powerpoint presentation design principles

Presentation design principles for better PowerPoint design

• Written by: Richard Goring
• Categories: PowerPoint design , PowerPoint productivity
• Comments: 17

I’m often asked how to make presentations more effervescent. How they can have more fizz. Or, worst of all, “Can you make my presentation pop?” Well, the answer is yes. By applying some key principles of presentation design , you can make your PowerPoint design really standout and deliver both a more ‘popping’ – but also more effective – presentation.

I’ve split this out into a couple of topics, across two broad categories. One is presentation design, which is really the core graphic design principles that work across any form of visual communication. The other I’ve classed as PowerPoint design, which is a little more specific to using PowerPoint as a tool to create or deliver content. All the ideas have practical applications in PowerPoint, but I thought this breakdown was potentially useful.

Presentation design with images

What if I told you that your presentations could look like these examples?

They’re all using images to enhance your PowerPoint design, both by looking good, but also contributing to the story and helping your audience understand your messages. We’ll get more into the visual storytelling aspect of this later, so for now, just think about the quality of your images. All of these come from one of my favourite free stock photo sites, Unsplash , which gives you royalty free images for commercial use, and they’re all beautiful.

So, it’s not just a case of dropping nice images on the slide. You need to understand how to lay them out well, and use the crop, colour, and artistic effects tools in PowerPoint to treat the images appropriately, and give your presentation a professional look.

To see how we’ve created these kinds of slides, check out the image crop , and crop to zoom and full bleed step-by-step guides. Simple, but considered use of the crop tool can work wonders with your PowerPoint presentation design.

Presentation design incorporating white space

Big, bold, flood fill images are great, and an easy way to make your slides stand out. But it’s not all about pictures and Presentation Zen;  inevitably you’ll need to place other content onto your slides, whether that’s facts, figures, charts, or even dare I say it… bullet points. This is where the use of white space in presentation design becomes crucial.

White space is not about purely adding ‘white space’ onto your slide. This one has plenty of it, but it still looks terrible:

It’s about creating areas of contrast, with clear focal points to draw your attention to the important parts, and even create a flow and hierarchy across your slide.

This example gives you that luxurious feel of the full bleed image, but crops it so that the focal point – the watch – is off to one side, leaving plenty of white, or ‘negative’ space around the arm for your content. The two sections work nicely together, and we’ve anchored the text in a content placeholder and given it some structure too, by actually reducing the size of the text to give it more room. Again, we’ve got a full tutorial on how to incorporate white space like this here .

Presentation design using grids

Grids are pretty much design 101, and to be honest, I’m surprised that we’ve got this far into presentation design without me having brought them up. You’ll likely be familiar with grids from magazines and newspapers – these mainly use column grids. The page is divided into columns and then content is designed to sit across these columns in any combination, which balances the content.

Well, the same thing applies to PowerPoint presentation design: a grid system helps to lay out your content in clear, easy to follow areas.

You can use a grid to create distinct sections, such as telling the start, middle, and end of a story. It’s much easier for your audience to follow, as everything is better organized.

And, it helps bring text into line – if you have any – which is important as it minimizes distractions for your audience when trying to read.

Using a grid also helps you decide where to position content, as there are only so many places that you can put things. Here, for example, one third of the slide has been taken up with the supporting image, so we’ve created a grid within a grid to lay out the three pie charts, which helps to create a feeling of harmony and sophistication:

And don’t think that your divisions have to be straight along the gridlines. Here’s an example that doesn’t apply the rule exactly, but still works really well.

Also, by using a grid, you achieve a consistent feel across all your slides for overall presentation design cohesion.

What does all of that mean? Well, you can transform a slide like this:

It’s really quick and easy to do in PowerPoint too, and you can see our tutorial on using grids and the guide tools in PowerPoint to bring your presentation design up a level.

Presentation design with colour themes

Another key presentation design principle is colour. Setting the right colour palette is essential, as it gives everything a consistent feel, allows you to adhere to your brand, and can give you the ability to assign meaning to specific colours to help your audience understand things. The best way to handle colours in PowerPoint is to set your template correctly and use a colour theme. You can find out how to  change your PowerPoint colour theme here . It’s really quick and easy to do. Once you’ve done it, the theme will save with the file (or template), so you don’t need to worry about it again.

Once set, you can use colour in interesting ways to convey meaning.

For example, a heat map is a great way to show data ranges, like metrics, using a scale, rather than just plain numbers. That’s more helpful to your audience, as it allows them to immediately see both the absolute and relative values, rather than having to spend time deciphering it.

You can also use colour to focus attention.

In complex data sets, using contrast colours can help to highlight primary datasets. Here, for instance, you can clearly see the main data series, compared to the ‘everything else’ data series.

Again, once you’ve set your colour theme, using these techniques as part of your presentation design is pretty easy, and you can find more specific guidance on how to manipulate colours in PowerPoint here .

PowerPoint design with text formatting

With your grids, colours, and white space considered from a high-level presentation design perspective, you now get into the specifics of creating slides in PowerPoint. As much as you, I, and your audiences, love presentations that make use of effective visuals, we know there are always going to be slides that are stuffed to the gills with boring text and even boring-er bullet points.

But, by applying the presentation design techniques already mentioned, you can fairly easily transform your text-heavy slide into something that’s far easier on the eye:

By using grids, appropriate colour, and white space, your PowerPoint slide design could look like this. Breaking out the text with decent paragraph spacing helps your audience parse the content more efficiently. Everything is easier to follow with consistent fonts and the use of colour highlighting. And the white space around the content actually gives the slide greater impact – particularly the use of the large margins around the text, created by the contrasting placeholder. There are a great many more options, and for ten in-depth typography techniques, check out this post . But if you’re just looking for nice fonts to use, this rundown of ten of our favourite fonts for presentations is a must-read.

As you’ve probably come to expect by now, this is something you can do using only PowerPoint, and you can see how in this tutorial on text formatting .

PowerPoint design to manipulate images

While it’s not Photoshop, PowerPoint has some neat tools to manipulate images.

What if I were to tell you the picture you see here had been constructed out of this…

PowerPoint design tools for images are all found on the Format tab on the ribbon. There are plenty of options to choose from, but only some actually enhance your design. For PowerPoint design tools, you should really focus on the left-hand side of the ribbon. The good features include the Remove Background tool, which does what its name suggests. The Color section allows you to put a colour wash over everything, but also, at the bottom of the menu, you can choose Set Transparent Color, which will remove a single colour from any image, which is how I’ve cut out the phone image in this example. Artistic Effects are generally terrible, except blur (which is great for changing focus on an image) and the Transparency tool – newly available in Office 365 – which makes pictures transparent. For a full tutorial on making the above example image, watch this short video .

PowerPoint design with visual storytelling

And finally, my favourite thing is to use these design techniques as part of visual storytelling, which helps dramatically improve your presentation.

Think about how you can use an image to convey meaning, as well as provide aesthetic appeal. For instance, you could use a skyscraper being constructed to show elements that are taking you higher, with labels up the building showing the key metrics:

Or use a common sight from underground stations – the advertising boards on escalators – to show a data series increasing. The image also gives the figures room to breathe:

It doesn’t need to be complicated, and this example has been constructed from an image, some text, and an arrow, to show the 20% of business highlighted on the office photograph:

And of course, we have a short video tutorial to show you exactly how to do it. Sometimes, just finding the right image can be a real help coming up with the right PowerPoint design ideas, but you may also want to look to other design resources for inspiration .

The main thing to remember about effective presentation design is that you probably don’t have the time to create a totally new concept each time, or a mood board for your work. These ideas, especially the PowerPoint design ideas, are all about helping you create beautiful and effective presentations quickly, with minimal effort. A solid basis in design principles – coupled with a few PowerPoint tricks -will set you on your way. So, hopefully next time someone asks you to make a presentation ‘pop’ you can uncork the champagne and tell them you already have.

Richard Goring

Related articles, how to create powerpoint templates that work.

• PowerPoint design

Without a proper PowerPoint template, presentations can be a bit of a mess. Here are the building blocks for developing a PowerPoint template that works!

How to create visual presentations and eLearning

• PowerPoint design / Visual communication
• Comments: 4

Most presentations are a cascade of text-heavy Death-by-PowerPoint slides. Online learners suffer the torture of brochures converted to click-through-eLearning. Most people now recognize that using visuals is the way to go. But how do you make visual presentations and eLearning that work? We think there are six steps you need to follow.

How to print multiple slides on one page

• PowerPoint design / PowerPoint productivity

What’s the secret for how to print multiple PowerPoint slides on one page? We've got a few solutions up our sleeves, from simple and quick to completely custom!

LOVE LOVE this . .. so helpful and fun to work with. .

Your design concepts and tips were highly recommended by BiancaWoods.weebly.com and after downloading a template and reading your articles – now I see why.

Impressive resources!

Brilliant, thanks so much! Bianca is pretty awesome too. Glad that we’re all able to share with the community.

Nice way of explaining the information

Richard I have been following you since I met you at an ATD regional conference. You have always responded generously with the best in class PowerPoint tutorials and aids. Thank you for your excellence.

You’re most welcome, thanks so much!

Really useful and inspiring presentation.

It’s helped me see how to go beyond the mechanics of what PowerPoint can do towards creating a compelling and coherent design and story

This was really engaging, beautiful and extremely useful. Looking forward to using ideas into my slides.

The way you showed the Before and After is fantastic.

Very useful read .short video of 7 minutes on presentation is great to improve our presentation skills

Very creative and inspiring! You continue to amaze me with the quality of your desin6!

Really nice ideas – solid information. Thanks.

Amazing tutorials. Thank you for so generously sharing your skills, tips, and creativity!!

very interesting topic and very well presentation,thanks for this blog

very interesting topic

Excellent session as usual.

Thank you Richard for your amazing presentation! Very helpful.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Join the BrightCarbon mailing list for monthly invites and resources

First of all the deck looks great, once again you guys have done an outstanding job. Second, I’d like to comment on the quality of the training provided by your colleagues - quite simply it was exceptional. I have spoken to the whole team and that view is unanimous. Please pass this on. James Bagan MyLife Digital

5 golden rules of PowerPoint design

april 30, 2024

by Deb Ashby

Wondering how to design the perfect PowerPoint presentation? It's easier than you think–just follow five simple rules to get started:

1. Consider using templates

When building a slide deck, it’s important to maintain consistency throughout. We want to ensure we are using consistent font styles, colors and themes. This can be tricky when designing from scratch, so why not start from a template?

Microsoft Create contains hundreds of pre-made, customizable PowerPoint templates, which means you don’t have to start from scratch and the fonts and colors are already set for you.

Simply choose a template from the gallery, customize it as needed, and you are done!

2. No walls of text

We’ve all seen PowerPoint presentations where slides contain too much text. The human brain struggles to listen and read at the same time. If you are presenting to an audience, keep the text on slides to a minimum.

Consider employing the “5-5-5" rule. No more than 5 lines, no more than 5 words, no more than 5 minutes. Think short and sharp memory joggers instead of rambling paragraphs.

Where possible, consider replacing text with visuals to represent your point. People remember images more than words.

3. Be mindful of colors and fonts

No one wants their audience to leave with a headache after an hour of straining to read slides. We need to ensure that our presentation is easy to read for everyone – even for those in the nosebleed seats at the back! Think about the font you are using. Is it appropriate for the presentation? What about the font size? Can people at the back easily read? What about people with visual impairment? Ensure all text is at least 24pts.

When it comes to color, ensure all slides have good contrast. Dark backgrounds should have light font and vice versa.

4. Use animation sparingly

Animation can really liven up an otherwise flat presentation. However, it should be used thoughtfully and sparingly. Too much of the wrong type of animation with objects flying in and zooming around the screen, while fun, can look confusing and unprofessional.

Animation should be subtle (especially for pitch decks and other formal presentations). With every animation you add, ask yourself, "Is this going to enhance my presentation or distract from it?"

5. Engage your audience

When presenting to an audience, there is usually an awkward time before the presentation begins while the speaker waits for everyone to arrive. During this time, people may start scrolling on their phones or get distracted with work emails, and it can be hard to pull the audience back.

To avoid this issue, work to grab your audience's attention before the presentation even starts. Instead of just having the title slide on the screen, consider creating "kiosk slides." These are a series of slides that contain a combination of interesting things for the audience to look at or engage with. Maybe you have an interesting image? A funny quote or fun facts? Or maybe there is a question you want them to think about prior to the session?

Create these slides and have them automatically cycle round before the presentation starts.

Related topics

• Scroll to top

Mastering PowerPoint presentation design principles.

In the realm of professional and educational presentations, PowerPoint stands out as a tool of immense popularity and versatility. However, the effectiveness of a PowerPoint presentation hinges not just on the content , but significantly on the design principles applied. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the art and science of leveraging design principles to transform your PowerPoint slides from mundane to magnificent.

Understanding and applying these principles is not just about making slides aesthetically pleasing; it’s about enhancing the clarity, impact, and persuasiveness of your message. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or new to PowerPoint, this guide offers invaluable insights into how design can be your ally in crafting presentations that captivate and communicate effectively.

As we explore the fundamentals of design principles, the effective utilisation of colour and typography, strategic incorporation of visuals and graphics, thoughtful slide layout and spatial arrangement, and purposeful animation, you will gain a toolkit of techniques to elevate your PowerPoint presentations. Each section is designed to build your understanding and skills, enabling you to apply these principles with confidence and creativity.

Embark on this journey with us to master the presentation design principles that will bring your PowerPoint presentations to life, making them not only more engaging but also more memorable and impactful.

Understanding the fundamentals of PowerPoint presentation design principles

When it comes to crafting effective PowerPoint presentations, the role of design principles cannot be overstated. These principles are the cornerstone of creating not only visually appealing slides but also ones that enhance the communication and retention of your message. In this section, we explore the three pivotal presentation design principles: balance, contrast, and alignment, and their application in PowerPoint presentations.

Balance: This principle refers to the distribution of visual elements in a slide. A balanced layout provides stability and structure, making the content easily digestible. In PowerPoint, balance can be achieved through symmetrical or asymmetrical layouts. A symmetrical layout offers a sense of harmony and formality, ideal for corporate presentations. On the other hand, an asymmetrical layout, which uses an uneven distribution of elements, can create a more dynamic and interesting visual appeal, perfect for creative or educational presentations.

Contrast: Contrast is the art of making elements stand out by using opposing characteristics, such as light and dark colours, large and small text, or different textures. In PowerPoint, effective contrast can be employed to draw attention to key points and guide the viewer’s eye through the slide. For example, using a bold colour for important text against a muted background can ensure that your audience focuses on the main message.

Alignment: This principle is about arranging elements in a slide in a way that creates a visual connection between them. Proper alignment in PowerPoint slides not only makes them more professional and polished but also aids in creating a logical flow of information. Aligning text and images along specific axes can help create a clean, organised look, making it easier for your audience to follow along.

Incorporating these fundamental presentation design principles in your PowerPoint presentations can significantly enhance their effectiveness. A well-designed slide not only captures attention but also helps convey your message in a clear, compelling manner. As you progress through your presentation creation process, keep these principles in mind to ensure that your content is not just seen but also remembered.

Effective utilisation of colour and typography

The strategic use of colour and typography is vital in creating engaging and effective PowerPoint presentations. This section delves into how these elements can be utilised to enhance the visual appeal and readability of your slides.

Colour psychology and palette selection: Colours are not just aesthetic choices; they evoke emotions and can significantly impact the perception of your presentation. Understanding colour psychology is crucial. For example, blue often conveys professionalism and trust, making it an excellent choice for business presentations, while green can be associated with growth and health. When selecting a colour palette, aim for a harmonious balance that aligns with the tone and content of your presentation. Tools like the colour wheel can help in choosing complementary colours that enhance visual coherence.

Consistency and brand alignment: Consistency in colour usage helps in creating a cohesive presentation. If your presentation is for a specific brand or organisation, aligning with its colour scheme can reinforce brand identity. This consistency also aids in audience retention as it provides a visually unified journey through your presentation.

Typography matters: The choice of font and text styling plays a crucial role in readability and audience engagement. While selecting fonts, consider the context and tone of your presentation. Serif fonts, like Times New Roman, often suggest formality and are suitable for traditional presentations. Sans-serif fonts, like Arial, offer a modern and clean look, ideal for more contemporary topics. Remember, legibility is key. Avoid overly decorative fonts and maintain a font size that is readable from a distance.

Balancing font styles and sizes: Use different font sizes and styles (like bold or italic) to create a visual hierarchy in your text, guiding the viewer’s attention to the most critical parts of your slide. However, maintain a limit on the number of different fonts used to avoid a cluttered or disjointed appearance.

By thoughtfully combining colours and typography, you can significantly elevate the impact of your PowerPoint slides. These elements, when used effectively, not only grab attention but also make the information more accessible and memorable to your audience.

Incorporating visuals and graphics strategically

Visuals and graphics, when incorporated correctly, can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentations. This section will explore how to select and integrate these elements for maximum impact.

The power of visual communication: Visuals can communicate complex information quickly and memorably. The key is to choose images and graphics that are directly relevant to your content. For instance, using a chart to depict statistical data can be far more impactful than simply listing the numbers.

Quality over quantity: Always opt for high-quality images and graphics. Blurry or pixelated visuals can detract from the professionalism of your presentation. However, be mindful of the quantity. Overloading slides with too many visuals can lead to clutter, making it hard for the audience to focus on the essential elements.

Consistency in style: Consistency is as important in visuals as it is in colour and typography. Ensure that all your visuals follow a similar style or theme. This could mean using the same filter for all images, similar illustration styles, or consistent iconography. This uniformity helps in creating a cohesive visual narrative throughout your presentation.

Graphs and charts for data representation: When presenting data, graphs and charts are invaluable. They provide a visual representation that can make complex information more digestible. Ensure these are clearly labelled and easy to understand at a glance. Tools like PowerPoint’s built-in chart features can be very effective for this purpose.

Integrating visuals with text: While visuals are powerful, they need to be balanced with the text. Use visuals to complement or emphasise your written content, not replace it. The text and visuals should work in tandem to convey your message effectively.

Incorporating visuals and graphics thoughtfully into your PowerPoint slides can transform the way your audience interacts with your content. It’s about finding the right balance and ensuring that each visual element serves a purpose in reinforcing your message.

Slide layout and spatial arrangement

The layout and spatial arrangement of elements on your PowerPoint slides play a crucial role in how your message is perceived and understood. This section focuses on strategies for organising content in an aesthetically pleasing and logical manner.

The importance of white space: One of the most overlooked aspects of slide design is the use of white space, or negative space. This space, free from text and graphics, is not wasted. Instead, it helps to reduce clutter and allows your audience to focus on the key elements of your slide. Proper use of white space can bring a sense of elegance and clarity to your presentation.

Logical flow of information: Arrange the elements on your slide in a way that guides the viewer’s eye naturally through the content. This can be achieved by aligning text and visuals in a logical sequence, such as left-to-right or top-to-bottom, following the natural reading pattern. Ensure that the most important information takes precedence both in size and positioning.

Consistent layout across slides: Consistency in the layout across different slides aids in maintaining a coherent narrative. Use a similar structure for each slide, whether it’s the placement of the title, text, or images. This consistency helps your audience to follow the presentation without getting lost or distracted by varying layouts.

Balancing elements: Balance is key in slide design. A slide that is too heavy on one side can feel unbalanced and distracting. Aim for an even distribution of text and visuals, ensuring that each slide feels harmonious and well-composed.

Responsive design for different displays: Keep in mind that your PowerPoint presentation might be viewed on various screens and devices. Ensure that your layout is responsive and looks good on different display sizes. This might mean avoiding overly intricate details that could get lost on smaller screens.

A well-thought-out slide layout and spatial arrangement can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your presentation. It’s not just about making slides look good; it’s about using design to guide and reinforce your message.

Animating with purpose

Animations and transitions in PowerPoint can be powerful tools when used purposefully. This section explores how to use these features to add value to your presentation without overcomplicating or distracting from the main message.

Selective use of animations: The key to effective use of animations is moderation. Choose animations that serve a specific purpose, such as emphasising a key point, illustrating a process, or showing changes over time. Avoid using animations merely for decorative purposes as they can distract from the content.

Consistency and subtlety: Maintain a consistent style of animations throughout your presentation. Using too many different types of animations can create a disjointed experience for your audience. Opt for subtle animations that complement the content rather than overpower it.

Timing is crucial: The timing of animations can significantly impact the flow of your presentation. Animations that are too slow can drag the pace, while too fast animations might confuse the audience. Adjust the timing to match the rhythm of your speech and ensure that each animation is synchronized with what you are saying.

Transitions between slides: Just like animations within slides, transitions between slides should also be used judiciously. Choose transitions that match the tone of your presentation and use them consistently. For most professional presentations, simple transitions like ‘Fade’ or ‘Push’ are preferable as they are less distracting.

Testing on different devices: Before finalising your presentation, test the animations on different devices and screens to ensure they work smoothly. This is especially important if you are presenting in a setting where you are not using your own device.

Using animations and transitions thoughtfully in PowerPoint can enhance the storytelling aspect of your presentation, making it more dynamic and engaging. Remember, the goal is to aid in the communication of your message, not to overshadow it.

In the world of PowerPoint presentations, presentation design principles are more than just guidelines; they are the framework that breathes life into your slides. Throughout this guide, we’ve explored the essentials of design—from the fundamental principles of balance, contrast, and alignment, to the nuanced use of colour, typography, visuals, and animations. Each element plays a pivotal role in transforming standard presentations into extraordinary visual narratives.

Remember, the goal of applying these design principles is not merely to create aesthetically pleasing slides, but to enhance the communication and impact of your message. A well-designed PowerPoint slide can captivate your audience, simplify complex information, and leave a lasting impression.

As you embark on your next PowerPoint project, keep these principles in mind. Experiment with balance, play with colours, choose your typography wisely, strategically place your visuals, and animate with purpose. With practice and attention to these guidelines, you’ll be able to craft presentations that are not only visually stunning but also effective in conveying your message.

In the dynamic landscape of presentation design, continuous learning and adaptation are key. Stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in PowerPoint design to keep your presentations fresh and engaging. Remember, the best presentations are those that connect, communicate, and resonate with the audience.

Recent Posts

• Posted by James Robinson

PowerPoint animation: the ultimate guide.

When you think about PowerPoint animations, does your mind shoot to a...

How many slides should I have in my PowerPoint presentation?

When you’re planning out your next big presentation, it can be hard...

5 PowerPoint Design Principles to Make Your Presentations Stand Out

How do you look at your presentation – as just a fancy list or a great story that has the power to change the preconceived notions and perceptions of the audience? What do you want to accomplish through your presentation – you want your audience to just show up or want them to hang on to every word you have to utter and feel eager to take action? Well, the answers to these questions determine your approach towards the presentation design. Those who consider presentations as an integral part of business and a medium to create an affinity with the audience always lookout for great designs to add more fizz to their PowerPoint presentations .

With the right design, you can shape the message inside your head into a meaningful idea and increase the relatability factor among the audience, thereby enhancing the conversion rate. Now, if you are thinking of designing your own slide, you must realize that designing is not a cinch; it is a highly iterative and time-consuming process with endless trial and error. However, if you have a knack for designing, you can craft well-thought-out presentations following the below given PowerPoint design principles. Let’s take a look!

1. Choose the Images Wisely

Graphics and images can make or break your presentation. Choose the images that best fit the overall design of your presentation and anchor your slides well.

• Use just one or two images on a slide. Overuse of graphics will distract the audience, making them overwhelmed.
• Keep images in proportion to the slide’s size.
• If you have compressed the images, ensure that their quality remains intact on the large screen.
• Avoid writing text over an image or graphic as it will be difficult to read.

Useful Tip – If you don’t have much time to design images on your own, you can choose pre-designed and professional-looking presentation templates that come with well-researched content and stunning visuals. 

2. Layout Your Content Clearly Using Grid

Badly proportioned and askew-aligned slides make your audience completely lose their interest in your message. Here, PowerPoint grids and guides can do wonders! If you are one of those who think that the use of grids will limit their creativity, you are absolutely wrong. Grids have nothing to do with your creativity; instead, they provide clearly defined spaces for logos, main content, disclaimers, and other content, thereby giving a consistent, neat, and well-balanced look to your slides.

Watch this video to learn how to create a slide design with a grid.

3. Make a First Good Impression by Choosing a Smart Color Schem e

Colors have unique psychology associated with them. For instance, the blue color gives a conservative and calming look to your deck,  the green color stimulates interaction and reflects eco-friendliness, the red color conveys passion, and so on. You can make your message more effective, impactful, and memorable by using the right colors. 

• Use bright accent colors and light text on dark backgrounds.
• Bold accent colors and dark text look good on light backgrounds.
• Use corporate colors consistently within your presentation to boost branding.
• Avoid using intense colors; use them only for laying emphasis.

Useful Tip – Don’t be afraid of experimenting with different colors until you get the feeling that you actually want to convey to your audience .

Watch this video to learn 3 different ways to choose the right colors for your presentations.

4. Drive Focus by Making Good Use of Whitespace 

Imagine a presentation where slides were densely packed with information without single whitespace. How did it make you feel? Frustrated? Well, at that very moment, you might have realized how important whitespace is to calm the audience’s mind and let them breathe.

The intelligent use of whitespaces between design elements draws the attention of the audience to key elements and organizes the presented information in their mind. Further, whitespaces give openness to designs and a clutter-free, minimalist, and elegant look to slides, ensuring a great user experience and good reading performance. 

Here is the complete guide on how to use whitespace in PowerPoint presentations. Do watch!

5. Use Animations in Moderation for Maximum Impact

PowerPoint provides you an option to apply animation or transition to all slides. You can also add custom animation to specific objects of the slides. Whatever option you choose, be sure to remain consistent throughout the deck.

• Don’t use random animation as it will give an unprofessional look to your presentation and divert your audience.
• Don’t use animation just for the sake of using it; use it if it actually serves a direct purpose in your presentation.

The Bottom Line

Yes, design matters, and content too! You can’t choose design over the content or content over the design in a presentation. So, you must mingle the two into one seamless idea. A compelling design complements not only your content and message but also the intended purpose of your presentation. On the other hand, thoughtlessly packed information into a deck will quickly alienate your audience. To sum up, with a unified design and fine-tuned content, you can grab the attention that your deck deserves and positively reflect on your brand and company.

Which other PowerPoint design principles do you think the designer must take into account while designing the presentation? Leave your response in the comments below. And, if you like the blog post, do share it on your social media handles.

Leave a Response Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Please enter an answer in digits: 2 × 4 =

Ashish Arora

You might also like.

12 Ways to Make an Engaging Slide Deck and Captivate Your Audience

A Complete Guide to Writing a Clear and Concise Problem Statement

Dashboard Presentations: Data Visualization Made Simpler

How to Make a SIPOC Diagram for Presentations?

Unsupported browser

This site was designed for modern browsers and tested with Internet Explorer version 10 and later.

It may not look or work correctly on your browser.

• Communication

20 Basic PowerPoint Guidelines to Design Effective Presentations in 2024 (+Video)

No matter what kind of presentation you’re working on, make sure it's engaging and also well designed. Otherwise, you run the risk of dealing with death by PowerPoint and nobody wants to see their presentation flop. 

To make sure your presentation is effective , there are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines you need to follow. In this post, we’ll share those guidelines. We’ll also show you examples of engaging presentation designs so you can save time and make sure your presentation looks polished and professional. 

The Top PowerPoint Guidelines to Design Effective Presentations for 2024 (Video)

Do you want to get started with the best PowerPoint design guidelines quickly? Review the quickstart video:

For evern more PowerPoint design guidelines, study the complete tutorial below.

Guidelines for Planning Your PowerPoint Presentation

Before you start with the design part of your presentation, plan your presentation. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation design guidelines to follow when it comes to planning:

1. Decide on the Presentation Goal

First, decide on the presentation goal. Are you sharing an annual report or creating a pitch deck? Is the goal to increase sales or get the higher-ups onboard with a new marketing tactic?

Whatever the case may be, the presentation goal helps you decide what to include in your presentation and how that information should be presented. It'll also help you with all the other steps involved in creating an effective and engaging presentation. 

2. Create an Outline 

With your presentation goal in mind, create an outline for your presentation. You'll save time in the long run. Plus, you'll be sure that your presentation covers everything you need to cover for your idea or data to be understood. 

3. Think About the Slides You Need to Include

The next step is to think about the slides you need to include in your presentation. For example, if you’re creating a pitch deck for potential investors, sharing information about your company on an About or Team slide is a must. 

But if you’re creating an internal presentation to share your sales report, including those slides would be a waste of time. Instead, your presentation should focus on numbers and data as well as individual product or product line performance. 

4. Decide on Visuals

Your planning stage should account for visuals that'll help back up your story. This can include photos, icons, charts, infographic elements, graphs, tables, and anything else you need to make your data more visually appealing. Envato Elements is a great source for a wide variety of design assets .

Once you’ve decided on the visuals you want, gather them all in one place so you can easily locate them. Don’t forget that you can create charts and graphs from your Excel data if needed. Be sure to gather those spreadsheets as well. 

5. Establish Your Call to Action

Finally, decide what’s the next step your audience should take once you’re done delivering your presentation. Should they email you or call you to set up an appointment? Do they need to send over information? 

Make sure your last slide includes your call to action along with specific instructions on what to do.

PowerPoint Presentation Design Guidelines

Once you've get your presentation planned out, it’s time to tackle the design part of creating a presentation . When designing your presentation, keep the following guidelines in mind: 

1. Keep the Text to a Minimum

When it comes to your presentation, PowerPoint should assist you in delivering the presentation. It shouldn't be the main source of information. Less is more, so keep the text to a minimum. 

Stick to one main idea per slide and limit yourself to using no more than three bullet points per slide. This will help keep your audience engaged and not zoned out. 

2. Use Large Font Sizes

Another thing to keep in mind is that not everybody in your audience will be close to the slides. Make sure to use larger font sizes. Consider using 40 pts for headings and going no smaller than 28 pts for the content text.

3. Make Sure Fonts Are Readable

While we’re on the topic of fonts, avoid using script or decorative fonts. They're hard to read. Stick to sans-serif fonts for body text. To emphasize your headings, use a readable serif font. 

4. Use Color Sparingly

Color can make your presentation more visually appealing. But that doesn’t mean you've got to color every slide differently or use different colors for your fonts. If you’re presenting in a dark room, consider using a dark background for the slide paired with a light color for the text. It'll make it easier for your audience to follow along. 

Avoid using light text on light background or clashing colors. They'll distract your audience. 

5. Enhance the Data With Charts and Graphs

We mentioned earlier you need to decide on the visuals you'll use in your presentation. Using charts and graphs is a great way to make abstract data easier to understand. So, don’t shy away from using them. 

6. Design for Wide Screen Formats

Keep in mind that most projector screens are optimized for widescreen 16:9 ratio. As such, design your presentation following those PowerPoint presentation guidelines. If you design your presentation in 4:3 ratio, your presentation will still work. But some parts of your slides might get cut off or not display properly. 

7. Be Consistent With Style Settings

Another important bit of PowerPoint design guidelines is to keep your design style consistent across all slides. This will reinforce your brand image as well as ensure that the entire presentation is visually appealing.

8. Use Animations Sparingly

There's nothing wrong with using subtle animations or slide transitions to keep things interesting. But, avoid animating every single word or slide as this will make your presentation look amateurish and unprofessional. 

9. Proofread Everything

Be sure to proofread each slide to make sure there are no embarrassing typos. If you’re mentioning other associates or colleagues in your presentation, make sure their names are spelled correctly to avoid any awkward moments. Ask another person to go through your presentation and make sure it’s error-free.

10. Consider Using a Template

Our last guideline for making an effective PowerPoint presentation is to consider using a premade PowerPoint template . A premade template will have a professional design. It'll also have all the slides you'll need: from section break slides, company and team slides to charts, galleries, and more. This will save you a lot of time in the design stage and ensure that your presentation looks polished. 

Presentation Guidelines for Delivering Your PowerPoint

Now that your presentation is designed, the last thing you need to do is deliver it. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines to follow for delivering your PowerPoint presentation :

1. Do a Practice Run

Before the actual presentation day, do a practice run. This will help you memorize the contents of your presentation, not to mention it'll help you build up the necessary confidence.

2. Test the Equipment

Show up early before the presentation and test the equipment. The last thing you want is tech difficulties or malfunctions that'll delay the start of your presentation. 

3. Maintain Eye Contact

Throughout your presentation, maintain eye contact with your audience. This will make them feel like you’re talking to them. Plus, it'll help keep them engaged and interested instead of losing interest. 

4. Ask Questions During Your Presentation

Ask your audience questions during the presentation. Get them involved or ask if they've got any questions that need to be clarified. Getting your audience involved is a great tactic for making your entire presentation feel more engaging. It also allows your audience to feel like they're active participants instead of being bombarded with data.

5. Don’t Read the Slides

The last bit of PowerPoint guidance we've got for you is to avoid reading the slides. If you read the slides you’ll not only bore your audience, but you’ll also come off as disinterested in your own presentation. This will make your audience disengage and forget your presentation as soon as it’s over.

Best PowerPoint Presentation Template Examples

Following the basic PowerPoint guidelines outlined above is a great way to ensure your presentation has an engaging design and is easy to follow. But there's no doubt that designing an entire presentation from scratch is a time-consuming task. That’s why using a premade PowerPoint presentation template is a great alternative. 

You can find thousands of beautifully designed PowerPoint templates over on Envato Elements. If you buy design templates on a regular basis, Envato Elements is a logical choice. You get access to unlimited PowerPoint and other design templates for one low monthly price.  

Look at some of our top presentation templates from Envato Elements: 

1. Galaxi PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Galaxi PowerPoint template has a clean and modern design. It’s versatile enough to use for all kinds of presentations and comes with five premade color schemes. The template comes with 30 premade slides based on master slides, image placeholders, and editable shapes. 

2. Buizi PowerPoint Presentation

The Buizi is another minimal presentation template for PowerPoint with a versatile design. This template is a great choice for portfolio presentations and comes with 30 total slides, all based on master slides. You’ll also find custom vector icons and fully editable shapes. 

3. Aiony Creative PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a more creative solution, the Aiony template is a great choice. It’s very photo heavy. This is perfect for any presentation that relies heavily on images and photos. You’ll get a total of 50 slides and drag and drop image placeholders for easy editing. 

4. Agio PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Agio template is best suited for corporate presentations. It's got an elegant look and feel. Customize colors and fonts to your liking. 

Easily add photos using the image placeholders. You’ll get a total of 630 presentation slides designed in full HD resolution. 

5. Over PowerPoint Presentation Template

The Over PowerPoint presentation template is a multipurpose PowerPoint template. Use it for corporate presentations as well as for pitch decks and webinars. The template comes with 32 slides designed in both standard and HD resolution. 

Envato Elements is a great choice if you need design templates on a regular basis.

Find More PowerPoint Template

And if you want to see more beautiful PowerPoint templates from both Envato Elements, check out the following articles: 

Envato Elements: Design Without Limits

Envato Elements has a compelling offer.  For a low monthly price, you get access to thousands of unlimited use PowerPoint templates, web templates, stock photos, fonts, and more. 

What’s more, you can download as many templates as you want and customize them to your needs. Sign up for Envato Elements and start downloading PowerPoint templates today.

Design a Stellar Presentation With the Help of PowerPoint Presentation Guidelines

Designing a stellar presentation might seem daunting. But once you’re familiar with and follow the basic PowerPoint guidelines for creating effective PowerPoint presentations, the task becomes easier. 

To save time while you’re designing your presentation, use one of our top PowerPoint presentation templates from Envato Elements. Why not get started today?

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Brenda Barron . A video has been added by Nathan Umoh . Brenda and Nathan are freelance instructors for Envato Tuts+. 

• VisualStory®
• Duarte DataStory®
• Presentation Principles™

Slide:ology®

Slide Design

• Speaker Coaching
• Presenting Virtually™
• Illuminate™
• Adaptive Listening™
• Team training
• Learning journeys
• Brand and product storytelling
• Keynotes and events
• Sales enablement
• Communication systems
• Accelerator Lab™
• Our culture
• Our leaders
• Case studies
• Media mentions
• Guides and tools
• Learner support

4 presentation design principles to live by

Ryan Orcutt

Today, more than ever, presentations hold the world’s most critical messages. Whether you’re presenting a groundbreaking technology, a new business idea, or raising awareness of a social issue, if the design isn’t carefully thought through, your message could get lost. To make sure that your message resonates with listeners, follow these four basic presentation design principles when designing your next presentation.

4 presentation design principles

1. use color with purpose.

One of the key mistakes that people make when they create presentation visuals is not thinking through their color choices. Most people pick their favorite color or just a color at random, but color is one of the key ways that you can communicate visually, so it’s important to be purposeful.

It’s not so much which color you use, it’s how you use it. People will draw connections between the colors you use and the meaning you assign them. For example, in Roger Sant’s climate change presentation, orange became the key color.

We made a decision, early in the process, that we were going to use orange to represent carbon. By staying consistent throughout the presentation and using orange with purpose, we made it easy for people to draw a connection. Orange became a character in our story. In fact, it became the evil villain: carbon.

In the presentation, on charts with carbon data or large text slides with negative words like “crisis,” we used the same vivid orange to create a connection. The average audience member might not make this connection consciously. But unconsciously, they’ll know when they see orange, it means danger.

Because audiences are constantly making unconscious connections, you want to make sure you’re not creating connections by mistake. You should be thinking about how, and when, you use your brand colors or the colors of a competitor.

2. Don’t be default

When you put effort into your presentation, people will take notice. It’s almost as if the effort you put into your presentation demands more attention and respect from your audience. But, you don’t have to agonize over your visuals to earn respect. One of the key ways that you can make a presentation stand out is to go just beyond the default settings.

For example, if you’re going to put a chart in your presentation, it would be really easy to just plug in your data and call it a day. But that’s not what’s going to capture your audience’s attention. In fact, it might be what puts your audience to sleep. If you put a little bit of extra effort into your design choices and make it a point to simplify for your audience, your data and stand out.

Take a look at how we took this chart and avoided being default. The plot area became a transparency of white. The fonts are the same ones used in the rest of the presentation. Colors are used consistently and with purpose and the legend is easier to read. The lines of the chart are thicker and stand out from the axis and grid lines. And, maybe most importantly, callouts are placed on either side of the line chart so the audience can easily read the key data. All of these edits transform the chart from default to designed. By doing this, you’ve not only demanded more attention from your audience, you’ve also helped them understand the data so they don’t have to go searching for it.

3. Use animation with intention

We’ve all been guilty of tapping into the vast array of PowerPoint animations and transitions and adding them into our presentations. While it’s a good idea to keep presentations visually interesting, we can’t add animation “just because.” Adding animations just for the heck of it can distract from your presentation rather than add to it. Like color, you want to use animations with intention instead of just for decoration.

For example, say there are four questions we want to present to the audience. If all four questions were up on a slide all at once, the audience might get overwhelmed, or read ahead, and not listen to what you have to say. In this case, we’d use animations to pace the audience and have them read what we want them to read, when we want them to read it.

When showing the history of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere during Roger Sant’s presentation, we showed the previous 400,000 years first. That focused the audience’s attention on a baseline. Then, to create contrast, we animated in the amount of carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.

4. Give photos a treatment

Another way to improve your presentations without a ton of extra work is to pay more attention to your photo choices. Take the time you need to find a good stock photo, take a quality photo on your own, or pay someone to take photos for you.

When using photography in Roger Sant’s presentation, we paid a lot of attention to both the content of the photo and the tone we wanted to create. For example, when Sant was discussing the northern white rhino, which is all but extinct, we used a black and white photo (above). We also made sure to show the armed guards that were protecting the rhino. Whereas when we showed pictures of the southern white rhino (below), which was successfully brought back from the edge of extinction, we used a warm, full-color photo. This choice gave the photo an optimistic feel instead of a cold or a scary one, like the first photo.

The trick is this: It’s not just about choosing the right photos , it’s about applying the right treatment . Doing this can add another powerful layer of meaning to your presentation.

Use these four presentation design principles and you’ll be on your way to creating a presentation that inspires and motivates your audience.

Illustrated by Aisling Doyle

Check out these related courses

Presentation Principles™

Learn presentation basics

Follow a step-by-step method to write compelling stories, amplify ideas visually, and present with confidence while learning at your own pace.

Turn ideas into visuals

Use visual thinking and design principles to transform information into effective and memorable graphics for presentations.

Build effective slides

Create attractive slide decks using presentation software, even if you’re not a designer. Our training, tips, and tricks will help you work smarter, faster, and more efficiently.

Create “skimmable” documents

Build helpful pre-reads and impactful leave-behinds with presentation software to support knowledge sharing and decision-making.

Check out these related resources

Everything you need to know about using speaker notes in PowerPoint®

Learn all the Powerpoint hacks with speaker notes from an expert presentation designer. Easily design and prepare for your next presentation with ease.

Walking decks 101: A beginner’s guide and why you need one

Learn everything you need to know about walking decks, what they are, how to use one, and all the use cases for one.

How to design and deliver an investor pitch deck that gets funded

Learn tips and tricks to use for your investor pitch deck from the experts in presentation design and persuasive communication.

Part II: What would Duarte do – Your most pressing questions answered

Get your slide design questions answered with insider tips from three world-class Duarte presentation designers.

What would Duarte do: Slide design makeovers

Get insider tips from three world-class Duarte presentation designers as they provide live slide makeovers and teach you the secrets to engaging and memorable slides.

What sets a top presentation design agency apart from the rest?

The presentation design agencies do more than just “clean up your slides.” Learn the difference between hiring a presentation designer, a basic presentation design company, and a premium presentation design agency.

Home Blog Design How to Get Great PowerPoint Design Ideas (with Examples)

How to Get Great PowerPoint Design Ideas (with Examples)

Are you staring at that blank PowerPoint slide? Unable to decide which PowerPoint slide design is the best to make your presentation pop? The longer you look at that computer screen, the harder it seems to get PowerPoint design ideas, not easier. We’ve all been there.

You have your content ready. What you need now is a way to present this content in a way that leaves your audience impressed. Indeed, you don’t want your audience to feel bored when you present your ideas. 

5 PowerPoint Design Ideas to Craft the Perfect Presentation 

An excellent solution to this issue is to learn how to get Design Ideas on Microsoft PowerPoint. The good news is that these PowerPoint ideas have already been intelligently crafted for by the modern AI algorithms provided in Microsoft PowerPoint. Plus, combining them with visually appealing slides by SlideModel , you have the perfect toolset to make outstanding presentations .

When beautifully made PowerPoint templates already exist, there is no reason to spend your energy and the hours of your day creating a design from scratch.  

And so, without further ado, we present the creative presentation ideas to incorporate and execute stunning PowerPoint designs to ensure that your audience pays attention to you. Let’s dive in!

Presentation Idea #1: Employ existing PowerPoint themes from Microsoft PowerPoint

Your Microsoft PowerPoint comes with a number of presentation themes preinstalled that you can choose from. This way it reduces the amount of time you need to spend to choose from PowerPoint slide ideas. You can then proceed to edit and customize a presentation template per your requirements. Although they do not come with the necessary details to guide you through the editing process, this can be a good starting point.

Alternatively, you can browse some of our pre-designed PowerPoint themes examples to use in your presentations.

Presentation Idea #2: Incorporate the core design principles

With the task of creating a PowerPoint presentation, the presenter has to make sure the design elements within the presentation are attractive and draw attention. This involves a number of factors such as the alignment, color combinations, charts and graphs, fonts, animations, transitions, and many more. There is a science behind design which involves psychological principles. Each line style, font, color and graphic you use in your slides will ultimately influence the message you are conveying to the audience.

For instance, you may choose the font based on readability ( Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Times New Roman ), category ( Serif, Slab Serif, Sans Serif ), purpose ( logo or text ), etc. You may choose the font size on accessibility (where a starting size of 12 points=16px is considered to be the most accessible). All the above mentioned fonts are ADA-compliant as well, which is a plus.

These core principles are a tenet of PowerPoint slide ideas, and are valid for short but also for long form PowerPoint style presentations.

Presentation Idea #3: Take the expert opinion 

A wordy slide will only make people switch off and turn to their phones. What is needed is to use as few words as possible to convey as much information as possible.

1. The 1-6-6 rule

The 1-6-6 rule is one of the few generalized rules that suggest that there ought to be one main idea for each slide, a maximum of six bullet points, and a maximum of six words per bullet point. You may also see this rule in the form of the 1-5-5 or the 1-7-7 rule. Therefore, employ this rule per your specific needs. 

2. Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule 

Heed the words of Guy Kawasaki , the modern design evangelist. According to him, an average person can’t keep up with more than 10 concepts in a meeting. Therefore, a presentation should include no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes, and use font not smaller than 30 points. This is known as the 10/20/30 rule by Guy Kawasaki, and some professional presenters take it in mind when preparing and designing their presentations.

Presentation Idea #4: A picture is worth a thousand words. A video a billion.

It’s not enough to be as succinct as possible because visuals are an even more effective medium to convey the necessary information. A visual can be a simple picture, graphs, charts, or a video that can ensure that the audience understands the point you are trying to make and support the message you convey to an audience. 

Converting your slideshow into a video helps you free yourself from constant clicking to get to the next point or slide. To achieve this, you can use the “Record” feature (in the Record tab) in PowerPoint to convert your presentation into a video. 

This also enables you to avoid reading your slides, which is discouraged most of the time. Have a monolog prepared for your presentation and let the slides speak for themselves in the form of a video. This way, you talk to the audience and actively engage with them. This makes you the best presenter bar none there and is one of the best PowerPoint ideas today. 

Alternatively, the PowerPoint Designer provides some attractive video presentation templates that you can use and incorporate in your slide shows. Check out some of them here:

To access these PowerPoint Design Ideas, simply go to PowerPoint’s Design tab in the Ribbon, and look for the Design Ideas button, as shown below:

Alternatively, to take advantage of video presentations, you can insert videos from the Insert tab.

Presentation Idea #5: Plot a Call to Action (CTA)

When you finish your presentation, your audience must have a purpose and a sense of direction to work towards that purpose. This requires some calls to action to be included in your presentation. These phrases will motivate and inspire your audience members and make them realize they have the drive to take the actions they need to take. 

Here are a few examples of such slides:

Creative PowerPoint Design Ideas from the PowerPoint Designer Slides

If you are looking for fresh design ideas to use in your presentations, PowerPoint Design Ideas can be helpful. Here are some examples of slide designs you can use and apply with the ease of a few clicks into your existing presentations. These designs change not only the appearance of your cover slide but also the internal slides.

Example 1: Blue PowerPoint Design Idea with Curved Lines

Example 2: A modern design idea with pastel colors

Example 3: Creative PowerPoint Design Idea with a colorful background

Example 4: Presentation Design Ideas with Creative Cover Slide Layout

Example 5: PowerPoint Design Idea Concept for Presentations

Example 6: Presentation Design Idea with diagonal lines

Example 7: PowerPoint Design Ideas with Bubble and Liquid Style

Example 8: Modern PowerPoint Design Idea Concept Template

How to use PowerPoint Slide Design Ideas to Enhance your Presentation

Microsoft PowerPoint comes with a significant number of features to create a custom slide that satisfies your design needs. This section will take you through the main methods to create a custom slide. Here we go!

1. The Home Tab

For both text and visual, the Home tab has a number of fundamental features to create an attractive slide. These features include the Layout, Alignment, Font, Font size, SmartArt, Arrange, etc. With the Arrang e functionality, you can create layers in your slide to give depth and a cooler format to the slide.

2. The Insert Tab

The Insert tab allows you to populate your slides with visuals from simple shapes to images and videos, thereby making the slide far more informative without the use of extra words. It includes the Table, Shape, Icons, Action, Equation, Audio, Video, etc. 

From this tab, you can insert a variety of visual graphics into your slides: pictures, shapes, icons, or even screenshots from your other apps.

Let’s take a look at the following quick example. Using the Icons tab, we can get access to a huge collection of Illustrations, Stickers, Videos and Cutout people. The illustrations can serve as a base point to decorate your presentation and produce visually appealing slides.

3. The Transitions and Animations tabs

Two of the most well-known features of PowerPoint, they not only allow beautiful effects to mesmerize the audience, but they are also necessary to order and arrange your text and data in a way that constitutes a narrative. Or in other words, you can use these features to support your speech and at the same time add some visual effects to your slides, while telling a coherent story. 

4. The Design and View tabs

The Design tab is the placeholder for the PowerPoint Designer feature. When you click on the Designer, it populates the right-hand side of the window with a pane that contains Design Ideas.

The Designer feature is available to those with an active Office 365 subscription. However, as a workaround, if you don’t have this version of PowerPoint, you can use the PowerPoint Online version.

When you add an image to the slide, the PowerPoint Designer automatically generates design ideas to help you create a professional-looking slide, create illustrations, convert text to a graphic, etc. You can choose from several generated layouts, which will also allow you to save a significant amount of time when you are creating a presentation.  

You can use the Slide Master and the Layout Master to make sure that all your slides contain the same font and images (e.g. logos). You will find these options in the View tab. 

In the View tab, we find options to optimize how the slide will look to the viewer during the slideshow. But another amazing feature that we briefly mentioned a bit earlier, is contained in this tab, the Slide Master .

When you choose a new layout for your slide, it has its own theme, i.e. its own way to arrange and show the text and graphics. With the Slide Master , you can make sure all your slides follow the same theme in terms of fonts and images. This in turn leads you to the Slide Layouts to modify each individual slide. 

With the Slide Master , you can modify backgrounds, rearrange placeholders, customize text format, etc. 

With the help of these feature-rich tabs, you will be able to customize and optimize your slides to your satisfaction. This will ensure that the presentation is so remarkable that the viewers can’t help but take note of the information that you wish to convey. 

It is important to remember that this is an iterative process for everyone. You might need a few trials to land on the perfect combination of color, text, alignment, animations, and the rest to get the results that you desire. 

With these tools in hand and the professionally designed templates from SlideModel, you can be sure that your presentation will never be boring again.

If you do not see the Designer feature… How to enable Design Ideas in PowerPoint?

As mentioned earlier, the PowerPoint Designer , for some known as PowerPoint Design Ideas, is an AI-powered feature within the Microsoft PowerPoint software (in the Design tab) that helps you generate slide design ideas automatically. 

However, if you do not see the Designer feature on your computer, just go to File -> Options -> General , where you will see the Automatically show me design ideas in the PowerPoint Designer section. Check this box and the Designer feature will start working. 

Let’s take a quick look at how to use the Designer feature. For the following example, we are going to simply put our text on a new blank slide and click on the “Designer” icon to get suggestions for creative slide layouts on the right. Simply click on the layout that suits your needs. The final slide will be a unique visual that you can use to get started with your presentation.

You can also go to the Designer after getting your text onto several slides to prepare a thematic slideshow. The more you experiment, the better the output. 

PowerPoint Design Ideas not working

Like any other software you’ve used for work, you may come across problems that keep you from using the Designer feature. On the desktop version, the PowerPoint Designer is only available to paid subscribers. However, the subscription for Office 365 Germany does not have this feature. On the other hand, for the web version it is available to everyone. 

Is the PowerPoint Design Ideas not working for you? There are a few reasons for such an issue to arise and there are appropriate solutions for each of them:

1. Unable to see the Design Ideas button

If you have bought the subscription to Microsoft Office but still don’t see the option to turn on Design Ideas in the Design tab, this is what you have to do to correct this error: 

• Turn on the Office Connected Experiences . Go to File > Account , and under Account Privacy , select Manage Settings :

• If your subscription is paid for by your organization, ask your IT department for it to be turned ON.
• You need to uninstall and then re-install Office if you have just upgraded to the Microsoft 365 subscription.

2. Unable to see any design suggestions

If you are able to turn on the Designer function but no new design suggestions are presented in the right hand side pane, this is how you solve this issue:

• Check to see if your internet connection is working.
• Use an in-built theme from Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Make sure your slide has the Title or Title + Content layout.
• Only use a maximum of four images of size greater than 200 by 200 pixels.
• Check to make sure no one else is co-authoring or working on this presentation.
• Check to make sure there is no shape or text box within the slide.

3. The Design Idea button is grayed out

Is the Designer functionality inaccessible or unclickable? Nothing to worry about; take the following steps to fix this problem – 

• As before, make sure your internet connection is working. Consider using a VPN service if you have any problems with access.
• Only select a single slide at a time and make sure that you haven’t clicked on another point, such as between two slides

How to Turn Off PowerPoint Design Ideas?

There are several ways to turn off PowerPoint Design Ideas, in this short tutorial we explain how to do it:

How to Turn Off PowerPoint Design Ideas using Ribbon?

The easiest way is to use the Ribbon, when you are in Normal View click on the Ribbon design option.

Then click on Design Ideas in the design option.

That’s it, that way you can turn the PowerPoint Design Ideas functionality on and off.

How to Turn Off PowerPoint Design Ideas using the Task Pane?

Another way to turn off PowerPoint Design Ideas in the normal PowerPoint view is to use the Task Pane.

Click on “Stop showing ideas for new presentations” at the top of the Design Ideas Task Pane.

How to Turn Off PowerPoint Design Ideas using PowerPoint Options?

The third option to disable the PowerPoint Design Ideas functionality is through PowerPoint Options.

Click on the file option in the Ribbon. Then the options box appears.

Click on General in the left menu.

In the right pane, uncheck “Automatically show me design ideas” and “Automatically show me suggestions when I create a new presentation”.

Click Accept.

Final Words

Once you apply these PowerPoint slide design ideas, the result will be a more engaged audience that holds on to your every word. These recommendations are the exact solution you need to refine your presentation. 

Now that you have the resources and the tools to perfect your presentation, there’s no need to wait any longer. Get started and show your audience what you can do! Let us know in the comments below how this guide has helped you create the ideal presentation.

Like this article? Please share

Presentation Ideas, Presentation Tips Filed under Design

Related Articles

Filed under Google Slides Tutorials • August 6th, 2024

How to Use Google Slides Strikethrough Text

Customize your presentation slides by using Google Slides strikethrough and add a factor of humor, emphasize, or track changes in a truly visual method.

Filed under Business • July 24th, 2024

How to Create a Demo Presentation

Discover the secrets behind successful demo presentations and what they should contain with this article. Recommended PPT templates included.

Filed under Presentation Ideas • July 17th, 2024

How to Convert a Text Document into a Presentation with AI

One of the biggest challenges for presenters is to summarize content from lengthy reports, academic papers, or any other kind of written media in an informative and concise way. Rather than losing countless hours going over and over the same text, we can speed up the process thanks to the virtues of artificial intelligence. In […]

Leave a Reply

Tips for creating and delivering an effective presentation

In this article.

Creating an effective presentation

Delivering an effective presentation

Tips for creating an effective presentation

Top of Page

Tips for delivering an effective presentation

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

More From Forbes

5 principles for making powerpoint slides with impact.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

A presentation using Powerpoint. Corporate presentations may combine all forms of media content. ... [+] (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Delivering effective and powerful presentations is critical to business success. It’s about making an impact that influences your audience, whether you are an entrepreneur pitching investors, a small business owner pitching a product to a retailer or potential customer, a startup presenting a new initiative, or a manager asking for budget or staffing resources.

Here are five principles you must use to create powerful PowerPoint presentations:

1. It’s About You, Not the Slides

Whatever the purpose is for the presentation, it’s about your purpose or message, what you know, your passion, and your delivery. It’s not about what’s written on the slides.

Switch the focus of attention from the slides themselves and onto your message, your expertise, and your grasp of the content -- not to mention your ultimate goal for the presentation itself.

You won’t be able to do that if you let the slides themselves dominate the presentation, if you read from your slides, or have so much text on your slides that the audience themselves read the slides instead of listening to you.

2. Let Your PowerPoint Slides Support Your Point, Not Make It

I’ve seen people, including experienced professionals at senior levels, essentially read from their slides when presenting. Or their slides have lots of points but the presenter ignores them and leaves the audience confused about whether to focus on the side or the presenter.

Slides that accompany a presentation shouldn’t be the focus of attention or prop up a poor presenter.

So, don’t develop slides so you can read them. Develop them to support you. Start with what you need to say by developing your outline, then create slides that complement and emphasize your points rather than starting with a slide and then scripting what you say around the slide.

More AllBusiness:

The Top 25 Home-Based Business Ideas

10 Websites Where You Should Have Your Company Profile Listed

25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business

The 10 Most Creative New Business Ideas Out There

3. Incorporate Graphics Into Your PowerPoint Presentation to Evoke Emotion

Slides don’t need to have bullets. If you do your presentation slides properly, they will be a guide or support to what you are saying. While you can accomplish that with short bullet points on your slides, you will have more impact with graphics and images.

And you don’t need follow the so-called rules of thumbs for the number of slides, since the time you spend on each slide is what should guide you.

Take the slide with five bullets and make five separate slides with either just a graphic that illustrates the point or a graphic and a word or two, but without a bullet point. You can spend the same amount of time on the five separate slides as you would on a single five-bullet slide, yet you will end up with more impactful slides.

4. Keep Your PowerPoint Slides Simple

If you are making a point, be clear and concise on your slide. Eliminate as many words as possible, use graphics as mentioned above, and, if you are creating a graph or using a table to show information, simplify them down to the essential elements that matter. Don’t just take a standard Excel graph and copy it onto your slide. Either simplify the Excel graph or create a simplified graphic in PowerPoint instead.

Take a look at a few examples of infographics to see how information can be conveyed in a more simplified, impactful way.

Beyond the content, make your template streamlined. Be a rebel and scrap your organization’s standard template. A simple single-colored background is best. Or use a colored slide for sections or to change topics, then simple white slides in between for your actual content. If you are using graphics to emphasize your point, make them full-slide size and your background template becomes a non-issue.

Also, eliminate the logo, contact information, or whatever else your marketing department added to the templates that show up on each slide. If you are presenting, they should know who you are. Putting your corporate info on the intro page and then possibly on the last page is all you need.

5. Tell a Story with Your Presentation

Storytelling has always been an effective way to convey information and make it more memorable. So, don’t just give information, facts, and figures on your slides.

Build a story into your presentation, whether a single scenario that you carry through your presentation or separate stories (or examples) throughout your presentation to emphasize and give context to specific points. Not only will it be more memorable if you can tailor your story to the audience, it will connect more readily.

The story isn’t for entertainment, although it should be interesting. The story should be related to the topic. For instance, if you are presenting a business case about new equipment, your story should be about the old equipment you are replacing and what happens when the new equipment is used. Create your story based on the real-life implications and benefits in a real-world application instead of just presenting uninteresting facts and figures that your audience will immediately forget.

Read all of Michel Theriault's articles on AllBusiness.com.

Related Articles on AllBusiness:

9 Ways to Make Your Presentations More Powerful

The 7 Best Tools and Apps for Amazing Presentations, Proposals, and Prototypes

The Keys to Great Sales Presentations

Ten Tips for Avoiding PowerPoint Limbo

For more great small business articles such as The Top 25 Home-Based Business Ideas and Keeping Your Business Ideas Confidential , visit AllBusiness.com and AllBusiness Experts . For local business information on 15 million businesses, be sure to check out InBusiness.com .

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

The 4 Design Principles in PowerPoint!

Design principles in PowerPoint are there to serve as basic design guidelines when creating PowerPoint presentations. The four principles can help you design visually appealing and effective presentations.

In this article, we’ll explain the CRAP guideline and show you how to exactly use the four design principles.

CRAP – the 4 design principles

The CRAP guideline is made up of the following 4 principles:

#1: Contrast

With contrasts on your slides , you create a crucial design element: the attention of your viewers is drawn to important, visually highlighted information.

If certain elements differ from the rest of your slide by color, font, size or shape, these elements will stand out. For example, read this article in our blog on “PowerPoint Backgrounds” to learn how to make your presentation stand out.

#2: Repetition

Repetition and consistent use of design elements across your slides promote recognition and visual unity. You can achieve this consistency, for example, by using uniform fonts, formatting, graphic elements, and a corporate design color palette.

#3: Alignment

The arrangement of the various elements on your slides also plays an important role in creating engaging presentations. If you want to create a professional and harmonious-looking presentation , you can create structure and order by clearly aligning the elements on your slides.

Design grids and guidelines are particularly helpful here. You can insert these by placing a check mark next to “Gridlines” or “Guidelines ” under “View”.

#4: Proximity

In the context of PowerPoint, you can think of the term proximity as the positioning of elements on the slide. You should place related elements close to each other.

Because good proximity not only makes it easier for your audience to grasp and understand the content, but also conveys a visual hierarchy. This way you can convey the importance of the different elements to your audience.

Another aspect that helps your audience grasp the content on your slides is white space. Find out more in our blog article on “White Space on your PowerPoint slides”.

To sum up: Design Principles for Appealing Presentations!

Use the CRAP-principles to deliver an engaging presentation to your audience. A good design will help your audience absorb the information easily and your listeners will thank you for it!

Are you looking for visually supportive and professionally designed slide templates ? Feel free to look around our store. Here we have numerous slides prepared for you to download on a wide variety of (business) topics. Take a look today! ► To the store

Further articles, that might interest you:

• Why You Should Make Sure to have White Space on Your Slides: 5 Advantages!
• PowerPoint Backgrounds: How to Make Your Presentations Pop
• Revealed: The 12 secrets for a perfect PowerPoint presentation

Share this post

• share  
• save  

Design Thinking: Problem Solving with a Difference

Why Corporate Mission Statements Are So Important

7 Tips & Learnings from the Apple Keynote

• Get started with computers
• Learn Microsoft Office
• Apply for a job
• Improve my work skills
• Design nice-looking docs
• Getting Started
• Smartphones & Tablets
• Typing Tutorial
• Online Learning
• Basic Internet Skills
• Online Safety
• Social Media
• Zoom Basics
• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Career Planning
• Resume Writing
• Cover Letters
• Job Search and Networking
• Business Communication
• Entrepreneurship 101
• Careers without College
• Job Hunt for Today
• 3D Printing
• Freelancing 101
• Personal Finance
• Sharing Economy
• Decision-Making
• Graphic Design
• Photography
• Image Editing
• Learning WordPress
• Language Learning
• Critical Thinking
• For Educators
• Translations
• Staff Picks
• English expand_more expand_less

PowerPoint Tips  - Simple Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations

Powerpoint tips  -, simple rules for better powerpoint presentations, powerpoint tips simple rules for better powerpoint presentations.

PowerPoint Tips: Simple Rules for Better PowerPoint Presentations

Lesson 17: simple rules for better powerpoint presentations.

/en/powerpoint-tips/embed-excel-charts-in-a-slide/content/

Simple rules for better PowerPoint presentations

Have you ever given a PowerPoint presentation and noticed that something about it just seemed a little … off? If you’re unfamiliar with basic PowerPoint design principles, it can be difficult to create a slide show that presents your information in the best light.

Poorly designed presentations can leave an audience feeling confused, bored, and even irritated. Review these tips to make your next presentation more engaging.

Don't read your presentation straight from the slides

If your audience can both read and hear, it’s a waste of time for you to simply read your slides aloud. Your audience will zone out and stop listening to what you’re saying, which means they won’t hear any extra information you include.

Instead of typing out your entire presentation, include only main ideas, keywords, and talking points in your slide show text. Engage your audience by sharing the details out loud.

Follow the 5/5/5 rule

To keep your audience from feeling overwhelmed, you should keep the text on each slide short and to the point. Some experts suggest using the 5/5/5 rule : no more than five words per line of text, five lines of text per slide, or five text-heavy slides in a row.

Don't forget your audience

Who will be watching your presentation? The same goofy effects and funny clip art that would entertain a classroom full of middle-school students might make you look unprofessional in front of business colleagues and clients.

Humor can lighten up a presentation, but if you use it inappropriately your audience might think you don’t know what you’re doing. Know your audience, and tailor your presentation to their tastes and expectations.

Choose readable colors and fonts

Your text should be easy to read and pleasant to look at. Large, simple fonts and theme colors are always your best bet. The best fonts and colors can vary depending on your presentation setting. Presenting in a large room? Make your text larger than usual so people in the back can read it. Presenting with the lights on? Dark text on a light background is your best bet for visibility.

Don't overload your presentation with animations

As anyone who’s sat through a presentation while every letter of every paragraph zoomed across the screen can tell you, being inundated with complicated animations and exciting slide transitions can become irritating.

Before including effects like this in your presentation, ask yourself: Would this moment in the presentation be equally strong without an added effect? Does it unnecessarily delay information? If the answer to either question is yes—or even maybe—leave out the effect.

Use animations sparingly to enhance your presentation

Don’t take the last tip to mean you should avoid animations and other effects entirely. When used sparingly, subtle effects and animations can add to your presentation. For example, having bullet points appear as you address them rather than before can help keep your audience’s attention.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you create a presentation—your audience will thank you. For more detailed information on creating a PowerPoint presentation, visit our Office tutorials .

/en/powerpoint-tips/three-tips-for-beautiful-powerpoint-presentations/content/

• Presentation creation
• PowerPoint templates
• Presentation training
• Print design
• Pitch deck example
• PPT Template example
• Investor deck example
• Product deck example
• Presentation services
• Infographic design
• Pitch decks
• Investor presentations
• Marketing presentations
• Conference presentations
• Finance presentations
• Product presentations
• CPD presentations
• Training overview
• Virtual presentation skills training
• PowerPoint template training
• Storytelling training
• Our showreel
• Charity presentation example
• Conference presentation example
• CPD presentation example
• Investor deck example – Seed stage
• Investor deck example – Series C
• Marketing presentation example
• PowerPoint template example
• Product presentation example

Blog / Presentation Design / The six rules of impactful PowerPoint design.

The six rules of impactful PowerPoint design.

You don’t need to be a professional designer to enhance the look of your PowerPoint presentations. Find out how to design professional, visually-striking slides with our six PowerPoint design rules. Given the fact that PowerPoint presentations are the most ubiquitous communication tool in business and education, it’s crazy how many bad ones are out there. You’d think that because of how important presentations are to business strategy , most organisations would have at least a vague idea of PowerPoint design best practice. But we’ve seen enough presentations to make the call that most organisations follow the old school design rubric with a bit too much fervour for today’s competitive climate. There’s no more room for excuses. Your audience isn’t going to forgive you for making them sit through slides overstuffed with bullet points and blinding colour choices. You’ve got to find a way of standing out in a crowded landscape of presentations. As a PowerPoint design agency , we’re huge advocates of clean, slick, minimalist design, and we’re going to share five PowerPoint rules to help you design slides to be proud of.

PowerPoint rule #1. Content first, design second

Before you think about designing anything, you’ve got to finalise the content you want to display on each slide. The words you write will dictate how the slides are visualised, so outlining the messages you want to communicate is the first step on your journey to designing a good-looking slide.  Once you have your content hashed out in written form, decide what goes on which slide by putting your ideas onto post-it notes and organising them into your desired flow. Storyboarding is a great way of doing this. This way, you can gauge the scope of your presentation in a visual way and avoid time-consuming edits of your final designs later in the process.

PowerPoint rule #2. Strip copy back to a point per slide

If you’re planning on splitting a slide into a group of bullet points and an infographic, you’re brewing the recipe for a congested presentation. By this point, you should have cut away the excess fat of your messaging, leaving only the most impactful soundbites that’ll actually matter to your audience. You don’t want to put your messages in a position where they have to compete for audience attention. Breaking your points up will give your listeners room to digest each of your ideas, one at a time. You, as the presenter, will act as a guide, leading them smoothly from point to point with a relevant, tailored visual to enhance your delivery.

PowerPoint rule #3. Harness core design principles

There are a handful of core PowerPoint design principles you should keep at the forefront of your mind whenever you’re putting presentation layouts together. In true one point at a time fashion, let’s address them individually:

If the point you’re making on a slide has different elements to it that form a whole, make sure their distinct from one another is stark. Graphics, text and background images should contrast and stand out among each other. An easy way to do this is through varying colour palettes , but make sure you select colours that complement each other.

Using repetition to link ideas together is a great way of creating visual uniformity. Curate a look and feel of the kind of design direction you want to go down, implement this style in a PowerPoint template , lock it down and you’ll have formed the groundwork of your presentation design.

Alignment is what gives design a sense of balance. How you arrange the information on a slide and where each component is situated will direct how the content is interpreted by the audience. When things are properly aligned, every component appears as though it’s in the right place and cohabiting equally instead of fighting for space.

Elements that are related to each other should be placed close together. This will make it easier for your audience to detect the cohesion of your ideas and understand the connection between them, while eliminating ambiguity.

PowerPoint rule #4. Turn your copy into a visual

Each visual element in your PowerPoint presentation should serve a purpose: your slides aren’t just there to house your content, they should act as powerful visual assets that deliver your story in a more impactful and compelling way. There are four aspects to designing presentation visuals that you should be mindful of:

Every image you select has to be relevant and high-quality. Stay away from tacky stock photos of professionals shaking hands, fake business meetings and groups of people high-fiving. Start communicating with visuals that match the personality of your brand. With a bit of digging and the right keyword searches, you can find some really cool images from subscription stock libraries, some of which are free like Unsplash and Death to the Stock Photo .

Ever wondered why most bank logos are blue and those of fast food outlets usually include red? It’s no coincidence – it’s because blue is culturally associated with trust and responsibility, while red evokes feelings of energy and immediacy. Colour plays a big part in how we digest and process information. The cultural and psychological meanings behind colours are definitely something you should take into account in your PowerPoint design. Think about how you want your message to be perceived and pick a colour scheme that reflects that. You can use Adobe Colour to find popular palettes if you’re stuck.

Choosing the best presentation fonts depends on the tone of your presentation, your audience and the overall vibe of the environment you’re speaking in.  Serifs are more prevalent in print, whereas sans-serifs are more common in web design, which might be why serifs are considered more ‘classic’ and sans-serifs ‘modern’. Consider the different characteristics and connotations of a font when selecting typefaces for your presentation, and how these associations align with your subject. Legibility is the most important thing for presentation – so keep it simple by sticking to between 45-90 characters (including spaces) per line, and pay special attention to spacing. If you use decorative fonts and scripts, make sure they’re just in the headings. As a general rule to follow, try to limit yourself to 2-3 typefaces per presentation to ensure visual consistency.

PowerPoint rule #5. Control the eye with slick animation

PowerPoint animations and transitions are often approached with caution – which perhaps isn’t surprising considering we’ve all endured a few ill-advised fly-ins in our time. The trick to effective animations and transitions is making sure that they’re in service of the story you’re telling: use them in a minimalist way to reduce disruption between slides, help your information flow along naturally, and build up multiple layers of messaging.

PowerPoint rule #6. Visualise your data effectively

If data or financial insight forms an important part of your presentation, you’re going to want to deliver it in an exciting and interesting way. When dealing with large numbers, it’s a good idea to use scale to your advantage – providing a visual size contrast between two data points makes it much easier to comprehend the difference. You could also communicate the data using visuals of the subject you are talking about to establish a context for your audience.

If you reflect on your data, they’ll probably only be a handful of figures that actually matter and support your message. So alternatively, why not pick these out and display them in a large, visually-impactful way on their own slides? They’ll focus your audience’s attention and you can then talk around them, adding relevant supplementary information. Overall, the key to PowerPoint design is to keep things simple. Tell a visual story by introducing one piece of information at a time and keep your design clean and focused. Stick to these five commandments and you’ll ensure your presentation is easy for your audience to follow and absorb.

LIKE WHAT YOU'VE READ? WHY NOT share

Work Can wait

Put off writing that email just a little longer. Send your incoming calls to voicemail. Put your feet up, grab a brew and explore more presentation insight in the Buffalo 7 Library

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Part 2: Design Principles

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This presentation is designed to introduce you to simple principles that can be used to create new PowerPoints and to revise existing ones. Basic principles such as these apply to all visual creations, from word processing documents to posters, and will enhance your understanding of what it means to put together an effective visual presentation.

• Utility Menu

de5f0c5840276572324fc6e2ece1a882

• How to Use This Site
• Core Competencies
• Fundamentals of Slide Design

Learn about slide design, its importance, and principles and strategies for designing strong slides.

What is Slide Design?

Through the use of different elements, including visuals, colors, typography, style, layout, and transitions, slide design provides a visual representation of the important points of your presentation. It not only complements your research, but can also enhance your presentation. Slide design can impact how much an audience understands and retains the content that you present.

Slide design strategies that thoughtfully consider and prioritize the experience of the audience can result in stronger presentations. Melissa Marshall —an expert in understanding how technical presentations can be transformed—advocates for an innovative approach to slide design. Her well-researched methods have been successful in the scientific community and we recommend her strategy.  In an article on how to transform your technical talks , Marshall discusses the science behind the impact of slide design and how the overuse of text on slides while engaging in verbal communication during presentations increases the chances of cognitive overload for audience members. Marshall advocates for an “audience-centered speaker” approach, a technique in which you shift your focus from the speaker to that of the audience.

-Melissa Marshall

Audience engagement is an important indicator about the level of success of a presentation. Marshall argues that “a critical insight is to realize that your success as a speaker depends entirely upon your ability to make your audience successful.” In order to prioritize the experience of your audience and how they receive your presentation, Marshall advocates for a design strategy called assertion-evidence design which uses a succinct headline in the slide with the key assertion in the form of a sentence that is accompanied by visual evidence, such as charts, graphs, and flowcharts. This method prioritizes the utilization of strong visuals and minimizes the amount of text on slides. As needed, presenters can provide the audience with a handout of their slides that contain more detailed notes from their presentation as a reference. If you have not used assertion-evidence slides before, it is a good technique to further explore and consider as its approach can enhance a presentation when carried out effectively. Examples of strong assertion-evidence slides and a self-assessment checklist for this design strategy can be found on Create and Assess Your Slides , and a template can be accessed below.

(Click to Enlarge)

An assertion-evidence slide template that includes tips and layout suggestions by melissa marshall. .

To learn more about creating strong visual representations of your data and the importance of forming a mutual exchange between you and your audience, visit our pages on Data Visualization , along with Consider Your Audience which is part of the section on how to Deliver Authentically . 

Watch these short videos by Marshall to further explore the impact of slide design, strategies for fostering audience engagement, and helpful ways to approach the scope and focus of your presentation.

Learn more about the impact of slide design.

Further explore how to analyze your audience.

Consider scope and focus of your slides and talks.

For additional resources to help you think about the organization and framing of your talk visit Deliver Authentically and Prepare for Any Talk .

What Does it Look Like to Design Effective Slides?

There are techniques and tools that can be utilized to strengthen the design of your slides in order to enhance the quality of your presentation. The following section presents one approach. Review this list and explore how each strategy can improve your slide design.

A more comprehensive slide design checklist and other resources can be found on Create and Assess Your Slides .  

Inclusive Slide Design

Creating slides that are inclusive and accessible for different learners is a critical part of the design process. Consider the implications of your design on the viewer’s interpretation, including visual representation, language and color choice. As you engage in this process, explore the role of slide design in creating an inclusive environment that considers multiple perspectives, values, beliefs, identities, disciplines, abilities, experiences, and backgrounds. To learn more about what it means and looks like to design visuals that are inclusive, visit Visual Storytelling as part of the section on Data Visualization and Preferred Terms for Select Population Groups & Communities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Are You Ready to Create Your Own Slides?

To begin the process of designing your slides or to improve an existing deck, visit Create and Assess Your Slides . Use the provided resources to learn more about helpful design strategies, how to create effective slides and ways to assess them.

• Data Visualization
• Create and Assess Your Slides
• Visual Design Tools

5 Design Principles of Improving your Presentation Style

Just because even the most inexperienced designers can now create their own graphic designs online doesn’t mean your own created design has to look equally unprofessional. Many make the mistake of thinking that presentation style is all about getting creative and has little to do with communicating a message effectively. When in fact, visual design shouldn’t just be limited to looks but must also consider the style in which information is presented.

For a more effective way to get your message across, here are 5 basic design principles that will help improve your presentation style.

Proximity is a basic yet powerful design fundamental for grouping related elements together so they become one visual unit rather than several specific ones.

Purpose: rather than simply giving your viewers a linear arrangement of elements, proximity is like trying to organize your files in the same way a librarian would classify books according to the Dewey Decimal System. It serves as a guide to your viewers to the different parts of your message. Hence, by applying proximity, you are adding unity and continuity to your page. And proximity is not just relevant for texts but for all your design elements.

Here’s an example of how proximity is applied in a deck:

Alignment/h2>

This is another crucial design principle to bring about a visual and readable design arrangement. Considering alignment is being conscious of where you place elements.

Purpose: Like proximity, proper alignment creates a sense of unity and cohesion to keep your design balanced and presentation style proper. Even if separate elements don’t appear physically close on a page and seem chaotic, aligning these can make them appear connected, related and unified with the rest of the information simply by their placement.

Below is a good example:

Also known as consistency, repetition is about repeating elements in a graphic design to add visual appeal and emphasize the style you want to keep in your presentation.

Purpose: Aside from aesthetics purposes, consistency draws your readers’ attention to certain elements.  Creating repetition enhances your design and the clarity of information. When used correctly, repetition allows your viewers to efficiently transfer knowledge to new contexts, learn new things faster and focus their attention on the relevant aspects of a task without being obtrusive.

Here’s one example of a design that makes good use of repetition:

What happens when you have two very different elements? This is where you apply contrast to your advantage. Contrast is when you juxtapose dissimilar elements in presentation style.

Purpose: contrast between design elements makes a presentation stand out and get noticed. It grabs your audience’s attention to the important parts of your presentation. Other than stirring up interest, contrast also aids in organizing information presented.

You can see below an example of how a striking contrast can make a startling difference:

White Space

Many novices are afraid of leaving white space when designing. However, depending on the presentation and appropriateness, the use of white space can be very powerful and useful in design.  The principle of white space supports the idea that less is better because it allows you to simplify and focus on the essential aspects.

Purpose: White space can make your message stand out above the clutter found in many graphic designs. It breaks down information presented to more digestible pieces to reduce cognitive overload and allows you to convey a more direct message. White space can also serve as a form of contrast.

Here’s an illustration of how you can maximize the use of white space:

These principles should all work hand in hand to make for an effective design and presentation style. For example, a well-aligned design without the proper contrast may not be as successful in getting your intended message across. Or a good alignment alone without consistency can defeat its purpose.

Which of these design principles do you apply most often and work quite well for you?

Sources: makeuseof.com , graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

Create professional presentations online

Other people also read

9 Ideas For Your Next PowerPoint Presentation

10 Ways to Make Academic Presentations More Interesting

10 Tips to Make Your PowerPoint Presentation Effective

Design 101: Basic Principles for Your PowerPoint Designs

August 1, 2014 / Blog design principles, powerpoint design lessons, Powerpoint tips

We’ve talked plenty about the different ways you can improve your PowerPoint designs. For marketers, the best tip is to make sure your slides perfectly highlight your brand .

There’s also the case for turning PowerPoint designs into highly visual experiences. Make your data digestible through unique charts and graphs , or illustrate difficult concepts with images and illustrations .

Before you can apply these different tips and techniques, you need a solid foundation to know where to start. Your PowerPoint designs will improve if you can understand and rationalize why each detail you include is necessary. In order to do that, we’ll need to go back to the basics.

To learn more about the core principles of design , let’s look at some slides from the SlideGenius portfolio .

Differences add interest to your designs. When you put two opposing elements together, you’re able to highlight one element over the other. This is called contrast and you see it in every instance of visual design. Just take this website for example. The white background contrasts with the dark color of the text, allowing you to see and read it properly.

To add contrast to your PowerPoint designs, you need to create noticeable differences between two or more elements.

In this slide, we highlighted the client’s logo by placing a dark, textured background:

You can also go beyond using contrasting colors. Aside from the bright green circles that stand out against the filtered background picture, we also made use of contrast in the text sizes.

In order to emphasize the statistic presented in this slide, “95%” is in a larger font size than the rest of the text.

It’s important for your audience to see that the elements in your PowerPoint designs weren’t randomly put together. They need to see that each item was carefully placed together to create a connection and narrative. The principle of alignment can help you with that.

Using the grid lines as a guide, look at how the company logo was aligned perfectly with the background image:

Following the “road map” theme, our designers used an open road as a background image. The company logo was then aligned precisely in the middle of the road. The fact that the logo’s geometric design resembles a compass adds to the overall “roadmap” theme.

When the word “proximity” comes to mind, we think of how things are close together or far apart. In design, the principle of proximity is all about grouping together similar elements to create one cohesive visual unit.

Learn how you can apply the proximity principle to your PowerPoint designs with these examples:

Take note of how our PowerPoint designers grouped the different elements in these slides to create balance and harmony.

It’s also important to look at your PowerPoint designs as a whole and not just individual slides. The principle of repetition allows you to create a unified overall design using the same elements throughout your PowerPoint deck. Stick with using the same fonts and colors throughout your presentation so that your audience can easily see a definite structure and a clear progression.

Here’s a quick sample:

You can easily see that these slides come from the same PowerPoint presentation because it maintains a similar template and color scheme throughout. The color green remains dominant in all three slides.

You can start creating great PowerPoint designs by learning the basics. After some practice and experimentation, you’ll see that these principles will become second nature.

Featured Image: Carol VanHook via Flickr

Popular Posts

Common Challenges in Tailoring Presentations—and Solutions

Dos and Don’ts of Pre-Seed Pitch Deck Creation

How to Write a Teaser Pitch Deck that Captivates

Tips for a Persuasive How It Works Slide

What Not to Do When Presenting Funding History

Why Raising Funds Without a Pitch Deck Can Backfire

• Certifications

Microsoft PowerPoint Design Principles

Master how to design an aesthetically pleasing presentation using different design techniques in PowerPoint

What I will learn?

• Introduction to modern design in presentation
• Designing the cover slide in a presentation
• Executive Summary design concepts
• Visualizing text only slides
• 7 Text and Quantitative slides designing

Course Curriculum

Modern slide design in powerpoint, meet your instructor, introduction to slide design, different slide design elements in powerpoint, best practices in slide design in powerpoint, download the resources for this section, improving the design of our powerpoint presentation, designing cover slide in powerpoint, part 1: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 2: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 3: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 4: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 5: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 6: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 7: design cover slide in powerpoint, part 8: design cover slide in powerpoint, quick review of cover slide design, designing executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 1: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 2: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 3: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 4: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 5: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 6: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 7: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 8: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 9: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 10: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, part 11: design executive summary slide in powerpoint, quick review of executive summary slide design, design text slides in powerpoint, part 1 – designing text slides in powerpoint, part 2 – designing text slides in powerpoint, part 3 – designing text slides in powerpoint, part 4 – designing text slides in powerpoint, part 5 – designing text slides in powerpoint, part 6 – designing text slides in powerpoint, quick review of text slide design in powerpoint, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 1, part 1 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, part 2 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, part 3 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, part 4 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, part 5 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, part 6 – designing text and data analysis slide in powerpoint, quick review of illustration 1 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 2, quick review of illustration 2 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 3, quick review of illustration 3 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 4, quick review of illustration 4 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 5, quick review of illustration 5 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 6, quick review of illustration 6 on text and data analysis slide design, designing text & data analysis slides in powerpoint – illustration 7, quick review of illustration 7 on text and data analysis slide design, student feedback.

One of the course's strengths was its emphasis on practical application. The instructors provided numerous examples and hands-on exercises that allowed students to immediately apply the design principles they learned. This hands-on approach was invaluable in helping me develop my PowerPoint design skills.

"Microsoft PowerPoint Design Principles" course, and it was an insightful journey into crafting visually compelling presentations. The course content was comprehensive, covering a wide array of design principles and techniques specific to PowerPoint. The instructors were knowledgeable and provided practical insights.

Very Nice Course and How to Create Unique Slide of the course Explained...

Very Interesting Course And How to Create Unique Slide to the Explain Clear

I recently completed the "Microsoft PowerPoint Design Principles" course, and I am thrilled to share my overwhelmingly positive experience. This course provides a comprehensive and insightful guide to mastering the art of designing effective and engaging presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. It's an absolute must for professionals seeking to elevate their presentation skills and create impactful visual content and also how to create unique slides so teaching

yeah it is good we learned lots of things in powerpoint how to create unic slides of the presentation.

Requirements

• None. We will teach everything from scratch.

Material Includes

• 30 day access
• 1.5 hours on-demand video
• Access on mobile
• Certificate of Completion

We have created short courses on specific skills that you will need to master in the business and finance domain. Once you go through the recorded lessons and attend practice sessions online, you will need to finish a short assessment like a quiz and an assignment and send it over. We will review your submission and send you back a score. If you obtain more than 80% result, we will award you a certification for the same.

We have divided the certifications into very specific modules to make it very easy for you to complete any one certification in the least time possible. But really the pace of completing the certification is up to you. As soon as you send us your assignment, we will take 2-3 days to review and send over your result. So whenever you are ready, you should complete the assessment and get certified.

Yes you can, we allow you to make 10 submissions per certification to ensure you have enough opportunities to clear and get certified.

Yes, as long as you have an active membership, you will continue to have access to all resources to the certification.

Yes, each course will have a certification provided on successful completion and taking the assessment successfully at the end of the program

Yes, we will provide a LinkedIn verifiable certificate in different formats that you can add on your social media profile to get access to more opportunities. For example, You can add the certificate under the certification section of LinkedIn where recruiters look at to understand the different skills you possess.

We have a very active LinkedIn presence where we will showcase your certifications on completion. Ideally the more the certifications you complete the better will your chances to be noticed by other members of our LinkedIn community. Our push to your profile will potentially lead to more opportunities coming your way.

Ashish is a Business and Finance Expert with around 10 years of experience in this domain. Previously, he has worked with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, as a Vice President in the Financial Markets Advisory (FMA) team. Prior to that, he worked at McKinsey in the Strategy and Corporate Finance practice. He is also the founder of the website skillfinlearning.com which creates online programs in Business, Finance and Data Analysis topics. At Skillfin Learning, we believe we can change the way we adults learn.

Student Ratings & Reviews

Pick a plan.

• Level All Levels
• Total Enrolled 6
• Duration 1 hour 10 minutes
• Last Updated September 29, 2023
• Certificate Certificate of completion

People also check out

Advanced Excel Functions

Excel Basic Functions

Excel Data Visualization Functionalities

Reset password, insert/edit link.

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

Death By PowerPoint: Tips To Avoid In Your Presentation

The phrase “Death by PowerPoint” first appeared as a criticism of badly planned and executed presentations that were unable to engage or educate the audience. These presentations lack visual appeal because of the excessive text and complicated slides. Presenting information is essential, whether you are creating slides for a team meeting, delivering a class, or a business proposal. A well-created presentation always makes the message clear and engaging and leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

Table of Contents

• Real-Life Examples and Consequences 
• Audience Needs and Preferences 
• Engage Your Audience 
• The Role of Visual Design in Presentations 
• Key Design Elements: Fonts, Colors, and Layouts 
• Tips to Avoid Death by PowerPoint 
• Utilize Technology to Improve Delivery 
• Tools and Resources for Better Presentations 
• Conclusion 

What is Death by PowerPoint?

“Death By PowerPoint” refers to presentations that are so monotonous and tedious that fail to get the audience’s attention and interest, leading to disengagement and lack of audience retention. 

Real-Life Examples and Consequences

Think about the meetings where people have completely lost interest or the sales presentations that were so overwhelming that the audience was unable to convince them. These examples show how bad presentation techniques can lead to missed opportunities, weakened credibility, and time wastage in real life. 

Understanding Your Audience

Audience needs and preferences.

To create an effective presentation, first understand your audience. Ask yourself: 

• What expectations and interests do they have?  
• How much experience do they have with the subject?  
• What are their primary concerns or areas of discomfort?

Engage Your Audience

Make the content specifically targeted at your audience’s needs and preferences. Maintain their interest throughout the entire presentation by using language and examples that they can relate to. 

Design Principles for Effective Slides

The role of visual design in presentations.

Using effective visual design in your presentation makes it more engaging and memorable. A poorly created slide could be confusing and tedious to your audience, on the other hand, a well-designed slide will clearly communicate the actual information quickly and clearly. 

Key Design Elements: Fonts, Colors, and Layouts

• Fonts : Make sure the presentation is consistent throughout by using a limited number of fonts. Choose fonts that could improve visibility. 
• Colors : Try a color palette that is visually appealing and creates contrast. Use colors to highlight key points. 
• Layouts : Maintain your slides layouts clean and structured. Use whitespace effectively to avoid overwhelming your audience. 
• Avoiding Clutter and Overload : Be focused on the key points to make your slides simple and easy to understand to the audience. Avoiding information overload in a single slide is the primary factor to consider. Also, using bullet points will help to make the slide clear and easy to understand. 

Tips to Avoid Death by PowerPoint

• Keep Slides Simple and Focused  

Your presentation should convey the exact information. Make it structured and break down complex data and information by keeping them concise. 

• Use High-Quality Visuals and Graphics  

Always use high-quality visuals and graphics throughout your presentation and make it more engaging to your audience. But make sure that they help you share the exact message of the presentation. 

• Limit Text and Bullet Points  

Don’t make slides with a lot of text. Try to use key phrases and bullet points to highlight important points. Explain and interact with the audience instead of just reading the exact sentences in the slide.  

• Incorporate Storytelling Techniques  

The storytelling method could engage your audience. You can also include case studies and other examples to strengthen your points and presentation. 

• Practice Good Slide Transitions and Animations  

Don’t make the presentation filled up with animations and transitions, that could distract the audience. Instead, use it wisely to guide your audience. 

• Engage Using Interactive Elements  

Another technique to engage your audience is including Q&A sessions and games in between the presentations. 

Delivery Techniques

• Strategies for Confident and Clear Speaking  

Practice makes perfect. Practicing also helps you deliver presentations confidently and clearly. Always try to use a conversational tone while delivering. 

• Questions and Interactions  

The audience will have questions so be prepared for that. Encourage the audience participation thoughtfully. 

• Utilize Technology to Improve Delivery  

As we have advanced technologies like remote clickers and laser pointers available

Utilize Technology to Improve Delivery

• As we have advanced technologies like remote clickers and laser pointers available  

Tools and Resources for Better Presentations

• Recommended Software and Online Sources  

Make use of software and online sources like SlideBazaar, SlideKit, Prezi, and Canva to design a better presentation. 

• Forums and Communities   

Many online communities and forums like SlideShare and TED Talks are available over the internet in which you can discuss, share, and get feedback for your presentation. 

To avoid Death by PowerPoint, the presentation should have a good visual design, interesting content, and a better delivery. Create informative and engaging presentations by following the tips and focusing on your audience. 

Practice as much as possible and try to get feedback from the audience to improve your delivery skills. Your presentation will be better the more you refine your skills. 

At SlideBazaar, we help you create engaging and memorable presentations. Choose from our collection of professional templates or opt for our custom design services for a personalized touch. Your presentations deserve to be elevated to new heights, and we’re here to help you achieve just that!

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

• PowerPoint Templates
• Keynote Presentations
• Infographic
• Free slides

QUICK LINKS

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• DMCA Policy

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get updates of our PowerPoint templates and slide designs before anyone else.