Blog > How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

08.09.21   •  #powerpoint #tips.

When creating presentations, it is particularly important that they are well organized and have a consistent structure.

A logical structure helps the audience to follow you and to remember the core information as best as possible. It is also important for the presenter, as a good presentation structure helps to keep calm, to stay on the topic and to avoid awkward pauses.

But what does such a structure actually look like? Here we show you how to best organize your presentation and what a good structure looks like.

Plan your presentation

Before you start creating your presentation, you should always brainstorm. Think about the topic and write all your ideas down. Then think about the message you want to communicate, what your goal is and what you want your audience to remember at the end.

Think about who your audience is so that you can address them in the best possible way. One possibility is to start your presentation with a few polls to get to know your audience better. Based on the results, you can then adapt your presentation a little. Use the poll function of SlideLizard and have all the answers at a glance. SlideLizard makes it possible to integrate the polls directly into your PowerPoint presentation which helps you to avoid annoying switching between presentation and interaction tool. You can keep an eye on the results while the votes come in and then decide whether you want to share them or not.

Ask your audience questions with SlideLizard

  • an informative
  • an entertaining
  • an inspiring
  • or a persuasive presentation?

Typical Presentation Structure

The basic structure of a presentation is actually always the same and should consist of:

Introduction

Structure of a good presentation including introduction, main part and conclusion

Make sure that the structure of your presentation is not too complicated. The simpler it is, the better the audience can follow.

Personal Introduction

It is best to start your presentation by briefly introducing yourself which helps to build a connection with your audience right away.

Introduce the topic

Then introduce the topic, state the purpose of the presentation and provide a brief outline of the main points you will be addressing.

Mention the length

In the introduction, mention the approximate length of the talk and then also make sure you stick to it.

The introduction should be no longer than two slides and provide a good overview of the topic.

Icebreaker Polls

According to studies, people in the audience only have an average attention span of 10 minutes, which is why it is important to increase their attention right at the beginning and to arouse the audience's interest. You could make a good start with a few icebreaker polls for example. They lighten the mood right at the beginning and you can secure your audience's attention from the start.

For example, you could use SlideLizard to have all the answers at a glance and share them with your audience. In addition, the audience can try out how the polls work and already know how it works if you include more polls in the main part.

Icebreaker polls with SlideLizard

Get to know your audience

As mentioned earlier, it is always useful to think about who your audience actually is. Ask them questions at the beginning about how well they already know the topic of your presentation. Use SlideLizard for this so that you have a clear overview about the answers. You can use both single- and multiple-choice questions or also open questions and display their results as a WordCloud in your presentation, for example.

Include a quote

To make the beginning (or the end) of your presentation more exciting, it is always a good idea to include a quote. We have selected some powerful quotes for PowerPoint presentations for you.

Present your topic

The main part of a presentation should explain the topic well, state facts, justify them and give examples. Keep all the promises you made earlier in the introduction.

Length and Structure

The main part should make up about 70% of the presentation and also include a clear structure. Explain your ideas in detail and build them up logically. It should be organized chronologically, by priority or by topic. There should be a smooth transition between the individual issues. However, it is also important to use phrases that make it clear that a new topic is starting. We have listed some useful phrases for presentations here.

Visualize data and statistics and show pictures to underline facts. If you are still looking for good images, we have selected 5 sources of free images for you here.

Focus on the essentials

Focus on what is most important and summarize a bit. You don't have to say everything about a topic because your audience won’t remember everything either. Avoid complicated sentence structure, because if the audience does not understand something, they will not be able to read it again.

Make your presentation interactive

Make your presentation interactive to keep the attention of your audience. Use SlideLizard to include polls in your presentation, where your audience can vote directly from their smartphone and discuss the answers as soon as you received all votes. Here you can also find more tips for increasing audience engagement.

Make your presentation interactive by using SlideLizard

Repeat the main points

The conclusion should contain a summary of the most important key points. Repeat the main points you have made, summarize what the audience should have learned and explain how the new information can help in the future.

Include a Q&A part

Include a Q&A part at the end to make sure you don't leave any questions open. It's a good idea to use tools like SlideLizard for it. Your audience can ask anonymous questions and if there is not enough time, you can give them the answers afterwards. You can read more about the right way to do a question slide in PowerPoint here.

Get Feedback

It is also important to get feedback on your presentation at the end to keep improving. With SlideLizard you can ask your audience for anonymous feedback through star ratings, number ratings or open texts directly after your presentation. You can then export the responses and analyse them later in Excel.

Feedback function of SlideLizard

Presentation style

Depending on the type of presentation you give, the structure will always be slightly different. We have selected a few different presentation styles and their structure for you.

Short Presentation

Short presentation

If you are one of many presenters on the day, you will only have a very limited time to present your idea and to convince your audience. It is very important to stand out with your presentation.

So you need to summarize your ideas as briefly as possible and probably should not need more than 3-5 slides.

Problem Solving Presentation

Problem Solving Presentation

Start your presentation by explaining a problem and giving a short overview of it.

Then go into the problem a little more, providing both intellectual and emotional arguments for the seriousness of the problem. You should spend about the first 25% of your presentation on the problem.

After that, you should spend about 50% of your presentation proposing a solution and explaining it in detail.

In the last 25%, describe what benefits this solution will bring to your audience and ask them to take a simple but relevant action that relates to the problem being discussed.

Tell a Story

Tell a story

A great way to build an emotional connection with the audience is to structure a presentation like a story.

In the introduction, introduce a character who has to deal with a conflict. In the main part, tell how he tries to solve his problem but fails again and again. In the end, he manages to find a solution and wins.

Stories have the power to win customers, align colleagues and motivate employees. They’re the most compelling platform we have for managing imaginations. - Nancy Duarte / HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations

Make a demonstration

Make a demonstration

Use the demonstration structure to show how a product works. First talk about a need or a problem that has to be solved.

Then explain how the product will help solve the problem and try to convince your audience of the need for your product.

Spend the end clarifying where and when the product can be purchased.

Chronological structure

Chronological structure of a presentation

When you have something historical to tell, it is always good to use a chronological structure. You always have to ask yourself what happens next.

To make it more interesting and exciting, it is a good idea to start by telling the end of something and after that you explain how you got there. This way you make the audience curious and you can gain their attention faster.

Nancy Duarte TED Talk

Nancy Duarte is a speaker and presentation design expert. She gives speeches all over the world, trying to improve the power of public presentations.

In her famous TED Talk "The Secret Structure of Great Talks" she dissects famous speeches such as Steve Jobs' iPhone launch speech and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. In doing so, she found out that each presentation is made up of 4 parts:

  • What could be
  • A moment to remember
  • Promise of “New Bliss”

Related articles

About the author.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Helena Reitinger

Helena supports the SlideLizard team in marketing and design. She loves to express her creativity in texts and graphics.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Get 1 Month for free!

Do you want to make your presentations more interactive.

With SlideLizard you can engage your audience with live polls, questions and feedback . Directly within your PowerPoint Presentation. Learn more

SlideLizard

Top blog articles More posts

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Edit PowerPoint Ribbon & Quick Access Toolbar

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Create advanced Chart Animations in PowerPoint

SlideLizard Live Polls

Get started with Live Polls, Q&A and slides

for your PowerPoint Presentations

The big SlideLizard presentation glossary

Open educational resources (oer).

Open Educational Resources are free learning and teaching materials provided on the web. They have an open license (e.g., Creative Commons), which allows anyone to use and benefit from these resources.

Persuasive Presentations

A persuasive presentation is made, for example, to introduce an amendment. There are usually several options to choose from. It is particularly important to provide good arguments and reasons.

Learning on Demand

Learning on Demand means that the content is available extactly when it's needed by the learner

Social Events

Social events in companys can be to celebrate an anniversary or to bond better as a team. They should address the personal interests of employees and revolve around things like entertainment and food.

Be the first to know!

The latest SlideLizard news, articles, and resources, sent straight to your inbox.

- or follow us on -

We use cookies to personalize content and analyze traffic to our website. You can choose to accept only cookies that are necessary for the website to function or to also allow tracking cookies. For more information, please see our privacy policy .

Cookie Settings

Necessary cookies are required for the proper functioning of the website. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information about the number of visitors, etc.

17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips From Pro Presenters [+ Templates]

Jamie Cartwright

Updated: April 26, 2024

Published: September 18, 2013

PowerPoint presentations can be professional, attractive, and really help your audience remember your message.

powerpoint tricks

If you don’t have much experience, that’s okay — I’m going to arm you with PowerPoint design tips from pro presenters, the steps you need to build an engaging deck, and templates to help you nail great slide design.

→ Free Download: 10 PowerPoint Presentation Templates [Access Now]

Download Now

Buckle up for a variety of step-by-step explanations as well as tips and tricks to help you start mastering this program. There are additional resources woven in, and you’ll find expert perspectives from other HubSpotters along the way.

Table of Contents

How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

Powerpoint presentation tips.

Microsoft PowerPoint is like a test of basic professional skills, and each PowerPoint is basically a presentation made of multiple slides.

Successful PowerPoints depend on three main factors: your command of PowerPoint's design tools, your attention to presentation processes, and being consistent with your style.

Keep those in mind as we jump into PowerPoint's capabilities.

Getting Started

1. open powerpoint and click ‘new.’.

A page with templates will usually open automatically, but if not, go to the top left pane of your screen and click New . If you’ve already created a presentation, select Open and then double-click the icon to open the existing file.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

10 Free PowerPoint Templates

Download ten free PowerPoint templates for a better presentation.

  • Creative templates.
  • Data-driven templates.
  • Professional templates.

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Creating PowerPoint Slides

3. insert a slide..

Insert a new slide by clicking on the Home tab and then the New Slide button. Consider what content you want to put on the slide, including heading, text, and imagery.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

  • Finally, PowerPoint Live is a new tool that enables you to do more seamless presentations during video calls and may be a better overall match for doing presentations remotely. Check out this video:

11. Try Using GIFs.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

12 Free Customizable Resume Templates

Fill out this form to access your free professionally-designed templates, available on:

  • Microsoft Word
  • Google Docs
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Google Slides

15. Embed multimedia.

PowerPoint allows you to either link to video/audio files externally or to embed the media directly in your presentation. For PCs, two great reasons for embedding are:

  • Embedding allows you to play media directly in your presentation. It will look much more professional than switching between windows.
  • Embedding also means that the file stays within the PowerPoint presentation, so it should play normally without extra work (except on a Mac).

If you use PowerPoint for Mac it gets a bit complicated, but it can be done:

  • Always bring the video and/or audio file with you in the same folder as the PowerPoint presentation.
  • Only insert video or audio files once the presentation and the containing folder have been saved on a portable drive in their permanent folder.
  • If the presentation will be played on a Windows computer, then Mac users need to make sure their multimedia files are in WMV format.
  • Consider using the same operating system for designing and presenting, no matter what.

16. Bring your own hardware.

Between operating systems, PowerPoint is still a bit jumpy. Even between differing PPT versions, things can change. The easiest fix? Just bring along your own laptop when you're presenting.

The next easiest fix is to upload your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides as a backup option — just make sure there is a good internet connection and a browser available where you plan to present.

Google Slides is a cloud-based presentation software that will show up the same way on all operating systems.

To import your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides:

  • Navigate to slides.google.com . Make sure you’re signed in to a Google account (preferably your own).
  • Under Start a new presentation , click the empty box with a plus sign. This will open up a blank presentation.
  • Go to File , then Import slides .
  • A dialog box will come up. Tap Upload.
  • Click Select a file from your device .
  • Select your presentation and click Open .
  • Select the slides you’d like to import. If you want to import all of them, click All in the upper right-hand corner of the dialog box.
  • Click Import slides.

When I tested this out, Google Slides imported everything perfectly, including a shape whose points I had manipulated. This is a good backup option to have if you’ll be presenting across different operating systems.

17. Use Presenter View.

In most presentation situations, there will be both a presenter’s screen and the main projected display for your presentation.

PowerPoint has a great tool called Presenter View, which can be found in the Slide Show tab of PowerPoint. Included in the Presenter View is an area for notes, a timer/clock, and a presentation display.

For many presenters, this tool can help unify their spoken presentation and their visual aid. You never want to make the PowerPoint seem like a stack of notes that you’re reading off of.

Use the Presenter View option to help create a more natural presentation.

Pro Tip: At the start of the presentation, you should also hit CTRL + H to make the cursor disappear. Hitting the “A” key will bring it back if you need it.

Your Next Great PowerPoint Presentation Starts Here

Now that you have these style, design, and presentation tips under your belt, you should feel confident to create your PowerPoint presentation.

But if you can explore other resources to make sure your content hits the mark. After all, you need a strong presentation to land your point and make an impression.

With several templates to choose from — both in PowerPoint and available for free download — you can swiftly be on your way to creating presentations that wow your audiences.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How to Create an Infographic in Under an Hour — the 2024 Guide [+ Free Templates]

How to Create an Infographic in Under an Hour — the 2024 Guide [+ Free Templates]

20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

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

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

How to Write an Ecommerce Business Plan [Examples & Template]

How to Write an Ecommerce Business Plan [Examples & Template]

Get Buyers to Do What You Want: The Power of Temptation Bundling in Sales

Get Buyers to Do What You Want: The Power of Temptation Bundling in Sales

How to Create an Engaging 5-Minute Presentation

How to Create an Engaging 5-Minute Presentation

How to Start a Presentation [+ Examples]

How to Start a Presentation [+ Examples]

120 Presentation Topic Ideas Help You Hook Your Audience

120 Presentation Topic Ideas Help You Hook Your Audience

The Presenter's Guide to Nailing Your Next PowerPoint

The Presenter's Guide to Nailing Your Next PowerPoint

How to Create a Stunning Presentation Cover Page [+ Examples]

How to Create a Stunning Presentation Cover Page [+ Examples]

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

How-To Geek

8 tips to make the best powerpoint presentations.

4

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Quick Links

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

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

define a goal

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

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

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

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

avoid walls of text

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

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

Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD

use better fonts

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

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

use fewer bullets

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

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

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

avoid transitions

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

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

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

use visuals

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

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

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

find a color palette

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

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

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

change views

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

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

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

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

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

  • Microsoft Office

Find the images you need to make standout work. If it’s in your head, it’s on our site.

  • Images home
  • Curated collections
  • AI image generator
  • Offset images
  • Backgrounds/Textures
  • Business/Finance
  • Sports/Recreation
  • Animals/Wildlife
  • Beauty/Fashion
  • Celebrities
  • Food and Drink
  • Illustrations/Clip-Art
  • Miscellaneous
  • Parks/Outdoor
  • Buildings/Landmarks
  • Healthcare/Medical
  • Signs/Symbols
  • Transportation
  • All categories
  • Editorial video
  • Shutterstock Select
  • Shutterstock Elements
  • Health Care
  • PremiumBeat
  • Templates Home
  • Instagram all
  • Highlight covers
  • Facebook all
  • Carousel ads
  • Cover photos
  • Event covers
  • Youtube all
  • Channel Art
  • Etsy big banner
  • Etsy mini banner
  • Etsy shop icon
  • Pinterest all
  • Pinterest pins
  • Twitter all
  • Twitter Banner
  • Infographics
  • Zoom backgrounds
  • Announcements
  • Certificates
  • Gift Certificates
  • Real Estate Flyer
  • Travel Brochures
  • Anniversary
  • Baby Shower
  • Mother’s Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • All Invitations
  • Party invitations
  • Wedding invitations
  • Book Covers
  • Editorial home
  • Entertainment
  • About Creative Flow
  • Create editor
  • Content calendar
  • Photo editor
  • Background remover
  • Collage maker
  • Resize image
  • Color palettes
  • Color palette generator
  • Image converter
  • Contributors
  • PremiumBeat blog
  • Invitations
  • Design Inspiration
  • Design Resources
  • Design Elements & Principles
  • Contributor Support
  • Marketing Assets
  • Cards and Invitations
  • Social Media Designs
  • Print Projects
  • Organizational Tools
  • Case Studies
  • Platform Solutions
  • Generative AI
  • Computer Vision
  • Free Downloads
  • Create Fund

How to Make a Beautiful PowerPoint Presentation: A Simple Guide

How to Make a Beautiful PowerPoint Presentation: A Simple Guide

Ready to craft a beautiful and attention-grabbing powerpoint presentation we’ll walk you through slideshow design tips, show you some tricks to maximize your powerpoint skills, and give you everything you need to look really good next time you’re up in front of a crowd..

In this post, we’ll cover:

Key Elements of Winning PowerPoints

Illustrative, not generic, supportive, not distracting, inspiring and engaging, other considerations when creating a slideshow.

How many times have you sat through a poorly designed business presentation that was dull, cluttered, and distracting? Probably way too many. Even though we all loathe a boring presentation, when it comes time to make our own, do we really do any better?

The good news is you don’t have to be a professional designer to make professional presentations. We’ve put together a few simple guidelines you can follow to create a beautifully assembled deck.

We’ll walk you through some slide design tips, show you tricks to maximize your PowerPoint skills, and give you everything you need to look really good next time you’re up in front of a crowd.

And, while PowerPoint remains one of the biggest names in presentation software, many of these design elements and principles work in Google Slides, as well.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Use Layout to Your Advantage

Layout is one of the most powerful visual elements in design, and it’s a simple, effective way to control the flow and visual hierarchy of information. It’s also one of the most important elements to consider when thinking about how to make your PowerPoint look better.

For example, most Western languages read left to right, top to bottom. Knowing this natural reading order, you can direct people’s eyes in a deliberate way to certain key parts of a slide that you want to emphasize.

You can also guide your audience with simple tweaks to the layout. Use text size and alternating fonts or colors to distinguish headlines from body text.

Placement also matters. There are many unorthodox ways to structure a slide, but most audience members will have to take a few beats to organize the information in their head—that’s precious time better spent listening to your delivery and retaining information.

Try to structure your slides more like this:

Presentation slide with headline template and beach images on the right

And not like this:

Presentation slide with headline template and beach images on the left

Layout is one of the trickier PowerPoint design concepts to master, which is why we have these free PowerPoint templates already laid out for you. Use them as a jumping off point for your own presentation, or use them wholesale!

Presentation templates can give you a huge leg up as you start working on your design.

2. No Sentences

This is one of the most critical slide design tips. Slides are simplified, visual notecards that capture and reinforce main ideas, not complete thoughts.

As the speaker, you should be delivering most of the content and information, not putting it all on the slides for everyone to read (and probably ignore). If your audience is reading your presentation instead of listening to you deliver it, your message has lost its effectiveness.

Pare down your core message and use keywords to convey it. Try to avoid complete sentences unless you’re quoting someone or something.

Stick with this:

Presentation template with bullet points

And avoid this:

Presentation template with paragraphs

3. Follow the 6×6 Rule

One of the cardinal sins of a bad PowerPoint is cramming too many details and ideas on one slide, which makes it difficult for people to retain information. Leaving lots of “white space” on a slide helps people focus on your key points.

Try using the 6×6 rule to keep your content concise and clean looking. The 6×6 rule means a maximum of six bullet points per slide and six words per bullet. In fact, some people even say you should never have more than six words per slide!

Just watch out for “orphans” (when the last word of a sentence/phrase spills over to the next line). This looks cluttered. Either fit it onto one line or add another word to the second line.

Red presentation slide with white text stating less is more

Slides should never have this much information:

Presentation slide with paragraphs and images

4. Keep the Colors Simple

Stick to simple light and dark colors and a defined color palette for visual consistency. Exceptionally bright text can cause eye fatigue, so use those colors sparingly. Dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background will work well. Also avoid intense gradients, which can make text hard to read.

If you’re presenting on behalf of your brand, check what your company’s brand guidelines are. Companies often have a primary brand color and a secondary brand color , and it’s a good idea to use them in your presentation to align with your company’s brand identity and style.

If you’re looking for color inspiration for your next presentation, check out our 101 Color Combinations , where you can browse tons of eye-catching color palettes curated by a pro. When you find the one you like, just type the corresponding color code into your presentation formatting tools.

Here are more of our favorite free color palettes for presentations:

  • 10 Color Palettes to Nail Your Next Presentation
  • 10 Energizing Sports Color Palettes for Branding and Marketing
  • 10 Vintage Color Palettes Inspired by the Decades

No matter what color palette or combination you choose, you want to keep the colors of your PowerPoint presentation simple and easy to read, like this:

Red presentation slide with white text stating keep the colors simple

Stay away from color combinations like this:

Gray presentation slide with black and neon green text examples

5. Use Sans-Serif Fonts

Traditionally, serif fonts (Times New Roman, Garamond, Bookman) are best for printed pages, and sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana) are easier to read on screens.

These are always safe choices, but if you’d like to add some more typographic personality , try exploring our roundup of the internet’s best free fonts . You’ll find everything from classic serifs and sans serifs to sophisticated modern fonts and splashy display fonts. Just keep legibility top of mind when you’re making your pick.

Try to stick with one font, or choose two at the most. Fonts have very different personalities and emotional impacts, so make sure your font matches the tone, purpose, and content of your presentation.

Presentation slide with various examples of fonts

6. Stick to 30pt Font or Larger

Many experts agree that your font size for a PowerPoint presentation should be at least 30pt. Sticking to this guideline ensures your text is readable. It also forces you, due to space limitations, to explain your message efficiently and include only the most important points. .

Red presentation slide with 30 point white text

7. Avoid Overstyling the Text

Three of the easiest and most effective ways to draw attention to text are:

  • A change in color

Our eyes are naturally drawn to things that stand out, but use these changes sparingly. Overstyling can make the slide look busy and distracting.

White presentation slide with black text and aerial view of a pool

8. Choose the Right Images

The images you choose for your presentation are perhaps as important as the message. You want images that not only support the message, but also elevate it—a rare accomplishment in the often dry world of PowerPoint.

But, what is the right image? We’ll be honest. There’s no direct answer to this conceptual, almost mystical subject, but we can break down some strategies for approaching image selection that will help you curate your next presentation.

The ideal presentation images are:

  • Inspirational

Ground view of palm trees and airplane flying over

These may seem like vague qualities, but the general idea is to go beyond the literal. Think about the symbols in an image and the story they tell. Think about the colors and composition in an image and the distinct mood they set for your presentation.

With this approach, you can get creative in your hunt for relatable, authentic, and inspirational images. Here are some more handy guidelines for choosing great images.

Tips on Making Beautiful PowerPoint Presentations

So, the slide in question is about collaborating as a team. Naturally, you look for images of people meeting in a boardroom, right?

While it’s perfectly fine to go super literal, sometimes these images fall flat—what’s literal doesn’t necessarily connect to your audience emotionally. Will they really respond to generic images of people who aren’t them meeting in a boardroom?

In the absence of a photo of your actual team—or any other image that directly illustrates the subject at hand—look for images of convincing realism and humanity that capture the idea of your message.

Doing so connects with viewers, allowing them to connect with your message. This is one way to learn how to make your PowerPoint stand out and ensure a dynamic presentation PowerPoint.

Silhouettes of five men standing on a bridge on a foggy day

The image above can be interpreted in many ways. But, when we apply it to slide layout ideas about collaboration, the meaning is clear.

It doesn’t hurt that there’s a nice setting and good photography, to boot.

Now that we’ve told you to get creative with your image selection, the next lesson is to rein that in. While there are infinite choices of imagery out there, there’s a limit to what makes sense in your presentation.

Let’s say you’re giving an IT presentation to new employees. You might think that image of two dogs snuggling by a fire is relatable, authentic, and inspirational, but does it really say “data management” to your audience?

To find the best supporting images, try searching terms on the periphery of your actual message. You’ll find images that complement your message rather than distract from it.

In the IT presentation example, instead of “data connections” or another literal term, try the closely related “traffic” or “connectivity.” This will bring up images outside of tech, but relative to the idea of how things move.

Aerial view of a busy highway

There’s a widespread misconception that business presentations are just about delivering information. Well, they’re not. In fact, a great presentation is inspirational. We don’t mean that your audience should be itching to paint a masterpiece when they’re done. In this case, inspiration is about engagement.

Is your audience asking themselves questions? Are they coming up with new ideas? Are they remembering key information to tap into later? You’ll drive a lot of this engagement with your actual delivery, but unexpected images can play a role, as well.

When you use more abstract or aspirational images, your audience will have room to make their own connections. This not only means they’re paying attention, but they’re also engaging with and retaining your message.

To find the right abstract or unconventional imagery, search terms related to the tone of the presentation. This may include images with different perspectives like overhead shots and aerials, long exposures taken over a period of time, nature photos , colorful markets , and so on.

Amsterdam canal at sunset

The big idea here is akin to including an image of your adorable dog making a goofy face at the end of an earnings meeting. It leaves an audience with a good, human feeling after you just packed their brains with data.

Use that concept of pleasant surprise when you’re selecting images for your presentation.

Silly Great Dane looking down trying to catch yellow ball on hind legs

Setting Appropriate Image Resolution in PowerPoint

Want to learn how to make a PowerPoint look good? Though you can drag-and-drop images into PowerPoint, you can control the resolution displayed within the file.

All of your PowerPoint slide layout ideas should get the same treatment to be equal in size.

Simply click File > Compress Pictures in the main application menu.

Screenshot of how to compress a picture

If your presentation file is big and will only be viewed online, you can take it down to On-screen , then check the Apply to: All pictures in this file , and rest assured the quality will be uniform.

Screenshot of how to compress an image

This resolution is probably fine for proofing over email, but too low for your presentation layout ideas. For higher res in printed form, try the Print setting, which at 220 PPI is extremely good quality.

For large-screens such as projection, use the HD setting, since enlarging to that scale will show any deficiencies in resolution. Low resolution can not only distract from the message, but it looks low-quality and that reflects on the presenter.

If size is no issue for you, use High Fidelity (maximum PPI), and only reduce if the file size gives your computer problems.

Screenshot of compression options for your image

The image quality really begins when you add the images to the presentation file. Use the highest quality images you can, then let PowerPoint scale the resolution down for you, reducing the excess when set to HD or lower.

Resizing, Editing, and Adding Effects to Images in PowerPoint

PowerPoint comes with an arsenal of tools to work with your images. When a picture is selected, the confusingly named Picture Format menu is activated in the top menu bar, and Format Picture is opened on the right side of the app window.

Editing a PowerPoint slide with an image of a businessman walking up stairs

In the Format Picture menu (on the right) are four sections, and each of these sections expand to show their options by clicking the arrows by the name:

  • Fill & Line (paint bucket icon): Contains options for the box’s colors, patterns, gradients, and background fills, along with options for its outline.
  • Effects (pentagon icon): Contains Shadow, Reflection, Glow, Soft Edges, 3-D Format and Rotation, and Artistic Effects.
  • Size & Properties (dimensional icon): Size, Position, and Text Box allow you to control the physical size and placement of the picture or text boxes.
  • Picture (mountain icon): Picture Corrections, Colors, and Transparency give you control over how the image looks. Under Crop, you can change the size of the box containing the picture, instead of the entire picture itself as in Size & Properties above.

The menu at the top is more expansive, containing menu presets for Corrections, Color, Effects, Animation, and a lot more. This section is where you can crop more precisely than just choosing the dimensions from the Picture pane on the right.

Cropping Images in PowerPoint

The simple way to crop an image is to use the Picture pane under the Format Picture menu on the right side of the window. Use the Picture Position controls to move the picture inside its box, or use the Crop position controls to manipulate the box’s dimensions.

Screenshot of picture format options

To exert more advanced control, or use special shapes, select the picture you want to crop, then click the Picture Format in the top menu to activate it.

Screenshot of how to crop an image

Hit the Crop button, then use the controls on the picture’s box to size by eye. Or, click the arrow to show more options, including changing the shape of the box (for more creative looks) and using preset aspect ratios for a more uniform presentation of images.

Screenshot of how to change the shape of an image

The next time you design a PowerPoint presentation, remember that simplicity is key and less is more. By adopting these simple slide design tips, you’ll deliver a clear, powerful visual message to your audience.

If you want to go with a PowerPoint alternative instead, you can use Shutterstock Create to easily craft convincing, engaging, and informative presentations.

With many presentation template designs, you’ll be sure to find something that is a perfect fit for your next corporate presentation. You can download your designs as a .pdf file and import them into both PowerPoint and Google Slides presentation decks.

PowerPoint Presentations FAQs

What is the 5 5 5 rule in powerpoint.

The 5 5 5 rule in PowerPoint is fairly simple: 5 lines per slide, each line with no more than 5 words, and make sure your presentation is no longer than 5 minutes.

How long should your PowerPoint be?

A PowerPoint can be as long as it needs to be, but some people—and the 5 5 5 rule—advise you to keep five minutes or shorter.

What is the easiest way to make a PowerPoint prettier?

Beyond using eye-catching imagery and colors, a pretty PowerPoint should also follow good design principles. You want the information to be organized, balanced, and easy to digest. It doesn’t matter how many appealing images you include are if the information is hard to internalize. Use appropriate fonts and shorts sentences to make sure the words are legible and don’t crowd the slides with too many elements.

License this cover image via F8 studio and Ryan DeBerardinis .

Recently viewed

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Related Posts

Light Painting Photography Ideas: Easy Tips to Get Started

Light Painting Photography Ideas: Easy Tips to Get Started

Light painting photography is a type of long exposure photography…

What Is the Bokeh Effect and How to Achieve It in Photos

What Is the Bokeh Effect and How to Achieve It in Photos

Ethereal and dreamlike, the bokeh effect is a specific photographic…

How to Use Color Saturation to Enhance Your Photos

How to Use Color Saturation to Enhance Your Photos

Color saturation refers to the intensity of color in an…

11 Profile Picture Ideas to Stand Out on Any Platform

11 Profile Picture Ideas to Stand Out on Any Platform

While social media is designed to be fun and casual,…

© 2023 Shutterstock Inc. All rights reserved.

  • Terms of use
  • License agreement
  • Privacy policy
  • Social media guidelines

[email protected]

Click to copy

Email copied!

How to make the best Powerpoint presentation + real examples!

July 1, 2023

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

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

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

Your Presentation Should Tell a Story

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

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

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

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

Craft Your Narrative

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

Understand Your Audience

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

Create a Structured Flow

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

Find Inspiration

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

Change the Narrative

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nail Your Story First

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

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Embracing Professional Design for Impactful Presentations

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

The Role of a Presentation Agency

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

Simplifying Complexity

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

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

Jérôme neuvéglise, product owner qoqa, creating visual harmony.

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

Visualizing Ideas Effectively

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

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

When to Opt for Professional Presentation Design

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

High-Stakes Presentations

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

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

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

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

Overcoming Skill and Time Constraints

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

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

Mastering the Art of Delivery

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

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

More Than Just Slides

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

The Human Connection

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

Know Your Story Inside Out

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

Rehearse, Then Rehearse Some More

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

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

Engage With Your Audience

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

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

Body Language Matters

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

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

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Authenticity is Key

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

Investing in Yourself

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

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

Your audience is waiting.

Recent articles

View all articles

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Figma Slides: A new presentation tool taking on PowerPoint and co

Presentation tools

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

How to prepare a great conference keynote presentation

Public speaking

A collage of colorful PowerPoint designs organized into tidy rows

5 golden rules of PowerPoint design

april 30, 2024

A smiling woman with blonde hair, glasses, and a leopard print cardigan poses with her hands on her hips in front of an olive green background.

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!

Screenshots of slides in a branded PowerPoint presentation, in hues of navy, maroon, and brown.

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.

A minimalist, black and white PowerPoint template

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.

A PowerPoint presentation for a whitepaper proposal.

Related topics

PresentationLoad

PowerPoint Layout: Tips & Tricks Plus 6 Modern Ideas for Your Slide Layout!

A well-designed PowerPoint layout is essential for any presentation. Why? Simple: a visually interesting and coherent slide grabs your audience’s attention and makes you and your content look professional.

A good PowerPoint layout creates a common thread running through your presentation by coordinating design elements. This allows your audience to easily follow the content of your presentations without getting distracted, meaning your ideas come across clearly and you can deliver your message effectively.

Creating a PowerPoint layout is easy, and allows you to customize your presentations to best effect. In this article, we show you which aspects you need to pay attention to in order to guarantee a good slide layout.

PowerPoint Layouts: What exactly do they involve?

A PowerPoint layout basically contains important formatting, placeholders and positioning for your slide content. Using these guidelines, you can easily build a great presentation, inserting the images, text, and charts you need to persuade the audience of your ideas.

PowerPoint slide layouts pull together the design elements which are so important to a coordinated presentation: colors, fonts, backgrounds and effects are preset for you. They can of course be modified individually once you’ve decided on your layout, but setting them leaves you time to concentrate on the content you want to present, rather than fiddling with design. Here is an example of the design elements which might make up a slide:

PowerPoint Layout design elements

Why use a PowerPoint Layout? The advantages

PowerPoint layouts help you build a presentation quickly and easily with preset placeholders, designs and positioning. Because the elements of your slides are already coordinated, you don’t have spend time trying to make your slides look uniformly professional, attempting to line up content perfectly, or messing about trying to balance different elements.

A PowerPoint layout means one thing above else: saving you time. And that‘s a huge advantage: the time you save can now be used to concentrate on the actual content of your presentation.

What’s more, using a preset slide layout makes you look professional. Your slides are coordinated throughout, letting your audience follow the thread of your arguments without getting distracted.

PowerPoint layouts can be really eye-catching, too. Preset designs up the visual impact of your presentations, but allow you to make individual modifications when needed, guaranteeing brand recognition value. Read more about how to do this below!

Creating PowerPoint Layout: Here’s how!

  • Open Microsoft PowerPoint.
  • Click Start , then in the Slides group, select Layout .

PowerPoint Layout 1

3. A window will open with a selection of slide layouts.

PowerPoint Layout 2

4. Choose the template which best suits your needs; you can use it as it is or change individual elements (see below).

Modifying a Preset PowerPoint Layout

So you like the layout you’ve chosen, but want to customize it by changing some of the elements? No problem. This is where the Slide Master function in PowerPoint comes in:

1. Select Slide Master in the View tab.

2. When the thumbnail area pops up, select the slide that comes closest to the layout you want.

(Tip: If you don’t like any of the layouts on offer, select Blank and make up your own layout with placeholders, etc. We’ve set out how to do this in the chapter “Nothing in the preset options appeals? Just create your own personal PowerPoint layout!” below.)

3. To change the layout, just read on:

Adding a Placeholder

Simply click Insert Placeholder in the Slide Master tab. Select the type of placeholder you want. Then decide where you want to put it on the layout, and drag the cursor to insert the placeholder.

PowerPoint Layout 3

Resizing a Placeholder

Select the slide on which you want to change the placeholder in the View tab in Slide Master , then click the placeholder. Click on a corner and drag (the cursor will change to a crossed arrow) until the placeholder is the size you want.

Changing a Placeholder’s Position

To move a placeholder, hover the cursor over it. Once the cursor changes to the double arrow, just click and drag to the right place.

Deleting a Placeholder

To remove a placeholder, select Slide Master in the View tab, and click on the slide containing the placeholder you want to remove. Select the placeholder in the layout and then press delete.

Rotating a Placeholder

Click on the placeholder; an arrow curving round in a circle will appear at the top.  Just click on that and drag it round to rotate the element any way you want.

Bring particular elements into the foreground, or send them to the background

Right-click on the element you want to highlight or mute, and a drop-down menu will open. Select either Bring to Front or Send to Back , and save.

PowerPoint Layout 4

When you’ve made the changes you want, click Close Master View in the Slide Master tab.

PowerPoint Layout 5

  • In Normal view, in the Thumbnails pane, select all the slides you’ve just revised. (To select multiple slides, hold down Ctrl and click to select the slides you want.)
  • Next, select Layout from the Home tab and select the layout containing the placeholders you just changed. This step finalizes the placeholder change by re-inserting the changed slide layout onto a final edited slide.

Duplicating a PowerPoint Layout

Once you’ve got a slide layout exactly to your liking, it’s easy to duplicate it so that you can use the same layout on multiple slides. This also applies to preset slide layouts, of course. Here’s how: In the View tab, click on the Normal option:

PowerPoint Layout 6

  • An overview of all your slides will now appear on the left. Right-click the slide whose layout you want to duplicate.
  • Then select Duplicate Slide in the menu that opens. A slide with an identical layout will appear.

PowerPoint Layout 7

Nothing in the Preset Options Appeals? Just create Your Own Personal PowerPoint Layout!

So you already know that using the preset slide layouts saves time and allows you to modify where needed, you really don’t like any of the preset slide layouts. No worries – you can create a custom layout that’s exactly what you need in just a few steps:

  • Select Slide Master in the View tab.
  • Slides with suggested layouts will now appear on the left.

PowerPoint Layout 8

  • Right-click on any of the options (don’t worry about it not being what you want; you can change what you need later) and select Insert Layout, or click on Insert Layout from the menu at the top.

PowerPoint Layout 9

  • Renaming the layout helps you to keep track and to find it later. To do this, right-click it again and select Rename Layout , then type in the new name.

PowerPoint Layout 10

  • Now you can start editing. Delete all the preset placeholders if you don’t want them, or leave some in and edit them (see above) – it’s up to you.
  • Insert the placeholders you want for your layout using the Insert Placeholders option. You can choose text, content, chart, or other layouts in the drop-down menu. After selecting a layout, drag the placeholder to the position you need. You can rotate it, resize it and edit it as shown in the paragraph “Modifying a preset PowerPoint layout” above.
  • Done with your editing? Then close the master view – select Close Master View in the Slide Master tab under Close .
  • Now save and close your presentation.
  • When you open the presentation again, you can now search for your personalized layout –  select the New Slide option from the Start menu under Slides . Just search for your renamed PowerPoint layout in the selection that opens..

Tip: If you want to use your layout in an existing presentation, you have to make a small detour. Open the relevant presentation and select the Browse for Designs option in the Design tab. You will find this under Designs when you open the drop-down menu to the right of the selection (see screenshot).

PowerPoint Layout 11a

Save Your Personalized PowerPoint Layout as a Template!

Saving your layout as a template makes it really easy to use in future presentations.  Here’s how:

  • While in the layout, go to the File tab. This will take you to the PowerPoint start menu. 
  • Select Save As .

PowerPoint Layout 12

  • Find your template in C:\Users\<your username>\Documents\Custom Office templates.
  • Select the file type PowerPoint Template and save.

Next time you open PowerPoint, you can use your template by clicking New when you open PowerPoint, selecting Custom Office Templates , and clicking on Create once you’ve selected your individualized PowerPoint template.

Professional Design for Your Slide Layout: 6 PowerPoint Layout Ideas that will make Your Presentation a Real Eye-Catcher!

Persuading your audience of your ideas, so achieving your goals, and really standing out with your presentation, is so much easier with an excellent layout.  We’ve put together six professionally designed and effective PowerPoint layout ideas for you, illustrated with reference pictures of slides we’ve designed for clients:

1.      PowerPoint Layouts for Title Slides

Every presentation needs a title slide. Since this slide is always the first slide you present, and so the first slide that your audience sees – often as soon as they enter the presentation room – you need to design this slide for maximum impact.

In 2022, the trend for title slides is toward large-format images. When selecting your background image, be sure to choose one that will appeal to your audience right from the get-go. For example, go for a theme related to your topic or business. In this example, the steering wheel motif is appropriate for the automotive group GG:

PowerPoint Layout Overlay Example 5

Using large-format images doesn‘t mean missing out on a powerful headline.  This needs to stand out.

So either use an area of your image that is neutral, or opt for modern overlays or transparent designs. With the latter you bring some color into play, so you need to adjust the contrast to the background image to make your headline stand out effectively. Here are some examples:

PowerPoint Layout Overlay Example 4

Using overlays or transparent design allows you to create just the slide you need. You can use color gradients (see the GG Group title slide above), whole areas (see the Uni Per slide) or shapes (below). How you compose the slide that’s right for your presentation is completely up to you.

PowerPoint Layout Overlay Example

2.    PowerPoint Layouts for Agenda Slides

Your agenda slide reflects the content of your presentation and so it’s important to get it right. Info and tips about these in PowerPoint can be found in this article .

Looking for professional templates? We’ve a whole range in our store .

PowerPoint Layout Agenda Shop 2

Agenda slide layouts can either be structured traditionally as a tabulated list, or presented as a process. Large-format images can make an impact here, too. You can use them either in portrait format or as a complete background. It‘s important to leave enough space to get your agenda points over. You can also use a grid as a guide for agenda layouts. To do this, take a look at the slide below. Here you see a three-part grid: 1/3 space for the agenda items, 2/3 space for the picture. (Or, for agendas with more points, in reverse (i.e. 1/3 image and 2/3 agenda).

PowerPoint Layout agenda example

There’s also the option of a quad grid, as below:

PowerPoint Layout Agenda Example 4

This shows eight equally sized image boxes, going from left to right, in two rows. Obviously, you can customize the background image and layout to your exact needs.

3.      PowerPoint Layouts for Slides combining Images and Text

Layouts for image-text combinations are especially important in the body of your presentation. These can include bulleted lists, product presentations or even portfolios. What’s important here is how image and text interact within the slide.

One classic layout which works well is an image with your text underneath. An interesting modern variant on this is to put several images alongside each other, as below:

PowerPoint Layout Images and Text Example

Using large-format images can be really fresh and impactful. For example:

PowerPoint Layout Example 2 Images and Text

You can also use a grid as a guide for image-text combinations. In general, this works best with a three, four or five images. Using more than that means your slide will look cluttered and your content will be difficult to read.

PowerPoint Layout Images and Text three images

4. PowerPoint Layouts for a Combination of Icons and Text

Icons are a great way to illustrate complex content in a simple way. They also add impact to your presentation and are visually interesting. We offer a wide selection of icon templates in our store. Here are a couple of examples:

Agenda Icons PowerPoint Layout

In general, layouts combining icons and text work well with layouts similar to those used in image-text combinations. PowerPoint lets you place icons in gridded or non-gridded combinations, with their text by them. Here are some examples:

PowerPoint Layout Text Icons Example

5.      PowerPoint Layouts for Lists

When you want to present lists of items, bullet points are of course the classic choice, but increasingly people are choosing to visualize them as a process form, right up-to-date and attention-grabbing. The layout below, visualizing the process from left to right, makes your list easily comprehensible.

PowerPoint Layout List Example

For this type of layout, use the entire width of the slide for maximum impact.

You can also make great use of a circular form; more and more people are moving away from the old rectangular box.

PowerPoint Layout List Example 3

6.      Further Options for Image/Text Layouts

We’ve already covered image-text layouts above, but here are a few more ideas to make your presentations get noticed.

Option 1: Text on the left, image on the right

This option is a classic layout, as it works with the fact that English is read from left to right.  So your audience grasps the content first, then it’s reinforced by the image. This also makes your text easier to read, as the lines are shorter.

PowerPoint Layout Options Text Image

Option 2: Image on the left, text on the right

PowerPoint Layout Option Text Image 2

Option 3: Text above, large-scale image below

PowerPoint Layout Text Image Option 3

Option 4: Full-format image, with overlays

You’ve seen above how much of an impact this can make with title slides, and of course there’s nothing stopping you using a layout like this within your presentation. It’s always important to make sure that the colour and contrast of the text is chosen with the image in mind, so that can be read easily. Here are some examples:

PowerPoint Layout Text Image options 4

Conclusion: A Great PowerPoint Layout can Really Support Your Content!

If you want to create a really professional and effective presentation, it pays to try modern layouts that will grab your audience’s attention.   You have free rein to be as creative as you like, but do remember – especially with image-text combinations – to contrast your text properly with any images or icons, for maximum legibility.

Why not try a change of layout for your next presentation? We at PresentationLoad offer a whole range of slide templates to help you create a really impactful presentation in just a few clicks.

If you’re looking for professionally designed slides with a really polished layout for your presentation, feel free to get in touch, and we’ll create a slide layout perfect for your particular needs.

Got more questions about PowerPoint layout or PowerPoint in general? Just email us on [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help!

You might also be interested in the following template sets:

  • Preparing a PowerPoint Presentation: 11 Tips
  • Create a PowerPoint Presentation: That’s how it works!
  • The best Structure for Your Presentations!

Share this post

  • share  
  • save  

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Design Thinking: Problem Solving with a Difference

vision-mission-statement

Why Corporate Mission Statements Are So Important

7 Learnings from the apple keynote

7 Tips & Learnings from the Apple Keynote

PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Vania Escobar

Are you struggling with PowerPoint? You need a quick design in PowerPoint but don't know where to start? Don't worry, you have nothing to be ashamed of.

In this article, we're going to refresh the most important PowerPoint basics so you can take advantage of this Microsoft software and create high-impact presentations at any time!

Millions of users worldwide use Microsoft 365 services , making PowerPoint the presentation design software with the highest market share. And with good reason! PowerPoint's features stand out for its usability and originality . We can tell you that PowerPoint is pretty intuitive software, and it's a great option to choose when working with presentations on a daily basis. So, are you ready for a quick PowerPoint 101 class?

Let ' s see what you ' re going to learn today with this PowerPoint Guide :

What is PowerPoint?

What are the best uses of powerpoint, powerpoint basics: what are the components of powerpoint workspace, mastering powerpoint: what are the main features of powerpoint, what are powerpoint templates and where to find them, time to practice how to make a presentation in powerpoint.

Presentation desing service - 24Slides

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365 . This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way.

Over time, PowerPoint has evolved and improved its accessibility to users. For this reason, it has been adapted to the main operating systems and modalities:

  • PowerPoint Online

Additionally, you can use Word and Excel in this online version. That way, you'll be able to make real-time changes in the cloud without fearing losing your files. Sounds great, right?

PowerPoint has a versatile range of uses. Here's a list of the different tasks you can complete with this presentation design software:

  • Business presentations or Pitch decks.
  • Marketing, Sales and HR plans.
  • Project briefs and timelines.
  • Inductions to new employees.
  • Seminars and educational classes.
  • Professional portfolio of photos or designs.
  • Presentations of a research summary.
  • Presentations for special occasions.

These are just a few examples of the multiple possibilities this Microsoft software offers. Your imagination is the only limit!

Stay tuned as we continue with this PowerPoint 101 Guide...

PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

In order to deeply understand this presentation design software, you need to recognize its main components. Now it's time to learn about the PowerPoint basics!

A quick note before going any further: when opening PowerPoint, some of the commands in the ribbons will look grayish and won't be highlighted when you hover the mouse over them.

This happens since some commands need to be selected in order to function. For example, if you want to change the color of a text, you first need to select it.

That being said, let's start with this Guide for PowerPoint beginners:

PowerPoint Main Window

The first aspect to learn is PowerPoint Main Window. To facilitate the explanation, we've organized its main elements with numbers from 1 to 10:

components of PowerPoint window

Based on that, the main components of PowerPoint window are the following:

1. Quick Access Toolbar: allows you to customize commands to have them at hand. You only have to select it and go to "More commands."

2. Title Bar: shows you the name of your file and other "Suggested options" like Slide Master View . These options will vary depending on the use you give to the commands.

3. File Tab: you will see the Home Menu (PowerPoint backstage) by selecting it. There, you can create a new presentation, save it, print it, export it, and many other options.

4. The Ribbon: it's where PowerPoint tabs and tools are. These tools can also be called "commands" or “features.”

5. More Button or Down Arrow: these arrows allow you to view more tools or layout options in PowerPoint.

6. Slides Pane: shows your slides in thumbnail size. By right-clicking, you can access additional options for customizing each slide. Perfect for PowerPoint beginners!

7. Slide: PowerPoint's blank canvas and the frame to be seen when presenting the file.

8. Placeholders: they are dotted boxes that will store your content.

9. Status Bar: allows you to view the slide number, grammatical errors, speaker notes, and the comments on your file.

10. Zoom: allows you to enlarge or minimize your PowerPoint workspace. The range goes from 10 to 400%.

PowerPoint Tabs

The PowerPoint tabs are the control desk of your presentation . Since PowerPoint's features are too many, they're organized in tabs.

You can come and go between tabs as you need. Once you click on a tab, it will open its ribbon, and there, you'll be able to see all the tools related to that particular category.

This PowerPoint tutorial for beginners will give you an overview of all PowerPoint tabs . Pay attention to the following list:

  • Transitions Tab
  • Animations Tab
  • Slide Show Tab
  • Recording Tab

1. Home Tab

The Home tab is the most common tab of PowerPoint. This is the tab you'll probably use the most if you're designing a presentation deck from scratch.

Home Tab PowerPoint

It allows you to add new slides and change the text characteristics : font, size, boldness, underlining, alignment, etc. If you've ever used Microsoft Word, these features will be familiar to you.

Also, you will find commands to edit the characteristics of the geometric shapes you insert. This includes: fill color, line color, sharpe effects, among others.

2. Insert Tab

The Insert tab is exactly what its name says it is. In this ribbon, you'll find all the options concerning adding a new element to your PowerPoint presentation .

Insert Tab PowerPoint

You can insert a picture, some geometric shapes, icons, WordArt graphics, among others. We can tell you that this tab is really helpful for PowerPoint beginners!

For example, if you have a lot of data in PowerPoint , you could add a chart or diagram to show your information in a more visual way. Also, you can embed videos or music into PowerPoint really easily.

  • PowerPoint tip for beginners: To be able to write text on your slides, you need a text box. So, if you're designing your presentation from scratch, remember to go first to the Insert tab and add a text box to start writing.

3. Design Tab

If you are one of those people who enjoy choosing the design of a PowerPoint presentation, this tab will be your favorite.

Design Tab PowerPoint

The Design tab offers a wide range of premade designs , allowing you to get more polished slides. Even better, if you explore its ribbon, you can adjust the color palette and change the overall style of your PowerPoint deck.

The PowerPoint interface, as this basic PowerPoint Tutorial, is really intuitive. We believe that you won't have any problem with this tab!

4. Transitions Tab

Using transitions in PowerPoint is a dynamic way to move from one slide to the next during a presentation. This feature is PowerPoint's stamp, so don ' t miss it!

Transitions Tab PowerPoint

Some PowerPoint transitions are really classic, like wiping the old slide to present the new one. Others are somewhat over the top, like the “Vortex” or the “Airplane” effect.

If you click on each kind of transition, you'll see a preview on how it would look when presenting. Really cool, right?

5. Animations Tab

In case you want to add special effects for certain elements in your slides , the Animations tab in PowerPoint will interest you.

Animations Tab PowerPoint

Like the Transitions tab, you will find various animation effects in this ribbon. It's a matter of trying and choosing the best one according to your needs!

6. Slide Show Tab

As its name says, the Slide Show tab is about presenting your slides . We really like that it gives you several options to show up your presentation!

Slide Show Tab PowerPoint

Considering that you're a PowerPoint beginner, you're not likely to use the Slide Show tab very much.

But if you're curious about this command, you must read our article: How to Make a PowerPoint Slideshow that Runs Automatically?

7. Review Tab

The Review tab is not often used by PowerPoint beginners either.

However, if your job is related to writing or if you work at an international company, this tool can be extremely useful!

Review Tab PowerPoint

With this tab, you can check the slide's spelling, translate the text in real-time, and add comments to your slides . This last function can be helpful to give feedback to a colleague.

8. View Tab

This View tab allows you to change the view of your PowerPoint slides and make handouts from them, among other things.

View Tab PowerPoint

As you can see, the majority of its commands are really specific. So you won't have any issues while designing, test and see!

In this section, our favorite command for PowerPoint beginners is Slide Master . Explore more about this tool in our guide!

9. Recording Tab

In the last versions of this design presentation software, PowerPoint added the Recording tab. As its name says, it allows you to record all your presentation slides .

Recording Tab PowerPoint

This ribbon has advanced commands, so the most common action for a PowerPoint beginner is to take a screenshot or record the screen sequentially .

10. Help Tab

Finally, there is the Help tab. If you have any problem or question concerning how to use PowerPoint, you may go here to look for a solution.

In the latest versions, Windows has added a “Show Training” option. You can click this command to practice the PowerPoint basics since it will download training templates.

Help Tab PowerPoint

As a beginner in PowerPoint, you must recognize the objective of each PowerPoint tab to be able to master the software . But, in order to conduct an outstanding presentation deck, you also need to dominate its most important features. Let's see some of them in the next section!

If you feel ready to delve deeper into PowerPoint's tools, this section is for you.

As you may know , 24Slides specializes in creating outstanding presentations for any Design Project . So, we asked one of our experts about her favorite PowerPoint features, and we want to share them all with you!

Carmen Navarrete , Graphic Designer at 24Slides, highlighted the following features that will make your presentations stand out from the crowd:

PowerPoint Feature #1: Crop to Shape

This first PowerPoint feature is simple but effective!

Let's see how to use it:

  • First, choose an image you want to cut and insert it into your workspace.
  • Once inserted, select it with the mouse.
  • Go to the "Picture Format" tab.
  • Press the arrow of the "Crop" button (right side of the screen).
  • Select "Crop to Shape."
  • Choose your favorite shape and customize your PowerPoint presentation!

PowerPoint Feature: Crop to Shape

PowerPoint Feature #2: Merge Shapes

If you don't like any figure enough, you can create one from scratch!

This is possible thanks to the "Merge Shapes" option. Follow these steps to unleash your creativity:

  • First choose an image you want to cut.
  • Check the list of PowerPoint shapes (Insert tab > Shapes).
  • Choose two or three figures you want to merge (they can be the same figure).
  • Select the figures you are going to merge (see the image).
  • Once selected, go to the "Shape Format" tab.
  • Press the "Merge Shapes" option and the type of merge you want (test and choose!).

PowerPoint Feature: Merge Shapes

  • A new figure will appear, and you must fill it with the image from the first step.
  • Stay on the Shape Format tab and go to "Shape Fill" (button in the middle of the ribbon).
  • Select "Picture Fill" and browse for your image.
  • Select the image to fill your new figure, and that's it!

PowerPoint Feature: Merge Shapes

  • PowerPoint tip for beginners: When your merged figure is ready, paste the image to the background of your slide to achieve a better result. This way, you can use your image as a canvas and see if both elements fit well.

PowerPoint Feature #3: Insert Icons

This PowerPoint feature is quite easy to follow for PowerPoint beginners!

Just follow these steps:

  • Go to the Insert tab.
  • Select the "Icons" option.
  • A Microsoft 365 library will open, where you can search for the required icon.
  • Now, you must insert it into your presentation and adapt it to your design.
  • If you have an active Microsoft 365 subscription, you'll have access to a larger number of icons in PowerPoint.

PowerPoint Feature: Insert Icons

  • PowerPoint tip for beginners: If you want to learn more about icons in PowerPoint, read our article on How to Use Icons to Make Amazing PowerPoint Presentations .

PowerPoint Feature #4: Insert SmartArt

PowerPoint's SmartArt is one of the most popular and accessible tools to dominate while learning about PowerPoint basics.

To use it in your slide deck, you must:

  • Select SmartArt.
  • See all SmartArt categories and choose your favorite based on your needs.
  • Add the text you have prepared and adapt it to your presentation.

PowerPoint Feature: Insert SmartArt

We want to give you some ideas to master this SmartArt tool in PowerPoint: you can make timelines , flowcharts , and even a Venn diagram in just a few seconds. Try and see!

PowerPoint Feature #5: Remove Background

If you don't know how to use Photoshop and want to remove the background from an image, in this PowerPoint 101 Guide, we show you how:

  • First choose the image you want to remove the background from.
  • Insert the image in the PowerPoint workspace.
  • Select the image and go to the "Picture Format" tab.
  • Select "Remove Background" (first option on the left).
  • You can keep and remove parts of the image with the first two tools of the ribbon (see image).
  • Keep in mind that all the sections highlighted in purple will be deleted.

PowerPoint Feature: Remove Background of image

  • We recommend zooming in to keep or remove parts of the image with more detail.
  • Once you're done, press the "Keep Changes" button.
  • Finally, adapt the new image to your PowerPoint presentation.

Remove background in PowerPoint

  • PowerPoint tip for beginners: Choose a high-contrast photo or image for best results. In other words, the outline of the person or object you want to cut out must have clear edges and cannot blend with the image's background color.

PowerPoint Feature #6: Add Speaker Notes

The latest PowerPoint feature is a command you can use to prepare your speech before presenting to an audience.

Learning how to add speaker notes in PowerPoint is simple:

  • Select the slide that needs some notes.
  • Usually, there is a footer below the slide, but if not, you will have to activate it.
  • Go to the View tab and select "Notes."
  • The Speaker Notes section will appear, and you can add whatever you want!

PowerPoint Feature: Add Speaker Notes

  • PowerPoint tip for beginners: In case you want to practice your entire presentation and have a lot of notes, go to the View tab and select "Notes Page" (fourth command). You'll be able to see all your Speaker Notes faster!

PowerPoint Feature #7: PowerPoint Translator

If you've ever wondered how to translate your PowerPoint Slides, we'll explain the step by step here:

  • Go to the Review tab.
  • Select the text you want to translate.
  • Press the “Translate” button.
  • A panel will open on the right side of the screen.
  • Choose the language you need and you'll see the translation in real-time.
  • If you press Insert, the text will change to the new translation!

PowerPoint Feature #8: Screen Recording

The process of recording your screen in PowerPoint is straightforward and intuitive. Let's see:

  • Go to the “Record” or “Recording” tab.
  • Press the "Record Slide Show" button or the “From Beginning” button (depending on your PPT version).
  • A new window will open.
  • Select the red record button and start recording!
  • When you're done, select “Export.”
  • By default, the video will be 1080p. If you want to lower the video quality, go to "Customize export."
  • Name the video, save it to a folder and that's it!

As you may have noticed, this software has endless PowerPoint design options for beginners. We encourage you to try and test each functionality!

However, we're clear that PowerPoint has different features, so it can be hard to know where to start. That's why understanding PowerPoint basics is crucial if you truly want to master this software!

Our PowerPoint 101 Guide continues; stay tuned to discover more great stuff about this Microsoft software. Keep reading!

A PowerPoint template is a pre-made design that you can use for your own means, and that will save you a lot of time!

Templates in PowerPoint are a great resource for designing since all the structure is already done, and you only have to update the content . We can tell you they're the perfect resource for PowerPoint beginners!

They can be incredibly specific. For example, there are templates for a SWOT analysis or a complete Marketing report. Otherwise, templates can also be very general, with several slides with a similar design.

If you struggle with the artistic part of designing presentations, downloading PowerPoint templates will be a life changer!

PowerPoint free Templates by 24Slides

How to download PowerPoint templates for free?

If you didn't know, 24Slides has an extensive repository of PowerPoint templates. But how to obtain them? It's really simple:

  • First, create an account on our Free Templates Website with the button “Register” (that way, you can download everything without problems!).
  • Think about the graphics you need and the ideal structure for your presentation deck (you can also change the color palette later!).
  • Download it in PowerPoint format (if you prefer it in Google Slides format, you'll also find this type in our repository).
  • Edit and change everything you need for your PowerPoint presentation!

24Slides Designers specialize in business and corporate PowerPoints, but you'll also find other types of templates on our website: Data templates, Timelines, Roadmaps, Matrixes, Diagrams, and more.

Keep in mind that a well-designed PowerPoint deck helps you communicate stronger messages to your audience . Don't waste this opportunity to make your presentation shine!

Business Templates in PowerPoint

If you want to learn more about how to master PowerPoint, do not miss the last section. We'll show you some PowerPoint basics from the software itself!

A PowerPoint 101 Guide wouldn't be that useful with no examples. So, if you enjoy the step-by-step guides, this section is for you.

Below, we'll show you how to make a simple PowerPoint presentation. But first, here are some tips to be more efficient in the process:

  • Be clear about what type of presentation you're going to create (is it corporate, playful, or more creative?).
  • Make a draft with the most important information you need to add and, thus, generate a good structure in your presentation .
  • Get inspired by examples on the internet , but adapt them to your needs and audience.
  • If you will create a business presentation, keep in mind your brand identity .
  • Make sure your PowerPoint works , you may need to update to the latest version or pay for the subscription.

Step 1: Make a draft to structure your presentation

As we said before, writing a draft or script of your content will be vital to start on the right foot as a PowerPoint beginner.

This advice is so important that we choose it as the first step to learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation. Remember: Planning is key!

draft to structure a presentation in PowerPoint

Regarding the process of planning, we share some good practices:

  • If your presentation will be very long , write down all subtitles and content in a Word document. This will help you organize your ideas and give a correct sequence to your narrative. In addition to avoiding redundancies in the message you want to communicate.
  • If your presentation will use many visual resources , we recommend choosing high-quality images. This will help you have a starting graphic base. Some good free image repositories are Freepick , Unsplash , and Adobe Stock .
  • If your presentation is based on data , have all your results summarized or your most relevant conclusions at hand. The idea of making a PowerPoint presentation is to show your information in the simplest way possible for your audience.

Step 2: Create a new document in PowerPoint

Once you check that all the functions are working fine with the software, please open it and go to the File tab. If you've ever used Word or Excel, you'll probably find this Home Menu familiar.

In short, this is the main page of PowerPoint, where you can create a new presentation or open an older one. Let's see:

how to create a new document in PPT

In order to follow this part of our PowerPoint Tutorial correctly, take into consideration the following points:

  • On the lower side of the screen, you'll find your recently opened PowerPoint files. This option is great for saving some time.
  • If you don't find the presentation you're looking for, click on the “Open” option at the left bar and find older files.
  • Don't forget to save your presentation with a relatable name so you won't lose sight of it!

Step 3: Choose the perfect design for your presentation

With your information ready in a draft, it's time to choose the design of your PowerPoint slide deck. You must imagine that the available design options are endless!

For practical reasons, you have three options regarding the design:

  • Start a design from scratch (very difficult for a PowerPoint beginner).
  • Choose an established PowerPoint design or layout.
  • Download a PowerPoint template and modify some details.

Don't worry if you don't know how to continue! In this PowerPoint 101 class, we're going to explain step by step the second option:

How do you set a default design in PowerPoint?

  • First, go to the Design tab.
  • Open the list of options by clicking on the third arrow.
  • Choose the design you like the most for your PowerPoint presentation.

How do you set a default design in PowerPoint

If you want to explore more PowerPoint designs, there is a way to research online. For that, you only need to:

  • Go to the File tab (first tab, next to the Home tab).
  • Select "More themes" (see image).

More themes in PowerPoint

  • Use the search engine and write the keyword you want (it can be related to your business or it can be a color).
  • Check the list of PowerPoint themes and choose your favorite.
  • Wait a few minutes while it loads and keep designing in PowerPoint!

Themes designs in PowerPoint

How do you change the layout of one slide in PowerPoint?

In this PowerPoint 101 Guide, you will also learn how to configure the layout of each slide.

Keep in mind that to have a high-impact presentation, you must adapt your slides' design to the type of content you'll add. And using layouts is perfect for this purpose.

To change the layout type in PowerPoint, follow these steps:

  • Right-click on the slide you want to change.
  • Select the "Layout" option.
  • You will find more than ten layout models.
  • Choose the one that best suits your content.
  • Repeat these steps for each slide (if you wish or require).

How do you change the layout in PowerPoint

How do you customize your slides in PowerPoint?

The design process in this PowerPoint 101 Guide doesn't stop there.

You also can customize your presentation's color palette , font style, background format , and graphics effects .

Just go to:

  • Design tab > Variants.
  • Select Colors, Fonts, Effects or Background Styles (as you need).
  • If you're inspired and want to create your own background in PowerPoint, select Background Styles > Format Background.
  • Finally, custom your slides as you want!

how to customize a design in PowerPoint

Step 4: Add all your information to your presentation

Now, it's time to add all your information to your slides. If your script is long, take your time to copy each part of it.

In this PowerPoint Tutorial, we're going to show how our design is going so far. We design at your side!

How to design a presentation in PPT

Step 5: Add transitions or animations to your presentation

The stamp of PowerPoint is its transitions and animations! Naturally, our PowerPoint 101 has considered these essential commands.

If you want to add them to your presentation and make your speech more fluid, follow these steps:

  • Go to the tabs section of PowerPoint.
  • Select "Transitions" or "Animations" and try your favorite effects.
  • Remember that if you select Transitions, these will modify the entire slide, while Animations can be added to each element individually.

When choosing one Animation, you can eliminate it if you aren't 100% convinced. You only need to:

  • Select the Animation number that appears on the corner.
  • Press the "Delete" or "Backspace" button on your keyboard.
  • Choose another Animation in PowerPoint if you want!

How to add transitions or animations to PPT

This “PowerPoint for dummies” is full of tips and tricks! So here is one more: Don't overuse transitions or animations in PowerPoint ; they can make your presentation slower and unprofessional . Use this tool in a subtle way!

Step 6: Refine the final details

As always, every final product must be reviewed. Especially if you're learning the PowerPoint fundamentals with us.

We recommend reviewing each slide of your PowerPoint presentation one final time. In this process, you will be able to:

  • Add icons if your presentation requires it.
  • Change any image or illustration if they don't convince you.
  • Change transitions or animations.
  • Customize your presentation's color palette .
  • Proofread your slides' text or add more information.
  • Add speaker notes to your presentation.

How to add speaker notes to PPT

Step 7: Slideshow your presentation

When your presentation is finished, it's essential to know how to make a PowerPoint slideshow. This way, you can see your slides from the exact same perspective your audience will see them.

To slideshow your presentation in PowerPoint, follow these simple steps for PowerPoint beginners:

  • Position yourself on your first slide.
  • Go to the bottom right of the software.
  • Select the "Slide Show" button (see image).
  • Have a look of your presentation by clicking on each slide or pressing the right arrow on your keyboard.
  • To go out from the Slide Show mode, you have to press the ESC key.

How to slideshow in PowerPoint

Now you can present your slides like an expert!

When you master this presentation design software, you'll be able to create amazing things in PowerPoint : infographics, diagrams, charts, pitch decks, business cards, calendars, you name it!

This was our PowerPoint Guide for beginners. We hope that our compilation today will be useful for conducting more professional presentations in the future and, why not, achieve all your goals!

Don't forget to share this PowerPoint 101 Guide with your co-workers or whoever you want!

Presentation design service promotion

Want to boost your beginner PowerPoint skills? Check out this content:

  • How to Work with Multiple Images in PowerPoint
  • How to Add a Timer to Your Powerpoint Presentations
  • PowerPoint Charts, Graphs, & Tables Made Easy | Tips & Tricks
  • How To Use PowerPoint Design Ideas - All Questions Answered!
  • 36 Fun Icebreakers for Your Next Presentation
  • The Cost of PowerPoint Presentations: Discover the hidden expenses you might overlook!

Create professional presentations online

Other people also read

Tutorial: Save your PowerPoint as a Video

Tutorial: Save your PowerPoint as a Video

24Slides

How To Convert Google Slides To PowerPoint and Vice Versa

How To Add Animations To PowerPoint

How To Add Animations To PowerPoint

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

25 Best PowerPoint Slide Designs (Best Designs for PPT in 2024) + Video

Andrew Childress

  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • العربية/عربي

In today's instantly interconnected world, communication is more important than ever. No matter the subject, an innovative and best designs for PowerPoint presentations  is a must to carry your message to an audience.

Get thousands of the best PowerPoint design slides on Envato Elements.

In this article, we're going to focus on 25 of the most modern, trendy and best design templates for PowerPoint . They're perfect for your presentations in 2024. Each one of the best PPT slide designs helps you project a cool and professional image to your audience—before you ever say a word.

Best PowerPoint Slide Design Templates on Envato Elements (With Unlimited Use)

You can find hundreds of the  best PowerPoint presentation design templates on Envato Elements. This is a great offer where you can download as many as you want for one low price. 

The premium best designs for PowerPoint presentations  we feature here from Envato Elements are designed for communicating your ideas efficiently. If you need the best PowerPoint design template that you can customize quickly, check out Elements.

These ready-to-use templates have unique slide designs for PPT and great visuals to choose from. Use them to showcase the concepts in your best slide designs for a presentation with pre-built slides for your:

  • business plan
  • product vision
  • business model
  • market size
  • infographics

Look at the Best PowerPoint Presentation Designs

All these PowerPoint slide designs are available as part of the flat rate Envato Elements subscription package.

A pre-built PowerPoint presentation slide design is a blueprint for success. Swiftly add your business ideas, insert your data, showcase your innovative solution, and craft exactly the slides you need to win the room.

Just add your business ideas and key data to these already visually impactful business plan with the best PPT slide designs. Quickly prep your business template, and you’re ready to win over your audience. 

10 Best PowerPoint Slide Designs (Video)

Are you looking for the Best PowerPoint Slide Designs? Look no further. We've got some of the of the best PowerPoint presentation designs listed in the video below:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Do you want even more best design templates for PowerPoint to choose from? Browse through the list below for more options.

25 Best PowerPoint Slide Design Templates (From Envato Elements for 2024)

Imagine you're presenting research findings to your college class. Or suppose you're a corporate executive pitching a concept in search of funding. No matter what you're presenting about and who you're presenting to, the goal is really the same: persuasion . 

By getting a favorable impression, you're seeking understanding, approval, and agreement. With pre-built PowerPoint slide design templates, leave styling to the professionals. You'll have more time to focus on your message.

My favorite source for the best PowerPoint templates in 2024 is Envato Elements. Elements provides an incredible all-you-can-download resource for creatives , with a low monthly fee.  

Elements has such a huge selection. So, it really helps to have a starting point for choosing a PowerPoint slide design template. I’ve focused on five of the best below:

1. Evolution - Modern PowerPoint Template

1. Evolution - Modern PowerPoint Template

When I’m choosing the bets slide design for a PPT, it’s key to find one that offers a lot of creative flexibility. Evolution is a prime example. This sleek, modern PowerPoint design is geared toward those building a comprehensive slide deck in 2024.

With a vast assortment of layouts, color options, and content placeholders, your work will become really simple. Simply download the template and insert your own content. This slide design in PowerPoint from Elements does the hard work for you.

2. ONE - Best Design for PPT

2. ONE - Best Design for PPT

Nothing speaks to timeless elegance quite like the style of classic newsprint. Black and white colors provide stunning contrasts, with vivid images to illustrate the story. This vibe is captured perfectly by the ONE—one of the best PowerPoint templates from Elements.

This template has all the modern touches you're looking for. Modern touches such as image placeholders, video, and collection of charts and graphs. Some things never go out of fashion. This best design for PPT captures that perfectly right here.

3. BePro - Best Presentation Slide Design for Businesses

3. BePro - Best Presentation Slide Design for Businesses

BePro is a great starting point for anyone looking to build the best presentation slide designs for their business. This slide design download includes content placeholders built around stunning visualizations of data.

Simply drop in your text, numbers, images, and graphics in this presentation slide design. You'll feel confident that your business is getting the portrayal it deserves.

4. Adren - Classic PowerPoint Template

4. Adren - Classic PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint slide design theme stands out with pastel colors and graphics inspired by nature. Similar in styling to a modern magazine, Adren allows you to envelop your PowerPoint slides in the true essence of style.

Don’t forget to check out the many slide layouts and animation options included to bring more customization to your presentation. There's no doubt that Adren is one of the best presentation slides design.

5. Kintel - Modern Portfolio PowerPoint Template

5. Kintel - Modern Portfolio PowerPoint Template

With its unforgettable styling and bold fonts, Kintel is one of the best slide designs for PPT in 2024. The vibe is modern, yet rustic—this one's perfectly suited for showcasing art and all your other graphic design work.

You’ll also find hundreds of icons and dozens of uniquely themed slide layouts. It’s up to you to choose what works best for your presentation slide design and transform your vision into reality.

6. Buzinice - Outstanding Best Slide Design for a Presentation

Buzinice - Outstanding Best Slide Design for a Presentation

Give your proposals an animated and fun feel with Buzinice, an outstanding best slide design for a presentation. You'll get over 150 total slides, perfect illustrations, resizable graphics, handcrafted infographics, and five color variations. It's plenty of room to add your information into your presentation and impress your audience.

7. Gradient - Colorful PowerPoint Template

Gradient - Colorful PowerPoint Template

This simple yet exciting PowerPoint slide design was made for an investor pitch. You can easily make it your own and show others what your business is about. It opts for quality over quantity. And that is the message you'll be delivering with this PowerPoint template.

8. Creature - One-of-a-Kind PowerPoint Template

Creature - One-of-a-Kind PowerPoint Template

Creature has a cool, modern look and feel. Click through it to find stylish, unique slides, customizable assets to match your branding, and Vector 3D Infographics, icons, and elements. With this awesome PowerPoint template, your presentation is sure to stand out.

9. Kamsupay - Best Design for PowerPoint Presentations

Kamsupay - Best Design for PowerPoint Presentations

If you want to move away from minimalism, evolve into an abstract, creative PowerPoint template like this one. Kamsupay focuses on exciting shapes, ensuring it will catch the eye of your audience. Its dynamism and cool visual elements will put the emphasis on your information and images for your presentation.

It's definitely one of the best designs for PowerPoint presentations!

10. Blossom - Soothing Presentation Template

Blossom - Soothing Presentation Template

Help your PowerPoint BLOSSOM into a beautiful presentation (see what we did there?). You can do so with this fantastic PowerPoint template. Clean, elegant, and simple, this PPT template will get your message across. It has incredible features, like over 100 unique slides, photo and project galleries, editable graphics, helpful timelines, and more.

11. The X - Minimalist PowerPoint Template

The X - Minimalist PowerPoint Template

Share details about your business, a personal portfolio, your products, or anything else you need to transmit. The X PowerPoint template is an effective, sophisticated, and professional way to raise your voice. It's ready to roll out in a flash because you can build and edit it quickly. You only have to drop your content and get moving.

12. Website Proposal - Best Presentation Slide Designs for Professionals

Website Proposal - Best Presentation Slide Designs for Professionals

A business presentation needs to be clear, concise, and efficient. This way, you can ensure your investors, coworkers, clients, and interested parties will understand what you're about.

Website Proposal has contrasting colors and enough space to include your data. With professional best PPT slide designs like this one, you can transmit your big ideas about your business.

13. Compact - Easy PPT Design Template

Compact - Easy PPT Design Template

If you need a professionally designed PowerPoint template that allows you to drag and drop your content, look no further. With this best presentation design, you can have a complete and beautiful presentation in just a few seconds and with a couple of clicks. Get started today with the Compact PPT Design.

14. Vogue Monal - Avant Garde PowerPoint Template

Vogue Monal - Avant Garde PowerPoint Template

Pixel-perfect illustrations, high-quality design, handcrafted infographics, and beautiful graphics are only a few of the features of this PowerPoint template. Vogue Monal will elevate your presentation and make it more stylish and refined. Furthermore, it's extremely easy to edit, and you can make it your own with a quick download.

15. Union - Best Design for PPT to Create Pitch Decks

Union - Best Design for PPT to Create Pitch Decks

This is the perfect PowerPoint template for corporate life. It's the best choice if you have to pitch big ideas to investors. It comes with 100 unique and editable PowerPoint slides designed to create a well-constructed and engaging PowerPoint pitch deck.

Share vital aspects of your business with a sleek and professional best design for PPTs.

16. Mirage - Sophisticated Presentation Template

Mirage - Sophisticated Presentation Template

You don't have to start your PowerPoint presentation from scratch. More importantly, you don't have to spend hours trying to fit the pieces together to create an eye-catching message. This PowerPoint template has everything; striking contrast, shapes, and out-of-the-ordinary layouts.

It will capture your audience's interest and imagination. It's elegant and impressive, making it a good PowerPoint design for businesses.

17. Retro - Unique PowerPoint Template

Retro - Unique Powerpoint Template

The word "unique" doesn't begin to describe this next PowerPoint template. The Retro PowerPoint template is creative and a little bit quirky, but very complete and professional. You can use it for any business or personal venture. Download this awesome PowerPoint template and explore its full potential. 

18. Wixa - Good PowerPoint Design

Wixa - Good PowerPoint Design

Your content should be the focus of your presentation. However, the design aspect is critical in ensuring your content attracts your audience. The Wixa template has a modern and good PowerPoint design that's easily editable and customizable. Wow your audience with your content with this clean and minimal best PPT slide design.

19. Sami - Best Presentation Design for Companies

Sami - Best Presentation Design for Companies

Don't just tell people about your company's performance; show them! Make your presentation more dynamic and captivating. This graphic-driven PowerPoint template will allow you to hit the points you want to make with extra strength. Discover the high-resolution graphics in this best presentation design for companies.

20. Callisto - Black-and-White Presentation Template

Callisto - Black-and-White Presentation Template

A black-and-white PowerPoint template design never goes out of style. The Callisto PPT theme is bold but clean. It worked down its color palette into shades of gray. This will ensure your text and images will pop. Plus, it has over 70 unique, well-designed slides and a ton of options to create enthralling PowerPoint presentations.

21. Autumn - Best Design Template for PowerPoint for the Fall Season

Autumn - Best Design Template for PowerPoint for the Fall Season

The fall season is beautiful. The leaves turn gold, red, and brown. The air becomes crisper. And there's pumpkin spice everywhere. This is why autumn is a crowd favorite. Capture some of that magic with the Autumn template.

Needless to say, this is the best design template for PowerPoint if you have a seasonal presentation to make.

22. Bravo - Top PPT Design Template

Bravo - Top PPT Design Template

The following PPT design template is an excellent option for those looking to create a flawless, vibrant, and fun presentation. The Bravo PPT template is versatile and multipurpose and will fit right in with every message you have. Use it to display everything you have to give. Its design will inspire you and engage your audience.

23. Slider - Best Design Template for PowerPoint

Slider - Best Design Template for PowerPoint

You could easily stop your search for the perfect PowerPoint template after this one. The Slider PPT template design has all the features you will need, plus a killer design. It's a frontrunner and one of the best PowerPoint theme designs for 2024.

Give this best design template for PowerPoint a try and catapult your point!

24. Vegapunk - Best Slide Design for a Presentation Pitch

Vegapunk - Best Slide Design for a Presentation Pitch

The Vegapunk Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template is equal parts trendy and classic. This gives you the confidence to face the crowd with the correct data, facts, and template design. And, as its name states, it's an ideal match to pitch your ideas to investors or clients.

Persuade them and make them trust your ventures with this best slide design for a presentation .

25. Mango - Amazing PowerPoint Template

Mango - Amazing Powerpoint Template

Let's close this list with a bang! The Mango PowerPoint template is creative, beautiful, exciting, and professional. It has 150+ unique slides, color variations, galleries, illustrations, infographics, and other top-of-the-line elements. In all honesty, you don't need much more!

Still, remember that you can look through the thousands of the best slide designs for a presentation on Envato Elements !

Good PowerPoint Design Tips for 2024 Challenges

The problem in 2024 will be communication overload. The question for you, the presenter, becomes: “ how do I stand out above the crowd and make my message heard? ” 

The premium best PowerPoint presentation designs convey information in visually appealing slide designs.

The premium best PowerPoint presentation designs  convey information in visually appealing slide designs.

Use trendy, modern and best presentation design templates.  Using pre-designed PowerPoint slides saves you time and delivers an appealing presentation.

But if you aren't a graphic designer, how can you create the best PowerPoint slide designs?

The answer  is to use  pre-built best presentation slide designs from Envato .  They take the hard work out of building presentations. All you've got to do is choose one that fits your message and style, drop in your content, and give an epic presentation.

How to Make Good PowerPoint Designs Fast

When you choose one of our amazing PowerPoint presentation designs, you get professional layouts and styles. You don't need to have any graphic design experience to make beautiful, good PowerPoint designs of your own. 

Essentially, with presentation slide design templates all you've got to do is drop content onto pre-made slides. Envato slide designs already have flexible placeholders that scale and size your content perfectly. 

The premium Botany PowerPoint Presentation has excellent slide presentation design.

The premium Botany PowerPoint Presentation  has excellent slide presentation design.

Let's explore just how easy this is. We'll work in the  Botany PowerPoint Presentation  from Envato Elements and take a closer look at three specific slide designs.

1. The Title Slide

It's important to set the stage with great slide design right from the start. So, let's begin with slide 1: the title.

Title slide on a premium PowerPoint template

Title slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

As you can see, this best PPT slide design really consists of a few text boxes, along with an image placeholder in the middle.

To customize, go ahead and click to select each text box. Then simply start typing your own words. It only takes a few seconds. You'll have your content inserted in no time.

Next up, click on the image placeholder and browse to a photo stored on your computer. Click to insert it. PowerPoint will drop it right onto your slide. Even better—the placeholder on this beautiful template will ensure the photo is scaled to fit.

Just like that, we've made an engaging title slide. 

Engaging slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

2. The Concept Slide

The concept slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

Slide 6 in this deck is a classic among PowerPoint slides: a simple text-and-photo layout. These drive many presentations by introducing a person, place, or idea through words and images. Once again, your job is easy, thanks to this Elements template.

Begin by adding a new title and supporting paragraph on the left side. Then, go ahead and click on each of the image placeholders to insert your own photos. 

The concept slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

3. The Mockup Slide

The mockup slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

Slide 53 is a trendy PowerPoint slide design that you can use to show off your website or mobile app. It's called a device mockup. Featuring a 3D representation of a mobile phone, it really brings your product to life.

The first steps are the same as above:  adding your own text.  Now it's time to build the mockup. 

The best way to do this is to capture a screenshot on an actual mobile phone. Then, copy it to your computer. 

At that point, it's simply a matter of adding the image, just like we've been doing. The Botany template mockup will overlay the screenshot on the phone's screen, making it an exact replica of a real device!

The mockup slide on a premium PowerPoint template.

As you can see, with robust and powerful professional PowerPoint slide designs from Envato slide creation is easier and better than ever. You'll wow any audience, without having to spend a long time designing slides from scratch!

5 Quick PowerPoint Slide Design Tips to Create the Best PowerPoint Presentation Designs 

As you can see, Envato has countless PowerPoint slide design templates to offer in 2024. But no matter which one you choose, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you build the best presentation possible. Here are some of my favorite PowerPoint presentation design tips.

1. Choose a Theme That Fits Your Message

Bright colors and whimsical graphics might not fit a corporate pitch deck but might be ideal if you’re talking to kids. Before making your choice, think about who you're presenting to and what message you're trying to convey. 

Use highly stylized premium templates like ECO from Envato Elements to fit your presentations

Use highly stylized premium templates like ECO from Envato Elements to fit your presentations

By choosing a theme for your PowerPoint presentation design you’ll pick a slide design template that works for your presentation

2. Keep Your PowerPoint Slides Clean

What looks good on your computer screen might turn into a cluttered mess on a giant wall projector. Be sure you use fonts that are large and clear enough to be readable from the back of a room. 

Less is more! Use PowerPoint slide designs that are clean and simplified. Avoid filling PPT slides with text and be sure chart labels are easy to see.

3. Avoid Dizzying Animations

Even though PowerPoint’s fancy animations and transitions might look cool to you, they can distract and annoy your audience. When changing slides, or animating objects onto a slide, it pays to keep things simple in your PowerPoint slide design.

Use a single animation in a premium template like ONE to animate without distraction.

Use a single animation in a premium template like ONE to animate without distraction.

Elegant fades and push animations ease content on and off the screen in a calm, non-distracting way.

4. Set a Clear Goal

Each PPT slide should have a clear purpose. Be sure text aligns thematically with a slide title, and that charts and images have a clear relation to the content around them. Nothing is worse than a confused audience. Always remember that a PowerPoint presentation is meant to be a visual aid and not a puzzle!

5. Transform Text-Heavy Slides With Infographics

One powerful way to slim down a slide is by using an infographic. An infographic combines information and graphics to explain concepts to the audience in a way that neither can do on their own.

One of the premium best PPT design approaches is to use an infographic like this one from BePro.

One of the premium best PPT design approaches is to use an infographic like this one from BePro.

Infographics come in all shapes and sizes. Many of the best slides templates that you source from Envato Elements will include impressive infographics. Use them to explain complex concepts.

For even more design tips, check out this tutorial from Envato Tuts+:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

5 Best PowerPoint Presentation Design Trends for 2024

The best PowerPoint slide design templates push the envelope and don't fall back on the tried and true. When choosing the slide design that works best for you, make sure it uses the design trends that are popular in 2024:

1. Minimal Slide Design

Minimal PowerPoint slide design has been trending for the last couple of years, but it's not going anywhere in 2024. Cut down on the clutter and excessive animations and keep the focus on your content. The result is a cleaner and easier to follow presentation.

The premium Creative PowerPoint Template proves that minimal isn't boring and can look very interesting.

The premium Creative PowerPoint Template proves that minimal isn't boring and can look very interesting.

2. Show, Don't Tell

This trend will help keep the focus on your content. Charts and graphs give you a visual boost when sharing data with your audience. Showing a visual will engage your audience more than just numbers ever will. They're a key part of good slide design. 

You'll have all the charts and graphs you'll need with the premium Smart Chart template.

You'll have all the charts and graphs you'll need with the premium Smart Chart template .

3. Use the Pantone Color of the Year

Using the year's trendiest colors makes for great PPT slides. The Pantone color of the year is Peach Fuzz . Find the best PPT slide design templates for download that use this color and its shades to take good slide design to the next level.

Pantone Color of the Year

4. Try Fancy Fonts

One of the newest trends in the last couple of years has been the use of bold typography. And no, that doesn't mean Comic Sans. If you want to apply this trend, find fonts that make bold statements, and can support good slide design on their own.

Improve the typography in your presentation in just a minute:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

5. Isometric Illustrations

This type of illustration takes a 3D model and puts it on a 2D surface. The result is very satisfying to look at and adds a modern touch to any presentation. You don't have to be an illustrator to apply this trend. Just choose from the PowerPoint slide layout templates that have isometric designs.

This premium construction-themed PowerPoint presentation design uses a mix of isometric illustrations and images.

This premium construction-themed PowerPoint presentation design uses a mix of isometric illustrations and images.

More PowerPoint Template Resources From Envato Tuts+

Choosing the best presentation design for you from the thousands of PowerPoint slide layout templates out there is a great first step. But what do you do next? 

If you're new to the PowerPoint software or just want to brush up your skills, the Envato Tuts+ team has put together the ultimate guide for PowerPoint . Find more layouts, PowerPoint shortcuts, presentation tips, and more. Here's just a taste of the guide to get you started:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

5 Benefits of Using the Best Presentation Slide Designs in 2024

Envato Elements features stylish, and professional PPT slides with high-quality designs. These templates are the best you can get in 2024. Still, you've surely noticed that there are thousands of PPT template options out there. So why choose Envato Elements? What benefits does it have? Read on to learn more!

  • Your message will be taken seriously. A less-than-perfect template will not be taken seriously. How you present your information holds a lot of weight. Find the best presentation design to elevate your message.
  • You'll find a template for every sector. If you want a PPT template for a business proposal, you can find it on Envato Elements. If you need a PowerPoint theme design for a creative portfolio, you can find it there, too. You'll see a wide variety of options for every area imaginable. 
  • You'll be stress-free. Designing the perfect PowerPoint template can be stressful, especially if you aren't a designer. You'll be more than halfway there with a pre-made but completely editable PPT theme.
  • You'll get versatility. To present your message accurately, you need to be in control of some design choices. Luckily, the PPT templates on Envato Elements can be incredibly versatile, ensuring you'll make them your own.
  • You'll get a confidence boost. Sharing your message is nerve-wracking. However, when you know you have the perfect backup (like a top PPT template from Envato Elements), you'll get a confidence boost that will help you spread the word effectively.

Benefits of Envato Elements (The Power of Unlimited Use)

Envato Elements is a subscription service where you pay a low monthly fee for thousands of high-quality digital assets.

Envato Elements is a subscription service where you pay a low monthly fee for thousands of high-quality digital assets.

Envato Elements is a subscription service where you pay a low monthly fee. By subscribing, you get unlimited slide design template downloads .

Download as many PowerPoint templates as you need. Use the templates that you download whenever you need a theme. Envato Elements provides more than just high-quality templates . You also get high-quality fonts, add-ons, and more. 

Subscribe to Envato Elements to get access to thousands of high-quality, professionally designed templates, for a low monthly fee !

Frequently Asked Questions Answered (FAQs)

PowerPoint is used by millions worldwide, but that doesn't mean that millions worldwide know its ins and outs. I've grabbed some of the most common questions about the program and answered them here to put any doubts you've got to rest. Let's dive in:

1. Can I Add Images to My Presentation?

Images and videos are both key elements to appealing slide design. There are a couple of options for adding images to slides, including paste and insert. Here's more useful information on working with images so you can have an awesome PowerPoint slide presentation design: 

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

2. How Do I Make a Chart in PowerPoint?

PowerPoint slide design benefits from visualizing data. To make information easier to understand with a chart, click on the Insert tab, then click Chart within the Illustrations group. 

Our tutorial on graphs and charts in PowerPoint goes into even greater detail:

3. Should My PowerPoint Presentation Design Be Industry Specific? 

Many great PowerPoint slide layout templates are multipurpose and work fine. But if you don't use an industry specific PPT template, you'll probably miss out on great icons and visuals designed for the industry.

4. Can I Use Props While Presenting?

Props are a unique way to complement some fun to good slide design. They can get a laugh and connect with your message. If you aren't comfortable with using props, there are other ways to spice up your presentation:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

5. What Does Aspect Ratio Mean for PowerPoint?

Aspect ratio is the ratio between width and height. If you see PowerPoint slide design templates with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that means there are four units of width to three units of height.

This is important to know for the screen size you'll present on. Older screens are 4:3, while newer screens are 16:9. a 4:3 presentation on a 16:9 screen will have black bars on the left and right side of the presentation, which will make your slide design less appealing. Make sure you understand why you must know your presentation's aspect ratio:

Learn More About Using PowerPoint

No matter what type of presentation you're building, learning more about PowerPoint helps improve your results. When you're building PowerPoint slides, you've got to work quickly and efficiently. That frees up the time you need to build the best PowerPoint slide presentation design. 

On Envato Tuts+, we've built one of the deepest learning libraries for Microsoft PowerPoint. Use our resource, How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide) , to launch your learning path.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Download Our Free PDF eBook on Making Great Presentations

We've got the perfect complement to a professional PowerPoint template. It'll help you learn how to write, design, and deliver great presentations.

Download  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations  now for FREE with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. Get your ideas formed into a powerful presentation that'll move your audience. 

Grab the Free Make Great Presentations eBook

Get a Head Start on Your Slide Design: Grab a Professional PowerPoint Template Design

In 2024’s hustle and bustle, you don’t have the time and energy to build a PowerPoint presentation design from scratch. So, it pays to use pre-built slide design themes like these.

With Envato Elements unlimited slide design downloads , you’ll find a plethora of dynamic slide templates at your fingertips. So, now it’s time to get started! Download your favorites today and begin building trendy, modern presentations for 2024.

Editorial Note : This post has been updated with contributions from Sarah Joy , Nathan Umoh , and Dacia Egurrola . Sarah and Nathan are freelance instructors for Envato Tuts+. Dacia is a staff writer with Envato Tuts+ .

Andrew Childress

HCC Libraries Home

PowerPoint Presentation Best Practices: Tips & Resources

  • Slide Content
  • The Presentation: Public Speaking
  • Tips & Resources

Watch your timing, both while speaking and going through your slides. You don't want to go too fast, but make sure you don't go over your allotted time, either. (This is where practice comes in!) You might want to leave a few minutes at the end for questions.

Sort Your Slides

Try breaking your slides into smaller chunks or segments, and make sure they flow. But don’t use too many slides, either; find a nice middle ground. If you look at all of them in the slide sorter, do they seem to flow logically without your speech backing them up?

The "B" Key

During your presentation (on either PowerPoint or Keynote) you can press the "B" key on the keyboard, and the screen will go blank. This is useful if you need to go off topic for a minute, or you want people to focus on you while you say something extremely important. Press "B" again and your presentation will reappear.

  • Keep it simple, but not simplistic
  • Have a theme and be consistent
  • Be smart with colors
  • Choose fonts wisely
  • Use high-quality graphics, not clip art
  • Try using video or audio
  • Minimize distractions in your slides
  • Pace yourself
  • Break up your slides into small chunks
  • Check your spelling and grammar
  • Don’t use stale built-in templates
  • Don’t throw off your audience with fancy fonts
  • Don’t use distracting animations and transitions
  • Don’t use clip art
  • Don’t put an entire paragraph in your slide
  • Don’t go too fast
  • Don't read from cue cards word-for-word
  • Don’t stress—act relaxed and natural, and your audience will be more receptive
  • "Design Tips" - Garr Reynolds Tips and slide examples from a communication expert.
  • "10 PowerPoint Tips to Make Your Slides More Effective" - iSpring Top 10 tips, written by Ferry Pereboom, the co-founder of a design agency.
  • Presentation Zen: "What is good presentation design?" - Garr Reynolds Tips and slide examples from a communication expert.
  • "Top 10 Tips to Make Your PowerPoint Suck Way Less" - Your PowerPoint Sucks Top 10 tips, other articles, examples, and resources.
  • "Speak up: Preparing an Engaging Presentation" - Amherst College Tips on presenting a public speech from Amherst College's Writing Center.
  • “Basic tasks for creating a PowerPoint presentation” - Microsoft A guide for getting started with PowerPoint, with tips for creating an effective presentation at the bottom.
  • "Delivery Tips" - Garr Reynolds Public speaking tips from a communication expert.
  • "Preparation Tips" - Garr Reynolds Preparation tips for presenting from a communication expert.
  • Canva Slide builder with professional and artistic templates.
  • SlideModel Professional slide and theme templates.
  • PresentationGO Free templates, slides, graphics, diagrams, tables, etc.
  • << Previous: The Presentation: Public Speaking
  • Last Updated: Dec 8, 2023 12:36 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.hccfl.edu/powerpoint

HCC logo

© 2024 | All rights reserved

Top searches

Trending searches

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

fall background

24 templates

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

rosh hashanah

38 templates

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

fall pumpkin

67 templates

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

42 templates

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

indigenous canada

48 templates

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

119 templates

Create engaging presentations, faster

Free templates for google slides, powerpoint and canva, or kick off your next project with ai presentation maker.

Join the Slidesgo Teacher Community for exclusive tips and the latest EdTech news! Join the Teacher Community for tips and EdTech news!

Inside Out Disney

Inside Out Disney

11 templates

Disney

256 templates

Slidesclass

Slidesclass

413 templates

Editor’s Choice

Editor’s Choice

3704 templates

Education

9570 templates

Event

3191 templates

Presentation Maker

Presentation Maker

1891 templates

Fall

105 templates

Nature

1254 templates

Social Media

Social Media

702 templates

Coloring Page

Coloring Page

352 templates

Latest themes

Casual & Vintage Watercolor Collage Minitheme presentation template

It seems that you like this template!

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Register for free and start downloading now

Casual & vintage watercolor collage minitheme.

Download the Casual & Vintage Watercolor Collage Minitheme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using...

Halloween Fantasy Story Book presentation template

Premium template

Unlock this template and gain unlimited access

Halloween Fantasy Story Book

Download the Halloween Fantasy Story Book presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The magic of storytelling takes a new form in this enrapturing storybook. Every bedtime, playtime, or fun classroom activity can be transformed into an enchanting journey into the realms of imagination. Match these slides to your words to...

Funny Looking Cartoon Characters Minitheme presentation template

Funny Looking Cartoon Characters Minitheme

Download the Funny Looking Cartoon Characters Minitheme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different...

Creative Leafy Backgrounds Minitheme presentation template

Creative Leafy Backgrounds Minitheme

Download the Creative Leafy Backgrounds Minitheme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic...

Poems Story Book presentation template

Poems Story Book

Download the Poems Story Book presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The magic of storytelling takes a new form in this enrapturing storybook. Every bedtime, playtime, or fun classroom activity can be transformed into an enchanting journey into the realms of imagination. Match these slides to your words to stir...

Modern Doodle Minitheme presentation template

Modern Doodle Minitheme

Download the Modern Doodle Minitheme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources....

Popular themes

Halloween Pattern Social Media presentation template

Halloween Pattern Social Media

A lot of people are looking forward to celebrating Halloween. Let’s seize the opportunity to present a strategy for social media by using this new template. As its name suggests, it features patterns inspired by this famous festivity, and it’s design is quite cool indeed. Did we say it has...

Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age - History - 11th Grade presentation template

Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age - History - 11th Grade

In the United States, the Reconstruction Era followed the Civil War and sought to unite the nation and grant civil rights. The Gilded Age brought industrial growth, but also inequality and corruption. Both eras shared the struggle for civil rights and equity. So these are two periods loaded with historical...

Minimalist Business Slides presentation template

Minimalist Business Slides

Minimalism is an art style that frees the canvas and that lets the content stand out for itself. It’s a way of conveying modernism, simplicity and elegance and can be your best ally in your next presentation. With this new design from Slidesgo, your business presentations will be as professional...

Steps for Studying a Text presentation template

Steps for Studying a Text

Reading a book is good practice. Books are a source of knowledge! However, the complexity of the text you're reading affects the time you'll spend understanding it and memorizing it. That can be a problem when studying, so here's a template with some tips on how to face difficult texts...

Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat presentation template

Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat

Indulge in the spook-tacular fun with this Google Slides & PowerPoint template. This creatively unique tool adorns a dark, eerily delightful design that sets the perfect ambiance for Halloween storytelling. Whether you're throwing a ghoulish gala or just wanting to share spine-chilling tales, this template serves as your canvas to...

Fall Background presentation template

Fall Background

Download the Fall Background presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources. You...

Infographics

Fresh Lemon Pattern Newsletter Infographics presentation template

Fresh Lemon Pattern Newsletter Infographics

Download the Fresh Lemon Pattern Newsletter Infographics template for PowerPoint or Google Slides and discover the power of infographics. An infographic resource gives you the ability to showcase your content in a more visual way, which will make it easier for your audience to understand your topic. Slidesgo infographics like...

College Lessons with Cycle Diagrams presentation template

College Lessons with Cycle Diagrams

Download the College Lessons with Cycle Diagrams presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. As university curricula increasingly incorporate digital tools and platforms, this template has been designed to integrate with presentation software, online learning management systems, or referencing software, enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of student work. Edit this...

Storytelling in the Classroom Infographics presentation template

Storytelling in the Classroom Infographics

Download the Storytelling in the Classroom Infographics template for PowerPoint or Google Slides and discover the power of infographics. An infographic resource gives you the ability to showcase your content in a more visual way, which will make it easier for your audience to understand your topic. Slidesgo infographics like...

Education presentation templates

407 templates

Workshop

928 templates

Math

594 templates

Literacy

125 templates

Lesson

820 templates

Science

1057 templates

School

3686 templates

Thesis Defense

Thesis Defense

1015 templates

Teacher Toolkit

Teacher Toolkit

122 templates

Music

425 templates

Art

851 templates

Smartick

59 templates

Editable in Canva

Premature Newborn Care Breakthrough presentation template

Premature Newborn Care Breakthrough

Download the Premature Newborn Care Breakthrough presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides.Treating diseases involves a lot of prior research and clinical trials. But whenever there’s a new discovery, a revolutionary finding that opens the door to new treatments, vaccines or ways to prevent illnesses, it’s great news. Should there be...

What's new on Slidesgo

See the latest website updates, new features and tools and make the most of your Slidesgo experience.

Make presentations with AI

Top 8 About me presentation templates for going back to school | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

Top 8 About me presentation templates for going back to school

Make school fun from day one with Disney and Pixar templates | Quick Tips & Tutorial for your presentations

Make school fun from day one with Disney and Pixar templates

Browse by tags.

  • Kids 2240 templates
  • Food 963 templates
  • Technology 1083 templates
  • Travel 437 templates
  • Animal 1150 templates
  • Art 855 templates
  • Health 3823 templates
  • History 1443 templates
  • Environment 535 templates
  • Galaxy 193 templates
  • Fashion 248 templates
  • Biology 519 templates
  • Summer 251 templates
  • Architecture 157 templates
  • Music 426 templates
  • Research 1667 templates
  • Culture 2105 templates
  • Background 10189 templates
  • Back to School 209 templates
  • Coloring Page 352 templates

What do our users say about us?

user testimonial avatar

I just wanted to thank you! I learned more about slides in one day of quarantine than in my whole life

Gabriela Miranda

user testimonial avatar

Your slides are so unique and gorgeous! They really help me with PowerPoint presentations for school and now even my mom uses them for work

Marie Dupuis

user testimonial avatar

I would like to thank to you for these amazing templates. I have never seen such service, especially free! They are very useful for my presentation.

Ali Serdar Çelikezen

user testimonial avatar

Thank you Slidesgo for creating amazing templates for us. It's made my presentation become much better.

Thiên Trang Nguyễn

Create your presentation Create personalized presentation content

Writing tone, number of slides, register for free and start editing online.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation

By Sandra Boicheva

3 years ago

You may also like Show related articles Hide

PowerPoint's Design Ideas

You might have the most amazing idea that you wish to share with the world, but you might not get the results you want if the delivery isn’t good. Although as a tool, PowerPoint is pretty easy to use and intuitive, creating a good PowerPoint presentation is not a simple task. There is a lot of things to consider when designing your slides from the words you use, to the copy structure, data visualization, and overall design. This is why today we gathered 20 really good PowerPoint examples of presentations that flawlessly deliver their messages. These creative ideas will surely inspire you to make your next presentation your best one, as they all share good design and engaging storytelling.

“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond

1. Idea to Identify: The Design of Brand

This is a long one. Here we have a 242 slides presentation that exposes the myriad facets of design and how they impact the brand identity. The presentation has a lot of data to show and spreads it throughout more than 200 slides to make it easy to read and follow. In all, this is the best way to present a lot of information: instead of overwhelming the viewers with text walls, the presenter simply adds more slides.

  • Author:   Sudio Sudarsan

2. Jeunesse Opportunity Presentation 2021

This is a great example of brand presentation with company profile, product system, plan, and reward. It gives a similar experience to browsing a website.

  • Author:   DASH2 – Jeunesse Global

3. Accenture Tech Vision 2020

A short and sweet presentation about how companies prepare for data regulation and how this impacts the customer experience. 

  • Author:   Accenture

4. APIs as Digital Factories’ New Machines

A comparison presentation of how companies capture most of the market value. It explains well how to view the economy from a different perspective and adopt customer-centric thinking. The presentation has a lot of value, it’s well structured and it’s a good read in only 28 slides.

  • Author:  Apidays

5. 24 Books You’ve Never Heard Of – But Will Change Your Life

This is a great example of how repeating slides design for the same type of content isn’t a synonym for being unimaginative. It’s pretty straightforward: it promises 24 titles, an inspirational introduction, and a slide for each book that will change your life.

  • Author:   Ryan Holiday

6. 10 Memorable David Bowie Quotes

Not always presentations must have a specific educational or conventional goal. Sometimes, it could be a cool personal project meant to inspire your audience. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love David Bowie? A presentation with 10 memorable quotes by him is worth watching. 

  • Author: Stinson

7. Creative Mornings San Diego 

  • Author:   Anne McColl

8. Digital 2020 Global Digital Overview

A report heavy-data presentation about everything you need to know about mobile, internet, social media, and e-commerce use around the world in 2020. It’s a long read but comprehensive and well-illustrated with data visualization.

  • Author:   DataReportal

9. Blitzscaling: Book Trailer

One of the most well-made presentations about informative topics such as startup’s life-cycle and where the most value is created. It’s designed as a book, consistent, with lesser text as possible, and imitates animation by adding new content on copies of the same slide. 

  • Author:  Reid Hoffman

10. Poor Self-Esteem: Just Beat It!

A very valuable presentation that takes on the reasons for low self-esteem and how to overcome it. The design is very simple and comprehensive and even suitable for social media carousel posts.

  • Author:   SlideShop.com

11. You Suck At PowerPoint!

This presentation is more than a decade old and still checks out. After all, you could expect great presentation design from someone who talks about design mistakes and how to overcome them.  61 slides of a fun experience and a great read.

  • Author:  Jesse Desjardins

12. Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling

Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling, originally tweeted by Emma Coats, in a 24-slides presentation with a custom design. 

  • Author:   Gavin McMahon

13. A Complete Guide To The Best Times To Post On Social Media

A fun little presentation with great value. It takes on the most effective times to post on social media, send an email, or publish a blog.

  • Author:   TrackMaven

14. Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint

The next presentation honors Seth Godin and his wisdom. It uses his book’s insights to visualize all the tips in 45 engaging slides.

  • Author:   HighSpark

15. 10 Lessons from the World’s Most Captivating Presenters

This presentation is for presenters who wish to become better. And what better way than getting inspired by the world’s greatest presenters and accessing some of their secrets. 

  • Author:   HubSpot

16. Crap. The Content Marketing Deluge

For starters, this presentation has a very captivating title and opening. Winning the attention from the very start, it continues with consistent clean design and great content. It delivers exactly what it promised. 

  • Author: Velocity Partners

17. Displaying Data

More insightful advice and tips from professional presenters that check out to this very day. It’s a great presentation about visualizing your data in the best way possible and it also delivers it with design.

  • Author:   Bipul Deb Nath

18. 5 Storytelling Lessons From Superhero Stories

Custom-made presentation with illustrations made specifically for the occasion, and brilliant execution. It shows it’s definitely worth it to spend time making your presentation more personal and from scratch. 

19. 10 Things your Audience Hates About your Presentation

Another custom presentation with icons-style illustrations about how to avoid cringe when making presentations. 

  • Author:   Stinson

20. The Designer’s Guide to Startup Weekend

You will work hard all weekend long but you will also find new friends, mentors, and the chance to promote yourself. A pretty wholesome presentation with a custom design where the presenter shares her own experience in the world of startups.

  • Author:  Iryna Nezhynska

That’s It!

These 20 presentations prove that PowerPoint is never out of date and it’s a great tool to deliver your message across. We hope you got inspired for your next presentation and make your audience fall in love with your concepts.

In the meantime, why not take a look at the related articles to get some more inspiration or grab a couple of freebies:

  • [Freebies] 17 Really Good Sources For Free Vector Images For Commercial Use
  • [Inspiration] 85 Really Good T-Shirt Design Ideas to Inspire You for Your Next Project
  • [Insights] The 5 Top Online Tools for Custom YouTube Banners (and YouTube Thumbnails)

Share this article

You may also like ....

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Branding Design

60 business card cartoon examples of pure creative awesomness 60 business card cartoon examples of pure creative awesomness.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Posters Inspiration

Event posters examples that bring the hype event posters examples that bring the hype.

By Iveta Pavlova

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Design Tips

Top logo design trends for a modern brand identity top logo design trends for a modern brand identity.

120+ Best Free PowerPoint Templates (PPT) 2024

Not everyone can afford to buy premium PowerPoint templates to create their slideshows. But, that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a default template. There are dozens of incredible free PowerPoint templates to try out!

A great thing about the design community is that there are designers out there who willingly share their amazing work for free of charge, including gorgeous free PowerPoint templates.

To help you save some money, we scoured the web and handpicked a collection of the best free PowerPoint templates with modern and professional designs that you can use to make various types of presentations. Good luck with your presentation!

Just looking for a stylish free Powerpoint Template? No problem. Let’s dive into our collection of the best free PowerPoint templates!

How Does Unlimited PowerPoint Templates Sound?

Download thousands of PowerPoint templates, and many other design elements, with an Envato membership. It starts at $16 per month, and gives you unlimited access to a growing library of over 19+ million presentation templates, fonts, photos, graphics, and more.

Pitch Deck Templates

Pitch Deck Templates

Startup pitch deck.

Maximus Template

Maximus Template

Blendu

Explore PowerPoint Templates

What Type of Free PowerPoint Template Do You Need?

We’ve broken our collection down into different categories, so you can quickly find just the right PPT template for your project! Almost of all of these PPT templates are free, but at the start of each section you’ll see one or two premium ones, just so you have that option to choose as well.

  • Professional PowerPoint Templates
  • Business PowerPoint Templates
  • Animated PowerPoint Templates
  • Modern PowerPoint Templates
  • Creative PowerPoint Templates
  • Pitch Deck PowerPoint Templates
  • Medical PowerPoint Templates
  • Teacher & Education PowerPoint Templates
  • Church & Christian PowerPoint Templates
  • Infographic PowerPoint Templates

Free Professional PowerPoint Templates

Selfone – free professional presentation template.

Selfone - Free Professional Presentation Template 2

Selfone is an amazing presentation template that features lots of useful slides with professional and modern designs. There are 32 unique slides in this template and it’s ideal for making various types of slideshows for businesses, brands, and creatives. It comes in PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides formats too.

Free Consulting Presentation PowerPoint Template

Free Consulting Presentation PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is great for creating presentations for consultants. It features a set of modern and stylish slides featuring image placeholders, shapes, and editable graphics.

Free Geometric Professional Presentation Template

Free Geometric Professional Presentation Template

The colorful geometric shapes are what make this PowerPoint template one of the best on our list. This template is also available in Google Slides and Keynote formats. And you can use the free version of the template to create a basic slideshow for your professional project.

Ash – Free Professional PowerPoint Template

Ash - Free Professional PowerPoint Template

Ash is a modern and stylish PowerPoint template featuring a dark color theme. This template is made with professionals in mind and it’s especially suitable for event and product presentations. The free version of the template can be used to create a simple presentation.

Free Artificial Intelligence PowerPoint Template

Free Artificial Intelligence PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is ideal for making professional presentations for showcasing startups, ideas, and products related to artificial intelligence. The template features 7 unique slides with creative charts, timelines, and more.

Free Tech Slides PowerPoint Presentation Template

Free Tech Slides PowerPoint Presentation Template

You can use this PowerPoint template to design attractive slideshows for technology-themed presentations. It comes with 10 different slide layouts with gradient colors, editable shapes, and text. You can also download it in Google Slides format.

Hendrix – Free Dark Professional PowerPoint Template

Hendrix - Free Dark Professional PowerPoint Template

Another free and professional PowerPoint template with a dark theme. This template comes in both PowerPoint and Google Slides versions. You can easily customize the slide layouts to create various types of presentations.

Pro Portfolio PPT Template

Agency Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Every business needs a presentation template for showcasing their portfolio. This PowerPoint template is perfect for that task. It comes with 50 unique slides featuring a minimalist design that effectively highlights your portfolio in every slide. The template also includes editable vector graphics, infographics, and icons.

Aesthic – Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Aesthic - Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

It’s hard to believe that this PowerPoint template is free to download. The modern and unique design of this presentation gives it a truly professional look. It’s perfect for creating presentations for showcasing your portfolio, creative projects, and more.

Dolor – Free Professional Presentation Template

Dolor - Professional Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template also comes with modern and professional slide design. It uses a perfect combination of visuals and minimalism to create a very attractive slide layout. You can use it for free with your creative projects.

Kitulah – Free Dark Professional PowerPoint Template

Kitulah - Free Dark Professional PowerPoint Template

The dark color theme of this PowerPoint template adds an elegant look to this entire presentation design. It’s perfect for creating slideshows for modern brands and startups.

DSGN – Free Lookbook Presentation Template

DSGN - Free Lookbook Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with 90 unique slide layouts you can use to make slideshows for creative portfolios, photography, and fashion related presentations. The template is also available in 5 color schemes and it’s free to use with your personal projects.

Enable – Free Modern PowerPoint Template

Enable - Free Modern PowerPoint Template

Enable is a modern PowerPoint template featuring a set of minimal slide designs that are most suitable for making creative and business-related presentations. The template comes with an easily editable design and image placeholders for easily replacing the images.

Look – Free Fashion PowerPoint Template

Look - Free Fashion PowerPoint Template

Look is an elegant PowerPoint template that features a highly visual design that’s most suitable for making fashion and photography related presentations. The template includes 55 unique slides and comes in two different colors.

Free Creative Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Free Creative Portfolio PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a stylish PowerPoint template to create a simple portfolio to showcase your work and services, this free template is perfect for you. It includes 20 unique slides that are designed to make highly visual slideshows filled with large images.

Project Proposal – Free Professional PowerPoint Template

Project Proposal - Free Professional PowerPoint Template

This is a professional PowerPoint template you can use for free to create proposals for various client and freelance projects. This template includes 19 unique slides with an icon pack, illustrations, and much more.

Resume Presentation – Free PowerPoint Template

Resume Presentation - Free PowerPoint Template

This minimal PowerPoint template is ideal for showcasing your portfolio and resume. It comes with 14 unique slides with editable vector graphics and image placeholders. The template is available in Google Slides version as well.

Free Modern Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Free Modern Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Another free portfolio PowerPoint template with a set of creative slides. This template also includes 20 unique slides with editable layouts, image placeholders, icons, and much more.

Wagner – Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Wagner - Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Wagner is a multipurpose PowerPoint template that comes with a modern and stylish design that allows you to design all kinds of presentations. Each slide in the template is fully customizable and features editable vector shapes and elements as well.

Minimal – Simple Free PowerPoint Template

Minimal - Simple Free PowerPoint Template

This minimal free PowerPoint template is perfect for crafting slideshow for presenting personal portfolio as well as creative agency presentations. The template is fully customizable as well.

Xara – Free PowerPoint Template

Xara - Free Powerpoint Template

Xara is a modern PowerPoint template most suitable for making minimal slideshows for business and corporate presentations. It includes 9 unique slides with editable layouts, graphics, and charts.

Red White – Free PowerPoint Template

Red White - Free Powerpoint Template

Red White is a modern free PowerPoint presentation template you can use to make slideshows for businesses, brands, and creatives. The template includes 30 unique slides with editable designs.

Free Business PowerPoint Templates

Business cost analysis – free powerpoint template.

Business Cost Analysis - Free PowerPoint Template

This is a creative PowerPoint template you can use to present your business cost analysis during meetings. It features colorful slides with attractive illustrations across 35 different slide designs.

Project Proposal – Free PowerPoint Template

Project Proposal - Free PowerPoint Template

A simple, minimal, and clean PowerPoint template for creating professional business presentations. It’s designed with project proposal slideshows in mind. You can fully customize each slide to your preference.

Monthly Strategy Meeting – Free PowerPoint Template

Monthly Strategy Meeting - Free PowerPoint Template

Use this free PowerPoint template to create a fun and playful presentation for your monthly business strategy meetings. The template includes more than 30 slides with beautiful illustrations.

Construction Company Profile – Free PowerPoint Template

Construction Company Profile - Free PowerPoint Template

This free business PowerPoint template is made with construction companies in mind. It features 30 slides with modern designs and plenty of space for showcasing your properties with photos.

Business Action Plan – Free PowerPoint Template

Business Action Plan - Free PowerPoint Template

A highly minimalist and free PowerPoint template for business presentations. This template is ideal for creating an effective action plan for your company. The template includes 20 slides.

Free Retro Pixel Business PowerPoint Template

Free Retro Pixel Business PowerPoint Template

This is a free PowerPoint template that comes with colorful and creative slide designs inspired by retro-themed pixel graphics. It includes many stylish slide designs with dark color themes for creating attractive presentations for business meetings.

Free Geometric Shapes Marketing Plan for PowerPoint

Free Geometric Shapes Marketing Plan for PowerPoint

This free PowerPoint template comes with a set of slides full of colorful geometric shapes and patterns. It’s designed with marketing agencies in mind and you can use it to create attractive marketing plans for your business meetings.

Free Content Strategy Meeting PowerPoint Template

Free Content Strategy Meeting PowerPoint Template

Create the perfect presentation for your content strategy meetings with this free PowerPoint template. It includes many beautiful slide layouts featuring gradient color backgrounds and image placeholders. You can fully customize each slide to your preference.

Free Abstract Shapes Business PowerPoint Template

Free Abstract Shapes Business PowerPoint Template

You can download this PowerPoint template for free to create modern business presentations. It has a set of minimalist slides featuring abstract shapes with rough textures.

Free Morph Business Plan PowerPoint Template

Free Morph Business Plan PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with more than 40 slides featuring modern backgrounds and trendy content layouts. It’s especially perfect for creating business plan slide decks and presentations.

Free Company Profile Powerpoint Template

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

This free company profile PowerPoint template provides a comprehensive overview of your organization in a 20-slide presentation. Designed to showcase a brand’s identity, it covers the company’s journey, from establishment to its current successes, capturing its mission, vision, and values. With customizable slides, the template features a Presentation Agenda, Financial Reports, Business SWOT Analysis, Gantt chart, various graphical charts, and a Company Timeline.

Cranford – Free Business Presentation PPT

Cranford - Free Business Presentation PPT

Cranford is a free PowerPoint template that includes a set of professional slide layouts. It’s most suitable for making modern business and agency slideshows. It comes in Google Slides and Keynote formats too.

Howard – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Howard Free Business PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template is also available in multiple formats. You can use it to create presentations for small businesses as well as corporate brands. There are 8 unique slides in this template.

Merville – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Merville - Free Business PowerPoint Template

Merville is a free PowerPoint template that includes very professional-looking slides. It has highly visual slides with easily editable designs. The template is suitable for all types of business presentations.

Free Business Meeting PowerPoint Template

Free Business Meeting PowerPoint Template

This is a creative PowerPoint template that comes with a set of beautiful slides. There are 24 unique slides in this template with editable graphs, timelines, mockups, and more. It’s available in Google Slides version too.

Free Creative Agency PowerPoint Template

Free Creative Agency PowerPoint Template

This is a huge PowerPoint template that includes more than 100 different slides. Of course, the full version comes at a price. But if you scroll all the way down on the page, you’ll find a free version of the template that’s also pretty great for making a simple business presentation.

Free 2022 Marketing Plan Infographic PowerPoint Template

Free 2022 Marketing Plan Infographic PowerPoint Template

This is a must-have presentation template for marketing agencies and businesses. It includes creative infographic slides you can use to showcase your marketing plan and the performance of your campaigns. It includes 32 slides and it’s available in Google Slides format too.

Free Electric Scooter Company Profile PPTX

Free Electric Scooter Company Profile PPTX

This free PowerPoint template is ideal for making company profiles. It’s especially perfect for making company profile presentations for startups and modern brands. The template includes 28 fully customizable slides with free icons and graphics.

Free Human Resource Meeting PowerPoint Template

Free Human Resource Meeting PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with a set of professional slide designs you can use to create presentations for human resource meetings for all kinds of businesses. There are 24 unique slides included in this template and it comes in Google Slides format as well.

Free Gradient Corners Business PowerPoint Template

Free Gradient Corners Business PowerPoint Template

The elegant design of this PowerPoint template makes it a perfect choice for making business presentations. The template features 7 unique slides with colorful blue gradient corner designs.

Free Simple Business Executive PowerPoint Template

Free Simple Business Executive PowerPoint Template

You can use this free PowerPoint template to make simple presentations for corporate brands and businesses. The template includes 8 editable slides with professional layouts. It comes in Google Slides version as well.

Digital Marketing Strategy PowerPoint Template

Digital Marketing Strategy - Powerpoint Template

Using a creative and bold design in your PowerPoint slideshow is a great way to capture attention and make your presentation stand out. This beautifully designed PowerPoint template will help you achieve that goal. It comes with more than 40 slides that feature a unique design made specifically for marketing presentations. It’s also available in 2 different color themes.

Bara – Free Modern Business PowerPoint Theme

Bara - Free Modern Business PowerPoint Theme

Bara is the perfect free PowerPoint template for creating business presentations. It features a modern design and comes with easily editable slide layouts. In addition, it’s available in Keynote version as well.

Clifton Free Business Presentation Template

Clifton Free Business Presentation Template

This modern and free presentation template comes in multiple formats. You can use it to create a stylish presentation to promote business services, brands, and products as well.

Barnwell Free Business Presentation Template

Barnwell Free Business Presentation Template

Barnwell is a simple yet effective presentation template for creating business and agency slideshows. This template comes in multiple formats including PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides.

Free Onboarding Meeting PowerPoint Template

Free Onboarding Meeting PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is perfect for creating a presentation for your new hire onboarding meetings. It includes 33 different slide layouts with easily editable designs. The template comes in the Google Slides version as well.

Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Presentation Template

Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Presentation Template

You can use this PowerPoint template to design clean and minimalist presentations for various business meetings. It includes 27 different slide designs you can customize to your preference.

Free Construction & Real Estate PowerPoint Template

Free Construction & Real Estate PowerPoint Template

If you’re preparing a presentation for a construction project or a real estate property, this PowerPoint template will come in handy. There are 19 unique slides in this template made specifically with construction and real estate businesses in mind.

Future – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Future - Free Business PowerPoint Template

A simple and clean PowerPoint template for making professional and business presentations. This template comes with 25 unique slide layouts featuring minimalist designs. Each slide is fully customizable and features master slide layouts as well.

Business Plan Free Powerpoint Presentation

Business Plan Free Powerpoint Presentation

This free PowerPoint template is a great choice for making slideshows for presenting your business plans and strategies in meetings. It includes 20 unique slides. You’ll need to signup for a free account on the website to download the file.

SEO Proposal – Free PowerPoint Template

SEO Proposal - Free Powerpoint Template

This creative PowerPoint template is designed specifically for digital markers and agencies. You can use this to craft an effective slideshow that wins over your marketing clients. It’s free to download and use.

Conference Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Conference Pitch Deck Powerpoint Template

This is a pitch deck PowerPoint template featuring a set of slides made for designing slideshows for business and conference presentations. It includes customizable vectors, diagrams, shapes, and lots more as well.

Annul Report – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Annul Report - Free Business PowerPoint Template

A free business PowerPoint template you can use to create annual report presentations for various projects and companies. This template includes 22 unique slides with easily customizable layouts.

Beexey – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Beexey - Free Business PowerPoint Template

Another modern PowerPoint template specially made for businesses and agencies. This template features 20 unique slides with icons, editable graphics, and animations.

Vision – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Vision - Free Business PowerPoint Template

Vision is a modern PowerPoint template you can use to design business and corporate presentations. The free template comes in multiple styles and color versions, which you can download individually to your preference.

Casper – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Casper - Free Powerpoint Presentation Template

Casper is a creative and minimalist PowerPoint template you can use to create presentations for startups and personal portfolios. The template includes 60 unique slides featuring transition animations, infographics, and more.

Minta – Business Free PowerPoint Template

Minta - Business Free Powerpoint Template

Minta is a free PowerPoint template most suitable for making slideshows for presentations related to business and marketing. It comes with 21 unique and customizable slides in widescreen layout.

Business Report Free PowerPoint Template

Business Report Free PowerPoint Template

Business Report is a professional PowerPoint template featuring 40 unique slides. The template is available in 5 color schemes and in both animated and static versions.

Annual Report – Free PowerPoint Template

Annual Report - Free PowerPoint Template

Another great free PowerPoint template made specifically for making annual report presentations. It’s most suitable for corporate and business presentations. The template is free to use with personal and business projects.

Window – Free PowerPoint Template

Window - Free PowerPoint Template

Window is a creative and minimalist PowerPoint presentation template most suitable for startups and creative agencies. The template comes with 25 unique slides filled with stylish designs and its available in 5 pre-made color schemes.

Modern Business Free PowerPoint Template

Modern Business Free PowerPoint Template

This is a free PowerPoint template you can use to craft a slideshow for a modern small business or a startup. The template features 12 unique slides featuring retina-ready and beautiful designs.

Seattle – Simple PowerPoint Presentation Template

Seattle - Simple PowerPoint Presentation Template

Seattle is a clean and simple PowerPoint presentation template that includes a set of unique slides featuring stylish graphics, shapes, and elements. You can easily customize the template to your preference as well.

Free Animated PowerPoint Templates

Shining – creative animated powerpoint template.

Shining - Creative Animated PowerPoint Template

Shining is an animated PowerPoint template that comes with 30 unique slides. The slides are available in 5 different color schemes. It also features master slide layouts, animations, editable graphics, illustrations, and much more as well.

Lookbook – Free Pastel PowerPoint Template

Lookbook - Free Pastel PowerPoint Template

Lookbook is a colorful free PowerPoint template that features a set of creative slides with attractive pastel colors. This template is perfect for showcasing professional and agency portfolios. All the slides can be easily customized to change colors as well.

Voodoo – Free Animated PowerPoint Template

Voodoo - Free Animated PowerPoint Template

VooDoo is a highly professional PowerPoint template that features more than 10 unique slide designs, which feature transition animations and much more. It’s also available in both light and dark color designs.

Dark Red – Free Elegant Black Powerpoint Template

Dark Red – ELegant Black Free Powerpoint Template

This professional, yet free, PowerPoint template comes with an elegant color theme that effectively highlights its content. The template is free to download and can be customized to your preference.

Stasia – Free PowerPoint Template

Stasia - Free PowerPoint Template

Stasia is a creative and free PowerPoint template you can use with your creative and professional presentations. It comes with 13 unique slides featuring editable graphics, charts, and lots of other elements.

Free Modern PowerPoint Templates

Free modern & minimal powerpoint template.

Free Modern & Minimal PowerPoint Template

You can download this PowerPoint template for free to make beautiful slideshows for company profile, portfolio, and various other professional presentations. It includes 30 unique slides with animations and transitions.

Slide Pro – Free Modern Presentation Template

Slide Pro. - Free Modern Presentation Template

The minimal and clean design of this presentation template makes it an ideal choice for modern brands and design agencies. The template has 30 different slides with editable graphics and image placeholders.

Free Project Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Template

Project Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Template

Design professional-looking project proposals that win clients using this free PowerPoint template. It features 85 different slides with fully customizable layouts. The template includes transition animations as well.

UNCO – Simple Modern PowerPoint Template

UNCO - Simple Business PowerPoint Template

This modern business PowerPointe presentation template comes with more than 60 unique slides filled with editable vector shapes, graphics, icons, and so much more for making attractive presentations for all kinds of businesses. The template also includes lots of charts and graphs you can use to visualize data and make more compelling arguments.

Pale Dawn – Free Modern Fashion PowerPoint Template

Pale Dawn - Free Modern Fashion PowerPoint Template

Pale Dawn is a very modern PowerPoint template you can use to craft presentations to promote fashion and lifestyle products. The template comes with lots of customizable slides in PowerPoint and Keynote formats.

Mass Media – Free Agency Presentation Template

Mass Media - Free Agency Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template is made specifically for marketing and media agencies. The template includes 25 unique slide layouts featuring editable shapes, colors, and fonts. It’s available in Google Slides version as well.

Heimat – Free Modern Business Presentation Template

Heimat - Free Modern Business Presentation Template

If you’re looking for a simple PowerPoint design with a minimal content layout, this template will come in handy. It lets you choose from 33 unique slides for crafting attractive presentations for showcasing projects and plans.

Born-Ink – Free Modern Event PowerPoint Template

Born-Ink - Free Modern Event PowerPoint Template

Featuring 10 unique slide designs, this modern PowerPoint template will allow you to design effective presentations for creative agencies as well as fashion brands. The template is free to use with your personal projects.

XGDragon – Modern Presentation Template

XGDragon - Modern Presentation Template

This free template comes with lots of unique slide designs for promoting modern brands through creative design. The template is ideal for creating a lookbook-style presentation and it’s free to use with commercial projects.

Minimalistic – Free Clean PowerPoint Template

Minimalistic - Free Clean PowerPoint Template

A highly minimalist and clean PowerPoint presentation that’s most suitable for making creative and professional slideshows. The template features an easily editable design, changeable colors, and editable vectors as well.

Air – Clean Free PowerPoint Template

Air - Clean Free PowerPoint Template

Air is a minimal and free PowerPoint template featuring creative slides full of images and icons. It includes 60 different slides in Full HD resolution. All of the graphics and shapes in the template are also editable as well.

Neue Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

Neue Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

Neue is a free PowerPoint template with a minimalist design. This makes it a perfect choice for crafting creative and business presentations. The free versions of the template include multiple slides you can use with your personal projects.

TAHU – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

TAHU - FREE PowerPoint Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with a set of creative slides you can use to design professional and business presentations. It includes many different types of slides for crafting effective slideshows, including slides for showcasing services, timelines, portfolio, and more.

Clean – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Clean - Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Just as the name suggests, this free PowerPoint template features a minimal and clean design with lots of white space. It’s perfect for making professional slideshows with a content-focused design. The template is easily editable as well.

Duotone – Modern Free PowerPoint Template

Duotone - Modern Free PowerPoint Template

Duotone is a modern and colorful PowerPoint template that features a set of attractive slides with a creative duotone color effect. This template is most suitable for making presentations for creative brands and professionals. It’s available in both PowerPoint and Keynote versions and includes 18 unique slides.

London – Minimal  Free PowerPoint Template

London - Minimal Free PowerPoint Template

London is an elegant and a minimalist free PowerPoint template that comes with 21 unique slides with easy to customize drag and drop image placeholders. You can use this template to make all kinds of business and creative presentations.

Modern Minimal Free Powerpoint Template

Modern Minimal Free Powerpoint Template

This free PowerPoint template includes a set of creative slides featuring colorful designs. You can easily customize all the slides in the template however you like to change fonts, colors, and images as well.

Style – PowerPoint Presentation Template

Style - PowerPoint Presentation Template

Style is a PowerPoint presentation template designed for making lookbook-style slideshows for showcasing fashion designs. It’s perfect for promoting fashion catalogs. The template is free to use with your personal projects.

Free Creative PowerPoint Templates

Color fun – creative powerpoint template.

Color FUN - Creative Powerpoint Template

Just as the name suggests, this PowerPoint template comes filled with colorful slides that will allow you to design unique and cheerful presentations to showcase your products, designs, and ideas. The template includes 50 unique slides with unlimited color options to customize the design however you want.

FUN Tastic – Free Creative PowerPoint Template

FUN Tastic - Free PowerPoint Template

This bright and colorful PowerPoint template offers a great set of slides for you to create more fun and entertaining presentation. It includes lots of creative slide designs in Full HD resolution. And you can customize them to your preference as well.

Free Neomorph PowerPoint Template

Free Neomorph PowerPoint Template

If you’re a fan of the Neomorphism design trend, this PowerPoint template is a perfect match for you. It features a bold slide design with shapes, buttons, and icons inspired by Neomorphic design. The free version of the template includes 10 unique slides.

GMTRY – Free Geometric Presentation Template

GMTRY - Free Geometric Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template features one of the most creative slide designs on our list. The creative use of geometric shapes to design its colorful and attractive slides is simply perfect. The template is free to use with personal projects.

Curato – Free Creative Portfolio PowerPoint Template

Curato - Free Creative Portfolio PowerPoint Template

A bright and colorful PowerPoint template filled with shapes and styles. It’s perfect for showing off your best work in a portfolio. The template includes 37 unique slides with easily editable layouts.

Emotion Flashcard – Free Creative PowerPoint Template

Emotion Flashcard - Free Creative PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with a set of creative and fun slides. It uses a lot of emoticons throughout the presentation to help you discuss emotions and mental health in a very creative way.

Kental – Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

Kental - Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

Kental is another free PowerPoint template that comes with colorful slide design. All of the slides in this template features pastel colors and comes with master slide layouts as well. This template is most suitable for creative fashion and design presentations.

Free Giant Doodles Newsletter PowerPoint Template

Free Giant Doodles Newsletter PowerPoint Template

Filled with lots of colorful doodles and illustrations, this PowerPoint template comes with 28 creative slide layouts you can customize however you like. It’s available in Google Slides version as well.

Free Creative PowerPoint Presentation Template

Free Creative PowerPoint Presentation Template

This is a free demo for a premium PowerPoint template. It includes several creative slides you can repurpose to create your own unique presentations.

Free Stylish Botanical PowerPoint Template

Free Stylish Botanical PowerPoint Template

The nature-inspired botanical theme gives this presentation template a very unique look and feel. It’s perfect for creating presentations for modern fashion and lifestyle brands.

Colors – Stylish Free PowerPoint Template

Colors - Stylish Free PowerPoint Template

Just as the name suggests, this free PowerPoint template comes with a beautiful set of slides filled with lots of colors. It’s ideal for making creative slideshows for event and entertainment related presentations as well as many others. And it includes 60 creative slides.

Happy Holi – Creative Free Powerpoint Template

Happy Holi - Creative Free Powerpoint Template

Happy Holi is a beautiful and creative PowerPoint template that comes with a colorful set of slides. Despite being named after a festival, the slides in the template feature a multipurpose design you can use to craft business, creative, and many other professional presentations.

Every – Clean & Simple PowerPoint Template

Every - Clean & Simple PowerPoint Template

Every is an elegant PowerPoint template featuring modern slide designs. It comes in both PowerPoint and Keynote file formats. Each template includes 15 unique slides in Full HD resolution.

Creative – Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

Creative - Free Minimal PowerPoint Template

This minimalist PowerPoint template comes with a creative design making it a great choice for presenting your personal portfolios and professional work. The template features drag and drop image placeholders and editable objects.

Mifridix – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Mifridix - Free Powerpoint Presentation Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with a beautiful and feminine slide design. Which makes it the perfect choice for crafting presentations for fashion brands, beauty products, and others.

BRONX – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

BRONX - Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Bronx is a creative PowerPoint presentation template that includes a modern and customizable design. You can use this template to create presentations with PowerPoint, Keynote, or even Google Slides.

Free Pitch Deck PowerPoint Templates

Free powerpoint pitch deck template.

Free PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

You can use this PowerPoint template for making creative pitch deck slideshows. It includes colorful slides with cool illustrations and shapes to give each slide a unique look and feel. There are 19 unique slides and they come in Keynote format as well.

Sales Pitch Deck Free PowerPoint Template

Sales Pitch Deck Free PowerPoint Template

Create a bold and professional pitch deck for your agency using this free PowerPoint template. It has 20 unique slides with free fonts and icon packs. The template is especially suitable for real estate agencies.

Free PowerPoint Pitch Deck Infographics

Free PowerPoint Pitch Deck Infographics

You can use this free PowerPoint template to showcase stats and data related to your product launches. It includes 32 infographic slides with various styles of layouts. They are all fully customizable.

Free Corporate Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Free Corporate Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

This pitch deck presentation is made with corporate brands and agencies in mind. It features a set of professional slides with easily editable layouts. There are 20 unique slides in this template.

Free Business Opportunity PowerPoint Pitch Deck

Free Business Opportunity PowerPoint Pitch Deck

You can create an attention-grabbing pitch deck to present your business ideas and startups with this free PowerPoint template. It features 12 unique slide layouts with beautiful gradient designs. And the template can be easily customized to your preference.

Pitch Werk Template

pitch werk-Startup Pitch Deck Template For PowerPoint

Pitch Werk is a creative PowerPoint template featuring a set of stylish slides made for modern startups. It includes more than 100 unique slides which are also available in 5 different premade color schemes. The template also comes with lots of useful elements such as pricing tables, device mockups, maps, and much more.

Sneakers Shop – Free PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

Sneakers Shop - PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

If you’re working on a pitch deck for a sneaker startup or even an eCommerce store for a fashion product, this template is perfect for creating a winning presentation. It includes 32 unique slides.

Comersa Free Pitch Deck Presentation Template

Comersa Free Pitch Deck Presentation Template

Comersa PowerPoint template comes with a designed made specifically for crafting slideshows for business-related presentations. The template is available in PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides versions as well.

Pitch Deck – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Pitch Deck - Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

This is the perfect free PowerPoint presentation template you can use to create pitch decks for startups, creatives, and freelancers. The template includes 22 unique slides and it’s available both with and without slide animations.

Free Conference Pitch Deck Powerpoint Template

Free Conference Pitch Deck Powerpoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is perfect for making a pitch deck for speeches and presentations you give at events and conferences. The template features a set of easily editable slide layouts with modern designs.

Free Medical PowerPoint Templates

Free mental health workshop powerpoint template.

Free Mental Health in the Workplace PowerPoint Template

You can create an effective presentation to promote good mental health in the workplace with this free template. It includes 22 unique slide layouts you can use to showcase the importance of maintaining good mental health and suggest your ideas in meetings.

Modern Medical PowerPoint Template

Modern Medical Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with 30 unique slides featuring clean and modern designs. It also lets you choose from 5 different premade color schemes for designing various styles of slideshows. It’s perfect for making presentations for all kinds of businesses and events.

World After Corona Virus – Free PowerPoint Template

World After Corona Virus - Free PowerPoint Template

If you’re working on a presentation to talk about the recent global pandemic, this template will help you design a more compelling slideshow. It includes 31 unique slide layouts with editable graphics and icons.

Free Mental Health Thesis Presentation Template

Free Mental Health Thesis Presentation Template

This is the perfect presentation template you can use to talk about mental health topics. It features 23 unique slides with easily editable designs. The template is also available in Google Slides version.

Free Medical Presentation Template

Free Medical Presentation Template

This is a multipurpose PowerPoint template you can use to create different types of presentations related to medicine and medical facilities. The template includes editable graphics and master slide layouts as well.

Medical – Free PowerPoint Template

Medical - Free Powerpoint Template

If you’re working on a presentation for a medical related business or brand, this free PowerPoint presentation template will come in handy. The template includes 30 unique slides filled with plenty of image placeholders and graphics.

Clinical Case – Free Medical PowerPoint Template

Clinical Case - Free Medical PowerPoint Template

This free and creative PowerPoint template comes in both PowerPoint and Google Slides versions. It includes 24 beautiful slide designs filled with colorful illustrations and content formatting.

Healthcare Center – Free Medical PowerPoint Template

Healthcare Center - Free Medical PowerPoint Template

Healthcare Center is a professional and free PowerPoint template designed for medical centers and healthcare businesses. The template includes 23 unique slide design you can use to create an effective presentation.

Free Teachers & Education PowerPoint Templates

Free social studies for elementary powerpoint template.

Free Social Studies for Elementary PowerPoint Template

This educational PowerPoint template is designed for making presentations for educating social studies subjects. The template includes 35 different slides with colorful designs that will easily attract the attention of your students.

Free Elementary School PowerPoint Template

Free Elementary School PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template features the perfect design for making fun educational presentations for kids. It’s designed for showcasing different types of stones and it comes with lots of colorful illustrations. There are 35 different slides in this template.

Free Chinese Language Day PowerPoint Template

Free Chinese Language Day PowerPoint Template

Use this free PowerPoint template to teach the Chinese languages to kids. It features a beautiful slide design filled with adorable illustrations and colorful shapes. There are 35 unique slides included in the template with fully editable layouts.

School Bundle – Free Education PowerPoint Template

School Bundle - Free Education PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a creative PowerPoint template to grab the attention of your students during presentations, this free template is for you. It features a creative design across 15 different useful slide layouts.

Daniel’s Thesis – Free Education PowerPoint Template

Daniel's Thesis - Free Education PowerPoint Template

This colorful and creative PowerPoint template is perfect for creating attractive presentations to showcase your thesis, assignments, projects, and much more. The template features 24 unique slides filled with colorful graphics, shapes, and elements.

Academy at the City – Free Education PowerPoint Template

Academy at the City - Free Education PowerPoint Template

A professional PowerPoint template for promoting your school, academy, and institutions. While the template is designed with education establishments in mind, you can use it to create business presentations as well. The template includes 24 unique slides.

Education – Simple PowerPoint template

Education - Simple Powerpoint template

This is a professional PowerPoint template that includes 30 unique slide designs. Each slide is also available in 5 different color schemes. It also features editable vector graphics, image placeholders, and icons for crafting entertaining presentations more easily.

Math Lesson – Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

Math Lesson - Free PowerPoint Presentation Template

This free and creative PowerPoint template is designed for teachers for making their lessons look more engaging and fun for students. The template comes packed with creative illustrations and graphics as well.

E-Learning – Free Teachers PowerPoint Template

E-Learning - Free Teachers PowerPoint Template

Another free PowerPoint template that’s most suitable for making presentations to promote your online learning programs and courses. The template comes with 17 unique slide layouts that you can easily customize to your preference.

Master’s Thesis – Free Education PowerPoint Template

Master's Thesis - Free Education PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with 12 unique and editable slides you can use to effectively showcase and present your thesis projects to an audience. The template is also available in Google Slides version as well.

Free Interactive Education PPT for Teachers

Free Interactive Education PPT for Teachers

This PowerPoint template is designed with teachers in mind. It features 44 different slides you can use to create various educational presentations for classes. The slides are fully customizable and include graphs, charts, and infographics as well.

Online Notebook – Free Education PowerPoint Template

Online Notebook - Free PowerPoint Template

A free PowerPoint template you can use to create a notebook-style presentation. Both teachers and students can use this template to create notes for classes and subjects. There are 30 slide layouts in this template.

Free English Language Grammar Rules PPT

Free English Language Grammar Rules PPT

Grammar can be a boring subject to talk about. But with this colorful PowerPoint template, you can present your lessons in a more entertaining way. It includes 41 unique slides filled with adorable illustrations.

Colorful Light Bulbs Free Education PowerPoint Template

Colorful Light Bulbs Free Education PowerPoint Template

This colorful PowerPoint template has lightbulbs all over the slides. You can use it to create presentations to teach various subjects and topics. There are 39 slides in this template. And it’s available in the Google Slides version as well.

Free Church PowerPoint Templates

Free christian church powerpoint template.

Free Christian Church PowerPoint Template

A beautiful presentation template made with churches in mind. It has 20 unique slide layouts with colorful and minimal designs. The template is ideal for showcasing your Christian Church projects.

Free Church Conference Powerpoint Template

Free Church Conference Powerpoint Template

A modern and elegant PowerPoint template designed specifically for making presentations for church events and conferences. The template comes with 23 slide layouts with easily editable designs and image placeholders.

Religion Lesson – Free PowerPoint Presentation

Religion Lesson - Free PowerPoint Presentation

A free PowerPoint template designed for educating students and audiences on various religious topics. It can also be used to deliver religious speeches and presentations as well. It includes 17 unique slides. Even though the template features slide designs with multiple religions, you can easily replace the images of your choice as well.

Free Infographic PowerPoint Templates

8 free charts powerpoint templates.

8 Free Charts PowerPoint Templates

This template includes 8 customizable charts infographics for you to use in your presentations. The template includes pie charts, bar charts, and infographics too. It’s also available in Excel format.

12 Free Infographics Slides for PowerPoint

12 Free Infographics Slides for PowerPoint

There are 12 different infographic slides to choose from in this PowerPoint template. They are ideal for both business and research presentations. The template is free to use.

Free Internal Motivation Infographics PowerPoint Template

Free Internal Motivation Infographics PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template includes 31 unique slide designs with infographics. They are designed for visualizing stats and information for motivating your teams and employees.

The Power of Feminism Infographics PowerPoint Template

The Power of Feminism Infographics PowerPoint Template

You can use this free PowerPoint template to create attractive infographic slides to promote the power of feminism. It includes more than 30 unique slide designs. And you can customize them in Google Slides as well.

PPTx Infographics

PPTx Infographics

This Powerpoint presentation template also includes 50 unique infographic slides. The slides are also available in light and dark themes as well as unlimited color options for customizing the shapes, text, and icons of the slides.

Epsilon – Free Business PowerPoint Template

Epsilon - Free Business PowerPoint Template

Epsilon is a free PowerPoint template made for small businesses. You can use it to create powerful business presentations using its slides full of charts and graphs. The template can be easily customized with multiple color options and icons.

Free Business Infographics PowerPoint Template

Animated Business Infographics PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template comes with lots of editable infographics you can use to visualize your data. The template includes 8 unique slide designs that are easily customizable. It’s also available in Google Slides version as well.

Art of Presentations

Slide Layouts in PowerPoint – Everything You Need to Know!

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Slide Layouts in PowerPoint – Everything You Need to Know!

If you want to make great presentations, and you are not a design wizard, slide layouts can come in really handy! It is a great place to start designing your presentation. If you are beginning your journey with PowerPoint, you may wonder, what is slide layout in PowerPoint?

Slide Layouts in PowerPoint are pre-created slide designs that allow you to quickly and easily add text, headings, images, tables, etc. By default, PowerPoint provides 9 slide layouts (including a blank slide). PowerPoint also allows you to easily add, edit and delete slide layouts.

So, where can you find these slide layouts? How do you format them? Well, in this article, I will share with you all the basic details that you need to know in order to get started with using and understanding the slide layouts in PowerPoint!

So, let’s get started!

1. What is a Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

A slide on PowerPoint can contain several elements including text, shapes, tables, images, headers, footers. In fact, there may be more than one same type of element present on a single slide. When you start creating a presentation, you are basically using some of these elements to share an inspiring story or an important piece of information.

However, the aesthetics of the slide are determined by how well you lay out these elements on the slide. If you have fairly good design skills, you will easily be able to create an aesthetically pleasing slide! For the rest of us, slide layouts are the way to go!

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

In Microsoft PowerPoint, a “Slide Layout” refers to the way certain elements (such as text box, image, table, etc) are arranged on the slide. A slide layout is a pre-designed slide format with placeholders that allow you to add text, images, and other elements quickly to the slide.

Using slide layout and master slides, you can also control the color scheme of the presentation, type of fonts, effects, background, headers, footers, and other aspects of presentation design.

This functionality in PowerPoint that allows various pre-created designs to be added to a presentation is often leveraged by corporations. Organizations often create templates and not only control the way presentations look and feel, but also save time for their employees by providing them with various slide design options out of the box!

Pre-set slide layouts are amazing as they allow you to create or use PowerPoint presentation templates. These are pre-designed slide bundles that not only look great on a presentation even when used by a non-designer but also save time for the user of these templates.

For this article, I will be using one of the presentation templates from Envato Elements . With Envato Elements, you get access to thousands of presentation designs with unlimited downloads so you never run out of options again. Plus, you get free previews so you know exactly what you’re getting before buying! It is also very affordable.

2. Where is the Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

To get quick access to the different layouts of your PowerPoint presentation, click on the ‘Layout’ button in the ‘Slides’ section of the ‘Home’ tab . By clicking on the ‘Layout’ button you will see the various slide layouts present in your presentation.

How to Access Slide Layouts in PowerPoint?

To get complete access to all the Slide Layouts in your PowerPoint so that you can edit them, you have to go to the ‘Master Views’ section under the ‘View’ tab. The whole process is described in the steps mentioned below.

Step-1: Go to the ‘View’ Tab

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

The first step is to go to the ‘View’ tab which is the second to last tab in the ribbon of your PowerPoint.

Step-2: Go to the ‘Slide Master’ view

In the next step, all you have to do is click on the ‘Slide Master’ view option in the ‘Master Views’ section which is located in the ‘Views’ tab.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

By clicking on the ‘Slide Master’ viewing option, you will be taken to the Slide Layout view of the PowerPoint presentation.

Related Article – Slide View Options in PowerPoint! [A Complete Guide!]

Here, you will notice that the menu options change. Furthermore, you now have access to the different shape, image and text placeholders present on the slide. You will be able to move these placeholders and get complete access to the slide layout.

3. How to Change the Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

You can change the Slide Layout of a slide in your PowerPoint presentation by using the Quick access ‘Layout’ option in the ‘Home’ tab of the ribbon. The process is described in 2 easy steps below.

Step-1: Select the Slide first

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

At first, you have to go to the slide you want to change the layout of and then click on the ‘Layout’ button in the ‘Slides’ section of the ‘Home’ tab. This will open a drop-down menu of all the slide layouts in your presentation.

Step-2: Click on Layout and Select a Different Layout

After clicking on the ‘Layout’ button, from the drop-down menu, simply select the layout that you want the slide to change into and the layout of that slide will be changed instantly.

4. How to Apply Slide Layout to All Slides? 

Applying slide layout to all slides could mean a couple of things –

  • You want to make a change that applies to all slide layouts OR
  • You want a specific slide layout to be applied to all slides.

Whatever the case may be, we shall understand both in greater detail below –

4.1 How to Make a Change that Applies to All Slide Layouts

There are certain changes that you sometimes need to apply to all slides. For instance, adding a slide number, adding a company disclaimer, or a company logo.

To apply a change to all slide layout, you will have to edit the ‘Master Slide’ .

You will first need to access the “ Master Slides ” using the “ Slide Master View “. To do that, simply click on “ View “, then click on “ Slide Master “. (as described in the previous sections)

It is the first slide in the ‘Slide Master’ view option which you can find, as discussed earlier, in the ‘Views’ tab.

By applying a change to the ‘Master Slide’ the change will be added to all the other slides in the presentation as well. After going to the ‘Slide Master’ views, follow the simple steps described below.

In the following example, I’m going to add a “Star” (that shall act as a logo) to the top-right corner of the master slide.

Step-1: Apply the change in the ‘Master Slide’ layout.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

To apply slide layout to all the slides, make the change that you want to have on the ‘Master Slide’ . In this case I have added a star on the top right corner of the Slide.

Step-2: Send the applied changes to the background

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

To keep the change, you have made on the background of every slide as a layout, ‘Right click’ on the objects and click on the ‘Send to back’ option from the drop-down menu.

That way, the object will be applied to the background of all the slides and the texts will be visible on top of the logo or the element added.

4.2 How to Apply Specific Slide Layout to All Slides?

If you want to apply a particular slide layout to all slides, follow the below mentioned steps –

Step 1 – Select All Slides

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

The first step is to select all the slides. To do that, first click on any one slide. Then, press the “ Ctrl+A ” (Cmd+A for Mac) key combination on your keyboard to select all slides.

Step 2 – Change the Slide Layout

The next step is simply choosing the layout that you want to apply to all slides. To do that, first click on “Home”. Then, click on “Layouts” and choose a layout from the array of slide layouts presented by PowerPoint.

As soon as you select a slide layout, PowerPoint will apply it to all slides.

5. What is the Default PowerPoint Slide Layout? 

The default PowerPoint Slide Layout is the style of layout that the Microsoft PowerPoint software provides you out-of-the-box when you open a new PowerPoint file.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

The default layout consists of 9 styles of slides which are:

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

6. How to Edit Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

To edit a slide Layout, you have to use the ‘Slide Master’ view as discussed earlier in the article and follow the simple steps given below.

Step-1: Go to the layout you want to change in the ‘Master Slides’ view

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

The first step is to go to the ‘Slide Master’ view in the ‘View’ tab and click on the Layout that you want to edit.

Step-2: Make the preferred edits to the layout

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Now, all you have to do is make the preferred edits in the selected layout. After making the edits, the element of the layout will be changed accordingly in the ‘Layout’ option in the ‘Slides’ section of the ‘Home’ tab and all the slides that are using that layout.

Related Article – How to Edit Background Graphics Using Slide Master in PowerPoint!

7. How to Create a New Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

To create a new slide layout in PowerPoint, go to the ‘Slide Master’ view in the ‘Views’ tab in the ribbon and follow the 2 easy steps described below.

Step-1: Click on the position where you want to add the new slide layout

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

At first you have to click on the position where you want to add the new slide layout in the ‘Slide Navigation’ bar.

Step-2: ‘Insert Layout’ button at the ‘Edit Master’ section.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

After you have clicked on the position where you want to add the new slide layout, all you have to do is click on the ‘Insert layout’ button located in the ‘Edit Master’ section of the ‘Slide Master’ view.

7b. How to Insert a Blank Slide Layout in PowerPoint? 

To insert a blank slide layout in PowerPoint, add a new layout and follow the simple steps given below.

Step-1: Select all the elements in the new slide layout

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

After inserting a new slide layout, select all the elements that are on the slide layout. You can do that by holding the ‘Left’ mouse button at one corner of the slide and dragging the selector cursor over all the elements of the slide.

Alternatively, you can also ‘left click’ on the elements one by one while holding the ‘Ctrl’ button on your keyboard or click on one of the elements in the slide layout and press the ‘ Ctrl + A ’ buttons on the keyboard of your computer.

Step-2: Delete the elements or object present on the slide

Finally, delete all the elements that you have selected on the new slide layout. You can do that by clicking on the ‘Backspace’ button or the ‘Delete’ button on the keyboard of your computer while keeping all the elements of the new slide layout selected. That way, the new slide layout will be blank.

Step-3: Rename the Slide Layout and Exit Slide Master

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

The last step is to rename the slide master so that you can easily identify the newly created slide layout in the layout menu. Once that’s done, simply click on “ Close Master View ” to exit the slide master.

8. How Many Types of Slide Layouts are There in PowerPoint?

In PowerPoint, there are 16 different types of slide layouts that you can apply to your presentation. All 16 of these layouts are divided into 4 categories. The categories and types of slide layouts is listed below.

  • Title and Text
  • Title and 2 Column Text
  • Blank 
  • Content 
  • Title, Text, and Content
  • Title and Text over Content
  • Title and Content over Text
  • Title, Text, and ClipArt
  • Title, Text, and Chart
  • Title, Text, and Media Clip
  • Title and Table
  • Title and Diagram or Organization Chart
  • Title and Chart

More PowerPoint Related Topics

  • How to Use a Presentation Clicker to Deliver Presentations Effectively!
  • How to Crop a Picture in PowerPoint? [Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial!]
  • How to Give a Presentation on Zoom? A Helpful Resource!
  • How to Convert a PowerPoint to PDF? [A Simple Guide!]
  • PowerPoint vs Google Slides: Which is Better? [ULTIMATE Test!]
  • How to Change Bullet Style in PowerPoint? A Complete Guide

Credit to psh.vector (on Freepik) for the Featured Image of this Article

Home Blog Presentation Ideas 10+ Outstanding PowerPoint Presentation Examples and Templates

10+ Outstanding PowerPoint Presentation Examples and Templates

Cover for PowerPoint presentation examples article by SlideModel

Nobody said it’s easy to make a PowerPoint presentation . There are multiple design decisions to consider, like which layout is appropriate for the content you have to present, font pairing, color schemes, and whether to use animated elements or not. 

Making these choices when working under the clock is overwhelming for most people, especially if you only intend to make a report more visually appealing. For this very reason, we curated a selection of 11 good PowerPoint presentation examples categories in different niches to give you insights into what’s valued and how to take your presentations to a professional quality. All the templates used on each case will be linked for easy access.

Table of Contents

General Guidelines for Professional-Quality PowerPoint Presentations

Business pitch powerpoint presentation examples, marketing plan powerpoint presentation examples, company profile powerpoint presentation examples, quarterly/annual results presentation examples, project proposal presentation examples, training presentation examples, change management presentation examples, industry analysis presentation examples, financial planning examples, inspirational presentation examples, academic presentation examples, final words.

Before introducing our presentation slide examples, we need to discuss a list of factors that transform an average slide into a professional-quality one. 

Design Principles

For any professional-level slide deck, a consistent layout, color scheme, and font pairing are required throughout the presentation. The slides should remain uncluttered, with proper care of white balance across their composition, and stick to the 10-20-30 rule of presentations ’s concept of one concept per slide. 

Contrast between text and background color must comply with web design accessibility standards , meaning to work with a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text, with exceptions for larger text. You can find more information in our article on accessibility for presentations .

A general rule in any graphic design project is to stick with fonts with ample legibility, like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri. These are known as sans-serif fonts, and they work better than serif ones (i.e., Times New Roman) for larger text blocks.

Avoid using more than two different font families in your presentation; otherwise, the overall design will lose cohesion. Since you ought to ensure readability, the minimum size for body text should be 18pt, opting for larger variations and/or bold text for titles.

Using a combination of font pairing and font sizing helps create a hierarchy in your slides’ written content. For more insights on this topic, browse our article on fonts for presentations .

Color Scheme

Sticking to a color palette selection is one of the first design decisions to make when creating a custom slide deck . Colors have their own psychological impact on presentations, as explained in our article on color theory , so presenters must stick to 3-4 colors to avoid mixing up content in the slides. That being said, the colors have to be carefully selected according to the typical color scheme configurations, and using contrast to highlight key points on presentation slides.

Slide Layout

We can apply multiple graphic design guidelines to create professional-quality presentation slides, but in order to simplify the process, here are the key points to take into account:

  • Grids and Guides: Divide your slide into sections using guides in PowerPoint or Google Slides. Then, you can build a grid that helps place elements and catch the viewer’s interest as they follow a logical flow while looking at the slide.
  • Whitespace : Empty space is not your enemy. Slides shouldn’t be dense or feel hard on the eyes to read; therefore, work with a minimum of 30% whitespace.

Multimedia Elements

According to our expertise, video presentations and animation effects certainly increase the retention rate of the content you present. This is because they reduce the tiresome 2D presentation layout and add dynamism to the slides. Testing their functionality across different devices is a must to incorporate these elements into your presentation, especially if we consider that not all PowerPoint animation effects are compatible with Google Slides animations . 

Sound can be distracting in many scenarios unless you opt for an interactive presentation and require an audio track for an exercise. Action buttons in the form of quizzes or multiple-choice questions are fine examples of how we can integrate hyperlinks in interactive presentations.

Problem slide presentation example in a business pitch

The first professional PowerPoint example we will cover is when creating a problem slide business pitch. This selected business pitch PPT template has a 50/50 image-to-content balance that allows us to add images from our organization (or stick to the corporate placeholder image design) and quickly summarize the issue or need that our business aims to solve.

Remember that the selected colors for the text background area and text color are not 100% pure values—they are slight variations to reduce eye strain, making this slide a perfect choice for any kind of meeting room. Ideally, you can present up to three different problems to solve; otherwise, the text will look too small.

Revenue model slide PowerPoint presentation example

Another fine example of a PowerPoint presentation comes at the time of delivering an elevator pitch . As we all know, this concise presentation format requires a considerable amount of presentation aids to briefly expose each point in the speech under the allotted time frame. In this Revenue Model slide, we can find the answers to typical questions that help us shape the speech, all of them with icons and cues to remember from which areas the information comes.

Sponsorship deck PowerPoint presentation example slide

If we aim to create a sponsorship pitch deck , it is important to bring proof of past sponsorship experiences to build our credibility in front of prospective sponsors. With this best PPT template tailored for sponsorship pitch presentations, we can display such data in an attractive visual format. The neat layout balances whitespace with content, with three distinctive KPI areas to talk about your history in sponsorship experiences. 

Market segmentation presentation example slide

Talk about the market segmentation strategies of your marketing plan with this creative infographic template. This slide clearly illustrates that not all examples of PowerPoint presentations follow the same structure in terms of graphics-to-text balance. You can introduce data on how purchasing habits, user status, and brand loyalty influence buying decisions. Present key information about demographic & geographic segmentation and how psychographic information can provide deeper insights into consumer motivations to purchase.

Market opportunities slide presentation example

Another PowerPoint example comes in the format of presenting market opportunities in marketing plans . You can list up to four points, which can be extracted from the outcomes of a SWOT analysis or from retrieved data from polls or stakeholders’ insights. The icons are entirely editable, and the crisp layout makes readability much easier.

Consultancy agency services slide in marketing plan presentation example

Marketing agencies can benefit from this presentation PowerPoint example, which illustrates how easy it is to customize the content and repurpose slides for different client meetings. This and the other slides of this marketing plan slide deck allow professionals to discuss their expertise, past projects, and proposals for their target clients. In this case, the agency in question is offering insights on their work ethics through a clean slide layout with icons to flag key areas.

Company Profile financial slide presentation example

Our next PPT presentation example is suited for a Company Profile presentation in which we have to disclose key financial data. Thanks to the pie chart, presenters can segment revenue streams or do a balance between investments and profit. Additionally, the box placeholders allow us to deepen our knowledge of precise areas of interest.

One-pager Company Profile presentation example

Organizations who are looking to create a company profile can opt for a one-page arrangement to introduce the team members in charge, the overall services or products, the business model, the market, competitors, and relevant strategy information. The text boxes placed in the right area are a perfect opportunity to highlight KPIs.

Mission statement slide presentation example

In any company profile presentation, we have to introduce the organization’s Mission and Vision Statements. This presentation sample slide allows us to creatively discuss those topics. Including icons, users can summarize the primary aspects of their mission statement in one single, professionally styled slide.

Quarterly employee performance review presentation example

Quarterly reports don’t need to be depicted as boring PDF files. We can work with clean layouts that provide information in an easy-to-follow format that focuses on the core elements of the report. This quarterly report presentation example is perfect for detailed reports as we cover all essentials in a one-page format for an employee’s performance review.

Department progress report slide

If, instead, you opt for a department-by-department approach, this slide presentation example illustrates two out of four quarters in the annual report. You can compare the product’s performance by production, allowing room to perform further optimizations based on sales behavior.

Construction project presentation example slide

The construction industry requires a detailed presentation that covers all planned and contingency strategies for a project. Such an approach builds trust in the client, and that’s why we believe this PPT template for contractors is an essential tool for securing business deals. This presentation example template shows how to deliver a project proposal in style with accurate cost estimates.

Project proposal presentation example timeline format

A generic PPT project proposal template allows us to repurpose the slide for many projects—ideal for agencies, consultants, and academics. With this visual project proposal timeline, you can discuss the different stages of a project, plan for resources (both material and workforce), seek funding, or prepare for contingencies.

PPT presentation example of project deliverables

Once the project proposal’s core aspects are approved, teams must align efforts for project deliverables, acceptance criteria, and delivery format. This PPT presentation example illustrates a slide in a multi-team meeting to fine-tune aspects of the project deliverables, with an accurate representation of the due date and expected products.

Training objectives slide PPT example

Team training requires a framework in which the objectives of the workshop, coaching, or mentoring programs are laid out for management. HR teams can benefit from this presentation example by summarizing the objectives about missed business opportunities or expansion plans for the organization.

Course unit slide presentation example

Before even delivering a training program, HR teams discuss the content to cover with the head of each department, mainly to spot any missing area of knowledge required for optimal operations. Presenters can repurpose this slide for that kind of training proposal presentation or the training presentation itself.

Training course diagram presentation example slide

Intended for the early planning stages of a training program, this diagram is a well-rounded presentation example of how to discuss all points in one single slide, from the training budget to how to process employee feedback. We can expand each of these six topics in companionship slides.

Change management methodologies models

Companies undergoing change management processes can opt to apply the DMAIC or the ADKAR frameworks to orient the workforce. This presentation slide allows management to compare both methodologies and pick the one best suited for their organization.

Information sharing in change management process slide

Since data sharing is delicate in charge management situations, implementing an information flow diagram is a good practice to orient your team, get the new owners or management the required information, and exchange information between departments.

Change management stages slide

For change management directed at process optimization, this example slide allows management to stress the importance between the current situation and the expected improved state. This PPT template can also introduce the different milestones per stage and involve the management parties per area.

Industry analysis segmentation presentation example

Startups often present their industry analysis to procure investment from venture capitalists. This industry analysis presentation example showcases a typical FinTech segmentation. Presenters can describe the different types of crowdfunding, credit, and factoring services and provide examples of companies or platforms in each subcategory. They can discuss areas like asset management, payments, and other relevant aspects in detail, with successful stories from referents that helped shape their business model.

STEEPLE analysis presentation example

STEEPLE stands for Social, Technological, Economic, Ethical, Political, Legal, and Environmental factors. This framework allows us to perform a multidimensional industry analysis in which stakeholders can evaluate the appropriate approaches for venturing into a new business niche, renewing their overall strategy, or pursuing new goals based on recent industry changes, even those we don’t initially acknowledge.

Gap analysis presentation example

The Gap Analysis concept compares a company’s current status to a desired future state. By doing so, organizations can identify deficits or areas that require improvement in alignment with the future state. Presenters can work with this metaphorical gap analysis template and express the need for a plan that bridges such a gap.

Scope and Inventory Slide presentation example

The next example of a PowerPoint presentation is oriented to the financial area, in which a consultant can refer to an organization’s asset management. By Scope, we imply the extent and boundaries of the asset management activities within an organization. It outlines what will be included in the asset management plan and what will not. On the other hand, Inventory points to a comprehensive and detailed list of all the assets owned by an organization. It includes essential information about each asset to facilitate effective management.

Financial dashboard snapshot presentation example

In financial presentations, the information must be clearly arranged so decisions can be made easily. In this case, we observe how a financial dashboard template can represent an organization’s relevant KPIs.

Motivational teamwork presentation example slide

Think about TEDx presentations or Pecha-Kucha . They all have one factor in common: quality graphics to talk about inspirational stories. Graphics can feel overwhelming for some presenters, which ends in picking low-quality pictures or stock images unsuitable for the context of your slide deck. For this reason, we highly recommend you implement vector illustrations into your motivational presentation slides. Easy to customize, they are a valuable asset to mix & match PPT templates and create your custom deck.

Goal achieving motivational slide presentation example

Aligning efforts toward a common goal requires a powerful visual communication language. Images are easier to retain than words, so imagine adding a storytelling factor and turning a goal into a mountain to conquer. Presenters can work with this mountain PPT template and signal the different milestones to reach prior to fulfilling a significant goal for the company/organization.

Success story PPT slide

Another take in inspirational presentations is when we need to share our success stories with investors or in networking environments to inspire others. With this roadmap PPT template, presenters can go stage by stage and present the key stages that made them reach their success, or even project for expected goals to achieve.

Academic presentation example for project overview

Academic presentations don’t have to look dull or excessively formal. We can incorporate a sleek layout into our slides and use icons to highlight key points. In this case, we observe a project overview for a research project, and the icons represent the main aspects to cover in this research.

Research presentation example

A thesis presentation requires properly introducing the methodology to demonstrate the hypothesis. Rather than adding complex figures, we can work with a minimalistic slide design and briefly describe the research methods. This slide deck is suitable for thesis presentations as well as academic projects, research papers , and more.

As we can see, counting with a professionally designed slide deck makes a difference in how your presentation is perceived by the audience. By working with SlideModel PowerPoint templates, we can reuse and repurpose our slide templates as often as required or mix elements from different slides seen in these PowerPoint presentation examples to create uniquely styled slide decks.

Like this article? Please share

Presentation Approaches, Presentation Ideas Filed under Presentation Ideas

Related Articles

Walking Deck Presentations: How to Craft Self-Explanatory Slides

Filed under Business • September 25th, 2024

Walking Deck Presentations: How to Craft Self-Explanatory Slides

Discover best practices for building walking deck presentations that leave a lasting impact. Create presentations that convey key ideas on their own.

Analyzing the McKinsey Presentation Structure: A Guide for Consulting Presentations

Filed under Business • September 19th, 2024

Analyzing the McKinsey Presentation Structure: A Guide for Consulting Presentations

Uncover the key principles of McKinsey’s presentation approach, including concise messaging, effective data visualization, and practical recommendations. A must-read guide for consultants aiming to improve their presentation skills.

8 Best Canva Alternatives for Presentations in 2024

Filed under Design • September 11th, 2024

8 Best Canva Alternatives for Presentations in 2024

Don’t feel restricted about what one application can do for presentation design. Meet a list of the best Canva alternatives in this article.

Leave a Reply

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

  • Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

  • Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

  • Google Tag Manager
  • Infographics
  • Daily Infographics
  • Popular Templates
  • Accessibility
  • Graphic Design
  • Graphs and Charts
  • Data Visualization
  • Human Resources
  • Beginner Guides

Blog Graphic Design Top 31 PowerPoint Design Ideas, Examples & Tips

Top 31 PowerPoint Design Ideas, Examples & Tips

Written by: Sara McGuire May 03, 2023

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

What’s worse than sitting through a boring presentation? Being the one to deliver a boring presentation. Presentation templates to the rescue!

Say goodbye to typical, boring PowerPoint slides, too. Instead,  create a presentation that will make a lasting impression with presentation templates like this one to engage your audience. You can also use them for inspiration for PowerPoint layout ideas:

Just so you know, some of our templates are free and some require a small monthly fee to use. Signing up to Venngage is always free.

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a presentation that will not only grab the attention of your audience but hold onto it as well.

This post will offer tips for creating different types of presentations , including:

  • Pitch decks
  • E-learning slides
  • Class presentations
  • Webinar presentations
  • Marketing presentations

I’ll also give you design tips to customize our presentation templates and share ppt design ideas.

Click to jump ahead:

  • Start with presentation templates
  • Pick a visual motif to use consistently
  • Highlight important information using text
  • Dedicate each slide to only one topic
  • Don’t overburden your slides with text
  • Establish a visual hierarchy on your slides
  • Visualize data using charts and infographics
  • Create custom illustrations using icons
  • Change slide layouts to keep your audience engaged
  • Add a progress tracker to your presentation slides
  • Download your presentation as a PDF

Design a presentation that engages your audience

Think about the last boring presentation you sat through:

  • What did the slides look like?
  • Did they have a bland color scheme?
  • Were there too many points (or worse, paragraphs) crammed onto one slide?
  • Were the charts and diagrams clunky and hard to understand?

When people see the same old boring PowerPoint layouts and themes, there’s a good chance they’re going to lose focus.

Rich media, like video, matters more than ever and there’s no better way to stand out than by creating creative and engaging visual content . If you want to really capture your audience’s attention, you need to design creative presentations , like this one:

Airbnb Pitch Deck

That means incorporating eye-catching images, effective data visualizations, and bold typography into your slide decks.

Iconics Pitch Deck

This onboarding presentation, for example, strategically uses bright icons and illustrations to make the material more engaging. This is especially important when presenting to new hires, who are likely dealing with information overload on their first day. 

HR Presentation Template

In this particular case, a more visual approach is not necessarily a matter of aesthetic preference, but a decision that can make your presentations more likely to stick. Pro Tip: Venngage has over 40,000 icons and illustrations you can use to spice up your presentations!

Need something more geared towards speaking? Our keynote presentation templates are all the rage.

Tips to hold your audience’s attention

Many Venngage users have mentioned that they’re always looking for ways to make presentations more engaging. But most of them don’t have any formal design experience.

If you’re in the same boat, don’t worry–this guide is for you. You can also check out this video for all the highlights:

Here are my top tips for designing a presentation with impact:

1. Start with presentation templates

Before jumping into the other tips, let’s set the foundation.

You’ve decided to create something a little more interesting than a standard PowerPoint theme–good on you! But that doesn’t mean you have to start completely from scratch.

Instead, you can give yourself a head start by using creative presentation templates, like this one:

Geometric Creative Presentation

Or this one:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

EDIT THIS PRESENTATION TEMPLATE

While most PowerPoint themes are fairly limited in how much you can customize them, freeform presentation templates will give you the freedom to alter the design as much as you want.

For example, let’s take this template:

Uber Presentation Template

I used Venngage’s My Brand Kit tool to efficiently apply our brand color palette to the Uber template in one click:

There are a ton of creative presentation templates. You can take a look at them in our presentations templates library .

Cool? Now let’s talk presentation design.

2. Pick a visual motif to use consistently in your presentation

You can use visuals to pull your presentation design together and make it cohesive. Picking a visual motif will allow you to use consistent visuals throughout your presentation.

A visual motif is a repeated pattern, design, or image. In your presentation design, a motif can take many forms.

When it comes to infographic color selection , one of the simplest approaches is to use a consistent color motif (or color scheme). That could mean using one or two colors for all of your headers, background and borders.

For example, this presentation template uses two shades of purple for a modern design:

Product Pitch Deck

But combining different colors and patterns can also make for a more interesting design. For example, this presentation template uses a blue stripe motif to link the slides together visually:

Monthly Sales Report Template

You could also use a recurring shape or image, like the circle image frames in this presentation template:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Or you could use a motif that reflects the theme of your presentation. For this presentation, the template uses a recurring cloud motif throughout the presentation to reflect the “dream” theme of the brand. This presentation example demonstrates the power of maintaining a consistent theme to reinforce brand image.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

This is a case where starting with a presentation template can really come in handy, because the template will already have a motif. Look for presentation templates with a motif that fits your topic and brand.

3. Highlight important information using text

Returning to the idea or focal points on your slide: emphasize a key number or phrase when creating a persuasive presentation using big, bold text in a contrasting color.

This will communicate to your audience that if they take away one thing from your slide, it should be that piece of information.

For example, this presentation template uses bright colored font in several sizes larger than the rest of the text to emphasize important numbers on each slide:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

But you could also pick one color to emphasize key information with. That way, your audience will catch on to the pattern and look for that color in upcoming slides.

Take a look at how this presentation uses teal to contrast with the other text and emphasize information:

Email Marketing Business Presentation

4. Dedicate each slide to only one topic

Franchise Pitch Deck

Just as it’s important for your slides to not be cluttered, it’s also important for your slides to be cohesive.

Keep each slide focused on just one topic. The topic of each slide should be clearly stated in the slide title.

For example, this presentation example, shows a template which covers different ways to be creative. Each individual slide covers one approach:

Creative Presentation

This simple, straightforward slide pattern will help the audience follow along without any confusion.

Or take this presentation template that introduces some of this year’s biggest business trends. Rather than listing multiple trends on one slide, each trend is fleshed out in its own slide:

Business Trends Presentation

As a presenter, keeping your slide topics organized will help you organize your thoughts as well. Each new slide will signal a new topic.

5. Don’t overburden your slides with text

Client Pitch Deck

Even if you decide to ignore most of the other tips in this guide, don’t skip over this one. This is presentation design 101.

When you flip to a slide covered wall-to-wall with text, there’s a good chance your audience is going to think:

  • I don’t want to read all of that.
  • This presenter isn’t well-prepared.

In fact, a study published in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly found that anxious presenters tended to use more text on their slides, usually because they used their slides as speaking notes.

Instead of using a bunch of text, look for ways to present information visually charts and infographics .

For example, this slide template uses brief text and some simple icons to summarize the presentation :

Weekly Update Business Presentation

This startup pitch deck makes use of evocative images, icons and big text to help present its ideas:

Yellow Startup Pitch Deck

6. Establish a visual hierarchy on your slides

When you flip to a new slide, your audience will be seeing it for the first time. Their eyes are going to naturally be drawn whatever the focal point on the page is.

The focal point is the most dominant area on your slide–the point that draws the most attention.

You can create a hierarchy of information on your slide by making the most important information the focal point of your slide. In most cases, the focal point will be the slide title, or a particular visual, or an important phrase or number.

There are a few ways you can create a visual hierarchy on your slides.

You can bold important phrases, like the word “Facebook” in this slide:

Quarterly Digital Marketing Report Business Presentation

Icons also help to establish a reading order. They draw your eye from point to point. Placing icons beside headers and important points will make them stand out from the other information on the slide.

Mint Pitch Deck

Icons can also be used to indicate where a new point begins:

Sherbert Business Presentation

Color selection can also be used to establish a visual hierarchy. Take a look at how the colorful blocks in this slide help to make the slide titles pop:

Subscriber Sales Business Presentation

Your eyes are drawn first to the title text, then to the supporting information beside it.

7. Visualize data using charts and infographics

Replacing text with visuals is one of the best ways to prevent your slide design from becoming cluttered. Charts and infographics present information in an engaging, digestible way.

I won’t go into too much detail here about what types of charts you should use for what data. We’ve got an in-depth guide to picking charts for that.

But I’ll give you a few ideas for some types of charts and infographics that work well in presentations.

Related : How to Make Better Infographics for PowerPoint

If you want to visualize steps in a process, the history of something, or a roadmap, use a timeline.

This slide template uses a simple timeline with complementary icons to emphasize each date:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

To compare amounts or sizes, a bubble chart can help drive the point home:

Airbnb Pitch Deck

Learn how to customize this template:

To create an infographic for geographic and demographic information , a map can make a big impact on your audience:

Orange Business Presentation - Map

A classic pie chart or bar graph should be easily understood by your audience, provided you’re following  chart best practices .

This presentation template uses a bar graph, a pie chart and a line graph to show different metrics:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

If you can, mix up the types of data visualizations you use. This will help prevent your audience from getting bored.

Those are just a few different ways you can use charts to visualize. For more ideas, check out our guide to picking the best charts for your data .

8. Create custom illustrations using icons

Custom illustrations are one of this year’s  biggest graphic design trends . They’re fun, quirky, and more exciting than a boring old stock photo.

Creating your own illustrations for social media graphics might seem like a costly and time-consuming undertaking. And it can be. But I’m going to offer you a hack:

Use icons to create illustrations.

Venngage Dashboard

You can arrange icons together to create a scene–like the pieces of a puzzle. (Venngage offers over 40,000 icons, so finding an image shouldn’t be too hard!) 

For example, this real estate presentation template uses icons to illustrate each real estate hack:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

When picking ico ns or symbols for your illustrations , make sure that the icon style you use is consistent. For example, this presentation template uses line art icons for a scribbly youthful look:

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

For more ideas, read our guide to creating icon illustrations .

9.  Change slide layouts to keep your audience engaged

You may be tempted to use the same slide layout throughout your entire presentation–either for consistency or because you’re not sure how else to design your slide.

The problem is, using the same slide layout over and over again won’t do much to excite your audience.

There are other ways you can create consistency throughout your presentation, while also using different slide layouts–like through a visual motif.

For example, this presentation template uses five different slide layouts. The consistent color scheme, image style and font style pull the presentation together.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

To come up with different slide layouts, try dividing your slide into columns. This can make it easier to arrange the elements in your slide.

column layout

This can make it easier to arrange the elements in your slide.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

10. Add a progress tracker to your presentation slides

Creating a sense of forward movement will help keep your audience engaged.

Similar to how you would put the chapter title at the top of the pages in a book, you can track the progress of your presentations in your slides. This will let your audience know what stage you’re at in your presentation. Your audience will also be able to refer to the sections in your presentation more easily afterward.

That said, pacing your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides also adds brownie points to your presentation. Check out the top qualities of awesome presentations and learn all about how to make a good presentation to help you nail that captivating delivery.

A simple progress bar at the bottom of your slide shouldn’t distract too much from the rest of your information.

11. Download your presentation as a PDF

It’s common for audience members to request a copy of your presentation for their reference. Make sharing your presentation easy by exporting it as a PDF or zipped file.

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Now that you’re equipped with some fundamentals of presentation design, the best way to learn is by doing. It’s also the perfect time to upgrade your presentation skills  while you’re thinking about it too!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

More presentation templates and design guides:

  • 120+ Best Presentation Ideas, Design Tips & Examples  (+ Presentation Templates!)
  • 12 Business Pitch Deck Templates and Design Best Practices to Impress Investors
  • 5 Foolproof Presentation Layout Ideas  (+ Presentation Templates!)
  • How to Get Featured on the Front Page of SlideShare [Infographic]

Discover popular designs

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Infographic maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Brochure maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

White paper online

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Newsletter creator

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Flyer maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Timeline maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Letterhead maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Mind map maker

best layout for a powerpoint presentation

Ebook maker

How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation: An Expert Guide (Free Downloadable Playbook)

Zhun Yee Chew

Zhun Yee Chew

How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation: An Expert Guide (Free Downloadable Playbook)

Are your PowerPoint presentations lacking impact and failing to engage your audience? You’re not alone. I experienced that before. I used to spend hours carefully crafting the perfect PowerPoint presentations only to be met with disinterested faces.

In a world where attention spans are getting shorter, traditional PowerPoint presentations often struggle to hold the interest of the audience. So here’s the hard truth: unless you adapt and embrace interactivity in your PowerPoint presentations, your valuable hard work and content run the risk of getting lost in presentations.

Fret not, as in this comprehensive guide, we will share with you expert tips on how to make an interactive PowerPoint presentation through interactive animations, transitions, hyperlinks, quizzes, games, and many more.

And perhaps the sweetest part of the deal is that you will also have access to a downloadable playbook of 60+ pages with a wealth of tutorials, templates, cheat sheets, resources and tools to elevate your PowerPoint skills from average to extraordinary through interactive PowerPoint presentations.

Are you prepared to impress those who once found your presentation dull? If your answer is a resounding ‘yes,’ then let’s begin.

What is an Interactive Presentation?

What is an interactive powerpoint presentation.

Interactive PowerPoint presentations are simply PowerPoint presentations that are made interactive to convey information in a more dynamic and engaging manner.

Creating an interactive PowerPoint presentation involves deciding if you want to make your slide content interactive or if you want your audience to interact with your slides. 

Interactive PowerPoint presentations can generally be divided into two main dimensions: interaction with slide content through interactive elements and fostering interaction with the audience.

Two Types of Interactive PowerPoint Presentations

Interaction with Slide Content:

In the first dimension, PowerPoint presentations are made interactive through enhancing the slides content with interactive elements, usually native to PowerPoint. 

We will cover interactive elements including:

  • Transitions
  • Interactive data visualization
  • Annotations. 

They function to enhance slide interactivity through adding movement to static objects, enabling non-linear slides navigation, as well as adding a dynamic touch to data and information presentation. 

Audience Interaction:

In the second dimension, PowerPoint presentations are made interactive through interaction between the presenter and the audience, usually with the help of PowerPoint add-in tools. We will cover: 

  • Assessments
  • Brainstorming
  • Collaborative multimedia uploading

Once you have decided which strategy you would like to use, you can then follow  these step-by-step guide  and the following expert tips to turn your PowerPoint slides into an interactive experience!

Benefits of an Interactive Presentation

The fact that you are still reading this suggests that you don’t need further convincing on the benefits of interactive PowerPoint presentations. 

However, if you do, here are some quick statistics:

68% of individuals hold the belief that interactive presentations have a greater potential for being remembered. Webinar Care

This means that a simple action of making your PowerPoint slides interactive has a profound impact on how your presentation is received by the audience. From our years of experience creating interactive PowerPoint presentations, they generally: 

  • Increases  engagement , motivation and knowledge  retention . 
  • Result in better  impression  and more impactful messaging being conveyed.
  • Allow presenters to better tailor their content or offerings to the audience or clients because they can gather  real-time feedback .
  • Open up room for  creative   storytelling  and showcases.

Interactive Puzzle PowerPoint Templates

Master the tricks to turn your PowerPoint into an interactive experience today!

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – Before Presenting

1. add animations, but use them judiciously.

The first and most straightforward way of making your PowerPoint presentations interactive is through adding animations to your slides. However, so many people use PowerPoint animations the wrong way. PowerPoint animations are more than just making bullet points or images appear or fly in during your presentation.

Remember, using animations excessively in your PowerPoint presentation will only reduce the appeal and professionalism of your slides. The key is to use them judiciously and purposefully. Before you hit the “Animations” tab, ask yourself, “Does this animation enhance the message I want to convey to my audience?”  

2. Add 3D PowerPoint Animations Using PowerPoint Native 3D Stock Elements

Did you know that PowerPoint has free animated 3D elements you can use? We recommend you to try them up to instantly upgrade your presentation from ordinary to extraordinary. 

❓ How?  Simply go to Insert > 3D models > stock 3D models > animated models. And you will find a wide range of free 3D models ranging from food and animals to plants and characters, and many more. You can also select different animation scenes by heading to the Animations tab.

3. Add Animations With Triggers for Visual Excitement

You can take your PowerPoint animations up a notch by incorporating combining animations with triggers to create interactive pop-ups with extra information . These on-click pop-ups are valuable when presenting a map or when you want to explore specific aspects of an object or topic in more detail. You can also use these pop-ups as markers to alert the audience to exciting elements within different parts of the slide, as such: 

❓How? To create on-click pop-ups in your PowerPoint slides, first add shapes that will become clickable buttons, one to “open” the pop-up and the other to “close” the pop-up. Then, add text boxes with extra information you want to show, as well as entrance and exit animations. Combine the animations with “triggers” to activate the animations when the open or close buttons are clicked on. 

For a more detailed tutorial on this pop-up animation, download our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook  below. 👇

4. add non-linear slide transition.

A quick way to add interactivity to your PowerPoint slides is by using PowerPoint transitions. The first we want to discuss is PowerPoint Zoom. PowerPoint Zoom enables you to zoom in and out of and navigate to specific sections or slides on click, anytime during your presentation.

To  access the PowerPoint Zoom feature : click on Insert in the  PowerPoint ribbon  >  Zoom  > then choose  Slide ,  Section , or  Summary   Zoom . Each of these PowerPoint Zoom option serves slightly different functions:

  • Slide Zoom: zooms into specific slides
  • Section zoom: zooms into specific sections
  • Summary Zoom: creates a summary slide for the different slides or sections in your PowerPoint presentation for easy navigation.

PowerPoint Slide Zoom

❓ How? To  set up PowerPoint slide zoom , select the starting slide where you wish to implement the Zoom effect. Next, click  Insert  >  Zoom  >  Slide Zoom . Here, you can pick the specific slide or slides you want to zoom in on. Click the Insert button, and thumbnails of the chosen slides will be added to your current slide.

Alternatively, for a more manual setup process, you can also set up a navigation menu at the beginning of your presentation that allows the audience to jump to different sections or slides using hyperlinks.  Read more in the Hyperlinks section below. 

5. Add PowerPoint Morph

Like PowerPoint Zoom, PowerPoint Morph empowers presenters to create dynamic transitions that elevate the visual storytelling in their presentations. But PowerPoint Morph brings storytelling to a whole new level and adds a layer of intrigue to your slides by simulating object transitions or evolution across slides. It functions similarly to animations but offers a smoother and more organic visual experience, without the need for complex setup steps. 

Personally, we think the outcomes generated by PowerPoint Morph are more professional and polished-looking as compared to traditional animations. And if you are looking for a more advanced-looking presentation, try this 3D morph animation In PowerPoint .

We’d also like to share with you the numerous applications of PowerPoint Morph contributed by our colleagues and PowerPoint professionals at ClassPoint:

  • Moving background
  • Rotating wheel
  • Rotating cogs
  • Photo gallery
  • Slide Zoom with Morph
  • Creative reveal
  • Parallax effect
  • Continuous slide transition
  • Phone frame
  • Movie frame

Gain access to free templates for all these PowerPoint Morph applications and effects by downloading our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook. 👇

6. add hyperlinks – they can link to so many more places than just websites.

Much like PowerPoint Zoom, hyperlinks enable presenters to create interactive menus and navigation structures, allowing audiences to jump to specific slides or sections effortlessly. However, while PowerPoint Zoom primarily focuses on creating a visual and interactive overview of content within a single presentation, hyperlinks extend this capability to connect with external resources, web content, or even additional PowerPoint files. 

There are a few ways you could add hyperlinks to your PowerPoint presentation to transform  it into an interactive experience effortlessly: 

Ways to use PowerPoint hyperlinks

4 Ways You Can Add Hyperlinks to PowerPoint: 

  • Slide Transition : You can navigate to specific slides in a non-linear manner by simply inserting a hyperlink into your current slide. Head over to Insert > Link > This Document and select the slide you want to link to. You can apply hyperlinks to text, shapes, or pictures. 

PowerPoint hyperlinks for slide transition

  • Interactive Navigation Menu : Adding an interactive navigation menu at the beginning of your presentation allows clear navigation between different slides and sections in your presentation. Head over to Insert > Link > This Document and select the slides you want to link to.

PowerPoint hyperlinks for navigation menu

  • Action Buttons : With hyperlinks, you can also create Action Buttons in your PowerPoint presentations to make your PowerPoint slides behave like interactive web pages, allowing users to navigate, explore, and engage with the content in a dynamic and user-friendly manner. Head over to Insert > Action Buttons and choose from the selection.

PowerPoint hyperlinks for action buttons

  • Embedded Content : You can also hyperlink your PowerPoint slides to embedded content like PDFs, spreadsheets, and even web pages. Simply click Insert > Object and select the file you would like to embed in your PowerPoint slides. This way, you can remove the hassle of toggling between various files or windows during your presentation.

PowerPoint hyperlinks for embedded content

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – When Presenting

1. turn your powerpoint slides into interactive quizzes.

The traditional way to add interactive quizzes to PowerPoint is through an unfavorable process of combining complex animations with triggers and hyperlinks. Let’s be honest, it takes an eternity! Even though PowerPoint offers an extensive range of presentation tools, it does not have audience interactivity built at its core. 

The good news is, audience interactivity can actually be effortlessly achieved with the various PowerPoint add-ins as listed below: 

Interactive PowerPoint Add-InQuizGamePollQ&A
ClassPoint✔️✔️✔️
Mentimeter✔️✔️✔️
Hypersay✔️✔️
Poll Everywhere✔️
Slido✔️✔️✔️
Slide Lizard✔️✔️✔️
Zeetings✔️
Aha Slides✔️✔️✔️

We will get to polls and games in a bit. For now, let’s show you how you can turn your PowerPoint slides into an interactive quiz in a just a few clicks with PowerPoint add-ins like  ClassPoint , which offers a wide range of interactive quizzes from  Short Answer  and  Word Cloud , to Multiple Choice questions.

How to Create An Interactive Quiz in PowerPoint In A Few Clicks

Once you have downloaded ClassPoint, you will have a suite of additional interactive quiz features added to your PowerPoint ribbon. 

ClassPoint toolbar

To turn  your PowerPoint slide  content into interactive  quizzes, simply  click on any of the interactive quiz features and add them to your slide. Enter PowerPoint Slideshow mode and you can start the quiz immediately. 

2. Run Gradable Assessments inside PowerPoint

With the versatile PowerPoint add-in,  ClassPoint , you can also create assessments and collect real-time responses right inside PowerPoint. This is wonderful news for teachers! All you have to do is set up  interactive Multiple Choice questions  and enable  Quiz Mode . 

Interactive Assessment in PowerPoint using ClassPoint Quiz Mode

ClassPoint’s Quiz Mode introduces an  automatic grading  feature to your Multiple Choice questions within PowerPoint presentations created with ClassPoint. This feature not only automates the grading process but also includes automatic star ratings, the option to select difficulty levels, and provides a quiz summary along with an exportable quiz report, making it the perfect tool for classroom formative assessments in PowerPoint!

3. Incorporate Annotations During Slideshow

Another unique way to interact with your PowerPoint slides is through the use of annotations. With annotations, you as the presenter can interact with your slides to draw your audience’s attention to specific details, highlight key points, and tell a more coherent story. 

There are 3 ways you could use annotations in PowerPoint: 

  • PowerPoint Draw Tab:  To utilize the PowerPoint Draw Tab, click on the “Draw” tab in your PowerPoint ribbon and begin annotating anywhere on your slides using built-in features like the pen, highlighter, and Ink to Shape. However, please note that PowerPoint Draw only allows annotation in Edit mode.

PowerPoint Draw annotations

  • PowerPoint Pen Tools:  Another option for native PowerPoint annotation tools that permit annotation during slideshow mode can be found by clicking the pencil icon located in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen during a presentation. You can use the pen, highlighter, or laser tools to annotate any part of your slides during the presentation.

PowerPoint Pen slideshow annotations

  • ClassPoint  Toolbar:  The ClassPoint toolbar serves as an enhanced, free alternative to PowerPoint’s existing pen tools. It offers a broader range of additional annotation features, including text boxes, shapes, spotlight effects, fully customizable pens and highlighters, and more. This enables you to transform your PowerPoint slides into a creative canvas that will captivate your audience throughout your presentation.

4. Run Ice Breakers and Brainstorming Sessions in PowerPoint

The uses of interactive PowerPoint add-ins like  ClassPoint  are not only limited to teaching and learning. Give your PowerPoint meetings and presentations a strong start with a collaborative and dynamic brainstorming experience.

You can enhance your PowerPoint presentations and turn them into an interactive brainstorming experience by incorporating  Word Cloud  in PowerPoint, inviting participants to instantly contribute ideas, keywords, or concepts. This allows everyone to dynamically visualize emerging trends and interesting ideas.

Interactive PowerPoint branstorming

❓ How? To start a brainstorming session in PowerPoint, click on the “Word Cloud”  button in your PowerPoint ribbon once you have downloaded ClassPoint to add the “Word Cloud” feature in your PowerPoint slides. Then enter PowerPoint slideshow mode to start brainstorming! 

5. Add Draggable Slide Objects (And Why It’s Better than Animations!)

Similar to animations, draggable objects allow you to interact with your slide objects freely during slideshow mode, except than you can do so with full control of where you want the slide elements to go!

This dynamic presentation feature adds an element of visual interest that captures your audience’s attention and can be a valuable tool for explaining complex ideas. Moreover, it has the potential to serve various purposes, such as revealing hidden information or acting as a movable marker to indicate your position on the slide content. You can also use it for group drag-and-drop activities, such as matching, categorizing, sorting, and more. You can either perform these actions yourself to provide a visual explanation or engage your audience by letting them instruct the movement of images and text on the slide.

❓ How? Draggable objects is a unique tool that is possible inside PowerPoint with the use of the add-in ClassPoint. Download ClassPoint, free PowerPoint add-in, the select any shape, image, illustration, or text on your slide to become draggable by clicking on “Draggable Objects” in your PowerPoint ribbon, and toggling “Drag enabled” on the side panel.

how to enable drag and drop in powerpoint

In slideshow mode, click on the draggable objects hand from the ClassPoint toolbar at the bottom of your screen to start dragging your slide objects around!

6. Create Playable Games In PowerPoint (Without Animations or Hyperlinks)

Much like interactive quizzes, PowerPoint games add a layer of interactivity and fun to PowerPoint presentations. However, what sets PowerPoint games apart is their ability to introduce competition through gamification. 

Here are  3 ways  you can instantly gamify your PowerPoint slides with  gamification elements :

  • Set Up a Point and Reward System : Define how your participants can earn stars and points, and  award stars  to them when they have accomplished a goal during your presentation. 
  • Add  Levels and Badges  to PowerPoint : Every game benefits from having levels and badges, and your PowerPoint game is no exception. You can create a simple game within PowerPoint by incorporating  questions  into your slides and defining the points and scores needed to progress to higher levels. When it comes to badges, you have the creative freedom to tailor them to your audience. For example, in an educational setting, badges can be skill-focused, while in a social gathering, they can take the form of fantasy characters that participants aspire to collect
  • Add a  Leaderboard  to PowerPoint : Leaderboards are essential to keep track of scores or points during a PowerPoint game. You can of course create a manual leaderboard using PowerPoint’s tables and hyperlinks, but an easier and more straightforward way of implementing a leaderboard in your PowerPoint is using add-ins like  ClassPoint  and  Vevox .

With these fundamentals of gamification in place, you are now ready to create fun and exhilarating games in PowerPoint. 

Here is a full walk-through on  how you can create a PowerPoint game  in a few simple steps. 

If you are an educator, this  free trivia PowerPoint template and these 5 interactive PowerPoint game templates tailored for the classroom will be useful for you.

Expert Tips on How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation – After Presenting

1. run real-time polls in powerpoint.

Think of a memorable presentation you have attended? Did it use live polls? We bet it did! Live polling are especially helpful after a PowerPoint presentation to gather feedback for future improvement.

Traditional poll tools require presenters to switch between tabs during presentation. Thanks to PowerPoint add-ins such as  ClassPoint ,  Mentimeter  and  Poll Everywhere , this is no longer the case. And by eliminating the need to switch between different applications or tabs, the presentation experience becomes more fluid and engaging.

2. From Static to Interactive Data Visualisation

Incorporating interactivity through data visualization after a presentation concludes is a potent strategy for enhancing audience engagement and comprehension. Once the primary content delivery is complete, you can transition into a dynamic display of data or feedback you have gathered from your audience using interactive charts, graphs, or infographics.

This approach empowers your audience to explore the information at their own pace, dig deeper into specific data points, and ensure a two-way communication between the presenter and the audience. Whether it’s zooming in on specific trends, toggling between different data sets, or going through feedback, interactive data visualization encourages active participation and a deeper connection with the presented information. 

We recommend the following 2 ways to display data into your presentation:

  • Insert tables, charts and graphs, and add a touch of interactivity through animations.

Below is a list of 10 PowerPoint animations most suitable for different kinds of graphs and charts: 

Graph/Chart TypePowerPoint Animation
Pie chartWheel
Bar chartWipe
Line chartDraw
Area chartWipe
Gantt ChartMotion path
Funnel ChartAppear
Tree MapZoom
Waterfall ChartAppear
Bubble ChartGrow/Shrink
Scatter PlotZoom
  • Embed a website with data you want to go over. I’m not talking about a link that leaves PowerPoint for your default browser, but an actual embedded browser that loads your websites without leaving PowerPoint! Plus you can insert the page as a picture into your slide and start annotating on it!

Now that you have a collection of strategies and tips at your disposal, you are better prepared to leave your old and dusty PowerPoint toolkit behind and embrace these refreshing ideas. Whether your ultimate aim is to create a captivating classroom experience, deliver a memorable business pitch, or simply wow your friends and peers during  PowerPoint nights , don’t forget to: 

  • Add animations, but use them sparingly.
  • Make use of non-linear transitions and storytelling. 
  • Turn simple transitions into stunning visual experience with PowerPoint Morph.
  • Make creative use of polls, quizzes and games. 
  • Make your presentation human with Bitmoji.
  • Build anticipation with interactive presentation tools like annotations and drag and drop.
  • Try out these 160 fun PowerPoint ideas for your next presentation!

To read more about Interactive PowerPoint Presentations, you can download our Interactive PowerPoint Playbook, which includes comprehensive guides, tutorials on various interactive PowerPoint presentation methods, cheat sheets, and a wide range of resources for mastering the art of creating interactive PowerPoint presentations.

About Zhun Yee Chew

Supercharge your powerpoint. start today..

800,000+ people like you use ClassPoint to boost student engagement in PowerPoint presentations.

COMMENTS

  1. 20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

    6. "Blitzscaling: Book Trailer," Reid Hoffman. If you're going to go the minimalistic route, I'd take note of this PowerPoint presentation example from Reid Hoffman. This clean design adheres to a simple, consistent color scheme with clean graphics peppered throughout to make the slides more visually interesting.

  2. How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

    Length and Structure. The main part should make up about 70% of the presentation and also include a clear structure. Explain your ideas in detail and build them up logically. It should be organized chronologically, by priority or by topic. There should be a smooth transition between the individual issues.

  3. 17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips From Pro Presenters [+ Templates]

    Getting Started. 1. Open PowerPoint and click 'New.'. A page with templates will usually open automatically, but if not, go to the top left pane of your screen and click New. If you've already created a presentation, select Open and then double-click the icon to open the existing file. Image Source.

  4. A step-by-step guide to captivating PowerPoint presentation design

    In the "Insert" menu, select "Table" and opt for a one-by-one table. Change the table color to a light gray shade, elongate it, and position it neatly to the left of your text. To improve readability and aesthetics, increase the spacing between text phrases. A small adjustment in the before spacing setting (setting it to 48) significantly ...

  5. How to Make Good PowerPoint Slide Designs Even Better in 2024

    They come with premade slides. Many also include extra elements such as charts, icons, and graphs. It'll be an invaluable resource and help you make an effective slide design. 5 Best PowerPoint Presentation Design Templates (for 2024) Look at some of the best PowerPoint presentation design templates from Envato Elements: 1.

  6. 25 PowerPoint Presentation Tips For Good PPT Slides in 2022

    Creating a great presentation starts with a great template. And a great PowerPoint slide design use the best presentation practices, for example: Use high-quality photos and graphics to help tell the story. Keep text to a minimum. Stick to one idea per slide. Designing a great template doesn't mean you've got to start from scratch, though.

  7. 8 Tips to Make the Best PowerPoint Presentations

    A good presentation needs two fonts: a serif and sans-serif. Use one for the headlines and one for body text, lists, and the like. Keep it simple. Veranda, Helvetica, Arial, and even Times New Roman are safe choices. Stick with the classics and it's hard to botch this one too badly.

  8. How to Make a Beautiful PowerPoint Presentation: A Simple Guide

    Overstyling can make the slide look busy and distracting. 8. Choose the Right Images. The images you choose for your presentation are perhaps as important as the message. You want images that not only support the message, but also elevate it—a rare accomplishment in the often dry world of PowerPoint.

  9. How to make the best Powerpoint presentation + real examples!

    Maintain eye contact, use gestures to emphasize points, and move around if possible. This non-verbal communication can significantly enhance the impact of your delivery. In today's increasingly digital world, we also have to think about virtual presentations and how to put our best foot forward through a screen.

  10. 5 Foolproof Presentation Layout Ideas You Should Use

    So you get the gist. By using a simple three-part presentation layout, you'll be able to organize content in a variety of ways, limited only by your imagination. 2. Left image, right text presentation layout. As dictated by the Picture Superiority Effect, pictures are more likely to be remembered than words.

  11. PowerPoint design templates

    Create captivating, informative content for PowerPoint in just a few minutes—no graphic design experience needed. Here's how: 1. Find the perfect PowerPoint template. Search for anything—type of template, image, color, —or take a look around by browsing the catalog. Select the template that fits you best, from pitch decks to data ...

  12. How to Design a Professional PowerPoint Presentation

    After reading through this you should be all set to design your own beautiful presentation slides that will put your coworkers to shame. Using a pre-built PowerPoint template can be a good starting point for many people (we collected some of the best PowerPoint templates for you!). But if you're wanting to design your own from start-to-finish ...

  13. 5 golden rules of PowerPoint design

    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.

  14. 6 Modern Ideas for PowerPoint Layouts

    6. Further Options for Image/Text Layouts. We've already covered image-text layouts above, but here are a few more ideas to make your presentations get noticed. Option 1: Text on the left, image on the right. This option is a classic layout, as it works with the fact that English is read from left to right.

  15. 60 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks

    7. Share With a Friend. If the stakes are high for your presentation, it's never too early to get feedback from those that you trust. Here's an article that helps you collaborate as a team on a PowerPoint presentation. Get PowerPoint design tips from those that you trust when you collaborate.

  16. PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

    Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365. This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way. ... What are the best uses of PowerPoint? PowerPoint has a versatile range of uses. Here's a list of the ...

  17. 25 Best PowerPoint Slide Designs (Best Designs for PPT) + Video

    5. Kintel - Modern Portfolio PowerPoint Template. With its unforgettable styling and bold fonts, Kintel is one of the best slide designs for PPT in 2024. The vibe is modern, yet rustic—this one's perfectly suited for showcasing art and all your other graphic design work.

  18. PowerPoint Presentation Best Practices: Tips & Resources

    A guide to layout, design, best practices, and tips for creating a great PowerPoint presentation for your class. Skip to Main Content. HCC Libraries; ... During your presentation (on either PowerPoint or Keynote) you can press the "B" key on the keyboard, and the screen will go blank. This is useful if you need to go off topic for a minute, or ...

  19. 147+ Best PowerPoint Templates & Presentation Slides

    These best slide templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides can boost your productivity in preparing a presentation and, at the same time, help convey a message to an audience with visually appealing slides. Also, all presentation templates, slides, layouts, etc., that made it to our Best PPT Templates list are Mac and Windows-supported.

  20. Free Google Slides themes and Powerpoint templates

    Modern Doodle Minitheme. Download the Modern Doodle Minitheme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources....

  21. 20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation

    Author: Sudio Sudarsan. 2. Jeunesse Opportunity Presentation 2021. This is a great example of brand presentation with company profile, product system, plan, and reward. It gives a similar experience to browsing a website. Author: DASH2 - Jeunesse Global. 3. Accenture Tech Vision 2020.

  22. 120+ Best Free PowerPoint Templates (PPT) 2024

    DSGN - Free Lookbook Presentation Template. This free PowerPoint template comes with 90 unique slide layouts you can use to make slideshows for creative portfolios, photography, and fashion related presentations. The template is also available in 5 color schemes and it's free to use with your personal projects.

  23. Slide Layouts in PowerPoint

    Step-1: Select the Slide first. At first, you have to go to the slide you want to change the layout of and then click on the 'Layout' button in the 'Slides' section of the 'Home' tab. This will open a drop-down menu of all the slide layouts in your presentation. Step-2: Click on Layout and Select a Different Layout.

  24. 10+ Outstanding PowerPoint Presentation Examples and Templates

    With this best PPT template tailored for sponsorship pitch presentations, we can display such data in an attractive visual format. The neat layout balances whitespace with content, with three distinctive KPI areas to talk about your history in sponsorship experiences. Marketing Plan PowerPoint Presentation Examples

  25. Top 31 PowerPoint Design Ideas, Examples & Tips

    This post will offer tips for creating different types of presentations, including: Pitch decks. E-learning slides. Class presentations. Webinar presentations. Marketing presentations. I'll also give you design tips to customize our presentation templates and share ppt design ideas. CREATE A PRESENTATION FOR FREE.

  26. How to Make an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation: An Expert Guide

    PowerPoint Pen Tools: Another option for native PowerPoint annotation tools that permit annotation during slideshow mode can be found by clicking the pencil icon located in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen during a presentation. You can use the pen, highlighter, or laser tools to annotate any part of your slides during the presentation.