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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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Home Blog Presentation Ideas 23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations

23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations

PowerPoint presentations are not usually known for being engaging or interactive. That’s often because most people treat their slides as if they are notes to read off  and not a tool to help empower their message.

Your presentation slides are there to help bring to life the story you are telling. They are there to provide visuals and empower your speech.

So how do you go about avoiding a presentation “snoozefest” and instead ensure you have an engaging and interactive presentation?  By making sure that you use your slides to help YOU tell your story, instead of using them as note cards to read off of.

The key thing to remember is that your presentation is there to compliment your speech, not be its focus.

In this article, we will review several presentation tips and tricks on how to become a storytelling powerhouse by building a powerful and engaging PowerPoint presentation.

Start with writing your speech outline, not with putting together slides

Use more images and less text, use high-quality images, keep the focus on you and your presentation, not the powerpoint, your presentation should be legible from anywhere in the room, use a consistent presentation design, one topic per slide, avoid information overwhelm by using the “rule of three”.

• Display one bullet at a time

Avoid unnecessary animations

• Only add content that supports your main points

Do not use PowerPoint as a teleprompter

• Never Give Out Copies of the Presentation

Re-focus the attention on you by fading into blackness

Change the tone of your voice when presenting, host an expert discussion panel, ask questions, embed videos, use live polling to get instant feedback and engage the audience.

• He kept his slides uncluttered and always strived for simplicity
• He was known to use large font size, the bigger, the better.
• He found made the complex sound simple.

He was known to practice, practice, and keep on practicing.

Summary – how to make your presentation engaging & interactive, fundamental rules to build powerful & engaging presentation slides.

Before we go into tips and tricks on how to add flair to your presentations and create effective presentations, it’s essential to get the fundamentals of your presentation right.

Your PowerPoint presentation is there to compliment your message, and the story you are telling. Before you can even put together slides, you need to identify the goal of your speech, and the key takeaways you want your audience to remember.

YOU and your speech are the focus of this presentation, not the slides – use your PowerPoint to complement your story.

Keep in mind that your slides are there to add to your speech, not distract from it.  Using too much text in your slides can be distracting and confusing to your audience. Instead, use a relevant picture with minimal text, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

This slide is not unusual, but is not a visual aid, it is more like an “eye chart”.

Aim for something simpler, easy to remember and concise, like the slides below.

Keep in mind your audience when designing your presentation, their background and aesthetics sense. You will want to avoid the default clip art and cheesy graphics on your slides.

While presenting make sure to control the presentation and the room by walking around, drawing attention to you and what you are saying.  You should occasionally stand still when referencing a slide, but never turn your back to your audience to read your slide.

You and your speech are the presentations; the slides are just there to aid you.

Most season presenters don’t use anything less than twenty-eight point font size, and even Steve Jobs was known to use nothing smaller than forty-point text fonts.

If you can’t comfortably fit all the text on your slide using 28 font size than you’re trying to say and cram too much into the slide, remember tip #1.4 – Use relevant images instead and accompany it with bullets.

Best Practice PowerPoint Presentation Tips

The job of your presentation is to help convey information as efficiently and clearly as possible. By keeping the theme and design consistent, you’re allowing the information and pictures to stand out.

However, by varying the design from slide to slide, you will be causing confusion and distraction from the focus, which is you and the information to be conveyed on the slide.

Technology can also help us in creating a consistent presentation design just by picking a topic and selecting a sample template style. This is possible thanks to the SlideModel’s AI slideshow maker .

Each slide should try to represent one topic or talking point. The goal is to keep the attention focused on your speech, and by using one slide per talking point, you make it easy for you to prepare, as well as easy for your audience to follow along with your speech.

Sometimes when creating our presentation, we can often get in our heads and try to over-explain. A simple way to avoid this is to follow the “ Rule of Three ,” a concept coined by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.

The idea is to stick to only 3 main ideas that will help deliver your point.  Each of the ideas can be further broken into 3 parts to explain further. The best modern example of this “Rule of Three” can be derived from the great Apple presentations given by Steve Jobs – they were always structured around the “Rule of Three.”

Display one sentence at a time

If you are planning to include text in your slides, try to avoid bullet lists, and use one slide per sentence. Be short and concise. This best practice focuses on the idea that simple messages are easy to retain in memory. Also, each slide can follow your storytelling path, introducing the audience to each concept while you speak, instead of listing everything beforehand.

Presentation Blunders To Avoid

In reality, there is no need for animations or transitions in your slides.

It’s great to know how to turn your text into fires or how to create a transition with sparkle effects, but the reality is the focus should be on the message. Using basic or no transitions lets the content of your presentation stand out, rather than the graphics.

If you plan to use animations, make sure to use modern and professional animations that helps the audience follow the story you are telling, for example when explaining time series or changing events over time.

Only add engaging content that supports your main points

You might have a great chart, picture or even phrase you want to add, but when creating every slide, it’s crucial to ask yourself the following question.

“Does this slide help support my main point?”

If the answer is no, then remove it.  Remember, less is more.

A common crutch for rookie presenters is to use slides as their teleprompter.

First of all, you shouldn’t have that much text on your slides. If you have to read off something, prepare some index cards that fit in your hand but at all costs do not turn your back on your audience and read off of your PowerPoint.  The moment you do that, you make the presentation the focus, and lose the audience as the presenter.

Avoid Giving Out Copies of the Presentation

At least not before you deliver a killer presentation; providing copies of your presentation gives your audience a possible distraction where they can flip through the copy and ignore what you are saying.

It’s also easy for them to take your slides out of context without understanding the meaning behind each slide.  It’s OK to give a copy of the presentation, but generally it is better to give the copies AFTER you have delivered your speech. If you decide to share a copy of your presentation, the best way to do it is by  generating a QR code  for it and placing it at the end of your presentation. Those who want a copy can simply scan and download it onto their phones.

Tips To Making Your Presentation More Engaging

The point of your presentation is to help deliver a message.

When expanding on a particularly important topic that requires a lengthy explanation it’s best to fade the slide into black.  This removes any distraction from the screen and re-focuses it on you, the present speaker. Some presentation devices have a built-in black screen button, but if they don’t, you can always prepare for this by adding a black side to your presentation at the right moment.

“It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.”

Part of making your presentation engaging is to use all the tools at your disposal to get your point across. Changing the inflection and tone of your voice as you present helps make the content and the points more memorable and engaging.

One easy and powerful way to make your presentation interactive is experts to discuss a particular topic during your presentation. This helps create a more engaging presentation and gives you the ability to facilitate and lead a discussion around your topic.

It’s best to prepare some questions for your panel but to also field questions from the audience in a question and answer format.

How To Make Your Presentation More Interactive

What happens if I ask you to think about a pink elephant?  You probably briefly think about a pink elephant, right?

Asking questions when presenting helps engage the audience, and arouse interest and curiosity.  It also has the added benefit of making people pay closer attention, in case they get called on.

So don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if rhetorical; asking a question engages a different part of our brain. It causes us to reflect rather than merely take in the information one way. So ask many of them.

Asking questions can also be an excellent way to build suspense for the next slide.

(Steve Jobs was known to ask questions during his presentations, in this slide he built suspense by asking the audience “Is there space for a device between a cell phone and a laptop?” before revealing the iPad) Source: MacWorld SF 2018

Remember the point of your presentation is to get a message across and although you are the presenter, it is completely fine to use video in your PowerPoint to enhance your presentation.  A relevant video can give you some breathing time to prepare the next slides while equally informing the audience on a particular point.

CAUTION: Be sure to test the video beforehand, and that your audience can hear it in the room.

A trending engagement tool among presenters is to use a live polling tool to allow the audience to participate and collect immediate feedback.

Using a live polling tool is a fun and interactive way to engage your audience in real-time and allow them to participate in part of your presentation.

Google Slides has a built-in Q&A feature that allows presenters to make the slide deck more interactive by providing answers to the audience’s questions. By using the Q&A feature in Google Slides, presenters can start a live Q&A session and people can ask questions directly from their devices including mobile and smartphones.

Key Takeaways from one of the best presenters, Steve Jobs

He kept his slides uncluttered and always strove for simplicity.

In this slide, you can easily see he is talking about the battery life, and it uses a simple image and a few words. Learning from Jobs, you can also make a great presentation too. Focus on the core benefit of your product and incorporate great visuals.

Source: Macworld 2008

SlideModel.com can help to reproduce high-impact slides like these, keeping your audience engagement.

He was known to use large font sizes, the bigger, the better

A big font makes it hard to miss the message on the slide, and allows the audience to focus on the presenter while clearing the understanding what the point of the slide is.

He found made the complex sound simple

When explaining a list of features, he used a simple image and lines or simple tables to provide visual cues to his talking points.

(This particular slide is referencing the iMac features)

What made Steve Jobs the master of presentation, was the ritual of practicing with his team, and this is simple yet often overlooked by many presenters.  It’s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking you don’t need to practice because you know the material so well.

While all these tips will help you create a truly powerful presentation , it can only achieve if applied correctly.

It’s important to remember when trying to deliver an amazing experience, you should be thoroughly prepared. This way, you can elevate your content presentation, convey your message effectively and captivate your audience.

This includes having your research cited, your presentation rehearsed.  Don’t just rehearse your slides, also take time to practice your delivery, and your tone.  The more you rehearse, the more relaxed you will be when delivering. The more confident you will feel.

While we can’t help you with the practice of your next presentation, we can help you by making sure you look good, and that you have a great design and cohesiveness.

You focus on the message and content; we’ll focus on making you look good.

Have a tip you would like to include?  Be sure to mention it in the comments!

Like this article? Please share

Audience, Engaging, Feedback, Interactive, Poll, Rule of Three, Steve Jobs Filed under Presentation Ideas

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2 Responses to “23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations”

Very great advices!

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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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How to make the best Powerpoint presentation + real examples!

July 1, 2023

Ever sat through a PowerPoint presentation and thought, "Wow, that was mind-blowing"? Yeah, us either. But, let's face it, we've all been there—either on the giving or receiving end of a less-than-stellar presentation. It's high time we changed that narrative. Creating your best PowerPoint presentation isn't just about throwing together a bunch of slides – it's an art. It’s about telling a story that captivates, informs, and even entertains your audience. 

A new age is upon us, and it’s time to explore the ins and outs of what makes a PowerPoint presentation not just good, but great. From nailing your content and story flow to the nuances of design and delivery, we've got you covered. So, whether you're gearing up for that crucial sales pitch or prepping for an all-important investor meeting, buckle up! Your presentation skills are about to go from mundane to magnificent.

Your Presentation Should Tell a Story

When it comes to creating a killer PowerPoint presentation, it all starts with the story. You heard that right! Not the fancy animations or the snazzy graphics (though they do have their place), but the story. It’s the backbone, the foundation, the heartbeat of your presentation.

Think about how you feel when you watch your favorite TV show or read a book you can’t put down. Good storytelling takes us to another place, where the rest of the world slips away and the story steps into the forefront. Great presentations can do the same thing if the presenter can harness the power of storytelling. 

There are also plenty of science-backed reasons to prioritize good storytelling. One article by Lani Peterson for Harvard Business Corporate Learning says, “Scientists are discovering that chemicals like cortisol and dopamine are released in the brain when we’re told a story. Why does that matter? If we are trying to make a point stick, cortisol assists with our formulating memories. Dopamine, which helps regulate our emotional responses, keeps us engaged.“ More engagement; more impactful presentations.

So, how do you nail down a storytelling strategy that sticks? Let’s break it down.

Craft Your Narrative

First, identify your core message. What’s the one thing you want your audience to remember when they walk out of the room? This is your North Star, guiding every aspect of your presentation. If you’re having trouble with this step, ask yourself, “Why am I giving this presentation?”

Understand Your Audience

Who is your audience? Tailor your story to resonate with them. Are they tech-savvy millennials or industry veterans? Your story should speak their language. Presentations that skip this step will miss out on a crucial opportunity to connect with the audience. And if you can’t connect with them, then what’s the point? One solution is to focus on understanding the needs, challenges, and aspirations of your audience. That way, you’ll be able to address their specific pain points and interests.

Create a Structured Flow

Like any good story, your presentation needs a beginning, middle, and end. Start with an introduction that hooks, follow with content that informs and engages, and conclude with a memorable takeaway. If you need ideas on how to start your presentation, see this guide with 12 ideas for hooking your audience from the very start .

Find Inspiration

Look to the pros! Ever read an article by Andy Raskin or April Dunford ? These folks know their stuff when it comes to strategic narratives. Dive into their work for some inspiration on how to weave a compelling story in your presentation. Just like we’ve all been through our fair share of boring presentations, most likely you’ve experienced a presentation that left an impression. Ask yourself why it was so impactful–you might be able to draw from their expertise!

Change the Narrative

Say you’re working on a sales deck. Instead of going with the typical problem-solution story structure, Andy Raskin has a different take on it:

Start with a big, relevant shift in the world. “We are living in a new era” type of statement. This will grab the attention, but also create some urgency for the prospect.

Then you move on to show that there will be winners and losers in this new era. The ones who act on this shift will have more probability of winning. In other words, “what I am about to offer you is crucial for winning in this new era.”

Now that you have set the stage, you can “tease the promise land” as Andy calls it. This is not where you show your product features. This is simply a teaser about this new future state and what to expect if you react to this shift in the market.

Then, you highlight the “Old world vs New world” to show the contrast, and how old methods do not work in this new era.

And finally, you provide real-life stories to support your claims. These could client case studies, article snippets, industry updates - anything that adds credibility to everything you just said.

Voilà, you’ve got yourself a story arc! This is a simple and straightforward way to craft a story that connects.

Nail Your Story First

Remember, at the end of the day, your presentation is more than just a collection of slides, but rather a vessel for storytelling. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it. A well-crafted story can transform your presentation from a mere transfer of information to an impactful, memorable experience. So, take the time to nail your story, and you’re already halfway to creating your best PowerPoint presentation. Your audience will thank you!

Embracing Professional Design for Impactful Presentations

When you've nailed your narrative, the next crucial step in crafting your best PowerPoint presentation is design. This stage is where your story gets visually translated, elevating it from a mere script to an engaging, compelling experience.

The Role of a Presentation Agency

Not everyone possesses an innate talent for design, and that's perfectly fine. This is where a presentation design agency can become an invaluable asset. These presentation experts act as the alchemists of your PowerPoint, transforming basic slides into visually stunning and strategically aligned pieces of art. However, be selective when you choose who to work with. There is a big difference between a "meh" designer vs a “wow” designer when it comes to preparing well-crafted presentations.

Simplifying Complexity

One of the critical talents of a presentation design agency is their ability to distill complex concepts into simple, digestible visuals. An overcrowded slide can quickly lose your audience's attention, but a well-designed one can convey your message succinctly and effectively. Not only that, presentation experts can remove the complexity of creating great slides by designing the best presentation templates for your needs, making the process easier for you in the end.

"We have been using SLIDES™ services for our corporate PowerPoint template, and the PPT template is so well done and easy to use that we all feel like we now have PowerPoint superpowers creating new presentations in no time with stunning look!"

Jérôme neuvéglise, product owner qoqa, creating visual harmony.

Consistency in your presentation’s visual elements - such as color schemes, typography, and imagery - is essential. A presentation design agency ensures that these elements work in harmony, creating a unified and professional look that enhances your overall narrative. The best presentation layouts are those created by experts who know how to make your brand stand out.

Visualizing Ideas Effectively

Presentation agencies excel in translating your ideas into impactful visuals. They ensure that your graphics, charts, and images aren't just visually appealing but also contribute significantly to the telling of your story. After all, why spend so much time honing your story if your visuals fall flat?

When to Opt for Professional Presentation Design

We know that deciding to outsource is a tough call, and you want to make sure your resources are well spent. Here are a few things to consider before seeking out help from a presentation agency:

High-Stakes Presentations

For presentations that can have a significant impact on your business - such as those in sales, partnerships, or investment pitches - professional design isn't just a luxury, but a necessity. These are the scenarios where the expertise of a presentation design agency can make a substantial difference. 

Stripe’s CEO Patrick Collison said in a recent podcast:

 “My intuition is that more of Stripe's success than one would think is down to the fact that people like beautiful things and for rational reasons. Because, what does a beautiful thing tell you? It tells you the person who made it really cared, and you can observe some superficial details, but probably they didn’t only care about those and did everything else in a slapdash way. So, if you care about the infrastructure being holistically good, indexing on the superficial characteristics is not an irrational thing to do.“

Oftentimes in presentations, we ignore how we are making people feel with our slides. Think about this quote next time you’re preparing your slides.

Overcoming Skill and Time Constraints

If you're not well-versed in design or if time constraints are tight, opting for professional help is a wise decision. This not only ensures quality but also frees you up to concentrate on refining and rehearsing your presentation. This guide shows 18 of the most common presentation mistakes people make, and gives tips on how to avoid them.

In essence, professional design is about giving your presentation the visual edge it needs to not just capture but also maintain your audience's attention. By considering the services of a presentation design agency, you're ensuring that your presentation is not just seen, but also remembered and appreciated.

Mastering the Art of Delivery

Alright, you’ve got a gripping story and a set of stunning slides. But wait! There’s still a crucial piece of the puzzle left – your delivery. This is where the rubber meets the road. Remember, no matter how dazzling your slides are, they can’t rescue a lackluster delivery. 

More Than Just Slides

First things first, let’s get one thing straight: people aren’t just buying into your PowerPoint. They’re buying into you – your ideas, your enthusiasm, your conviction. Your slides are merely a tool to complement your narrative, not the other way around. Your slides are never the star of the show. It's you. It sure is harder to improve your delivery compared to your slides. But it will be the best investment of your life.

The Human Connection

At its core, a great presentation is about making a connection with your audience. It’s about storytelling, not just through words on a slide, but through the way you present them. Your tone, your body language, your ability to engage – all these elements combine to create a compelling delivery.

Know Your Story Inside Out

Your first step should be to know your story like the back of your hand. This doesn’t mean memorizing your script word for word but being familiar enough with your content to speak confidently and fluidly about it.

Rehearse, Then Rehearse Some More

Practice might not always make perfect, but it sure does make confidence. Rehearse your presentation multiple times. This will help you iron out any kinks in your delivery and help you manage those pesky nerves.

When our founder Damon gave his first keynote presentation, he experienced some technical issues that would throw off any professional speaker. But since he had rehearsed his speech so well, he knew it inside out. And he could handle the mishap with calm, make some jokes about it, and then get back to his talk when the tech decided to work again.

Engage With Your Audience

Remember, a presentation is a two-way street. Engage with your audience, ask questions, and encourage participation. This interaction makes your presentation more memorable and impactful. The former product manager at Netflix , Gibson Biddle, shared this great example:

“In a virtual setting you need to double-down on engagement tactics. Today, I use Google Slides plus Slido to do real-time polling, word clouds and to answer questions. It makes the experience incredibly interactive to the extent that I now have an equal NPS for virtual and in-person presentations.”

Body Language Matters

Your body language speaks volumes. Maintain eye contact, use gestures to emphasize points, and move around if possible. This non-verbal communication can significantly enhance the impact of your delivery.

In today’s increasingly digital world, we also have to think about virtual presentations and how to put our best foot forward through a screen. An awkward camera angle or a weird background can be a distraction to your audience, so shift your focus to a flattering camera angle, solid camera quality, and a neutral background. 

Authenticity is Key

Be yourself. Your audience can tell when you’re putting on a façade. Authenticity breeds trust and connection, which in turn makes your message more persuasive.

Investing in Yourself

Finally, investing in your delivery skills is investing in yourself. Whether it’s through public speaking courses, professional coaching, or simply seeking feedback from peers, improving your delivery skills is invaluable. Remember, a great delivery can elevate a good presentation to a great one. So, give your delivery the attention it deserves, and watch as you transform from a presenter to a storyteller, captivating your audience one slide at a time.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it – the roadmap to creating a PowerPoint presentation that’s not just good, but outstanding. It all starts with crafting a compelling story, enhanced by visually striking and well-thought-out design, and brought to life through engaging and authentic delivery. Remember, your best PowerPoint presentation will feel like more than just a collection of slides to your audience. This is a powerful storytelling tool, and you are the storyteller.

The key takeaway? Invest time and effort into each aspect of your presentation. Understand your narrative, collaborate with design professionals if needed, and hone your delivery skills. It’s this combination of content, design, and delivery that transforms a standard presentation into an unforgettable experience.

In the end, what sets a great PowerPoint presentation apart is the ability to not just share information but to tell a story that resonates, inspires, and persuades. Whether you’re pitching to potential clients, investors, or sharing insights with your team, remember that the most impactful presentations are those that connect with the audience on a deeper level. So go ahead, create, deliver, and captivate.

Your audience is waiting.

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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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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

Partner Center

15 PowerPoint Tips & Tricks To Improve Your Presentations

Creating a presentation in PowerPoint will be significantly easier if you know a few tips and tricks. We’ve shown you how to change the size of your slides, insert a PDF , add music , and how to make your PowerPoint more engaging. 

Whether you’re brand new to creating PowerPoint presentations or you’re a pro, you can improve further by incorporating new PowerPoint design ideas. 

1. How to Lock an Image in PowerPoint

Locking an image in a PowerPoint presentation will prevent the image’s proportions or aspect ratio from getting distorted or out of scale.

To lock an image in PowerPoint, follow the steps below:

• Right-click on the image and select Size and Position .

• Check the box labeled Lock aspect ratio .

It’s also possible to lock an image or object so it cannot be resized or moved around the slide at all. This feature may be missing from most PowerPoint desktop versions. You might be able to right-click on an image, shape, or object and select Lock .

If you don’t see that option, one workaround is to place objects into the master slide. To learn how, read how to edit master slides in PowerPoint . 

2. Loop a Slideshow in PowerPoint

If you plan on continuously running a PowerPoint slide show, you can set the slideshow to loop instead of having to restart it manually.

• Open the PowerPoint you want to loop.
• Select the Slide Show tab.
• Select the Set Up Slide Show button.

• Check the box labeled Loop continuously until ‘Esc.’

• Select the OK button.

You’ll need to press the Esc key to end the looped PowerPoint presentation. Clicking on the final slide in your deck or pressing the right arrow key on your keyboard will cause the slideshow to restart.

3. How to Reduce the Size of a PowerPoint

PowerPoint files can become large if you’ve inserted high-resolution images or media files. We’ve got a few PowerPoint tips and tricks that can help reduce the size of your PowerPoint file.

• Embed only the font characters used in your presentation by selecting File > Options > Save in the menu on the left.

• If you’ve chosen to embed fonts in the file, select the Embed only the characters used in the presentation option.

• Select File > Options > Advanced .
• Under Image Size and Quality , check the box labeled Discard editing data .
• To further reduce the size of your PowerPoint, uncheck the box labeled Do not compress images in file and opt for a lower default resolution for your images.

• In the Picture Format tab, select the Compress Pictures button. You can choose whether to apply compression options to all images or only the picture you’ve chosen.
• Check the box labeled Delete cropped areas of pictures , and select Use default resolution . Press OK .

By reducing the size of your PowerPoint file, you’ll make the file easier to store and email.

4. How to Add and Print PowerPoint Notes

Add speaker notes to help the presenter remember what to say during the presentation by selecting the Notes button at the bottom of the PowerPoint. Type a script or just a few notes as reminders.

To print the presentation with the notes, select Notes Pages in the Settings section of the Print dialog box.

5. How to Edit PowerPoint Backgrounds

To add, remove, or edit a background graphic from your slides using the PowerPoint desktop app, you’ll need to select Slide Master from the View menu. Then, on the left, select the slide master or one of the layouts that appears below it: Right-click and select Format Background . Check a box labeled Hide background graphics .

If you’re using PowerPoint in a browser, you might have noticed there is no slide master. When you use the online version, you can directly add, remove, or edit any graphics that appear on a slide.

6. How to Link to Another Slide in the Presentation

Linking to another slide in the same presentation can be helpful if you anticipate the need to skip part of your presentation due to time constraints or refer back to a previous slide. It is as simple as adding a hyperlink.

• Select the text, image, or shape you want to use as a link.
• Select Insert > Link or right-click and select Hyperlink .
• In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, under Link to , select Place in This Document .

• Choose which slide you want to link to and press the OK button.

7. Stay Consistent by Using the Format Painter

Consistency is a hallmark of a well-designed PowerPoint presentation. For example, slide headings should have the same color, font, and font size throughout the deck. Using the format painter makes standardizing all the headings and element labels in your presentation quick and easy.

• Select the content that has the formatting you like.
• In the Home tab, select the Format Painter .
• Next, select something else, and the formatting of the first element will automatically be applied.

Simple. To apply formatting to multiple elements, double-click the Format Painter and repeat step #3 above until you’ve applied the formatting to all the elements you want. Press the Esc key to stop using the Format Painter.

8. Look Smart with SmartArt

PowerPoint’s built-in SmartArt feature will help take your presentations to the next level. With SmartArt, you can convert plain, boring text to engaging graphics.

• Select the text you want to convert into a graphic.
• On the Home tab, select Convert to SmartArt .

• Select the option you like the most. As you move your mouse over the different options, you’ll see what your text looks like converted to that SmartArt option.
• If you’d like a SmartArt option that allows you to add pictures, select More SmartArt Graphics .
• In the menu on the left, select Picture .

• Select the option you like best.
• To add an image, select an image icon in a SmartArt element and choose whether to insert an image from a file on your computer or from an online source like Bing.

The SmartArt gallery has dozens of options to choose from. One of them is bound to make your slide more engaging.

9. Align Your Objects

You’ve used the Format Painter to ensure your formatting is consistent throughout your presentation. While you’re at it, make sure all your objects are perfectly aligned using PowerPoint’s Align tool.

• Select the objects you want to align by holding down Shift as you select each object.
• In the Format tab, select Align .
• Choose how you want the selected object to align.

• To distribute three or more objects evenly, select the objects, and then select Align and either Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically .

Being intentional about how objects on your slides are aligned goes a long way to making a professional-looking presentation.

10. How to Use Picture Layout

When you’re working with a slide with one or more images, try using PowerPoint’s built-in Picture Layout tool. It’s SmartArt for images.

• Select all the images on the slide (hold down Shift to select multiple images).
• In the Picture Tools menu, select Format > Picture Layout .

• Mouse over the options to find the Picture Layout you like best, and select it.

If you decide you don’t want to use a Picture Layout, you can convert your images back to Shapes by selecting Design > Convert > Convert to Shapes .

11. Be Sparing with the Slide Transitions

Once you discover that you can add animations between slides, you might be tempted to try them all. However, you should remember the cardinal rule of PowerPoint presentations: less is more. If you absolutely must use a transition, stick to the simple ones like Cut and Fade .

• Select a slide.
• From the Transitions tab, select a transition.

• Select Effect Options if it’s available to choose additional settings for the transition.

• Select Preview to see the transition in action.

12. Use Animations Wisely

While you’re toning down your slide transitions, make sure you’re using animations judiciously, too. Animating text or objects on a slide can help the flow of your presentation, but too many animations can be distracting. Be discerning about when and where you use them.

To add animations and effects:

• Select the text or object you want to animate.
• On the Animations tab, select an animation.

• Next, select Effect Options to choose an effect. Note, the Effect Options will be different depending on which animation you have selected.

You can select different ways to start the animations. In the Timing section of the Animations tab, choose when to start the animation.

• On click . This option will start the animation when you click the slide.
• With previous . Choose this option if you want the animation to play at the same time as the previous animation in the sequence.
• After previous . The animation will begin immediately after the prior one concludes.
• Duration . This option allows you to make an effect last longer or shorter.
• Delay . Add some time before an effect begins.

To change the order your animations play:

• Select an animation marker on a slide (or toggle on the Animation Pane by selecting it in the Advanced Animation section of the Animation tab and select an animation in the list.)

• In the Timing section of the Animation tab, select either Move Earlier or Move Later .

To add an animation to a group of objects:

• Press Ctrl and select multiple objects.
• Select Format > Group > Group to create a group.
• Choose an animation from the Animations tab.

If you use them the right way, animations can make your presentation clearer and easier for viewers to understand.

13. K.I.S.S.

PowerPoint slides are most effective when they’re simple. When you include only the most important information on your slides, you make it easier for people to digest and remember your message. You can always say more about the topic, but don’t pack the slide with more content than you need. After all, your audience should be listening more than reading.

14. Seek Out High Quality Templates, Images, and Graphics

When you keep it simple, that means using images and graphics that look good. We’ve rounded up some great stock photo sites and places to get beautiful PowerPoint templates .

15. Export the Presentation as a Video

When you’re happy with your presentation, export it as a video:

• Select File > Export .

• Choose Create a video .

• Select the quality of the video and whether to use recorded timings and narrations.

• Set the duration of each slide.
• Select the Create Video button.
• Navigate to the folder where you want to save the video file.
• Select the Save button.

By implementing these tips and tricks, you’ll take your presentations to the next level!

However, perhaps despite all the tips and tricks you’ve learned, you’ve decided to swear off the software entirely. So many PowerPoint presentations have put audience members to sleep that we now have a term for it: “death by PowerPoint.” In that case, say goodbye to Powerpoint, and check out these seven alternatives to PowerPoint that you can use online. 

Maggie Marystone is a freelance technology writer, human rights worker, and storyteller based in Chicago. Read Maggie's Full Bio

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Blog Education How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

Written by: Aditya Rana May 14, 2024

What if I told you PowerPoint was not built for presentations but as a tool to brainstorm ideas? I know it sounds crazy now, but that’s exactly what Microsoft intended in 1987.

Fortunately, professionals saw a better use case — a way to make attention-grabbing presentations that effectively communicates information with employees, clients, and stakeholders.

A well-made (and well-delivered) presentation is key to organizational success as it informs, persuades, and facilitates decision-making.

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a PowerPoint presentation (for a better alternative to PowerPoint, use our Presentation Maker and presentation templates to make more effective slide decks).

Click to jump ahead:

• How to create a PowerPoint presentation

How to create a PowerPoint presentation step-by-step

To create a PowerPoint presentation, follow these steps.

Open PowerPoint

• Create a blank slide

Select a template

• Choose your theme
• Add a header and sub-header
• Add your contact information (optional) 
• Insert additional slides
• Add text to each slide

Add images and videos

Insert graphs and charts  , add transitions and animations.

• Use presenter notes
• Arrange your slides 
• Save your presentation: 
• Deliver your presentation  

The make a PowerPoint presentation, you first need to open the program.

To do this, click on the Start menu on your desktop and scroll through the list of apps until you find PowerPoint (hint: you can search for it and pin for faster access in the future).

If you’re using a Mac, click the Spotlight search bar on the top right of your screen and type PowerPoint.

Create a blank presentation

In PowerPoint, you can design presentations from scratch for maximum control over layout, color scheme, icons, and graphics.

If you don’t have time or lack design skills to design a presentation from scratch, PowerPoint offers presentation templates for a quick start.

To find presentation templates, click on the New tab on the welcome screen and type in a keyword that relates to the style or theme of your presentation such as “business” or “education”.

Choose a theme

Make sure you pick a template that reflects the theme of your presentation to standardize appearance of slides in terms of fonts, colors, and layout.

To pick a theme for your presentation, consider the audience and the context of the presentation.

For example, a formal theme is apt for business presentations while something more colorful would suit educational presentations like this nature-themed template.

Add a title and subtitle

The title and subtitle of your presentation is crucial to set the right tone and influence engagement.

Here’s how to optimize your presentation title and subtitle.

• Title : A good title is concise (under 10 words) and grabs attention with powerful, action-oriented words or intriguing phrases.
• Subtitle : The subtitle should provide additional information that clarifies or expands on the title.

Add your contact information (optional): 

Though not always necessary, adding contact details to presentations is a good strategy when follow-up is anticipated or necessary.

Some types of presentations where you can include contact details include business, academic or research, and sales and marketing presentations.

Typically, contact details should be placed on the last slide of your presentation but you can also add it to your open slide.

Insert slides

If you’re editing a presentation template, you should already have multiple professionally-designed slides ready to edit.

If you want to replicate these slides, go to the Home tab and click New Slide (the top part of the button).

But if you’re creating a presentation from scratch or want to add a slide with a different layout for text, images, and charts, here’s what you need to do.

Go to the Home tab and click on New Slide but this time click the bottom section of the button (small arrow) to see different slide layouts options.

Add text to your slides

Though presentations are generally visual, text is crucial for communicating your message effectively.

To add text to your slides, click on a text placeholder and begin typing. If you need to add a new text box, go to the Insert tab, select Text Box, and then click where you want the text box to appear.

To format text, go to Home tab and look for the Font group. This is where you can change the font style, size and color which is important to ensure your text is attractive and legible.

Tip: Use bullet points and numbered lists to organize your text. Bullet points are great for listing items and making the slide look neat and organized, while numbered lists are ideal for steps or processes.

Here’s a great example of a slide deck that uses bullet points to great effect.

Visuals, such as images, graphs, charts, and graphics make presentations effective and engaging if they are relevant to the topic.

Here’s an example of a presentation that uses graphics to make slides more eye-catching to look at.

Inserting images in PowerPoint is a straightforward process. Simply click on Insert and then select Pictures to either add visuals from your computer or from the web.

PowerPoint also provides basic image formatting options such as resizing, repositioning, and ability to add style and effects such as brightness, contrast, effects, and borders.

You can image formatting options by selecting a visual and selecting the Picture Format option.

Adding charts and graphs to presentations is a great option when you want to present data, whether it be company data or results from a scientific study.

PowerPoint allows you to add several chart types , including common options such bar charts , line graphs , and pie charts .

To insert a chart in PowerPoint, click on Insert and select Chart. You will then be prompted to select a chart type that best suits the data you want to present.

Adding transitions in presentations is a powerful way to control movement between slides and enhance flow of information, maintain audience engagement, and emphasize key points.

When choosing a transition, keep the following points in mind.

• Define your audience: Consider your audience and the context of your presentation. For example, a professional presentation should use subtle transitions like fade or push as they are less distracting.
• What purpose does it serve: Dynamic transitions such as 3D effects make sense when you want to highlight a major point or a shift in topic.

To add a transition between slides, click on the slide you want to apply it to and then click on the Transitions tab. The transition will affect how this slide appears as you move to it from the previous slide.

Besides transitions, you can also add animations to text and objects in your presentation to emphasize key points and keep the audience engaged.

Use presenter notes 

Presenter notes allow creators to add information and reminders to slides but keep it hidden from the audience.

To add presenter notes, select the Click To Add Notes option on the bottom of a slide.

Arrange your slides (if needed) 

Reordering slides in PowerPoint is straightforward and can be done via a drag-and-drop interface. This makes it easy to structure your presentation to suit your narrative.

Save your presentation 

Once you’ve completed your presentation, it’s time to save it for future use. To do this, click on File and select Save As (Ctrl + S if you prefer to fast). If you have already saved the file and are updating it, click Save.

Make sure to use a clear and descriptive name that reflects the content of your presentation.

Deliver your presentation

Delivering a presentation is as important as its content and design. To ensure an engaging delivery, here are some essential tips to consider.

• Maintain eye contact: There’s nothing wrong with using presenter notes but don’t become too reliant on a script.
• Control the pace : Speak clearly and at a moderate pace to ensure the audience has time to absorb the information.
• Use non-verbal cues: Body language can influence how your message is received so make sure to use gestures and movement to make your presentation more dynamic.

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How to Create the Best PowerPoint Presentations [Examples & Templates]

Discover what makes the best PowerPoint presentations with these examples to inspire you.

10 FREE POWERPOINT TEMPLATES

Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation.

Updated: 05/15/24

Published: 05/15/24

Creating the best PowerPoint presentation isn’t just about slapping facts and figures together or dazzling with snazzy graphics — it’s an art form.

During my time at HubSpot, I created a lot of presentations. Since then, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the PowerPoints desperately crying for a makeover. I’ve learned that the secret isn’t just in the text or visuals but in how you serve it up.

In this guide, I’ll share some pro tips on how to make the best PowerPoint presentation. You’ll learn how to hold your audience’s attention and drive your message home with clarity. Plus, I’ll share real-life examples to inspire you.

What Good Presents Have in Common

Best PowerPoint Presentations

What do good presentations have in common.

I’ve discovered that five elements are a must-have when creating a great presentation . Let’s look at each one.

1. The presentation is highly relevant to the audience.

A lot goes into creating presentations that hit the mark. First, I clearly define my audience. Then, I choose topics that genuinely interest them, offer actionable advice, answer their questions, or address their pain points.

But this isn’t just my strategy. Mike O’Neill , founder and CEO of Backspace Travel , a modern travel agency, also talks about things that matter to his audience. He says, “We conduct dry runs with a smaller group to gather feedback and refine the presentation. Testing the presentation with colleagues allows us to identify areas that resonate [with our audience] or need improvement before the final delivery.”

I’ve found that crafting a captivating title influences how receptive my audience will be. For example, instead of a bland title like “New Product Features,” I’d go with something more intriguing like “Discover the Hidden Gems of Our Latest Product Features.”

It makes my audience wonder what those hidden gems are and still lets them know it’s about new product features.

10 Free PowerPoint Templates

• Creative templates.
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You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

2. The presentation has a clear objective.

As a former content manager and strategist at HubSpot, I learned the importance of setting audience expectations. Whether it’s a new project, a marketing strategy , or even a sales pitch, I made sure my slides and commentary tied back to the key takeaways I wanted my audience to remember.

Alexandria Agresta , a corporate trainer and leadership development expert, uses what she calls the three Ps of a presentation:

• Purpose. What’s the purpose of the presentation?
• Challenge. What’s the challenge your audience is facing?
• Possible. What outcome do they desire?

She says this process empowers her to convey her message in a way that resonates with her audience. Once she establishes the three Ps, she creates a clear, concise outline that includes key points and topics she hopes to cover.

“I then create a dedicated slide at the beginning of the presentation that succinctly outlines what will be covered during the presentation. This sets expectations for the audience and gives them a roadmap of what to expect,” Agresta says.

Whatever the topic, highlight your key takeaways on a specific slide (ideally the cover slide), so your audience clearly understands what your presentation is about from the get-go.

3. The presentation follows an organized storyline.

One thing I’ve learned about presentations is that it isn’t just about conveying information; it’s about telling a story that guides your audience from start to finish. Each slide is a chapter that leads to a satisfying conclusion.

There are many ways to infuse storytelling into your presentations. You can get as creative as you want, like Aaron Wertheimer , a full-time SEO marketing copywriter for Marketing Reel , does.

He says, “I infuse storytelling into my PowerPoint presentations by including a Bitmoji sticker of myself as it relates to each slide, and I demarcate each slide with verbiage to indicate which part of the sequence we are currently at in the presentation.”

Just make sure to have a beginning, a middle, and an end so you can clearly demonstrate the point you’re leading towards.

4. The audience understands the next steps.

When creating my presentations, I always specify the action I want my audience to take by the time we conclude. Do I want them to sign up for a service? Consider a new perspective? Remember key points?

Chirag Nijjer , a customer success lead at Google, usually wraps up his presentations with two CTAs: one that’s beneficial to him and one that benefits his audience. His presentations are more impactful when he combines both CTAs.

He explains with an example: “If I’m presenting to a group of professors who intend to use the info to teach their students, I’d write, ‘Would you like access to the summary slides and a list of project ideas for your students to learn this topic? Fill out the feedback form and give me your email address.’”

I can see why this method works. The email address allows him to contact his audience, and he also benefits them by teaching them how to turn his presentations into valuable action. It’s like killing two birds with one stone!

Remember, though, if you want your audience to perform an action after your presentation, be clear about what you want them to do next.

5. The audience leaves with contact information and/or resources.

I’ve observed that at the end of my presentations, most attendees want more information or a chance to discuss the topic further.

That’s why I always provide my contact details or additional resources. So, if anyone wants to reach out for a one-on-one chat or read further, they’ll have what they need to delve deeper into the material.

For example, after a presentation on digital marketing strategies , I might provide my email address and invite attendees to reach out if they have any questions. I could also share a list of recommended books, articles, or even YouTube videos for those who want to take their digital marketing journey to the next level.

How to Do the Best Powerpoint Presentation

Now that I’ve covered what to look for in a killer slide deck, let’s jump right in and talk about how you can make your next presentation unforgettable.

1. Less is more.

I’ve used PowerPoint a lot, and it’s tempting to pack slides with flashy graphics and tons of text. However, I learned the hard way that less is often more.

Once, I was tasked with presenting a new content strategy to the marketing team. Eager to impress, I packed my slides with stunning visuals, intricate graphs, and loads of text explaining every detail of the strategy.

I thought the more information there was, the better. But as I started presenting, I quickly realized my mistake.

The team seemed overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information on the slides. They were so busy trying to decipher the infographics and read the tiny texts that they missed out on the main points I was trying to convey.

In the end, I could sense that I hadn’t made the impact I had hoped for. It was a humbling experience, but it taught me a valuable lesson: simplicity is key.

Since then, I’ve made a conscious effort to streamline my presentations with a clear message and avoid complex details that could distract my audience.

Here are some key points to always remember:

• Let the focus be on your message instead of the slides themselves.
• Keep the slides relevant and simple enough so people can pay attention to what you’re saying.
• Your visuals and fonts should support your message, not steal the spotlight.

2. Keep text to a minimum.

From my experience, you can tell that adding too much text overwhelms people, and instead of listening to you, they focus on trying to read the slides. And that’s not what you want. You want your audience to be engaged, hanging onto your every word, not trying to decipher paragraphs of text.

So, use fewer words in large fonts. That way, you’ll make sure everyone, from the front row to the back, sees what’s on the screen without squinting.

3. Rethink visuals.

People are 30 times more likely to read infographics than written articles. This stat just puts a stamp on what I’ve said about reducing the amount of text in your presentations. It’s like a neon sign screaming: “Less text, more visuals!”

However, that doesn’t mean you can just throw some nice-looking photos onto your pitch deck and move on. Like any other content strategy, your visual game must be on point and relevant.

Let me share the different types of visuals I’ve come across in my years of doing presentations to help you figure out what works best.

PowerPoint templates have come a long way since Microsoft first unveiled the program to the world, and I occasionally use them in my presentations.

However, to make my PowerPoint slides stand out, I always opt for a theme that my audience hasn’t seen dozens of times before — one that vibes with my brand and fits the topic I’m talking about.

Sometimes, I explore presentation platforms other than PowerPoint (like Prezi) to discover fresh templates. There are also tons of visual content design sites that offer customizable templates I can tweak to match my brand and topic perfectly.

Canva is one of my favorites. It offers a plethora of templates and allows me to create presentations from scratch.

I’ve also tested out Venngage’s free presentation maker and found it super handy for getting eye-catching slide templates, icons, and high-quality stock photos for my PowerPoint tutorials.

Image Source

Pro tip: Download our 10 PowerPoint presentation templates for free to simplify your design process. Each template is made to add that extra flair to your presentation so that your slideshows not only look great but also resonate deeply with your audience.

Charts and Graphs

One of my favorite ways to back up what I’m saying in my presentation is to toss in some stats and data visualization. Charts and graphs jazz things up and make the numbers way more interesting.

However, I don’t just share the facts; I let my audience know the story behind those numbers. For example, instead of just presenting quarterly sales figures to my team, I would highlight the challenges we faced, the strategies we implemented, and the victories we celebrated to arrive at those digits.

One thing you always need to do, though, is to make sure your charts and graphs blend in seamlessly with the rest of your presentation’s visual theme. Otherwise, these graphics are more likely to steal the show than help you get your point across.

Color Scheme

I understand that colors can really play with my audience’s emotions. So, even if I’m not trying to close a deal with my presentation, I might want to stir up specific feelings or impressions, and the color palette I choose can help with that.

Max Shak , founder and CEO of nerDigital , even considers cultural differences and color associations to make sure his presentations hit the right notes with diverse audiences.

I’d recommend checking out Coschedule’s guide to color psychology in marketing . It’s a goldmine of how different tones, shades, and color combinations can sway buying decisions. You’ll definitely elevate your presentation game by following this guide.

When I add text to my slide decks, I want it to be simple enough for everyone to read. If it’s tiny or crammed, people end up squinting and missing out on what I’m saying.

That’s why I recommend using web-safe fonts like Sans-Serif or Arial. They’re easy on the eyes and can display correctly even if a user hasn’t installed them on their computer.

4. Incorporate multimedia.

I could talk about something all day long, but it won’t have the same impact as showing it to you.

That’s where multimedia comes in — it’s the secret sauce for keeping people engaged in your presentations.

When I do a simple Google search for “ music in presentations ,” it pulls up a bunch of results that talk about how to add music to my slide decks. From this, it’s clear that using music in my presentations is a unique way to engage my audience or at least set a welcoming tone before and after I speak.

But if you want people glued to your slideshows throughout your presentation, incorporate videos. I mean, a whopping 96% of individuals admit they tune into explainer videos to learn more about a product.

So why not give people what they want? Videos can bring theories to life in a way that words or photos alone just can’t match.

In my years of experience, I’ve come across many pitch decks, and the best ones always cut through the clutter. In this section, I’ll share 15 PowerPoint presentation examples that set the bar for what a professional presentation should look like.

1. The HubSpot Culture Code by HubSpot Co-founder Dharmesh Shah

Not to sing our own praises, but The HubSpot Culture Code has been one of our most successful presentations. The secret? Shah chooses a central theme — the acronym HEART (humble, empathetic, adaptable, remarkable, and transparent).

This acronym embodies our company’s values while providing a central message for the presentation. Plus, heart icons on the slides make the connection clear.

I like the style and message of this presentation. It sticks to our brand colors and fonts and makes everything super clear and easy on the eyes.

I especially enjoy the superhero theme on slide 26 — it’s a fun way to say that we’re all about empowering our customers to be their best. It elevates the idea of customer support from a duty to a mission, which I find very motivating.

2. 2022 Women in the Workplace Briefing by McKinsey & Company

This slide deck lays out key data from McKinsey’s 2022 research on women in the workplace. It uses a mix of graphs, images, and other visual representations to illustrate how the expectations women face at work have evolved over time.

I’m impressed by how they’ve maintained their brand colors throughout the presentation. I’m a big fan of consistency, and this slideshow nails it by sticking to its color scheme from start to finish. It creates a cohesive look and reinforces their brand identity , which makes the presentation look professional.

Another thing I like about it is that the titles immediately say what each slide is about. It helps you navigate the presentation effortlessly and keeps you focused on the main points.

3. SEO, PPC, and AI in 2023 and Beyond by Lily Ray

Lily Ray and Inna Zeyger from Amsive Digital took inspiration from the world of science fiction. It’s pretty cool how they playfully bring in imagery from movies like “Blade Runner“ and “Ghost in the Shell” when talking about AI and the future of marketing in their SlideShare presentation .

The whole futuristic vibe with vibrant colors grabs my attention right away. It’s a fresh break from the usual bland corporate stuff, and they do a fantastic job of making sure you enjoy their presentation while learning something new.

4. ChatGPT: What It Is and How Writers Can Use It by Adsy

We all get writer’s block sometimes. Trust me, I’ve been there, staring at a blinking cursor, feeling the frustration build up. But ChatGPT acts like a trusted sidekick, nudging me along and whispering, “Hey, how about this idea?”

This presentation breaks down what ChatGPT is, its limitations, and more importantly, what it can do. I find it pretty helpful, especially if you’re new to the AI chatbot.

One thing I like most about the SlideShare presentation is that it has a lot of use cases that can inspire you. For example, if it tells you ChatGPT can write a YouTube script, it shows you the prompt the creator used and the results they got.

I also love how it uses a combination of bold white text against a blue background or black and blue text on a white background to call out important headings. And those key definitions are right there in the center, surrounded by all that whitespace , practically begging you to take a closer look.

5. Insights from the 2022 Legal Trends Report by Clio

I’m a big advocate of adding visuals to your business presentations. But it doesn’t have to be the same old boring office stock photos. Take a cue from Clio’s presentation.

Clio has incorporated abstract elements to keep things fresh — simple shapes like triangles, rectangles, and circles. These shapes blend seamlessly with different charts and graphs, adding an artistic touch to the slide decks.

6. Email Marketing Trends by Gabriel Blanchet

Gabriel Blanchet creates a short presentation to explain some key elements of email marketing and its trends to show us why it’s still a valuable tool despite the rise of social media.

What do I love about these slides? They’re awesome. Bright colors, clean visuals — they’ve got it all. What seals the deal for me is how Gabriel breaks down each point and explains why it matters.

7. 2022 GWI’s Social Report by GWI

I’m really impressed by how Leticia Xavier uses different shades of pink and purple to add some contrast to the slides. Everything, from the graphs to the backgrounds and images, sticks to this same color palette.

If I’m ever worried about my visuals not contrasting enough, I’ll definitely draw inspiration from Leticia’s color palette. Pick one or two colors and play around with different shades and tones to tie the slides together and make them pop.

8. Digital 2023 Global Overview Report by DataReportal

I chose this slide deck from DataReportal because it reminds me that strong contrast between text and background is crucial. It’s what makes my slides easy to scan.

The presentation uses a dark background throughout. The graphs and icons pop in bright orange, red, blue, and green, while the text keeps it white.

That said, if you’re prepping for an in-person presentation, think about the room. If it’s dim with the lights off, a dark background like this is spot on. But if it’s all bright and sunny, stick to a light background with dark text.

9. ThinkNow Culture Report 2022 by ThinkNow

ThinkNow impresses me with how they’ve mixed magenta and yellow in the background of their PowerPoint design. Meanwhile, the graphs stick to classic black and white. It’s a smart move that creates sharp contrast and makes the visual elements easy to scan.

Plus, I appreciate how the headers are in a readable font, summarizing what each slide covers.

10. 2023 Metro CERT Annual Event by MNCERTs

I’m surprised by how simple this Metro CERT presentation is. It displays just a few words per slide, all in big, bold fonts. The contrast between the blue and yellow colors is striking and makes everything really pop.

And you know what’s even more creative? There are loads of images of people sprinkled throughout. It adds a nice personal touch that keeps things interesting.

11. Pecan Creek Winery 2023 in Pictures Presentations

As I was going through Pekan Creek Winery’s business presentation, I noticed how it sticks to a simple color palette of just white and black. It’s clean and sleek and lets the content shine without any distractions.

It’s also packed with loads of pictures that showcase events and the wine-making process. That’s exactly how you craft a presentation that gets people pumped up about your brand.

12. LLMs in Healthcare and Pharma. VTI day

This engaging presentation impresses me with its visuals. From charts to photos and even some fun animations, it’s got a little bit of everything to keep its audience hooked.

It keeps the fonts simple, which I appreciate. Plus, those bright background colors make the black and blue text stand out.

The presentation is also spiced up by the story of a dog named Sassy. It adds a personal touch. And who doesn’t like a good story? It’s a surefire way to keep attendees glued to your presentation.

13. Exploring Advanced API Security Techniques and Technologies by Sudhir Chepeni

The next time I do a data-heavy presentation, I’ll take some inspiration from Sudhir Chepeni’s slide designs. The dark background paired with bright text commands attention. And those simple, readable fonts make it easy to digest the information.

Plus, I admire how he sprinkled charts and data throughout. It keeps things interesting and breaks up the text nicely.

14. Competition in Energy Markets by Georg Zachmann

Simplifying technical information can be a tough nut to crack, especially when you have to explain it in a slide deck. But Georg Zachmann isn’t afraid of the challenge.

He uses graphs and charts to break down complex technical issues about the energy crisis into clear visual representations, which I really love.

I also noticed the big, bold headings that immediately tell you what each slide is about. You can skim the document quickly and hone in on the key points you need to know.

15. 10 Things That Helped Me Advance My Career by Thijs Feryn

This presentation impresses me right from the cover slide. The image of a man ascending the stairs captures a sense of effort and accomplishment, which is precisely what the presentation is all about.

The keynote speaker, Thijs Feryn, nails it with the storytelling aspect. Each slide feels like a new chapter unfolding and transitioning seamlessly into the next.

And the visuals? They’re top-notch — from captivating photos to lively animations and even a handy map. Plus, those bright colors and huge text fonts make sure every detail pops, even for the person chilling in the back row.

Create the Best PowerPoint Presentation Designs

As someone who’s created countless presentations, I’ve seen firsthand the transformation that happens when you put a little soul into those slide layouts — whether adding sleek visuals, cutting down on clutter, or weaving a story that carries your message.

Implement the tips I’ve discussed here so that each slide can act as a stepping stone that gently guides your audience to where you want them next. These little touches can turn a good slide deck into your best PowerPoint presentation yet.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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How-To Geek

6 ways to create more interactive powerpoint presentations.

Engage your audience with cool, actionable features.

Quick Links

• Add a QR code
• Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)
• Embed a Live Web Page
• Add Links and Menus
• Add Clickable Images to Give More Info
• Add a Countdown Timer

We've all been to a presentation where the speaker bores you to death with a mundane PowerPoint presentation. Actually, the speaker could have kept you much more engaged by adding some interactive features to their slideshow. Let's look into some of these options.

1. Add a QR code

Adding a QR code can be particularly useful if you want to direct your audience to an online form, website, or video.

Some websites have in-built ways to create a QR code. For example, on Microsoft Forms , when you click "Collect Responses," you'll see the QR code option via the icon highlighted in the screenshot below. You can either right-click the QR code to copy and paste it into your presentation, or click "Download" to add it to your device gallery to insert the QR code as a picture.

In fact, you can easily add a QR code to take your viewer to any website. On Microsoft Edge, right-click anywhere on a web page where there isn't already a link, and left-click "Create QR Code For This Page."

You can also create QR codes in other browsers, such as Chrome.

You can then copy or download the QR code to use wherever you like in your presentation.

2. Embed Microsoft Forms (Education or Business Only)

If you plan to send your PPT presentation to others—for example, if you're a trainer sending step-by-step instruction presentation, a teacher sending an independent learning task to your students, or a campaigner for your local councilor sending a persuasive PPT to constituents—you might want to embed a quiz, questionnaire, pole, or feedback survey in your presentation.

In PowerPoint, open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, and in the Forms group, click "Forms". If you cannot see this option, you can add new buttons to the ribbon .

As at April 2024, this feature is only available for those using their work or school account. We're using a Microsoft 365 Personal account in the screenshot below, which is why the Forms icon is grayed out.

Then, a sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of your screen, where you can either choose a form you have already created or opt to craft a new form.

Now, you can share your PPT presentation with others , who can click the fields and submit their responses when they view the presentation.

3. Embed a Live Web Page

You could always screenshot a web page and paste that into your PPT, but that's not a very interactive addition to your presentation. Instead, you can embed a live web page into your PPT so that people with access to your presentation can interact actively with its contents.

To do this, we will need to add an add-in to our PPT account .

Add-ins are not always reliable or secure. Before installing an add-in to your Microsoft account, check that the author is a reputable company, and type the add-in's name into a search engine to read reviews and other users' experiences.

To embed a web page, add the Web Viewer add-in ( this is an add-in created by Microsoft ).

Go to the relevant slide and open the Web Viewer add-in. Then, copy and paste the secure URL into the field box, and remove https:// from the start of the address. In our example, we will add a selector wheel to our slide. Click "Preview" to see a sample of the web page's appearance in your presentation.

This is how ours will look.

When you or someone with access to your presentation views the slideshow, this web page will be live and interactive.

4. Add Links and Menus

As well as moving from one slide to the next through a keyboard action or mouse click, you can create links within your presentation to direct the audience to specific locations.

To create a link, right-click the outline of the clickable object, and click "Link."

In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click "Place In This Document," choose the landing destination, and click "OK."

What's more, to make it clear that an object is clickable, you can use action buttons. Open the "Insert" tab on the ribbon, click "Shape," and then choose an appropriate action button. Usefully, PPT will automatically prompt you to add a link to these shapes.

You might also want a menu that displays on every slide. Once you have created the menu, add the links using the method outlined above. Then, select all the items, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then use Ctrl+V to paste them in your other slides.

5. Add Clickable Images to Give More Info

Through PowerPoint's animations, you can give your viewer the power to choose what they see and when they see it. This works nicely whether you're planning to send your presentation to others to run through independently or whether you're presenting in front of a group and want your audience to decide which action they want to take.

Start by creating the objects that will be clickable (trigger) and the items that will appear (pop-up).

Then, select all the pop-ups together. When you click "Animations" on the ribbon and choose an appropriate animation for the effect you want to achieve, this will be applied to all objects you have selected.

The next step is to rename the triggers in your presentation. To do this, open the "Home" tab, and in the Editing group, click "Select", and then "Selection Pane."

With the Selection Pane open, select each trigger on your slide individually, and rename them in the Selection Pane, so that they can be easily linked to in the next step.

Finally, go back to the first pop-up. Open the "Animations" tab, and in the Advanced Animation group, click the "Trigger" drop-down arrow. Then, you can set the item to appear when a trigger is clicked in your presentation.

If you want your item to disappear when the trigger is clicked again, select the pop-up, click "Add Animation" in the Advanced Animation group, choose an Exit animation, and follow the same step to link that animation to the trigger button.

6. Add a Countdown Timer

A great way to get your audience to engage with your PPT presentation is to keep them on edge by adding a countdown timer. Whether you're leading a presentation and want to let your audience stop to discuss a topic, or running an online quiz with time-limit questions, having a countdown timer means your audience will keep their eye on your slide throughout.

To do this, you need to animate text boxes or shapes containing your countdown numbers. Choose and format a shape and type the highest number that your countdown clock will need. In our case, we're creating a 10-second timer.

Now, with your shape selected, open the "Animations" tab on the ribbon and click the animation drop-down arrow. Then, in the Exit menu, click "Disappear."

Open the Animation Pane, and click the drop-down arrow next to the animation you've just added. From there, choose "Timing."

Make sure "On Click" is selected in the Start menu, and change the Delay option to "1 second," before clicking "OK."

Then, with this shape still selected, press Ctrl+C (copy), and then Ctrl+V (paste). In the second box, type 9 . With the Animation Pane still open and this second shape selected, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Timing" again. Change the Start option to "After Previous," and make sure the Delay option is 1 second. Then, click "OK."

We can now use this second shape as our template, as when we copy and paste it again, the animations will also duplicate. With this second shape selected, press Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, type 8 into the box, and continue to do the same until you get to 0 .

Next, remove the animations from the "0" box, as you don't want this to disappear. To do this, click the shape, and in the Animation Pane drop-down, click "Remove."

You now need to layer them in order. Right-click the box containing number 1, and click "Bring To Front." You will now see that box on the top. Do the same with the other numbers in ascending order.

Finally, you need to align the objects together. Click anywhere on your slide and press Ctrl+A. Then, in the Home tab on the ribbon, click "Arrange." First click "Align Center," and then bring the menu up again, so that you can click "Align Middle."

Press Ctrl+A again to select your timer, and you can then move your timer or copy and paste it elsewhere.

Press F5 to see the presentation in action, and when you get to the slide containing the timer, click anywhere on the slide to see your countdown timer in action!

Now that your PPT presentation is more interactive, make sure you've avoided these eight common presentational mistakes before you present your slides.

10 Tips for a Persuasive Presentation

Powerful presentation is persuasion. here's how to elevate your impact..

Posted May 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Ray Parker

• Presentations aim to effect change. It's essential to be clear about what change you want to see.
• Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience.
• Substance and style both matter to create an audience-informed communication experience.
• Persuasive presentations are relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant.

How many of us realize that giving a presentation or making a speech is all about persuasion , influence, and emotional intelligence ? Impactful presenters understand the power of empathy to understand and engage their audience, the efficiency and kindness of having a clear objective and message, and the importance of substance and style—all as a way to connect in a way that engages and inspires.

Much has been written on the power and behavioral science of persuasion, not least by expert Robert Cialdini. His bestselling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion explains seven research-based universal principles of influence .

From my experience as a leadership coach working with thousands of people worldwide, I have compiled a list of ten essentials to elevate our presentation.

1. Maintain an "other" focus. What do you know about your audience and how can you find out more? Ask yourself what kind of a speaker will appeal to your audience, what arguments are likely to resonate with them, and what feelings you want to inspire so the audience will positively respond to your ask.

If your audience is predominantly data-driven, you may want to use more evidence-based arguments. If the audience is mixed, a combination of data, authority, and storytelling may be more appropriate. Extend Daniel Goleman’s three types of empathy to gather intelligence , understand your audience, and tailor your intervention to connect more profoundly.

2. Determine a specific objective. Presentations aim to effect change in some way. What change do you want to see in your audience?

For instance, gaining their approval for a certain investment, soliciting their buy-in for a change, or creating a sense of enthusiasm for an idea or initiative. The purpose of a presentation is to bring about change so make sure you are clear on what kind of change you want to bring about.

3. Design a grabber. Our attention spans have shrunk as we have more and more competing demands on our attention . If you want to get someone’s attention, you need to grab it at the outset and try and hold on.

You can do this in several different ways. Throw out a question that demands a response from the audience. Give a surprising fact or statistic, or quote from a well-known figure. Tell a story or an anecdote. A good grabber captures the attention of everyone there and makes them focus on what you have to say.

4. Crystalize your message and construct your arguments. Your message is the heart of your speech. Craft a brief phrase that clearly defines your proposal in 10-12 words—for example, “This post is about crafting presentations that inspire and engage others to elevate their presentations.”

Make it memorable by choosing inspiring words, symbols, catchy expressions, something that will remain in the audience's mind. As Brené Brown says: “Clear is kind,” and a clear message provides a path to develop your ideas.

When you have a clear and concise message, it helps you formulate your arguments. Think of developing your arguments using the rule of three —three compelling arguments to convince but not overwhelm your audience.

5. Prepare a call to action. Remember, we want to change our audience in some way, so we need to make our ask clearly and concretely. Consider your call to action in terms of what you want your audience to think/feel/do:

• Think: “I want you to think about how you can improve your presentations.”
• Feel: “I want you to feel enthusiastic and motivated so that you can elevate your power to persuade.”
• Do: “I want you to try out some of these tips and tools for yourself.”

6. Craft a memorable closing. Close the speech in an elegant and memorable way. We need people to remember what we've told them, so prepare it well.

This is not the time to improvise. Try to connect your closing to your opening grabber, which makes the presentation more memorable. Good preparation means preparing everything to the very end—finish well.

7. Plan your delivery. A dynamic speaker draws listeners in by using vocal variety (tone, intonation, speed, volume, pace, pauses, silence) and body language (posture, gestures, expression, and movement) to highlight important points and hold the audience’s attention. Be intentional: How will you use your voice and your body to emphasize a thought or idea? Think about it: If you increased the time you spent on style or delivery by 20 percent, what would it mean for the impact you make?

8. Think about how you will engage your audience. You want the audience to feel considered throughout. Include pauses so they can process what’s being said; connect with individuals throughout the room and make deliberate eye contact while speaking, especially when delivering key points. Read and respond to the audience by changing how you deliver as you go based on the audience’s nonverbal communication .

9. Rehearse and practice. Practice is one of the most crucial elements of presenting—and probably the most neglected one. If this is new to you, start by reading your presentation in front of a mirror to get comfortable speaking your presentation.

Next, video yourself and watch out for nervous or distracting habits to eliminate them and identify any areas where you can improve your delivery. If you are feeling brave, practice in front of an audience and ask for feedback.

10. Prepare your success rituals and mantra. Public speaking and/or stage fright can feel debilitating for some. Have your calm-down ritual prepared and ready to go before you start your presentation. This might be a certain gesture, a power pose, breathwork, or a mantra.

Try this tip: Identify three adjectives to describe how you would like to show up during this presentation. This sets an intention and helps focus our cognitive and emotional resources on success.

Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience. They use this intelligence to carefully make choices about substance and style to create an audience-informed communication experience that feels relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant and creates a pathway for change.

Palena Neale, Ph.D. , is a women’s leadership coach, lecturer, and founder of unabridged, a boutique leadership development practice.

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