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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > How to Format Presentation Slides

How to Format Presentation Slides

Learn how to give your presentation slides a facelift so they captivate your audience.

Why is Presentation Design and Formatting Important?

A well-designed presentation can help you connect with your audience and gets your message across in an easily digestible manner. Great presentation design can impart a positive first impression and is more likely to draw in and engage an audience.

Pretend you’re attending a presentation and instead of formatted PowerPoint slides, each one is plain white with a lot of dark text that’s hard to read. And even though the background and text colors are the same, none of the text is lined up and multiple fonts are used. There are no transitions or title pages that help to differentiate between topics being discussed and you’re presented with slide after slide of confusing, jumbled text.

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Formatting slides in your presentation is what enhances the look of the slides and transforms them into something that complements the content and resonates with the audience.

What Else Should a Good Presentation Include?

While formatted slides can help to connect with the audience, a good presentation should also include:

• Well-written, concise content that clearly explains the problem that you’re trying to solve and the unique solution you’ve come up with.
• A great hook or emotionally compelling introduction.
• Visuals that support your message and aren’t too busy.

Most importantly, a good presentation should be efficient and engage with the audience. And that engagement can be found in the content as well as how the slides are formatted.

Tips for Creating & Formatting Presentation Slides

Before you start creating your PowerPoint presentation, make sure that your content is solid. Making an outline can help you keep information organized, clear, and concise before you put it into a presentation. The outline can also help you break down what information is shared on each slide to keep things from being overcrowded or wordy. Take a minute to consider your audience and the best ways to connect with them and present what you’re trying to share.

Once your content is finalized, you can get to work on creating and formatting your presentation slides.

How to Make a Slide

A PowerPoint presentation is sometimes known as a deck and is composed of different slides. When you’re putting your own deck together, you’ll certainly need to add slides and format them in different ways.

In order to make a new slide appear in your presentation, first select the slide that you’d like your new slide to follow. Then click Home and choose New Slide . From there, you can choose your desired layout , and start inputting content. The layout options in PowerPoint are great for keeping your text lined up and consistent through the deck. You can also rearrange, duplicate, and delete slides as necessary.

Formatting Your Presentation Slides

Once you’ve created your content or slides, it’s time to consider design and formatting. This is where you make choices about themes, templates, color schemes, and fonts.

If you don’t feel confident about your design abilities, you might want to try applying a template . This customizable option offers a variety of artistic skins that can give your deck a professional polish. There is even a range of downloadable templates available from Microsoft to suit any kind of presentation.

Don’t feel like you must use a template, though. Many users may prefer to use or create a theme to visually tie together their presentations. PowerPoint provides a variety of themes which include color schemes, backgrounds, fonts, and placeholder slides. In the Design tab, you can choose a theme that appeals to you or matches with your content. You can even try different color variations within the theme by selecting Variants . Each variant has built in options for colors, fonts, and background colors and styles that can help you format your slides and create a cohesive look throughout the deck.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you decide to eschew the suggestions made by PowerPoint:

• Consider the colors you’re using. There are definitely a few color combinations you should avoid .
• Choose fonts that are easy to read and make sure that your text isn’t too small to be read across a large room. You’ll also want to remember to keep the text on your slides relatively sparse, with no more than three bullet points per slide.

Using Visual Aids in Your Presentation

One way to break up the monotony of an all-text presentation is to use visual aids like charts, graphs, static images, gifs, and movies.

As with all other aspects of your deck, ensure that your visuals are easy to see and understand, and aren’t too wordy. Imagine trying to read a line graph with lots of muddy colors and small text from across a conference room. The goal of a visual aid is to make the presentation you’re giving more compelling and the information you’re sharing easier to understand.

Here are a few tips for adding visuals to your presentation:

• Make sure the images you use are of high quality and that they fit in your deck. They shouldn’t be distorted or pixelated, as this will distract from the content.
• All charts should be very easy to read and understand. If someone can’t immediately glean what information is presented, you may be trying to fit too much into a single chart.
• Don’t use more than one chart per slide unless it’s necessary. Keep it simple.
• If you’re including a brand or logo in your deck, make sure you’re adhering to that brand’s style guide .

A great way to get design ideas for slides in your presentation us to use the Designer feature in PowerPoint. It automatically generates design ideas for you to choose from based on the content of your slide. Designer detects when you’re using pictures, charts, and tables and gives you suggestions for arranging them on your slides in a cohesive layout that’s easy on the eyes. Designer can also help to format your lists and timelines into easy-to-read graphics and suggests relevant graphics to pair with keywords that it finds within your content.

Create a PowerPoint deck that stands out and resonates with your audience by formatting it in a professional manner. And don’t forget to prep for your presentation !

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How-To Geek

How to change an entire presentation's formatting in powerpoint.

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If you’re wanting to reuse a PowerPoint presentation but would like to clear the slideshow's formatting, there’s no need to do it slide by slide---you can do it all at once. Here’s how.

First, open the PowerPoint presentation with the formatting you want to edit. To illustrate the before and after, here’s what we’ll be working with in this example.

Looking even closer, here are the formats our current slideshow is using:

• Colors: Gallery
• Headings: Gill Sans MT
• Body: Gill Sans MT
• Effects: Gallery
• Background Style: Style 10
• Background Graphics: Wooden Flooring

Once you’re ready to reformat, select the “ Slide Master ” option in the “Master Views” group of the “View” tab.

The first child slide is selected by default. Be sure to choose the parent slide above it, or the changes won’t take place for every slide.

If you want to assign a new theme to the presentation, you can do that here. Select “Themes” from the “Edit Theme” group and choose your desired theme from the drop-down menu.

Each theme comes with its own unique set of fonts, colors, effects, and so on---and there's certainly no shortage of items to choose from. If you want to stick with your current theme but change some of the individual formatting options, you can do so with the options available in the “Background” group.

Here are the different options available for reformatting:

• Colors: Changes all the colors used in your presentation, as well as the color options available in the color picker.
• Fonts: Changes all the headings and body fonts used in the presentation.
• Effects: Changes the appearance (shading, border, etc.) of objects in your presentation.
• Background Styles: Choose the background style for the selected theme.
• Hide Background Graphics: Hide (or unhide) background graphics that come with a theme. This can only be used on each slide type in the Master view.

To make changes, select the option from the menu and choose your desired change from the menu that opens. For example, if we wanted to change our colors from “Gallery” to “Green Yellow,” we’d select “Colors” from the “Background Group” and then choose “Green Yellow” from the drop-down menu.

Related: How to Change the Default Font in PowerPoint

Repeat these steps for whichever options you’d like to change. We’ll make the following changes to our slideshow in this example:

• Colors: Green Yellow
• Headings: Calibri
• Body: Calibri
• Effects: Glossy
• Background Styles: Style 10
• Hide Background Graphics: Title Slide only

Once you’ve made the desired changes, select the “Close Master View” button in the “Close” group.

Related: How to Create a Custom Template in PowerPoint

You’ll now see the changes applied throughout the entire presentation.

And a closer look shows all the finer details.

That’s all there is to it!

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• Office 2016

20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

Updated: August 06, 2024

Published: May 24, 2010

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

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

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

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What makes a good PowerPoint presentation?

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

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

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

1. Minimal Animations and Transitions

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

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

2. Cohesive Color Palette

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

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

Image source

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

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

2. Use an interesting background image.

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

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

3. Or be minimal.

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

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

4. Incorporate illustrations.

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

5. Use all caps.

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

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

6. Alternate slide layouts

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

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

7. Inject a little humor.

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

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

8. Use duotones.

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

9. Include printed materials.

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

• Pamphlets 
• Printed slides
• Short quizzes on the material

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

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

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

11. Use a large font.

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

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

12. Include videos.

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

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

13. Use GIFs.

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

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

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

15. Add a touch of nature.

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

PowerPoint Theme Ideas

Atlas (theme).

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

Madison (Theme)

This design doesn't have the intensity of the first slide on this list. But I like how it has a simple structure that can make any PowerPoint presentation a good slideshow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. “The GaryVee Content Model,” Gary Vaynerchuk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. “How Google Works,” Eric Schmidt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Presentation Examples for the Best Slide Presentation

Mastering a PowerPoint presentation begins with the design itself.

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

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

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