first page of powerpoint presentation

How to easily make an AWESOME first slide in PowerPoint?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

A good first impression can have a lasting impact. Thus, having a good design for your first slide is important. We’ve seen that people often simply put the title of the presentation as a first slide. I personally dislike this the most. It just shows that the person creating the presentation was simply not interested in it (even though that may not necessarily be true).

Thus, knowing how to create a good first slide is as important if not more as knowing how to create the rest of the presentation. The best part is – you can easily create an awesome first slide for your presentation in minutes in a few quick and easy steps. Obviously, if you have the time at hand, you can easily spend an hour or two making that perfect first slide! In this post, we take a look at how to easily create a first slide with a few examples of actual designs that we have created for our clients.

1. What is the first slide of a PPT presentation called?

The first slide of a presentation is called a “Title slide” or a “Cover slide” . This slide often contains the title of the presentation and hence the name title slide. It is also often referred to as the “Opening slide” of the presentation. The title slide is often the slide that is displayed on the screen before you start your presentation. Thus, it is important to have a title slide that not only looks good but also shares relevant information about your presentation.

2. What content should be included on the first slide of the PPT presentation?

A title slide or the cover slide does not need too much content. The purpose of the title slide is really to give an indication of what the presentation is all about. Thus, an ideal title slide should contain nothing more than –

• Presentation title
• Date of the presentation
• Presenter’s name and designation

It is not necessary to have all the above three pieces of information on a cover slide. Do keep in mind that not all cover slides are the same and what content is displayed on the cover slide can be organisation specific. An organisation may have a preference or a fixed structure for the content that needs to be put on a cover slide. This may vary from the above structure.

3. How to easily design a beautiful first slide in minutes?

As I mentioned earlier, having a good first slide can have a lasting positive impact on your audience. Thus, it is important to create a good design for your first slide. There are several ways you can design the cover slide. Let’s look at some of the easiest ways you can create a beautiful cover slide –

Method 1 – Using PowerPoint’s “Design Ideas” functionality (for beginners)

I must admit, PowerPoint’s “Design Ideas” functionality has great potential. In fact, we at OwlScape were planning on creating a similar plugin for PowerPoint users before Microsoft introduced this feature. This functionality is not just great for beginners, but also at least a must try for intermediate level users too. Designers from OwlScape also at least check out the functionality every once in a while especially when we hit a creative bloq.

It is really easy to work with. In just a couple of clicks and a few minutes, you can make your title slide look completely different –

To do this, all you need to do is put some text on your cover slide and use the “Design Ideas” functionality of PowerPoint. For example, you can write the title and subtitle of your presentation.

Next, click on the “Design” tab on your Menu bar. On the ribbon under the design tab, look for “Design Ideas” feature. It is normally on the far right of the screen on the ribbon. Click on it, and wait for a bit.

In a few seconds, PowerPoint will automatically throw a few ways in which you can design your title slide. You can choose the design you like, and repeat the process to get more results.

If you are unable to see any design ideas or you get an error, you could close the error result by clicking on the close button marked with “X” next to Design Ideas. Then, try clicking in any of the text box on the slide and click on “Design Ideas” again. A few attempts will surely give you some interesting results.

There are a few drawbacks though. These are as follows –

• The results are not consistent . If you happen to delete the slide and try to recreate using the exact same process, the result may be different. This can be both good and bad 🙂
• Editing the design of the suggested slide may not be easy for beginners – when you need to make some changes to the chosen design option, it doesn’t happen directly. You will need to work with the master slides in order to make the design changes. This may seem daunting especially if you are a beginner.
• Sometimes, it just doesn’t work – Even though you may have created a slide using the same content before, sometimes when you try to recreate using the same content, it may simply fail to showcase any ideas. In such an event, we would advise you to click on the text box or an image on your slide and try again by clicking on the Design Ideas option.
• Available for Office 2016 onwards – If you are a PowerPoint user using an older version of Microsoft Office, you may not be able to easily access this functionality. Having the latest PowerPoint version can be of great help!

One thing to note is that the “Design Ideas” option can be used not just for the cover slide, but also for other slides. However, I would advise resisting the temptation of using it for every single slide. 🙂

Method 2 – Using shapes to create an interesting cover slide (for intermediate users)

One other way of having an interesting cover slide is by using the shapes in PowerPoint. Let’s look at the following example –

If you look at the above example carefully, you’ll notice that we’ve only added a shape to the already existing title and the subtitle in the “After” slide. Simply adding a shape, a logo and aligning the text can alter the look of the slide drastically.

There are many ways you can add a shape to the slide. My favourite method is to add a horizontal or a vertical “Trapezoid/ trapezium” (a quadrilateral shape with one pair of parallel sides). A trapezoid shape allows me to have enough space to write the title of the slide and some more content.

To create this shape, you can follow the below steps –

On the menu bar, click on “Insert” and then click on “Shapes”. Under the basic shapes option, select the trapezium shape. Next, create the shape on your slide.

Make sure that the size of the trapezium is good enough to cover about ⅔ parts of the slide. Also ensure that the parallel sides of the trapezium touch the top and bottom part of the slide. Now all you need to do is add the title and subtitle, along with the logo to create your cover slide.

Similarly, you can also use the trapezium vertically. You can also use various types of shapes on your cover slide. The possibilities are literally endless!

Method 3 – Using shapes with images to create an awesome cover slide! (for advanced users)

If you are still not satisfied with your cover slide, there are several other ways you can make it look even more impressive. The easiest way to take it to the next level is to use images in combination with the shapes.

Let’s look at a few examples –

Combination cover slide design example – 1

In the above design, a shape has been created in the background using a freeform tool. Next, two appropriate images have been identified and put in front of the shape. All this has been kept predominantly to the right side of the slide allowing space to write the title, subtitle and the other relevant information on the left.

Combination cover slide design example – 2

In this example, we’ve used one corner of curved rectangle shape to create an interesting design. Two copies of the same shape have been considered. The one below is filled with a colour and tilted at a slight angle. The one above has an image inserted in the shape.

Combination cover slide design example – 3

In the above example, a combination of several shapes and images are used to create a visually pleasing design. Obviously, this may not be something that a beginner can create right of the bat. But the reason we put this design as an example is because barring the design skills (knowing what shape to include and where), creating this slide is not as advanced as you might think. This slide has been created by only using shapes and image elements along with the logo and text. The purpose of using this as an example was to showcase the endless possibilities on how a seemingly complex cover slide can be made by merely using basic shapes and images.

4. How to find images for the first slide of your presentation?

Whether you are using a combination of images and shapes or simply using an image on your title slide, it is important to identify a good image that resembles the topic of your presentation. Consider the following example –

If you’ve been following along, I’m sure you would have noticed by now that the above title slide has been created using a combination of images and shapes. Again, the design can be easily created using shapes and image elements. However, part of the reason that makes this slide look good and relevant to the presentation is the choice of image. Since the presentation is for a corporate organisation, choosing an image that resembles a corporate environment would be relevant.

Take a moment to scroll up and notice the other cover slide examples that I shared above.

The cover slide example 1 was designed for a presentation on education. Thus, choosing an image that represents education effectively communicates to the audience that the presentation is something to do with education even without the word “education” in the title or the subtitle or anywhere on the slide (Don’t resist, go ahead and have a look at the slide again! 🙂 )

Likewise, example 3 uses a mobile device in the title slide giving an indication that the product being talked about in the presentation is likely going to be an app.

Thus, choosing an appropriate image is important as it subtly communicates the message to the audience.

Finding the images for your presentation can take some time. You can use Google to see a few references on what type of images can be used. Avoid the temptation of using Google images directly on your presentation as this can violate copyright laws. We wrote a detailed post on where to find and how to use images for your presentation (link – https://owlscape.in/can-i-use-google-images-for-my-presentation/ ). Be sure to check it out!

I’m sure by now you’ve noticed a few different ways you can create a good title slide for your presentation. I hope this post helps you to think out of the box while creating the title slide of your next presentation. I also hope that going forward you will surely give enough focus on creating an impressive first slide even if you only have a few minutes.

If you’re struggling while creating your next title slide or your presentation, simply drop us an email on [email protected]

Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test

How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test

Knowing how to start a presentation is crucial: if you fail to capture the audience’s attention right off the bat, your entire presentation will flop. Few listeners will stick with you to the end and retain what you have told.

That is mildly unpleasant when you are doing an in-house presentation in front of your colleagues. But it can become utterly embarrassing when you present in front of larger audiences (e.g., at a conference) or worse – delivering a sales presentation to prospective customers.

Here is how most of us begin a presentation: give an awkward greeting, thank everyone for coming, clear our throats, tap the mic, and humbly start to mumble about our subject. The problem with such an opening performance? It effectively kills and buries even the best messages.

Table of Contents

• The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction
• Open a Presentation with a Hook
• Begin with a Captivating Visual
• Ask a “What if…” Question
• Use the Word “Imagine”
• Leverage The Curiosity Gap
• The Power of Silence
• Facts as Weapons of Communication
• Fact vs. Myths
• The Power of Music
• Physical Activity
• Acknowledging a Person

How to Start a PowerPoint Presentation The Right Way

Let’s say you have all of your presentation slides polished up (in case you don’t, check our quick & effective PowerPoint presentation design tips first). Your presentation has a clear storyline and agenda. Main ideas are broken into bite-sized statements for your slides and complemented with visuals. All you have left is to figure out how you begin presenting.

The best way is to appeal to and invoke certain emotions in your audience – curiosity, surprise, fear, or good old amusements. Also, it is recommended to present your main idea in the first 30 seconds of the presentation. And here’s how it’s done.

1. The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction

When you don’t feel like reinventing the wheel, use a classic trick from the book – start with a quick personal introduction. Don’t want to sound as boring as everyone else with your humble “Hi, I’m John, the head of the Customer Support Department”? Great, because we are all about promoting effective presentation techniques (hint: using a dull welcome slide isn’t one of them).

Here’s how to introduce yourself in a presentation the right way.

a. Use a link-back memory formula

To ace a presentation, you need to connect with your audience. The best way to do so is by throwing in a simple story showing who you are, where you came from, and why your words matter.

The human brain loves a good story, and we are more inclined to listen and retain the information told this way. Besides, when we can relate to the narrator (or story hero), we create an emotional bond with them, and, again – become more receptive, and less skeptical of the information that is about to be delivered.

So here are your presentation introduction lines:

My name is Joanne, and I’m the Head of Marketing at company XYZ. Five years ago I was working as a waitress, earning $10/hour and collecting rejection letters from editors. About ten letters every week landed to my mailbox. You see, I love words, but decent publisher thought mine were good enough. Except for the restaurant owner. I was very good at up-selling and recommending dishes to the customers. My boss even bumped my salary to $15/hour as a token of appreciation for my skill. And this made me realize: I should ditch creative writing and focus on copywriting instead. After loads of trial and error back in the day, I learned how to write persuasive copy. I was no longer getting rejection letters. I was receiving thousands of emails saying that someone just bought another product from our company. My sales copy pages generated over $1,500,000 in revenue over last year. And I want to teach you how to do the same”

b. Test the Stereotype Formula

This one’s simple and effective as well. Introduce yourself by sharing an obvious stereotype about your profession. This cue will help you connect with your audience better, make them chuckle a bit, and set a lighter mood for the speech to follow.

Here’s how you can frame your intro:

“My name is ___, and I am a lead software engineer at our platform [Your Job Title]. And yes, I’m that nerdy type who never liked presenting in front of large groups of people. I would rather stay in my den and write code all day long. [Stereotype]. But hey, since I have mustered enough courage…let’s talk today about the new product features my team is about to release….”

After sharing a quick, self-deprecating line, you transition back to your topic, reinforcing the audience’s attention . Both of these formulas help you set the “mood” for your further presentation, so try using them interchangeably on different occasions.

2. Open a Presentation with a Hook

Wow your audience straight off the bat by sharing something they would not expect to hear. This may be one of the popular first-time presentation tips but don’t rush to discard it.

Because here’s the thing: psychologically , we are more inclined to pay attention whenever presented with an unexpected cue. When we know what will happen next – someone flips the switch, and lights turn on – we don’t really pay much attention to that action.

But when we don’t know what to expect next – e.g., someone flips the switch and a bell starts ringing – we are likely to pay more attention to what will happen next. The same goes for words: everyone loves stories with unpredictable twists. So begin your presentation with a PowerPoint introduction slide or a line that no one expects to hear.

Here are a few hook examples you can swipe:

a. Open with a provocative statement

It creates an instant jolt and makes the audience intrigued to hear what you are about to say next – pedal back, continue with the provocation, or do something else that they will not expect.

“You will live seven and a half minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

That’s how Jane McGonigal opens one of her TED talks . Shocking and intriguing, right?

b. Ask a rhetorical, thought-provoking question

Seasoned presenters know that one good practice is to ask a question at the beginning of a presentation to increase audience engagement. Rhetorical questions have a great persuasive effect – instead of answering aloud, your audience will silently start musing over it during your presentation. They aroused curiosity and motivated the audience to remain attentive, as they did want to learn your answer to this question.

To reinforce your message throughout the presentation, you can further use the Rhetorical Triangle Concept – a rhetorical approach to building a persuasive argument based on Aristotle’s teachings.

c. Use a bold number, factor stat

A clean slide with some mind-boggling stat makes an undeniably strong impact. Here are a few opening statement examples you can use along with your slide:

• Shock them: “We are effectively wasting over $1.2 billion per year on producing clothes no one will ever purchase”
• Create empathy: “Are you among the 20% of people with undiagnosed ADHD?”
• Call to arms: “58% of marketing budgets are wasted due to poor landing page design. Let’s change this!”
• Spark curiosity: “Did you know that companies who invested in speech recognition have seen a 13% increase in ROI within just 3 years?”

3. Begin with a Captivating Visual

Compelling visuals are the ABC of presentation design – use them strategically to make an interesting statement at the beginning and throughout your presentation. Your first presentation slide can be text-free. Communicate your idea with a visual instead – a photo, a chart, an infographic, or another graphics asset.

Visuals are a powerful medium for communication as our brain needs just 13 milliseconds to render what our eyes see, whereas text comprehension requires more cognitive effort.

Relevant images add additional aesthetic appeal to your deck, bolster the audience’s imagination, and make your key message instantly more memorable.

Here’s an intro slide example. You want to make a strong presentation introduction to global pollution.  Use the following slide to reinforce the statement you share:

“Seven of nine snow samples taken on land in Antarctica found chemicals known as PFAs, which are used in industrial products and can harm wildlife”

Source: Reuters

4. Ask a “What if…” Question

The “what if” combo carries massive power. It gives your audience a sense of what will happen if they choose to listen to you and follow your advice.  Here are a few presentations with starting sentences + slides to illustrate this option:

Alternatively, you can work your way to this point using different questions:

• Ask the audience about their “Why.” Why are they attending this event, or why do they find this topic relevant?
• Use “How” as your question hook if you plan to introduce a potential solution to a problem.
• If your presentation has a persuasion factor associated, use “When” as a question to trigger the interest of the audience on, for example, when they are planning to take action regarding the topic being presented (if we talk about an inspirational presentation).

5. Use the Word “Imagine”

“Imagine,” “Picture This,” and “Think of” are better word choices for when you plan to begin your presentation with a quick story.

Our brain loves interacting with stories. In fact, a captivating story makes us more collaborative. Scientists have discovered that stories with tension during narrative make us:

• Pay more attention,
• Share emotions with the characters and even mimic the feelings and behaviors of those characters afterward.

That’s why good action movies often feel empowering and make us want to change the world too. By incorporating a good, persuasive story with a relatable hero, you can also create that “bond” with your audience and make them more perceptive to your pitch – donate money to support the cause; explore the solution you are offering, and so on.

6. Leverage The Curiosity Gap

The curiosity gap is another psychological trick frequently used by marketers to solicit more clicks, reads, and other interactions from the audience. In essence, it’s the trick you see behind all those clickbait, Buzzfeed-style headlines:

Not everyone is a fan of such titles. But the truth is – they do the trick and instantly capture attention. The curiosity gap sparks our desire to dig deeper into the matter. We are explicitly told that we don’t know something important, and now we crave to change that. Curiosity is an incredibly strong driving force for action – think Eve, think Pandora’s Box.

So consider incorporating these attention grabbers for your presentation speech to shock the audience. You can open with one, or strategically weave them in the middle of your presentation when you feel like your audience is getting tired and may lose their focus.

Here’s how you can use the curiosity gap during your presentation:

• Start telling a story, pause in the middle, and delay the conclusion of it.
• Withhold the key information (e.g., the best solution to the problem you have described) for a bit – but not for too long, as this can reduce the initial curiosity.
• Introduce an idea or concept and link it with an unexpected outcome or subject – this is the best opening for a presentation tip.

7. The Power of Silence

What would you do if you attended a presentation in which the speaker remains silent for 30 seconds after the presentation starts? Just the presenter, standing in front of the audience, in absolute silence.

Most likely, your mind starts racing with thoughts, expecting something of vital importance to be disclosed. The surprise factor with this effect is for us to acknowledge things we tend to take for granted.

It is a powerful resource to introduce a product or to start an inspirational presentation if followed by a fact.

8. Facts as Weapons of Communication

In some niches, using statistics as the icebreaker is the best method to retain the audience’s interest.

Say your presentation is about climate change. Why not introduce a not-so-common fact, such as the amount of wool that can be produced out of oceanic plastic waste per month? And since you have to base your introduction on facts, research manufacturers that work with Oceanic fabrics from recycled plastic bottles .

Using facts helps to build a better narrative, and also gives leverage to your presentation as you are speaking not just from emotional elements but from actually recorded data backed up by research.

9. Fact vs. Myths

Related to our previous point, we make quite an interesting speech if we contrast a fact vs. a myth in a non-conventional way: using a myth to question a well-accepted fact, then introducing a new point of view or theory, backed on sufficient research, that proves the fact wrong. This technique, when used in niches related to academia, can significantly increase the audience’s interest, and it will highlight your presentation as innovative.

Another approach is to debunk a myth using a fact. This contrast immediately piques interest because it promises to overturn commonly held beliefs, and people naturally find it compelling when their existing knowledge is put to the test. An example of this is when a nutritionist wishes to speak about how to lose weight via diet, and debunks the myth that all carbohydrates are “bad”.

10. The Power of Music

Think about a presentation that discusses the benefits of using alternative therapies to treat anxiety, reducing the need to rely on benzodiazepines. Rather than going technical and introducing facts, the presenter can play a soothing tune and invite the audience to follow an exercise that teaches how to practice breathing meditation . Perhaps, in less than 2 minutes, the presenter can accomplish the goal of exposing the advantages of this practice with a live case study fueled by the proper ambiance (due to the music played in the beginning).

11. Physical Activity

Let’s picture ourselves in an in-company presentation about workspace wellness. For this company, the sedentary lifestyle their employees engage in is a worrying factor, so they brought a personal trainer to coach the employees on a basic flexibility routine they can practice in 5 minutes after a couple of hours of desk time.

“Before we dive in, let’s all stand up for a moment.” This simple instruction breaks the ice and creates a moment of shared experience among the attendees. You could then lead them through a brief stretching routine, saying something like, “Let’s reach up high, and stretch out those muscles that get so tight sitting at our desks all day.” With this action, you’re not just talking about workplace wellness, you’re giving them a direct, personal experience of it.

This approach has several advantages. Firstly, it infuses energy into the room and increases the oxygen flow to the brain, potentially boosting the audience’s concentration and retention. Secondly, it sets a precedent that your presentation is not going to be a standard lecture, but rather an interactive experience. This can raise the level of anticipation for what’s to come, and make the presentation a topic for future conversation between coworkers.

12. Acknowledging a Person

How many times have you heard the phrase: “Before we begin, I’d like to dedicate a few words to …” . The speaker could be referring to a mentor figure, a prominent person in the local community, or a group of people who performed charity work or obtained a prize for their hard work and dedication. Whichever is the reason behind this, acknowledgment is a powerful force to use as a method of starting a presentation. It builds a connection with the audience, it speaks about your values and who you admire, and it can transmit what the conversation is going to be about based on who the acknowledged person is.

Closing Thoughts

Now you know how to start your presentation – you have the opening lines, you have the slides to use, and you can browse even more attractive PowerPoint presentation slides and templates on our website. Also, we recommend you visit our article on how to make a PowerPoint Presentation to get familiarized with the best tactics for professional presentation design and delivery, or if you need to save time preparing your presentation, we highly recommend you check our AI Presentation Maker to pair these concepts with cutting-edge slide design powered by AI.

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Curiosity Gap, Opening, Public Speaking, Rhetorical Triangle, Speech, What If Filed under Presentation Ideas

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First Slide of Presentation (Templates That Pull People In)

Templates for the first slide of the presentation - made for modern professionals. Grab & hold attention with slides beyond the same-old first page of ppt .

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What should be the first slide of a presentation?

The first page of ppt should act like the cover of a book. It should give the would-be reader or audience a clear idea of what’s inside.

A PowerPoint first slide is commonly called a title slide or a cover slide, and it should include 3 main elements: (1) a title detailing the topic of the presentation, (2) An image that visually supports the title by adding more clarity to the topic, and (3) the reading time required to consume the presentation.

What is the best ppt first-page design?

The best first-page design for a ppt presentation or other more modern presentations is a mix of text and visuals that work together to provide the audience with a clear sense that the presentation is relevant, interesting, and worth reading. The best design choice is using a video with a short title text and tagline. A video will be effective in grabbing attention and a well-crafted title will make clear what the benefit of reading the presentation will be.

If you want to create an effective presentation, consider reading our guide on how to create an effective presentation .

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16 Best Free PowerPoint PPT Cover Page Design Templates to Download 2024

Creating an attractive presentation cover page for PPT can be challenging.

Create stylish and eye-catching PowerPoint cover slides for your next presentation. Use a professionally designed PowerPoint template.

Having the cover page pop is the first step in creating a memorable presentation. 

PowerPoint templates help you focus on the actual content. Creating a template that can compete with other high-quality designs may be hard.

Envato Elements offers a marketplace full of PowerPoint templates. They can all be downloaded with a low monthly cost .

5 Best Top Trending Premium PowerPoint PPT Cover Page Design Templates (From Envato Elements - For (2024)

Now let’s look at a few of the top premium printable flyer templates from Envato. We’ll first explore five of the  best cool flyer designs from Envato Elements.

Take a look at these PowerPoint cover page ideas:

1.  Minimal PPT Cover Pages

Here's an all-in-one PowerPoint presentation template. The creators made its cover slide for PPT with a minimal look. The template has tons of white space and subtle colors to focus primarily on the information.

A few notable features include:

• 32 animated unique PowerPoint cover slides
• 4000+ vector icons
• drag and drop photo replace
• full HD 16:9 ratio
• background covers for PPT

2. The X Note PowerPoint Presentation Cover Page

This effective, modern, and easy-to-customize presentation helps you turn your ideas into persuasive presentations. It features one of the best PowerPoint covers. If you've got a product design coming up, this presentation lets your ideas shine. 

Here are a few notable features for this PowerPoint cover page template:

• 4:3 and 16:9 screen layouts
• PowerPoint cover slide templates with transition animations
• 40+ unique PowerPoint cover slide template
• 4 pre-made themes 

3. Be. - Minimal PowerPoint Cover Pages

Be. focuses on the creatives. The clean and minimalist layout gives you plenty of options to showcase any type of business or personal presentation. The PowerPoint title page is divided into two. One half of the cover page PowerPoint features a place for an image. The other side for the title of your presentation.

Here's what you can expect from this template:

• 125+ unique and creative PowerPoint cover slide templates 
• 550+ free font icons 
• all objects are vector and fully editable
• Easy drag and drop to change images

4. Expert - PowerPoint Cover Pages for Presentations

This high-quality PowerPoint cover page introduces a whopping 620 unique slides. The welcome slide for PPT has five triangle shapes that allow you to add images to, a title, and a section to add around three sentences. 

There are plenty of features that come with this template, including: 

• 100 theme colors 
• white & dark versions
• 620 unique PowerPoint cover slide templates
• fully animated
• 16:9 full HD quality presentation

5.  PPT Presentation With Cover Pages & Infographics

This is a powerful PowerPoint template presentation with front page designs that let you build whatever you like. The presentation cover page for PowerPoint is full of vibrant and colorful elements. It'll help you deliver PowerPoint cover page designs that'll catch your audience's attention. 

Features for these PowerPoint presentation cover pages include:

• 11 modern and unique PowerPoint covers with slides
• widescreen (16:9)
• handmade infographics for your PPT cover pages
• free icon pack
• fully customizable 

Now let's look at the best PPT free presentation cover templates with high-quality PowerPoint cover slides.

5 Free Elements PowerPoint Templates With Amazing PowerPoint Covers

Are you on a tight budget, but aiming for the highest quality? Envato Elements is here for you! 

Here you have 5 free amazing templates with the perfect cover page for PowerPoint.

1. LIABLE - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Get this premium template for free! It offers a PowerPoint title page with room for a large landscape image, as well as:

• free font used
• editable graphics
• Master Slides for quick edits
• drag-and-drop image placeholders

2. Remaria - Minimalist PowerPoint Template

Here’s a template with a cute presentation cover page for PowerPoint. With this template PPT free download, you’ll get:

• a flowery welcome slide for PPT
• 5 different color schemes
• fully editable layout
• vector-based icons
• 30 modern slides

3. Genius - Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

With Genius, you get so much more than just a PowerPoint title page – and for free! This template PPT free download includes: 

• used free font
• 5 color schemes
• device mockups
• resizable graphics
• 30 slides per palette

4. Delusi Earth Tone PowerPoint Template

This is the most modern and elegant PowerPoint cover page that you can get for free! This template PPT free download offers:

• 40 total slides
• easily editable design
• quick edits with Master Slides
• drag-and-drop picture placeholders
• used and recommended free web fonts

5. Retrobox Multipurpose Presentation

Retrobox might as well have the most eye-catching cover slide for PPT. On top of that, this free premium presentation features:

• modern layout
• used Google Fonts
• 16:9 widescreen ratio
• easy to customize design

16 Top Free PowerPoint PPT Cover Page Design Templates to Download for 2024

One thing before looking for a free PowerPoint cover page template on the web. Check Envato's free offerings first.

Try out premium template files (not always Microsoft cover page downloads) at no cost to you!

Here's the deal:

• Every month Envato Elements offers 12 different hand-selected files, (fonts, presentations, videos, and more). Create a free account to download this month's free premium files now.

Do you need some more options for free PowerPoint cover page templates? Take a look at these free PPT cover page ideas:

1.  Global Education Solution - PPT Free PowerPoint Cover Pages

This free PowerPoint cover page template features an abstract image, This is to highlight the importance of education. You can include a title and subtitle for the presentation. This Microsoft cover page download as well. 

2. Simple & Professional Free PowerPoint Title Page Template

These free PPT slides offer an abstract and modern cover page. It features a neutral background with a yellow circle shape. You can add a double title for a shade effect.

3. Creative Idea Bulb - Free PPT Cover Page

Creative Idea Bulb PowerPoint cover slide combines a pencil and a light bulb to express creative learning. Use this template for teaching and creative presentations.

4. Free Abstract PowerPoint Presentation Cover & Backgrounds

You can expect several free PPT slides that work as background images for your cover page. There are different abstract and colorful designs to choose from. This is a flexible template that can work for business or personal use.

5. My Portfolio - Free Presentation Cover Page in PowerPoint

This template for PPT free to download features an aesthetic PowerPoint cover page. It’s a beige background with black spark shapes and room to add an image. It’s ideal for a business presentation or a portfolio slideshow.

6. City of Business Man - Free First Page of Presentation

City of Business Man PowerPoint cover page template has a cityscape background overlaid in red. The title is in the center of the page with a circle around it. 

7. Analysis Consultant - Free Cover Page for Your Presentation

This template is ideal for any business presentation. The cover for PPT has a businessman background image with futuristic icon graphics overlaying the image. 

8. Free Brush Stroke PowerPoint Covers & Backgrounds

Here’s another template for PPT free to download. Try any of the free PPT slides as a PowerPoint cover page. Their abstract designs look like they were painted with brush strokes. 

9. Free Presentation Title Page With Businessman Cityscape

This cover template for PPT contains a confident businessman against the backdrop of an urban landscape. The template is fully editable and has 135 different icons to choose from.

10. Newspaper Style PowerPoint Cover Page and Slides

This template is great for school presentations and features a newspaper cover page design. You can expect around 20 different slides with this template for PPT free to download.

11. PPT Free Annual Report

This Microsoft cover page download comes with a business graphic on the front. It's best used for economic-type presentations. You could also use this for any type of personal finance presentation. 

12. Business Pitch Deck - PPT Free PowerPoint Covers

The PPT cover page design download features an abstract, blue-colored shape, some rows for titles, and a row for graphics. Just like the title says, this presentation cover page is best used for pitch decks.

13. Free Classroom Cover Slide for PPT & Backgrounds

Any type of school presentation can benefit from these free PPT slides. Use any of these as a cover page for PowerPoint. There are several different designs with classroom-related shapes and drawings. 

14. PPT Free Business Plan

This simple cover page template has a dark-colored background with abstract shapes. The simplicity of the template allows it to be used for all types of business and personal presentations.

15. Data Analysis - Free PPT Cover Page Ideas

This template design is suitable for the presentations crafted for graphical representation of businesses and economics. The cover page features an abstract spherical shape with a gray-colored background.

16. Simple Retro Interface Free PPT Template

The design of this PowerPoint presentation cover page consists of a squared background with figure icons and pastel colors. There’s room for a large title and a subheading in this welcome slide for PPT. It’s a template for PPT free to download that comes with 20 slides in total.

How to Quickly Customize PowerPoint PPT Cover Page Templates (For 2024)

We’ve explored some of the very best PPT cover page templates from around the web. Once you download cover PPT templates, it’s time to customize them.

Fortunately, with premium Envato Elements templates, this is easy to do. You can customize these cover page templates in just five quick steps! Let’s learn how.

Want to follow along with this mini-tutorial? Head over to Envato Elements. Download the stunning premium Chime Presentation Template  today!

Let's get started:

1. Add Title Text to Your PPT Front Page

Once you download cover PPT templates, the first step is to add custom text. Remember, this is the first thing that audiences see. The text that sits on a premium template slide is a placeholder. You can type over it with your own words.

To do this, click into the text box like the one on the first slide here. Select the text inside and replace it with your own text. You can repeat this with any other text until you've got the slide customized to your own needs.

2. Add Font Effects to Your Background Cover PPT

Once you’ve added text, remember that it’s an important part of your style. Download cover PPT templates deserve the use of custom font effects too.

These effects live up on the Home tab, found on PowerPoint’s ribbon. With text selected, you can change the font size and style on the dropdown menus. Plus, you can add effects like italics, underlines, and more. Those options are found on the series of buttons in the Font group.

3. Insert Photos in Your PowerPoint Covers

Your cover PowerPoint slide should capture attention in an instant. One of the best ways to do this is with an image. Photos naturally grab focus, and it pays to include them on your cover slide.

To add a photo, go to the Insert tab, again found on the ribbon. From the Pictures dropdown, choose Picture from File. Browse to an image file stored on your computer and click to insert it. Watch as it appears on your slide.

4. Rearrange the Content of Your  Presentation Front Page Design

When you add photos to a slide, PowerPoint places them in a random position. Chances are, you’ll want to move the objects around. To do so, click and drag to move them to a new place on your slide. Release the cursor when you’re finished.

You can also resize content on your slides. Pull on the adjustment sliders found in each corner. This is the fastest way to resize images and objects to fit into place perfectly.

5. Change Shape Colors of Your Presentation Title Page

Notice that this slide has colorful shapes on it. While the default colors are beautiful, you may want to change them. To do so, click on one of the colorful shapes. Notice a new tab on the ribbon: Shape Format . Click Shape Format , then open up the Shape Fill dropdown.

You’ll see a color chooser menu, from which you can apply an array of new shades. Click on one of the color thumbnails to apply it to your selected shape. You can repeat these steps with other shapes to add your own custom colors to your download cover PPT.

5 Quick PowerPoint Cover Page Slide Design Tips for 2024

You're looking for the right PowerPoint cover page. Use these quick tips to get the most from your cover page presentation design:

1. Split in Half Your Presentation Title Page

The half and half cover page design works great for all types of presentations. Include an image on one half and the title and short sentences on the other half of the slide to create this type of cover page design. 

2. Feature a Center Design in Your PPT Welcome Page

Using a centered design for your slides can help your presentation by making the elements on the slides seem more important. When elements are centered, they're perceived as being crucial to the slide. The audience subconsciously views your text and images as all being important. 

3. Include Graphics in Your PowerPoint Covers

While this may be an obvious tip, it's often overlooked. Adding graphics sparingly throughout your presentation gives your slides a professional touch. It makes the presentation more engaging. Be sure to include graphics that fit what you're presenting. 

4. Give a Simplicity Look to the First Page of Your Presentation

While your cover page for PPT can work great with many different elements on it, you can still never go wrong with having a very simple cover page design. Including a graphic and title of your presentation in the center of your cover page is more than enough to set the stage for your presentation. 

5. Include Skill Bars to Your PowerPoint Cover Slide Templates

Including skill bars in your presentations helps make it much more engaging and memorable. Whether you're giving a pitch deck, creating a project proposal, or showcasing an annual report, skill bars can be used in the presentation.

Still looking for more high-quality PowerPoint templates? Let's look at even more template options for you to choose from. 

5 Top Design Trends for Your PowerPoint Cover Pages (For 2024 Presentations)

You’ve seen the very best PowerPoint cover page templates available today. And you’ve learned how to customize them in five easy steps. But you still need to ensure that you’ll make that winning first impression.

To do this, you must embrace the very latest trends for 2024. These five ideas feature in the best PowerPoint cover page designs today. Use them and prepare to wow even the toughest audiences.

Here are some PPT cover page ideas and trends:

1. Give a Minimalist Styling to Your PowerPoint Covers

In 2024, minimalist designs are in style. These layouts help your content shine. Minimalism is an aesthetic that embraces the idea of “less is more.”

By using a minimalist design, audience focus shifts to your message. They won’t be distracted by flashy design elements that add no value. Not only are these designs trendy for 2024. But they also help ensure your success as you present.

2. Add Subtle Animations to the First Page of Your Presentation

Static presentations are falling out of style, and with good reason. They’re dull, flat, and boring. Audiences expect more in 2024. An easy fix is to embrace the trend of animation. Animated slides control the flow of your slides, and they hold the audience's attention.

Try to use basic effects that support, rather than detract from, your message. For more on PowerPoint animations, check out our full tutorial:

3. Add Bold Fonts to Your Background Cover PPT

As you saw in the tutorial section, fonts are a key part of your download cover PPT design. What better way to embrace this than to choose a template with bold, stylish fonts built in? These are the trendiest font effects for 2024.

Bold fonts help your slide cover titles stand out. Audiences will have no doubt about what your presentation is about. With a premium template with built-in fonts, you’ll save time by having some work done for you.

4. Add Stylish Designer Background Covers to Your PPT

You may think of cover slide backgrounds as empty space. But in 2024, they’re something more. Stylish designer backgrounds are in style this year.

By adding a pattern or contrast to the background of your slide, you make every part of your cover page stand out. It makes the most of a single slide, which is always the goal to help you succeed.

Learn more about customizing PPT slide backgrounds with our helpful tutorial:

5. Give The First Pages of Your Presentations Layouts With Contrast

Like the idea of designer backgrounds, contrast-heavy layouts are popular in 2024. Gone are the days when basic two-tone layouts impressed audiences.

By using layouts with contrast, you can transform a PPT cover page into a work of art. Viewers will admire your design skills. These designs, found in premium templates, help your intro slide look its very best.

Discover More PowerPoint Top Cover Pages for Presentations 

Still haven't found the right PowerPoint template for your latest presentation? There are plenty of more high-quality and feature-rich PowerPoint templates with stunning-looking cover pages available on Envato Elements. 

Continue with your search for more of these templates. Feel free to check out a few more of our roundup articles below:

5 Benefits of Using the Best PowerPoint Covers With Pro Designs

Still unsure about going for the premium PowerPoint cover page options? The professionally designed  templates can really make a difference in your presentation. Here are five reasons why:

• Save time. This is the first and most common reason to go for a premium presentation cover page. You don’t need to spend hours thinking about the design nor creating it. A pro does this for you!
• Focus on the content. As the design is in the hands of the pros, you can put more thought into the information. Make sure every word and number is precise. That’s your only job.
• Make an impact. As creative and talented as you can be, most of these presentations were designs with a lot of eye to detail. The balance between the shapes, fonts, and color palette is not a coincidence. It’s all meant to make your presentation cover page (and the rest of it) shine.
• Add your own touch. If there’s anything that doesn’t convince you about the design, or if you want to add your brand’s identity, you can still do it! A premium cover slide for PPT will allow you to change the colors, rearrange the shapes, and more.
• Keep the pace. The perfect welcome slide for PPT, as well as the rest of the slides, won’t have too much text. Professionally designed presentations tend to give you just enough room for text. This way, you make sure to keep things concise.

Benefits of Envato Elements (The Power of Unlimited Use)

Envato Elements is a unique service. The subscription includes thousands of great PPT templates for a single flat-rate price.

Sign up for Envato Elements. You'll get access to thousands of unlimited use graphics and templates. Choose from web themes to  presentation templates , and more — all for one low price. 

Common PowerPoint Questions Answered (FAQ)

When you think about using cover page templates, you might have a few questions. You may be wondering about the value PowerPoint can bring to the table.

Or, you may not know which presentation app to use. Here, we’ve provided answers to five common PowerPoint questions to help you:

1. Can I Share PowerPoints on Zoom?

Yes! In today’s global world, this ability is more important than ever. By building slides that look great on Zoom, you can be ready to share with the world.

Want to learn more? We built a handy tutorial to help you start building and sharing PPT cover page slides on Zoom today:

2. How Do I Make PowerPoint Presentations More Diverse?

There are many ways! This is the most important concept in slide design today. It means using diverse imagery. It also includes making slides more accessible to those with disabilities.

Be sure to read up on these ideas and incorporate them in your next PPT design:

3. How Do I Get Design Ideas for PowerPoint?

Design inspiration comes from studying the successful PowerPoint designs of expert creatives. It’s also a feature of premium Envato Elements templates.

Pre-built slide layouts provide plenty of inspiration. You don’t have to invent layouts from scratch. Instead, you can fill in the blanks left for you by creative experts.

4. Can I Make Interactive Quizzes in PowerPoint?

Absolutely! These are great to include very early in your download cover PPT presentations. They help you engage with audiences by making your slides interactive. This is crucial because a focused audience is an interested audience.

For all the details, read our full tutorial:

5. How Do I Avoid Boring Presentations?

Be focused, be direct, and be engaging. Those are some of the key concepts that help you avoid giving a boring presentation. If you lose your audience because of dull slides, there’s no chance that they’ll connect with your message.

For more, visit our guide to building engaging (not boring) PowerPoint slides:

Learn More About Making Great PowerPoint Presentations in 2024

You've got your PowerPoint presentation picked out. Now it's time to edit the template and customize it to fit your particular presentation. A basic knowledge of PowerPoint can take you a long way in the editing process. 

For more help with understanding how you can edit templates in Microsoft PowerPoint, go to our  PowerPoint tutorial guide . Or take a look at the articles below:

Modern Templates for PowerPoint Presentation Cover Pages on Envato Elements (With Unlimited Use)

Free PowerPoint templates can help kickstart the presentation creation process. But using a professionally designed template helps you stand out from the competition. 

Envato Elements has thousands of the best premium PowerPoint templates with high-quality cover slides available on the web!

For a low monthly cost, you can access this massive library of templates and bring your presentations to life .

Modern PPT Front Pages

Plus, now Envato Elements has introduced an AI-powered search feature ! This new tool allows you to input a description of your project to effortlessly locate the finest human-crafted resources. 

Start experimenting with this enhanced search tool! Discover the ideal PowerPoint templates for your presentations in 2024.

Get Your PowerPoint PPT Cover Page Design Templates Today!

The templates featured in this article have incredible designs and feature eye-catching cover slides. Whether you're creating a resume, have a project proposal coming up, or need to showcase your portfolio, these PowerPoint templates can help you take your presentation to the next level.

Envato Elements offers you access to a massive library of high-quality PowerPoint templates. Plus, get access to thousands of other creative assets that can help you with your upcoming projects. 

What are you waiting for? Get started on your next PowerPoint presentation with a premium PowerPoint presentation cover page template right now!

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Andrew Childress , Gonzalo Angulo , and Renata Martín Intriago . Andrew is a freelance instructor for Envato Tuts+. Gonzalo is the Associate Editor of the Tuts+ Video channel. Renata is a staff writer with Envato Tuts+.

• Presentation

How to easily make an AWESOME first slide in PowerPoint?

• January 5, 2023

A first impression is important and creating one should never be taken lightly. It’s no surprise then, that people often simply put their title on the slides as an attention-grabbing feature for viewers – but I am personally opposed to this most common method because it just shows a lack of interest in what you’re presenting (even though again maybe not necessarily true).

First, you’ll need to decide what your presentation will be about. Do we want it to focus on one subject or do a wide-ranging overview of many topics? Once that’s clear in mind then the next step is choosing an appropriate design for each slide – don’t worry though because this can easily happen all at once using our quick and easy steps! So let’s get started by deciding how big should my slideshows be. Should they only contain pictures OR videos too?! Lastly, put together everything into actually creating these amazing.

Table of Contents

What is the first slide of a PPT presentation?

The first slide of any presentation is called a “Title Slide” or sometimes just simply referred to as the cover. This main title often contains key information about what you will be presenting and how it pertains back to our topic at hand, making this crucial for getting started on time!

How to easily design a beautiful first slide in minutes?

Now that you’ve seen some of the simplest ways to create a great-looking first slide, let’s dive into more detail. There are plenty out there for designers who want their work looked at by as many people as possible – but these will only get your audience so far! To really wow ’em and leave an impression on them long after they’ve finished scrolling through all available information online or reading through this article…you need something special: A killer design made just for them with personalization built right in from start to finish.

Method 1 – Using PowerPoint’s “Design Ideas” functionality 

PowerPoint’s “Design Ideas” functionality offers great potential for creativity and design, with many possibilities. This feature is not just good enough to try out on beginners; intermediates will also benefit from using this tool in their work too! We at OwlScape like getting inspired by creative blogs when we need some fresh ideas—so it’s always worth checking yours out if you have access or time.”

To give your presentation an edge, all you need to do is put some text on the cover slide and use PowerPoint’s “Design Ideas” feature. For example, You can write titles or subtitles for each section of information that they are presenting

Why not set out what belongs where with these simple steps? This will help keep viewers organized while giving them more clarity about how much time has passed since beginning watching!

Next, click on the “Design” tab located in your Menu bar. On this menu’s ribbon under Design Ideas, you will find a feature called “design ideas.” Click it and wait for just about 2 minutes before seeing anything!

Designing a logo is all about finding your unique style. It’s not always easy, but with some creativity and elbow grease, you can turn those generic designs into something that will befit any company or business!

that has an idea for how they would like their brand identity represented in terms of colors/fonts used on social media platforms such as Twitter etc., then it might help them if we started there first instead of trying to come up propose abstract ideas from scratch which could lead nowhere fast due lack meaningful input.

• Don’t let PowerPoint decide how you use PowerPoint.

With all these features, it can be hard to decide what is worth using and when. But don’t worry! We’ve got your back with this list of must-haves for any PowerPoint user and those on the fence (or looking forward) will want to see them too.

Make sure to check out our pre-made themes before you adopt them. You can try different typefaces and formatting from other programs like Adobe Illustrator or Apple Pages if Calibri & Cambria aren’t cutting it for your needs! Try making the presentation more interesting by changing up colors too – this will help keep attention on what’s important in any given moment rather than being distracted constantly by something blue (like their default tone).

• Create custom slide sizes.

When you’re creating a presentation, keep in mind that the default slide size may not work well on weirdly sized displays. If your screen is too small or large for what’s expected of it and needs to be resized accordingly before printing out copies so they’ll fit properly onto sheets of paper – here’s how!

• Edit your slide template design.

It’s common to design each slide by hand, but it can be easier and faster if you edit your PowerPoint template beforehand. Here are some tips for getting started with this process!

To start editing a pre-made presentation or charting out new ideas on what will ultimately become an empty canvas – let’s take advantage of our free time while still being mindful about saving every last minute possible during these busy work days so we don’t end up feeling overwhelmed at the end o the week wondering where everything went wrong because there wasn”t enough hours in one day (or weeks) spent putting together correctly aligned content across various medium.

• Make sure all of your objects are properly aligned.

The key to making a presentation look polished and professional is having properly aligned objects on your slide. You can manually try aligning them yourself, but we all know how that typically works out – you’re trying hard enough as it is without throwing some guesswork into the mix! Get rid of those worries by letting PowerPoint do its magic for you with this trick-it’ll line up everything perfectly every time so there’s nothing left guessing when viewers go through minutes or hours worth of content at one time over several days/weeks.

• Use “Format Object” to better control your objects’ designs.

When you right-click on an object and select ‘format’, the menu will pop up with all sorts of options to adjust it just how your heart desires. You can change shadows, and measurements or even create reflections–whatever looks best!

• Take advantage of PowerPoint’s shapes.

With the release of Microsoft’s expanded format options, PowerPoint provides more design potential with shapes. The user can now create better designs by using their flexible toolkit and incorporating different types or patterns into each slide’s layout!

PowerPoint is the ultimate tool for making presentations that get your message across. With Smart shapes, you can create diagrams and flow charts in no time! The best part? You don’t even need creativity because they’re pre-made – just choose what kind of shape it should be then fill out any borders or titles as desired to make them look interesting enough until next month’s meeting.

The new version has some cool features including one where users can apply different typesets based on their needs at every stage throughout the production process so there won’t ever again.

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10 Strong Opening Slides to Start A Presentation (With Examples!)

Hrideep barot.

• Presentation

It is weird how now that we all live on our laptops and depend on them for entertainment and livelihood, things that shock us aren’t that many. This is a big itchy spot when it comes to engaging audiences and having a killer opening.

Lets focus on getting that perfect first slide in your presentation to help you kick off on the right foot.

How to open presentations

Opening presentations is an extremely daunting task. The worry of putting your best foot forward but at the same time not coming across as arrogant and the whole issue with fanning your armpits just before you step on the stage.

Yeah, I know. I relate, I think most of us do. We have braved those sweat patches and we have conquered.

It is time to up our opening game and while I will be getting to the ways we can do that, you can also check out this video for a quick idea.

What should be the first slide of a presentation?

Your first slide, needs to be impactful, with minimal content. An extremely difficult balance to maintain, but! Not impossible.

Your first slide, traditionally, is your name, the topic you are going to speak on and maybe on or two other details with MAYBE an image or some other graphics.

Gone are the days when we open speeches or presentations the traditional way, nothing wrong with it, but doing something “not normal” often helps us get people’s attention and that is the easiest way to get your points across and have them received positively.

Let’s check out a few ways you can open slides for a strong opening!

Strong Opening Slide Ideas

We’ve got our thinking cap on, let’s get cracking!

There are so many ways we can have a strong opening, even when you think presentations limit you.

Think of it this way, because people know you’re going to presenting something, they are going to give you full control of a projector. A big ass screen for all to see. If that isn’t filled with potential, I don’t know what is.

Well, with great power comes great responsibility, so let’s check out a few ways we can have killer opening slides , while of course being responsible… ish.

Idea 1: Introduction

There is no better way to get the audience to remember you than putting a giant photo of yourself on the screen and going, this is me, – an extremely edited version of me, but still, me. 🙂

Buddy. No. That was an attempt at being the funny – clever person. Clearly it didn’t work.

Don’t get me wrong, talking about yourself is good, important even to some extent, but that is it you see, it isn’t the fact that you’re talking about yourself that is the problem but what are you talking about that is.

The usual go to is to list out your biodata for the audience to read on the screen, while you speak the exact same thing off of the presentation. This is where we go wrong, no one wants to know about all your seven Ph.Ds. Bruce. (get the reference please)

Be proud of your qualifications, you earned them, but know when and where which qualification might be useful.

For example, you are a certified chartered accountant and have written plays that were on Broadway. In a screenwriting workshop / panel / seminar, as great as getting your chartered accountancy is, your experience as a writer holds way more value and is what will help you get the audience’s attention.

Let’s create an opening slide with the above example.

I used these polaroid photo ideas because for a play on Broadway, we’d love to see pictures! You can use tasteful pictures and even stock photos to help your audience get the right idea of your background.

Of course, I used these random paper elements to give it a more “writer” feel and also because this is my aesthetic, but you need to remember that this is your presentation and no cookie cutter mould will work. Even templates are meant to be edited to suit your needs.

Idea 2: Quiz

Is this to make your audience feel dumb? As much as that chaotic evil side of you may want to. Never do that. Respect their experiences as much as you would want them to respect yours.

Starting off with a quiz is a great way to warm up the crowd and get them involved in your presentation. Give them something to think about and it honestly doesn’t matter if they get it right or wrong, what matters is that they are trying to answer and interact!

Quizzes are a great ice breaker and also a great tool to get the audience going, you can also try to have a one off question or a series of questions.

Lets take the slide as an example, it could be for a presentation on a film industry and the question could be, guess the film from these three pictures, or they could be three different questions.

Remember as an opening slide, it should neither be text nor image heavy, just the right amount.

You could even create a game out of those quizzes and have checked off your list and even use these as a starting off point and come back to the topics (which could be your answers) while using this quiz as a reference point. The possibilities are endless!

Idea 3: Stimulation of Imagination

It always great to know what your audience is thinking, or in the least get them thinking!

You see, once they start thinking, they begin forming an opinion about the topic, which gets them invested and since you are the person addressing the topic, they will begin comparing their point of view / opinion with what they are saying.

There will always be different perspectives, what matters here is that they are invested enough to pay attention to you.

A really easy way to help them get started with forming an opinion is, asking them to take a minute to think about something.

For example: Think about a dancing monkey.

Can some of you describe the monkey you imagined, in the comment section? Was it wearing tap shoes and a top hat? Was it wearing a marching band uniform? Did it have your best friend’s face on it? Mine did!

Each of you had your own Dancing Monkey, and if thinking about it for a few seconds made it your own, imagine the attachment you can build by just spending a few minutes or even the duration of a presentation on it!

For example, you’re taking a presentation on perspectives or psychology. You can display this image and ask them what they think of it. Some may think about freedom, some loneliness and some people’s thoughts may be so profound that we could’ve never thought of it!

Idea 4: Video

This could work just as marvellous as sharing an image and opening a short discussion on its interpretations. You could even start with a video and use it as a segue into your presentation.

For example this video could be used as a great example for a marketing strategy by the brand and could be a great way to get the audience interested given the emotional quotient and relatable sibling content.

Idea 5: Image

Using an image might not necessarily mean that you can only invite the audience to imagine and think on their own. You can use an image to start your presentation and help get your point across.

You see that how the image is the hero of the slide? There is text, definitely, but much smaller, it looks as a complementary to the image instead of the other way around.

In this slide for example, assume poverty is the topic, a very telling image of poverty could help get the conversation started and make the audience more receptive of the topic.

An image in a way helps them “put a face” to the issue and that makes is easier for you to hold their attention and keep it.

Idea 6: Quote

It is well known and understood how impactful the right quote at the right time can be.

Lets focus on some things that people can often get wrong when using quotes.

Firstly, using long quotes, this is a no no when it comes to presentations because, then the audience will be in a rush to read the whole quote and if your point is made before then, well, we won’t get the desired effect will we?

Another thing to keep in mind is to not have a quote just to use it as a quote, pretty cryptic, honestly it is simple, if you are giving a presentation on a person and using their quote or you are using a random quote, make sure to have something to add to it.

It could be something simple. For example when talking about a person’s life:

“When this person said this, they were on their death bed, but they had lead a vivacious life until then to say the least, let’s start at the very beginning…”

Notice how despite there being a background picture, a text box, a bird in the corner, and all that, the text is what is the hero of the slide. You could even add a picture of the person whom you are quoting if it seems relevant.

Remember to always give credit where it is due. It never hurts.

Idea 7: Story

Who doesn’t love a good story? Storytelling is a major part of public speaking where animation, emotion and gestures and tones play a huge role in delivering your point.

With presentations, you need to remember to not just select any story, you need find / write a story that connects well to your topic, for example, if we are speaking about technology, a story about Alice and her looking glass don’t really give you much room to work in a segue.

Storytelling is a whole other conversation, check out this article to learn more about public speaking and how storytelling factors into it: Public Speech Into Story: 3 Steps To Telling A Captivating Story

Here the pictures are the heroes, and while words are important, make them complementary to what you are speaking.

Starting off with a joke is also a very popular trick and I think why should it be this or that, why should it be a joke or a story, why can’t it be a humorous story?

Now don’t go fretting about because it doesn’t have to be fictional, it could even be an anecdote from your experiences or maybe one comic strip you found online.

When it comes to humorous speeches, it can be quite intimidating, but here is an article I think will help you wade through these waters: A Guide To Using Humour In Your Speech

Idea 8: Examples

This is a great way to introduce your topic to a crowd that doesn’t know your topic well. Create examples or situations to help your audience gain a smooth entry into your presentation.

It is like math, it is fun when you understand, and that means you care and give attention to it.

You can also use case studies or make your examples into stories to make it more subtle and seamless.

Here is where a traditional topic, sentence and image layout of an opening slide is best suggested. You can build this in any direction and still be able to relate to your slide.

Idea 9: Hard Facts

Facing facts instances that are always either pleasantly welcomed or hard to swallow. Hitting the audience with hard facts works really well, especially if what you are going to talk about is a difficult or sensitive issue.

An astonishing fact is bound to catch people’s attention and you can always use it to your advantage!

According to Femme International, over the last 20 years, the sanitary pad sector has bloomed and advanced; they have taken over the industry and 85% of menstruating women in the country use napkins. As society progressed and the taboo on periods were lifted from many regions, a new problem came up. One which is really harmful. We all know that the blood that comes out during our periods is harmful and full of bacteria. Now include this bacteria filled blood with a pad which takes 500-800 years to decompose. That’s right, 500-800 years of a used sanitary napkin breeding bacteria in rivers, drains, soil and the sea. A menstruating woman uses 15-20 pads for one cycle. Which sums up to 7,200-9,600 pads over an average period of 40 years. This is just for one woman. According to UNICEF roughly 26% of the world’s population are menstruating women. This means that 2.28 BILLION women are going to use over 9,000 pads EACH during their menstruating years.

Always try to not keep your introductory slides text heavy, but when starting with facts, try to highlight them, notice how the topic and the image are not very prominent but play their part in bringing together the entire slide while the first thing you read is the fact, underlined and set in the middle.

Try to play around with the layouts, figure out what suits your needs the best.

Idea 10: Controversial Statements

Who doesn’t love controversies?

Even if we know something is clickbait, it still catches our eye. Even if we know something to not be possible, when someone says it – with conviction, our ears do perk up.

It doesn’t have to be something extraordinary, just not ordinary enough that it catches people’s attention and in the end, you can always use it to connect your conclusion to your introduction.

Here is a great TEDTalk that would help you understand what I am talking about.

If you plan to use this method, it is easier to dive into your slides after you’ve made the statement and start elaborating on it instead of right at the beginning, it could start with your topic or some proof or where ever your presentation takes you!

Final Thoughts

A presentation carries as much personality as its maker, if you want the right impact you need to use the templates, infographics and tools available to you to the fullest, but remember, there is a thing called “too much” as well.

The easiest way to kill it with your presentations is to keep it neat, in your aesthetic and to the point. Make it engaging, make it colourful, make it black and white. It would work perfectly if it bounces off your personality on stage.

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Blog > 10 creative Ideas for your Title- and End-Slides in Presentations

10 creative Ideas for your Title- and End-Slides in Presentations

11.13.19   •  #powerpointtips #presentation.

Of all the slides in a PowerPoint presentation, the ones that are without a doubt the most important ones are the first and the last one. It makes perfect sense – the title slide sets the general tone. Make it boring and you’ll loose your audience’s attention within the first few minutes. If you’re making it exciting and innovative on the other hand, you’re taking a big step towards giving an amazing presentation and having an engaged audience. It is very similar with the final slide. It will be the one that people are going to remember most, the one that is supposed to make people leave the room thinking ‘Wow! What a great presentation!’ A bad ending could even mess up what would otherwise be a good performance overall (just think of a good TV show with a bad ending…).

The most common mistakes for title and final slides

If you asked 100 people what belongs on your PowerPoint’s title slide, the majority would answer ‘The title, maybe a subtitle, the presenter’s name and company, the date’. That kind of title slide is alright, but you usually say all of these things in the beginning of a presentation anyway. Also, it is very likely that most of your attendees know these things – they usually signed up for it after all. So what’s the point in listing all of that information on your title slide, when you could also use it for making a stunning first impression? Not only the title slide is commonly designed in an uncreative and conventional way. Too often, you can see PowerPoint presentations ending with the ‘Any Questions?’ or even worse – the ‘Thank you for your attention’ slide. ‘Thank you for your attention’ is a set phrase that has been said so many times it can’t possibly be delivered in an authentic way anymore. Therefore, it’s better to think of something else for your grand final. Finding an unconventional ending that suits your presentation style makes you seem much more charismatic and authentic than using an empty phrase.

1. An inspiring quote

An inspiring quote on your slide is a perfect way to both start and finish your presentation. Well, it does not have to be inspiring. It could be any quote that is somehow connected to your presented topic. Just have fun looking through books and the internet to find interesting quotes that you want your audience to hear. Good pages to look at for inspiration are goodreads and brainyquotes.com .

2. A blank slide

This might seem strange to some people, but a blank slide can be really powerful if you want to have your audience’s full attention. You can use the advantage of blank slides by incorporating them at the beginning, in the end or even in between your regular slides. You can either use a blank slide of your regular template (so there will still be some design elements on it) or go all in and make the slide completely black (or white).

3. A call to action

If the goal of your presentation is to really make your audience act in some kind of way, there is no better way to start – or better yet end your presentation than with a call to action. This can be literally anything from little trivial things like “Drink enough water during the presentation so your brain stays intact!” – which will lighten up the mood – to more serious calls like “Help reducing waste by recycling whenever possible!”.

4. A question

Usually, it is the audience that asks questions after a presentation. However, you can also turn that around and ask your attendees instead. However, it’s important to ask a question that can be answered easily and individually – the best questions involve previous experiences and personal opinions (asking about facts or questions that are hard to understand can often lead to silence and no one wanting to answer).

5. An interactive poll

Nothing engages the audience like a live poll. Conduct one right at the beginning to get everybody envolved, and/or wait until the end to get your audience’s opinion on something. Icebreaker polls are the perfect way to start, as they lighten the mood. You can easily create polls for free with interactive software tools such as SlideLizard .

6. A funny picture, meme, or quote

I’m pretty sure that every student nowadays has that teacher that just tries a little too hard to be cool by throwing in a meme on literally every single slide. That may be a bit too much. But just a little comedy at the beginning or in the end can make you seem very charismatic and entertaining and catch the attention of your listeners. Open (or close) with a joke, a funny picture or a quote – whichever you feel comfortable with. It is usually best if it has something to do with the topic you’re presenting.

7. An interesting fact

Catch the audience’s attention by putting an interesting fact concerning the topic on one of your slides – ideally at the beginning, but maybe also in the end (to keep up the audience’s interest even after the presentation is done).

8. The title, but with a twist

If you feel like you need to put the presentations name/topic on the front slide, but still want that little creative twist, just change the title slightly. According to what I’m proposing, rather dull presentation titles like e.g. “Marine Biology – An Introduction to Organisms in the sea” can be transformed to “Marine Biology – Diving Deep” (or something less cheesy if you prefer). Make it either funny or over-the-top spectacular and catch the audience’s attention!

9. A bold statement, opinion, or piece of information

This is probably the best way to capture your audience from the beginning on. Start with a radical, crazy opinion or statement and then get your attendees hooked by telling them that during the presentation, they will learn why you’re right. It could be anything, really, as long as it goes well with your presented topic – from the statement “Everybody has the time to read 5 books a month” to “Going to college is a waste of time” or “The human species is not the most intelligent on earth” – Take whatever crazy, unpopular theory or opinion you have, throw it out there and (very important!) explain why you’re right. You’ll have your audience’s attention for sure and might even change some of their opinions about certain things.

10. No title and end slide at all

Yes, that’s a possibility as well. If you absolutely can’t think of any creative or otherwise good way to start and end your presentation – even after reading the tips mentioned above – then simply don’t. That’s right - no title and end slide at all. You can pull that of by simply introducing yourself in the beginning, then getting right into the topic (which makes a good impression, long introductions are usually rather tedious) and when you’re at your last slide just saying a simple ‘Goodbye, thank you and feel free to ask questions’.

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About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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A step-by-step guide to captivating PowerPoint presentation design

november 20, 2023

by Corporate PowerPoint Girl

Do you often find yourself stuck with a lackluster PowerPoint presentation, desperately seeking ways to make it more engaging and visually appealing? If your boss has ever told you to "please fix" a presentation and you didn't know where to start, you're not alone. In this article, we'll walk you through a straightforward method to transform your PowerPoint slides into a visually captivating masterpiece. 

Let's dive right in! 

Clean up your slides 

The first step in this journey to presentation excellence is all about decluttering your slides and elevating their impact. Say goodbye to those uninspiring bullet points that often dominate presentations. Instead, focus on what truly matters – the key call-out numbers. By increasing the font size of these numbers, you ensure they take center stage, immediately drawing your audience's attention. 

To make those numbers pop, consider breaking the text after the numbers into the next line and adding a touch of color. The contrast created by pairing a dark color with a lighter shade, like dark teal and light teal or burnt orange with peach, can work wonders. This simple adjustment makes your data more engaging , enhancing the overall impact of your presentation. 

Add dimension with boxes 

Now, let's introduce an element of depth and organization to your slides. By adding boxes, you'll create a visually pleasing structure that guides your audience through the content. In the "Insert" menu, select "Table" and opt for a one-by-one table. Change the table color to a light gray shade, elongate it, and position it neatly to the left of your text. 

To improve readability and aesthetics, increase the spacing between text phrases. A small adjustment in the before spacing setting (setting it to 48) significantly enhances the visual appeal of your slides. 

Insert circles 

To further enhance the visual appeal and engagement of your slides, let's introduce circles. In the Insert menu, navigate to Shapes and choose the circle. Adjust the circle's height and width to 1.2, ensuring it complements your content seamlessly. Match the circle's shape fill color with the corresponding text color for a harmonious look. 

Avoid using colored outlines for the circles, as they may distract from the overall aesthetic. This simple addition of circles adds an element of visual interest to your presentation, making it more captivating. 

Choose icons 

Now, it's time for a touch of creativity. Selecting icons to complement your text can elevate the clarity and appeal of your slides. In the "Insert" menu, you can search for relevant keywords to find the perfect icon from PowerPoint's extensive library . 

For instance, if your text discusses investment portfolio yield, search for "growth" and choose an upward arrow growth icon. These icons add an extra layer of visual appeal and clarity to your content, making it more engaging and informative. 

Final touches 

To wrap up the transformation process, we come to the final touches that give your presentation a polished, professional finish. Align your icons with their corresponding circles and change the shape fill color to white. This simple adjustment creates a crisp, cohesive look that ties everything together seamlessly. 

In conclusion, by following these steps, you've embarked on a journey to enhance your PowerPoint presentation . These initial steps are just the beginning of your exploration into the world of design elements and styles that can cater to your specific presentation needs. The key to a stunning PowerPoint presentation lies in the details. By following these steps, you can turn a lackluster set of slides into a visually engaging and dynamic presentation that will captivate your audience. So, the next time your boss says, "Please fix," you'll know exactly where to start. Happy presenting! 

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Simple Steps to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

Last Updated: July 23, 2024 Fact Checked

Creating a New PowerPoint

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

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 4,345,845 times. Learn more...

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

How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation

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

Things You Should Know

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Community Q&A

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

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

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

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How to Design a Great Presentation Cover Page

A cover page is a quick and easy way to add polish to your presentation. We'll cover a few tips for creating a great cover image, and we've got ten free PowerPoint cover image templates you can download at the bottom of the page.

The cover image sets the tone for your presentation—you don't want to dive right into the content—and is a great opportunity to start your deck off on the right foot.

What to include

Your cover image should include these basic facts:

• Title Short and sweet.
• Your contact information. Email or phone number
• Your company logo. It's all about branding.

Bonus tips:

Cobranding. Presenting to a customer? Add their logo to personalize the presentation.

Conferences. Including your Twitter handle is a great idea—you might gain some followers, and it gives your audience someone to tag when they gush about your awesome presentation.

Know your Audience

Consider how your audience will view your presentation deck (projected, on their laptop, or printed like it's 1995), and make sure that the scale of your design is appropriate.

If you're presenting at a conference, your type needs to be big enough to read from the cheap seats, and make sure you have enough contrast that the text is legible even if there's poor projector quality. You don't want your audience squinting at the screen before your presentation even starts. And remember—the title page will be what's on screen when you're getting ready—walking up to the stage, fixing your microphone, or just swallowing back the sheer terror of public speaking.

If you're emailing the presentation, make sure your cover image works well as a thumbnail. That will be the first thing your reader sees when she receives the file—and, let's face it, a better image is going to drive more opens than a boring one.

Know your brand

If you have an established brand, your cover image needs to reflect it. One of the biggest problems we see with decks out in the wild is when the creator goes off-brand and uses the wrong colors or typeface. Imagine how surprising it would be to see a presentation from Coca-Cola without their trademark red, or Facebook without their blue.

Cover Image Techniques

Now that we have the basics down, here are some techniques you can use make a well-designed cover image.

Stock Photography

The workhorse of cover images is stock photography—an attractive photo with plenty of negative space, then place your text on top of it. The trick is to find the right photo and make it work for you. Pexels is a great place to find free images you can use anywhere. When you're looking for stock photos, keep these tips in mind to help you find the right image.

Sometimes you'll need to do a quick bit of editing to make the image work for you. The important thing is to find an image that works in the background —one that lets your reader focus on your message, not the photo. These images tend to look boring all by themselves—you need to use a bit of imagination to see how it will work once you layer text on it.

Once you have an image, you can desaturate and tint it to give it better contrast for your text, or manipulate the image to give it more negative space, as you see below.

Typographic

Nice typography will take a you a long way, and it's something you can do in PowerPoint without any special tools. We're in a renaissance of great, free fonts. Take a look at this selection of the best Google Fonts from the always awesome TypeWolf for inspiration.

Using custom fonts can be tricky in PowerPoint. If you're having trouble getting your fonts to show up, take a look at this article . If you're sharing the PowerPoint with others, they'll need to have the fonts installed (we recommend always exporting your deck to PDF before sharing with customers to avoid font problems).

We all know PowerPoint isn't the greatest design tool—but it does the basics well enough, and you can use it to make a minimal design that works well.

Even though they're "easy" to do, with the right layout and sense of balance you can make a design that really sings with hardly any design elements.

Strong color combinations, simple shapes, and nice typography can yield a cover page that looks great without searching for stock images or opening Photoshop. Need a little help with color combinations? Check out Kuler from Adobe .

Free PowerPoint Cover Page Templates

We've made examples of the styles above for you to download and use. These are completely free—do whatever you like with them!

Coffee Cup PowerPoint Cover

Requires  open sans download powerpoint file, beach powerpoint cover, requires  playfair display download powerpoint file, office building powerpoint cover, requires  open sans and playfair display download powerpoint file, circles powerpoint cover, bridge powerpoint cover, desk powerpoint cover, design tools powerpoint cover, simple powerpoint cover, tiled background powerpoint cover, topographic background powerpoint cover.

Enjoy! If you need some ideas to get you started, take a look at our portfolio of decks we've designed . Or if you'd like a little help on your next project, we're happy to help .

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Lightboard is a B2B design service. We've helped great companies like Autodesk, Nasdaq, and Tile with design, and we'd love to help you.

Need great design for your presentations, website, and inbound marketing? Look no further.

See what we can do.

PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

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

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

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

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

What is PowerPoint?

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

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

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

• PowerPoint Online

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Main Window

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Tabs

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

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

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

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

1. Home Tab

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

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

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

2. Insert Tab

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

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

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

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

3. Design Tab

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

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

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

4. Transitions Tab

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

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

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

5. Animations Tab

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

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

6. Slide Show Tab

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

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

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

7. Review Tab

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

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

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

8. View Tab

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

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

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

9. Recording Tab

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

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

10. Help Tab

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

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #1: Crop to Shape

This first PowerPoint feature is simple but effective!

Let's see how to use it:

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

PowerPoint Feature #2: Merge Shapes

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #3: Insert Icons

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

Just follow these steps:

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #4: Insert SmartArt

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

To use it in your slide deck, you must:

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #5: Remove Background

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #6: Add Speaker Notes

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

Learning how to add speaker notes in PowerPoint is simple:

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #7: PowerPoint Translator

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

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

PowerPoint Feature #8: Screen Recording

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to download PowerPoint templates for free?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Make a draft to structure your presentation

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

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

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

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

Step 2: Create a new document in PowerPoint

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

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

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

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

Step 3: Choose the perfect design for your presentation

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

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

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

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

How do you set a default design in PowerPoint?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How do you customize your slides in PowerPoint?

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

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

Just go to:

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

Step 4: Add all your information to your presentation

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

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

Step 5: Add transitions or animations to your presentation

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 6: Refine the final details

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

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

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

Step 7: Slideshow your presentation

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

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

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

Now you can present your slides like an expert!

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

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

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

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

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

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The First Slide: What It Needs to Be and What It Has to Do

first slide

PowerPoint slide

presentation

May 28, 2014

If you want to maximize your slide presentation to establish better brand recall, start at the very beginning – the first slide. Naturally, it is the first thing that your audience will see even before you say a word. So design it in a way that stands out from the rest of your slides. It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your presentation ends.

It will help your logo and company name make an impression on your audience, and retain your brand in their memory long after your presentation ends.

What your First Slide Needs to BE

As you prepare you presentation, it’s important that you develop a first slide that will generate interest in support of everything you are about to say. It should have a visual element that features key aspects of your organization that is consistent with the key concept of your presentation.

It could be a photo or graphic image that stimulates people’s curiosity. As this is an excellent opportunity to draw attention to your business, make sure to make the most of it. When people come in the room and see your first slide, they should be compelled to want to be interested in you what you have to say.

However, it doesn’t always have to be flashy to pique the audience’s interests while informing them of your brand. According to business guru Guy Kawasaki, in his famous  10-20-30 rule , your first slide should often be the Title Slide, which contains your company name, address,  your name and position in the company, your email, and work cell number.

Details like these may be straight to the point, but if you’re presenting to a crowd of busy VCs and investors, this is enough visual stimulus to let them in on your brand.

What your First Slide Needs to DO

With the right amount of texts and graphics, your first slide can communicate much more than what it appears to relate to the audience. Your audience should be able to digest the information you are sharing quickly and precisely. They should get an idea about your business even before you start to talk about what you have to offer.

It is important that each slide in your presentation be well-designed and engaging. The first slide, however, is crucial in igniting the spark that will make people want to hear what you have to say and get to know more about your business. Design it right and it can help you set the stage for an awesome and successful presentation.

The Final Word

Ultimately, while the first slide isn’t the entire presentation itself, it’s still an introduction to the rest of your pitch. In the same way that you need to make a good first impression through your physical appearance and speech, you’ll need a deck to match.

Start your pitch right with a winning opening slide. Impress people from the get-go. Don’t let any opportunity pass.

“ The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch .”  Guy Kawasaki.  Accessed May 28, 2014.

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How to Design a Professional PowerPoint Presentation

Our series of tips on presentation design outlined some generic rules and ideas that you can live by to create better, more professional presentations. Today we want to follow that up by taking you through the actual process of designing a presentation from start to finish.

We’ll break down every step of the design process, from choosing colors and images to using whitespace properly. After reading through this you should be all set to design your own beautiful presentation slides that will put your coworkers to shame.

Using a pre-built PowerPoint template can be a good starting point for many people (we collected some of the best PowerPoint templates for you!). But if you’re wanting to design your own from start-to-finish, you’re in the right place!

19+ Million PowerPoint Templates, Themes, Graphics + More

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A Word About Content

I usually make a big deal about content preceding design, and presentations are no exception. Ideally, you’ll have the topic and much or all of the content outlined before you even think about design. This will in every way shape the appearance of your design, which is why working from pre-built templates isn’t always the best move (though generic templates can and do work great in some circumstances).

The reason that I bring this up is that I don’t really have an actual presentation in mind for this project. I’ll be running with a basic theme, but the textual information will be entirely placeholder copy. Your image, font, color and layout selection shouldn’t necessarily match mine but instead reflect the topic and content you’re working with.

Choosing A Color Scheme

Before I even open Photoshop (yes, I design PowerPoint/Keynote slides in Photoshop and drop them in), I want to find a color scheme on which to base my entire design. When I need to quickly find several colors that go together I usually start with Adobe Color CC . Not only is it a great way to build your own color schemes, it’s an outstanding source to find schemes built by others that you can just grab for your projects.

As luck would have it, I liked the very first color scheme I saw upon opening Color. This scheme was featured on the home page and looked like a great place to start for our presentation design.

Now, if you wanted to get everything exactly right, you could make a list of the RGB or Hex values, but I prefer a quicker, more direct route. What I usually do is snap a screenshot of the color scheme, paste it into my document and stretch it across the canvas on its own layer for easy access. This way I can quickly activate the layer, eyedropper the color I want, then hide the layer and get back to work. It’s a bit like having a palette of colors to dip your paintbrush in.

Designing Your Cover Slide

Now that we have a color scheme, the design work is going to be much simpler. One trick that designers often use in presentations is to leverage the color scheme as heavily as possible. If you’re new to design, you’ll likely think that this is too easy, too plain or even that it’s cheating somehow, but trust me, it’ll be much more attractive and professional than that horrid Microsoft clipart library you love so much.

To start, simply grab one of your colors from the scheme you chose and flood the background of your slide with it (I chose #631c25). Good job, there’s your background. Don’t freak out. It’ll look great. Now let’s throw in some typography.

Choosing a Font

Font choice is a major issue for non-designers. The tendency is to think that most fonts are “boring” and to look around for something exciting and fun. This inevitably leads to the use of Comic Sans or some other equally hideous font.

Unless you’re an elementary school teacher, your presentations should never look like this. Instead, why don’t you try one of those “boring” fonts to see if you can come up with something you like.

Combining fonts can be a tricky task and can take a trained eye to pull off. Fortunately, font designers have already created collections that work well together and if you’re not a designer, they make it easy to pull off great typography. The trick is to just stay in a family. Again, I know this sounds lame, but it works really well if you make sure the two styles you choose are very different.

For instance, I chose a Helvetica Bold Condensed and a Helvetica Light for my cover slide. Notice how different the fonts are from each other in terms of thickness. Choosing two styles that are relatively close causes visual confusion and should be avoided as a general rule of thumb. Instead, what you want is contrast and plenty of it.

Alignment and Layout

Notice a few things about the way I set up this slide. First, I used a strong left alignment for the text. As I say in just about every design article I write, center alignment should be a last resort, not a first. It tends to be the weakest text alignment that you can choose, having a hard edge increases readability considerably (notice that book pages aren’t center-aligned).

Also, notice the generous whitespace that I used. Remember that you don’t have to eat up every inch of space. Giving your text room to breathe helps your layout immensely and gives the design a clean look.

Adding an Image

At this point you might be wondering why you wasted your time reading so I could give you such plain advice. The truth is, most people that create presentations could improve them by 100% from following the advice above. However, I realize minimalism may be too extreme for some folks so let’s throw in an image to make it look nice.

Since our text is on the left, I wanted to find something a little heavy on the right. The general theme that I’ll go for is “City photos” assuming I had some sort of architecture or city-centric presentation to give. Again, you’ll have to choose iamges relevant to your own topic.

I grabbed this Flickr Creative Commons image from photographer Ben Spreng .

Now, if we just made this image our background, the text would become unreadable and we would be ditching our color scheme. What we’re going to do instead is set it on top of the colored slide and set our blending mode to Overlay. Then throw your opacity to around 45%.

As you can see, this helps the slide look much more interesting but keeps the text and colors fairly intact. It’s a simple solution that adds a lot of interest to an otherwise plain design.

Adding Content Slides

The cover may seem like it’s only a tiny part of the battle, but you’ve actually already set the tone for the entire presentation. You’ve got your theme, color scheme and fonts already in place. Now you just need to set up a few different layouts for your content.

The thing to keep in mind is to keep everything extremely simple, and that includes the level of content that you include. Apart from design, these are just good presentation tactics that you’ll learn in every public speaking class. Filling your slides with everything you’re going to say makes you unnecessary. You could just email everyone the slides and shut up.

Instead, the slides are merely meant to be a visual aid. Show a slide with your overall topic or main point, then speak the rest, without reading. Nothing is worse than watching a guy read his note cards word-for-word for thirty minutes, except perhaps watching a guy turn his back to the audience so he can actually read his slides out loud to you the whole time! You may laugh, but I’ve seen it happen folks.

For our first content slide, we’ll grab another Flickr photo and set it to the bottom portion of our slide at full bleed. Then we’ll set the top to another color from our scheme and toss in some text using the same exact formatting that we used on the cover.

See how this closely resembles the theme we’ve already established while still looking significantly different? This is they key to good presentation design: cohesiveness without redundancy.

Now for our third slide, we can simply do the inverse of the second slide with a new color and a new image .

Adding Informational Elements

It would be nice if every slide ever presented could work in a full bleed image, but the truth is that this simply isn’t practical. It will often be the case that you’re presenting graphical information or some other item that isn’t necessarily a photo.

My advice here is to try to stick as close to your theme as possible. For the slide below I flooded the entire background with a solid color from our original scheme and made a quick 3D graph with white columns (I drew a few flat boxes in Illustrator and applied a 3D effect).

As you can see, this slide is very information-focused and yet it doesn’t sacrifice the aesthetics and simplicity we’ve already established.

You’re All Set

From here you might come up with one or two more alternate slide designs and then rotate between them for the duration of your speech. The result is a presentation that is beautiful, very readable and highly professional. The bonus is that the simple, straightforward design will probably result in less work than a clip-art-filled horror show.

Most of the time, great design doesn’t mean being particularly artistic or knowing how to create amazing complex layouts. Instead, it’s about presenting information in an attractive and user-friendly way. With this goal in mind you realize that you’re probably trying way too hard if your end result is ugly. Try cutting out half or more of the elements on one of your slides and giving what’s left a strong left or right alignment with plenty of whitespace.

I hope this article has convinced you to abandon that clip art gallery once and for all. The benefits of clean, minimal design in presentations are clear: the information is easier to take in and the end result is more professional than the mess of information you typically see in presentation slides.

Of course, if you’re looking to get started quickly, flick through our collection of the best PowerPoint templates to find a beautiful set of pre-made designs!

How-To Geek

8 tips to make the best powerpoint presentations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Microsoft Office

20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

Published: August 06, 2024

When it comes to PowerPoint presentation design, there's no shortage of avenues you can take.

While all that choice — colors, formats, visuals, fonts — can feel liberating, it‘s important that you’re careful in your selection as not all design combinations add up to success.

In this blog post, I’m sharing some of my favorite PowerPoint tips and templates to help you nail your next presentation.

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What makes a good PowerPoint presentation?

Powerpoint design ideas, best powerpoint presentation slides, good examples of powerpoint presentation design.

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In my opinion, a great PowerPoint presentation gets the point across succinctly while using a design that doesn't detract from it.

Here are some of the elements I like to keep in mind when I’m building my own.

1. Minimal Animations and Transitions

Believe it or not, animations and transitions can take away from your PowerPoint presentation. Why? Well, they distract from the content you worked so hard on.

A good PowerPoint presentation keeps the focus on your argument by keeping animations and transitions to a minimum. I suggest using them tastefully and sparingly to emphasize a point or bring attention to a certain part of an image.

2. Cohesive Color Palette

I like to refresh my memory on color theory when creating a new PowerPoint presentation.

A cohesive color palette uses complementary and analogous colors to draw the audience’s attention and help emphasize certain aspects at the right time.

Image source

Mesmerize your audience by adding some neon colors and effects to your PowerPoint slides. Adding pops of color to your presentation will create visual interest and keep your audience engaged. 

What I like: Neon will add personality and depth to your presentation and will help the information you're providing stand out and be more memorable. 

2. Use an interesting background image.

Do you have some interesting nature photos from a recent road trip? Or maybe a holiday passed, and you have gorgeous photos to share? If so, consider incorporating them into your PowerPoint. 

What I like: PowerPoints don't have to be stuffy and boring. They can be fun and a unique or interesting background will enhance the experience of your presentation.

3. Or be minimal.

Have you ever heard of K.I.S.S.? Not the band! I mean, Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. If you're worried too many colors or visuals could take attention away from the message of your presentation, consider going minimal. 

Pro tip: Stick to no more than three colors if you're going for a minimalist design in your slides. 

4. Incorporate illustrations.

Illustrations are a great way to highlight or break down a point in your presentation. They can also add a bit of whimsy and fun to keep viewers engaged.

5. Use all caps.

Using all capital letters can draw your audience's eyes to where you need them, helping cement your message in their minds. It can also just be aesthetically pleasing.

Pro tip: If you choose to use all capital letters, use varying fonts so readers can tell which information is important and which are supporting details.

6. Alternate slide layouts

You don't want readers to grow bored with your presentation. So, to retain visual interest, use alternating slide layouts. The example above shows PowerPoint slides alternating between vertical and horizontal layouts.

This keeps things interesting and ensures your presentation isn't monotonous.  

7. Inject a little humor.

Humor is a great way to drive a point home and help people remember the information you're presenting. People remember a good joke, so if you have a funny pun to connect to a concept in a presentation, why not use it in a slide?

Pro tip: Remember you're in a professional setting, so keep your jokes appropriate. If you're worried a joke can get you a meeting with HR, then keep it to yourself. 

8. Use duotones.

Duotones (or gradience) can take the aesthetic of your PowerPoint to new levels. They can provide a calming energy to your presentation and make viewers feel relaxed and eager to stay focused. 

9. Include printed materials.

Let's say you have a PowerPoint you're proud of, but you want to go that extra mile to ensure your audience understands the material. A great way to do this would be to supplement your presentation with printed materials, as such as:

• Pamphlets 
• Printed slides
• Short quizzes on the material

10. Keep it to one chart or graph per slide.

This is both a design example and a warning. Graphs and charts are an excellent way of displaying quantitative data in a digestible format.

However, you should have no more than one graph or chart per slide so your presentation doesn't get too confusing or muddled. 

11. Use a large font.

Just like capital letters, a large font will help your shift your audience's focus to key points in your presentation.

Pro tip: You can combine large fonts and capital letters to boost its effectiveness. 

12. Include videos.

Embedding a video into your PowerPoint can help you expand on a point or effectively break down a complex topic. You can either embed a video from a platform like YouTube or TikTok or use HubSpot's Clip Creator to make your own.

Pro tip: Try to keep videos short, like, under a minute, and don't use more than one or two. 

13. Use GIFs.

GIFs add more visual interest, and they can be a great way to add humor or personal touch to your PowerPoint presentation.

14. Use contrasting colors when comparing two ideas or arguments. 

Contrasting colors can convey the difference between two opposing thoughts or arguments in a way that is visually appealing. 

15. Add a touch of nature.

If you want your presentation to exude a calming energy to your audience, including images of trees, flowers, and natural landscapes can do the trick.

PowerPoint Theme Ideas

Atlas (theme).

Covering a more creative subject for a younger or more energetic audience? I’d recommend using the cover slide design below. Its vibrant red color blocks and fun lines will appeal to your audience.

This simplistic presentation example employs several different colors and font weights, but instead of coming off as disconnected, the varied colors work with one another to create contrast and call out specific concepts.

What I like: The big, bold numbers help set the reader's expectations, as they clearly signify how far along the viewer is in the list of tips.

10. “Pixar's 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling,” Gavin McMahon

This presentation by Gavin McMahon features color in all the right places. While each of the background images boasts a bright, spotlight-like design, all the characters are intentionally blacked out.

What I like: This helps keep the focus on the tips, while still incorporating visuals. Not to mention, it's still easy for me to identify each character without the details. (I found you on slide eight, Nemo.)

11. “Facebook Engagement and Activity Report,” We Are Social

Here's another great example of data visualization in the wild.

What I like: Rather than displaying numbers and statistics straight up, this presentation calls upon interesting, colorful graphs, and charts to present the information in a way that just makes sense.

12. “The GaryVee Content Model,” Gary Vaynerchuk

This wouldn‘t be a true Gary Vaynerchuk presentation if it wasn’t a little loud, am I right?

What I like: Aside from the fact that I love the eye-catching, bright yellow background, Vaynerchuk does a great job of incorporating screenshots on each slide to create a visual tutorial that coincides with the tips. He also does a great job including a visual table of contents that shows your progress as you go .

13. “20 Tweetable Quotes to Inspire Marketing & Design Creative Genius,” IMPACT Branding & Design

We‘ve all seen our fair share of quote-chronicling presentations but that isn’t to say they were all done well. Often the background images are poor quality, the text is too small, or there isn't enough contrast.

Well, this professional presentation from IMPACT Branding & Design suffers from none of said challenges.

What I like: The colorful filters over each background image create just enough contrast for the quotes to stand out.

14. “The Great State of Design,” Stacy Kvernmo

This presentation offers up a lot of information in a way that doesn't feel overwhelming.

What I like: The contrasting colors create visual interest and “pop,” and the comic images (slides 6 through 12) are used to make the information seem less buttoned-up and overwhelming.

15. “Clickbait: A Guide To Writing Un-Ignorable Headlines,” Ethos3

Not going to lie, it was the title that convinced me to click through to this presentation but the awesome design kept me there once I arrived.

What I like: This simple design adheres to a consistent color pattern and leverages bullet points and varied fonts to break up the text nicely.

16. “Digital Transformation in 50 Soundbites,” Julie Dodd

This design highlights a great alternative to the “text-over-image” display we've grown used to seeing.

What I like: By leveraging a split-screen approach to each presentation slide, Julie Dodd was able to serve up a clean, legible quote without sacrificing the power of a strong visual.

17. “Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint,” Slide Comet

When you‘re creating a PowerPoint about how everyone’s PowerPoints stink, yours had better be terrific. The one above, based on the ebook by Seth Godin, keeps it simple without boring its audience.

What I like: Its clever combinations of fonts, together with consistent color across each slide, ensure you're neither overwhelmed nor unengaged.

18. “How Google Works,” Eric Schmidt

Simple, clever doodles tell the story of Google in a fun and creative way. This presentation reads almost like a storybook, making it easy to move from one slide to the next.

What I like: This uncluttered approach provides viewers with an easy-to-understand explanation of a complicated topic.

19. “What Really Differentiates the Best Content Marketers From The Rest,” Ross Simmonds

Let‘s be honest: These graphics are hard not to love. I especially appreciate the author’s cartoonified self-portrait that closes out the presentation. Well played, Ross Simmonds.

What I like: Rather than employing the same old stock photos, this unique design serves as a refreshing way to present information that's both valuable and fun.

20. “Be A Great Product Leader,” Adam Nash

This presentation by Adam Nash immediately draws attention by putting the company's logo first — a great move if your company is well known.

What I like: He uses popular images, such as ones of Megatron and Pinocchio, to drive his points home. In the same way, you can take advantage of popular images and media to keep your audience engaged.

And if you want more templates and examples, you can download them here .

PowerPoint Presentation Examples for the Best Slide Presentation

Mastering a PowerPoint presentation begins with the design itself.

Get inspired by my ideas above to create a presentation that engages your audience, builds upon your point, and helps you generate leads for your brand.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. This article was written by a human, but our team uses AI in our editorial process. Check out our full disclosure to learn more about how we use AI.

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• Powerpoint Tutorials

How to Combine Multiple PowerPoints into One: A Complete Guide

Combining multiple PowerPoint presentations into a single file can be a daunting task, especially when dealing with numerous slides and different formatting styles. But with the right approach, you can streamline this process and create a cohesive presentation effortlessly. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through several methods to merge your PowerPoints, from basic copy-paste to advanced techniques. 

Method 1: The Classic Copy and Paste

The most simple and easy way to combine PowerPoints is by using the good old copy and paste method. Here’s how:

• Open both presentations: Start by opening the main PowerPoint where you want to incorporate the slides from another presentation.
• Select and copy slides: In the presentation you want to merge, select the slides you need. Right-click and choose “Copy” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.
• Paste into the main presentation: Go back to your main PowerPoint, click where you want to insert the copied slides, right-click, and select “Paste.”

Pro Tip: To maintain consistent formatting, try using the “Paste Special” option and choose “Keep Source Formatting.”

Method 2: Reuse Slides Feature

PowerPoint offers a built-in feature called “Reuse Slides” that simplifies the merging process. Follow these steps:

• Open the main presentation: Begin with the PowerPoint where you want to merge the slides.
• Access Reuse Slides: Click on the “Home” tab, then “New Slide,” and choose “Reuse Slides.”
• Select the presentation: Browse and select the PowerPoint file containing the slides you want to add.
• Insert slides: Choose the specific slides or insert all slides at once.

Method 3: Insert Object

For more complex scenarios, the “Insert Object” method can be helpful. Here’s how it works:

• Open the main presentation: Open the PowerPoint presentation where you’ll combine the slides.
• Insert Object: Go to the “Insert” tab, click on “Object,” and choose “Create from File.”
• Select the presentation: Browse and select the PowerPoint file you want to embed.
• Choose options: Decide whether to link the object to the original file or create a copy.

Method 4: Drag and Drop (For Similar File Locations)

If your PowerPoints are stored in the same folder, you can simplify the process by dragging and dropping slides.

• Open both presentations: Have both PowerPoints open side by side.
• Select and drag: In the source presentation, select the slides you want to move. Drag and drop them into the desired location in the main presentation.

Method 5: Compare and Merge (Advanced)

PowerPoint’s “Compare” feature offers a more advanced way to combine presentations while highlighting differences. This method is particularly useful when merging multiple versions of the same presentation. 

• Open the main presentation: Start with the PowerPoint you want to use as a base.
• Access Compare: Go to the “Review” tab and click on “Compare.”
• Select presentations: Choose the PowerPoint files you want to compare and merge.
• Review and merge: PowerPoint will display the differences between the presentations, allowing you to select the slides you want to keep.

Tips for a Seamless Merge

• Maintain consistency: Ensure a uniform look and feel by applying the same theme and formatting styles to all slides.
• Check for duplicates: Avoid redundant information by reviewing the content before merging.
• Proofread carefully: After combining the presentations, thoroughly proofread for errors and inconsistencies.

By following these methods and tips, you can effectively combine multiple PowerPoints into a single, well-organized presentation. Choose the approach that best suits your needs and enjoy the benefits of a streamlined workflow.

Visit our tips & tricks page to discover additional presentation hacks that can elevate your skills. If you are working on the Google Slides platform, we hope our blog on “ How to Connect Multiple Google Slides into One ” will help you achieve this.

By mastering the art of combining PowerPoints, you’ll save time, improve efficiency, and create impactful presentations that leave a lasting impression on your audience.

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Arockia Mary Amutha

Arockia Mary Amutha is a seasoned senior content writer at SlideEgg, bringing over four years of dedicated experience to the field. Her expertise in presentation tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Canva shines through in her clear, concise, and professional writing style. With a passion for crafting engaging and insightful content, she specializes in creating detailed how-to guides, tutorials, and tips on presentation design that resonate with and empower readers.

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