cool powerpoint presentation tips

That said, you can still use fun and eccentric fonts — in moderation. Offsetting a fun font or large letters with something more professional can create an engaging presentation.

Above all, be sure you're consistent so your presentation looks the same throughout each slide. That way, your audience doesn't become distracted by too many disparate fonts. Check out this example from HubSpot’s company profile templates:

Interested in this presentation template? Download it for free here.

5. Make sure all of your objects are properly aligned.

Having properly aligned objects on your slide is the key to making it look polished and professional. You can manually try to line up your images ... but we all know how that typically works out. You're trying to make sure all of your objects hang out in the middle of your slide, but when you drag them there, it still doesn't look quite right. Get rid of your guessing game and let PowerPoint work its magic with this trick.

Here’s how to align multiple objects:

• Select all objects by holding down Shift and clicking on all of them.
• Select Arrange in the top options bar, then choose Align or Distribute .
• Choose the type of alignment you'd like.

Here’s how to align objects to the slide:

• Select Align to Slide .
• Select Arrange in the top options bar again, then choose Align or Distribute .

6. Use "Format Object" to better control your objects' designs.

Format menus allow you to do fine adjustments that otherwise seem impossible. To do this, right-click on an object and select the Format Object option. Here, you can fine-tune shadows, adjust shape measurements, create reflections, and much more. The menu that will pop up looks like this:

Although the main options can be found on PowerPoint’s format toolbars, look for complete control in the format window menu. Other examples of options available include:

• Adjusting text inside a shape.
• Creating a natural perspective shadow behind an object.
• Recoloring photos manually and with automatic options.

7. Take advantage of PowerPoint's shapes.

Many users don’t realize how flexible PowerPoint’s shape tools have become. In combination with the expanded format options released by Microsoft, the potential for good design with shapes is readily available. PowerPoint provides the user with a bunch of great shape options beyond the traditional rectangle, oval, and rounded rectangle patterns.

Today’s shapes include a highly functional Smart Shapes function, which enables you to create diagrams and flow charts in no time. These tools are especially valuable when you consider that PowerPoint is a visual medium. Paragraphing and bullet lists are boring — you can use shapes to help express your message more clearly.

8. Create custom shapes.

When you create a shape, right click and press Edit Points . By editing points, you can create custom shapes that fit your specific need. For instance, you can reshape arrows to fit the dimensions you like.

Another option is to combine two shapes together. To do so, select the two shapes you’d like to work with, then click Shape Format in the top ribbon. Tap Merge Shapes .

You’ll see a variety of options.

• Combine creates a custom shape that has overlapping portions of the two previous shapes cut out.
• Union makes one completely merged shape.
• Intersect builds a shape of only the overlapping sections of the two previous shapes.
• Subtract cuts out the overlapping portion of one shape from the other.
• Fragment will split your shape into different parts depending on where they overlap.

By using these tools rather than trying to edit points precisely, you can create accurately measured custom shapes.

9. Crop images into custom shapes.

Besides creating custom shapes in your presentation, you can also use PowerPoint to crop existing images into new shapes. Here's how you do that:

• Click on the image and select Picture Format in the options bar.
• Choose Crop , then Crop to Shape , and then choose your desired shape. Ta-da! Custom-shaped photos.

10. Present websites within PowerPoint.

Tradition says that if you want to show a website in a PowerPoint, you should just create a link to the page and prompt a browser to open. For PC users, there’s a better option.

Third party software that integrates fully into PowerPoint’s developer tab can be used to embed a website directly into your PowerPoint using a normal HTML iframe. One of the best tools is LiveWeb , a third-party software that you can install on your PowerPoint program.

By using LiveWeb, you don’t have to interrupt your PowerPoint, and your presentation will remain fluid and natural. Whether you embed a whole webpage or just a YouTube video, this can be a high-quality third party improvement. To install the add-on, simple head to the LiveWeb website and follow the instructions.

Unfortunately, Mac users don’t have a similar option. A good second choice is to take screenshots of the website, link in through a browser, or embed media (such as a YouTube video) by downloading it directly to your computer.

11. Try Using GIFs.

GIFs are looped animated images used to communicate a mood, idea, information, and much more. Users add GIFs to PowerPoints to be funny or quickly demo a process. It's easy to add GIFs to your slides. To do so, simply follow these steps:

• Download and save the GIF you want.
• Go to the slide you want the GIF on.
• Go to the Home tab, and click either Insert or Picture .
• From the Picture drop-down menu, choose Picture from File .
• Navigate to where you saved your GIF and select it. Then, choose Insert .
• It will play automatically the moment you insert it.

PowerPoint Process

12. keep it simple..

PowerPoint is an excellent tool to support your presentation with visual information, graphics, and supplemental points. This means that your PowerPoint should not be your entire presentation. Your slides — no matter how creative and beautiful — shouldn't be the star of the show. Keep your text and images clear and concise, using them only to supplement your message and authority.

If your slides have dense and cluttered information, it will both distract your audience and make it much more likely that you will lose their attention. Nothing in your slides should be superfluous! Keep your presentation persuasive by keeping it clean. There are a few ways to do this:

• Limit bullet points and text.
• Avoid paragraphs and long quotes.
• Maintain "white space" or "negative space".
• Keep percentages, graphs, and data super basic.

13. Embed your font files.

One constant problem presenters have with PowerPoint is that fonts seem to change when presenters move from one computer to another. In reality, the fonts are not changing — the presentation computer just doesn’t have the same font files installed . If you’re using a PC and presenting on a PC, then there is a smooth workaround for this issue.

Here’s the trick: When you save your PowerPoint file (only on a PC), you should click File , then Options, then open up the Save tab. Then, select the Embed fonts in the file check box under Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation . Now, your presentation will keep the font file and your fonts will not change when you move computers.

The macOS PowerPoint version has a similar function. To embed your fonts on a Mac, do the following:

• Open up your presentation.
• On the top bar, click PowerPoint , then click Preferences .
• Under Output and Sharing , click Save .
• Under Font Embedding , click Embed fonts in the file.

14. Save your slides as a PDF file for backup purposes.

If you’re still scared of your presentation showing up differently when it’s time to present, you should create a PDF version just in case. This is a good option if you’ll be presenting on a different computer. If you also run into an issue where the presenting computer doesn’t have PowerPoint installed, you can also use the system viewer to open up the PDF. No laptop will ever give you trouble with this file type.

The only caveat is that your GIFs, animations, and transitions won’t transfer over. But since the PDF will only work as a backup, not as your primary copy, this should be okay.

To save your presentation as a PDF file, take the following steps:

• Go to File , then click Save as …
• In the pop-up window, click File Format.
• A drop-down menu will appear. Select PDF .
• Click Export .

You can also go to File , then Export , then select PDF from the file format menu.

15. Embed multimedia.

PowerPoint allows you to either link to video/audio files externally or to embed the media directly in your presentation. You should embed these files if you can, but if you use a Mac, you cannot actually embed the video (see note below). 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).

Note: macOS users of PowerPoint should be extra careful about using multimedia files.

If you use PowerPoint for Mac, then you will always need to bring the video and/or audio file with you in the same folder as the PowerPoint presentation. It’s best to only insert video or audio files once the presentation and the containing folder have been saved on a portable drive in their permanent folder. Also, if the presentation will be played on a Windows computer, then Mac users need to make sure their multimedia files are in WMV format. This tip gets a bit complicated, so if you want to use PowerPoint effectively, 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. One way to fix these problems is to make sure that you have the right hardware — so just bring along your own laptop when you're presenting.

If you’re super concerned about the different systems you might have to use, then upload your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides as a backup option. Google Slides is a cloud-based presentation software that will show up the same way on all operating systems. The only thing you need is an internet connection and a browser.

To import your PowerPoint presentation into Google Slides, take the following steps:

• 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 , then 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

With style, design, and presentation processes under your belt, you can do a lot more with PowerPoint than just presentations for your clients. PowerPoint and similar slide applications are flexible tools that should not be forgotten. With a great template, you can be on your way to creating presentations that wow your audience.

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]

20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

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

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

How to Create an Engaging 5-Minute Presentation

How to Start a Presentation [+ Examples]

120 Presentation Topic Ideas Help You Hook Your Audience

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

The Presenter's Guide to Nailing Your Next PowerPoint

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

Microsoft Office

10 minute read

Top 12 PowerPoint Tips and Hacks for Flawless Presentations

Saikat Basu

Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Pocket Email

We’ve all seen our fair share of bad PowerPoint presentations . We can all agree that for a PowerPoint presentation to impress, it needs time and attention to detail.

So how can you ramp up your PowerPoint productivity in the shortest time possible?

That’s where we come in. For starters, follow our proven PowerPoint tips and tricks for business presentations , which are sure to make an impact.

Step up your PowerPoint game

Download our print-ready shortcut cheatsheet for PowerPoint.

1. Keep it simple

Keep your slides simple. It’s the visual backdrop to what you are going to say.

The most recommended PowerPoint tip for your productivity is called simplicity . You may be tempted by the graphical razzmatazz of beautiful images, background, and charts. At the end of the day, PowerPoint is a background visual aid for your talk. It is not the talk.

PowerPoint has lots of bells and whistles. But you don’t have to use them all. For instance, your content may not need the much-maligned bullet points - you can just use one key point per slide instead.

That’s why…

2. Reduce the text

Less is more when it is about the text on your slides.

The average reading speed on a screen is around 100 - 150 words per minute. Too much information on the slide is a distraction and an inattentive audience will lose the message you are trying to convey.

Don’t give them too much to read. Use high-quality pictures and eye-catching graphics instead.

To make information digestible, expert slide designers recommend you write one key idea per slide that is summarized by a clear headline.

Tip: Exploit white space. Create more space between your text, paragraphs, and graphics on your slide.

3. Plan your content first

Think about the message you want to convey and use it to write an outline.

As PowerPoint is such a visual medium, it is easy to get sidetracked with the visuals. So it’s important to chalk out what you want to say and in what order even before you open PowerPoint.

Your slides will come together quickly with the help of PowerPoint design options and you can even choose the right templates if you know your stuff inside out. 

Tip: Use brainstorming tools like mind maps, flowcharts, and even storyboards to sketch your content flow.

4. Use PowerPoint Designer for ideas

PowerPoint makes an intelligent guess by looking at the words on your slide and suggests high-quality artwork to complement it. You can pick one of the creative layouts or go back to your own design.

Tip: PowerPoint Designer can also turn lists, processes, or timelines into beautiful graphics too.

5. Use PowerPoint templates

Start with a template to break through any creative blocks.

PowerPoint templates are meant to be the starter plugs when inspiration deserts you or you are design-challenged. PowerPoint ships with a set of readymade templates and there are more available online. Pick one to begin.

Tip: Manpreet Kaur, the head of Corporate Communications at Mercer also suggests you use templates for mining ideas for your own presentation.

Whenever you receive any PowerPoint presentation from any of your clients, business partners, or sellers, make it a point to add them to any folder as a stock for templates for future reference. You can leverage these templates to find inspiration for any icon idea, layout, idea presentation, and number representation on the slides.

6. Edit the Slide Master

To open the Slide Master view, go to the View tab on the Ribbon and select Slide Master .

The first slide on the top is the Slide Master. Any changes to the Slide Master will be applied to all the slides in the presentation.

The Slide Master view also shows all the slide layouts used in PowerPoint. You can also use these Layout Master slides to control the appearance of any group of slides that share a common layout.

Tip: Make changes to the Slide Master before you start filling a presentation with the content.

7. Use PowerPoint Shapes for visuals

PowerPoint Shapes is the most powerful graphical tool in your control.

The multifaceted Shapes feature on the Ribbon gives you infinite ways to use PowerPoint like an illustration program. Look beyond the commonplace rectangle, oval, and rounded rectangle patterns.

Every shape is editable. You can customize any PowerPoint shape and create your own custom designs. They can be formatted with colors, 3-D effects and shadows too.

Tip: Most default shapes are overused. So, you can use your own custom shapes to add interest to a key point or a slide. For instance, you can turn a chevron into a more interesting arrow to illustrate the flow of a process.

8. Choose the right fonts

Choose the right fonts that are modern and pleasing.

It’s well established that fonts have a cognitive impact on how your audience will take in the information.

Sans-serif fonts are preferred for their smooth typefaces. But your typography choices will be influenced by the theme of the content. An artsy presentation can be more liberal with fonts that are decorative.

Also, to create contrast, you can use a technique called font-pairing where two complementary fonts are combined. For instance, use a serif font for titles and pair it with a sans-serif font in the body.

Tip: Want a free font library? Head over to Google Fonts and the collection of 916 free licensed fonts.

9. Use visual metaphors for your data

Visuals help everyone get the context behind data at a faster rate.

Business executives are used to spreadsheets . But that doesn’t mean they will like it in a presentation. Arresting illustrations are far better than bullet points and shoddy SmartArt.

We have talked about shapes and using high-quality photos before. But what if you have to analyze dry data?

Use visual metaphors or analogies to bring out the scale and relationships in the data. Executives can look up numbers, but the right use of an analogy can bring out the context behind it.

For instance, the evolution of man can be used to show the growth of a startup over time.

Tip: When stuck for ideas take inspiration from the best infographics on Slideshare and Pinterest. Infographics are designed to pack a lot of information in a small space.

10. Customize your slides for different audiences

Save yourself a lot of time by reusing your slides for different audiences.

This somewhat lesser-known PowerPoint tip uses a feature called Custom Slideshow to filter what you want your audience to see. Maybe, you want to hide some sensitive information for a lower level of executives while revealing it to those higher up. You do not have to create different slideshows for these two groups.

Create a custom show in five steps.

• On the Ribbon, go to Slide Show > Custom Slide Show , and then select Custom Shows .
• Click the New button in the Custom Shows dialog box. 
• In the Define Custom Show box , choose the slides that you want to include in the custom show, and then hit Add .
• You can change the order of the slides with the arrow keys.
• Type a name in the slideshow name box, and then click OK .

  Tip: You can also create hyperlinked custom shows that you can jump to from your primary PowerPoint show.

11. Rehearse Your Presentation

Prepare your presentation according to the time allotted.

No PowerPoint tip is useful if you cannot fit the number of slides and the time you take to present them in the schedule. PowerPoint helps you rehearse your presentation before you do it. With the Rehearse Timing feature, you can tweak your delivery according to the time on hand.

A helpful Microsoft Support video walks you through the process.

Tip: Use the timer to check if you're spending too much or too little time on one particular slide. Maybe, explaining the data in a better way can shorten the time.

12. Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible

Go to File > Info > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility

Sharon Rosenblatt, Director of Communications at Accessibility Partners stresses the importance of making presentations more inclusive.

Always use the accessibility checker, and not just if your slideshow is being shared with someone you know has a disability, but you never know where files get sent to.

PowerPoint is all about visuals so it’s more important to finetune the little things that can help make the message easily understood by people who have accessibility challenges.

Tip: Microsoft details the best practices for making all PowerPoint presentations accessible .

The bottom line: Get to the point fast

When you are presenting to busy people, you have to cut the clutter but not lose the message. A successful presentation is about brevity and speed.

A business presentation is also a decision-making tool. So make sure you are presenting the information your audience wants to know. And nothing more.

Yes, they do take some work. But with the help of these PowerPoint tips and tricks, you can start and finish any presentation without losing your sleep.

Want more PowerPoint tips? Then check out these other PowerPoint features that will level up your presentations. Or try taking GoSkills top-rated PowerPoint certification course .

Ready to master Microsoft Office?

Start learning for free with GoSkills courses

Loved this? Subscribe, and join 440,959 others.

Get our latest content before everyone else. Unsubscribe whenever.

Saikat is a writer who hunts for the latest tricks in Microsoft Office and web apps. He doesn't want to get off the learning curve, so a camera and a harmonica claim an equal share of his free time.

Recommended

Should You Switch to Microsoft 365? What You Need to Know in 2024

We break down what Microsoft 365 is, and what makes it different from lifetime licenses.

28 Best Microsoft Office Add Ins in 2024

Supercharge your productivity with our picks of the best Microsoft Office add-ins for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote.

What is Microsoft Teams? Everything You Need to Know in 2024

What is Microsoft Teams? Find out in this introductory guide.

© 2024 GoSkills Ltd. Skills for career advancement

PowerPoint Tips, Tricks, and Hacks from 29 Experts

Bryan Jones

• eLearning Development , Posts , PowerPoint

PowerPoint is an extremely powerful tool when used correctly.

But when you’re new to it, it can feel like it’s just blank screens and bullet points.

It can take years (or decades) to fully master it.

But I decided to save you some time…

I asked the world’s leading PowerPoint experts the following question:

What’s your single best PowerPoint tip, trick, or hack?

Below you’ll see responses from some amazing PowerPoint gurus, including: top authors, speakers, instructors, bloggers, and even a handful of PowerPoint MVPs and Microsoft employees!

Enjoy the full tutorials by scrolling below or jump to these sections:

Summary | Presentation Approach |  Design | Shortcuts |  Delivery |  Setup | Beyond Presentations

PowerPoint Presentation Approach Tips

1. Use the Tell ‘n Show method: a headline with a single point and media to support it

To get your audience to understand and remember what you say, use the Tell ‘n’ Show(SM) method. Use the slide title to tell your point–what you want them to remember. For example, write “3rd quarter sales rose 5% over last year” instead of just “3rd quarter sales.” Then use the rest of the slide to show your point with an image, animation, graph, or diagram. Research has shown the students who see slides done like this do better on tests and similarly, your audience will “get” your point more quickly and easily. They’ll be more engaged, too.

Ellen Finkelstein  is the President & Owner of Ellen Finkelstein, Inc. She is one of only 12 Microsoft designated PowerPoint MVPs in the United States and is the author of one of the most popular PowerPoint blogs on the web.

2. Don’t open PPT until you have a clear message

Don’t launch PowerPoint until you have a clear message. Many people launch PowerPoint, think what they want to present, add slides, then think again, and add slides again. To compare with an analogy, they are on a fun journey, driving their car, stopping wherever they want, and then driving to wherever they fancy. It’s good to have an amazing journey–but a journey without a destination will get you nowhere. Continuing this analogy, a “clear message” is the destination where you want to go, and you want to take your audience along with you. So make sure you have a message before you begin creating your slides.

Geetesh Bajaj is the Owner of Indezine.com . He is a PowerPoint MVP and the author of the Indezine blog, one of the most visited PowerPoint and presentation websites.

3. Start with the end-scenario in mind

As a designer, I recommend you think more about the end scenario than the beginning. Practical considerations – is this a printout, email attachment, onscreen presentation, interactive discussion tool or combination of those? Where will it be seen – in a stadium, boardroom, café, at their desk? Then consider the conceptual considerations – who is your audience and what do they currently think about your topic? What would you like to change in that thinking? Based on what you know about them, how can you change that thinking? Write those things down, then build your presentation with that at the forefront.

Tom Howell is the Agency Director at Synapsis Creative. He was recently designated a PowerPoint MVP by Microsoft. His presentation blog  is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their presentation design.

4. Tease the audience by revealing info in parts

Do you struggle to hold your participant’s attention – especially when your training topic is dull and boring? There’s a secret technique I use that works like a charm every time. It is… “Tease your audience by revealing your information in parts” Let me give you an example… Want to present a Framework? Present just the skeletal structure first. Explain the context. Then reveal the first step. Explain. Then reveal the next step and so on. Your audience can’t take their eyes off, till you finish your explanation. Why does this work so well? Studies have shown that as humans – we experience ‘tension’ when we leave things incomplete. We feel subconsciously compelled to pay attention to the task till we see it finished. It’s called the ‘Zeigarnik effect’. Try it in your next presentation. All you need is to apply a simple custom animation to your visuals – to reveal information in stages.

Ramgopal is the Director and Co-Owner of PrezoTraining . He also runs a popular YouTube Channel focusing on PowerPoint .

5. Don’t open PowerPoint first. Instead, sketch on a notepad

The first step on PowerPoint is…don’t open PowerPoint. Sketch out your presentation on a notepad (regular or digital) and plan out the whole thing. Then rewrite, numbering and ordering your thoughts. That’s your slide order.

Doug Thomas  is a Video and Webinar Creator at Microsoft. He has created and appeared in over 250 videos at office.com.

PowerPoint Design Tips

6. Use transparent overlays on images for text contrast

My favorite trick to do in PowerPoint is to create transparent overlays over slides, videos, photographs in PowerPoint! First, you create a rectangle to cover up the slide > Then you set it to a solid color or a gradient > You right click, set the transparency of each color to around 20% or any value you like depending on the project > and there you have it! You can dim photos, create duo-tone overlays, darken, brighten, add exposure, add a vignette or do pretty much anything regarding colors with this type of object! Best part is – you can freely copy it between slides or even separate PowerPoints! Awesome to know about and use 🙂

Andrzej Pach is an Online Instructor for Udemy  & Skillshare. He also hosts one of the most popular YouTube channels  to focus on PowerPoint with over 2 million views and 19,000 subscribers.

7. Go big with visuals. Bleed photos and videos to the edge

Go big with your visuals. My top tip to presentation designers of all levels is a simple, elegant, and often overlooked technique: bleed your inserted photographs and videos all the way to the edges. Insert your image. Scale (don’t stretch!) and crop appropriately. If next is necessary, set it in a semi-transparent shape with sufficient contrast against the text color. Think about some of the best presentations you’ve ever seen. Think also about your favorite movies and TV shows. Their images take up all available screen space. Yours can too.

Tony Ramos is the Director of the Presentation Guild  and the Owner of TonyRamos.com. He was the first blogger on the internet to cover PowerPoint topics. Tony is an expert designer and producer of PowerPoint presentations and proposal graphics.

8. Create quick native PPT icons using your subtract and combine tools

Create quick native PPT icons using your subtract and combine tools.

Bethany Auck is the Founder and Creative Director of SlideRabbit . As a presentation and communication specialist, she helps clients build high quality presentations, from basic slide design to complex animations and infographics.

9. Structure clean layouts by using a grid system on slide masters

Keep your layouts clean and well-structured by implementing a grid system with guides on the pasteboard of your master slide.

Stephy Lewis is a Senior Designer for Aerotek and a Director of the Presentation Guild . She is a top visual designer of presentations and websites.

10. Find a beautiful, fresh font pair. One for headers and one for body

When I create PowerPoint tutorials on YouTube I am always thinking about techniques that would be really simple to implement and yet would have the biggest positive impact. So if you have 2 minutes to transform your presentation from good to awesome, I would suggest looking at your fonts. Find a beautiful, fresh looking font pair (one font for the headers and one for the body) and you can instantly change how your presentation feels and looks like. I am planning to do a video soon on this topic, so please visit my YouTube channel in the near future, if you are interested in awesome font pairs for your ppt 🙂 Good luck everyone!

One Skill (aka Kasparas Tolkusinas) is the CEO of One Skill PowerPoint Tutorials. He hosts one of the most popular PowerPoint YouTube channels , with over one million views and 14,000+ subscribers.

11. Create an arrow with broken SmartArt

I have an easy favorite that I often use. You know the arrow type that looks like a Nike Swoosh logo? The ones that start at a point then become thicker as they softly curve up or down? I have an easy hack that uses broken SmartArt to create such an arrow. Of course, if you have the newest version of PowerPoint (2016/Office 365), you can insert this arrow style as an icon, but it’s not easily editable (other than to recolor). Do this instead: 1) Insert > SmartArt > Process > Upward Arrow (or Descending Process) | 2) Ungroup | 3) Ungroup again | 4) Delete all extra shapes and text boxes, leaving only the arrow. You’re left with an adjustable arrow that allows you to use the yellow handles to change the swoosh width and arrow head size. Rotate, Flip Vertical, Flip Horizontal, or resize to further customize.

Sandra Johnson is the Owner and Chief Presentation Officer at Presentation Wiz  and is Vice President of the Presentation Guild. She has also been designated only 1 of 12 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the United States.

PowerPoint Shortcuts, Tricks, and Hacks

12. Power-crop photos with SmartArt

The favorite hack is Power Cropping a bunch of photos in seconds. (1) In PowerPoint select a bunch of odd sized (or shaped) photos (2) Navigate to the Picture Tools Format Tab (3) Open up the Picture Layout drop down (4) Select a SmartArt layout (Bending Picture Semi-Transparent Text is my favorite) (5) CTRL+SHIFT+G to ungroup the graphic twice. It’s a great little PowerPoint hack that not a lot of people know about.

Taylor Croonquist is the Co-Founder of NutsAndBoltsSpeedTraining.com . He is the guru of time-saving PowerPoint tips. If you want to be blown away by how fast someone can whip a PPT into shape, check out his blog or videos.

13. Use Ctrl + arrow keys to nudge objects on the screen

Here’s a quick and easy one I share in my PowerPoint for eLearning 101 classes: Want to move something just a smidge using the arrow keys? You may notice that it’s hard to get to juuuuust the right spot using the arrow keys. Try holding down the [Control] key with the arrow keys and watch as your slide objects move by just a pixel at a time.

AJ Walther  is the Chief Creative Officer at IconLogic. She is also the instructor for several PowerPoint courses: PowerPoint for eLearning 101  and 201 , and the author of 2 PowerPoint books.

14. Use SmartArt to break bullet points into text boxes

Use SmartArt as a tool to eliminate bullet points and “chunk” your information out visually. Select your text box of bullet points and either right-click or choose from the Home tab “Convert to SmartArt.” Select a SmartArt graphic that contains horizontal boxes. Select the newly created SmartArt containing your text, right-click and ungroup it twice, giving you text in rectangles. Now, delete any extraneous SmartArt items (i.e. arrows) and format the boxes however you like. Voila, you have magically turned a page of bullet points into visual chunks—much easier to read!

Nolan Haims is the Principal of Nolan Haims Creative. He leads a team of visual design professionals dedicated to all types of visual communication. Nolan blogs at Present Your Story  and hosts the popular Presentation Podcast.

15. Create “smoky letters” with PPT’s new Morph transition

Magic Smoky Letters! I recently went on a crazy experimentation spree (channeling my inner mad scientist!) with the Morph transition and discovered this bizarre but very cool “smoky letters” trick. Let’s say, for instance, that you want the word TEXT to come out as smoke from a chimney (or fireplace, tailpipe, cigar, teapot, magic lamp, etc.).  You first put a picture of the chimney on your slide.  Next, you create smoke “seeds” by inserting a rectangle and editing one of the points (Format – Shape – Edit Points) – then making 4 copies of this rectangle (one for each letter in TEXT).  Make these “seeds” tiny and transparent, then place on top of the chimney (where you want the smoke to come out). Next, duplicate the slide and on this new slide, delete the “seeds” on the chimney.  Then, vectorize the word TEXT (by writing it in a text box, putting it on top of a colored rectangle, selecting both objects and going to Merge Shapes – Fragment and deleting the stuff around TEXT). Finally, add a Morph transition to the second slide, and you’re done! Simply view in presentation mode and prepare for your jaw to drop… check out this trick with more details and examples here .

Lia (aka “P-Spice”) is a management consultant with a passion for making presentations more innovative and “spicy.” She hosts a popular YouTube channel on PowerPoint with over 4 million views and 36,000+ subscribers focused on creative animation and design tricks. She is also the author of the Spicy Presentations blog .

16. Convert text to an image if the custom font might not be installed.

One of my favorite frustration-busters involves a work-around when I know my client won’t have a custom font installed. For example, if the slide would benefit from a gorgeous script as an accent element, I will turn that piece of text into an image. I do this by selecting the font as an object, copying it and then pasting it as a picture (either right click to paste or use the paste button in the Home menu). Now I know the “text” will display as designed on any computer.

Lori Chollar is the Co-Founder of TLC Creative Services, Inc .

PowerPoint Presentation Delivery Tips

17. Use the notes panel for detailed printed notes

I’m a College Professor and use PowerPoint for Lecture notes. Many students want detailed lecture notes, but get bored quickly reading mountains of text on a slide. So I use the “Notes Pages” panel for detail while keeping the slides simple – I urge students to read the notes which may contain more information than given in a lecture. If printing out the slides, it is essential to use “Notes Pages” print layout option.

Dr Eugene O’Loughlin  is a Lecturer in Computing at the National College of Ireland. He also hosts one of the most popular YouTube channels that covers PowerPoint topics and has over 12 million views and 26k+ subscribers.

18. Leverage “Presenter View” and “sections” when there are multiple presenters

Increase the power of Presenter View with PowerPoint Sections. Sections are used to organize slides within a presentation by grouping slides and giving each group a name. In addition, Presenter View leverages these Sections that can be seen in Presenter View’s Grid Layout. When running a presentation with multiple presenters, or an awards show with multiple award categories, I add lots of PowerPoint sections. The ability to minimize live-show stress and find the correct section to jump to is amazing!

Troy Chollar is the Co-Founder of TLC Creative Services, Inc. He is also a Microsoft designated PowerPoint MVP, PowerPoint blogger , and host the popular Presentation Podcast.

19. Use “triggers” to create interactive presentations

Create interactive presentations with triggers to start animations through hot spots on a slide. You can reveal specific parts of a diagram, make something change color by clicking it, or give people multiple choice questions and have the correct answer pop-up. It takes seconds to do and works brilliantly, particularly with visual slides. Right click on any animation, choose Timing, then Triggers in the pop-up window, and choose which object you click to start (trigger) the animation. You can have multiple triggers on one slide and multiple animations triggered by the same object. It makes really compelling and effective presentations.

Richard Goring is the Director at BrightCarbon. He creates compelling and persuasive presentations using visuals and diagrams. Richard also blogs at the Bright Carbon blog and has a post on this trigger technique  mentioned above.

20. Use a formatted “Notes” page for presentation handouts.

I open the most eyes when I discuss how to use the Notes page to create handouts that are contained within the same PPTX file as the slides. Most people have never spent even a second in the Notes master so they never knew you could globally reformat the Notes pages to allow them to better accommodate the creation of handout pages.

Rick Altman is the Director of R. Altman and Associates and the Conference Host of The Presentation Summit . If you looking to create PowerPoints that don’t suck, he literally wrote the book on it.

PowerPoint software and hardware setup tips

21. add “align” to your quick access toolbar.

Tired of eyeballing that slide to see if all the objects are all even or in the same grid? That is why my favorite tip is to make Align one of your favorites on your QAT. Imagine a slide that might introduce three speakers’ headshots and captions but they are not aligned or equidistant from each other. Let’s fix it. Select all three objects – click on the first object, then press and hold CTRL when you click on the others.  You can also use SHIFT and your mouse to draw a box over what you want to align – I call it a “Lasso”. To arrange the three headshots, click on the Format Tab in the Picture tools, you will see an option to align objects. You can choose to center objects horizontally, vertically or to a box of text. You do the same when working with shapes, text boxes, SmartArt graphics, and WordArt by selecting Format in the Drawing Tools. The result:  your objects snap to the grid and the smart guide lines that appear on your slide will help confirm it.

Sharyn Fitzpatrick is the Editor of PresentationXpert  and the Chief Marketing, Communications, and Webinar Guru at Marcom Gurus. She also lives in my home town (Los Altos), is a raving Penn State fan, and a former competitive swimmer!

22. Customize your “quick access” toolbar with frequently used buttons

I don’t have a ton of keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint, but I do customize my toolbar. When I do that (right-click on the toolbar at the very top of the window), I can add any button I want, especially the alignment buttons, which makes life a lot easier when you’re working with different slide objects such as text, images, and graphs. In Excel, my favorite keyboard shortcut is CTRL+1 (CMD+1 on Macs), which will bring you to the Format menu. And it works for everything–cells, line charts, bar charts, axis labels, gridlines, whatever you need.

Jonathan Schwabish is the Founder at PolicyViz.com  and a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute. He is well known in the presentation community for his presentation book Better Presentations and his expertise in data visualization.

23. Name screen elements on the “Selection Pane” for easy design layering and more

The Selection Pane is one of PowerPoint’s best kept secrets. By default, it’s hidden in the “Select” menu on the “Home” tab. I add it to my Quick Access Toolbar and keep the Selection Pane open anytime I’m working in PowerPoint. Once open, you can name all the objects on the screen. This really helps when you’re trying to change the layering order of the objects, add animations, and more. You can also hide objects by clicking the “eye” icon next to each object. That’s really helpful for revealing objects beneath that layer. Without the selection pane, both layering and animations are next to impossible.

Bryan Jones is the Founder and President of eLearningArt. He runs a stock photo and template site to help people build better presentations and graphics. He also blogs frequently about eLearning, PowerPoint, and presentations .

24. In a dark working environment, change the default interface for more contrast

When I’m working in a dark environment (at night in my office, backstage at a conference, etc.), I find it extremely helpful to change PowerPoint’s interface from the bright white and orange to black or at least dark grey. To do this, click File, then Account, then select Black or Dark Grey from the Office Theme dropdown. Note that _these_ Office Themes control your interface elements such as the Ribbon and the workspace; they aren’t the same Office Themes that you may think of when we talk about PowerPoint templates and themes. (Thanks for naming everything the same, Microsoft!)

Echo Swinford is a PowerPoint Corporate Presentation and Template Expert at Echosvoice . She is designated as 1 of only 12 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the United States. Echo also authored a book on building PowerPoint templates and is the President of the Presentation Guild .

25. Get a good external mouse. One with a scroll wheel can zoom in and out

A comfortable external mouse is a must-have for quick toolbar navigation and graphics editing. Make your work even speedier by choosing a mouse with a scroll wheel. In PowerPoint, hold the Ctrl/Command key and scroll forward or backward to change the Zoom level. Go from big picture to the smallest details in an instant.

Julie Terberg  is a Presentation Expert, Visual Communicator at Terberg design. She is a designated Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, author of a book on creating PowerPoint templates, and is the Art Director for the Presentation Guild.

Think beyond PowerPoint presentations

26. think of ppt as a tool beyond liner presentations.

Strangely enough, my best tip/hack is to start seeing PowerPoint as a tool that can do much more than linear presentations. Here are a few examples: 1) Produce better visuals & handouts at the same time by moving text to the notes pane, and design your Notes Master so it has your corporate colors and logo 2) Use PowerPoint’s screen capture tool (PPT2010 and up), or screen recording tool (PPT2013 and up) to create quick tutorials without needing other software 3) Get to know the drawing/shape tools to create your custom graphics and save them as images.

Chantal Bossé  is the Owner of CHABOS, Inc. where she helps clients, such as TEDx speakers, maximize their presentation impact. She is also a designated Microsoft PowerPoint MVP.

27. Export to video and PDF to make content portable and reach a wider audience.

Exporting to video and PDF is a quick and easy way to make your content much more portable and mobile-friendly to reach a wider audience. The PDF option allows you to totally rethink your documents and make the switch to interactive “e-books”. The video option gives you a super flexible MP4 video file that you can use virtually anywhere. To see an example of each, visit this tutorial .

Mike Taylor  is a Learning Technologist at Mindset Digital, as well as a former Community Manager at Articulate He is also a frequent speaker and popular blogger.

28. Hyperlink between slides to create a non-linear experience

Hyperlinking: Many who build eLearning with PowerPoint rely too much on the default linear slide 1- slide 2 -next-next-next setup. Learning to hyperlink across slide decks enables you to build interesting interactions like branching simulations and quizzes with scaffolded feedback. It takes patience and thinking through but isn’t technically difficult. Another tip: Figure out how to do the planning/layout the way that works best for you: I like to use Post-It notes I can move around. Others like to draw it out, and still others use the PPT flowcharting tools.

Jane Bozarth  is an E-Learning Coordinator for the State of North Carolina. She is the author of several popular books, including Better Than Bullet Points: Creating Engaging e-Learning with PowerPoint.

29. Build clickable prototypes and hyperlink from any object to other slides

Creating prototypes is tough, right? Difficult software, expensive too. But wait… Do you realize that PowerPoint can be used to build prototypes? One of the coolest and simplest features that you’ll find in PowerPoint is the ability to put hyperlinks on any object on your slide and have it link to other slides. This way you can mock up any kind of e-learning, interactive job aid, software simulation or app you’d like and  get a real feel of how it would work. Just create the screens you need for your prototype, add clickable areas (transparent shapes are great for that!) and voila!

Jeff Kortenbosch  is a Performance Consultant at Bright Alley. He’s a PowerPoint guru and has a series of YouTube videos where he teaches users how to draw in PowerPoint.

29 PowerPoint Tips, Tricks, and Hacks Summarized

• Use the Tell ‘n Show method: a headline with a single point and media to support it | Ellen Finkelstein
• Don’t open PPT until you have a clear message | Geetesh Bajaj
• Start with the end-scenario in mind | Tom Howell
• Tease the audience by revealing info in parts | Ramgopal
• Don’t open PowerPoint first. Instead, sketch on a notepad | Doug Thomas
• Use transparent overlays on images for text contrast | Andrzej Pach
• Go big with visuals. Bleed photos and videos to the edge | Tony Ramos
• Create quick native PPT icons using your subtract and combine tool. | Bethany Auck
• Structure clean layouts by using a grid system on slide master. | Stephy Lewis
• Find a beautiful, fresh font pair. One for headers and one for bod. | One Skill
• Create an arrow with broken SmartArt | Sandra Johnson
• Power-crop photos with SmartArt | Taylor Croonquist
• Use Ctrl + arrow keys to nudge objects on the screen | AJ Walther
• Use SmartArt to break bullet points into text boxes | Nolan Haims
• Create “smoky letters” with PPT’s new Morph transition | Lia (P-Spice)
• Convert text to an image if the custom font might not be installed | Lori Chollar
• Use the notes panel for detailed printed notes | Dr Eugene O’Loughlin
• Leverage “Presenter View” and “sections” when there are multiple presenters | Troy Chollar
• Use “triggers” to create interactive presentations | Richard Goring
• Use a formatted “Notes” page for presentation handout.  | Rick Altman

PowerPoint Software and Hardware Setup Tips

• Add “align” to your Quick Access Toolbar | Sharyn Fitzpatrick
• Customize your “quick access” toolbar with frequently used buttons  | Jon Schwabish
• Name screen elements on the “Selection Pane” for easy design layering and more | Bryan Jones
• In a dark working environment, change the default interface for more contrast | Echo Swinford
• Get a good external mouse. One with a scroll wheel can zoom in and out | Julie Terberg

Think Beyond PowerPoint Presentations

• Think of PPT as a tool beyond liner presentations | Chantal Bossé
• Export to video and PDF to make content portable and reach a wider audience | Mike Taylor
• Hyperlink between slides to create a non-linear experience | Jane Bozarth
• Build clickable prototypes and hyperlink from any object to other slides | Jeff Kortenbosch

Get your free download

Get your free download.

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > PowerPoint Tips: Make The Most of Your Presentation

PowerPoint Tips: Make The Most of Your Presentation

Got a presentation coming up but you’re not that familiar with PowerPoint ? We can help you get started with some easy PowerPoint tips and tricks that’ll help you create an impactful presentation , no matter what the occasion.

Our PowerPoint for beginners tips will show you how to:

• Make an outline.
• Choose a theme.
• Find a font.
• Use visuals.
• Not use too much text.
• Limit your color.
• Use a free online “speaker coach”.

Tell your story with captivating presentations

Powerpoint empowers you to develop well-designed content across all your devices

Outline your presentation before you start. Don’t spend time making unnecessary slides for your presentation. Create an outline before you start. Not only will this make it easier to put the content on the slides, but it will also let you know how many slides you need to make. Rather than winging it and making slides as you go, use your outline to make your slides efficient and organized . Working without an outline can sometimes lead to jumbled slides with more information than you need.

Choose a theme and template. Not everybody is a graphic designer, so coming up with the perfect slide theme and template can seem hard. Thanks to PowerPoint templates, it isn’t. Find a free online template that gives you the design, layout, color scheme, and aesthetic you want. Be sure to choose something that fits what you’re talking about (e.g. Don’t use a whimsical theme with bright colors and butterflies if you’re presenting a serious topic.)

Find the right font . Knowing which font to use for your presentation isn’t always easy. When it comes to the basics of selecting the best font, follow best-practice recommendations that say an easy-to-read sans-serif font is preferred. Fonts like Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, and others like it make for simple fonts that are easy to read. Although, there are some serif fonts that still look great on PowerPoint and are easy to read on high-resolution screens. When you’re building out the format of your slides, a great way to distinguish the title section from the body text is by using a different font for each or bolding your title font.

Use visuals . Words on a page aren’t nearly as engaging as visuals. Keep your audience’s attention during your presentation by using visuals like graphics, animations, photos, and videos. PowerPoint makes it easy to insert clipart, tables, graphs, and much more by using the features built into the program. You can also include gifs and YouTube videos to up the ante on your presentation.

While it’s great to use fun gifs or YouTube videos to enhance your presentation, don’t go crazy. Eventually, your audience will get tired of looking at a five-second loop on a gif as you speak, and videos don’t always have the impact you want. Videos can be distracting to your audience because they change the pace of your presentation, so it’s a good idea to limit the number of videos you include.

Tip: If you’re going to lay words over a picture, use a colored box with the opacity down around 50% to create more contrast between the image and the words.

Limit your text. Your audience doesn’t want to read; they want to listen to you. Don’t fill your slides with long sentences and complex phrasing. Instead, include only the most important points of what you want to say. The PowerPoint 6×6 rule suggests limiting your slides to six lines with a maximum of six words per line. Following this rule makes for slides that include only the most important points while avoiding information overload. Using bullet points is a great way to stick to the 6×6 rule.

Go easy on the colors. Be careful of the colors you use when making a PowerPoint presentation. Too many bright colors can be hard on the eyes and reduce the contrast between the letters, making them hard to read. It’s generally a good idea to use a black or white font with a color that makes the font pop against the background. Black on white is always easy to read, and white looks great against most solid colors. If you’re not sure how a specific font color looks against a background, sit back in your chair, and try to read it. If it’s hard to read with the font and background you have, it’s a good idea to change one or both.

Use a free online “speaker coach”. Rehearsing in front of a mirror is good, but using free speaker coaching software is even better. Do you say “um” a lot? Are you talking too fast? Did you use a culturally insensitive term? A free digital “coach” with built-in AI will catch all that stuff and more.It’s the best way to assess your strengths and weaknesses and identify areas of growth.

These PowerPoint tips are enough to get you started on your presentation. Soon, you’ll be creating and presenting a beautiful deck.

Get started with Microsoft 365

It’s the Office you know, plus the tools to help you work better together, so you can get more done—anytime, anywhere.

Topics in this article

More articles like this one.

How to password protect your PowerPoint presentations

Learn how to password protect your PowerPoint presentations and secure your valuable files.

Choosing the Right Font For Your PowerPoint Presentation

Make your presentation look great by choosing the best font for PowerPoint. We'll highlight some of the best fonts and why you should use them over others.

Tips and tricks for managing up

Whether you have the best boss in the world or find your manager challenging to work with, your relationship with them does not have to be one-sided.

Different Types of Fonts And How to Choose One

There are so many different types of fonts available. Do you know how to choose a font? Our guide will highlight types of fonts and the best time to use them.

Everything you need to achieve more in less time

Get powerful productivity and security apps with Microsoft 365

Explore Other Categories

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

23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Display one bullet at a time

Avoid unnecessary animations

• Only add content that supports your main points

Do not use PowerPoint as a teleprompter

• Never Give Out Copies of the Presentation

Re-focus the attention on you by fading into blackness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Practice PowerPoint Presentation Tips

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

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

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

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

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

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

Display one sentence at a time

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

Presentation Blunders To Avoid

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

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

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

Only add engaging content that supports your main points

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

“Does this slide help support my main point?”

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

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

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

Avoid Giving Out Copies of the Presentation

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

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

Tips To Making Your Presentation More Engaging

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

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

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

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

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

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

How To Make Your Presentation More Interactive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Takeaways from one of the best presenters, Steve Jobs

He kept his slides uncluttered and always strove for simplicity.

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

Source: Macworld 2008

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

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

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

He found made the complex sound simple

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

(This particular slide is referencing the iMac features)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Like this article? Please share

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

Related Articles

Filed under Presentation Ideas • November 29th, 2023

The Power of Audience Engagement: Strategies and Examples

As presenters, captivating the interest of our viewers is the most important thing. Join us to learn all that’s required to boost audience engagement.

Filed under Business • April 30th, 2020

A Manager’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication

People are promoted to management positions for a variety of reasons. For many, they rise to the top because of their knowledge, technical skills, and decision-making capabilities. As a manager, your effectiveness also strongly depends on your ability to communicate well with your team members and other stakeholders. Here is a quick guide on Interpersonal Communication for Managers.

Filed under Business • June 27th, 2019

Using 360 Degree Feedback in Your Organization

Many organizations use 360 degree feedback to provide assessment for employees via multiple sources to analyze the knowledge, skill and behavior of employees. It is also known as multi-rater feedback, multi-source feedback, 360 Degree Review and multi-source assessment, since it is used frequently for assessing the performance of an employee and to determine his/her future […]

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

Very great advices!

Greetings ! A compact composed communication for the host to have an impact -VOICE

Thank You ?

Leave a Reply

Utility Menu

• Contact Sales
• GoTo Connect
• GoTo Meeting
• GoTo Webinar
• GoTo Training
• Products In Practice
• 10 PowerPoint Tricks For Wow-Worthy Presentations - GoToWebinar

10 PowerPoint tricks for wow-worthy presentations

As a business professional, you’ve probably dabbled in the art of PowerPoint. And if you host webinars regularly, I’m sure you’ve picked up a few tricks to spice up your presentations and make them more engaging too.

Whether you’re a PowerPoint newbie or an emerging pro, here are 10 cool PowerPoint tips and tricks you’ll want handy for your next presentation.

POWERPOINT BASICS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

1. Don’t settle for the basic, built-in PowerPoint templates

PowerPoint templates make your lives easier. Templates mean you don’t have to design everything from scratch. Just select your layout, add your content, make a few edits here and there, and you’re done. So why not use the basic templates in PowerPoint? In case you’ve forgotten what they look like, here’s a refresher:

Millions of people have used these templates in their presentations. If you don’t want your presentation to look like a copy-paste, stay away from the built-in templates.

The good news is there are other free and premium templates out there beyond the ones Microsoft provides. In fact, at 24Slides.com , you can download premium templates for free. These PowerPoint designers understand the psychology behind effective presentations, and you can borrow from the best.

2. Use Format Painter to save time

Format Painter does one thing and one thing only: it saves you time. Tons of it, in fact. Here’s where you find this nifty time-saver on your PowerPoint ribbon:

If you’ve ever tried copy and pasting one element’s format to many other elements on the same slide, or on 100 other slides, you know how time-consuming the process is.

Without Format Painter, formatting elements goes something like this:

• Format one element and remember all the different settings.
• Format the second element and then try to remember all the settings from the first element.
• Look at the clock and realize you’ve wasted 10 minutes.

With Format Painter, however, all you do is:

• Click the first element.
• Hit Format Painter.
• Click the second element.

That’s it! If you want to copy the first element’s format and paste into more than one element, just double-click Format Painter and click each element you want to format one by one. When you’ve formatted all the elements, hit ESC on your keyboard. It’s that easy.

POWERPOINT ANIMATION TRICKS

3. Animate a flowchart to make it come alive

Flowcharts are a great way to display complex information. However, you may not want to show an entire flowchart at once. Instead, you want each point to appear at the right time so you can discuss each point verbally.

Here’s how you animate a flow chart in PowerPoint:

• Click the first element, point, or process in your flowchart. Then select an animation from the Animations tab.
• Define each element’s animation and timing settings.
• You can also open the Animations Pane to view and adjust your animation settings.
• Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all elements in your flowchart. Make sure you preview the whole flowchart animation and edit as necessary.

4. The Zoom feature for Office 365 subscribers

If you have an active Office 365 subscription, you can use the Zoom feature on the insert tab. As you can see in the screenshot below, there are three Zoom options:

• Summary Zoom
• Section Zoom

The Zoom feature is great when you want to jump from one section or slide to another. Let’s say you want to go from Slide 10 to Slide 55. In a regular PowerPoint presentation, you’d have to go through slides 11 to 54. But with Zoom, you can instantly go from slide 10 to 55 before your audience has a chance to lose interest. Of course, you’d have to plan ahead and know which slide you want to skip to.

The Summary Zoom feature creates a summary slide which is similar to a ‘table of contents’ for your slides. You can insert this summary slide anywhere you want, it doesn’t have to be the first slide in your presentation.

The Section Zoom feature allows you to jump from one section to another, while the Slide Zoom feature allows you to jump to any slide in your presentation.

EVEN MORE POWERPOINT TRICKS FOR ADVANCED USERS

5. Use a video background for your slides

We’ve all used background images on PowerPoint, but did you know you can also use a video as a background?

Simply drag and drop your video on to your slide and resize it to cover the entire slide. If you’re short on video, go to Coverr.co for free stock videos.

If your video is only a few seconds long, and won’t last the length of your slide’s discussion, just loop it. To loop your video:

• Click the video to access the Video Tools menu, then click the Playback tab.
• Check Loop Until Stopped.

With your video background in place, you can add shapes, texts, or any other elements you want to use as your slide’s foreground.

6. Make global changes to your presentation

Editing your slides one by one is super time-consuming. If you want to change your entire presentation’s look, go to the Design tab and choose from the available themes in the Themes section.

However, if you want more control over the colors and fonts, go to the Variants section (still in the Design tab). Click the drop-down to display color and font settings.

You can play around with the different settings – you can use custom colors and fonts to your heart’s content – to achieve the look you want for your presentation.

Lastly, if you want to add a logo, company tagline, or website address to all slides, go to View > Slide Master. To insert elements you want to appear on all your slides, simply click on the Insert tab and insert the elements you want to appear globally.

7. Embed fonts in your presentation

Make sure your custom or branded fonts are in PowerPoint. If your fonts aren’t installed on the computer you use to run your presentation, PowerPoint will automatically replace your font with a default font and mess up your alignment and the overall look of your presentation.

Here’s how you do it:

• Go to File > Options > Save.
• Go to the section, ‘Preserve Fidelity when sharing this presentation’ then tick on the ‘Embed fonts in the file’ box.
• You’ll have two options here. You can either (1) embed only the characters used in the presentation, or (2) you can embed all characters if you want other people to edit the file too.
• Hit the OK button.

8. Create your own icons in PowerPoint

You can download free icons from sites like IconStore.co or even from 24Slide’s Template site (you’ll find icons in the ‘Other’ category).

If you have an Office 365 subscription, you can insert an icon straight from your PowerPoint ribbon. Go to Insert > Icons and browse hundreds, if not thousands, of free icons.

But when you want to use something unique — and you have the time and the creativity — you can do it on PowerPoint using Shapes.

To begin, go to Insert > Shapes. If you have two or more shapes, click on them and the following options will appear in Drawing Tools > Merge Shapes: Union, Combine, Fragment, Intersect and Subtract.

Play around with the different options and let your creativity run wild. You’ll soon have a library of your own unique icons which you can then use in your presentations.

9. Work with multiple images on a single slide

Working with multiple images on one slide is tricky if you’re manually moving, reshaping, and resizing each image by hand. Luckily for you, PowerPoint has a powerful trick.

Hit CTRL+A on your keyboard to highlight all the images. Now you can access the hidden Picture Tools menu. Click on Format > Picture Layout and select the layout you want to use.

Once you’ve selected your layout, your images will be converted to a SmartArt graphic. Now you can rearrange your images. However, it will still behave like a SmartArt graphic.

To disable SmartArt properties, you need to re-convert the graphic back to Shapes. Simply click the graphic to access the SmartArt Tools menu, click on Design > Convert > Convert to Shapes.

POWERPOINT PDF Tricks

10. Save your PowerPoint presentation as a PDF

Sometimes you may want to preserve your PowerPoint format and layout and have it viewed as a PDF. You have two easy ways to do it:

• Option 1. Go to File > Save As. Choose the location where you want to save your file. In the Save as type drop-down, choose PDF.
• Option 2. Go to File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document.

Final Thoughts

There are hundreds of tricks you can do on PowerPoint. But the 10 PowerPoint tricks covered in this article will help you improve your presentation design skills. You can finally bid adieu to ‘death by PowerPoint’ and start wowing your audience with your awesome presentations.

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

9 Tips for Making Beautiful PowerPoint Presentations

Ready to craft a beautiful powerpoint presentation these nine powerpoint layout ideas will help anyone create effective, compelling slides..

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

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

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

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

Let’s dive right in and make sure your audience isn’t yawning through your entire presentation.

1. Use Layout to Your Advantage

Layout is one of the most powerful visual elements in design, and it’s a simple, effective way to control the flow and visual hierarchy of information.

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

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

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

Try to structure your slides more like this:

And not like this:

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

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

2. No Sentences

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

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

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

Stick with this:

And avoid this:

3. Follow the 6×6 Rule

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

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

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

Slides should never have this much information:

4. Keep the Colors Simple

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stay away from color combinations like this:

5. Use Sans-Serif Fonts

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

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

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

6. Stick to 30pt Font or Larger

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

7. Avoid Overstyling the Text

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

• A change in color

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

8. Choose the Right Images

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

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

The ideal presentation images are:

• Inspirational

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

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

Illustrative, Not Generic

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

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

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

Doing so connects with viewers, allowing them to connect with your message.

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

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

Supportive, Not Distracting

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

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

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

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

Inspiring and Engaging

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Editing PowerPoint Images

Setting appropriate image resolution in powerpoint.

Though you can drag-and-drop images into PowerPoint, you can control the resolution displayed within the file. All of your PowerPoint slide layout ideas should get the same treatment to be equal in size.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resizing, Editing, and Adding Effects to Images in PowerPoint

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

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

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

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

Cropping Images in PowerPoint

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take Your PowerPoint Presentation to the Next Level with Shutterstock Flex

Need authentic, eye-catching photography to form the foundation of your PowerPoint presentation? We’ve got you covered.

With Shutterstock Flex, you’ll have all-in-one access to our massive library, plus the FLEXibility you need to select the perfect mix of assets every time.

License this cover image via F8 studio and Ryan DeBerardinis .

Recently viewed

Related Posts

What Is Digital Design?

In this complete guide, we’ll explore the diverse landscape of…

Sustainable Design: 10 Brand Color Palettes to Stop Greenwashing

Try 10 FREE color palettes that sidestep greenwashing, offering more interesting—and just as eco-minded—color inspiration for sustainable design.

What Is Low Poly Art?

Explore the fascinating world of low poly art and delve…

Understanding Typography

Want to understand typography? Discover how font selection, spacing, and…

© 2023 Shutterstock Inc. All rights reserved.

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

60+ Best Cool PowerPoint Templates (With Awesome Design)

PowerPoint slideshows used to be the boring part of a meeting or presentation. But now, with the help of cool PowerPoint templates, everyone can make presentation slideshows look more interesting and attractive, even if you don’t have any experience in PowerPoint slideshow design.

For this collection, we gathered some modern and stylish PowerPoint presentation templates you can easily customize to make your slideshows look cooler. Download one of these cool PowerPoint templates, open it up, and start customizing right away!

Plus, we’re featuring our tips for making a cool PowerPoint template that stands out from the crowd!

How Does Unlimited PowerPoint Templates Sound?

Download thousands of PowerPoint templates, and many other design elements, with a monthly Envato Elements membership. It starts at $16 per month, and gives you unlimited access to a growing library of over 2,000,000 presentation templates, fonts, photos, graphics, and more.

Mystify Presentation

Business PPT Templates

Corporate & pro.

Pitch Deck Templates

Startup pitch deck.

Explore PowerPoint Templates

Spectrum – Colorful PowerPoint Presentation Template

Spectrum not only comes with a cool and colorful design but it also features a massive collection of over 100 unique slide designs.

It includes lots of multipurpose slides with charts, graphs, icons, vector shapes, and much more. As a bonus, you’ll also get an Apple Keynote version of the template as well.

Why This Is A Top Pick

Being able to choose from so many cool slide designs is only one of the many benefits of this template. The multipurpose design also makes it suitable for all sorts of presentations.

Trato – Cool PowerPoint Portfolio Template

This PowerPoint template comes filled with lots of cool colors that give it a fun and creative feel. It will fit perfectly for your portfolio presentations, especially for creators, artists, freelancers, and small agencies. The template has 24 customizable slide layouts with editable graphics.

Convita – Cool PowerPoint Pitch Deck Template

Are you a fan of gradient colors, creative geometric shapes, and uncommon content layout designs? Then this PPT is for you. It has one of the coolest designs of all the templates on our list. And there are more than 30 different slide designs in this template for you to choose from.

Maroon – Minimal & Cool Powerpoint Template

Maroon is a minimalist PowerPoint template that uses some cool shapes and graphics to make each slide look cooler than the other. You get 40 different slide layouts that are available in 50 color themes as well as in dark and light versions.

Shinos – Cool Dark Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

If you look closer, you’ll notice the creative approach used in this PowerPoint template. It uses a very pitch-black dark background to clearly highlight all of the other graphics and typography. It’s a great template for making pitch decks for marketing presentations.

Bell Curve – Free Cool PowerPoint Template

Marketers will surely appreciate this free PowerPoint template as it comes with some useful slide layouts filled with charts and graphs. It includes 25 slides with cool designs and editable elements. You can download it for free.

Telo – Cool Business PowerPoint Template

Telo is another cool and creative PowerPoint template you can use for business presentations. It has lots of modern slide layouts that are most suitable for product and startup slideshows. There are 39 unique slides in this template.

Baekju – Cool Business Presentation PPT

This PowerPoint template comes with 25 carefully crafted slide designs. These slides feature clean and minimal designs with an aesthetic feel. It’s ideal for creative agencies and lifestyle businesses. The template includes image gallery slides, charts, graphs, and more.

Expro Studio – Colorful Business PPT Template

If you’re working on a presentation for a modern agency, conference, or event, this template will help you craft a cool slideshow for your project. There are 36 slides in this template with easily customizable shapes, fonts, colors, and image placeholders.

Bida – Agency Portfolio Cool PowerPoint Template

Bida is a cool PowerPoint presentation with a bold design. This template is perfect for crafting modern slideshows for businesses in the lifestyle, sports, luxury watches, and men’s products industries. The template has 39 unique slides that you can customize to your preference.

Free Cool Acid Graphics Style PowerPoint Template

You can download this PowerPoint template for free to create a cool and groovy presentation for a modern agency. It features 24 unique slides with acid graphics-style objects, shapes, and elements.

Lelelike – Cool PowerPoint Templates

Lelelike is a cool and creative PowerPoint presentation that can be fully customized to meet your requirements. Whether you want to create a pitch deck, startup investment presentation, or a personal portfolio, Lelelike is your sure-fire bet.

Karbon – Cool PowerPoint Templates

If you’re looking for a colorful and trendy PowerPoint template that really helps you make an impression, consider Karbon, a modern and unique ppt design featuring 100 plus slides, high contrast color schemes, and much more.

Ciri – Minimal Cool PowerPoint Template

Sometimes the coolest things come in simple designs. This PowerPoint template is just like that. It features a calm yet cool design that’s ideal for designing both professional and creative presentations. It includes 59 unique slides with editable charts, graphs, and animations.

Source Exclusive – Cool PowerPoint Templates

An absolute dapper of a presentation, Source Exclusive comes with a cool and stylish design that perfectly fits a range of creative applications. It offers 36 unique slides, drag and drop image placeholders, free fonts, and editable graphics.

Mooshie – Free Cool PowerPoint Templates

Check out Mooshie, a cute, and pretty-looking presentation featuring a dazzling design inspired by pop art culture. It offers an array of beautiful slides, fully customizable graphics, and virtually everything you’d express in a cool, and innovative PowerPoint template.

XGDragon – Free Cool PowerPoint Templates

Wanting an edgy, unconventional PowerPoint template for your next fashion or photography presentation? Look no further than XGDragon, a ppt that reflects style and personality in every slide. The best part? It’s available for free download.

Mevla – Creative PowerPoint Template

Featuring a dark and creative color theme, this PowerPoint template comes with 30 unique slides. You can also choose from 5 different color schemes to customize the design of this template. It includes lots of editable graphics and shapes as well.

Onfire – Creative PowerPoint Template

This is a modern and creative PowerPoint template that certainly does justice to its name. It features a set of 30 unique slides that feature attractive designs filled with shapes that allows you to showcase information is a professional way. The template is available in 5 different color schemes as well.

Neaches – Minimal PowerPoint Template

Featuring a minimal and stylish slide design, this PowerPoint template comes with a total of 150 slides that are ideal for making presentations for creative brands and agencies. The template also includes lots of editable vector graphics, illustrations, and image placeholders for easier editing.

Clover – Modern PowerPoint Template

Clover is an attractive PowerPoint template that comes with a set of creative slides that are designed for promoting apps, services, and products. The template is easily customizable and comes with 3 different color schemes as well as in light and dark background themes.

Dotto – Cool Free PowerPoint Template

This modern and free PowerPoint template features a cool and stylish design that lets you create unique slideshows for creative presentations. The template includes 20 unique slide designs with fully editable content layouts.

Free Business PowerPoint Presentation Template

Another great free PowerPoint template featuring a set of colorful and creative slides. It’s perfect for making a simple presentation for business and branding projects. The template includes 22 unique slides.

Blurry Night – Innovative PowerPoint Templates

Blurry Night is a bold, and stylish presentation template that offers 22 gorgeously designed slides, fully editable in Microsoft PowerPoint. It provides you with everything that you might need to deliver a stand out presentation and impress your audience.

Tesla – Cool PowerPoint Templates

If you’re looking to hunt down cool PowerPoint templates, Tesla is well worth checking out. It features 76 slides that can be molded to your specific requirements in just a few easy clicks.

Morning – Modern PowerPoint Templates

Morning is a clean, and creative PowerPoint template that will make your presentation next level attractive. It’s a must-have product in your PowerPoint collection if you truly value standing out from the pack.

WaterColor – Cool PowerPoint Templates

WaterColor is an effortlessly stylish, and unique Powerpoint template that will instantly draw your audience’s attention, and keep it there. It features 80 unique slides that can be fully customized to your heart’s content.

Koffee – Cool PowerPoint Templates

Koffee is a solid choice for anyone looking to create a cool, and innovative presentation. It’s a multipurpose template that can be used for nearly any business, or industry under the sun. Check it out now.

Comersa – Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

This modern PowerPoint template is perfect for making a presentation to showcase your portfolio and fashion designs. The template includes 30 unique slides with multipurpose design and features image placeholders as well.

Lawyero – Law Firm PowerPoint Presentation

If you’re working on a presentation for a law firm or a lawyer, this creative PowerPoint template will help you design an effective presentation that attracts attention. The template includes 40 unique slides with vector icons.

Karpetian – Colorful PowerPoint Template

Karpetian PowerPoint template features a modern and colorful design that also features a professional content arrangement for making presentations for all types of events and purposes. The template includes a total of 150 slides.

Nilo – Education PowerPoint Template

This stylish PowerPoint template has been designed specifically for making presentations for schools and education-related businesses. The template comes with 25 unique slides featuring creative illustrations and transition animations.

Lefite – Magazine PowerPoint Template

A modern and minimalist PowerPoint template ideal for creative professionals and freelancers for making convincing presentations to win more clients. This template includes 30 unique slides featuring customizable vector graphics and image placeholders.

Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

A multipurpose PowerPoint template you can use for free to design various presentations. This template comes with 22 stylish slide layouts with animations and transitions. It also features image placeholders as well.

Free Minimalist Style PowerPoint Template

This free PowerPoint template is most suitable for designing clean and simple presentations for creatives and professionals. It includes 30 unique slides you can easily customize to your preference.

Moisture – Modern PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template has also been designed with creative agencies and freelancers in mind. It comes with a set of slides you can use to showcase your services, skills, and portfolio in a professional way. The slides are available in 5 different color schemes as well.

Markethy – Marketing PowerPoint Template

You can use this cool PowerPoint template to design an attractive slideshow for all kinds of marketing and sales presentations. The template is fully customizable and features 3 premade color schemes to choose from with dark and light themes.

MILD – Minimal & Cool PowerPoint Template

Mild comes with a set of 35 unique slides featuring modern and cool designs. It also includes 50 different color themes with light and dark styles. The multipurpose design of the slides will allow you to create any kind of creative, business, or corporate slideshow using this PowerPoint template.

Maximus – Modern & Cool PowerPoint Template

Maximus is a cool PowerPoint template made for business and corporate presentations. It comes with 30 unique slides that are available in 5 different color schemes, making a total of 130 slides. The template includes a unique infographic and lots of other vector elements.

Voda – Creative Cool PowerPoint Template

Voda features a dark and cool color theme that better highlights your content in each slide. The template includes 80 unique slides and a total of 240 slides. You can also choose from 5 different color themes for the slides, including a multi-colored version.

Colors – Free Colorful PowerPoint Template

This colorful and free PowerPoint template comes with 60 unique slide layouts featuring unlimited color options, image placeholders, editable shapes, and much more you can use to create cool and stylish presenattions.

Look – Free Cool PowerPoint Template

Look is a cool free PowerPoint template you can use to make stylish presentations for showcasing fashion brands and designs. The template includes 55 unique slides with fully customizable layouts.

Color FUN – Cool PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with a colorful design filled with attractive designs, icons, vector shapes, infographics, and more. The template includes more than 50 unique slides. You can customize and resize everything in the template and change colors however you like.

F2 & Black End – Cool PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a multipurpose PowerPoint template you can use for creative, business, or personal presentation designs, this template is a must-have. It comes in both light and dark color themes as well as a cool design featuring easily customizable vectors and image placeholders.

RAVI – Cool PowerPoint Template

Ravi is a minimal and modern PowerPoint template that comes with plenty of cool slides for creating a professional presentation slideshow. The template includes 100 unique slides featuring 40 curated colors. It also comes with lots of infographics, vector shapes, charts, graphs, and more.

Meldow – Cool PowerPoint Template

Meldow is a clean and stylish PowerPoint template featuring more than 150 slides. The template is available in 5 different premade color schemes. Each template comes with 30 unique slides. It’s perfect for business and agency presentations.

Yellow – Cool Creative PowerPoint Template

Just as the name describes, this cool PowerPoint template features lots of yellow throughout the design. This makes it a great choice for creating marketing and creative presentations. Of course, the colors can also be easily customized to your preference as well.

Wagner – Free Cool PowerPoint Template

Wagner is a free PowerPoint template featuring a set of modern slides you can use to design different types of business and creative presentations. The template comes with editable shapes and vectors as well.

UCorporate – Cool Business PowerPoint Template

Who says corporate presentations shouldn’t look cool? With this stylishly modern PowerPoint template, you can design cool and interesting slideshows for corporate and business meetings without affecting the professionalism. The template is available in light and dark color themes.

SOFT – Minimal & Cool PowerPoint Template

Minimalism is a part of making things look cool. Soft PowerPoint template will make any kind of a creative, business, or professional presentation look cool with its clean design. The template 70 unique slides in multipurpose design featuring data charts, portfolios, gallery slides, and more.

Trending – Cool PowerPoint Template

Trending is a PowerPoint template you can use to design a cool slideshow presentation for business and corporate meetings. It comes with many useful slides such as business model slides, marketing strategy, traction, projections, and more. It includes a total of 420 slides featuring 6 colors.

KEPO – Minimal Cool Powerpoint Template

Kepo is a stylish and creative PowerPoint template that comes with a minimal design. This template is most suitable for educational presentations as it features a design that effectively highlights content. It includes 65 unique slides with 50 curated colors.

Motion – Cool Powerpoint Template

Motion PowerPoint template comes with creative slides filled with stylish graphics, vector shapes, and icons. The template featuring 30 unique slides in 5 premade color schemes. It also includes gallery and portfolio slides as well as image placeholders for easier customization.

Sweet – Cool Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint template comes with a feminine design that makes it most suitable for fashion and beauty related presentations. It also includes vector graphics, infographics, creative icons, and much more.

Bravo – Modern & Cool Powerpoint Template

Bravo is a minimal and colorful PowerPoint template featuring a total of 225 slides. The template is available in 5 different color schemes with 45 slides in each template. You can use this template to create professional and agency presentations related to design and marketing.

Dilanova – Cool Fashion Powerpoint Template

Dilanova is a cool PowerPoint template made for promoting fashion related brands and businesses. You can use it to promote clothing brands as well as fashion photography. The template includes 30 unique slides and they are available in 2 different color themes.

Creative – Cool Powerpoint Template

Just as the name suggests, this PowerPoint template comes with lots of slides featuring creative designs. It includes 25 slides in 5 color designs, making it a total of 120 slides. It also comes with a handcrafted infographic, gallery and infographic slides, and more.

Agency Portfolio- Cool Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint template is made for creating presentations for agencies and creative professionals. It features 50 unique slides featuring cool and clean designs. The slides also include lots of charts, graphs, icons, and more for creating more compelling presentations as well.

Wordsmith – Cool Creative PowerPoint Template

Wordsmith PowerPoint template comes with 20 unique slides based on master slide designs. The template uses a dark color theme for creating much cooler and professional presentation slideshows.

FAB – Powerpoint Presentation Template

Fab is the perfect PowerPoint template you can use to create a modern and cool slideshow for photography and fashion related presentations. It comes with 35 unique slides featuring various vector elements. The templates are available in both PPT and PPTX formats for older and new PowerPoint versions.

FLOW- Cool Powerpoint Template

Flow is a cool and creative PowerPoint template that features clean slide designs. The template comes with 40 unique slides with customizable designs and resizable vector elements. You can use it to create pitch decks, business presentations, professional slideshows, and much more.

Carezo- Creative Powerpoint Template

Creating a presentation from scratch can be quite labor-intensive. This cool PowerPoint template is beneficial. It saves time, provides good visual design, and means that you can primarily spend your time and attention on the content of your presentation.

Toddlera – Kindergarten Powerpoint Template

The Toddlera Kindergarten Presentation Template for Microsoft PowerPoint is a modern and sleek professional presentation that will give a boost to your business meetings and lectures. It contains 30 beautifully designed slides that can be easily edited and adjusted to suit all of your professional and business needs.

Braze – Innovative Powerpoint Template

If you were a manager, who wants to present the potential of a company, a lecturer who is eager to attract attention, or a student who wants to present a report – don’t hesitate, Braze is developed just for you!

5 Tips for Making a Cool PowerPoint Presentation

Not sure about how to make your PowerPoint presentation look cool to attract young audiences? Start by following these simple tips.

1. Make It Colorful

Colorful slides not only make your presentation look cooler but also help make it much easier to highlight specific parts of your slide content.

However, making a colorful slideshow is not just about adding lots of colors. You should consider creating a color palette based on a theme like flat color or material color design to create consistency across the presentation.

2. Add Lots of Visuals

Needless to say, using images is one of the most effective ways of creating more impactful presentations that grab everyone’s attention. And it’s not just images that make your slideshow look cooler.

You can also use infographics, icons, and device mockups to show off your designs and visualize data to make your presentation look more visually appealing.

3. Make Creative Layouts

As you browse through our templates collection you’ll notice how the content layout of each PowerPoint template changes from one another. Some feature layouts made with unique shapes, backgrounds, and formatting. Make sure to pick a content layout that helps your presentation stand out from the crowd.

4. Use Bold Fonts

Changing from default fonts to a custom font can drastically improve the look and feel of your entire presentation design. Invest in a pair of premium fonts if you can to create more attractive headings and paragraphs. You can also use great free fonts as well. Just search for free fonts in our archives.

5. Take Advantage of Master Slides

Master slides are pre-made layouts that allow you to create new blank slides with already formatted designs. Most premium templates come with multiple master slides. Use them to your advantage to create cooler presentations with unique designs of your own.

Also, check out the animated PowerPoint templates and minimal PowerPoint templates collections for more.