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Apple keynote: how to make an interactive presentation..

Although we have all heard of Powerpoint as a powerful tool for presentations, I believe that after using the Apple keynote, I have also learned that it can be used to create impressive and engaging presentations.

In this story I’m going to show you how we can create and Deliver a Killer Keynote Presentation using Keynote

Set it up correctly :

Start Keynote, then choose a Theme . Choosing an appropriate theme can save you time and effort in redefining styles, backgrounds, and image formatting.

Planning your content :

The Slide is the core component of Keynote, so it’s best to view your interactive piece as a series of small, slide-sized chunks. If you want to tell an interactive narrative, you’ll want to write it one slide at a time in words, images, video, or short animations.

Create your content :

The first page will be a title slide , so write a good welcome text ,Also use simplify charts and graphs to present your data,Always try to put points in further interactive way so that viewer can understand and grasp the slides veritably and fluently. it'll also helps to make the bystander always stick with the slide.

Short animations :

• On the slide, click to select the object you want to animate.
• In the Animate sidebar, click the Animate tab.
• Click Add an Effect, then select an animation.
• To set animation options such as the duration and direction of the animation, use the controls that appear.(Start Transition,Delay)

A Good Animation can help make a PowerPoint presentation more dynamic, and help make information more memorable. The most common types of animation effects include entrances and exits. You can also add sound to increase the intensity of your animation effects.

Presentation experts recommend using animations and sound effects sparingly. Animation can be useful in making a presentation more dynamic, and help to emphasize points, but too much animation can be distracting. Do not let animation and sound take the focus away from what you are saying.

Present it! :

Go ahead — press Play and test out your presentation. Everything should work as you’d expect, and you can press Escape to exit. Save your Presentation to iCloud, then open it on your iPad, and everything will work just the same there.

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November 16, 2023

You have some great tips. I also appreciate the paragraph about using sounds and animations sparingly. It never fails when I introduce Keynote to students, that their first presentation has sounds and animations for everything. Thank you for sharing, Keynote is one of my favorite apps.

November 22, 2023

There's nothing like a great, well-thought-out Keynote. Thanks for sharing your step-by-step guide.

November 30, 2023

Another great tips would be to use purposeful animation. If your an explaining how gravity work, using the anvil composition to have an object (or even the word GRAVITY) fall for the sky and land in a smoke dust deliver a message out the topic. And you are right to use is sparingly, use it to gain focus, to surprise you listener.

Great topic and explanation!

December 01, 2023

Hi Satyajit

Who doesn't love keynote? Thank you for the reminders on creating a presentation. You will have to share one you have created!

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• Presentations

How to Make a Great Presentation in Keynote With Template Designs

Learn to use a Keynote presentation template to build your own supporting slides. You'll choose a starting template, then customize it to match the Keynote design that you've got in mind.

Keynote presentation templates  save time. They give you a quick start on creating a killer presentation by giving you layouts, elements, and ideas to use quickly.

We'll look at two options for choosing the best Keynote presentation templates . You'll see top slide designs from Envato Elements (an all-you-can-download Keynote presentation service.) Then, you'll also see the top Keynote presentations from GraphicRiver (pay as you go templates.) 

But no matter which service you choose, you'll see how easy it can be to customize a presentation. Let's dive in.

How to Quickly Make a Keynote Presentation With Templates (From Envato Elements)

In this section of the tutorial, we're going to feature a Keynote template that you can download from Envato Elements. Elements is a service that many creatives use to learn how to make a professional Keynote presentation. By starting with Keynote templates, you've got the shortcut to success.

Elements is an all-you-can-download approach to creative work. One subscription unlocks stock photos, graphics, icons, and more. And best of all, it's got over 3,000 Keynote presentation templates that save you hours of design work.

Even if this specific template isn't your style, this walkthrough highlights how easy creating a Keynote is. You'll learn how to make a good Keynote presentation, even if you've never used the app.

1. Choose a Template

Because Envato Elements features more than 19,000 Keynote templates currently, it helps to have a guide to the best Keynote templates.

In this round-up, I'm going to work with BePro, one of the templates that's included with Elements. I use BePro because it's a good "general purpose" template that can be used for many types of presentations. If you're learning how to make a professional Keynote presentation, it's a great choice.

Start searching Elements for the keywords that match your Keynote presentation idea. With such a deep library, you can search for specific terms that match your presentation.

For several of my favorite Keynote templates, check out the round-up below:

Once you find your template, download it and open it up in Keynote. You'll find hundreds of presentation Keynote designs with the design work complete.

2. Edit Slide Masters as Needed

The  slide master  controls many slides simultaneously. Editing the slide master will adjust multiple slides at the same time.

You'll want to edit a slide master to add "common elements" that'll be featured on multiple slides. For example, adding a logo to the slide master will add that logo in the same spot on each slide that uses the master. 

To edit a slide master, click on the  View  button and choose Edit Master Slides.  Then, you'll jump to a screen where you can edit the slide master elements.

When you're finished, return to the  View  menu and choose a standard view like  Navigator.  You'll see any slides that use the master updated with your changes.

3. Choose Your Key Slides

Most Keynote presentation templates will include far more slides than you'll actually use. That's okay because it's better to have too many slide designs for inspiration than not enough.

It's also important to note that you should write your presentation first. That means having at least a basic structure in mind. Doing so will help you choose the presentation Keynote designs that fit your concept.

At this stage, I usually start working in  light table view  to get a "top-down" view of all the slides in the deck. Access that view by going to  View > Light Table.

As you select the slide designs that you want to remove, just click on the thumbnails and press Delete. Also, you can drag-and-drop slides into the sequence that you've got in mind.

For me, I typically start moving the slides that I think I'll use to the beginning of the presentation. Until I wrap up with the design of my Keynote presentation, I don't delete any slides in case I want to use them. Building a presentation is a process. It helps to keep the flexibility of all the available slides. 

4. Add Content

Now that you've whittled down your choices to the presentation Keynote designs that you'll use, it's time to add your content. If you're still working in Light Table view, double click on a slide thumbnail to start working with it.

Every slide will work differently, but the process is the same. Click in the content placeholders, add your content by typing or browsing to images and choosing them.

5. Add Animations & Effects

Let's add the finishing touch to our Keynote presentation. It's easy to include eye-catching effects that'll grab your audience's attention. Using a few animations tastefully will make your presentation stand out.

To add an animation, click on an object and choose  Animate  from the toolbar. Then, just click on Add an Effect  and choose an animation effect to add it to the selected object.

Reserve animations for your key points. Focus on a big reveal or using it to stage in bullet points to build to a central idea.

For the full guide to add animation to your Keynote presentation, make sure to check out the guide below:

Were you expecting more steps? That's it! Learning how to make a professional Keynote presentation is an easy process. Just download Keynote templates and add your content. In no time flat, you'll have built your best Keynote presentation yet. 

How to Build Keynote Presentations with GraphicRiver

If you're a decisive creative, GraphicRiver might just be the best choice for your next Keynote presentation topic. It's a pay-as-you-go marketplace. That means that you'll buy Keynote templates one-by-one.

GraphicRiver templates have the same customization options as the example you've already seen. In this tutorial, we're going to work with the Start Business Keynote template.  It's one of the thousands of templates you can buy for a low cost on GraphicRiver.

The Setting

Of course, we'll be creating a presentation with a particular goal in mind. I'll set the scene. For this tutorial, I'll be customizing a Keynote template to act as a sales deck for a fictional design agency. The process described below is similar for most service-based companies.

Step 2 has first final slide we'll be creating in this tutorial.  Download a PDF of the finished presentation . There are six slides in the download. Use this download to compare your customization results as you work through this tutorial.

1. Presentation Objective and Opportunity

Our first step is to identify both the objective  as well  the opportunity of the presentation.

• The objective is what you ultimately want to achieve with your presentation. For our presentation keynote design example, it's selling design services.
• The opportunity is presenting the value to whom you're pitching. If there's no value in your pitch for the people who will be listening, then there's no point to pitch.

For the design agency, the opportunity I want to present is that investing in design pays off as people value good design. My objective is to persuade the people listening to become one of our clients.

The second step is to specify the content in your presentation. The purpose of your content is to achieve your objective. Typically, this means that you've got to present the opportunity with clarity—make it crystal clear for your audience.

In my presentation, I want to promote how good design pays off. To do so, I've brainstormed some content ideas:

• design case studies (to promote our capabilities)
• our design process (to educate how we achieve results)
• previous clients (to promote trust)
• the team (to add a human touch to my presentation)
• pricing (to achieve my objective of selling design services)

The above content is inspiration for slides in your presentation.

It's important to decide on your content before you start designing. This avoids the design process from distracting you from what you're trying to achieve. Set an objective and corresponding opportunities. That way you can stick to a well-thought out structure in your presentation.

3. Pick the Right Theme

Now we can dive into design. But first, we'll have to select the right presentation theme. This is a highly personal process. The theme you choose depends on your brand, your objective, your content, as well personal taste. 

On GraphicRiver, you can find presentation template design choices for Keynote , as well as PowerPoint and Google Slides themes .

I've selected the following Keynote template  for this tutorial. The Start theme feels elegant and has enough visual flexibility to present design services. 

Once you've chosen the theme for your presentation, it's time to start customizing. 

4. Customize Your Presentation Template

When you open a design template, you'll be greeted by dozens of different slides that you can use. First, go to  F ile in the menu bar and choose  Duplicate to separate the template from your working document. Rename the presentation accordingly as this will be your working file to keep the template intact.

Before you can customize your template, you need to: 

• Look back at the content you've got in mind. What type of slides do you need? How would these slides ideally be structured? 
• Based on the content, select the slides you need in your presentation. Some Keynote templates use master slides (click on  Add Slide to see the list of slides you can use). Or the template designer has added all the slide designs directly into the presentation. For the Start  template we're using, the designer opted for the latter option.
• Choose the slides that you'll be using based on the content and remove the other slides. Now you've got a good idea of how your presentation will look.

Personally, I always select multiple suitable slides I could use and copy them to my working document. I end up removing slides while I'm working on the presentation.

Note: If you're following along with the template for this tutorial, know that I've chosen the light version. Also, I've added the slide number per slide design so you can follow along.

Step 1. Introduction Slide

Let's start with an introduction slide. I've picked slide 57 from the template design.

Let's start simple. We begin with changing the text . You can click on any text field in the slide and change the copy to your content. Besides editing the copy, it might also be a good idea to change the fonts  to something that suits your brand. 

I've updated both the copy in the slide and selected a different font. In our example, I'll be using  Roboto Slab as the title font and  Fira Sans as the body font. 

As you notice, there's an image placeholder . I drag in an example of my design work to replace the image placeholder and finish the slide.

Notice how easy it is to customize a slide. Typically, playing with text, fonts, images and colors goes a long way to customize slide templates. 

I recommend you first decide on your content, then figure out the presentation structure. As a final step, start customizing. This is the easiest workflow.

Step 2. Case Study Slide

After our introduction slide, the next slide in our presentation is the case study slide. In the template, I've picked slide 17 as a suitable slide for the case study. 

This Keynote slide design was designed to present a company's mission. What's excellent about templates is that you can repurpose slides. I'll be using this slide structure to present a case study instead.

As before, I'll be changing the imagery and typography to redesign the slide while retaining the slide structure from the template.

As you see, a couple of smaller tweaks and adding in content has transformed this slide into a case study.

Step 3. Design Process Slide

Once a case study is presented, we'll move on to presenting our design process. For this, I've selected  Slide 19 from the  Start Keynote template.

As with the previous slide, we'll repurpose this slide to present the design process. The slide uses  Iconography . To help visualize the design process a little bit better, I change the icons to new ones. 

In the above slide, I changed the typography, content and icons to repurpose the slide. After a few simple changes, here are the results:

Step 4. Team Slide

While some slides are slides you want to customize extensively, others are very straight-forward to edit. Take a team slide for example, just update the names and bio and add in a photo and you're all set. I've picked  Slide 51 to use for this presentation, although slides 52 through 55 are ideal as well. 

Before customization:

After customization:

Step 5. Pricing Slide

You're also able to be a little bit more adventurous with your slides and change the slide structure. Take the final slide for example, which is the pricing slide. I've decided to use  Slide 49 from the template.

Let's say we offer three products. This means that one pricing option can be removed. We also don't really need a call-to-action on the pricing slide, so we can remove this one as well.

With other words, feel free to tweak the structure of a slide according to your needs. 

A template can act as inspiration for a personally designed slide.

Completed Keynote Presentation

There we go! We've just finished customizing our presentation using a template. Download a PDF of the finished results.

Some final thoughts:

• Start by defining the objectives and the opportunities.
• Choose your content and transform it into presentable slides.
• Pick a theme according to your needs.
• Use typography to your advantage to create a unique look and feel.
• Photography and iconography can completely change how a presentation feels.
• You can edit template slides and change their structure.

The most important take-away: a presentation template is a shortcut. Hence there's no right or wrong way to use a Keynote template. Experiment and see what you can create.

5 Quick Keynote Presentation Tips (For 2021 Slides)

Keynote templates help you make a great impression. Plus, they save you time by taking the hard work out of designing presentations from scratch. To ensure success, keep these five quick tips in mind:

1. Be Specific

You always need to think of how to make a professional Keynote presentation stand out. Let’s face it: slide decks are everywhere. You need to go the extra mile to be remembered.

A great way to do that is to choose Keynote templates with a specific theme. Presenting about a construction project? Turn to a construction template. You’ll find options for almost every subject imaginable.

Plus, these help you work faster by providing design inspiration inside. Use them to build a winning Keynote presentation fast!

2. Animate Slides

Ever wondered how to create Keynote presentation designs that flow smoothly? Animations are a big help. These help guide your presentation by showing content exactly when you want.

Many premium Keynote templates come pre-animated. But you can also edit animations and add your own right inside of the app. To help you get started, check out our full tutorial on Keynote animation:

3. Keep Slides Readable

Know your audience. Also, know your venue. If you’re presenting in a large room, tiny print won’t be appreciated. You need to use readable layouts. This is how to make a good Keynote presentation for any space.

Readable slides share common themes: they've got larger fonts, and they’re not cluttered. By having sharp text and ample open space, they give your content room to breathe. What’s more they’re far easier for audiences to see, even from the back of the room.

4. Style With Kinetic Typography

When you think of how to create Keynote presentation styles, don’t forget that text is a design element. By animating text, you can impress audiences with content already on your slides!

Kinetic typography is a great example. These simple text animations deliver a powerful dose of stylish design to any slide. And thanks to Keynote, you can add them to any slide in just seconds. Learn how with our tutorial:

5. Illustrate Heavily

An illustrated Keynote presentation offers many advantages:

• It looks better.
• It keeps the narrative moving.
• It helps you avoid cluttered slides.

Plus, you can illustrate ideas, introduce your team, and much more.

Premium Keynote templates make adding images easy. With pre-built placeholders, you can drag and drop photos onto your slides. It only takes a few seconds to build compelling slides.

Grab a Premium Keynote Presentation Template!

Wasn't it easy to customize a Keynote template? If you're looking for some excellent templates to start from, we've listed a few of our favorites here: 

Or you can head over to GraphicRiver to browse through our selection of hundreds of professional Keynote Templates . Find the presentation style with just the right presentation Keynote design that fits your upcoming presentation needs.

5 Trending Keynote Templates (From Envato Elements - For 2021)

Templates save you time and ensure you build stylish slides every day. Here are five trending Keynote templates from Envato Elements for 2021:

1. Educa - Keynote Template

When you think of how to make a good Keynote presentation, you want options. That’s what Educa offers you. With 150 total slides, you’re sure to find the perfect layout. Each one is expertly crafted with you in mind. Every graphic is completely editable, giving you unmatched customization options. 

2. The X - Keynote Template

Want to learn how to make a professional Keynote presentation with sleek styling? The answer — use The X. These stunning Keynote templates have a sharp, black-and-white design. The slides are pre-animated, saving you time. You’ll see custom features like device mockups and more.

3. Nicola Keynote Presentation  

Nicola is a versatile Keynote presentation that works for a variety of topics. It uses soft, pastel tones that look good anywhere. Inside, there are 30 unique slides that you can quickly customize. The Keynote templates use master layouts, which help make bulk edits a breeze.

4. Ruby Keynote

Wonder how to make a professional Keynote presentation guaranteed to grab attention? A template like Ruby is a great place to start. The rich, red layouts are eye-catching. They’re also flexible, with over 50 custom designs. Drop in your own content, and you’re ready to wow any audience.

5. Rise - Keynote Presentation Template

Flip the script on boring Keynote templates with Rise. These richly illustrated HD slides make your content shine. Every design feature is fully customizable, and it’s easy to add your own content to the slides. Drag and drop images and more. This one works well for slide decks on virtually any topic.

Where to Find the Best Keynote Templates in 2021 (Envato Elements vs. GraphicRiver)

We’ve seen how to create Keynote presentation designs. But where should you find the very best Keynote templates?

Both Envato Elements and GraphicRiver have stunning designs for Keynote templates with easy-to-edit features that show you how to make a good Keynote presentation . So, which site should you choose? What are the advantages of each one?

1. Top Benefits of Envato Elements

Envato Elements is a subscription service with a key feature: unlimited downloads . For a flat monthly rate, try out as many Keynote templates as you want. 

Plus, Elements offers all kinds of other creative assets. These include custom fonts, stock photos, music, and more. All are useful as you think of how to make a good Keynote presentation. 

Check out the screenshot below for a preview of the top Keynote templates trending on Envato Elements now:

2. Top Benefits of GraphicRiver (& Envato Market)

GraphicRiver is part of Envato Market, a creative marketplace for all kinds of digital assets. You’ll find thousands of beautiful Keynote presentation templates available.

At GraphicRiver, you pay by download. That means you buy only the templates and other files that you want. There are no monthly subscriptions or memberships. Here are the top trending Keynote templates on GraphicRiver:

3. Which Site to Choose?

If you create Keynote presentations often, or are undecided about your design, Envato Elements is a great choice. With thousands of Keynote template options, you can try as many as you want to find the perfect design for you. Join Elements today.  

But if you only need a single Keynote presentation template , GraphicRiver is a winning choice for you. Head over today and find your next favorite Keynote presentation deck.

Learn More About Keynote Presentation Templates 

For more information on how to make a great presentation in Keynote, study the following resources:

Make Great Presentations (Free eBook Download)

We've got the perfect complement to this tutorial, which will walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully. 

Download our new eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It's available for free with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. 

Also, if you need a primer on presentation design, this article is a must: 

Design a Keynote Presentation Today

You've just learned how to make a great presentation in Keynote using a "best of both worlds" approach. Start with a Keynote template , then build a presentation that fits your content. Whether you use Envato Elements or GraphicRiver for your next Keynote presentation , download a template and jump into designing your next presentation now!

Editorial Note:  This post was originally published in February of 2016. It's been comprehensively revised to make it current, accurate, and up to date by our staff-- with special help from Andrew Childress .

Getting Started With Keynote: How To Create Your First Keynote Presentation

If you’re new to the Apple ecosystem, then you’re probably a stranger to Keynote, Apple’s very own presentation software. Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about it at this point, that’s what this article is for. So, stay tuned as I introduce you to this popular alternative to PowerPoint. You’ll learn how to navigate the Keynote workspace and later on, how to create your first Keynote presentation.

Why Use Keynote?

I’ve got a few good reasons why Keynote is an awesome presentation software for Mac users.

• It’s free and readily available

Keynote comes pre-installed on new Macs. You don’t need to download it, but if you need to, you can always download it for free on the App Store . For the PowerPoint (and Windows) faithful who’ve made the switch to Apple computers, you’re probably asking this very question right now:

“Why use Keynote when PowerPoint is available on Macs?”

Truthfully, the answer is you don’t have to. However, PowerPoint (and Microsoft Office) isn’t free. If you want to install PowerPoint on your Mac, then you’d need to buy a Microsoft Office license or a subscription to Office 365.

If you absolutely don’t need to use PowerPoint, then why not give Keynote a try? It’s pretty simple to use, it’s intuitive and it works great on Macs. Plus, it’s free, so you don’t need to spend extra cash just to use the app!

• It’s designed for Macs

Keynote was designed by Apple for Apple. This means you’re not going to find Keynote on Windows or Linux or any other operating system. Apple is known for the quality of their products and Keynote is no different. It’s sleek, sexy, easy on the eyes, and it’s fairly easy to use.

For those saying they’d stick to PowerPoint on their Mac, that’s absolutely fine. But if you’re expecting your Mac PowerPoint experience to be on par with your Windows experience, then you’re going to be disappointed. The Mac version lacks many of the newer features you’ll find on Windows. And frankly, it’s just not as good as the Windows version.

If you need to use PowerPoint on Mac, I recommend you use Boot Camp or install third-party software like Parallels Desktop . This is so you can run Windows apps natively on your Mac.

• It’s user-friendly

Apple products are designed to work out of the box. It’s one of the reasons why many people swear by Apple products. You don’t need to be a designer to use Keynote. The interface is clean, intuitive and relatively simple. Sure, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s nowhere near the time you need to spend to master PowerPoint.

If you’re coming from PowerPoint, you may even think Keynote is too simple. But that’s why Keynote users love it – they don’t need to overthink their slide designs. You may not have granular control over every single aspect of your presentation (and this may be a no-no for diehard PowerPoint users), but plenty of Keynote users don’t mind. When all is said and done, they know they’ll have a great-looking presentation.

• Works on all Apple devices

If you’ve invested heavily into the Apple ecosystem, then Keynote should be your presentation software of choice. Why? Because you’re not limited to using just one device to edit your slides. You can work on your slides on your MacBook, iMac, iPad, and even your iPhone! You can even access your Keynote file on non-Apple devices – simply fire up a web browser and go to iCloud Keynote!

• It’s PowerPoint-friendly

Ah yes, PowerPoint users need this reassurance. You’ve probably been burned in the past when PowerPoint and Keynote didn’t play too well with each other. And you had all sorts of problems trying to sort out compatibility issues.

Well, it’s 2019 now. According to Apple themselves, they’ve redesigned Keynote to work better with Microsoft Office products. They regularly update the software too to ensure better compatibility.

Here’s an article detailing the compatibility of Keynote with PowerPoint. You’ll notice there are more ticks in the Supported and Partially Supported columns than the Not Supported one. So, hurray for PowerPoint and Keynote fans!

Getting Started With Keynote

Now that you know just how awesome Keynote is, I’m going to give you a rundown of the software’s interface. To get started with Keynote, launch the app from the Launchpad or look for it in the Dock. You’ll then see the theme chooser (see screenshot below). Choose whether you want to use a standard (4:3) or wide (16:9) theme.

Note : If you don’t see the theme chooser above, press the Option key on your keyboard and click File > New to open a new Keynote file. The theme chooser will then appear on your screen.

Navigating the Keynote workspace isn’t as hard as it looks. The interface is relatively cleaner and simpler than PowerPoint. This is what the Toolbar looks like:

As you can see above, I’ve divided the Toolbar into 5 different parts. Here’s a run-down of what each part does:

1 – This is the navigation panel. As you can see, there are 3 buttons in this section (View, Zoom, and Add Slide):

• Under View , you can decide whether you want to use the Navigator view (default), Slide Only view, Light Table view, or Outline view. This is also where you go to edit the Master Slides, show object list, and more.

• You can also Zoom in or out of whatever view you’ve selected. If you don’t want to mess around with the percentages, you can always click on Fit Slide .

• Lastly, you can click on the Add Slide button to, well, obviously, add a slide. However, this is where it gets interesting. When you add a slide, Keynote doesn’t automatically add a blank slide (like PowerPoint). Instead, you get to choose the slide layout you want to use.

2 – This section consists of the Play and Keynote Live buttons.

• Clicking on the Play button will play your slideshow.
• Hit Keynote Live if you want to present a live slideshow to anyone in the world. Your audience can watch your presentation on any Apple or iOS device, or any browser connected to the Internet.

Note you’ll need to be connected to iCloud for this feature to work. Once you’re logged in, you can copy and paste the link to your slideshow and send it to your audience. You can also lock your presentation with a password if you’re concerned about security.

3 – In this section, you can choose from 6 different elements you can add to your slides. You can add a table , chart , text , shape , media (images, videos, audio) and comment . The first 5 elements are largely self-explanatory.

For the 6 th element (comments), these are helpful if you’re collaborating with somebody else. You can have a chat in real-time about your ideas and any changes you want to make to the design. In case you’re wondering, the comments won’t appear in your actual presentation.

4 – If you’re collaborating with other people, then you simply need to click the Collaborate button. You can specify who can access your Keynote and their permission level. Here’s what it looks like:

5 – The fifth section is where you go to edit the properties of all the elements and slides in your presentation. You can see 3 options or buttons here: Format , Animate and Document .

• Format. To format your slide itself, click on a blank space on your slide. You’ll be able to change your slide layout here as well as edit the Master Slide. You can also change the appearance of your slide (change background appearance, etc.).
• Format an element . The format menu options will change according to the element you click on. Say, for instance, you click on a text, then the formatting options for text will appear on your screen. If you click on a photo, then the image formatting options will appear, and so on.
• Animate (Slide Transition) . If you want to add animations when you transition from one slide to another, this is the correct button to click. Slide transitions are categorized into four: (1) Appear & Move, (2) Flip, Spin & Scale, (3) Object Effects, and (4) Text Effects. You can adjust the duration, color, delay, and more, of your selected effect.
• Animate (Element Effect) . You can choose to add a Build In effect, an Action effect, and a Build Out effect for your elements.
• Document . Click on this button to change your document settings. In here, you can adjust your Slideshow Settings, Presentation Type, Slide Size and more. Additionally, you can also record your slideshow in the Audio tab and add a Soundtrack . This is great if you plan on playing your slideshow in conference kiosks (self-playing) or converting your Keynote to video.

Additional Keynote options

You’re probably wondering if that’s all that Keynote can do. Well, of course not! In addition to the Toolbar, you can also access more settings and features in the Menu bar. You’ll see this at the very top of your screen:

If you think the default Toolbar lacks some important feature, and you don’t want to go looking for it in the Menu bar every time you want to use it, then you may want to customize the toolbar.

Here’s how you do it:

Go to View > Customize Toolbar . You can drag and drop your most frequently used buttons to the toolbar. For example, if you find yourself frequently using the Group and Ungroup options, then you may want to drag it into your toolbar so you can group/ungroup elements with just a single click. If you’re very particular about the size of your fonts, then add the Bigger and Smaller buttons to your toolbar.

The good thing about customizing your toolbar is that you can always go back to the default settings. If you find yourself wanting to go back to the original toolbar menu, then go back into the Customize Toolbar menu again.

As you can see on the screenshot above, there’s an option to drag the default set into the toolbar . Don’t forget to hit the blue Done button when you’re finished.

Using iCloud Keynote

If you want the ability to edit your Keynote presentation on other devices, then log in to iCloud on your Mac. Go into System Preferences and click on iCloud . You’ll see this on your screen:

Type in your Apple ID and password if you already have one. If not, click on Create Apple ID .

Now that your Mac is logged in to iCloud, all your photos, contacts and documents (including Keynote files) will be stored in iCloud. This means if you have an iPhone or iPad, and you’re logged in using the same Apple ID, then all the files uploaded to iCloud will automatically appear in your Apple devices. So, you can create your Keynote on your MacBook or iMac, and then continue editing on your iPad or iPhone. Awesome, right?

But what about if you need to need to make last-minute changes to your presentation and you don’t have an Apple device nearby? Will all your hard work go to waste? Thankfully, not.

Just open a web browser on any computer and go to https://icloud.com . You’ll see this prompt on your screen:

Once you’re logged in to iCloud, you’ll see this menu on your screen:

Click on Keynote and you’ll be able to see all the Keynote files you’ve made on other iCloud-linked devices. If you want to create a new file, click on Create Presentation .

Just like in the desktop version of Keynote, you’ll see the Theme Chooser menu on your screen:

Click on the theme you want to use. A new tab will automatically open on your browser. This what the iCloud Keynote workspace looks like:

As you can see, it looks almost exactly the same as the desktop version. You’ve got the View and Zoom icons, the Play slideshow button, the 6 element types you can add to your slides (table, chart, text, shape, media, comment), the collaborate icon, and the format and animate button.

At a quick glance, however, you can see that the Keynote Live and Document icons are missing on the toolbar. Unfortunately, like most web-based presentation software, iCloud Keynote also has its drawbacks. A number of features from the desktop app are missing.

For instance, once you’ve selected your theme on iCloud Keynote, you’re going to have to stick with it. You simply don’t have the option to change it to another theme.

For this example, I used the Artisan theme in the screenshot above. I wanted to change it to the Gradient theme, but iCloud Keynote doesn’t have the Document button (available on the desktop version) that allows you to change themes and slide sizes.

There’s also no option to edit the Master Slides. While there’s a Media button, you’re limited to adding images only. This means inserting videos and audio files are not going to be possible on iCloud Keynote. Formatting options are also limited, so keep this in mind when creating and editing slides on the web.

The good news, however, is that iCloud integration is fantastic. You can create your slides in iCloud Keynote. Once you get your hands on an Apple computer, you can just edit your file on the desktop app. iCloud Keynote is great for editing presentations while you’re on the go. For maximum control, however, Keynote desktop is the way to go.

Tips to Make Your First Keynote Presentation a Standout

Even the most novice of Keynote users can make something stunning in just a few minutes. How? Well, if you haven’t noticed, Keynote’s built-in themes already look great. So, really, if you’re in a hurry, you can just choose one of the themes from the Theme Chooser. Then, select the layouts you want to use and replace the placeholders with your own content!

But, of course, if you truly want to make your keynote presentation a standout, then it’s best to actually put some time and effort into making one that your audience is going to love. So, here are some tips you can use to impress your audience and make sure your message is heard loud and clear.

• Keep text to a minimum

No matter what presentation software you use, it’s best to keep text to a minimum. You don’t want to copy and paste several sentences or a few paragraphs in your slides. You don’t want your audience to just read your slides. If you do this, then there’s really no incentive for them to listen anymore, is there?

As the popular saying goes, “less is more.” Strive to have a simple presentation instead of going for all the bells and whistles you can think of. Your audience isn’t there to read, they’re there to listen to your presentation.

Think of your slides as mere visual aids. They’re there to make your presentation more interesting. They’re supposed to help your audience understand your main points.

• Use the right font

Different fonts convey different emotions. There are fonts that look professional. Then there are those that look fun. There are even retro fonts and scary-looking fonts (perfect for Halloween-themed presentations).

Adding new fonts to your Keynote presentation is relatively quick and easy. You’ve got two ways:

• You can download a font package and add it to Font Book . You can look for this app in your Applications folder or you can search for it using Spotlight (press both Command + Spacebar ). Click the (+) icon in Font Book and locate where you saved the downloaded font. Your new font will now appear in the Font dropdown in Keynote.

• The second option is to download an app called SkyFonts . You can download and install fonts from Google Fonts, Fonts.com, Monotype and MyFonts. Personally, I prefer this option because you don’t need to download the fonts to your computer. These are stored in the cloud and you can easily remove the fonts you’re no longer using.

Just a word of caution though. If you intend to download fancy fonts and use different devices to edit your Keynote slides, then you may be in for a shock. The fonts in iCloud Keynote are predefined, so whatever font you install on your Mac isn’t going to appear in iCloud Keynote.

• Use high-quality graphics

As the old cliché goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. You can put a picture on a slide, and it will tell the audience its own story. All without you needing to say a single word about it. That’s how powerful images are.

So, one of the first things you need to do once you figure out what you’re going to say in your presentation is to look for an image that will perfectly capture your main points. It doesn’t have to be an original photo or one that you took yourself.

You can use photos as background for your slides or you can use it as the main subject. The good news is there are millions of free images on the web. You just need to know where to look. Places like Unsplash , StockSnap and ISO Republic all offer high-quality images for free.

• Utilize white space

A busy-looking slide will only distract your audience. They won’t know exactly where to look. But if you have plenty of white space on your slides, then you can direct their attention to whatever you’re showing on screen.

Contrary to popular belief, white space doesn’t actually need to be white. It can be any color that will fit in well with your theme. For instance, take a look at the screenshot below. There’s a lot of blank space on the slide – this is what’s known as white space.

As you can see, it’s easy to follow what the slide above is trying to say. Doodling helps stimulates the brain, helps to see the big picture, improves learning, and helps to organize knowledge. The graphics used are simple enough to understand.

• Use third-party themes and templates

There’s obviously nothing wrong with using the built-in themes and templates on Keynote. But, if you want to stand out from the crowd of similar-looking presentations, then it’s best to use something else that not a lot of people are using. This is where third-party themes and templates come in.

You can download themes and templates that are made specifically for Keynote . Or you can use those that are made for PowerPoint! Surprised? Yes, PowerPoint templates do work on Keynote!

How To Use PowerPoint Templates For Your Keynote Presentations

To use PPT templates for Keynote, all you have to do is fire up Keynote, click on Open, then look for the PowerPoint file. If there are compatibility issues, Keynote will give you a list of things that may look different.

For this example, I downloaded one of our free templates, the Competitor PowerPoint Template pack. Note that you need to create a free account so you can download any of our templates.

Most PPT templates when opened in Keynote will probably have a few issues. I saw a couple of slides which needed a bit of editing. Here’s an example:

For the most part, however, the majority of slides looked great on Keynote! Here’s a screenshot of slides 5-10:

As you can see, the slides look really good. All you need to do is just edit and replace the placeholder content with your own, and you’re good to go! You can then save the file as a Keynote presentation or export it to another format.

Final Words

Apple users, rejoice! You’ve got a free and very capable presentation software on your hands. You don’t need to spend extra cash just to use PowerPoint. As you’ve learned in this article, Keynote is relatively easy to use. You’ll be able to create your first Keynote presentation in no time at all!

You might also find this interesting: PowerPoint vs Keynote: Which Is The Best Presentation Software?

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How to use Keynote's hidden presentation features to hold your audience's attention

Last updated 3 years ago

Apple's Keynote application isn't only for creating slideshow presentations, it's for showing them too. That's quite unusual for software: nobody writes a book in Word and then holds their iPad up for people to read from. Yet the two sides of Keynote are complementary and what you set up while you were creating your presentation will help you now with showing it.

Keynote has a lot more to offer when you're getting ready to put this show on the road. There are tools to make your presentation work the way you expect — and there are tips to help ensure it does.

You've made that non-linear presentation using Master Slides, Outline View and Light Table . You've also included video even though we warned you about that.

The warning about video isn't only because you're relying on your venue to have loudspeakers. It's also because video files are big, and it makes your presentation file that much larger, and that much more difficult to transport.

Don't include any more video that you absolutely must. We mean that literally. If you have to have a 35-second clip, make it 35 seconds and not 36.

You can drag in a three-hour movie and then trim it down to 35 seconds in Keynote but you're not actually cutting the size of the video file. You're just determining how much of the whole file your audience will see. Keynote keeps the entire clip in your presentation so that you can later change your mind and adjust the clip you want.

For that reason, do your basic trimming in QuickTime Player on your Mac or use something like Final Cut Pro X to do more elaborate work. Only drag in the finished segment you need. Otherwise, your presentation could be so bloated that it takes longer to sync over iCloud from your Mac to your iPad.

It could also be so weighed down with the video file size that the presentation will run slower, too.

Watch your size

If your Mac's storage is not yet using APFS, the Apple File System, then after your presentation goes over about 500MB on your Mac, Keynote will step in. When you go to save it, you'll be prompted to choose between saving as a Single File or as a Package.

You get the choice but you only get it once: whatever you pick now is set for the life of this presentation. This is a problem that goes away when you're using APFS so over time it will be seen less and less. For now, though, your best bet is to choose Single File — so long as your presentation isn't already creakingly slow when you're editing it.

The reason is that a package lets Keynote split your presentation data out into separate files and folders so that it can then choose what to load and when. Rather than your video sitting there throughout 200 slides, it can be loaded when you reach the one slide it's on.

Plus a package with lots of little files suits the way that iCloud syncs data. So if you're the only person who's going to use this presentation and that's how you want to sync, choosing package could help you.

However, if you need to share it over Dropbox or really any other cloud service then packages aren't as robust as a single file is.

Even if you don't need to share the presentation with anybody else, though, save copies on different cloud services — and in different formats.

Belt and braces

Save your shiny new Keynote presentation to the Mac and/or iPad you're going to be presenting it from. Preferably save in iCloud Drive where all your devices can get it. Then save it to Dropbox too. Email yourself a copy. Pop one onto a USB stick.

And when you've done all that, do it all again but with the presentation saved in the old Keynote '09 format.

And then when you've done even that, do it all again but saving the presentation as a Microsoft PowerPoint file .

Sometimes your venue will have a Mac in place and it's better to use their equipment instead of yours because it's already tried and tested. Only, the Mac is using the older Keynote format.

Or perhaps the venue neglected to tell you that every speaker has to hand over their entire presentation at the start of the conference. There are companies that will insist on joining every speaker's presentation together so that a single file runs for the entire day. When that happens, you can bet it'll be a PowerPoint file.

Better you give them a PowerPoint file that Keynote has created than to trust that their PowerPoint will open Keynote okay.

Then there are the acts of God that will leave you without any copy of the presentation at all. Dropbox or iCloud should get it back but there is one further option.

Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. There's a fully-functioning copy of Keynote on that site and we've used it for three-day-long residential workshops when necessary.

Remember your place

All of this so far has been about the visual side of presentations, of about making sure your audience has something to look at. They also need to hear you, though, and Keynote has tools to help you make sure you stay on track.

Every time you create a slide, you can write your own notes at the bottom. These Presenter Notes won't be seen by your audience, they will only show on your Mac or iPad screen in front of you.

That's even when you're presenting from that screen: Keynote is excellent at by default routing only the slides to an external screen.

On the Mac, choose the View menu and then Show Presenter Notes . You get a small text box at the foot of the screen and it's tied to each individual slide. Write something in it, then move to the next slide and write in that one's empty text box.

When you duplicate slides, by the way, you also duplicate the notes. So if you've done a slide you really like and want to base the next few on it, select-and-cut the note before you duplicate the slide. Otherwise you'll have the same note in every one.

That's an issue if you've gone back to the View menu and chosen the Hide Presenter Notes option for any reason. When you later come to present and switch on the notes, you'll lose track of what you meant to write where.

On the iPad, tap on the three-dot ellipses icon at top right and then toggle on Show Presenter Notes .

What you see

It's years since we presented from our Macs because the iPad version of Keynote is so very good, especially when used with an Apple TV . Except for one thing.

On the Mac, you can have your screen be showing you all sorts of things that the audience isn't supposed to see. You can have your presenter notes, for instance, but also both the current and the next slides showing.

Then you can choose to have a clock showing you the current time or a countdown of how long you've been speaking — or both.

On the iPad, you're more limited. You can have the clock or the timer and many presenters don't even know you've got that option. By default Keynote shows you the clock but you can tap on it to swap to the timer.

Then you can have presenter notes and the current slide. You can have presenter notes and the next slide. You can have the current and next slides on your screen.

Only, you can't have current and next slides plus presenter notes and that's the one we want the most.

However, there is a way around it. Previously we recommended planning your Keynote presentation in another app such as OmniOutliner. If you've done that, and not strayed too far from the original plan, then you can re-use that outline now.

Open your Keynote presentation on the iPad, press Play to start the slideshow. Then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show the dock and then choose OmniOutliner from there. Drag it up and to one side of the presentation.

So long as Keynote is playing the slideshow, your audience will see the current slide. And you'll see current and next plus an entirely separate outline.

What the audience gets

The audience or the venue will always ask you for a copy of your slides. You can tell them as often as you like that the slides make little sense without you standing there talking in front of them, but it doesn't matter.

Don't bother arguing and also don't bother doing any fiddling with the slides. Just choose File , Print and then in that print dialog click on Show Details .

There are options in these details to determine whether your printed version includes the presenter notes and slide numbers, whether it includes any skipped slides. Make sure those are all turned off and then click on the PDF button and choose Save as PDF .

Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube , Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.

Having done a number of travelling, online presentations -- the first back in 1986 before there were projectors and (real) laptops -- these are good tips. I have seen so many go out there there assuming that "you just turn it on a go" find out differently. But, they forgot the most important part:   donuts.   If all else fails, keep 'em happy with donuts.

Is there a way to print just the presenter notes?

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How to open, edit and save .key Keynote files on PowerPoint on a Windows PC

Is there an easy way to open Keynote files on a Windows PC? My colleagues all use Macs.

Keynote may well be the best presentation software package you can buy – or get for free with any new Mac – but if truth be told it isn’t the most widely used. That honour still belongs to PowerPoint, and while it’s possible to open that program’s files in Keynote, the reverse is a little more complicated. Fret not, though, because in this tutorial we show you how to edit .key files in Windows.

Related: Apple Keynote Review |  10 Apple Keynote Tips | Alternative to Apple’s Keynote or PowerPoint for Mac

What is a .key file?

When you create a new presentation in Keynote the file is automatically saved in the .key format. This is different from, say, PowerPoint, which uses the .pptx format, or Microsoft Word, which uses the .docx variety . Essentially they all do the same thing, but not all applications can open each type of file.

The main issue for Keynote users is that PowerPoint is unable to read .key formats and therefore makes it a bit awkward to easily move presentations between the platforms. It can be done, though, as we’ll explain below.

Exporting a Keynote presentation in a PowerPoint format

If you’re the creator of the Keynote presentation then it’s actually very easy to convert it into a PowerPoint format that your Windows friends can open.

The first thing you need to do is find the file in question, open it, then go to the menu bar at the top and click File > Export To > PowerPoint.

This will open a new window that asks you to confirm that you want to Export to PowerPoint. Exporting creates a duplicate version of your Keynote presentation, so be assured that your original remains intact. The new one is simply in a format that can be opened on a Windows PC.

Before you create the new file try clicking on the grey arrow next to Advanced Options .

This reveals a dropdown menu where you can select the exact format you want. Usually the .pptx is the one you’d choose, but if the person to whom you’re sending the file is using an older version of PowerPoint (circa 1997-2003) then you can opt for .ppt instead.

Click Next , name the file and where you want to store it, then click Export . A copy of the presentation should now be found in the folder you selected, replete with a .pptx extension at the end. This means you can now send it to your Windows chums and they’ll be able to open it just like any other PowerPoint file.

Using iCloud to edit Keynote on a Windows PC

If the Keynote file wasn’t created by you, or you don’t have access to a Mac, then it takes a little more effort to open a .key presentation.

The easiest way is to use iCloud, Apple’s online portal, which includes web versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote. If you’re not an existing iCloud user then you can quickly set up a free account. Just visit the iCloud site and click on the Don’t have an Apple ID? option at the bottom of the screen. Follow the instructions and you’ll be good to go in a couple of minutes.

Related: How to use iCloud Drive

With you account set up, you now have access to the online version of Keynote. Just log into iCloud with your Apple ID and you’ll be presented with a selection of icons for all the different Apple services. Click on the blue Keynote icon to launch the application.

In the Keynote app you’ll see a Settings icon (a gear cog) at the top of the page. Click on this and a dropdown menu will appear, with the option Upload Presentation at the top.

Select this, navigate to your .key file, click Open, and your presentation will appear in the Keynote app.

From here you can either edit the presentation and then save it as a normal .key file again, or if you want to use PowerPoint then you can download a copy in the .pptx format. To do this click on the Wrench/spanner icon in the upper right area of the screen and select Download a Copy from the menu that appears.

Now all that’s left to do is choose the PowerPoint format from the windows that appears and you will have a .pptx file that can be opened on your Windows PC.

While many of the features, fonts and formats will be shared across different applications, you might come across a few things that don’t quite match up. In these cases it’s best to let the software replace them with the ones it recommends. Hopefully most things will go smoothly, and before long both you and your Windows counterparts will be creating beautiful and informative presentations in a harmonious fashion.

Be sure to also check out our How to edit .pages files on Windows and How to install Windows on a Mac articles for more Microsoft/Apple collaborations.

Author: Martyn Casserly , Contributor

Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews.

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How-To Geek

How to convert keynote presentations to microsoft powerpoint.

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Apple's presentation software does all the heavy lifting for you when converting a PowerPoint presentation to Keynote . Doing the opposite, though, requires a few extra steps---we'll walk you through them!

First, double-click the Keynote presentation you want to convert in Keynote, and then click "File" at the top left.

In the drop-down menu that appears, hover your cursor over "Export To." In the submenu that appears, click "PowerPoint."

You'll now be in the "PowerPoint" tab of the "Export Your Presentation" window. There are a few options you can select here, including requiring your recipient to use a password to open a presentation. This is a good idea if the presentation contains sensitive information, like a company roadmap.

Click the "Format:" drop-down menu to change your PowerPoint file to  ".pptx"  or ".ppt," and then click "Next."

Next, give your presentation a name, select a location to save the file, and then click "Export."

Your Keynote presentation will now be converted to a Microsoft PowerPoint file. To make sure it was properly converted before sending it out, locate the document, and then right-click it. In the menu that appears, click "Get Info."

In the "General" section (next to "Kind:"), you can check the file type to make sure it was successfully converted.

Related: How to Convert a PDF File to PowerPoint

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Pro Speakers on How to Give a Perfect Keynote Presentation

Updated: January 13, 2021

Published: November 03, 2020

Two years ago, I was asked to give a presentation about my HubSpot article on emotional marketing . It was by far the most exhilarating and nerve-wracking experience of my professional life.

I don’t necessarily hate public speaking. However, leading up to the event, I felt the full responsibility of not only delivering a good presentation but also teaching the audience valuable , actionable information — and that was very intimidating.

I wanted to do a good job, and I wanted to be a good teacher.

Therein lies the importance of keynote presentations : to be effective, they should be educational and entertaining. Do you have a keynote presentation in your future? Read on for some advice from professional speakers.

First, what is a keynote presentation? Glad you asked.

You may also be tasked with a keynote presentation in order to secure funding, make a sale, or update stakeholders or executives. Whatever stage you find yourself on, delivering a keynote presentation is an important responsibility as a public speaker.

How to Give a Perfect Keynote Presentation, According to the Experts

I spoke with four professional speakers on how to deliver a near-perfect presentation. Here are five pieces of advice they shared.

1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

When it comes to public speaking, practice quite literally makes perfect. Every expert I spoke with mentioned how frequently they rehearse their presentations.

“However much you think you need to rehearse, rehearse 10 times more than that. When you show up to a concert, you expect that the musicians know their songs, and you certainly don't want the first time they try to play it to be right there on stage. You owe your audience and the folks hiring you to speak the same respect,” said Melanie Deziel , international keynote speaker and founder of StoryFuel . (She received this advice herself from Michael and Amy Port at Heroic Public Speaking .)

Provided by Melanie Deziel

As more presentations and events become fully virtual, the likelihood of technical difficulties also grows. Rehearsing your content can help you weather any interruptions or last-minute changes.

Rehearsal not only leads to content mastery; it allows freedom in your presentations. “The more you rehearse and become comfortable with the content, the freer you'll be to take chances, experiment, and truly focus on your delivery, rather than trying to remember what comes next,” shared Deziel.

How do these experts recommend practicing your presentations? “[Use] a mirror,” said Olivia Scott , keynote speaker and founder of Omerge Alliances . “I take the time to see how I'm being received, I look at my body posture, and I look at everything to make sure that I feel good about what I'm delivering. This isn’t exactly a tool or technology, but it's a way to practice and rehearse.”

Additionally, consider asking friends, family, and trusted colleagues to listen to your practice runs and provide feedback on your presentation.

2. Ask for feedback.

Speaking of feedback, expert orators know to ask for it on a regular basis — from friends, peer groups, mentors, audience members, and clients. “Find a support crew and connect with other speakers in the industry,” mentioned Karen Hopper , keynote speaker and data strategist at M+R. Hopper personally recommends Shine Bootcamp , which provided her with lifelong friendships, helpful feedback, and a priceless education about public speaking.

Provided by Karen Hopper

“We help each other with feedback on our pitches, topics, outlines, and presentations, and we celebrate each others' wins,'' said Hopper. “ ... It’s well worth surrounding yourself with people who will cheer for you and who will give you honest feedback — the fastest way to get better is to ruthlessly seek out that feedback.”

Clients can also be an incredibly helpful source of feedback. If you’re asked to speak at an event or conference, consider asking the people who hired you. “I ask my client for their reaction immediately after every presentation. It’s important to know how they felt, and whether the presentation achieved their goals. Every time my client is happy, that’s my most successful presentation,” said Jeff Toister , keynote speaker, author, and customer service expert.

Lastly, the best feedback often comes from the source — in this case, your audience. Whether you ask questions during your presentation (which we’ll discuss next) or ask for feedback following your presentation, it’s never a bad idea to know what your audience thought about your keynote.

Feedback may look different if giving a remote keynote presentation, but it's still possible.

“It’s been a creative challenge to adapt a talk I'd hoped to give in person to work in a virtual environment. It's much harder to tell how your talks are received online, without being able to see nodding and note-taking and hear laughter and clapping. But all the feedback I have received [over email] indicated that my talk successfully changed the way many people are thinking about their content idea generation process, and that was the ultimate goal of the talk: to change how people think ,” shared Deziel, referring to her recent keynote at Content Marketing World 2020.

3. Engage your audience.

Nobody likes being talked at . Sure, delivering a keynote presentation involves you doing most of the talking, but it doesn’t have to be a one-way conversation. Many of the experts I interviewed encouraged some sort of audience engagement or interaction to enhance your presentation.

“People love to be involved in a presentation. Rather than explain a concept to my audience, I find a way to have them experience it,” said Toister. “For example, when I share how multitasking hurts productivity and causes us to make more errors, I have the audience try a brief multitasking exercise so they can experience the problem themselves.”

Did you know that audience engagement levels drop considerably (14%) if a presenter does most of the talking, versus if the audience talks just as much? Moreover, 64% of people believe that a presentation with two-way interaction is much more engaging than a one-way presentation.

Presentation engagement also takes practice — just like your presentation content itself. “ ... Entertainment comes from the performance itself: the way in which you deliver that content and the energy you bring to that delivery. This is a separate skill you need to practice. Work with a coach, watch back recordings of yourself to identify opportunities to improve your craft, and watch videos of top-notch comedians, poets and other speakers to see what you can learn from them,” encouraged Deziel.

Lastly, as important as engagement is, don’t let technology stand in the way. While smartphones and polling software can make audience interaction easier, they can also get in the way of you connecting with your audience. “I prefer to just have people stand up, raise their hand, or clap to participate in the poll. It gets the audience moving, and I don’t have to worry about WiFi connections or whether the polling software is working,” said Toister.

4. Prioritize your content as much as the delivery.

While entertaining and interacting with your audience is helpful and exciting, it shouldn’t take precedence over your presentation content itself. “Nearly all of what the audience can learn from you comes from the content: the stories you tell, the examples you share, the facts you cite and the other information you explain. Carefully crafting those materials and testing it out ensures that the audience will get the information they were promised from your session,” said Deziel.

Tools like PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, and Canva can help you hone your content and develop a story within your presentation. A 2018 Prezi study (another presentation tool option) showed that 90% of people believe a strong narrative makes for a more engaging, interesting presentation. Data can help form arguments and explain facts, but stories stay with your audience long after your time on stage.

Storytelling is yet another way to engage with your audience, especially by evoking emotions like humor. “It’s entertaining to ask questions, saying, ‘Can anyone relate to this? Has anyone ever had this type of experience before?’ and then getting them involved with some laughter around those experiences. Laughter always helps,” said Scott, who presented at INBOUND 2020 .

Hopper, who was also a Breakout Speaker at INBOUND 2020, agreed: “Don't be afraid to be funny or drop in jokes — there are studies that show that laughing actually helps your brain retain information better, so not only will your audience have a good time laughing with you, but they'll also get more out of your presentation. It’s a win-win!”

5. Focus on the audience.

Finally, everyone can agree that public speaking is either revered or feared. If you relate to the latter and find yourself nervous when giving presentations, turn your focus on the audience.

“Speakers easily get nervous when they focus on themselves and worry too much about their own performance. Focusing on your audience first takes the nerves away and redirects your attention to making sure your audience gets something of value from your keynote,” shared Toister.

That’s the goal of a keynote presentation — to provide value to your audience. Regardless of what story you’re telling, what tools you’re using, or how you’re engaging the crowd, as long as you deliver a presentation that inspires your audience to think differently — even for 30 minutes — you’ve given a perfect keynote presentation.

Note: HubSpot Marketing teams reserve the right to use guest blog author’s likeness across our content as we see fit, including but not limited to HubSpot’s social media channels.

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9 Keynote Tips and Tricks for Stunning Apple Slides (+ BONUS Expert Hacks to Make Keynote Better)

Looking to create captivating and professional Apple slides? Look no further! With these Keynote tips, you can unlock the full potential of Keynote and deliver impressive presentations that will leave your audience in awe.

From mastering slide transitions to customizing your toolbar, we’ll explore essential techniques that will take your slides to the next level.

Let’s take your slides to new heights with these invaluable Keynote tips.

• Animate Individual Objects on the Slides
• Master Magic Move
• Edit Your Slide Layouts
• Use Action Buttons for Shapes in Keynote
• Use a Pre-Built Template Design
• Customize Your Keynote Toolbar
• Edit Videos without Using Any Other Tool
• Record Slideshow for Playback
• Control the Slideshow Remotely

BONUS Keynote Tips For Engaging Presentations

Keynote tips faq, #1 – animate individual objects on the slides.

Elevate the impact of your Keynote slides by animating individual objects to control their appearance and engage your audience. 

Here are three best practices for animating individual objects on your slides:

• Control the timing: Animate objects to appear on your slide exactly when you want them to. Whether it’s a text box, an image, or a shape, you can choose when it enters the screen to create a seamless and engaging presentation.
• Preview your animation: Before finalizing your slides, take advantage of the Preview button to see how your animation will look in action. This way, you can make any necessary adjustments and ensure a smooth transition between objects.
• Customize your animation: Keynote offers a range of animation options to fit your needs. From simple fades to complex movements, you can customize the animation of each individual object to create a visually stunning and memorable experience for your audience.

#2 – Master Magic Move

Little known Keynote tip: You can use a cool feature called Magic Move to seamlessly animate and transition objects between slides.

Magic Move allows for smooth animation and transition between slides, creating a visually engaging and dynamic presentation.

To utilize this feature, duplicate the slide and adjust the position of objects to create a seamless animation effect. Then, select Magic Move from the Add an Effect section to apply the animation between the slides.

Customize the duration, match with text, and define the transition start time for the Magic Move effect to ensure it aligns with your presentation needs. Then, preview the smooth animation to ensure it meets your expectations.

#3 – Edit Your Slide Layouts

To achieve consistent styling in your Keynote presentation, utilize the Edit Slide Layouts feature. This powerful tool allows you to customize your slide layouts and designs, ensuring a cohesive and professional look throughout your entire presentation. Simple but effective, this is a Keynote tip most people overlook. 

Here are three ways you can make the most of this feature:

• Easily add a title and photo: By editing your slide layouts, you can include a title and photo section in every slide, saving you time and effort. Simply adjust the layout to include these elements, and they’ll automatically appear whenever you create a new slide.
• Define your frequently used layouts: If you have specific layouts or designs that you frequently use in your presentations, you can define them using the Edit Slide Layouts feature. This way, you can easily access and apply these layouts whenever needed, streamlining your workflow and ensuring consistency.
• Explore alternatives if needed: While Keynote offers a wide range of slide layouts to choose from, you may find that none of them fit your specific needs. In that case, it’s worth exploring Keynote alternatives that provide more customizable options for slide layouts.

#4 – Use Action Buttons for Shapes in Keynote

To enhance your Keynote presentations, incorporate action buttons into your shapes. Action buttons can add interactivity and engagement to your slides.

Here are three reasons why you should consider using action buttons in Keynote:

• Easy navigation: Action buttons allow you to create clickable links within your shapes. By linking a shape to another slide or a specific location, you can create a seamless navigation experience for your audience. They can simply click on the shape to jump to the desired section or information.
• Interactive elements: Action buttons can be used to add interactive elements to your slides. For example, you can create buttons that play videos, open websites, or trigger animations. 
• Enhanced user experience: By incorporating action buttons, you can provide your audience with a more interactive and hands-on experience. They can actively participate in the presentation by clicking on buttons and exploring the content at their own pace. 

#5 – Use a Pre-Built Template Design

This Keynote tip is another important one to not overlook! Even if you’re creative and love to design from scratch, using pre-built templates as a starting point can save you a ton of time. 

Keynote users can enjoy minimal and modern pre-built templates that are both popular and easy to manage. These templates can serve as a great starting point, offering a foundation for customization and personalization . By utilizing pre-built templates, you can maintain a consistent styling throughout your presentation, especially for large decks. This ensures that your slides look polished and you look like a professional speaker .

Additionally, if you prefer a more personalized touch, Keynote allows you to create your own custom templates or slides . This flexibility enables you to tailor your presentation to your specific needs while still benefiting from the convenience and efficiency of using pre-built designs.

#6 – Customize Your Keynote Toolbar

When it comes to enhancing your Keynote presentations, one important step is to customize your toolbar for easy access to frequently used tools. By customizing your toolbar, you can streamline your workflow and save time during your presentation preparations.

To customize your toolbar in Keynote , go to the View menu and choose Customize Toolbar . From there, you can drag and drop the features you use most frequently into your toolbar. Once you’re done, simply click the Done button to finish customizing your toolbar.

Take advantage of this feature to make your Keynote experience more personalized and efficient.

#7 – Edit Videos without Using Any Other Tool

There are some pretty cool Keynote tips for anyone who integrates videos and other media into their presentations. 

Take your video editing to the next level with Keynote’s built-in tools, allowing you to seamlessly trim, enhance, and add dynamic effects to your videos directly within the presentation software. 

Here are three ways you can edit videos without using any other tool in Keynote:

• Trim and crop: Use Keynote’s video editing options to easily trim unwanted sections and crop your videos to focus on specific areas, ensuring that your videos are concise and visually appealing.
• Enhance and adjust : Keynote enables you to enhance the quality of your videos by adjusting brightness, contrast, and saturation. You can also apply filters and effects to give your videos a professional touch.
• Add text and annotations: With Keynote’s built-in text and shape tools, you can add text overlays, annotations, and captions directly onto your videos. 

#8 – Record Slideshow for Playback

Enhance your presentation experience by easily recording your slideshow for playback. With Keynote, you have the option to record your presentation, allowing you to share it with others or review it at a later time.

To start recording , simply go to the Play menu and select Record Slideshow . Before you begin, customize the recording settings to your preference. You can choose to include narration and even enable pointer options to highlight important elements on your slides.

During the recording, navigate through your presentation as you would during a live presentation. Use the pause and stop buttons to control the recording and make adjustments as needed.

Once you’ve finished recording, take the time to review and edit the recording if necessary. This way, you can ensure that the playback is smooth and professional.

Recording your slideshow is a convenient way to capture your presentation and share it with others, whether it’s for training purposes, remote meetings, or simply to have a record of your work. No matter what your role is, this Keynote tip can be especially useful if you share your presentations with others!

#9 – Control the Slideshow Remotely

This is a cool Keynote tip for anyone who hosts presentations! Control your Keynote slideshow remotely using the Keynote app on your iPhone or iPad. With this feature, you can easily navigate through your presentation without being tethered to your computer.

Here are three ways you can take advantage of the remote control functionality:

• Connect your Mac and your iPhone or iPad to the same Wi-Fi network. This ensures a seamless connection between the devices.
• Open the presentation you want to control on your Mac , then tap the ‘Play’ button in the top-right corner of the Keynote toolbar. This starts the slideshow on your Mac.
• Once the slideshow is running, you can control it by tapping the ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ buttons on your iPhone or iPad . This allows you to move through your slides effortlessly, even if you’re standing across the room.

But that’s not all! You can also use your iPhone or iPad as a laser pointer during the presentation. Simply press and hold on the screen, and a laser pointer will appear, helping you emphasize important points and engage your audience even more. Cool, right? 

Choose A Set Of Icons & Stick To It

For a visually cohesive and professional presentation, choose a set of icons that aligns with your theme and consistently use them throughout.

Not only does this create a visually engaging presentation, but it also reinforces your personal branding and message. The use of a specific set of icons helps in maintaining a streamlined and polished design aesthetic , ensuring that your slides look cohesive and well-designed.

A consistent set of icons also aids in guiding the audience’s understanding and navigation. It provides a visual cue that helps them follow along and comprehend the information presented.

Make Fast Edits with Master Slides

Say goodbye to manually editing each slide individually. Instead, make fast edits to the design and formatting of all slides by modifying the Master Slide templates.

With the Master Slides feature, you can efficiently update fonts, colors, and layout elements across all slides in your presentation.  

Imagine the efficiency of making a single edit and seeing it instantly reflected throughout your entire presentation. With Master Slides, you can ensure consistency and cohesiveness in your slides without the hassle of repetitive editing.

Play with Themes

Enhance the visual appeal of your slides by exploring the Play with Themes feature and experimenting with different visual styles and aesthetics.

With Keynote, you can easily change the entire look and feel of your slides by applying different themes from the Themes chooser. This allows you to customize the themes by adjusting colors, fonts, and slide layouts to match your content and branding.

Include Stunning Charts and Graphs

Consider incorporating visually stunning charts and graphs into your Keynote presentation to enhance data representation. By utilizing these powerful visual aids, you can simplify complex information and make it more accessible to your audience.

Incorporating visually appealing charts and graphs into your Keynote presentation is a simple yet effective way to engage your audience, enhance data representation, and leave a lasting impact.

Export Keynote to Different Formats

This is another keynote tip that most people don’t realize the usefulness of at first glance. To ensure compatibility and easy sharing, Keynote allows you to export your presentation to various formats, including PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, and images . 

To export your presentation, simply go to the File menu and select ‘Export To’ . From there, you can choose the desired format and adjust settings to customize the export process. 

Consider the needs and preferences of your recipients when selecting the format for exporting your Keynote presentation. For example, if they primarily use PowerPoint, exporting to that format would make it easier for them to view and edit your presentation. On the other hand, exporting to PDF can ensure that your presentation retains its formatting and can be easily viewed on any device.

How Do I Make My Keynote Slides Look Good?

To make your Keynote slides look good, utilize slide transitions and animations, customize your toolbar for efficient editing, use pre-built templates, and incorporate interactive elements strategically. Take advantage of support options for additional assistance. And of course, don’t forget to apply best design practices!

What Are the Cool Things You Can Do in Keynote?

You can do many cool things in Keynote! Create smooth transitions, customize object animations, use Magic Move for seamless slides, and edit slide layouts. Customize your toolbar for quick access to frequently used tools.

How Do You Make a Keynote Presentation Effective?

To make your Keynote presentation effective, utilize the features on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Collaborate in real-time and sync across devices. Access support options like searching for answers, connecting with experts, and using user guides and forums.

Is Apple Keynote as Good as Powerpoint?

Yes! Apple Keynote is a powerful presentation software that offers unique features, seamless integration across devices, and a user-friendly interface. It provides a wide range of tools and templates to create visually stunning and engaging slides.

By utilizing these powerful Keynote tips and features, you can create beautiful and professional Apple slides that will impress your audience. Simply put, if you’re trying to become a keynote speaker , you should know these Keynote tips.

From mastering slide transitions and animations to customizing your toolbar and controlling the slideshow remotely, Keynote offers a range of tools to enhance your presentations.

With the ability to collaborate in real-time and seamlessly sync across devices, Keynote is the ultimate presentation software for unleashing your creativity and delivering impactful presentations.

Do you have other Keynote tips to share? Comment below and share your favorite Keynote features!

Check out more great articles from the Thought-Leader Blog covering TEDx Talks, success mindsets, and everything else in between

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How to prepare a ted talk, how to market yourself effectively, how to become a keynote speaker, how to speak professionally.

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10 Expert Tips to Create and Deliver a Killer Keynote Presentation

So you’ve got a keynote presentation coming up, and you’re hitting the books to make sure you’re armed with the best plan possible. Besides taking notes from all the greats on TED, you’re reading up about a message structure that works, and looking for the perfect template.

While it seems like you’ve got your bases covered, like all things in life, there’s always a way to streamline the planning process.

According to Aaron Weyenberg , the UX Lead for TED and a self-professed “master of slide decks,” and the wizards behind Apple’s presentation slides , there are a number of tricks of the trade that you can rely on to create a rocking keynote presentation .

Below are some of our favorites. And to easily create a professional-looking presentation , sign up for Piktochart . It’s free and it allows you to make beautiful visuals without being a graphic designer.

1. Do your slides last

While most keynote speakers will typically build their presentation around the structure of a template, Weyenberg says that “building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation.” Before working on your slides, you should put together your main message, structure, supporting points – then practice and time your presentation. The reason for this, he says, is that the presentation needs to be strong enough to stand on its own. Approaching a keynote like this requires a shift in thinking.

While a beautiful set of slides is imperative to your presentation, it should not be central to it.

Weyenberg said it best: “The slides are just something you layer over [the presentation] to enhance the listener experience.”

Observe these 2017 Google I/O keynotes, especially CEO Sundar Pichai’s – the role of the slides are to support what the speaker is saying – not the other way around.

2. Get creative with photos

Often times, presenters will be far too literal or cheesy with their image choice. Weyenberg suggests to use images that are simple, yet punchy – and pairs nicely with your spoken words. He says to look for photos that are:

• Related to your keynote’s concept
• Are not complex in terms of composition

3. Simplify charts and graphs

While most presenters will simply drop an image of their charts and graphs into their deck, Weyenberg points out that it might be a bit “unsightly.” If you need to use data to back a point that you’re making, you should make the extra effort to make it more attractive – and this can be done by recreating it in your presentation maker .

There are a couple benefits to doing this:

• It will make your presentation seem consistent and well-thought out
• You’ll have control over colors, typography, and more.

4. One theme per slide

According to the designers of Apple presentation slides, less is certainly more. Trying to cram too many ideas on one slide can only work to your detriment. Beyond ideas, the same goes for statistics.

Let’s play a little game: For the following idea, how many slides would you use? “The developer program is incredibly vibrant. We have over six million registered developers. Demand for this show has never been greater. We sold out in just over a minute [71 seconds].”

While the average person might think that 6 million and 71 seconds would belong on the same slide and be short and sweet enough, let’s compare it with what Apple’s CEO Tim Cook did.

He only leveraged two slides: The first said “6 million,” and the second: “71 seconds. Sold out.”

5. Create a visual experience with data

Taking a leaf again from Apple’s presentation book, once you’ve gotten the hang of having just one stat per slide – you should also make it as visual as possible.

One data point per slide, combined with it being visually interesting – is sure to be memorable.

6. Practice Really Makes Perfect

Imagine the late Steve Jobs, a legendary keynote presenter, still rehearsed for months before a presentation. According to Brent Schlender , one of the co-authors behind the Steve Jobs biography “Becoming Steve Jobs,” Jobs would rehearse and prepare “exhaustively” for all of his public appearances.

Despite being a natural on the stage, Jobs never would wing it, he came to the show well prepared.

“I once spent an entire day watching him run through multiple rehearsals of a single presentation, tweaking everything from the color and angle of certain spotlights, to editing and rearranging the order of the keynote presentation slides to improve his pacing,” remembers Schlender.

While you may not be a perfectionist like Jobs, you are likely also not nearly as good of a presenter as he is – so practice really makes perfect in this case.

7. Tell A Consistent Story

Circling back to Weyenberg’s tips – he suggests that in a good slide deck, every slide should feel “like part of the same story.” Think of your deck like a story – every slide should feel cohesive to the big picture message you’re trying to communicate – as opposed to random ideas juxtaposed together.

You can do this by:

• Using the same or similar typography, colors, and imagery across all slides
• Using presentation templates can help with maintaining the same look and feel

8. Less is more

We explored the less is more concept earlier in the article by suggesting you keep to one idea per slide. The same can be applied to text.

When it comes to creating slides for your next keynote, the cardinal sin is a slide with ample text that is verbatim of your spoken presentation.

What this does is encourage people to keep their eyes on your slides instead of listening to you.

Weyenberg also points out that a text-heavy slide forces the brain to multitask between focusing on what it’s reading and hearing – which is quite difficult and will compromise your presentation.

9. Consider topic transitions

While you want to make your slides look like a cohesive unit, you want to also keep in mind that making every slide look the same may be boring. Weyenberg suggests to:

• Create one style for the slides that are the “meat” of the message
• Then create another style for the slides that are transitioning between topics

For example, if your overall slides have a dark background with light text, you can use transitional slides that have a light background with dark text. This way, they’ll still feel like they’re from the same presentation family without being completely uniform.

10. Tell a captivating story

It is fitting that our final tip comes from likely the greatest keynote presenter of all time. The late and great Steve Jobs had the ability to captivate and inspire his audience with his talks, and that’s because he was a very good storyteller. And that’s the golden leaf that you can take from Jobs’ book today.

Always aim to tell a captivating story.

One example is perhaps when he introduced the iPod: “In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. It didn’t just change the way we all listen to music. It changed the entire music industry.” Listen to Steve Jobs weave a story about the digital music revolution when unveiling the iPod.

Bonus Round: Tips From Piktochart Designers  

• Always remember that your audience is sitting far away . So ensure that your title font size is large enough to be seen from a distance, and that your body text is no smaller than 20px.
• Use only two colors for your entire presentation – a primary and secondary color. If you must use a large color palette, your maximum choice should be up to five colors.
• Make sure that there is enough white space throughout your presentation . This will give your content room to breathe. Less is definitely more in this case.
• Emphasize only one object per slide – whether it’s an image, statistic, quote. This will make sure your audience stays focused.

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Reaching for the Stars: Bellevue 6th grader joins the 2024 SpaceKids Press Squad

In a world where the wonders of space exploration continue to captivate young minds, one Bellevue sixth grader is about to embark on a journey that's nothing short of extraordinary. Noelle, an 11-year-old student, has been selected as one of just eight winners nationwide for the 2024 SpaceKids Press Squad Competition . This achievement marks the beginning of an adventure that will take Noelle far beyond the classroom and into the heart of space exploration.

The SpaceKids Press Squad Competition, a collaborative effort between SpaceKids Global —a Florida-based national nonprofit—and Blue Origin's nonprofit Club for the Future , is designed to immerse elementary students in the world of space exploration. The program aims to inspire young students in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) by offering them a unique opportunity to explore the frontiers of space travel.

For Noelle, this means a two-day adventure in Orlando, Florida, where she'll explore Blue Origin's Rocket Park, visit NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and possibly even witness a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launch. The experience is not just about observing; Noelle and her fellow SpaceKids Press Squad members will receive professional press training, equipping them with the skills to become young space reporters.

When asked how she got involved in the competition, Noelle shared, "My dad entered me into the competition, and when I found out I was a finalist and won, I was so excited." Her excitement is palpable as she eagerly anticipates the upcoming adventure. "I really hope I get to interview a real astronaut, and I can't wait to see a real space rocket," she added, her eyes lighting up at the thought.

Here's her submission video, we can see why she was selected!

Noelle's enthusiasm for space is matched by her diverse range of hobbies. When she's not dreaming about rockets and astronauts, she loves to bake, sew, play music, and spend time with her guinea pigs. This blend of creativity and curiosity makes her a perfect fit for the SpaceKids Press Squad, where she'll have the chance to explore new horizons and share her experiences with the world.

SpaceKids Global founder Sharon Hagle, who helped bring this program to life, explained the initiative's origins: “The SpaceKids Press Squad program was launched as an innovation initiative to empower young kids and foster a passion for space exploration through journalism and storytelling. By providing training in journalism, communication, and multimedia skills, SpaceKids will equip these young reporters with the tools they need to effectively report on an upcoming Blue Origin launch. Our mission is to inspire elementary students in STEAM education, ensuring girls are equally represented. With hands-on opportunities like this, we can make learning fun again and bring the possibility of space to kids everywhere.”

Hagle's vision is clear: she wants to create a world where every child, regardless of their background, can feel that the stars are within their reach. "SpaceKids Global has reached more than 867,000 kids worldwide, emphasizing the importance of STEAM education. The organization opens doors for young minds, encouraging them to be curious about space exploration and dream big while believing they can achieve anything they set their minds to," Hagle continued. "This year, for the Press Squad Competition, we selected children from across the U.S., including one child each from the Boys and Girls Club, the First Responders Children Foundation, and a U.S. Military family. We want to ensure that kids everywhere understand that, no matter where you live or your background, there is a space for you!"

For Noelle, this opportunity is more than just a trip; it's a chance to explore the vast possibilities that lie beyond our planet and to be inspired by those who are making space exploration a reality. As she prepares for her journey to Orlando, she carries with her the hopes and dreams of her community, eager to share her experience with the world.

As Noelle gets ready to don her SpaceKids Press Squad badge, she embodies the spirit of curiosity and discovery that SpaceKids Global and Blue Origin strive to instill in all young students. With her passion for science and a newfound interest in journalism, she is well on her way to becoming a future leader in the world of space exploration.

Noelle's journey is just beginning, and as she takes her first steps toward the stars, she serves as an inspiration to her peers, reminding us all that the sky is not the limit—it's just the beginning. As Noelle and her family stand by, waiting for the green light to embark on this incredible adventure, one thing is certain: this is just the start of an out-of-this-world journey.

Kate Neidigh is a writer for Seattle Refined, covering lifestyle, fashion, beauty, travel, real estate, gift guides and feature stories. See more of her work on Instagram here .

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NeuroMix with MRA: A Fast MR Protocol to Reduce Head and Neck CTA for Patients with Acute Neurologic Presentations

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Overuse of CT-based cerebrovascular imaging in the emergency department and inpatient settings, notably CTA of the head and neck for minor and nonfocal neurologic presentations, stresses imaging services and exposes patients to radiation and contrast. Furthermore, such CT-based imaging is often insufficient for definitive diagnosis, necessitating additional MR imaging. Recent advances in fast MRI may allow timely assessment and a reduced need for head and neck CTA in select populations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified inpatients or patients in the emergency department who underwent CTAHN (including noncontrast and postcontrast head CT, with or without CTP imaging) followed within 24 hours by a 3T MRI study that included a 2.5-minute unenhanced multicontrast sequence (NeuroMix) and a 5-minute intracranial time of flight MRA) during a 9-month period (April to December 2022). Cases were classified by 4 radiologists in consensus as to whether NeuroMix and NeuroMix + MRA detected equivalent findings, detected unique findings, or missed findings relative to CTAHN.

RESULTS: One hundred seventy-four cases (mean age, 67 [SD, 16] years; 56% female) met the inclusion criteria. NeuroMix alone and NeuroMix + MRA protocols were determined to be equivalent or better compared with CTAHN in 71% and 95% of patients, respectively. NeuroMix always provided equivalent or better assessment of the brain parenchyma, with unique findings on NeuroMix and NeuroMix + MRA in 35% and 36% of cases, respectively, most commonly acute infarction or multiple microhemorrhages. In 8/174 cases (5%), CTAHN identified vascular abnormalities not seen on the NeuroMix + MRA protocol due to the wider coverage of the cervical arteries by CTAHN.

CONCLUSIONS: A fast MR imaging protocol consisting of NeuroMix + MRA provided equivalent or better information compared with CTAHN in 95% of cases in our population of patients with an acute neurologic presentation. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the benefits and challenges of a fast unenhanced MR-first approach with NeuroMix + MRA, which could be used to design prospective trials in select patient groups, with the potential to reduce radiation dose, mitigate adverse contrast-related patient and environmental effects, and lessen the burden on radiologists and health care systems.

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