how i make presentation in powerpoint

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Simple Steps to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

Last Updated: July 23, 2024 Fact Checked

Creating a New PowerPoint

Creating the title slide, adding a new slide, adding content to slides, adding transitions, testing and saving your presentation.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 4,354,495 times. Learn more...

Do you want to have your data in a slide show? If you have Microsoft 365, you can use PowerPoint! PowerPoint is a program that's part of the Microsoft Office suite (which you have to pay for) and is available for both Windows and Mac computers. This wikiHow teaches you how to create your own Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a computer.

How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

• Open the PowerPoint app, select a template and theme, then like “Create.”
• Click the text box to add your title and subtitle to create your title slide.
• Click the “Insert” tab, then “New Slide” to add another slide.
• Choose the type of slide you want to add, then add text and pictures.
• Rearrange slides by dragging them up or down in the preview box.

Things You Should Know

• Templates make it easy to create vibrant presentations no matter your skill level.
• When adding photos, you can adjust their sizes by clicking and dragging in or out from their corners.
• You can add animated transitions between slides or to individual elements like bullet points and blocks of text.

• If you don't have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can use the website instead of the desktop app. Go to https://powerpoint.office.com/ to use the website version.
• You can also use the mobile app to make presentations, though it's easier to do this on a computer, which has a larger screen, a mouse, and a keyboard.

• If you don't want to use a template, just click the Blank option in the upper-left side of the page and skip to the next part.

• Skip this step if your selected template has no themes available.

• If you're creating a PowerPoint presentation for which an elaborate title slide has been requested, ignore this step.

• You can change the font and size of text used from the Home tab that's in the orange ribbon at the top of the window.

• You can also just leave this box blank if you like.

• You can also click and drag in or out one of a text box's corners to shrink or enlarge the text box.

• On a Mac, you'll click the Home tab instead. [1] X Research source

• Clicking the white slide-shaped box above this option will result in a new text slide being inserted.

• Title Slide
• Title and Content
• Section Header
• Two Content
• Content with Caption
• Picture with Caption

• Naturally, the title slide should be the first slide in your presentation, meaning that it should be the top slide in the left-hand column.

• Skip this step and the next two steps if your selected slide uses a template that doesn't have text boxes in it.

• Text boxes in PowerPoint will automatically format the bulk of your text for you (e.g., adding bullet points) based on the context of the content itself.
• You can add notes that the Presentation will not include (but you'll still be able to see them on your screen) by clicking Notes at the bottom of the slide.

• You can change the font of the selected text by clicking the current font's name and then clicking your preferred font.
• If you want to change the size of the text, click the numbered drop-down box and then click a larger or smaller number based on whether you want to enlarge or shrink the text.
• You can also change the color, bolding, italicization, underlining, and so on from here.

• Photos in particular can be enlarged or shrunk by clicking and dragging out or in one of their corners.

• Remember to keep slides uncluttered and relatively free of distractions. It's best to keep the amount of text per slide to around 33 words or less. [2] X Research source

• Slide content will animate in the order in which you assign transitions. For example, if you animate a photo on the slide and then animate the title, the photo will appear before the title.
• Make your slideshow progress automatically by setting the speed of every transition to align with your speech as well as setting each slide to Advance . [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

• If you need to exit the presentation, press Esc .

• Windows - Click File , click Save , double-click This PC , select a save location, enter a name for your presentation, and click Save .
• Mac - Click File , click Save As... , enter the presentation's name in the "Save As" field, select a save location by clicking the "Where" box and clicking a folder, and click Save .

Community Q&A

• If you save your PowerPoint presentation in .pps format instead of the default .ppt format, double-clicking your PowerPoint presentation file will prompt the presentation to open directly into the slideshow view. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
• If you don't have Microsoft Office, you can still use Apple's Keynote program or Google Slides to create a PowerPoint presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Your PowerPoint presentation (or some features in it) may not open in significantly older versions of PowerPoint. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 2
• Great PowerPoint presentations avoid placing too much text on one slide. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=DBDCE00C929AA5D8!252&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AH4O9NxcbehqzIg
• ↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/powerpoint.htm
• ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/set-the-timing-and-speed-of-a-transition-c3c3c66f-4cca-4821-b8b9-7de0f3f6ead1#:~:text=To%20make%20the%20slide%20advance,effect%20on%20the%20slide%20finishes .

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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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Slideshows are an intuitive way to share complex ideas with an audience, although they're dull and frustrating when poorly executed. Here are some tips to make your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations sing while avoiding common pitfalls.

Table of Contents

Start with a goal, less is more, consider your typeface, make bullet points count, limit the use of transitions, skip text where possible, think in color, take a look from the top down, bonus: start with templates.

It all starts with identifying what we're trying to achieve with the presentation. Is it informative, a showcase of data in an easy-to-understand medium? Or is it more of a pitch, something meant to persuade and convince an audience and lead them to a particular outcome?

It's here where the majority of these presentations go wrong with the inability to identify the talking points that best support our goal. Always start with a goal in mind: to entertain, to inform, or to share data in a way that's easy to understand. Use facts, figures, and images to support your conclusion while keeping structure in mind (Where are we now and where are we going?).

I've found that it's helpful to start with the ending. Once I know how to end a presentation, I know how best to get to that point. I start by identifying the takeaway---that one nugget that I want to implant before thanking everyone for their time---and I work in reverse to figure out how best to get there.

Your mileage, of course, may vary. But it's always going to be a good idea to put in the time in the beginning stages so that you aren't reworking large portions of the presentation later. And that starts with a defined goal.

A slideshow isn't supposed to include everything. It's an introduction to a topic, one that we can elaborate on with speech. Anything unnecessary is a distraction. It makes the presentation less visually appealing and less interesting, and it makes you look bad as a presenter.

This goes for text as well as images. There's nothing worse, in fact, than a series of slides where the presenter just reads them as they appear. Your audience is capable of reading, and chances are they'll be done with the slide, and browsing Reddit, long before you finish. Avoid putting the literal text on the screen, and your audience will thank you.

Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD

Right off the bat, we're just going to come out and say that Papyrus and Comic Sans should be banned from all PowerPoint presentations, permanently. Beyond that, it's worth considering the typeface you're using and what it's saying about you, the presenter, and the presentation itself.

Consider choosing readability over aesthetics, and avoid fancy fonts that could prove to be more of a distraction than anything else. A good presentation needs two fonts: a serif and sans-serif. Use one for the headlines and one for body text, lists, and the like. Keep it simple. Veranda, Helvetica, Arial, and even Times New Roman are safe choices. Stick with the classics and it's hard to botch this one too badly.

There reaches a point where bullet points become less of a visual aid and more of a visual examination.

Bullet points should support the speaker, not overwhelm his audience. The best slides have little or no text at all, in fact. As a presenter, it's our job to talk through complex issues, but that doesn't mean that we need to highlight every talking point.

Instead, think about how you can break up large lists into three or four bullet points. Carefully consider whether you need to use more bullet points, or if you can combine multiple topics into a single point instead. And if you can't, remember that there's no one limiting the number of slides you can have in a presentation. It's always possible to break a list of 12 points down into three pages of four points each.

Animation, when used correctly, is a good idea. It breaks up slow-moving parts of a presentation and adds action to elements that require it. But it should be used judiciously.

Adding a transition that wipes left to right between every slide or that animates each bullet point in a list, for example, starts to grow taxing on those forced to endure the presentation. Viewers get bored quickly, and animations that are meant to highlight specific elements quickly become taxing.

That's not to say that you can't use animations and transitions, just that you need to pick your spots. Aim for no more than a handful of these transitions for each presentation. And use them in spots where they'll add to the demonstration, not detract from it.

Sometimes images tell a better story than text can. And as a presenter, your goal is to describe points in detail without making users do a lot of reading. In these cases, a well-designed visual, like a chart, might better convey the information you're trying to share.

The right image adds visual appeal and serves to break up longer, text-heavy sections of the presentation---but only if you're using the right images. A single high-quality image can make all the difference between a success and a dud when you're driving a specific point home.

When considering text, don't think solely in terms of bullet points and paragraphs. Tables, for example, are often unnecessary. Ask yourself whether you could present the same data in a bar or line chart instead.

Color is interesting. It evokes certain feelings and adds visual appeal to your presentation as a whole. Studies show that color also improves interest, comprehension, and retention. It should be a careful consideration, not an afterthought.

You don't have to be a graphic designer to use color well in a presentation. What I do is look for palettes I like, and then find ways to use them in the presentation. There are a number of tools for this, like Adobe Color , Coolors , and ColorHunt , just to name a few. After finding a palette you enjoy, consider how it works with the presentation you're about to give. Pastels, for example, evoke feelings of freedom and light, so they probably aren't the best choice when you're presenting quarterly earnings that missed the mark.

It's also worth mentioning that you don't need to use every color in the palette. Often, you can get by with just two or three, though you should really think through how they all work together and how readable they'll be when layered. A simple rule of thumb here is that contrast is your friend. Dark colors work well on light backgrounds, and light colors work best on dark backgrounds.

Spend some time in the Slide Sorter before you finish your presentation. By clicking the four squares at the bottom left of the presentation, you can take a look at multiple slides at once and consider how each works together. Alternatively, you can click "View" on the ribbon and select "Slide Sorter."

Are you presenting too much text at once? Move an image in. Could a series of slides benefit from a chart or summary before you move on to another point?

It's here that we have the opportunity to view the presentation from beyond the single-slide viewpoint and think in terms of how each slide fits, or if it fits at all. From this view, you can rearrange slides, add additional ones, or delete them entirely if you find that they don't advance the presentation.

The difference between a good presentation and a bad one is really all about preparation and execution. Those that respect the process and plan carefully---not only the presentation as a whole, but each slide within it---are the ones who will succeed.

This brings me to my last (half) point: When in doubt, just buy a template and use it. You can find these all over the web, though Creative Market and GraphicRiver are probably the two most popular marketplaces for this kind of thing. Not all of us are blessed with the skills needed to design and deliver an effective presentation. And while a pre-made PowerPoint template isn't going to make you a better presenter, it will ease the anxiety of creating a visually appealing slide deck.

• Microsoft Office

7 Steps to Create a Presentation in PowerPoint (+ Templates)

Learn essential steps and tips to move beyond data slides. Discover why PowerPoint falls flat and unveil next-gen tools for impactful presentations.

Hadar Peretz

6 minute read

Short answer

7 steps to create a presentation in PowerPoint

Begin with a surprise or bold statement.

Provide necessary background information.

Frame your presentation as a story.

Keep the text concise and meaningful.

Use visuals to complement the text.

Incorporate interactive design.

Conclude with actionable insights.

Effective data and visual presentation requires specific knowledge

Displaying complex data and project visuals via multimedia elements demands substantial knowledge.

It's not merely about presenting data but doing so in a manner that's intuitive and engaging for the audience.

Utilizing graphs, charts, videos, and interactive animations effectively necessitates a good grasp of design principles, storytelling, and data visualization.

Moreover, familiarity with the technology and platforms for creating and sharing these multimedia presentations is crucial.

This blend of design acumen, technological expertise, and succinct communication is key to ensuring the data and project visuals are comprehended well by the audience.

5 benefits of mastering PowerPoint presentations

PowerPoint presentations come with a variety of benefits that make them a popular choice for both professional and educational settings. Here are some of the advantages:

Visual Engagement: Utilize visuals to keep audiences engaged and convey ideas effectively.

Organization: Structured slides ensure a clear, linear flow of content.

Customization: Modify designs to suit different topics or branding needs.

Compatibility and Reusability: Easily share across platforms, and update or reuse presentations.

Supports Multimedia: PowerPoint supports the integration of videos, hyperlinks, and other multimedia elements.

How to make a presentation in PowerPoint? (7 steps)

Creating a compelling presentation in PowerPoint is a blend of artistry and storytelling, combined with a clear understanding of the material at hand.

Let’s break down this process into seven detailed steps to craft a presentation that not only captivates your audience but leaves a lasting impact.

1. Start with a surprising statement, a bold promise, or a mystery

Kicking off with something unexpected grabs your audience's attention right from the outset.

It might be a shocking fact related to your topic, a bold promise of what they'll learn, or a mystery that piques their curiosity.

For instance, if your presentation is about time management , you might start with a surprising statistic about the average amount of time people waste on trivial tasks.

learn how to avoid these presentation starters : overloading facts, over-explaining initially, generic content, relying solely on PowerPoint norms, revealing key benefits early, and focusing on self over audience engagement.

Aim for curiosity-sparking, audience-tailored narratives.

2. Provide context with a bit of background information

Before diving deep, give your audience a clear understanding of the topic at hand. Offer a brief background to set the stage.

Going with the time management example, you could provide some insights into how modern distractions have made managing time more challenging.

3. Structure your presentation within a story framework

Stories are a powerful medium to convey messages. Structuring your presentation as a story keeps your audience engaged.

Introduce a protagonist, which could be an individual, a group, or even your audience, facing a problem that your presentation will help solve.

For instance, narrate a day in the life of a person struggling to manage time and how the techniques you’re about to share turn things around.

4 steps to structuring your presentation within a story framework:

Introduce Setting and Characters: Kickstart by presenting the backdrop and the entities involved, making them relevant to your audience.

Highlight a Conflict or Challenge: Unveil a significant problem or hurdle that the audience can relate to, setting the stage for your solutions.

Propose the Resolution: Unfold your solutions to the earlier stated problem, walking your audience through each resolving step.

Recap and Look Ahead: Conclude by recapping the narrative and offering actionable steps or insights for the audience to ponder upon or implement.

4. Make every word count, and use as few as possible

Conciseness is key. Make sure each word on your slide adds value to your presentation. This approach keeps your slides uncluttered and easy to follow.

For instance, instead of writing a long sentence about the importance of prioritizing tasks, use a brief statement like “Prioritize to Monetize.”

5. Use visuals only to support your presentation text

Utilizing visuals judiciously within your presentation is crucial. Visuals should complement your narrative, not overshadow it.

Explore the steps to make a presentation creative , apply these methods, and see your skills enhance, leading to captivating presentations.

The essence is to employ images, graphs, and charts to enhance understanding or convey a message more efficiently.

For instance, a simple pie chart can swiftly illustrate how much time is saved by effective prioritization.

By adhering to this guideline, you ensure that your audience remains focused on the key messages being delivered, with visuals serving as a supportive tool rather than a distraction.

6. Use interactive design to make your audience active participants

Engage your audience with interactive elements. Incorporating clickable links, embedded videos, or live polls can make your presentation more interactive and engaging.

For instance, a live poll could be used to understand the audience’s prior knowledge about time management.

7. End by telling your audience what they can do with what they’ve learned

Your conclusion should empower your audience to apply the learnings in their lives. Recap the key points and provide actionable steps they can take post-presentation.

For instance, share a list of time-management tools or a 30-day challenge to improve productivity.

By following these seven steps, you’re on the path to mastering the art of creating impactful PowerPoint presentations.

Each step is geared towards making your content more engaging, understandable, and memorable, ensuring that your message not only resonates with your audience but prompts action long after your presentation concludes.

Browse basic examples about how to end a presentation and discover what should be on the last slide of the presentation.

8 pro tips for crafting effective PowerPoint presentations

Crafting an effective PowerPoint presentation demands a blend of clear objectives, engaging narrative, visual creativity, and audience-centric communication.

Here are key tips to guide you in this endeavor:

Know Your Audience: Tailor your message to match audience expectations.

Clear Objective: Define the primary goal of your presentation.

Engaging Storyline: Employ a compelling narrative to convey your message.

Simplicity is Key: Keep content concise and language simple.

Visual Aids: Use visuals like images and charts to support text.

Practice and Prepare: Familiarize yourself with your content and anticipate questions.

Interactive Elements: Incorporate polls or Q&A to engage the audience.

C all to Action: End with a clear call to action guiding the audience on the next steps.

Why it's time to move to the next-gen presentation tools

Making a memorable presentation requires more than just PowerPoint slides. In fact, making a PowerPoint presentation interesting is impossible .

In today's digital era, engaging your audience demands innovative tools and a narrative approach.

Let’s explore a game-changing tool for impactful presentations.

Embrace interactivity

Interactive presentations foster real-time engagement, turning monologues into dialogues.

Tools like Storydoc offer a fresh, engaging approach to sharing your message.

With the right tools, creating lasting impressions is a breeze. It’s time to change the narrative and make your presentations both informative and inspiring.

Here’s our CEO, Itai Amoza, discussing the key elements that make a presentation engaging:

Best tool for making an effective presentation

Traditionally, PowerPoint or Google Slides were the go-to platforms for crafting presentations, offering simplicity.

However, to truly engage modern audiences, stepping up your game is essential. This is where next-gen AI-driven tools like Storydoc come into play.

Unlike static slides, Storydoc enables the creation of interactive, immersive content experiences. It’s not merely about showcasing data, but weaving a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience.

Creative presentation templates

Ever faced the daunting blank slide with a blinking cursor urging creativity? It's like having a stage awaiting your script.

Overcoming this initial challenge can be hefty, but there's a savior - creative presentation templates.

These templates act like a structured canvas, guiding your narrative while leaving room for your unique flair.

Grab a template and witness the simplicity it brings to narrating your distinct tale.

I am a Marketing Specialist at Storydoc, I research, analyze and write on our core topics of business presentations, sales, and fundraising. I love talking to clients about their successes and failures so I can get a rounded understanding of their world.

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How to make a slide show

Learn how to make a slide show with photos, videos, music, and custom settings using a slide show maker.

Learn how to make a slide show with PowerPoint

Discover how to make a slide show with photos, videos, music, and custom settings using a slide show app like PowerPoint.

What is a slide show maker?

To create a slide show, you’ll want to use a slide show maker—or slide show app—which is a software program or online service that enables you create digital slide shows with text, photos, videos, music, and other special effects. The full range of slide show features and functionality varies from program to program.

Once you’ve created a slide show, it can be published on the internet or shared with others as a video file. Additionally, you can use slide shows to create dynamic, interactive content on websites.

Slide show software can be used for a variety of purposes, such as creating presentations for work, school, and even your personal life. For instance, slide shows are often used to:

Display photos during an event

Slide shows are a great way to share photos and videos with guests at a wedding, birthday, or other special event.

Create a digital photo album

Some slide shows are created for personal reasons, such as sharing important memories with family or friends.

Highlight products or services

Businesses can use slide shows to showcase their products, promote special offers and sales, or pitch their services to potential clients.

Enhance teaching, training, and public speaking

Slide shows can also provide helpful visuals in educational settings, classroom presentations, and public speaking forums.

What you need to make a slide show

When it comes to creating a slide show, there are a few things you'll need to get started. First and foremost, you'll need a device equipped with presentation software or access to an online slide show app. Secondly, you’ll need a way to display your slide show, which usually means connecting your device to a projector or big screen TV. Beyond that, you’ll need some visual aids and other media to bring your slide show to life.

Explore each of these slide show requirements in more detail:

Devices and equipment —To create a slide show, you’ll use a computer or other device—such as a tablet or mobile phone—with PowerPoint or a similar program installed. You will also need a way to project the slides onto a screen or wall. This can be done with a projector, but if you don't have one available, you can use your TV or computer monitor. Simply connect your device to the TV or monitor using an HDMI cable and select the correct input. Your slides will now be projected onto the screen.

Media —Of course, creating a slide show requires media that adds visual and even audio elements to your presentation. This can be anything from photos and videos to music and text. You can use search engines to find copyright-free media to use in your slide show.

Another option is to purchase royalty-free stock footage, images, and audio files from online media libraries. This could be a bit more expensive, but it guarantees that you have the legal right to use the media in your presentation.

Finally, you can also use your own videos, images, and even music. While this can be a time-consuming process, it does allow you to create custom content specifically for your slide show.

Slide show creator —To bring your slide show together, you’ll need a slide show creator. The slide show software you choose will depend on your presentation requirements and preferences. There are many slide show makers on the market, with Microsoft PowerPoint being one of the most popular and widely used programs globally.

How to choose a slide show maker

When choosing slide show software, it's important to consider the features and specifications that are most important to you. Some of the questions you might ask when choosing a slide show maker include:

• How easy is the software to use?
• Is the software Mac or PC compatible?
• Can I access and edit my slide show on the cloud?
• What kind of slide shows can be created with the software?
• How many photos and/or videos can be included in a slide show?
• Can text and other elements be added to slide shows?
• Are transitions and effects available for slide shows?
• Is music accompaniment an option?
• What are the options for saving and sharing your slide show?

Building a slide show doesn't have to be difficult. With the right software, you can create an engaging presentation in no time.

Six steps for creating a slide show

1. Plan your slide show

Before getting too deep into your slide show project, it’s a good idea to select and save the photos and videos you want to use. This helps you create a slide show more efficiently and purposefully, ensuring a better outcome.

4. Import media

Start adding photos, videos, and other desired media to your slides. You can upload these from your device or online media libraries. If you planned your slide show in advance, you should have all your media saved in one place.

2. Launch your slide show app

Once you’ve decided on a slide show maker, you’ll want to launch the app from whatever device you’ll be using to create your presentation.

5. Add text, music, and transitions

After you’ve arranged the visuals in your slide show, you can provide additional information and communicate sentiment using custom text, music, and timed slide transitions.

3. Choose your theme

Most slide show software offers a variety of pre-set themes, colors, and designs. You can choose one that best suits your slide show or create a custom theme using the program’s various tools and features.

6. Record, save, and share your slide show

Now you’re ready to record your slide show, which can include a voiceover or Cameo . Once your slide show is complete, you can save it as a video to your device or to the cloud, such as OneDrive . You can access your saved slide show at any time to display at events, use in meetings, share online, or send directly to other people.

How to make a slide show with photos

Adding photos to your slide show is a great way to enliven your presentation and make it more visually interesting. Here are a few different ways you can add photos to your slide show in PowerPoint.

Add photos from your device

Whether you’re using a computer, tablet, phone, or other device, you can use photos that are saved to your device to create your slide show. In PowerPoint, simply select “Insert” then “Pictures” from the program menu, then choose “This Device.” This will open your photo library and allow you to find the photos you want to use. Once you’ve selected the photos that you want to import, just click on the "Insert" button and they will be added to your slide show. If you’re using a pre-made theme, you can also right-click the image in the slide show and select “Change Picture.” Again, you will choose “This Device” to access your photo library. After inserting your photo, you can reposition it on your slide or resize it however you like.

Use stock photos

Another way to add photos in PowerPoint is to follow the same process you would when adding photos from your device, but when prompted to choose your photo source, select “From Stock Images” instead of “This Device.” This will display a library of photos that you can use in your slide show without worrying about copyright infringement. There are thousands of stock images available in most slide show maker programs. Once the library is open, you can explore existing photo categories or use keywords to search for photos that fit your needs.

Explore online photo sources

Online photos are images you can insert into a PowerPoint slide show directly from the internet, as opposed to using those you have saved on your device. This is a convenient option if you don't have photos already prepared for your slide show, or if you can’t find the right kind of photo in the stock image library. However, there are some potential risks associated with using online photos, namely that you must be careful to use royalty-free images so not to infringe on any copyrights. In PowerPoint, there is a filtering option to ensure your search results only show royalty-free photos. Inserting photos from online sources follows the same process as the previous two methods, but this time, you’ll select “From Online Sources.”

How to add videos, music, and text

How to add videos to PowerPoint slide shows

Adding videos to your slide show involves accessing videos from your device, a stock video library, or online video sources—just as you would when adding photos. In this case, however, you’ll navigate to the menu in PowerPoint and select “Insert,” followed by “Media,” then “Video.” Once your video appears on your slide, you can resize or reposition it to fit your presentation needs. You can also set your video to play automatically in the slide show by selecting “Playback” on the menu and choosing “Start Automatically.”

How to add music to PowerPoint slide shows

Much like adding videos, you can add music to individual slides in PowerPoint by navigating to “Insert” on the menu, then “Media,” and finally “Audio.” You can then import music from your device, or you can record your own audio directly in PowerPoint. However, if you want your audio to play across multiple slides in your presentation—for example, as background music for a slide show—you’ll have to take a couple of extra steps. Once you’ve imported your audio file, select “Playback” from the menu and choose the “Play in Background” option. Your music will now play across all slides. You can set one song to loop for the duration of the slide show, or you can add more songs to play continuously throughout the slide show.

How to add text to PowerPoint slide shows

Premade themes in PowerPoint make adding text slide shows easy. On slides that already have templated content, you can simply click on the text and begin editing. In addition to changing what the text says, you can resize, recolor, reposition, and add special effects to the text. Of course, you can also change the font—or style—of the text. Most of this can be done from the “Home” tab on the menu while certain effects, such as shadows, can be found on the “Shape Format” tab. If you’re designing your presentation slides from scratch, or want to create additional text, find “Insert” on the menu, then choose “Text Box” or “Word Art,” depending on your desired text effect.

Discover custom slide show settings

Add even more effects to your PowerPoint slide show with custom settings like timing, transitions, and looping.

Set slide show timing

Adding timing to your slide show is a great way to control the pacing and flow of your presentation. To add timing in PowerPoint, go to the "Transitions" tab on the menu and find the "Advance Slide" area. Make sure the box next to “After:” is checked, then input the amount of time you’d like each slide to appear on-screen. The slides will automatically advance, creating a movie-like effect that’s great for events and special occasions.

Create slide show transitions

Now that you’ve added automatic timing to your slide show, you can make it more visually appealing by creating slide transitions. Transitions are special effects that allow you to animate the way your slides change from one to the next, and there are a variety of different transitions in PowerPoint that you can choose from. You can add these transitions to your slide show from the "Transitions” tab. From there, you’ll select the transition you want to add. To preview the transition, simply click on it. You can click “Apply To All” to automatically add the same transition to every slide in your slide show, or you can manually add different transitions to different slides.

Loop your slide show

If you want your slide show to play continuously until you choose to turn it off, you can set your PowerPoint presentation to loop. This will ensure your slide show automatically starts over from the beginning once it reaches the end. To get started, navigate to the “Slide Show” tab on the menu and select “Set Up Slide Show.” When the settings window opens, check the box next to “Loop continuously until ‘ESC’” and then click “OK.” When you’re ready to turn your slide show off, simply press the Esc key on your keyboard.

Slide show template and theme tips

Search themes and templates online.

With numerous slide show themes and templates available, it’s easy to find one that fits your needs.

Customize your design

If you can’t find the perfect theme or template, you can change things like colors and fonts.

Build a custom template

If you want a blueprint to use with future slide shows, you can create your own template.

Add new slides

If you need more slides, you can choose a specific layout and your theme will be carried over.

Edit your slide layouts

Even when using a theme or template, you can rearrange slide content to highlight key information.

Add photos, videos, and text

Themes and templates make adding media easy since most slides have designated content areas.

Change or resize your fonts

If your theme’s font is too small, you can resize it or choose a new font to make it easy to read.

Reorder your slide show

Some themes and templates have a predefined sequence, but you can reorder slides to meet your needs.

Create your own slide show

Slide shows are a great way to engage your audience and present important information. Whether you're creating a slide show for personal or professional reasons, slide shows are an essential tool for anyone who wants to share information in a visually appealing manner.

Discover more ways to improve your slide show

What options are available to create a slide show?

Slide show makers come in many forms. Some slide show software can only be used on specific devices, while other slide show creators can be accessed via the cloud from any device at any time.

It’s a good idea to evaluate a variety of slide show makers to ensure that you find one with all the features you need. For instance, some slide show software skews toward business use cases and others toward personal.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a popular slide show app that allows you to save presentations to your device or the cloud, and is widely used for personal, professional, and educational purposes.

Frequently asked questions

What are slide show apps and software.

Slide show apps and software are used to create and share slide shows. Slide show programs are typically used to communicate information, diagrams, plans, or processes. They can also be used to display photos and videos at events or retail stores. Usually, slide show makers have a range of built-in features and layouts, making them easy to use, regardless of technical skill levels.

What should a slide show include?

An effective slide show should be engaging, visually appealing, and informative. To achieve this, you'll want to make sure to include the following elements:

• A catchy headline or title. This will help grab your audience's attention and set the tone for the rest of your presentation.
• A variety of images. Don't just rely on text—incorporate photos, illustrations, or even video to maximize viewership.
• Bullet points or short blocks of text. Keep your slide content concise and easy to digest; too much information will only overwhelm your viewers.

How do I make a picture slide show?

There are a few different ways to make picture slide shows. You can use online programs, or you can create a slide show directly on your computer, phone, tablet, or other device using slide show software. Some programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, can be accessed on your personal device and on the cloud.

How long should a slide show be?

The length of your slide show will depend on several factors, such as the topic of your presentation, the audience you're presenting to, and the amount of time you have. That said, slide shows are generally between five and ten minutes long.

How can I make a slide show better?

Here are a few tips to make your slide show more engaging:

• Add images, videos, and music to bring your slide show to life.
• Use a font that is easy to read from a distance.
• Try not to use too many words on each slide.
• Use custom transitions and timing to make your slide show flow.
• Ensure a cohesive slide show by using a theme or template.
• For live presentations, practice with the Speaker Coach feature .

Follow Microsoft 365

How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

Creating a PowerPoint presentation involves a series of well-thought-out steps that encompass planning, designing, and refining your slides to effectively communicate your message. Start by defining the purpose of your presentation, then outline the structure, develop the content, and finally design the slides to make them visually appealing and easy to understand. Tools like AIPPT can streamline this process by using AI to automatically generate professional-looking slides, allowing you to focus more on content and delivery rather than design intricacies.

1. Define the Purpose and Audience

Before diving into creating slides, clearly define the purpose of your presentation. Are you trying to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience? Understanding the primary goal will guide your content creation and design choices. Consider who your audience is and what they expect to gain from your presentation. Tailor your message to their interests and level of understanding, ensuring it resonates with them.

2. Outline Your Content

Once you have a clear purpose, create an outline of your presentation. Start with an introduction that captures attention and states the main objective. Follow with the body, where you develop your key points, supported by data, examples, or stories. End with a strong conclusion that reinforces your message and includes a call to action if necessary. This outline will serve as the backbone of your presentation and keep you organized.

3. Develop the Content

With an outline in hand, start developing the content for each slide. Keep text concise and to the point to avoid overwhelming your audience. Use bullet points to highlight key information and make it easy to digest. Incorporate visuals like images, charts, or graphs to support your message and make complex information more accessible. Remember, your slides are there to support your spoken words, not replace them.

4. Design Your Slides

Designing your slides is crucial to make your presentation visually appealing and professional. Choose a consistent theme or template to give your presentation a cohesive look. Use contrasting colors for text and background to ensure readability. Limit the number of fonts and stick to simple, legible ones. Balance text and visuals on each slide to maintain audience engagement. AIPPT can help by automatically generating well-designed slides based on your content, saving you time and effort.

5. Refine and Practice

After your slides are prepared, review them for clarity and coherence. Ensure that each slide transitions smoothly into the next and that your overall message is clear. Practice delivering your presentation multiple times to build confidence and ensure smooth delivery. Pay attention to your timing, tone, and body language. Consider recording yourself to identify areas for improvement.

6. Utilize AIPPT for Efficiency

Platforms like AIPPT can significantly enhance your presentation creation process. With its AI-driven capabilities, AIPPT can automatically generate professional slides based on your outline or content input. This feature allows you to focus on refining your message and practicing your delivery, rather than spending excessive time on design. AIPPT’s intuitive interface and customization options also ensure that your presentation meets your specific needs and style preferences.

7. Seek Feedback and Make Adjustments

Before the final presentation, seek feedback from colleagues or peers. They can offer valuable insights into areas that may need improvement or clarification. Use this feedback to make necessary adjustments to your slides or delivery. This step can significantly enhance the quality and impact of your presentation.

8. Prepare for Technical Challenges

Ensure that all technical aspects of your presentation are in order. Check that your laptop or device is compatible with the presentation equipment at your venue. Have backup copies of your presentation on a USB drive or cloud storage. Familiarize yourself with the presentation room setup and test the equipment beforehand to avoid any technical glitches during your presentation.

9. Engage with Your Audience

During the presentation, engage with your audience to maintain their interest. Encourage questions and interactions to make the session more dynamic and relatable. Use storytelling techniques to make your points more memorable. Adjust your pace and tone based on audience feedback, ensuring they remain attentive and engaged throughout.

In conclusion, creating a PowerPoint presentation involves careful planning, content development, design, and practice. By leveraging tools like AIPPT, you can streamline the design process and focus more on delivering a compelling message. Remember to tailor your presentation to your audience, seek feedback, and prepare for any technical challenges to ensure a successful outcome.

Potential User Questions and Answers

1. How can AIPPT help in creating a PowerPoint presentation?

AIPPT uses AI to automatically generate professional-looking slides based on your content or outline. This saves time on design and allows you to focus on refining your message and practicing delivery.

2. What are some tips for making my slides visually appealing?

Use a consistent theme, contrasting colors for text and background, and simple, legible fonts. Balance text and visuals, and incorporate images, charts, or graphs to support your message.

3. How can I ensure my presentation is engaging for the audience?

Engage your audience by encouraging questions and interactions. Use storytelling techniques, adjust your pace and tone based on feedback, and ensure your content is relevant and relatable to your audience.

4. What should I do if there are technical issues during my presentation?

Prepare for technical challenges by testing equipment beforehand, having backup copies of your presentation, and familiarizing yourself with the venue’s setup. Remain calm and have a backup plan ready.

5. How can I improve my delivery skills for a presentation?

Practice delivering your presentation multiple times, record yourself to identify areas for improvement, and pay attention to your timing, tone, and body language. Seek feedback from peers and make necessary adjustments.

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10 Tips For Designing PowerPoint Presentations That Don't Suck

At Workfront, we want to help you to improve the way you work. The following is the first in a two-part post full of tips to help you to design more effective presentations, making your job a little easier. You can see part two here .

PowerPoint has produced more bad design in its day than perhaps any other digital tool in history with the possible exception of Microsoft Paint.

In this post we’re going to address the epidemic of bad presentation design with 10 super practical tips for designing better looking and more professional PowerPoint presentations.

Along the way we’ll see a number of amazing slide designs from Note & Point along with some customised examples built by yours truly. Let’s get started!

Not a Designer?

This post is for everyone who has ever created a presentation. Whether you’re a student, the leader of a self-help group or a corporate executive, the second you open up PowerPoint or Keynote, you become a designer whether you like it or not.

You’ve chosen a visual tool to communicate and should therefore take the time to learn a thing or two about visual communications.

One of the major reasons for this, especially for people in the professional business world, is that your colleagues will subconsciously make judgements about you based on the visual appeal of your presentation.

Follow the 10 tips below and see if you don’t start getting comments about your amazing presentation design skills. Just watch out, if your co-workers notice you getting good at it they’re likely to start asking for help with theirs!

1. Don’t Use Built-In PowerPoint Themes

To illustrate this idea I opened up PowerPoint, grabbed an actual default theme at random and added some text.

This workflow is nearly identical to that of countless presentation designers and the result is a typical presentation slide that I’ve seen countless times throughout college and my career:

Here’s a design secret: this slide sucks, as do many of the default themes you’ll find in PowerPoint.

Granted, they’ve definitely improved the offering in recent years and Keynote (Apple’s presentation software) has some amazing templates. However you shouldn’t view these as the go-to method, but rather a last resort if you need to create a presentation on a very short deadline.

The point here is that something customised makes a much stronger statement. Your colleagues know and use the templates in PowerPoint and they’ll recognise immediately that you didn’t put any work into the aesthetics of the slides.

I know for non-designers leaving behind templates may seem a bit radical, but you can do it!

Just make sure that you read the other tips below before striking out on your own. Otherwise you might end up with something much worse than even the Microsoft designers could come up with (and that’s saying something).

2. Use Quality Photography

Photography is one of the single best ways to make your presentation look amazing. It’s also one of the single best ways to make it lame. The “business people on white background” look is nice, but it’s overdone and tends to look a bit too much like stock art or flat out cliche.

Also, just because a picture is on a white background doesn’t mean it’s a good photo. Stop using ugly or awkward photography just to have something to put on the slide. Remember that using no photo at all is better than using a bad photo.

For example, compare the slide above with the one below.

See the difference? The image in the slide below is unique, attractive and void of cliches. Don’t get stuck in a pattern of using cheesy stock art when you can use free high-quality photos that make a much stronger visual statement.

Where are these free photos?

For starters, check out freeimages.com , a free stock photography website with tons of content (good and bad).

You can also search Flickr specifically for Creative Commons licensed content. These photos are free to use and many only require attribution, which can come in the form of a simple slide thrown in at the end of your presentation with a link to the photo sources.

As an example, the photo above is by Lauren Tucker and is from Flickr's Creative Commons search results.

3. Choose a Strong Colour Palette

You don’t always need a fancy photo or crazy customised background to make a presentation look professional. Using a strong palette of solid colours can make a presentation feel professional and still visually interesting.

The slide above is a perfect example of using very plain design and little effort to create something that looks really polished. This approach is perfect for non-designers who still want a high-quality slide deck.

The key here is to be very cautious about your colour choice. Something too bright and colourful will overwhelm and distract an audience. Also make sure to use plenty of contrast as your secondary colour for some eye-catching elements.

A crash course in color theory can help you to learn how to use colour to your advantage.

If you need help building colour palettes, check out the free tools below.

Colour is the quintessential online colour tool. Choose from thousands of amazing pre-built colour schemes or generate your own with advanced but user-friendly tools.

Aurlien is one of the most basic colour tools on the planet and definitely one of my favourites. Simply move your mouse around to change the colour, scroll to change the luminosity and click to copy the values to your clipboard.

I use this daily when building websites to get a feel for what a colour will look like when it covers the whole screen, which makes it perfect for presentation slides as well.

Another one of my favourites is 0to255, an amazing tool for finding variations of a colour. It is perfect for finding just the right hue for hovers and borders in web design but it can also be great for finding an accent colour for typography or other elements in a presentation.

4. Use Professional Typography

Non-designers frequently stress out about finding the proper typeface for a presentation and for good reason. The right font can make or break your presentation. Typography is a major art form in the design world and it can really set the stage for what you want to say.

Remember that typefaces can communicate a mood, a point in time or any number of other factors. Instead of browsing your font list and looking for “something cool,” think about the message you want to convey.

Consider the fonts below as an example of how typography can communicate just by virtue of its design. Old style serif fonts tend to feel formal and professional while sans-serif fonts feel modern and clean.

The biggest mistake that people make with fonts in presentations is assuming that the first three font styles listed above are boring. This causes them to jump to something like the font on the bottom because it feels more unique and interesting.

If you’re not a professional designer, remember that the first three styles above aren’t boring, they’re safe. They’re great looking typefaces that have been professionally designed to make you look good and that’s exactly what they do.

Never be afraid of standard-looking fonts. Using them can help to ensure that your design remains inside the realm of clean and professional and away from cluttered and ugly.

Notice how the slide below uses relatively “boring” fonts but varies the size and weight to add visual interest and create something that is ultimately quite non-boring.

But, don't worry. You don’t have to avoid cool fonts 100 per cent of the time. There is a time and a place to throw in something fun, just know that you should use these types of fonts wisely and sparingly.

As the image above illustrates, one great trick for using crazy fonts is to only use them for a headline while leaving the rest of the text plain. When you have too much of a complicated font or start mixing complex styles, what you get is an impossible-to-read mess.

In the slide above, we’ve left most of our messaging in a typeface that you can actually read while still bringing plenty of awesomeness to the page with the headline.

5. Remember Readability

While we’re on the subject of typography, you should always be aware of how readable the type is in your presentations. Sometimes the amazing photography tip from number two will leave you in a situation like the one below.

Here we have a really captivating image, but it’s wreaking havoc on the readability of our text. Even if we make the text bold and try different colour variations, it still comes up short. This can be immensely frustrating to new designers.

The solution however is quite simple: use tip number three (solid colours rock). By creating a simple colour bar behind the text we increase the readability by leaps and bounds and still maintain a stylish looking slide.

This is an extremely common tactic carried out in a number of different ways. Check out the examples below for some inspiration.

Paper Scraps

How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

Introduction: How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

Step 1: Launch the PowerPoint Program

Step 2: choosing a design.

The next thing you want to do is decide what design you want for the presentation. To do this, go to the 'Design' tab at the top of the page. Scroll through all the options and decide which one looks best for the presentation you want. To get a preview of what the design will look like before applying it to the presentation, hover over the design you want to preview. This design will be automatically continued throughout the rest of your presentation. Once you have more than one slide, you can add a different design for just one slide. To do this, select the slide you want to change the design on by clicking on it. It will pop-up as the big slide in the screen. Then you can right-click the design you want for this slide and select 'Apply to Selected Slide'. It will appear on that slide, but will not change the design of the other slides.

Step 3: Create Title Page

Step 4: add more slides, step 5: add charts, pictures, graphs, etc., step 6: add transitions, step 7: changing the order, step 8: play the presentation.

Home Blog Business How to Create a Demo Presentation

How to Create a Demo Presentation

Presenting a brand-new product or service to an audience can be done in two formats: highlighting its market value or focusing on the technical elements that make it an attractive offer. Today we will cover the second option, commonly known as a demo presentation.

Get to know which slides you should include in your demo presentation, recommended PPT templates, the difference with a product presentation, and much more.

Table of Contents

What is a Demo Presentation?

Differences between a demo presentation and a product presentation, elements of a demo presentation, advantages of demo presentations for software app launches, how to create a demo presentation slide deck, recommended product demo powerpoint templates, final words.

We refer to a demo presentation as a structured demonstration of a product or service, typically in the software industry, showcasing its features, functionality, and value to a specific audience. Unlike other theoretical experiences or generalist overviews, a demo presentation is a hands-on format, including live demonstrations or interactive features, allowing potential customers, investors, or stakeholders to see the product in action.

Sometimes, the terms demo and product presentation are used interchangeably, but in fact, they are different presentation styles. A product presentation focus is broader, covering the overall concept, market positioning, and product benefits. It is marketing-oriented, highlighting why the product is necessary and competitive rather than exposing how the product or service works. Therefore, we can say that demo presentations are more technical.

In terms of audience engagement , a product presentation is delivered at large conferences, live worldwide events (i.e., Apple product releases), or investor meetings, and the goal is to generate interest and excitement about the product. Storytelling and visual communication are key in product presentations as they become the tools to secure interest. Demo presentations, on the other hand, are delivered in more intimate settings, such as client meetings, training sessions, sales pitches, etc. Since they require active engagement from the audience, the venue selected for this kind of presentation has to be better equipped, and the presenter has to keep an active role in moderating questions or requests to see specific features in action.

Although some presenters opt to engage directly in the software demo presentation, we highly recommend following this structure to secure the success of your upcoming demo presentation.

Introduction Slide

Briefly introduce the product, the team behind it, and the purpose of the demo. Set the stage for what the audience can expect.

• Problem Statement

Clearly define the problem that the product addresses. This helps the audience understand the context and relevance of the product.

• Product Overview

This involves a high-level product overview, clearly exposing its main features, benefits, and why it differs from potential market alternatives.

• Live Demonstration

This is the core aspect of your presentation, especially if we talk about a software demonstration. It involves a great deal of logistics, as presenters must ensure the live version of their product/service is fully functional for the features they intend to present (if they deliver an MVP presentation, for instance). Troubleshooting protocols have to be clearly laid out in case of an outage in the live demonstration or in addressing questions from the audience about features that won’t be shown at this stage.

• Interactive Q&A

Unlike other Q&A sessions, the software demos the audience tends to request to see specific features. For that reason, you must clearly state which features are available in the current version you are introducing in your presentation. 

Another approach to the Q&A session is to get feedback from the audience, which can be done orally or by providing a form in which attendees can write their opinions online.

When deciding how to end a presentation for a software demo, you should summarize the key points of your talk, reiterate the product’s value, and indicate the next steps to acquire the product/service or a call to action slide .

We summarized all that’s required for an effective demo presentation in this infographic below.

Demo presentations actively engage the audience by showcasing the product in action, making capturing their attention and interest easier.

Demonstrating the product helps clarify its functionalities and benefits, reduce misunderstandings, and help the audience see its value.

Immediate Feedback

Real-time demonstrations allow for immediate feedback and questions, enabling the presenter to address concerns on the spot and adjust the presentation based on the audience’s reactions.

Credibility

A well-executed demo presentation can build credibility and trust. Seeing the product work in real-time reassures the audience that it is functional and reliable.

Demonstrating the product’s capabilities and benefits in real-time can be more persuasive than static presentations or descriptions, making it easier to convince potential customers or investors of its value.

Memorability

Interactive presentations are more memorable, increasing the likelihood that the audience will remember the product and its benefits long after the presentation.

The first step in creating your demo presentation, even before considering the slide layout, is defining its objectives. What do you intend to achieve with this presentation? Is it for securing investors, closing a sale, or educating users? Answering these questions will help you to tailor the outline of your presentation.

Outline Creation

Include the key sections and points you want to cover in your demo presentation. This will help you organize your thoughts and work with a logical flow when introducing ideas. As we mentioned above, the ideal structure should be:

• Introduction

You can use AI tools like ChatGPT for presentations to help you organize your thoughts and craft a quality outline. 

Creating the Slides

Before starting this step, consider which medium you will use for your live demo. Will it be a video showcasing the process? Is it going to be an MVP version set in a live server? The aesthetics of your product will determine the color palette to be used in your slide deck. 

As a general rule, select three colors: a main color, which should be easy on the eyes for avoiding eyesight strain when looking at the slides, an accent color to highlight sections, and a powerful color for CTAs.

Use the 10-20-30 rule of presentations to define the number of slides needed and the text size for your slides. Alternatively, you can check our article on calculating how many slides for a presentation to help you structure your content. 

Write a script for your demo so you won’t be distracted by the audience when presenting your product’s different features. This script has to be synced with the slides, so practice until you feel comfortable with the flow, allowing 1-2 minutes per section for any last-minute question.

Test your live demo at your presentation’s venue to pinpoint any technical issues. As we mentioned before, it is a must to count on a backup plan, like having a spare server in the cloud, so you can deliver your presentation even if the original plan isn’t working.

In this section, we will cover a selection of Product Demo PowerPoint templates to speed up your design process. Keep in mind that these products are both PowerPoint Templates and Google Slides Templates .

1. Product Demo Presentation Laptop PPT Template

Before you ask what a software presentation is and how I can make one, check this PPT template with a high-end laptop mockup in place, which is ideal for introducing your product in style.

Four slides in an attractive color scheme, with vibrant CTA buttons. Check it out!

Use This Template

2. Smart Wearable Demo Presentation PowerPoint Template

Companies releasing apps for smartwatches or VR can get the benefits of this high-quality tech-inspired slide deck. Seven slides with vector illustrations of different wearables, which can be mix and matched with other PPT templates.

3. Company Software Demo PowerPoint & Google Slides Template

The perfect solution for a software demonstration presentation that has vibrant graphics paired with a clean layout. Presenters can edit the color scheme to meet the requirements of their software demo interface as well as branding identity.

4. Startup Software Demo Presentation

For a sleek and professional-looking presentation aesthetic, work with this slide deck intended for startup companies. We list 19 slides, among which you can find tools for presenting your business model, opportunities, and other relevant slides for both demo and product presentations.

Effective demo presentations require careful planning, clear objectives, and a deep understanding of the audience. Remember to focus on your product’s practical application, demonstrate its key features and functionalities, and encourage interaction and feedback from your audience. With preparation and practice, you can deliver a demo presentation that leaves a lasting impression and drives your desired outcomes.

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November 11, 2024

Presentation scoring rubric: What is it and how to make one

Need a presentation scoring rubric? Here's a helpful template to get started

Do you need to grade students or evaluate coworkers on their presentations? You can use a presentation scoring rubric to provide feedback for improvement.

We’ll explain what a presentation scoring rubric is, how to create one, and how to use Plus AI to gather more details about this helpful tool.

What is a presentation scoring rubric?

Most commonly used in educational scenarios, a presentation scoring rubric is used to assess a presentation. The scoring rubric includes specific criteria for a structured framework to measure performance.

The rubric is not only intended to provide a score (and thus a grade) to the student or presenter, but to identify strengths and weaknesses to guide the presenter toward improvement.

In business scenarios, a scoring rubric can be used for training purposes or for refining presentations when those presentations are key forms of communication.

Scoring rubric categories

You’ll find several categories for the scoring criteria. Most are common to presentations; however, you can add, remove, or adjust the categories per your scenario.

• Content : Relevance of the presented information.
• Organization : Sequence or flow of the presentation.
• Knowledge : Understanding of the topic.
• Communication or delivery : Speaking skills and nonverbal communication.
• Engagement : Ability to connect with the audience.
• Visuals or visual aids : Graphics, media, design, and layout.
• Mechanics : Grammar and spelling.
• Time management : Ability to meet time limits or requirements.
• Creativity : Innovative aspects of the presentation.
• Overall impact : Overall assessment of how well the presentation achieved its purpose and impacted the audience.

You can adjust your scoring rubric accordingly for each course, project, or other scenario. For example, if the presentation is for a class project with certain requirements, you might add a specific category to score how well the student meets each requirement.

Tip : Share these ways to make Google Slides look good or improve the appearance of your PowerPoint slides !

Rubric scoring scale

Presentation scoring rubrics normally use a three-, four-, or five-point scale. The scale can use a numerical and/or descriptive scoring system.

For instance, you can score each category on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being Unacceptable and 5 being Excellent. Or, you can score with a scale from 1 to 3 with 1 being Weak and 3 being Strong.

With each category, an explanation of the score is provided. To obtain the score for that category, the presenter meets the description provided for that score. Here’s an example for a Content category with a 4-point scoring scale.

The person evaluating the presentation, enters the score for each category in the column on the right. When the presentation is complete, the total score is calculated and provided to and optionally discussed with the presenter.

It’s also helpful to include a key for understanding the final score as shown in this example:

Tip : Help your presenters by sharing these top tips for effective presentations .

How do you create a presentation scoring rubric?

To create a presentation scoring rubric, you can use your go-to word processing application like Google Docs or Microsoft Word. 

Insert a table which lists the criteria in the left-hand column, scoring scale in the top row, and a score column (for each category) on the right. You can also include a total score at the bottom as shown below.

To assemble the rubric:

• Define and list the criteria you want to use. Again, the categories can differ depending on the type and purpose of the presentation.
• Determine and enter the scoring scale and whether it should be numerical, descriptive, or both.
• Write the description for each category corresponding to each score on the scale.
• Optionally include a key for the total score at the bottom.

Want to use the template above? Head to the Presentation Scoring Rubric Template in Google Docs, select Make a copy , and then save the document to your account. You can then edit it per your needs and reuse it as you like.

Get help with a presentation scoring rubric from Plus AI

Plus AI is a terrific tool for creating and editing presentations, but it’s also a super helpful add-in for research! You can ask Plus to make a scoring rubric presentation and see helpful details and tips to set up your own rubric.

With useful information, you can refer to the content in this completed slideshow as you create the rubric. You may also add slides that include further details!

You can use Plus AI with Google Slides and Docs along with Microsoft PowerPoint . Check out the Plus AI website for details, example presentations, and information for starting your free trial.

If you’ve been tasked with creating a presentation scoring rubric for your students, coworkers, or peers, you now have the basics you need to get started. And remember, you can use the rubric template provided above and Plus AI for further help creating your rubric.

For your own successful slideshows, look at how to start a presentation along with how to end a presentation .

What is the 5/5/5 rule for better presentations?

Some experts recommend the 5/5/5 rule when creating presentations. This rule suggests no more than five words per line of text, five lines of text per slide, or five text-heavy slides in a row.

What is the Kawasaki presentation rule?

Guy Kawasaki popularized the 10/20/30 rule for effective presentations. This rule recommends a limit of 10 slides, a total presentation time within 20 minutes, and a font size of no less than 30 points.

What is a good talking speed for a presentation?

An average of 100 to 150 words per minute is common for presentations. For details on calculating words per minute and other tools you can use, check out Finding Your Speaking Rate on the Plus website.

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New! Wooclap AI is live.

Save hours. Create questions in seconds.

Poll maker: liven-up your presentations

08.11.2024 • 3 minutes

Want to make your presentations more memorable? Why not make an interactive online poll to capture the attention of your audience and measure their understanding of your contents?

Dynamic polls offer trainers and teachers the opportunity to create collaborative presentations that boost engagement with real-time interactions, in person or at a distance.

Stimulate learning and active participation with the Wooclap poll maker and great free online voting, quiz, survey and questionnaire tool!

Features of the Wooclap poll maker

Are you looking for the best tool to create easy instant polls for use in your educational presentations? The Wooclap poll creator is an interactive platform tailor-made to enhance the interactivity of your presentations.

How? Asking questions during your presentation allows you to test the understanding and opinions of your audience in real-time and to adapt the delivery your educational content as you go.

Choose from 21 types of questions to collect different kinds of feedback

The Wooclap solution allows you to create a fully customized interactive online poll, quizzes, surveys, votes and questionnaires that fit perfectly into your presentation. With 21 different types of questions and activities , Wooclap offers you all the options and customizations you can imagine.

Choose from among multiple-choice quizzes, polls, voting, open-ended questions, and word clouds to achieve your educational objectives while collecting the opinions of your audience to improve your future interventions. You can select to make responses either totally anonymous or personal and authenticated: it’s totally up to you!

Easy integration with all your tools

Already used by over 50 million users worldwide, the Wooclap solution allows you to quickly make a poll, quiz, survey or questionnaire and integrate it into any presentation . Wooclap integrates with all your participant learning tools from learning management systems through to Google Slides, PowerPoint, and more.

Whether in person or remote , everything is possible, and you can easily use Wooclap with videoconferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

An intuitive solution for making polls, quizzes, surveys and questionnaires

The added value of Wooclap is that you can make polls quickly and easily. Make your presentations more interactive in just a few clicks , and view the results in a clear, intuitive interface. Your participants can respond via QR code in matter of seconds.

Why stop with a simple poll, vote or quiz? Discover our brainstorming and image recognition features to go even further in your presentation!

Reinforce learning with a poll

With an online poll, you can boost attention, measure understanding and optimize learning. The Wooclap tool can increase the effectiveness of your training program by as much as 20% .

Our solution is based on the advances of neuroscience , to help you get the most out of your educational materials. The Wooclap poll generator is designed to act on Stanislas Dehaene’s four pillars of learning : attention, active engagement, feedback, and consolidation.

How to use the Wooclap poll maker

Want to get started making interactive polls, quizzes, surveys and questionnaires with Wooclap? Here’s how in just a few steps :

• First, create a Wooclap account.
• Once logged into your dashboard, click on Create event . Each event corresponds to a course, conference, lesson or presentation.
• Give your event a name.
• Select the question you want from the available 21 question types.
• Create your question.
• Once your question has been created, click on Save .
• When you have created all your questions, click Display to show your participants how to connect, log in and answer.
• Participants can access your Wooclap event by scanning a QR code using their smartphone. They can also go to the Wooclap website and simply type the event code shown on the slide.

Your event is now online. Transform your interventions into rich and engaging exchanges with your audience with the Wooclap poll maker!

What are some best practices to apply when creating a poll?

Follow a few best practices to optimally use the Wooclap poll maker and get great results from your interactive online poll.

First, clearly define the educational objectives that you are pursuing in creating your poll, quiz, survey or questionnaire. Do you want to measure the progress and learning of your audience? Do you want to engage your audience to capture their attention? Do you want to brainstorm together with all the participants?

The choice of different types of questions and activities will follow from defining these objectives. To measure knowledge, a multiple-choice question or an open-ended question may be more effective than a word cloud or vote, which may be better for engaging the participation of your audience.

Ask your questions as clearly as possible to make them more effective. Avoid complex wording that might lead to different interpretations in your audience’s responses.

To maintain your audience’s attention, vary the type of questions you use . This will create surprise and stimulate the curiosity of your audience. Also, limit the length of your event to make the educational experience more impactful. Finally, don’t hesitate to view and display the results in real time. You can then adapt your presentation to your participants and make the presentation more dynamic as you go.

Do you want all your learners to participate fully? Make answers anonymous , so that you can help lower the inhibitions of your participants. This will encourage the participation of even the shiest in your audience, and can also encourage greater honesty in providing answers.

Wooclap Poll Maker FAQ

What is a poll maker.

A poll maker is a platform that allows you to create online polls so that users can answer questions or provide feedback.

What types of polls can be created with Wooclap?

The Wooclap poll maker offers plenty of ways to create polls, quizzes, surveys and questionnaires, with as many as 21 types of questions and activities available. The many options include multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, word clouds, image recognition, brainstorming and more!

What kind of tools can Wooclap be integrated with?

Wooclap can be integrated into all of your educational materials , including learning management systems (e.g. Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas), presentations (e.g. Google Slides, PowerPoint), and even videoconferencing tools (e.g. Microsoft Teams, Zoom).

Why run a quick poll during a presentation?

An interactive online poll is a powerful tool to liven up your presentations , courses and conferences. It captures your audience’s attention, speaking directly to them, and allowing you to measure their learning . It also allows you to collect feedback and evaluate the effectiveness of your educational contents, so that you can continuously improve them.

Wooclap pricing

On the Free Plan , the Wooclap poll maker allows you to make basic polls, quizzes, surveys and questionnaires for free. With the Basic Plan at € 9.99 per month , you get all the functions and features of our online poll maker solution. Our most popular Pro Plan, at only € 24.99 per month , allows you to work on your materials in a team, and a tailor-made Custom Plan is also available on request.

The Wooclap team

Make learning awesome & effective

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