how to create a good powerpoint presentation

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How to Make a Good PowerPoint Presentation: Essential Tips for Impactful Slides

Creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation can transform how we convey our ideas and keep our audience engaged. Whether we are presenting to a room full of executives or sharing data with our colleagues, the key to a successful presentation lies in clarity and simplicity . Let’s explore some practical steps to achieve this goal.

We should start by identifying our audience and tailoring our message to meet their expectations. If our audience consists of industry experts, we’ll dive deeper into technical details. On the other hand, a broader audience may require us to simplify complex concepts, using visuals and clear language to illustrate our points effectively.

A well-crafted presentation also depends on the visual appeal of our slides. Using custom fonts, as well as adhering to the 6×6 rule (no more than six words per line and six lines per slide), helps to maintain an uncluttered look. Engaging visuals, such as high-quality images, data graphs, and minimal text, can make our slides more captivating and easier to follow. A thoughtful design ensures that our key points resonate with the audience, making our presentation not just informative but also memorable.

• 1.1 Structuring Your Message
• 1.2 Visual Aids and Graphics
• 1.3 Incorporating Multimedia Elements
• 2.1 Choosing the Right Templates
• 2.2 Mastering Visual Hierarchy
• 2.3 Applying Consistent Formatting
• 3.1 Engaging Your Audience
• 3.2 Handling Q&A Sessions
• 4 Leveraging PowerPoint Tools

Crafting Compelling Content

Creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation requires a clear message, engaging visuals, and multimedia that enhance understanding. We will now explore how to structure your message, use visual aids and graphics, and incorporate multimedia elements.

Structuring Your Message

A well-structured message is essential for a successful presentation. Start with a clear introduction to outline your main points. Use bullet points to keep information concise and organized.

Each slide should focus on one key idea to prevent information overload. Connect ideas smoothly to keep the flow. Employ logic and sequence that your audience can effortlessly follow. We need to repeat key messages for emphasis and reinforce the main points.

A good storyline often helps. Relate your information to a real-life story or scenario to make it memorable. Engage with the audience by asking questions or prompting thought.

Visual Aids and Graphics

Visual aids and graphics help convey complex information swiftly and clearly. High-quality photos , informative charts, and relevant diagrams can make a big impact.

Use bold text to highlight important points and guide the viewers’ focus. Choose harmonious colors to maintain visual appeal and ensure everything is readable. Avoid cluttering your slides with too many graphics—less is more.

Proper use of images can underscore your talking points. Select visuals that are directly related to your content. Infographics are particularly effective for breaking down data into digestible pieces.

Incorporating Multimedia Elements

Multimedia elements like animations, videos, and audio clips can add depth to your presentation. However, use them sparingly and ensure they enhance rather than distract.

Short video clips can provide powerful examples or testimonials. Animations can illustrate processes or changes over time. Make sure any multimedia used is of high quality and relevant to the presented information.

Audio clips can also engage an audience, especially in underscoring critical points. Test all multimedia elements beforehand to avoid technical glitches. Ensure a smooth integration of media with your discoursed content.

Proper balance and careful selection of these elements can greatly enhance the clarity and engagement of your presentation.

Designing Professional Slides

Creating an engaging PowerPoint presentation involves choosing the right templates, mastering visual hierarchy, and applying consistent formatting. These elements ensure your presentation is visually appealing, easy to follow, and professional.

Choosing the Right Templates

Starting with a well-designed template sets the tone for your presentation. It’s like choosing the right outfit for an important event. We recommend using templates from Envato Elements as they encompass a variety of stylish and professional designs.

To select an effective template, consider:

• Relevance: Ensure the template’s design aligns with your topic.
• Simplicity: Avoid overly complicated templates that distract from your content.
• Flexibility: Choose templates that allow customization for your color scheme, fonts, and slide layout.

Templates should enhance your content, not overshadow it. By picking the right one, we can effortlessly create visually appealing slides.

Mastering Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is crucial for guiding the audience’s attention to key points. In PowerPoint, this means structuring your slides to highlight the most important information first.

We should focus on:

• Headlines: Use larger, bold fonts for headings to grab attention.
• Contrast: Make critical data pop with contrasting colors. For instance, a bright text color on a dark background.
• Spacing: Adequate spacing or “white space” helps prevent clutter and makes slides easier to read.

By effectively managing visual hierarchy, our slides will communicate information more efficiently, allowing our audience to retain the key messages better.

Applying Consistent Formatting

Consistency in formatting reinforces professionalism. It’s our secret sauce for a polished presentation. Here’s how to ensure uniformity:

• Fonts: Stick to 1-2 fonts throughout the presentation. Mixing too many fonts can be jarring.
• Color Scheme: Use a cohesive color palette that complements the chosen template. Tools like Adobe Color can help choose harmonious color schemes.
• Alignment: Align text and images neatly on each slide for a clean look.

Maintaining consistent formatting helps avoid distractions. It’s all about the details— consistent design lets our content shine and keeps our audience focused.

Delivering With Confidence

Confidence during a presentation can be the difference between leaving a lasting impression or blending into the crowd. By engaging your audience and skillfully handling Q&A sessions, you’ll demonstrate authority and leave a meaningful impact.

Engaging Your Audience

Engaging your audience starts with preparation. Practice your presentation thoroughly to become familiar with the content and flow. Rehearsing in front of a mirror or with friends can help fine-tune your delivery. Maintaining eye contact creates a connection with your audience, making them feel involved.

Use stories and anecdotes to bring your points to life, keeping the listeners interested. Interactive elements, like asking questions or incorporating polls, encourage participation. Your enthusiasm is contagious, so make sure it shines through.

Varying your tone and pace can prevent monotony and highlight key points. Avoid filler words; they can undermine your message. Instead, take pauses to emphasize important ideas, adding a dramatic effect and giving your audience time to absorb information. This way, we keep their attention and ensure our message is clear and memorable.

Handling Q&A Sessions

Handling Q&A sessions effectively can significantly boost your credibility. Start by encouraging questions, showing that you welcome dialogue. Listen carefully to each question without interrupting, demonstrating respect for your audience’s contributions.

When responding, keep answers concise, addressing the core of the question. If you don’t know an answer, it’s okay to admit it. Offer to follow up after the presentation, illustrating your commitment to providing accurate information.

Stay calm and collected, even if faced with challenging questions. Use the opportunity to showcase your expertise and reinforce the points made during your presentation. Avoid defensive attitudes and approach each question with a positive and open mindset. This approach will leave a positive, lasting impression on your viewers.

Leveraging PowerPoint Tools

When it comes to mastering PowerPoint, understanding the Ribbon is crucial. The Ribbon holds tabs like Home, File, Insert, Transitions, and Slide Show. Each offers unique tools to enhance our presentations.

The Home Tab is our starting point. We can easily add and format text, create bullet points, and apply text styles. It’s our go-to for basic slide management.

Next, the File Tab offers many behind-the-scenes controls. Saving, sharing, and exporting presentations is a cinch here. Plus, we can adjust settings to better fit our workflow.

For adding content, the Insert Tab is indispensable. From images to charts and tables, everything we need to make our slides pop lives here. Embedding videos or audio can really spice things up!

Transitions Tab is where the magic happens. Here, we can add smooth transitions between slides. It’s all about adding that extra flair to keep our audience engaged.

Before delivering our presentation, we head to the Slide Show Tab . We can rehearse timings, set up Presenter View, and fine-tune our delivery. Presenter View is a game-changer, showing speaker notes and slide previews.

Using these tools effectively will make our PowerPoint presentations not only professional but also engaging.

Related posts:

• How to Add Music to PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide for Seamless Presentations
• How to Insert GIF into PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Create an Org Chart in PowerPoint: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
• How to Change Font on All Slides in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Use Slide Master in PowerPoint: Streamline Your Presentation Design
• How to Indent Bullet Points in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Add Watermark to PowerPoint for Professional Presentations
• How to Add a Row to a Table in PowerPoint: Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Embed a File in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Add Footer in PowerPoint: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
• How to Send a PowerPoint Through Email That Is Too Big: Effective Solutions
• Can You Work on PowerPoint at the Same Time: Tips for Seamless Collaboration

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How-To Geek

8 tips to make the best powerpoint presentations.

Want to make your PowerPoint presentations really shine? Here's how to impress and engage your audience.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 PowerPoint Presentation Tips From Pro Presenters [+ Templates]

Published: April 26, 2024

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

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.

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.

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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.

10. Present websites within PowerPoint.

Believe it or not, presenting websites within PowerPoint is something we’re still having to find work-arounds for.

From my experience, these are some tactics that have worked in the past that may be helpful depending on which version of PowerPoint you have:

• Traditionally, to show a website in a PowerPoint slide you would just create a link to the page and prompt a separate browser to open.
• Try adding the third-party program LiveWeb that you install on your PowerPoint program. Head to the LiveWeb website and follow the instructions. Unfortunately, Mac users don’t have a similar option.
• Take screenshots of a website, insert the image on your slide, and link in through a browser. You can embed media (such as a YouTube video) by downloading it directly to your computer.
• Some versions allowed a Web Viewer Add-on until Microsoft decided that was a security risk. Insert>Get Add-ons , search for Web Viewer , then click on the Add button.
• Install ClassPoint , which essentially puts an internet window on top of your slide for use until you’re done with it, then you can just move to the next slide. You can even bookmark the webpage you want ahead of time to jump straight to it. Using this does introduce a new navigation bar along the bottom of your presentation. Here’s a video Introduction to ClassPoint:

• 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.

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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.

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7 Steps to Giving a Killer PowerPoint Presentation

Last Updated on February 26, 2024

Table of Contents

Widely accepted as the most useful and accessible way to create visual aids ready to share with an audience, PowerPoint presentations are often poorly constructed making them boring and arduous to sit through.

With so many uses and tools to help you give a fantastic presentation every time, it’s frustrating to see so many bad examples. Some sources claim that up to 50% of presentations are ineffective.

A well-designed slideshow allows the presenter to maintain eye contact with the audience, creating an engaging experience for all involved. On the flip side, garish colour schemes, incorrect font sizes and poor image selection can turn your points from being clear to confusing. Here are our 7 best training tips for a better presentation .

1. Get Organized with Slide Sections

Ok, so this one is obvious but you’ll be surprised how many people dive straight into creating a presentation without setting a plan and laying out the groundwork.

Ask yourself what the key messages are that you want to get across to your audience. Whether it’s updating the team on sales revenue figures or you’re pitching a sale to a potential client; be clear about your objectives and stick to the point.

PowerPoint offers some fantastic organization tools for users of all levels to utilize. Most notably Slide Sections , which enable simpler collaboration for teams and better organization for individuals. Similar to putting files into a folder, you can arrange slides into sections. Create new headers, drag and drop slides all without affecting the layout of your presentation.

2. Create a Theme with Slide Master

The best slideshow presentations carry a theme throughout. In their simplest form, standardising fonts and well-designed themes are a great starting point.

PowerPoint of course offers standard themes for you to choose from, along with recommending fonts that go well together – for those times when more than one font helps to liven up your slides.

3. Use Easy to Read Fonts with Suggested Fonts

There’s little more frustrating that your audience all facing the projector squinting – perhaps if they’re facing the floor snoring. Poorly selected fonts and colour schemes can result in hard to read slides. This detracts away from the your presentation and the points that you’re trying to make.

4. Get straight to the point

Great slideshows are all about storytelling. With a beginning middle and end, your presentation will have a common plot.

Bullet points are a great way of getting to the point. Highlighting key facts and figures give the audience a quick indication of the topic without having to sift through a pile of adjectives first.

5. Use the slides as a guide

We can all remember sitting through a presentation where the presenter has read each slide word for word. Aside from being painfully boring, it’s also a massive waste of time for everybody involved. These slides tend to be word dense and could be better distributed as a white paper or a report.

Using bullets is a great way of breaking down your points into manageable chunks. Glancing at these slides allows you to elaborate or adlib whilst keeping eye contact with the room and in turn engaging with your audience.

6. Be Visual

Sure each slideshow has its own subject and aims, but we all know that pictures tell a thousand words. Used to reinforce your points or to inject a little subtle humour, images help to keep an audience captivated throughout.

As a rule of thumb, it also pays to keep things simple. Ok, so we’ve said it a hundred times already but the faster that your audience gets on the same page and understands your point, the more successful the presentation is likely to be.

Our top tip is to use charts instead of tables, with the former tending to be a graphical analysis of the data represented in the table. If the audience requires additional statistics, these should be included in handouts for later analysis.

7. Presenter View in PowerPoint

If you’re lucky enough to have the latest version installed on your PC, you’ll be able to take full advantage of PowerPoint’s awesome new features.

Presenter View enables you too see what’s coming next before the audience. Helping to prevent embarrassing mistakes and keeping you one step ahead of the presentation is sure to make things run much more smoothly.

Other handy tools include a laser pen that is controlled by your mouse or track-pad and a zoom tool that allows you to focus on a specific area of the slide, great for table and charts.

Posted by: Terence Craven

Terence is a copywriter for Best STL. When he's not blogging, he can often be found at the gym or running through the British countryside.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES

11 PowerPoint presentation tips that work like a charm

• Claudio Daylac
• Aug 15, 2018

PowerPoint: The creative kid in the Microsoft family and the younger brother of Word and Excel. At some point in our lives, we have all had to prepare a presentation with this software and then reveal our creation, accompanied by a speech, in front of a crowd. Some people are still recovering from the horror, others can’t wait for their next try (for the latter, check out our guide on how to become an entrepreneur ). However you feel about presentations, from university days to professional work settings like conferences and client proposals, these moments are inevitable. Some people rarely have to give presentations while others do it quite frequently.

From the opposite perspective, we’ve all sat in the audience and witnessed many presentations – from those that deserve a standing ovation to the not-so-successful ones. We all would like to believe that when our turn comes, we will know how to dodge the clichés and leave a good, if not phenomenal, impression on our spectators. Along with creating a business website , beautiful business cards, and sitting in a fancy office, the packaged deal of a well-suited professional isn’t complete without memorable presentation skills. So with that in mind we've compiled 11 PowerPoint tips to help you along the road of your own professional growth .

Read Also: How to start a business

11 best tips to implement in your next PowerPoint presentation

Leave out the text

Insert quotes between slides

Don't read, speak

Show-off with some stats

Pause for a moment

Use a template

Leave the paragraphs behind

Practice makes perfect

Keep up the rhythm

PowerPoint is your friend

Take your presentation to the next level

01. Leave out the text. Yes, all of it!

Let’s start out with a crazy idea: What if you don’t include any text in your slides at all? Instead, just pick a few high-quality images that fit the narrative of your presentation. Apart from ending up with beautiful content, you will greatly impress your audience due to the fact that human beings are commonly visual creatures. Also, with no text to support your presentation, you will develop your verbal skills like never before – it’s like riding a bicycle without training wheels for the first time.

02. Insert quotes between slides

How often has it been the case that after going to the movies or hanging out with friends, your strongest memory was a specific phrase that someone said? This is the power of quotes. It doesn’t mean that you should base your presentations strictly on them, but rather you should include a couple of handpicked ones that can add a dash of spice to your PowerPoint slides. This is especially true if you find a quote from a renowned scholar that affirms your claims. Just don’t forget to double-check that you have indeed quoted the correct person ;)

03. Don’t read, speak

This one shouldn’t even be on the list – we just wanted to really drill it in. More than a tip, it’s an unspoken rule to not read off your slides. Regardless of the time and the resources that you invest in the visual aspect of your presentation, it should play nothing more than a supporting role in your show. People came to listen to what you have to say, so present your ideas with passion and show them that you know your stuff and truly believe in whatever it is you’re talking about. Your slides are merely a complement to your speech. If you do need a script, that’s totally acceptable (we’re all human, no one has a perfect memory). Plan this aid ahead of time by preparing a sheet of paper that orders the topics you’ll be mentioning. Just don’t lose time reading your ‘cheat sheet’ out loud, as nothing shows more confidence than looking your audience right in the eyes.

04. Show-off with some stats

“Against facts, there are no arguments.” Here’s one quote that we simply can’t stop repeating in our heads when it comes to verifying our thoughts. Do you know why it works? Because we as humans love facts! And we love to be convinced by them. You can use a table to display your data as long as it’s carefully created to show only the essential info – that is, don’t make it look like the Matrix Code . However, the best option is a well-designed graph, which has superpowers in terms of catching our audience’s attention and reinforcing our opinions when it comes to certain arguments.

05. Pause for a moment

Although a short break might seem like a bold move in the middle of your PowerPoint presentation, it can, in fact, work greatly to your advantage. Think: nowadays, in the era of social media and texting, many people make sure to have their finger on the pulse of the latest information – to share it or tweet it out. There’s no fighting this, so you might as well use it to your advantage. How? If your presentation includes a shocking revelation or astounding data, try taking a short break right before presenting it (half a minute is enough but you should read your room) and encourage your audience to share the upcoming information on social media. The same goes for data you’ve already presented – like asking a question, then allotting time for people to organize their thoughts before answering it. These pauses can make a huge difference in the way your messages come across.

06. There’s no shame in using a template

Between us: unless you are a designer or someone with excellent taste in aesthetics, it can be quite difficult to create visually impressive presentations. Thankfully, there are professionals and companies that specialize in creating templates specifically with people like you in mind. You can even choose one of the basic options that come with PowerPoint, as they were created to take into account all the aspects of good design and trends that boost attention and retention – plus, you’ll probably be more than satisfied with the final result. If you do decide to go with a premade template, pick a different color than what’s offered to distance yourself from the gray and blue clichés. And never, ever, under any circumstances, mix different templates. The point here: consistency is key.

07. Leave the paragraphs behind

In the age of millennials and overuse of technology, staying focused on one task at hand has more often than not resulted in epic failure – like trying to study for your next exam while feeling the urge to also watch TV and check your Instagram feed. With words in a PowerPoint presentation, the same concept applies. Your audience will undoubtedly struggle to hear your speech while reading the long text in your slides. The main thing to keep in mind with words in a presentation is that quality over quantity wins every time. Although it might be tempting to use long phrases or lengthy paragraphs to explain your ideas, this will do your presentation more harm than good. It will devalue your speech and cause general confusion throughout the crowd. What you should do is list off key points per slide that provide a roadmap for the topics you will verbally mention –  this will keep your audience focused and engaged.

08. Practice makes ‘perfect’

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! This is especially important if it’s your first time giving a presentation (or if you want to hide in the nearest cave when you hear the words ‘public speech’). In order for you to feel familiar and confident with your content, you should first create an order for your presentation with data points. Then, present to an audience of just yourself a few times to make sure that you didn’t leave anything out. The next step is body language, which you can check by practicing your speech in front of the mirror or filming yourself. Lastly, practice in front of a small group and ask for their feedback. With these necessary steps, you’ll finally be ready to speak in front of a crowd with the confidence of Scandal’s Olivia Pope.

09. Keep up the rhythm

As nerve-wracking as it can be, it’s very important to keep your cool while presenting. In presentation words, there is a balance between speaking 100 MPH and pausing too often between words and sentences. You don’t want your audience to lose attention, become bored, or worst of all, doubt your confidence. Therefore, you should try to keep things as natural as possible by speaking in the same rhythm that you are used to talking in your daily life. In fact, the occasional pause to catch your breath or to take a sip of water when necessary is the perfect amount of silence to allow your information to sink in with your listeners. And no matter what, remember that you are the specialist and hold all the knowledge about this subject – so hold onto that confidence!

10. Remember that PowerPoint is your friend

There is no reason to be afraid of PowerPoint – actually, it’s the opposite. The more you know about PowerPoint, the more secure you will feel that your presentation is the best it can possibly be. Watch tutorials on YouTube, look for tips online, and above all, learn the software’s shortcuts on your keyboard, mouse, and even on that weird clicker thing used to change slides. During presentations, it’s common that people will ask you to go back to the previous slide or bring up a topic earlier than expected. Therefore, you must know how to navigate through your presentation in Presentation Mode. There is nothing worse than having to go back to the editing screen in order to find that lost slide.

11. Take your presentation to the next level

Want to take your presentation from the ground floor to the penthouse? Create it on a one-page website . The advantages of using a website platform over a standard presentation software are unarguable. For starters, you’ll replace the need for multiple slides by having your information accessible on one long scrolling page. And with the Wix Editor, you can easily embed some pretty stunning features, like transitions with parallax effects and scroll anchoring. Plus, your presentation is accessible from any device, without the need to send it through email, bring a USB drive, or carry your laptop (and search aimlessly for the connection cable). The best part of it all: if you’ve published your site, you can simply share a link with your audience to allow them to browse it afterward – including your contact info, social links, and the other ways you choose to promote your work online.

Bonus Tip: It goes without saying that as a professional you should avoid adding clipart, slow-motion transition effects, sound effects, and CAPS LOCK at all times in any of your presentations.

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