation stand out.
What Makes A Good PowerPoint Presentation?
To create the best presentation, we all can go overboard with numerous designs and template options in PowerPoint. Having a variety of choices, like colors, formats, visuals, and fonts, is a creative opportunity. However, being selective is vital because not all design choices lead to success and make for good presentation examples .
There’s no one correct way to design your next PowerPoint presentation, but some good and bad presentation example designs are more effective than others. While a bad presentation can give off an unprofessional look, a good one can visually establish your brand and leave a lasting impression on your audience.
Let’s look at some of the really good PowerPoint presentation examples that will help you up your presentation game:
- Limited text
- Less or minimal transitions and animations
- Cohesive color pallet
- Keeping contextual graphics
- Customized illustrations
- Use no font size smaller than 18 point
- Logical flow of content
- Effective use of bullet points
- Proper symmetry between different paragraphs and pointers
- Having an engaging summary with a clear Call to Action
Limited Text
Limited text in a PowerPoint presentation works wonders, transforming it into an engaging and crystal-clear presentation. Less is more when it comes to text on slides. Keeping your content concise allows your audience to focus on your message instead of squinting at paragraphs of information.
A slide with a striking image or a single impactful phrase instantly grabs attention and conveys your point. Using this approach makes your presentation look great and helps your audience remember key takeaways, which is one of the best examples of a good PowerPoint presentations.
PRO TIP: The golden rule of holding audience’s attention is using 30 words per slide or a minimum of 6-8 lines on each slide to help create a seamless flow where graphics complement your spoken words.
Best PPT Presentation Example with Limited Text:
Good PowerPoint example of limited text on slide
Less or Minimal Transitions And Animations
Too many animations and transitions may not be your presentation’s best buddies. They can steal the spotlight from the core of your message. A solid PowerPoint presentation shines by keeping animations and transitions in check. They can be used in moderation as a way to emphasize a point or draw attention to specific elements in your visuals.
One of the best examples of good presentation slides in terms of transitions and animations can be using a “fade-in” animation for bullet points or critical pieces of information. Instead of displaying all the text at once, you can set it to appear one at a time as you discuss each one. This gradual reveal CREATES curiosity and keeps your audience engaged and focused on the current topic.
READ MORE: How to add animation in PowerPoint?
Best PowerPoint Presentation Example with Minimal Animation:
Good PowerPoint example of less or Minimal Transitions and Animation
Cohesive Color Pallet
Another good PowerPoint slide example can be a cohesive color palette throughout the presentation. We are not saying you must brush up on the color theory game before making your presentation, but knowing what colors to use can make a real difference. A well-thought-out color palette combination that complements and harmonizes can effectively direct your audience’s focus. It highlights what matters and downplays less critical information when needed.
Now, picking the right colors might seem like a puzzle. The golden rule is to use colors that work well together and provide a clear contrast without straining the eyes. If you’re short on time or inspiration, Microsoft Office’s ready-made color schemes can be a lifesaver.
Best PPT Presentation Example with Cohesive Color Pallet:
Good PowerPoint example of Cohesive Color Pallet
Keeping Contextual Graphics
A picture really can say a thousand words. One of the examples of good PowerPoint design can be incorporating graphs, photos, and illustrations that enhance your points and keep your audience engaged. But remember, it’s crucial to put these visuals in context. Having contextual graphics or illustrations and explaining why they’re there verbally will help the audience connect the dots and understand the material. It looks great and ensures your message is crystal clear and memorable.
A Really Good PowerPoint Example with Infographics:
Good PowerPoint example of keeping contextual graphics or illustrations
Customized Illustrations
Adding customized illustrations to your PowerPoint slides is one of the best PPT presentation examples. It’s like giving your presentation a unique personality and a touch of authenticity. It’s a game-changer that can take your slides from ordinary to outstanding. Generic stock images or clip art can feel impersonal and overused. On the other hand, customized illustrations are tailored to your message and brand, making your content exclusive. They allow you to convey your ideas in a way that is distinctively “you,” establishing a stronger connection with your audience.
Good PowerPoint Slide Example with Illustrations:
Good PowerPoint example of customized illustrations
Use no Font Size Smaller Than 18 point
Maintaining a minimum font size of 18 points in your PowerPoint presentation is like giving your audience the gift of clarity and readability. It’s a simple yet impactful way to ensure your message shines through and your presentation looks professional. No one wants to squint or strain their eyes to read a tiny text on a slide.
When you stick to a 18-point font or larger, your content becomes instantly more accessible. Your audience can comfortably read what’s on the screen, allowing them to stay focused on your message rather than struggling to make out the words. An easily readable font is not only a good PPT example , but it also helps your audience to easily digest your content and perceive your presentation as professional and user-friendly.
Good PowerPoint Slide Example with Font Sized 18:
Good PowerPoint example of keeping a minimum font size
READ MORE: Best Presentation Fonts
Logical Flow of Content
One of the best examples of good PowerPoint presentations is maintaining a logical flow of the content in your PowerPoint presentation. It is like crafting a smooth, well-executed experience for your audience. It’s the roadmap that keeps them engaged, helps them follow your story, and ensures your message hits the mark.
A presentation with a jumbled sequence of ideas or topics can leave your audience puzzled and disconnected. A logical flow, on the other hand, guides your audience seamlessly from one point to the next, making it easy for them to grasp the bigger picture. When your content unfolds in a logical order, it forms a narrative that’s easier for the human brain to digest and remember.
Example of Good PowerPoint Presentation with FlowChart:
Good PowerPoint example of logical flow of the content
EXPLORE: Flowchart PowerPoint Templates
Effective Use of Bullet Points
Effectively using bullet points in your PowerPoint presentation is like serving bite-sized portions of information to your audience. It is an excellent way of keeping them engaged and ensuring your message is digestible and memorable. Bullet points break down complex ideas into concise, easy-to-follow chunks. They act as signposts, guiding your audience through your content with a clear roadmap.
Limiting the number of bullet points to 8-10 per slide prevents information overload and gives each point the attention it deserves. People have a limited attention span, so bullet points are your allies in delivering information efficiently. They allow your audience to absorb key takeaways without feeling overwhelmed. Plus, bullet points serve as excellent prompts for your verbal delivery, keeping you on track and ensuring you don’t forget essential details.
Example of Good PowerPoint Presentation with Bullet Points:
Good PowerPoint example of effective Uue of bullet points
Proper Symmetry Between Different Paragraphs and Pointers
Ensuring proper symmetry between different paragraphs and pointers in your presentation is similar to creating a smooth flow that captivates your audience. It’s all about balance, and when done right, it can significantly enhance the appeal and effectiveness of your slides. Just as a well-balanced meal is more appetizing, slides with balanced content are more visually appealing.
When you maintain a consistent and symmetrical structure, it creates a sense of order and professionalism. Symmetrical layouts help your audience anticipate what’s coming next. When they see a pattern, like consistent bullet point structure or paragraph formatting, it becomes easier for them to follow your narrative. This predictability allows your audience to focus, not jumble.
Good PowerPoint Slide Example with Symmetry:
Good PowerPoint example of proper symmetry between different paragraphs and pointers
Having an Engaging Summary With a Clear Call to Action
Last on this list of best Powerpoint presentation examples is an engaging summary with a clear call to action. Think of the summary as the highlight of your presentation. It recaps the essential takeaways, ensuring that your audience fully grasps the key messages you want to convey. This reinforcement is critical because it’s what your audience will most likely remember long after your presentation.
A clear CTA is like extending a helping hand to your audience, guiding them on what steps to take next. Whether it’s encouraging them to explore further resources, make a decision, or get in touch with you. Adding an engaging summary with a clear CTA to your slides is the grand finale that ties your presentation together.
Good PowerPoint Slide Example with Clear Call to Action:
Good PowerPoint example of having an engaging summary with a clear call to action
EXPLORE: Call to Action PowerPoint Templates
Important PowerPoint Presentation Tips
While building a PowerPoint presentation’s design, content, and flow shall be tailored to hit its target audience. Making your presentation eye-catching is essential to steer clear of Call to Action goals. However, taking your PowerPoint presentations to the next level can be time-consuming. So, getting yourself help from professional presentation providers like SlideUpLift can be a game-changer you’ll want to know about.
PRO TIP: It’s important that you follow the Who, What, and Where tips to up your presentation game.
SlideUpLift provides expert guidance on presentation best practices and helps you customize your slides as per your requirements. Our extensive library covers a wide range of industries and topics. But that’s not all. SlideUpLift also offers a collection of beautifully designed templates, graphics, and icons and provides professional PowerPoint Templates and Google Slides Themes for your needs.
Explore our presentation design services to create stunning PPTs. Give us a try with our custom-slides service , or schedule a call with us to know more!
What makes a PowerPoint presentation "good"?
A good PowerPoint presentation effectively communicates its message, engages the audience, and utilizes clear, visually appealing slides with well-structured content.
Where can I find examples of well-designed PowerPoint presentations for inspiration?
You can find examples of well-designed PowerPoint presentations on websites and platforms that offer presentation templates like SlideUpLift.
What are some key examples of good presentation?
Successful PowerPoint presentations often include:
- concise content
- engaging visuals
- a logical flow
- limited use of text, and
- a clear call to action
How can I ensure my PowerPoint presentation aligns with the best practices?
To ensure your presentation follows best practices, focus on storytelling, maintain visual consistency, limit bullet points, use high-quality visuals, and practice your delivery.
Are there any tools or resources to help me improve my PowerPoint presentations?
Yes, SlideUpLift provides various tools and resources, including PowerPoint add-ins, design templates, and online tutorials that help you enhance your presentation skills and create compelling slides.
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Home / How to make a great Free PowerPoint Templates presentation for college (plus 12 free templates)
How to make a great PowerPoint presentation for college (plus 12 free templates)
During your college career, you’ll sit through your fair share of PowerPoint presentations . And you’ll probably find yourself presenting a few of your own too.
A presentation is a great way to demonstrate what you’ve learned — hours of study condensed into a few short minutes. But great presentations aren’t just about great content. They’re also about design.
Let’s start with a quick disclaimer — good presentation design won’t fix bad content. However, bad design can ruin an otherwise exemplary presentation .
So what should you do? You’ve checked the box for pitch perfect content. But your design is lacking and your deadline is looming. It’s time to read through our tips for great class presentation design.
Without any prior presentation design experience, you can create a presentation that looks as good as it sounds (and hopefully helps you bag those top grades too!). What’s more, these presentation skills will serve you well throughout your college years and your professional life to come.
Here’s how to ace your presentation design…
- Consistency — but not monotony
- Avoid too much text
- Highlight important keywords
- Make use of charts and graphs
- Use visual communication strategies
- Adapt to your environment
- Speed up the design process with a presentation template (but not a default one)
- Top 12 class presentation template designs for students
8 presentation tips for creating a stand-out PowerPoint for college
Tip 1: consistency — but not monotony.
We’ve all been there. Sitting in front of a PowerPoint presentation with slide after slide in exactly the same layout.
What happens? You drift off. You sneak a look at your mobile. You stop engaging with the content of the presentation.
So how can you stop your presentation from suffering a similar fate? You engage your audience with varied but consistent design. Here’s what that means:
Vary your slide layout and how you present your content. One slide may have just bullet points, another only images, and another with a mixture of text and pictures.
Keep it consistent
Variety is a good thing. But not if it ends up making your presentation look muddled and unprofessional. So stick to the same font and color scheme. And make sure the same design features run through the whole of your presentation to create a cohesive look and feel.
Get the right mix of variety and consistency in your presentation design and you’ll find it easier to catch and maintain the attention of your audience.
Tip 2: Avoid too much text
Text-heavy presentation slides are a big no-no. You end up reading from the slides rather than presenting. And your audience ends up either overwhelmed or just plain bored.
While it’s tempting to showcase all your hard-earned research and knowledge, your class presentation slides shouldn’t include everything you want to communicate.
Instead, treat your slides as a support for what you plan to say; a visual aid that helps to bring a little extra clarity to your verbal points.
That means using your slides to highlight just the main points. You can do this by:
Getting rid of bullet points
Wordy bullet points defy the point of bullet pointing. So break up your bullets by presenting one per page. Use icons instead of bullets to bring life to your text. Or try splitting your text into columns to prevent bullet point overload.
You can read more about how you can banish bullet points from your presentation .
Maintaining white space
When we talk about white space, we mean the parts of a slide that don’t feature any text, photos, or illustrations. Maintaining a good proportion of white space on your slides helps your audience to understand the content (and it looks better too!).
Get some tips on white space .
Tip 3: Highlight important keywords
Within your text, you should draw attention to keywords. This will make it even easier for your audience to understand and absorb the key points of your presentation.
Bold fonts, contrast colors, highlight text with a background color — these are all really easy ways you can make your keywords stand out. Just avoid using all capital letters as this comes across as YELLING!
Tip 4: Make use of charts and graphs
We all love a good stat. Charts and graphs are a great way to present quantitative evidence and confirm the legitimacy of your claims . They make your presentation more visually appealing and make your data more memorable too.
But don’t delve too deep into the details. Providing an overview of key data insights is the best approach if you’re planning to hold an audience’s attention.
Your chart will only be up on the screen for minutes, if not seconds. So adopt a less is more approach. You can do this by customizing your chart and highlighting the stuff that matters most . Color, arrows, bold text — these are all ways you can draw attention to important data.
As well as making your presentation more engaging, customizing charts to fit with your overall design has the added benefit of making your presentation look more professional.
Tip 5: Use visual communication strategies
Speech and text aren’t the only ways we can communicate an idea. Your presentation visuals can do a lot of the talking for you. By visuals, we mean images, graphs, videos, infographics and even the fonts you use.
Content with visual elements is easier to process and more accessible too. It’s also really good at creating emotion in your audience. It’s the backbone of great presentation design.
Interested in giving your presentation a visual communication edge? Start by taking a look at these visual communication tips .
Tip 6: Adapt to your environment
Think about where you’ll be delivering your presentation. How big is the room? What shape is it? What is the lighting like? Practical considerations like these should always be taken into account when coming up with a class presentation design.
If your presentation space is very well-lit, creating a strong contrast between your presentation text and background will make the text more legible.
If your classroom is huge, increasing the size of your font and any graphic elements will ensure your presentation can be seen even by those sitting right at the back.
Take some time to consider your surroundings and then design your presentation accordingly.
Tip 7: End strong
Go out with a bang! The conclusion of your presentation should be a call to action. Use direct language and make impactful summary points.
And if your content ends on a strong note, so too should your presentation slide. Create a slide design that carries as much weight as your words by including big text, big images, and/or a boldly colored background.
Tip 8: Speed up the design process with a presentation template (but not a default one)
We’re guessing that you want to create a great class presentation. But you most likely don’t want to spend days slaving over its design. If this sounds about right, a template can really speed things up.
But there are some pitfalls to avoid. Opt for a default template available through PowerPoint and chances are your audience will have seen it many ( many ) times before. Outdated and overused templates are definitely not the way to make a good impression.
Picking a template with a contemporary, relevant slide design can make all the difference. A fresh template is more than just a set of colors and font choices. It will come loaded with ideas for slide design and visual content , giving you a huge head start.
Once you have your template of choice, you can drop your own content into the placeholders, skipping the hard work of creating a new presentation completely from scratch.
Our top 12 class presentation template designs for students
At SlidesCarnival , we have tons of professional presentation template options to choose from. The best part? They’re completely free! Here are twelve of our favorite template designs, sure to give your class presentation real impact.
Subtle Bevel Presentation Template
Big Photo Backgrounds Presentation Template
Tech Illustrated Presentation Template
Diverse People Presentation Template
Blue Professional Presentation Template
Business Geometric Presentation Template
Stats & Graphs Presentation Template
Blue Medical Presentation Template
Inspiring Nature Presentation Template
Clean Business Presentation Template
Blue Corporate Presentation Template
Blue Connections Presentation Template
One reply to “how to make a great powerpoint presentation for college (plus 12 free templates)”.
Excellent guide! I’ve found these tips very helpful for creating presentations. The free templates are a bonus. Thanks, SlideCarnival
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9 Tips for Making Beautiful PowerPoint Presentations
Ready to craft a beautiful powerpoint presentation these nine powerpoint layout ideas will help anyone create effective, compelling slides..
How many times have you sat through a poorly designed business presentation that was dull, cluttered, and distracting? Probably way too many. Even though we all loathe a boring presentation, when it comes time to make our own, do we really do any better?
The good news is you don’t have to be a professional designer to make professional presentations. We’ve put together a few simple guidelines you can follow to create a beautifully assembled deck.
We’ll walk you through some slide design tips, show you some tricks to maximize your PowerPoint skills, and give you everything you need to look really good next time you’re up in front of a crowd.
And, while PowerPoint remains one of the biggest names in presentation software, many of these design elements and principles work in Google Slides as well.
Let’s dive right in and make sure your audience isn’t yawning through your entire presentation.
1. Use Layout to Your Advantage
Layout is one of the most powerful visual elements in design, and it’s a simple, effective way to control the flow and visual hierarchy of information.
For example, most Western languages read left to right, top to bottom. Knowing this natural reading order, you can direct people’s eyes in a deliberate way to certain key parts of a slide that you want to emphasize.
You can also guide your audience with simple tweaks to the layout. Use text size and alternating fonts or colors to distinguish headlines from body text.
Placement also matters. There are many unorthodox ways to structure a slide, but most audience members will have to take a few beats to organize the information in their head—that’s precious time better spent listening to your delivery and retaining information.
Try to structure your slides more like this:
And not like this:
Layout is one of the trickier PowerPoint design concepts to master, which is why we have these free PowerPoint templates already laid out for you. Use them as a jumping off point for your own presentation, or use them wholesale!
Presentation templates can give you a huge leg up as you start working on your design.
2. No Sentences
This is one of the most critical slide design tips. Slides are simplified, visual notecards that capture and reinforce main ideas, not complete thoughts.
As the speaker, you should be delivering most of the content and information, not putting it all on the slides for everyone to read (and probably ignore). If your audience is reading your presentation instead of listening to you deliver it, your message has lost its effectiveness.
Pare down your core message and use keywords to convey it. Try to avoid complete sentences unless you’re quoting someone or something.
Stick with this:
And avoid this:
3. Follow the 6×6 Rule
One of the cardinal sins of a bad PowerPoint is cramming too many details and ideas on one slide, which makes it difficult for people to retain information. Leaving lots of “white space” on a slide helps people focus on your key points.
Try using the 6×6 rule to keep your content concise and clean looking. The 6×6 rule means a maximum of six bullet points per slide and six words per bullet. In fact, some people even say you should never have more than six words per slide!
Just watch out for “orphans” (when the last word of a sentence/phrase spills over to the next line). This looks cluttered. Either fit it onto one line or add another word to the second line.
Slides should never have this much information:
4. Keep the Colors Simple
Stick to simple light and dark colors and a defined color palette for visual consistency. Exceptionally bright text can cause eye fatigue, so use those colors sparingly. Dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background will work well. Also avoid intense gradients, which can make text hard to read.
If you’re presenting on behalf of your brand, check what your company’s brand guidelines are. Companies often have a primary brand color and a secondary brand color , and it’s a good idea to use them in your presentation to align with your company’s brand identity and style.
If you’re looking for color inspiration for your next presentation, check out our 101 Color Combinations , where you can browse tons of eye-catching color palettes curated by a pro. When you find the one you like, just type the corresponding color code into your presentation formatting tools.
Here are more of our favorite free color palettes for presentations:
- 10 Color Palettes to Nail Your Next Presentation
- 10 Energizing Sports Color Palettes for Branding and Marketing
- 10 Vintage Color Palettes Inspired by the Decades
No matter what color palette or combination you choose, you want to keep the colors of your PowerPoint presentation simple and easy to read, like this:
Stay away from color combinations like this:
5. Use Sans-Serif Fonts
Traditionally, serif fonts (Times New Roman, Garamond, Bookman) are best for printed pages, and sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana) are easier to read on screens.
These are always safe choices, but if you’d like to add some more typographic personality , try exploring our roundup of the internet’s best free fonts . You’ll find everything from classic serifs and sans serifs to sophisticated modern fonts and splashy display fonts. Just keep legibility top of mind when you’re making your pick.
Try to stick with one font, or choose two at the most. Fonts have very different personalities and emotional impacts, so make sure your font matches the tone, purpose, and content of your presentation.
6. Stick to 30pt Font or Larger
Many experts agree that your font size for a PowerPoint presentation should be at least 30pt. Sticking to this guideline ensures your text is readable. It also forces you, due to space limitations, to explain your message efficiently and include only the most important points. .
7. Avoid Overstyling the Text
Three of the easiest and most effective ways to draw attention to text are:
- A change in color
Our eyes are naturally drawn to things that stand out, but use these changes sparingly. Overstyling can make the slide look busy and distracting.
8. Choose the Right Images
The images you choose for your presentation are perhaps as important as the message. You want images that not only support the message, but also elevate it—a rare accomplishment in the often dry world of PowerPoint.
But, what is the right image? We’ll be honest. There’s no direct answer to this conceptual, almost mystical subject, but we can break down some strategies for approaching image selection that will help you curate your next presentation.
The ideal presentation images are:
- Inspirational
These may seem like vague qualities, but the general idea is to go beyond the literal. Think about the symbols in an image and the story they tell. Think about the colors and composition in an image and the distinct mood they set for your presentation.
With this approach, you can get creative in your hunt for relatable, authentic, and inspirational images. Here are some more handy guidelines for choosing great images.
Illustrative, Not Generic
So, the slide in question is about collaborating as a team. Naturally, you look for images of people meeting in a boardroom, right?
While it’s perfectly fine to go super literal, sometimes these images fall flat—what’s literal doesn’t necessarily connect to your audience emotionally. Will they really respond to generic images of people who aren’t them meeting in a boardroom?
In the absence of a photo of your actual team—or any other image that directly illustrates the subject at hand—look for images of convincing realism and humanity that capture the idea of your message.
Doing so connects with viewers, allowing them to connect with your message.
The image above can be interpreted in many ways. But, when we apply it to slide layout ideas about collaboration, the meaning is clear.
It doesn’t hurt that there’s a nice setting and good photography, to boot.
Supportive, Not Distracting
Now that we’ve told you to get creative with your image selection, the next lesson is to rein that in. While there are infinite choices of imagery out there, there’s a limit to what makes sense in your presentation.
Let’s say you’re giving an IT presentation to new employees. You might think that image of two dogs snuggling by a fire is relatable, authentic, and inspirational, but does it really say “data management” to your audience?
To find the best supporting images, try searching terms on the periphery of your actual message. You’ll find images that complement your message rather than distract from it.
In the IT presentation example, instead of “data connections” or another literal term, try the closely related “traffic” or “connectivity.” This will bring up images outside of tech, but relative to the idea of how things move.
Inspiring and Engaging
There’s a widespread misconception that business presentations are just about delivering information. Well, they’re not. In fact, a great presentation is inspirational. We don’t mean that your audience should be itching to paint a masterpiece when they’re done. In this case, inspiration is about engagement.
Is your audience asking themselves questions? Are they coming up with new ideas? Are they remembering key information to tap into later? You’ll drive a lot of this engagement with your actual delivery, but unexpected images can play a role, as well.
When you use more abstract or aspirational images, your audience will have room to make their own connections. This not only means they’re paying attention, but they’re also engaging with and retaining your message.
To find the right abstract or unconventional imagery, search terms related to the tone of the presentation. This may include images with different perspectives like overhead shots and aerials, long exposures taken over a period of time, nature photos , colorful markets , and so on.
The big idea here is akin to including an image of your adorable dog making a goofy face at the end of an earnings meeting. It leaves an audience with a good, human feeling after you just packed their brains with data.
Use that concept of pleasant surprise when you’re selecting images for your presentation.
9. Editing PowerPoint Images
Setting appropriate image resolution in powerpoint.
Though you can drag-and-drop images into PowerPoint, you can control the resolution displayed within the file. All of your PowerPoint slide layout ideas should get the same treatment to be equal in size.
Simply click File > Compress Pictures in the main application menu.
If your presentation file is big and will only be viewed online, you can take it down to On-screen , then check the Apply to: All pictures in this file , and rest assured the quality will be uniform.
This resolution is probably fine for proofing over email, but too low for your presentation layout ideas. For higher res in printed form, try the Print setting, which at 220 PPI is extremely good quality.
For large-screens such as projection, use the HD setting, since enlarging to that scale will show any deficiencies in resolution. Low resolution can not only distract from the message, but it looks low-quality and that reflects on the presenter.
If size is no issue for you, use High Fidelity (maximum PPI), and only reduce if the file size gives your computer problems.
The image quality really begins when you add the images to the presentation file. Use the highest quality images you can, then let PowerPoint scale the resolution down for you, reducing the excess when set to HD or lower.
Resizing, Editing, and Adding Effects to Images in PowerPoint
PowerPoint comes with an arsenal of tools to work with your images. When a picture is selected, the confusingly named Picture Format menu is activated in the top menu bar, and Format Picture is opened on the right side of the app window.
In the Format Picture menu (on the right) are four sections, and each of these sections expand to show their options by clicking the arrows by the name:
- Fill & Line (paint bucket icon): Contains options for the box’s colors, patterns, gradients, and background fills, along with options for its outline.
- Effects (pentagon icon): Contains Shadow, Reflection, Glow, Soft Edges, 3-D Format and Rotation, and Artistic Effects.
- Size & Properties (dimensional icon): Size, Position, and Text Box allow you to control the physical size and placement of the picture or text boxes.
- Picture (mountain icon): Picture Corrections, Colors, and Transparency give you control over how the image looks. Under Crop, you can change the size of the box containing the picture, instead of the entire picture itself as in Size & Properties above.
The menu at the top is more expansive, containing menu presets for Corrections, Color, Effects, Animation, and a lot more. This section is where you can crop more precisely than just choosing the dimensions from the Picture pane on the right.
Cropping Images in PowerPoint
The simple way to crop an image is to use the Picture pane under the Format Picture menu on the right side of the window. Use the Picture Position controls to move the picture inside its box, or use the Crop position controls to manipulate the box’s dimensions.
To exert more advanced control, or use special shapes, select the picture you want to crop, then click the Picture Format in the top menu to activate it.
Hit the Crop button, then use the controls on the picture’s box to size by eye. Or, click the arrow to show more options, including changing the shape of the box (for more creative looks) and using preset aspect ratios for a more uniform presentation of images.
The next time you design a PowerPoint presentation, remember that simplicity is key and less is more. By adopting these simple slide design tips, you’ll deliver a clear, powerful visual message to your audience.
If you want to go with a PowerPoint alternative instead, you can use Shutterstock Create to easily craft convincing, engaging, and informative presentations.
With many presentation template designs, you’ll be sure to find something that is a perfect fit for your next corporate presentation. You can download your designs as a .pdf file and import them into both PowerPoint and Google Slides presentation decks.
Take Your PowerPoint Presentation to the Next Level with Shutterstock Flex
Need authentic, eye-catching photography to form the foundation of your PowerPoint presentation? We’ve got you covered.
With Shutterstock Flex, you’ll have all-in-one access to our massive library, plus the FLEXibility you need to select the perfect mix of assets every time.
License this cover image via F8 studio and Ryan DeBerardinis .
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17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips to Make More Creative Slideshows [+ Templates]
Published: August 16, 2023
Creating a great PowerPoint presentation is a skill that any professional can benefit from. The problem? It’s really easy to get it wrong. From poor color choices to confusing slides, a bad PowerPoint slideshow can distract from the fantastic content you’re sharing with stakeholders on your team.
That’s why it’s so important to learn how to create a PowerPoint presentation from the ground up, starting with your slides. Even if you’re familiar with PowerPoint, a refresher will help you make a more attractive, professional slideshow. Let’s get started.
How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation
- Presentation Tips
PowerPoint Design
I like to think of Microsoft PowerPoint as a test of basic professional skills. To create a passing presentation, I need to demonstrate design skills, technical literacy, and a sense of personal style.
If the presentation has a problem (like an unintended font, a broken link, or unreadable text), then I’ve probably failed the test. Even if my spoken presentation is well rehearsed, a bad visual experience can ruin it for the audience.
Expertise means nothing without a good PowerPoint presentation to back it up. For starters, grab your collection of free PowerPoint templates below.
10 Free PowerPoint Templates
Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation.
- Creative templates.
- Data-driven templates.
- Professional templates.
You're all set!
Click this link to access this resource at any time.
Tell us a little about yourself below to gain access today.
No matter your topic, successful PowerPoints depend on three main factors: your command of PowerPoint's design tools, your attention to presentation processes, and your devotion to consistent style. Here are some simple tips to help you start mastering each of those factors, and don't forget to check out the additional resources at the bottom of this post.
A presentation is made up of multiple slides, let's delve deeper into PowerPoint's capabilities.
Getting Started
1. open powerpoint and click ‘new.’.
If a page with templates doesn‘t automatically open, go to the top left pane of your screen and click New. If you’ve already created a presentation, select Open then double-click the icon to open the existing file.
That said, you can still use fun and eccentric fonts — in moderation. Offsetting a fun font or large letters with something more professional can create an engaging presentation.
Above all, be sure you're consistent so your presentation looks the same throughout each slide. That way, your audience doesn't become distracted by too many disparate fonts. Check out this example from HubSpot’s company profile templates:
Interested in this presentation template? Download it for free here.
5. Make sure all of your objects are properly aligned.
Having properly aligned objects on your slide is the key to making it look polished and professional. You can manually try to line up your images ... but we all know how that typically works out. You're trying to make sure all of your objects hang out in the middle of your slide, but when you drag them there, it still doesn't look quite right. Get rid of your guessing game and let PowerPoint work its magic with this trick.
Here’s how to align multiple objects:
- Select all objects by holding down Shift and clicking on all of them.
- Select Arrange in the top options bar, then choose Align or Distribute .
- Choose the type of alignment you'd like.
Here’s how to align objects to the slide:
- Select Align to Slide .
- Select Arrange in the top options bar again, then choose Align or Distribute .
6. Use "Format Object" to better control your objects' designs.
Format menus allow you to do fine adjustments that otherwise seem impossible. To do this, right-click on an object and select the Format Object option. Here, you can fine-tune shadows, adjust shape measurements, create reflections, and much more. The menu that will pop up looks like this:
Although the main options can be found on PowerPoint’s format toolbars, look for complete control in the format window menu. Other examples of options available include:
- Adjusting text inside a shape.
- Creating a natural perspective shadow behind an object.
- Recoloring photos manually and with automatic options.
7. Take advantage of PowerPoint's shapes.
Many users don’t realize how flexible PowerPoint’s shape tools have become. In combination with the expanded format options released by Microsoft, the potential for good design with shapes is readily available. PowerPoint provides the user with a bunch of great shape options beyond the traditional rectangle, oval, and rounded rectangle patterns.
Today’s shapes include a highly functional Smart Shapes function, which enables you to create diagrams and flow charts in no time. These tools are especially valuable when you consider that PowerPoint is a visual medium. Paragraphing and bullet lists are boring — you can use shapes to help express your message more clearly.
8. Create custom shapes.
When you create a shape, right click and press Edit Points . By editing points, you can create custom shapes that fit your specific need. For instance, you can reshape arrows to fit the dimensions you like.
Another option is to combine two shapes together. To do so, select the two shapes you’d like to work with, then click Shape Format in the top ribbon. Tap Merge Shapes .
You’ll see a variety of options.
- Combine creates a custom shape that has overlapping portions of the two previous shapes cut out.
- Union makes one completely merged shape.
- Intersect builds a shape of only the overlapping sections of the two previous shapes.
- Subtract cuts out the overlapping portion of one shape from the other.
- Fragment will split your shape into different parts depending on where they overlap.
By using these tools rather than trying to edit points precisely, you can create accurately measured custom shapes.
9. Crop images into custom shapes.
Besides creating custom shapes in your presentation, you can also use PowerPoint to crop existing images into new shapes. Here's how you do that:
- Click on the image and select Picture Format in the options bar.
- Choose Crop , then Crop to Shape , and then choose your desired shape. Ta-da! Custom-shaped photos.
10. Present websites within PowerPoint.
Tradition says that if you want to show a website in a PowerPoint, you should just create a link to the page and prompt a browser to open. For PC users, there’s a better option.
Third party software that integrates fully into PowerPoint’s developer tab can be used to embed a website directly into your PowerPoint using a normal HTML iframe. One of the best tools is LiveWeb , a third-party software that you can install on your PowerPoint program.
By using LiveWeb, you don’t have to interrupt your PowerPoint, and your presentation will remain fluid and natural. Whether you embed a whole webpage or just a YouTube video, this can be a high-quality third party improvement. To install the add-on, simple head to the LiveWeb website and follow the instructions.
Unfortunately, Mac users don’t have a similar option. A good second choice is to take screenshots of the website, link in through a browser, or embed media (such as a YouTube video) by downloading it directly to your computer.
11. Try Using GIFs.
GIFs are looped animated images used to communicate a mood, idea, information, and much more. Users add GIFs to PowerPoints to be funny or quickly demo a process. It's easy to add GIFs to your slides. To do so, simply follow these steps:
- Download and save the GIF you want.
- Go to the slide you want the GIF on.
- Go to the Home tab, and click either Insert or Picture .
- From the Picture drop-down menu, choose Picture from File .
- Navigate to where you saved your GIF and select it. Then, choose Insert .
- It will play automatically the moment you insert it.
PowerPoint Process
12. keep it simple..
PowerPoint is an excellent tool to support your presentation with visual information, graphics, and supplemental points. This means that your PowerPoint should not be your entire presentation. Your slides — no matter how creative and beautiful — shouldn't be the star of the show. Keep your text and images clear and concise, using them only to supplement your message and authority.
If your slides have dense and cluttered information, it will both distract your audience and make it much more likely that you will lose their attention. Nothing in your slides should be superfluous! Keep your presentation persuasive by keeping it clean. There are a few ways to do this:
- Limit bullet points and text.
- Avoid paragraphs and long quotes.
- Maintain "white space" or "negative space".
- Keep percentages, graphs, and data super basic.
13. Embed your font files.
One constant problem presenters have with PowerPoint is that fonts seem to change when presenters move from one computer to another. In reality, the fonts are not changing — the presentation computer just doesn’t have the same font files installed . If you’re using a PC and presenting on a PC, then there is a smooth workaround for this issue.
Here’s the trick: When you save your PowerPoint file (only on a PC), you should click File , then Options, then open up the Save tab. Then, select the Embed fonts in the file check box under Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation . Now, your presentation will keep the font file and your fonts will not change when you move computers.
The macOS PowerPoint version has a similar function. To embed your fonts on a Mac, do the following:
- Open up your presentation.
- On the top bar, click PowerPoint , then click Preferences .
- Under Output and Sharing , click Save .
- Under Font Embedding , click Embed fonts in the file.
14. Save your slides as a PDF file for backup purposes.
If you’re still scared of your presentation showing up differently when it’s time to present, you should create a PDF version just in case. This is a good option if you’ll be presenting on a different computer. If you also run into an issue where the presenting computer doesn’t have PowerPoint installed, you can also use the system viewer to open up the PDF. No laptop will ever give you trouble with this file type.
The only caveat is that your GIFs, animations, and transitions won’t transfer over. But since the PDF will only work as a backup, not as your primary copy, this should be okay.
To save your presentation as a PDF file, take the following steps:
- Go to File , then click Save as …
- In the pop-up window, click File Format.
- A drop-down menu will appear. Select PDF .
- Click Export .
You can also go to File , then Export , then select PDF from the file format menu.
15. Embed multimedia.
PowerPoint allows you to either link to video/audio files externally or to embed the media directly in your presentation. You should embed these files if you can, but if you use a Mac, you cannot actually embed the video (see note below). For PCs, two great reasons for embedding are:
- Embedding allows you to play media directly in your presentation. It will look much more professional than switching between windows.
- Embedding also means that the file stays within the PowerPoint presentation, so it should play normally without extra work (except on a Mac).
Note: macOS users of PowerPoint should be extra careful about using multimedia files.
If you use PowerPoint for Mac, then you will always need to bring the video and/or audio file with you in the same folder as the PowerPoint presentation. It’s best to only insert video or audio files once the presentation and the containing folder have been saved on a portable drive in their permanent folder. Also, if the presentation will be played on a Windows computer, then Mac users need to make sure their multimedia files are in WMV format. This tip gets a bit complicated, so if you want to use PowerPoint effectively, consider using the same operating system for designing and presenting, no matter what.
16. Bring your own hardware.
Between operating systems, PowerPoint is still a bit jumpy. Even between differing PPT versions, things can change. One way to fix these problems is to make sure that you have the right hardware — so just bring along your own laptop when you're presenting.
If you’re super concerned about the different systems you might have to use, then upload your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides as a backup option. Google Slides is a cloud-based presentation software that will show up the same way on all operating systems. The only thing you need is an internet connection and a browser.
To import your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides, take the following steps:
- Navigate to slides.google.com . Make sure you’re signed in to a Google account, preferably your own.
- Under Start a new presentation , click the empty box with a plus sign. This will open up a blank presentation.
- Go to File , then Import slides .
- A dialog box will come up. Tap Upload , then click Select a file from your device .
- Select your presentation and click Open .
- Select the slides you’d like to import. If you want to import all of them, click All in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
- Click Import slides.
When I tested this out, Google Slides imported everything perfectly, including a shape whose points I had manipulated. This is a good backup option to have if you’ll be presenting across different operating systems.
17. Use Presenter View.
In most presentation situations, there will be both a presenter’s screen and the main projected display for your presentation. PowerPoint has a great tool called Presenter View, which can be found in the Slide Show tab of PowerPoint. Included in the Presenter View is an area for notes, a timer/clock, and a presentation display.
For many presenters, this tool can help unify their spoken presentation and their visual aid. You never want to make the PowerPoint seem like a stack of notes that you’re reading off of. Use the Presenter View option to help create a more natural presentation.
Pro Tip: At the start of the presentation, you should also hit CTRL + H to make the cursor disappear. Hitting the "A" key will bring it back if you need it!
Your Next Great PowerPoint Presentation Starts Here
With style, design, and presentation processes under your belt, you can do a lot more with PowerPoint than just presentations for your clients. PowerPoint and similar slide applications are flexible tools that should not be forgotten. With a great template, you can be on your way to creating presentations that wow your audience.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Don't forget to share this post!
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Basic tasks for creating a PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint presentations work like slide shows. To convey a message or a story, you break it down into slides. Think of each slide as a blank canvas for the pictures and words that help you tell your story.
Choose a theme
When you open PowerPoint, you’ll see some built-in themes and templates . A theme is a slide design that contains matching colors, fonts, and special effects like shadows, reflections, and more.
On the File tab of the Ribbon, select New , and then choose a theme.
PowerPoint shows you a preview of the theme, with four color variations to choose from on the right side.
Click Create , or pick a color variation and then click Create .
Read more: Use or create themes in PowerPoint
Insert a new slide
On the Home tab, click the bottom half of New Slide , and pick a slide layout.
Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides .
Save your presentation
On the File tab, choose Save .
Pick or browse to a folder.
In the File name box, type a name for your presentation, and then choose Save .
Note: If you frequently save files to a certain folder, you can ‘pin’ the path so that it is always available (as shown below).
Tip: Save your work as you go. Press Ctrl+S often or save the file to OneDrive and let AutoSave take care of it for you.
Read more: Save your presentation file
Select a text placeholder, and begin typing.
Format your text
Select the text.
Under Drawing Tools , choose Format .
Do one of the following:
To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill , and then choose a color.
To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline , and then choose a color.
To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects , and then choose the effect you want.
Change the fonts
Change the color of text on a slide
Add bullets or numbers to text
Format text as superscript or subscript
Add pictures
On the Insert tab, select Pictures , then do one of the following:
To insert a picture that is saved on your local drive or an internal server, choose This Device , browse for the picture, and then choose Insert .
(For Microsoft 365 subscribers) To insert a picture from our library, choose Stock Images , browse for a picture, select it and choose Insert .
To insert a picture from the web, choose Online Pictures , and use the search box to find a picture. Choose a picture, and then click Insert .
You can add shapes to illustrate your slide.
On the Insert tab, select Shapes , and then select a shape from the menu that appears.
In the slide area, click and drag to draw the shape.
Select the Format or Shape Format tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.
Add speaker notes
Slides are best when you don’t cram in too much information. You can put helpful facts and notes in the speaker notes, and refer to them as you present.
Click inside the Notes pane below the slide, and begin typing your notes.
Add speaker notes to your slides
Print slides with or without speaker notes
Give your presentation
On the Slide Show tab, do one of the following:
To start the presentation at the first slide, in the Start Slide Show group, click From Beginning .
If you’re not at the first slide and want to start from where you are, click From Current Slide .
If you need to present to people who are not where you are, click Present Online to set up a presentation on the web, and then choose one of the following options:
Broadcast your PowerPoint presentation online to a remote audience
View your speaker notes as you deliver your slide show.
Get out of Slide Show view
To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc .
You can quickly apply a theme when you're starting a new presentation:
On the File tab, click New .
Select a theme.
Read more: Apply a design theme to your presentation
In the slide thumbnail pane on the left, select the slide that you want your new slide to follow.
On the Home tab, select the lower half of New Slide .
From the menu, select the layout that you want for your new slide.
Your new slide is inserted, and you can click inside a placeholder to begin adding content.
Learn more about slide layouts
Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides
PowerPoint for the web automatically saves your work to your OneDrive, in the cloud.
To change the name of the automatically saved file:
In the title bar, click the file name.
In the File Name box, enter the name you want to apply to the file.
If you want to change the cloud storage location, at the right end of the Location box, click the arrow symbol, then navigate to the folder you want, then select Move here .
On the Home tab, use the Font options:
Select from other formatting options such as Bold , Italic , Underline , Strikethrough , Subscript , and Superscript .
On the Insert tab, select Pictures .
From the menu, select where you want to insert the picture from:
Browse to the image you want, select it, then select Insert .
After the image is inserted on the slide, you can select it and drag to reposition it, and you can select and drag a corner handle to resize the image.
On the slide canvas, click and drag to draw the shape.
Select the Shape tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.
A horizontal Notes pane appears at the bottom of the window, below the slide.
Click in the pane, then enter text.
On the Slide Show tab, select Play From Beginning .
To navigate through the slides, simply click the mouse or press the spacebar.
Tip: You can also use the forward and back arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the slide show.
Read more: Present your slide show
Stop a slide show
To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc.
The full-screen slide show will close, and you will be returned to the editing view of the file.
Tips for creating an effective presentation
Consider the following tips to keep your audience interested.
Minimize the number of slides
To maintain a clear message and to keep your audience attentive and interested, keep the number of slides in your presentation to a minimum.
Choose an audience-friendly font size
The audience must be able to read your slides from a distance. Generally speaking, a font size smaller than 30 might be too difficult for the audience to see.
Keep your slide text simple
You want your audience to listen to you present your information, instead of reading the screen. Use bullets or short sentences, and try to keep each item to one line.
Some projectors crop slides at the edges, so that long sentences might be cropped.
Use visuals to help express your message
Pictures, charts, graphs, and SmartArt graphics provide visual cues for your audience to remember. Add meaningful art to complement the text and messaging on your slides.
As with text, however, avoid including too many visual aids on your slide.
Make labels for charts and graphs understandable
Use only enough text to make label elements in a chart or graph comprehensible.
Apply subtle, consistent slide backgrounds
Choose an appealing, consistent template or theme that is not too eye-catching. You don't want the background or design to detract from your message.
However, you also want to provide a contrast between the background color and text color. The built-in themes in PowerPoint set the contrast between a light background with dark colored text or dark background with light colored text.
For more information about how to use themes, see Apply a theme to add color and style to your presentation .
Check the spelling and grammar
To earn and maintain the respect of your audience, always check the spelling and grammar in your presentation .
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20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation
By sandra boicheva.
2 years ago
You may also like Show related articles Hide
You might have the most amazing idea that you wish to share with the world, but you might not get the results you want if the delivery isn’t good. Although as a tool, PowerPoint is pretty easy to use and intuitive, creating a good PowerPoint presentation is not a simple task. There is a lot of things to consider when designing your slides from the words you use, to the copy structure, data visualization, and overall design. This is why today we gathered 20 really good PowerPoint examples of presentations that flawlessly deliver their messages. These creative ideas will surely inspire you to make your next presentation your best one, as they all share good design and engaging storytelling.
“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond
1. Idea to Identify: The Design of Brand
This is a long one. Here we have a 242 slides presentation that exposes the myriad facets of design and how they impact the brand identity. The presentation has a lot of data to show and spreads it throughout more than 200 slides to make it easy to read and follow. In all, this is the best way to present a lot of information: instead of overwhelming the viewers with text walls, the presenter simply adds more slides.
- Author: Sudio Sudarsan
2. Jeunesse Opportunity Presentation 2021
This is a great example of brand presentation with company profile, product system, plan, and reward. It gives a similar experience to browsing a website.
- Author: DASH2 – Jeunesse Global
3. Accenture Tech Vision 2020
A short and sweet presentation about how companies prepare for data regulation and how this impacts the customer experience.
- Author: Accenture
4. APIs as Digital Factories’ New Machines
A comparison presentation of how companies capture most of the market value. It explains well how to view the economy from a different perspective and adopt customer-centric thinking. The presentation has a lot of value, it’s well structured and it’s a good read in only 28 slides.
- Author: Apidays
5. 24 Books You’ve Never Heard Of – But Will Change Your Life
This is a great example of how repeating slides design for the same type of content isn’t a synonym for being unimaginative. It’s pretty straightforward: it promises 24 titles, an inspirational introduction, and a slide for each book that will change your life.
- Author: Ryan Holiday
6. 10 Memorable David Bowie Quotes
Not always presentations must have a specific educational or conventional goal. Sometimes, it could be a cool personal project meant to inspire your audience. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love David Bowie? A presentation with 10 memorable quotes by him is worth watching.
- Author: Stinson
7. Creative Mornings San Diego
- Author: Anne McColl
8. Digital 2020 Global Digital Overview
A report heavy-data presentation about everything you need to know about mobile, internet, social media, and e-commerce use around the world in 2020. It’s a long read but comprehensive and well-illustrated with data visualization.
- Author: DataReportal
9. Blitzscaling: Book Trailer
One of the most well-made presentations about informative topics such as startup’s life-cycle and where the most value is created. It’s designed as a book, consistent, with lesser text as possible, and imitates animation by adding new content on copies of the same slide.
- Author: Reid Hoffman
10. Poor Self-Esteem: Just Beat It!
A very valuable presentation that takes on the reasons for low self-esteem and how to overcome it. The design is very simple and comprehensive and even suitable for social media carousel posts.
- Author: SlideShop.com
11. You Suck At PowerPoint!
This presentation is more than a decade old and still checks out. After all, you could expect great presentation design from someone who talks about design mistakes and how to overcome them. 61 slides of a fun experience and a great read.
- Author: Jesse Desjardins
12. Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling
Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling, originally tweeted by Emma Coats, in a 24-slides presentation with a custom design.
- Author: Gavin McMahon
13. A Complete Guide To The Best Times To Post On Social Media
A fun little presentation with great value. It takes on the most effective times to post on social media, send an email, or publish a blog.
- Author: TrackMaven
14. Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint
The next presentation honors Seth Godin and his wisdom. It uses his book’s insights to visualize all the tips in 45 engaging slides.
- Author: HighSpark
15. 10 Lessons from the World’s Most Captivating Presenters
This presentation is for presenters who wish to become better. And what better way than getting inspired by the world’s greatest presenters and accessing some of their secrets.
- Author: HubSpot
16. Crap. The Content Marketing Deluge
For starters, this presentation has a very captivating title and opening. Winning the attention from the very start, it continues with consistent clean design and great content. It delivers exactly what it promised.
- Author: Velocity Partners
17. Displaying Data
More insightful advice and tips from professional presenters that check out to this very day. It’s a great presentation about visualizing your data in the best way possible and it also delivers it with design.
- Author: Bipul Deb Nath
18. 5 Storytelling Lessons From Superhero Stories
Custom-made presentation with illustrations made specifically for the occasion, and brilliant execution. It shows it’s definitely worth it to spend time making your presentation more personal and from scratch.
19. 10 Things your Audience Hates About your Presentation
Another custom presentation with icons-style illustrations about how to avoid cringe when making presentations.
- Author: Stinson
20. The Designer’s Guide to Startup Weekend
You will work hard all weekend long but you will also find new friends, mentors, and the chance to promote yourself. A pretty wholesome presentation with a custom design where the presenter shares her own experience in the world of startups.
- Author: Iryna Nezhynska
That’s It!
These 20 presentations prove that PowerPoint is never out of date and it’s a great tool to deliver your message across. We hope you got inspired for your next presentation and make your audience fall in love with your concepts.
In the meantime, why not take a look at the related articles to get some more inspiration or grab a couple of freebies:
- [Freebies] 17 Really Good Sources For Free Vector Images For Commercial Use
- [Inspiration] 85 Really Good T-Shirt Design Ideas to Inspire You for Your Next Project
- [Insights] The 5 Top Online Tools for Custom YouTube Banners (and YouTube Thumbnails)
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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)
- PowerPoint Tutorials
- Presentation Design
- January 22, 2024
In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.
While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.
Table of Contents
Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:
- Change the slide order
- Reset your layout
- Change the slide dimensions
- Use PowerPoint Designer
- Format text
- Format objects
- Play a presentation (slide show)
With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.
Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?
Take your PPT skills to the next level
Start with a blank presentation.
Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.
For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation here .
The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.
This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).
For now, go ahead and click on the Blank Presentation (1) thumbnail.
Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint interface
Here is how the program is laid out:
- The Application Header
- The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
- The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
- The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)
The Slide Area
The notes pane.
- The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)
Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.
Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint Ribbon
The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.
For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).
Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:
- Online Pictures
- Screenshots
- Screen Recording
The Slides Pane
This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.
Right-clicking on a slide in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as Duplicate Slide , Delete Slide , and Hide Slide .
In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by right-clicking anywhere in this Pane and selecting Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.
The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.
Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.
The Notes Pane is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.
To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .
Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .
You can resize the Notes Pane by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).
Note: Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .
Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.
Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation
Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called Placeholders and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .
To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .
As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.
Note: For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.
If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the Autofit Options icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .
Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the Paragraph area of the Home tab of the Ribbon.
The Reset Command: If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .
Insert More Slides into Your Presentation
Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the Home tab and click on New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.
You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .
Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.
If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.
After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.
If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Picture with Caption
Adding Content to Your Slides
Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.
On slide 2 we have a Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:
- A SmartArt graphic,
- A 3D object,
- A picture from the web,
- Or an icon.
To insert text, simply type it in or hit Ctrl+C to Copy and Ctrl+V to Paste from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.
For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.
Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.
On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:
- A picture from the web
To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:
- Click on the Picture icon
- Find a picture on your computer and select it
- Click on Insert
Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.
If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .
Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.
You can use either the Title Only or the Blank slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.
In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.
The Reset Command: Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the Reset button up in the Home tab won’t do anything.
That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.
For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:
- Using graphics in PowerPoint
- Inserting icons onto slides
- Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
- How to embed a video in PowerPoint
- How to add music to your presentation
Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas
If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.
To use Designer , simply navigate to the Design tab in your Ribbon, and click on Design Ideas .
NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .
Change the Overall Design (optional)
When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.
For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation, read my guide here .
A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size
If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.
However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.
For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).
You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).
To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation, read my guide here .
B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme
The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it, read my article here .
In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.
That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.
If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.
Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.
To select a different theme, go to the Design tab in the Ribbon, and click on the dropdown arrow in the Themes section .
For this tutorial, let’s select the Frame theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.
Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .
C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint
The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the Variants area, you can see four background options.
For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:
- The background color automatically changes across all slides
- The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
- The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)
Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .
After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.
Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:
- Gradient fill
- Picture or texture fill
- Pattern fill
- Hide background
You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.
D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint
Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).
The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- In the Variants area, click on the dropdown arrow and select Colors
- Select the color palette (or theme colors) you want
You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.
E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint
Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.
The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow in the Variants area
- Select Fonts
- Select the font pairing you want
You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .
If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .
Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)
The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.
A. Adding PowerPoint animations
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.
Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.
To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:
- Select the element
- Go to the Animations tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the animation you want
You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.
B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation
There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:
- Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
- Click on the little star next to the slide
- Play the slide in Slide Show Mode
To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .
To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the Effect Options , Advanced Animation and the Timing areas of the Animation tab .
Note: To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button, read our guide here .
C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint
The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:
- Navigate to the Animations tab
- Select the Animation Pane
Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.
Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .
D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.
In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.
To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:
- Select the slide
- Go to the Transitions tab in the Ribbon
- In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the transition you want
To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the Timing area of the Transitions tab.
You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the Slides Pane and apply the transition.
E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint
There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):
- Click on the Preview button in the Transitions tab
- Click on the little star beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view
Note: In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition, see our step-by-step article here .
Save Your PowerPoint Presentation
After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.
To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:
- Navigate to the File tab
- Select Save As on the left
- Choose where you want to save your presentation
- Name your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
- Click Save
You can alternatively use the Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.
This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.
To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .
How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template
Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.
But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.
If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .
Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation
After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.
To open the Print dialog box, you can either:
- Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
- Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print
Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:
- Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
- Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
- Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
- Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
- Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white
There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:
- How to print multiple slides per page
- How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
- How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation
So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.
When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.
If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by visiting us here .
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17 PowerPoint Presentation Examples That Show Style and Professionalism
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By Iveta Pavlova
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6 years ago
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There are way too many bad PowerPoint presentation examples that can bore you to death. Well, today’s post is not about them. We believe that it’s always important to show the good examples out there and follow their lead. We admit it, it was pretty hard to dig out the good PowerPoint presentation examples from the mass. We’ve added our opinion on each piece and why we believe it’s worthy of being included in this collection. Let’s begin!
You may be interested in The Best Free PowerPoint Templates to Download in 2022
1. The Sketchnote Mini-Workshop by Mike Rohde
An eye-catchy PowerPoint presentation example whose content is fully hand-written. What we love about this design, is the high personalization level that is achieved via handwriting. It almost feels like the author is drawing and writing in front of the viewers’ eyes. A digital presentation that conveys a physical feeling.
2. 10 Ways to Spread The Love in The Office by Elodie A.
The following presentation is a real eye candy. We can’t help it, the cartoon style lives in our hearts. An incredibly appealing PowerPoint presentation that brings positive vibes and a good mood through vibrant cartoon illustrations. It gets bonus points for the usage of bullet points and little text.
3. The Great State of Design with CSS Grid Layout and Friends by Stacy Kvernmo
A presentation that tells a story is always a good example that everyone should follow. This PowerPoint presentation has a lot of slides that tell different mini-stories. The way they are depicted is really engaging – they almost look like a sequence of frames that make up a video. This technique really nails the viewers’ attention.
4. We live in a VUCA world by Little Dragon Films
A classy design of a PowerPoint presentation example – a dark theme and white font on top with just a single color accent – red. Such designs are really suitable for serious topics like this one. To soften the contrast between the black background and white font, the author has used a gradient on the background which gives the illusion of soft light in the middle of the design.
5. 2017 Marketing Predictions—Marketo by Marketo
A design that was made over a year ago but it’s still really trendy. In the following PowerPoint presentation example, we can see the combination of 3D shapes, beautiful hand-written fonts, negative space techniques, and more. The overall feeling is of futuristic design. Moreover, they used the color of 2018 – Ultra Violet for their color scheme. Maybe, they did predict the future after all.
6. 10 Ways Your Boss Kills Employee Motivation by Officevibe
Who doesn’t like to see a familiar face? We know your audience does! It’s proven that if you show a familiar face to your viewers, you nail their attention and boost their engagement level. This is the technique used in the following PowePoint presentation. Moreover, the inner slides of the presentation are also cartoons with big conceptual illustrations and little text. The formula for a really good presentation.
7. How to Successfully Run a Remote Team from Weekdone.com
We haven’t really seen many PowerPoint presentation examples with top-view illustrations. The following presentation really reminded us that when presenting to an audience, you should always think: How to make your design stand out from the rest? Well, this one really caught our eye. In addition, we love the bright colors, geometric shapes, and overall flat feeling, all of which are among the graphic design trends for 2022 .
8. SXSW 2018 – Top Trends by Matteo Sarzana
People love visuals and this is an undeniable fact. The whole PowerPoint presentation is built on high-quality photos, each including a little tagline in the middle. We love the consistency, we love the factor of surprise, and we love the high engagement level this presentation creates. Just make sure to back up such presentation type with a good speech!
9. How to study effectively? by sadraus
Semi-transparent overlays, geometric shapes, a video inside… Everything about this PowerPoint presentation screams “modern”. The grayscale coloring is accompanied by a fresh green color accent. The choice of images clearly suggests that the target audience is young people. The overall feeling that we get from this PowerPoint presentation – is youthful and modern.
10. Study: The Future of VR, AR, and Self-Driving Cars by LinkedIn
A presentation about the future should look futuristic, right? The following PowerPoint presentation example is proof that you should always connect the subject of your presentation to its design. Everything in this presentation speaks of futuristic: the choice of fonts, colors, effects, and even some elements look like holograms from the future.
11. 9 things I’ve learned about SaaS by Christoph Janz
A PowerPoint presentation example created in a consistent style by using a blue theme. Why did we include this presentation? We love the fact that the author has shown an alternation of text and visuals (from slides 7 to 22). This technique is proven to hold the attention of the viewer. Moreover, the way the graphics are presented (on a napkin) draws the interest even more.
12. How To Achieve Something Extraordinary In Life by Sultan Suleman Chaudhry
A PowerPoint presentation example that shows consistency and style by using a strict color scheme: orange, beige, and deep blue. Orange and blue are one of the most popular contrasting combinations widely used in all kinds of designs. If you are not sure what colors to go with, simply choose a tested color scheme.
13. New trends to look out for 2018 winter season by FemmeConnection
Geometric shapes and negative space techniques are among the graphic design trends for 2018 which is why we see them often in PowerPoint presentation examples and other designs. In the following presentation, we can see a collection of women’s clothes presented in a very engaging way with the help of rounded geometric shapes, negative space technique, and the color pink.
14. Fear of Failure by Sultan Suleman Chaudhry
Speaking of the usage of geometric elements in the presentation’s design, let’s see another example. An elegant design decorated with circles, triangles, and more geometric details. What else we love about this presentation is that it only has one color accent – light yellow which looks classy and pleasant for the eye.
15. The Three Lies About Your Age by Sean Si
A great choice of fonts, beautiful semi-transparent geometric elements, and trendy futuristic colors. This is one of the PowerPoint presentation examples that we absolutely love. The story is engaging and the design is extremely appealing – a combination that keeps the viewers’ eyes on the screen from the beginning till the end.
16. Secrets to a Great Team by Elodie A.
Bright, fun, using lots of illustrations and cartoon characters – definitely our kind of PowerPoint presentation. Why do we love it so much? Well, cartoons are real ice-breakers between you and your audience. Moreover, cartoon characters are easier to relate to than a real human face. If you need to connect on a deeper level with your audience, this is your kind of presentation!
You’d probably like to learn 4 Invaluable Presentation Design Tips You Wish You Knew Earlier
17. How to Build a Dynamic Social Media Plan by Post Planner
A great presentation PowerPoint example with watercolor illustrations and backgrounds that look hand-drawn. We also see semi-transparent colorful overlays, high-quality conceptual photos, and great, useful content. What more would you want from a presentation, right?
We always love to hear your opinion about stuff. So, what do you think of these PowerPoint presentation examples? Do you think that you’ve created a presentation better than these? We’d love to see your own creations in the comments below if you want to share them with us.
You may also be interested to read these related articles:
- 7 Most Popular Software for Presentations
- 4 Invaluable Presentation Design Tips You Wish You Knew Earlier
- 70 Inspiring Presentation Slides with Cartoon Designs
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Iveta Pavlova
Iveta is a passionate writer at GraphicMama who has been writing for the brand ever since the blog was launched. She keeps her focus on inspiring people and giving insight on topics like graphic design, illustrations, education, business, marketing, and more.
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6 Simple Parts for Beginners to Create a PowerPoint Presentation
Last Updated: December 19, 2022 Fact Checked
Creating a New PowerPoint
Creating the title slide, adding a new slide, adding content to slides, adding transitions, testing and saving your presentation.
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 4,307,852 times. Learn more...
Do you want to have your data in a slide show? If you have Microsoft 365, you can use PowerPoint! PowerPoint is a program that's part of the Microsoft Office suite (which you have to pay for) and is available for both Windows and Mac computers. This wikiHow teaches you how to create your own Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a computer.
Things You Should Know
- Templates make it easy to create vibrant presentations no matter your skill level.
- When adding photos, you can adjust their sizes by clicking and dragging in or out from their corners.
- You can add animated transitions between slides or to individual elements like bullet points and blocks of text.
- If you don't have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can use the website instead of the desktop app. Go to https://powerpoint.office.com/ to use the website version.
- You can also use the mobile app to make presentations, though it's easier to do this on a computer, which has a larger screen, a mouse, and a keyboard.
- If you don't want to use a template, just click the Blank option in the upper-left side of the page and skip to the next part.
- Skip this step if your selected template has no themes available.
- If you're creating a PowerPoint presentation for which an elaborate title slide has been requested, ignore this step.
- You can change the font and size of text used from the Home tab that's in the orange ribbon at the top of the window.
- You can also just leave this box blank if you like.
- You can also click and drag in or out one of a text box's corners to shrink or enlarge the text box.
- On a Mac, you'll click the Home tab instead. [1] X Research source
- Clicking the white slide-shaped box above this option will result in a new text slide being inserted.
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Content with Caption
- Picture with Caption
- Naturally, the title slide should be the first slide in your presentation, meaning that it should be the top slide in the left-hand column.
- Skip this step and the next two steps if your selected slide uses a template that doesn't have text boxes in it.
- Text boxes in PowerPoint will automatically format the bulk of your text for you (e.g., adding bullet points) based on the context of the content itself.
- You can add notes that the Presentation will not include (but you'll still be able to see them on your screen) by clicking Notes at the bottom of the slide.
- You can change the font of the selected text by clicking the current font's name and then clicking your preferred font.
- If you want to change the size of the text, click the numbered drop-down box and then click a larger or smaller number based on whether you want to enlarge or shrink the text.
- You can also change the color, bolding, italicization, underlining, and so on from here.
- Photos in particular can be enlarged or shrunk by clicking and dragging out or in one of their corners.
- Remember to keep slides uncluttered and relatively free of distractions. It's best to keep the amount of text per slide to around 33 words or less. [2] X Research source
- Slide content will animate in the order in which you assign transitions. For example, if you animate a photo on the slide and then animate the title, the photo will appear before the title.
- Make your slideshow progress automatically by setting the speed of every transition to align with your speech as well as setting each slide to Advance . [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
- If you need to exit the presentation, press Esc .
- Windows - Click File , click Save , double-click This PC , select a save location, enter a name for your presentation, and click Save .
- Mac - Click File , click Save As... , enter the presentation's name in the "Save As" field, select a save location by clicking the "Where" box and clicking a folder, and click Save .
Community Q&A
Video . By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube.
- If you save your PowerPoint presentation in .pps format instead of the default .ppt format, double-clicking your PowerPoint presentation file will prompt the presentation to open directly into the slideshow view. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0
- If you don't have Microsoft Office, you can still use Apple's Keynote program or Google Slides to create a PowerPoint presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Your PowerPoint presentation (or some features in it) may not open in significantly older versions of PowerPoint. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
- Great PowerPoint presentations avoid placing too much text on one slide. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=DBDCE00C929AA5D8!252&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AH4O9NxcbehqzIg
- ↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/powerpoint.htm
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/set-the-timing-and-speed-of-a-transition-c3c3c66f-4cca-4821-b8b9-7de0f3f6ead1#:~:text=To%20make%20the%20slide%20advance,effect%20on%20the%20slide%20finishes .
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A quick way to create beautiful, powerful PowerPoint presentations
Create captivating, informative content for PowerPoint in just a few minutes—no graphic design experience needed. Here's how:
1. Find the perfect PowerPoint template
2. Customize your creation
3. Show it off
Let's create a powerpoint design, frequently asked questions, where can i find slide templates and themes that i can customize.
To find customizable slide templates and themes, you can explore the business presentations templates or search by PowerPoint templates . Once you find a template that resonates with you, customize it by changing its color scheme, add in your own photos, and swap out the font.
How do I use pre-made PowerPoint templates?
After you've chosen a PowerPoint template to use, customize it. Explore [design tips] on how to customize a deck that resonates with your brand while putting emphasis on the topic at hand. Play with other design elements, like photo shapes, to make each slide unique.
How can I make or edit my own custom PowerPoint templates?
Start from scratch by creating your own PowerPoint template . Follow tips for designs and business presentations so that your unique template is cohesive and relevant to your brand. Incorporate your brand's color scheme and graphics so that all your slides aren't text only.
What kinds templates can I get online for PowerPoint?
You can get PowerPoint templates that have modern designs, animated ones, or even hand-drawn art in each slide. The color schemes range from bold to subtle. Each template's slides are also organized based on what you may want to include in your presentation . You can use the template as a starting point and customize its specific details from theme.
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20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates] When it comes to PowerPoint presentation design, there's no shortage of avenues you can take. While all that choice — colors, formats, visuals, fonts — can feel liberating, it's important that you're careful in your selection as not all design combinations add up to success.
12 English Presentations Templates Microsoft PowerPoint This post is part of a series called How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide). How to Share Your PowerPoint Presentation Online (For Free) How to Learn PowerPoint Quickly (Complete 2023 Beginner's Guide + Video)
A good presentation needs two fonts: a serif and sans-serif. Use one for the headlines and one for body text, lists, and the like. Keep it simple. Veranda, Helvetica, Arial, and even Times New Roman are safe choices. Stick with the classics and it's hard to botch this one too badly.
4. Use a Professional PowerPoint Template. One way to make sure that you've got a great, visually appealing PowerPoint presentation is to use a premium PowerPoint template such as those available through Envato Elements or GraphicRiver. Here are some great PowerPoint examples from Envato Elements of templates that can be useful in creating your presentation.
1. Speak freely One of the most important points in good presentations is to speak freely. Prepare your presentation so well that you can speak freely and rarely, if ever, need to look at your notes. The goal is to connect with your audience and get them excited about your topic.
Effective use of bullet points Proper symmetry between different paragraphs and pointers Having an engaging summary with a clear Call to Action Limited Text Limited text in a PowerPoint presentation works wonders, transforming it into an engaging and crystal-clear presentation. Less is more when it comes to text on slides.
Business Management Communication 60 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks (Giant List) Brad Smith Jul 28, 2023 • 35 min read 36 English Management Communication Presentations Microsoft PowerPoint The best PowerPoint presentations shouldn't be remembered.
10 FREE POWERPOINT TEMPLATES Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation. Download Now Updated: 03/31/23 Published: 03/31/23 Some presentations are better than others. They may have gorgeous designs. Others have insanely actionable takeaways. Some just give down-to-earth advice. But the best presentations represent all three.
Tip 1: Consistency — but not monotony We've all been there. Sitting in front of a PowerPoint presentation with slide after slide in exactly the same layout. What happens? You drift off. You sneak a look at your mobile. You stop engaging with the content of the presentation. So how can you stop your presentation from suffering a similar fate?
Select an option: To create a presentation from scratch, select Blank Presentation. To use a prepared design, select one of the templates. To see tips for using PowerPoint, select Take a Tour, and then select Create, . Add a slide In the thumbnails on the left pane, select the slide you want your new slide to follow.
1. Choose the topic of your presentation. Choosing the topic of your presentation is arguably one of the most important parts of presentation creation. If you're a student looking for presentation topics, check out our list of 150+ presentation topic ideas covering various subjects to find something you like.
Just keep legibility top of mind when you're making your pick. Try to stick with one font, or choose two at the most. Fonts have very different personalities and emotional impacts, so make sure your font matches the tone, purpose, and content of your presentation. 6. Stick to 30pt Font or Larger.
Getting Started. 1. Open PowerPoint and click 'New.'. If a page with templates doesn't automatically open, go to the top left pane of your screen and click New. If you've already created a presentation, select Open then double-click the icon to open the existing file. Image Source.
Select the text. Under Drawing Tools, choose Format. Do one of the following: To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill, and then choose a color. To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline, and then choose a color. To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects, and then ...
1. Idea to Identify: The Design of Brand This is a long one. Here we have a 242 slides presentation that exposes the myriad facets of design and how they impact the brand identity. The presentation has a lot of data to show and spreads it throughout more than 200 slides to make it easy to read and follow.
Follow these steps to create an engaging presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint: 1. Change the template design. Instead of using a pre-made template from PowerPoint, customize it to fit your needs. Try different fonts, colors and designs to help differentiate it from common templates.
When you do, you are shown the Start Menu, with the Home tab open. This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3). For now, go ahead and click on the Blank Presentation (1) thumbnail.
Nevertheless, prepare for the content to put in your presentation before you open and start with a blank presentation. 2. Boil your information down. Try to only keep the information that you can't do without. If you have a load of text in your hands, cut it down to the most important bits.
A classy design of a PowerPoint presentation example - a dark theme and white font on top with just a single color accent - red. Such designs are really suitable for serious topics like this one.
Creating the Title Slide | Adding a New Slide | Adding Content to Slides | Adding Transitions | Testing and Saving Your Presentation | Video | Q&A | Tips | Warnings Do you want to have your data in a slide show? If you have Microsoft 365, you can use PowerPoint!
In this PowerPoint tutorial you will learn about how to make the best PowerPoint Presentation for beginners with us !. I think after see this video you can ...
Find the perfect PowerPoint presentation template Bring your next presentation to life with customizable PowerPoint design templates. Whether you're wowing with stats via charts and graphs or putting your latest and greatest ideas on display, you'll find a PowerPoint presentation template to make your ideas pop.
Marketing Web Design Learn how to make a presentation about yourself in PowerPoint. Use this handy technique for company presentations, sales pitches, or even school projects. By Brenda Barron | Updated November 23, 2023 Creating a presentation about yourself may seem like a daunting task.