how to make a good canva presentation

How To Make A Professional Presentation on Canva

Creating a professional presentation requires an eye for detail. Capturing and retaining the attention of your audience can be a challenge. The secret is to make a clear, authoritative, and structured presentation. Let’s walk through the process of utilizing Canva to create a professional presentation. Our guide even offers some pro tips to get the best out of it.

Steps To Create A Canva Presentation

Step 1: open canva.

Sign into your Canva account, or create an account if you don’t have one.

Step 2: Choose a Presentation Template

Canva’s range of templates allows you to create professional presentations of any kind, whether it’s business, academic, or creative. To choose:

• Click on “Create a design” on the Canva dashboard, or the “+” sign down the middle if you’re on mobile.
• In the search bar, type “Presentation” to find a variety of presentation templates.
• Select a template that suits your theme or topic.

Creating custom templates can save time, especially if you have similar and recurrent presentations.

Step 3: Customize Your Presentation

When you have your content ready and outlined and your template chosen, you can go ahead to:

• Edit the text by clicking on the placeholder text boxes and entering your text.
• Click on the graphics in the template and replace them if needed. Images can be either uploaded from your library or chosen from Canva’s library.
• You can also add elements with the simple drag-and-drop feature. This streamlines your workflow and saves you some time and effort.
• Simplify your text, and space it appropriately. This helps your audience grasp key points quickly.
• Create a strong title slide. With a compelling title and a graphic or two, you’ll set the tone for the rest of the presentation.
• Stick to a theme. Consistent font and color create a professional look for your presentation.

Step 4: Organize Your Slides

Cluttered slides are not great to look at, and can confuse you when you have to present. Well-structured slides are key for every successful presentation.

• Use the left sidebar to navigate through your slides.
• Add or delete slides by clicking on either the “+” or “trash can” icons.
• Rearrange your slides as you see fit by clicking and dragging them into the desired sequence.
• Here you can also design your cover slide and choose transition styles for your slides.
•  You can duplicate slides you like, so you can make adjustments to one without touching the other. You can do this with the Ctrl + D (Cmd + D on Mac) shortcut.
• Keep your presentation story-like, with a clear progression. This keeps your audience engaged.

Step 5: Elements, Icons and Multimedia

This is where Canva impresses. There’s a vast range of icons, graphics, and media you can choose from. These are of course optional. But, they play an understated role in keeping eyes on your presentation, especially when things are getting a bit clunky. 

• Access the “Elements” tab on the left sidebar, and drag and drop the desired elements such as lines, shapes, and icons onto your slides. 
• To add multimedia, Select “Videos” or “Audio”, then import multimedia files directly to your slides.

• Be generous with Elements and Graphics. They are great for representing tricky concepts and highlighting key points.
• High-quality images can give your content a real facelift. Canva has an always-ready library of the best stock photos that you can always access.

Step 6: Collaborate 

• If you’re working on the group presentation with others, you can invite your co-members by clicking on the share button in the top-right corner.
• Collaborators can then make edits and suggestions in real time.

Step 7: Preview and Present

You should always preview your finished presentation. You’re more than likely to pick up on something you missed. It is also important to know what your presentation will look like to the viewer

• Before finalizing, click the “Present” button at the top right corner.
• Here you can review content and structure and make any necessary adjustments.

If at preview you notice maligned elements, Canva’s grid and snap features can help to automatically align them.

 Step 8: Download or Share

• Once ready, click the “Download” button to save your presentation as a PDF, PPT, or your preferred format.
• You can also use the “Share” button to generate a link for easy online sharing or collaboration.

Canva Additional Features

Canva offers a healthy range of features that let users of varying experiences create top-shelf presentations.

Jumpstart your creative process by using professionally designed presentation templates. There are a lot of easy presets available for use. These templates are customizable, allowing you to change colors, fonts, and images. You can then match your preferences or branding as you see fit. 

Images And Icons

Canva provides access to a library of relevant images, icons, illustrations, and other design elements. These assets can enhance the visual appeal of your presentations. You’re of course allowed to import your images and icons if you want a more personalized touch. 

Charts and Graphs 

Canvas’s range of effects and graphics is some of the very best available. Between simple things like font variety and color tweaks, and more complex stuff like animations and transitions, there’s no shortage of options for creating a dynamic and visually appealing presentation. 

Collaboration Features

Canva allows for real-time collaboration between multiple users. This is rather useful with group presentations. This way, members of the presenting team can interact and make edits to their section. They can do this while working on the same presentation simultaneously.

With Canva, you can embed multimedia elements, such as videos and audio, directly into their presentations. This allows for a more interactive and fun experience. 

Canva Third-Party Integrations

Canva’s strength lies in its flexibility. It offers integrations with key tools, enhancing your workflow and boosting audience engagement.

These include: 

Interactive Integrations

• Canva slides can be easily integrated into the learning experiences through the platform Pear Deck. For example, a classroom presentation on the water cycle can be made via Canva. Through the Pear Deck integration, teachers can introduce quizzes, draggable elements, and prompts. Students can then interact with these and receive teacher feedback.

Learning Management Systems (LMS):

• Canva integrates seamlessly with various LMS platforms like Canvas, Schoology, and Google Classroom. With these, Educators can receive and review student Canva assignments directly.

Mentimeter: 

• With Mentimeter, you can Integrate live polls and quizzes into your Canva presentations. These help you gather real-time audience feedback and insights.

Sharing And Publishing

• Canva presentations can be easily published on social media platforms. 
• It also allows for direct liaison with video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. This helps for easy remote presentations.
• With Canva you can export your presentation in PDF, PPT, or PNG format.
• You’re also allowed to upload these directly to cloud storage platforms for easy accessibility and teamwork.
• Canva provides an API that developers can use to integrate Canva into other applications. So if you have the skill and time, you can easily create integrations of your own.

Presentations Apps and Integrations

• Magic Design: This lets you generate slide designs automatically as you create them. It does so by applying designs based on your already curated content. This should help you save time and creativity.
• Presenter Mode: You can deliver presentations with confidence using Canva’s built-in presenter mode. This comes with speaker notes, slide timers, and annotation tools.
• Canva Live: This lets you hold live presentations hosted on Canva. Within, you can curate questions and reactions from your audience in real-time. This helps with fostering engagement and interactivity.

Stock Libraries:

• Canva has a bulk image license with Unsplash, Getty Images, and Shutterstock. These grant you access to premium stock photos and illustrations within the platform. Many of these are otherwise expensive or difficult to find.

To explore potential third-party integrations, visit Canva App Directory and Canva for Developers.

Canva Pricing

Canva offers a flexible pricing structure to cater to the needs of individuals and teams. There are three main packages:

• Canva Free: This typically provides access to all the features you may need for your presentation at no cost.
• Canva Pro: $14.99 a month or $119.99 per year
• Canva Teams: *$300 per year for 5 team members, with additional members costing $60 per year each.

Thanks to its friendly and intuitive interface, Canva is great for users of all skill levels. It allows them to craft presentations that truly stand out. In this guide, we’ve discussed how to create a professional presentation on Canva. We’ve also covered the features available for use and shared some practical tips to help you make the best presentation.

Q: Can you transfer Canva directly to Google Slides?

A : You can easily import your Google Slides to Canva for editing. All you need to do is to connect your Google Drive account to your Canva account, and import files when needed. Transferring presentations from Canva is less straightforward. You’ll have to download your Canva presentation as a PDF, then open the file within Google Slides.

Q: Can you make a slideshow on Canva?

A : Yes, you can. Canva supports the creation of slideshows. All you have to do is open Canva and choose a slideshow template.

Q: Can I present directly from Canva?

A : Yes, you can. Canva offers a presenter mode that lets you use notes, timers, and annotation tools as you present. You can, of course, download your presentation in any format to present offline if preferred.

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How to Create Presentations in Canva

Parth Shah is an evergreen freelance writer covering how-tos, app guides, comparisons, listicles, and troubleshooting guides on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and smart TV platforms. He has over five years of experience and has covered 1,500+ articles on GuidingTech and Android Police. In his free time, you will see him binge-watching Netflix shows, reading books, and traveling.

Afam has been a content writer with Guiding Tech Media since August 2023. However, his experience in tech writing dates back to 2018, when he worked as a freelance writer for Make Tech Easier. Over the years, he has grown a reputation for publishing quality guides, reviews, tips, and explainer articles. His work is featured on top websites, including Technical Ustad, Windows Report, and Next of Windows. He has training as a Microsoft Certified Professional and has covered more Microsoft-related guides on these platforms.

• You can easily customize templates, add graphics, and animate slides without needing extensive design skills.
• Canva’s collaboration features allow for real-time editing and sharing of presentations.
• Canva provides various export options, including PDF, PPTX, MP4, and image formats.

How to Create Canva Presentations

To create Canva presentations, you must follow a few steps. We break them down into the headings below.

Pick Up an Aspect Ratio and Template

Pick a relevant aspect ratio for your presentation. If it’s a traditional PPT, go with a 16:9 aspect ratio. If you plan to show your PPT on mobile, use the 9:16 aspect ratio. Tablet users can start with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Canva also offers some ready-to-use templates to get started. We highly recommend starting with a template to save some time.

Step 1: On the left pane, click Templates .

Step 2: Choose a template from the options or search for one using the search field.

Step 3: Click Customize this template once satisfied with your choice.

Note: You can filter templates via style, theme, feature, and color. For example, you can check company, marketing, corporate, marketing, school, and other templates. Under templates, you also find an option to create instant presentations. You can enter a prompt and check Canva’s suggestions to get started.

Customize a Page With Editing Features

Once you select a template, you can add all pages to your presentations and customize other pages.

Step 1: To select a page for customization, click on it at the bottom of the interface.

Step 2: At the bottom of the interface, click the three-dot icon for a page and select any of the available options.

Step 3: When you click on a page, Canva lets you change every aspect of the template with different text styles, filters, and image editing tools. You can change color, tweak transparency, copy style, and more.

We suggest editing tools to customize your Canva presentation and add personal touches.

Add Graphics, Stickers, and Images

Your presentation will not seem attractive without graphics, stickers, images, and videos. Unlike Google Slides or PowerPoint, you don’t need to import media files to Canva to complete your slides. You can easily add relevant elements from the sidebar.

Step 1: Open a slide in your Canva presentation.

Step 2: Select Elements from the sidebar. You can add graphics, icons, stickers, tables, videos, and more.

Step 3: You can explore the AI image generator and turn your creative ideas into images and videos with a single click.

You can add simple descriptions and even turn generated images into videos. Canva also offers a long list of graphics packs in several categories. The possibilities are endless here. It’s up to you to make a compelling slide using useful tools.

Tweak Page Animation

Once you create a page, tweak its animation to smoothly transition between pages.

Step 1: Select a slide in Canva.

Step 2: Click Animate at the top.

Step 3: Check Basic , Exaggerate , Photo Movement , and other animation types from the left sidebar.

You can also tweak the animation intensity, which is great.

Add Presenter Notes

Do you plan to present your Canva PPT on a video conference? You can add notes to each slide so they appear during the Presenter view (more on that later).

Step 1: When you create a PPT, select a slide and hit Notes at the bottom.

Step 2: Enter the notes you want to remember or discuss during a video meeting.

Collaborate and Edit in Real Time

Like Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva lets you share and edit a presentation in real-time. You can take your colleagues’ input and create a share-worthy presentation quickly.

Step 1: When you are done making changes to your presentation, click Share at the top.

Step 2: Enter people, groups, or your team. Expand the collaboration link menu and select Anyone with the link .

Step 3: Expand the permission menu and select Can edit .

You can also share a link with view or comment-only permission. Select the Copy link and share it with your co-workers.

Enable Presenter View or Download and Share Your Presentation

Presenter view is a thoughtful touch from Canva to give presentations over a Google Meet or Teams call.

Step 1: Open a presentation in Canva and select Present at the top.

Step 2: Click Presenter View and check two windows opening up on your computer.

One window shows your presentation with notes open on the sidebar. Another window displays the current slide you are sharing with others over a call.

As expected, Canva offers several options for sharing and exporting your presentation. When you complete your presentation, click Share in the top-right corner and expand Download .

You can convert a presentation to PDF, PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint compatible), MP4, JPG, PNG and SVG formats. Check our dedicated post if you wish to print your Canva presentation .

1. Can you customize a PowerPoint presentation (.PPTX) in Canva?

Yes, you can customize a PowerPoint presentation (PPTX) in Canva. You will need to upload the presentation, edit it, customize your slides, and then download it.

2. Can you edit a Canva presentation in the Microsoft PowerPoint?

Yes, you can edit a Canva presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint. You will need to download it from Canva, open it in Microsoft PowerPoint, edit the presentation, and save your changes.

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Last updated on 27 August, 2024

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The article above may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. The content remains unbiased and authentic and will never affect our editorial integrity.

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