.css-1qrtm5m{display:block;margin-bottom:8px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5714285714285714;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.35px;letter-spacing:-0.35px;font-weight:300;color:#606F7B;}@media (min-width:600px){.css-1qrtm5m{font-size:16px;line-height:1.625;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:-0.5px;}} Best Practices The #1 rule for improving your presentation slides
by Tom Rielly • May 12, 2020
When giving presentations, either on a video conference call or in person, your slides, videos and graphics (or lack of them) can be an important element in helping you tell your story or express your idea. This is the first of a series of blog posts that will give you tips and tricks on how to perfect your visual presentations.
Your job as a presenter is to build your idea -- step-by-step -- in the minds of your audience members. One tool to do that is presentation graphics, such as slides and videos.
Why graphics for your presentation?
A common mistake is using slides or videos as a crutch, even if they don’t actually add anything to your presentation. Not all presentations need graphics. Lots of presentations work wonderfully with just one person standing on a stage telling a story, as demonstrated by many TED Talks.
You should only use slides if they serve a purpose: conveying scientific information, art, and things that are hard to explain without pictures. Once you have decided on using slides, you will have a number of decisions to make. We’ll help you with the basics of making a presentation that is, above all, clear and easy to understand. The most important thing to remember here is: less is more.
Less is so much more
You want to aim for the fewest number of slides, the fewest number of photos, the fewest words per slide, the least cluttered slides and the most white space on your slides. This is the most violated slide rule, but it is the secret to success. Take a look at these examples.
As you can see in the above example, you don’t need fancy backgrounds or extra words to convey a simple concept. If you take “Everything you need to know about Turtles”, and delete “everything you need to know about” leaving just “turtles”, the slide has become much easier for your audience to read, and tells the story with economy.
The above example demonstrates that a single image that fills the entire screen is far more powerful than a slide cluttered with images. A slide with too many images may be detrimental to your presentation. The audience will spend more mental energy trying to sort through the clutter than listening to your presentation. If you need multiple images, then put each one on its own slide. Make each image high-resolution and have it fill the entire screen. If the photos are not the same dimensions as the screen, put them on a black background. Don’t use other colors, especially white.
Your slides will be much more effective if you use the fewest words, characters, and pictures needed to tell your story. Long paragraphs make the audience strain to read them, which means they are not paying attention to you. Your audience may even get stressed if you move on to your next slide before they’ve finished reading your paragraph. The best way to make sure the attention stays on you is to limit word count to no more than 10 words per slide. As presentation expert Nancy Duarte says “any slide with more than 10 words is a document.” If you really do need a longer explanation of something, handouts or follow-up emails are the way to go.
Following a “less is more” approach is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your presentation visuals and the impact of your presentation overall. Make sure your visuals add to your presentation rather than distract from it and get your message across.
Ready to learn more about how to make your presentation even better? Get TED Masterclass and develop your ideas into TED-style talks.
© 2024 TED Conferences, LLC. All rights reserved. Please note that the TED Talks Usage policy does not apply to this content and is not subject to our creative commons license.
20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]
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Updated: 08/06/24
Published: 05/24/10
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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Powerpoint design ideas, best powerpoint presentation slides, good examples of powerpoint presentation design.
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In my opinion, a great PowerPoint presentation gets the point across succinctly while using a design that doesn't detract from it.
Here are some of the elements I like to keep in mind when I’m building my own.
1. Minimal Animations and Transitions
Believe it or not, animations and transitions can take away from your PowerPoint presentation. Why? Well, they distract from the content you worked so hard on.
A good PowerPoint presentation keeps the focus on your argument by keeping animations and transitions to a minimum. I suggest using them tastefully and sparingly to emphasize a point or bring attention to a certain part of an image.
2. Cohesive Color Palette
I like to refresh my memory on color theory when creating a new PowerPoint presentation.
A cohesive color palette uses complementary and analogous colors to draw the audience’s attention and help emphasize certain aspects at the right time.
Image source
Mesmerize your audience by adding some neon colors and effects to your PowerPoint slides. Adding pops of color to your presentation will create visual interest and keep your audience engaged.
What I like: Neon will add personality and depth to your presentation and will help the information you're providing stand out and be more memorable.
2. Use an interesting background image.
Do you have some interesting nature photos from a recent road trip? Or maybe a holiday passed, and you have gorgeous photos to share? If so, consider incorporating them into your PowerPoint.
What I like: PowerPoints don't have to be stuffy and boring. They can be fun and a unique or interesting background will enhance the experience of your presentation.
3. Or be minimal.
Have you ever heard of K.I.S.S.? Not the band! I mean, Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. If you're worried too many colors or visuals could take attention away from the message of your presentation, consider going minimal.
Pro tip: Stick to no more than three colors if you're going for a minimalist design in your slides.
4. Incorporate illustrations.
Illustrations are a great way to highlight or break down a point in your presentation. They can also add a bit of whimsy and fun to keep viewers engaged.
5. Use all caps.
Using all capital letters can draw your audience's eyes to where you need them, helping cement your message in their minds. It can also just be aesthetically pleasing.
Pro tip: If you choose to use all capital letters, use varying fonts so readers can tell which information is important and which are supporting details.
6. Alternate slide layouts
You don't want readers to grow bored with your presentation. So, to retain visual interest, use alternating slide layouts. The example above shows PowerPoint slides alternating between vertical and horizontal layouts.
This keeps things interesting and ensures your presentation isn't monotonous.
7. Inject a little humor.
Humor is a great way to drive a point home and help people remember the information you're presenting. People remember a good joke, so if you have a funny pun to connect to a concept in a presentation, why not use it in a slide?
Pro tip: Remember you're in a professional setting, so keep your jokes appropriate. If you're worried a joke can get you a meeting with HR, then keep it to yourself.
8. Use duotones.
Duotones (or gradience) can take the aesthetic of your PowerPoint to new levels. They can provide a calming energy to your presentation and make viewers feel relaxed and eager to stay focused.
9. Include printed materials.
Let's say you have a PowerPoint you're proud of, but you want to go that extra mile to ensure your audience understands the material. A great way to do this would be to supplement your presentation with printed materials, as such as:
- Pamphlets
- Printed slides
- Short quizzes on the material
10. Keep it to one chart or graph per slide.
This is both a design example and a warning. Graphs and charts are an excellent way of displaying quantitative data in a digestible format.
However, you should have no more than one graph or chart per slide so your presentation doesn't get too confusing or muddled.
11. Use a large font.
Just like capital letters, a large font will help your shift your audience's focus to key points in your presentation.
Pro tip: You can combine large fonts and capital letters to boost its effectiveness.
12. Include videos.
Embedding a video into your PowerPoint can help you expand on a point or effectively break down a complex topic. You can either embed a video from a platform like YouTube or TikTok or use HubSpot's Clip Creator to make your own.
Pro tip: Try to keep videos short, like, under a minute, and don't use more than one or two.
13. Use GIFs.
GIFs add more visual interest, and they can be a great way to add humor or personal touch to your PowerPoint presentation.
14. Use contrasting colors when comparing two ideas or arguments.
Contrasting colors can convey the difference between two opposing thoughts or arguments in a way that is visually appealing.
15. Add a touch of nature.
If you want your presentation to exude a calming energy to your audience, including images of trees, flowers, and natural landscapes can do the trick.
PowerPoint Theme Ideas
Atlas (theme).
Covering a more creative subject for a younger or more energetic audience? I’d recommend using the cover slide design below. Its vibrant red color blocks and fun lines will appeal to your audience.
This simplistic presentation example employs several different colors and font weights, but instead of coming off as disconnected, the varied colors work with one another to create contrast and call out specific concepts.
What I like: The big, bold numbers help set the reader's expectations, as they clearly signify how far along the viewer is in the list of tips.
10. “Pixar's 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling,” Gavin McMahon
This presentation by Gavin McMahon features color in all the right places. While each of the background images boasts a bright, spotlight-like design, all the characters are intentionally blacked out.
What I like: This helps keep the focus on the tips, while still incorporating visuals. Not to mention, it's still easy for me to identify each character without the details. (I found you on slide eight, Nemo.)
11. “Facebook Engagement and Activity Report,” We Are Social
Here's another great example of data visualization in the wild.
What I like: Rather than displaying numbers and statistics straight up, this presentation calls upon interesting, colorful graphs, and charts to present the information in a way that just makes sense.
12. “The GaryVee Content Model,” Gary Vaynerchuk
This wouldn‘t be a true Gary Vaynerchuk presentation if it wasn’t a little loud, am I right?
What I like: Aside from the fact that I love the eye-catching, bright yellow background, Vaynerchuk does a great job of incorporating screenshots on each slide to create a visual tutorial that coincides with the tips. He also does a great job including a visual table of contents that shows your progress as you go .
13. “20 Tweetable Quotes to Inspire Marketing & Design Creative Genius,” IMPACT Branding & Design
We‘ve all seen our fair share of quote-chronicling presentations but that isn’t to say they were all done well. Often the background images are poor quality, the text is too small, or there isn't enough contrast.
Well, this professional presentation from IMPACT Branding & Design suffers from none of said challenges.
What I like: The colorful filters over each background image create just enough contrast for the quotes to stand out.
14. “The Great State of Design,” Stacy Kvernmo
This presentation offers up a lot of information in a way that doesn't feel overwhelming.
What I like: The contrasting colors create visual interest and “pop,” and the comic images (slides 6 through 12) are used to make the information seem less buttoned-up and overwhelming.
15. “Clickbait: A Guide To Writing Un-Ignorable Headlines,” Ethos3
Not going to lie, it was the title that convinced me to click through to this presentation but the awesome design kept me there once I arrived.
What I like: This simple design adheres to a consistent color pattern and leverages bullet points and varied fonts to break up the text nicely.
16. “Digital Transformation in 50 Soundbites,” Julie Dodd
This design highlights a great alternative to the “text-over-image” display we've grown used to seeing.
What I like: By leveraging a split-screen approach to each presentation slide, Julie Dodd was able to serve up a clean, legible quote without sacrificing the power of a strong visual.
17. “Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint,” Slide Comet
When you‘re creating a PowerPoint about how everyone’s PowerPoints stink, yours had better be terrific. The one above, based on the ebook by Seth Godin, keeps it simple without boring its audience.
What I like: Its clever combinations of fonts, together with consistent color across each slide, ensure you're neither overwhelmed nor unengaged.
18. “How Google Works,” Eric Schmidt
Simple, clever doodles tell the story of Google in a fun and creative way. This presentation reads almost like a storybook, making it easy to move from one slide to the next.
What I like: This uncluttered approach provides viewers with an easy-to-understand explanation of a complicated topic.
19. “What Really Differentiates the Best Content Marketers From The Rest,” Ross Simmonds
Let‘s be honest: These graphics are hard not to love. I especially appreciate the author’s cartoonified self-portrait that closes out the presentation. Well played, Ross Simmonds.
What I like: Rather than employing the same old stock photos, this unique design serves as a refreshing way to present information that's both valuable and fun.
20. “Be A Great Product Leader,” Adam Nash
This presentation by Adam Nash immediately draws attention by putting the company's logo first — a great move if your company is well known.
What I like: He uses popular images, such as ones of Megatron and Pinocchio, to drive his points home. In the same way, you can take advantage of popular images and media to keep your audience engaged.
And if you want more templates and examples, you can download them here .
PowerPoint Presentation Examples for the Best Slide Presentation
Mastering a PowerPoint presentation begins with the design itself.
Get inspired by my ideas above to create a presentation that engages your audience, builds upon your point, and helps you generate leads for your brand.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. This article was written by a human, but our team uses AI in our editorial process. Check out our full disclosure to learn more about how we use AI.
Don't forget to share this post!
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Blog Graphic Design Visual Presentation: Tips, Types and Examples
Visual Presentation: Tips, Types and Examples
Written by: Krystle Wong Sep 28, 2023
So, you’re gearing up for that big presentation and you want it to be more than just another snooze-fest with slides. You want it to be engaging, memorable and downright impressive.
Well, you’ve come to the right place — I’ve got some slick tips on how to create a visual presentation that’ll take your presentation game up a notch.
Packed with presentation templates that are easily customizable, keep reading this blog post to learn the secret sauce behind crafting presentations that captivate, inform and remain etched in the memory of your audience.
Click to jump ahead:
What is a visual presentation
15 effective tips to make your visual presentations more engaging, 6 major types of visual presentation you should know , what are some common mistakes to avoid in visual presentations, visual presentation faqs, 5 steps to create a visual presentation with venngage.
A visual presentation is a communication method that utilizes visual elements such as images, graphics, charts, slides and other visual aids to convey information, ideas or messages to an audience.
Visual presentations aim to enhance comprehension engagement and the overall impact of the message through the strategic use of visuals. People remember what they see, making your point last longer in their heads.
Without further ado, let’s jump right into some great visual presentation examples that would do a great job in keeping your audience interested and getting your point across.
In today’s fast-paced world, where information is constantly bombarding our senses, creating engaging visual presentations has never been more crucial. To help you design a presentation that’ll leave a lasting impression, I’ve compiled these examples of visual presentations that will elevate your game.
1. Use the rule of thirds for layout
Ever heard of the rule of thirds? It’s a presentation layout trick that can instantly up your slide game. Imagine dividing your slide into a 3×3 grid and then placing your text and visuals at the intersection points or along the lines. This simple tweak creates a balanced and seriously pleasing layout that’ll draw everyone’s eyes.
2. Get creative with visual metaphors
Got a complex idea to explain? Skip the jargon and use visual metaphors. Throw in images that symbolize your point – for example, using a road map to show your journey towards a goal or using metaphors to represent answer choices or progress indicators in an interactive quiz or poll.
3. Engage with storytelling through data
Use storytelling magic to bring your data to life. Don’t just throw numbers at your audience—explain what they mean, why they matter and add a bit of human touch. Turn those stats into relatable tales and watch your audience’s eyes light up with understanding.
4. Visualize your data with charts and graphs
The right data visualization tools not only make content more appealing but also aid comprehension and retention. Choosing the right visual presentation for your data is all about finding a good match.
For ordinal data, where things have a clear order, consider using ordered bar charts or dot plots. When it comes to nominal data, where categories are on an equal footing, stick with the classics like bar charts, pie charts or simple frequency tables. And for interval-ratio data, where there’s a meaningful order, go for histograms, line graphs, scatterplots or box plots to help your data shine.
In an increasingly visual world, effective visual communication is a valuable skill for conveying messages. Here’s a guide on how to use visual communication to engage your audience while avoiding information overload.
5. Employ the power of contrast
Want your important stuff to pop? That’s where contrast comes in. Mix things up with contrasting colors, fonts or shapes. It’s like highlighting your key points with a neon marker – an instant attention grabber.
6. End with a powerful visual punch
Your presentation closing should be a showstopper. Think a stunning clip art that wraps up your message with a visual bow, a killer quote that lingers in minds or a call to action that gets hearts racing.
7. Tell a visual story
Structure your slides like a storybook and create a visual narrative by arranging your slides in a way that tells a story. Each slide should flow into the next, creating a visual narrative that keeps your audience hooked till the very end.
Icons and images are essential for adding visual appeal and clarity to your presentation. Venngage provides a vast library of icons and images, allowing you to choose visuals that resonate with your audience and complement your message.
8. Show the “before and after” magic
Want to drive home the impact of your message or solution? Whip out the “before and after” technique. Show the current state (before) and the desired state (after) in a visual way. It’s like showing a makeover transformation, but for your ideas.
9. Add fun with visual quizzes and polls
To break the monotony and see if your audience is still with you, throw in some quick image quizzes or polls. It’s like a mini-game break in your presentation — your audience gets involved and it makes your presentation way more dynamic and memorable.
10. Use visuals wisely
Your visuals are the secret sauce of a great presentation. Cherry-pick high-quality images, graphics, charts and videos that not only look good but also align with your message’s vibe. Each visual should have a purpose – they’re not just there for decoration.
11. Utilize visual hierarchy
Employ design principles like contrast, alignment and proximity to make your key info stand out. Play around with fonts, colors and placement to make sure your audience can’t miss the important stuff.
12. Engage with multimedia
Static slides are so last year. Give your presentation some sizzle by tossing in multimedia elements. Think short video clips, animations, or a touch of sound when it makes sense, including an animated logo .
For those dealing with multilingual audiences, consider the use of an AI image translator to seamlessly convert text within images to various languages, enhancing accessibility and understanding. There are tons of video and clip creator tools like HubSpot or Adobe But remember, these are sidekicks, not the main act, so use them smartly.
13. Interact with your audience
Turn your presentation into a two-way street. Start your presentation by encouraging your audience to join in with thought-provoking questions, quick polls or using interactive tools. Get them chatting and watch your presentation come alive.
When it comes to delivering a group presentation, it’s important to have everyone on the team on the same page. Venngage’s real-time collaboration tools enable you and your team to work together seamlessly, regardless of geographical locations. Collaborators can provide input, make edits and offer suggestions in real time.
14. Incorporate stories and examples
Weave in relatable stories, personal anecdotes or real-life examples to illustrate your points. It’s like adding a dash of spice to your content – it becomes more memorable and relatable.
15. Nail that delivery
Don’t just stand there and recite facts like a robot — be a confident and engaging presenter. Lock eyes with your audience, mix up your tone and pace and use some gestures to drive your points home. Practice and brush up your presentation skills until you’ve got it down pat for a persuasive presentation that flows like a pro.
Venngage offers a wide selection of professionally designed presentation templates, each tailored for different purposes and styles. By choosing a template that aligns with your content and goals, you can create a visually cohesive and polished presentation that captivates your audience.
Looking for more presentation ideas ? Why not try using a presentation software that will take your presentations to the next level with a combination of user-friendly interfaces, stunning visuals, collaboration features and innovative functionalities that will take your presentations to the next level.
Visual presentations come in various formats, each uniquely suited to convey information and engage audiences effectively. Here are six major types of visual presentations that you should be familiar with:
1. Slideshows or PowerPoint presentations
Slideshows are one of the most common forms of visual presentations. They typically consist of a series of slides containing text, images, charts, graphs and other visual elements. Slideshows are used for various purposes, including business presentations, educational lectures and conference talks.
2. Infographics
Infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. They combine text, images and graphics to convey complex concepts or data in a concise and visually appealing manner. Infographics are often used in marketing, reporting and educational materials.
Don’t worry, they are also super easy to create thanks to Venngage’s fully customizable infographics templates that are professionally designed to bring your information to life. Be sure to try it out for your next visual presentation!
3. Video presentation
Videos are your dynamic storytellers. Whether it’s pre-recorded or happening in real-time, videos are the showstoppers. You can have interviews, demos, animations or even your own mini-documentary. Video presentations are highly engaging and can be shared in both in-person and virtual presentations .
4. Charts and graphs
Charts and graphs are visual representations of data that make it easier to understand and analyze numerical information. Common types include bar charts, line graphs, pie charts and scatterplots. They are commonly used in scientific research, business reports and academic presentations.
Effective data visualizations are crucial for simplifying complex information and Venngage has got you covered. Venngage’s chart templates enable you to create engaging charts, graphs,and infographics that enhance audience understanding and retention, leaving a lasting impression in your presentation.
5. Interactive presentations
Interactive presentations involve audience participation and engagement. These can include interactive polls, quizzes, games and multimedia elements that allow the audience to actively participate in the presentation. Interactive presentations are often used in workshops, training sessions and webinars.
Venngage’s interactive presentation tools enable you to create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact and enhance audience retention. By incorporating features like clickable elements, quizzes and embedded multimedia, you can captivate your audience’s attention and encourage active participation.
6. Poster presentations
Poster presentations are the stars of the academic and research scene. They consist of a large poster that includes text, images and graphics to communicate research findings or project details and are usually used at conferences and exhibitions. For more poster ideas, browse through Venngage’s gallery of poster templates to inspire your next presentation.
Different visual presentations aside, different presentation methods also serve a unique purpose, tailored to specific objectives and audiences. Find out which type of presentation works best for the message you are sending across to better capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting impression.
To make a good presentation , it’s crucial to be aware of common mistakes and how to avoid them. Without further ado, let’s explore some of these pitfalls along with valuable insights on how to sidestep them.
Overloading slides with text
Text heavy slides can be like trying to swallow a whole sandwich in one bite – overwhelming and unappetizing. Instead, opt for concise sentences and bullet points to keep your slides simple. Visuals can help convey your message in a more engaging way.
Using low-quality visuals
Grainy images and pixelated charts are the equivalent of a scratchy vinyl record at a DJ party. High-resolution visuals are your ticket to professionalism. Ensure that the images, charts and graphics you use are clear, relevant and sharp.
Choosing the right visuals for presentations is important. To find great visuals for your visual presentation, Browse Venngage’s extensive library of high-quality stock photos. These images can help you convey your message effectively, evoke emotions and create a visually pleasing narrative.
Ignoring design consistency
Imagine a book with every chapter in a different font and color – it’s a visual mess. Consistency in fonts, colors and formatting throughout your presentation is key to a polished and professional look.
Reading directly from slides
Reading your slides word-for-word is like inviting your audience to a one-person audiobook session. Slides should complement your speech, not replace it. Use them as visual aids, offering key points and visuals to support your narrative.
Lack of visual hierarchy
Neglecting visual hierarchy is like trying to find Waldo in a crowd of clones. Coupling this with video transcription can make your presentation more comprehensive and engaging. Use size, color and positioning to emphasize what’s most important. Guide your audience’s attention to key points so they don’t miss the forest for the trees.
Ignoring accessibility
Accessibility isn’t an option these days; it’s a must. Forgetting alt text for images, color contrast and closed captions for videos can exclude individuals with disabilities from understanding your presentation. Use a video caption generator to add closed captions for your videos
Relying too heavily on animation
While animations can add pizzazz and draw attention, overdoing it can overshadow your message. Use animations sparingly and with purpose to enhance, not detract from your content.
Using jargon and complex language
Keep it simple. Use plain language and explain terms when needed. You want your message to resonate, not leave people scratching their heads.
Not testing interactive elements
Interactive elements can be the life of your whole presentation, but not testing them beforehand is like jumping into a pool without checking if there’s water. Ensure that all interactive features, from live polls to multimedia content, work seamlessly. A smooth experience keeps your audience engaged and avoids those awkward technical hiccups.
Presenting complex data and information in a clear and visually appealing way has never been easier with Venngage. Build professional-looking designs with our free visual chart slide templates for your next presentation.
What is a visual presentation?
A visual presentation is a method of presenting information through visual aids such as slides, images, charts and videos. It enhances understanding and retention by illustrating key points and data visually. Visual presentations are commonly used in meetings, lectures, and conferences to engage and inform the audience effectively.
What is the role of storytelling in visual presentations?
Storytelling plays a crucial role in visual presentations by providing a narrative structure that engages the audience, helps them relate to the content and makes the information more memorable.
What software or tools can I use to create visual presentations?
You can use various software and tools to create visual presentations, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Prezi and Venngage, among others.
What is the difference between a visual presentation and a written report?
The main difference between a visual presentation and a written report is the medium of communication. Visual presentations rely on visuals, such as slides, charts and images to convey information quickly, while written reports use text to provide detailed information in a linear format.
How do I effectively communicate data through visual presentations?
To effectively communicate data through visual presentations, simplify complex data into easily digestible charts and graphs, use clear labels and titles and ensure that your visuals support the key messages you want to convey.
Are there any accessibility considerations for visual presentations?
Accessibility considerations for visual presentations include providing alt text for images, ensuring good color contrast, using readable fonts and providing transcripts or captions for multimedia content to make the presentation inclusive.
Most design tools today make accessibility hard but Venngage’s Accessibility Design Tool comes with accessibility features baked in, including accessible-friendly and inclusive icons.
How do I choose the right visuals for my presentation?
Choose visuals that align with your content and message. Use charts for data, images for illustrating concepts, icons for emphasis and color to evoke emotions or convey themes.
How can I adapt my visual presentations for online or virtual audiences?
To adapt visual presentations for online or virtual audiences, focus on concise content, use engaging visuals, ensure clear audio, encourage audience interaction through chat or polls and rehearse for a smooth online delivery.
What is the role of data visualization in visual presentations?
Data visualization in visual presentations simplifies complex data by using charts, graphs and diagrams, making it easier for the audience to understand and interpret information.
How do I choose the right color scheme and fonts for my visual presentation?
Choose a color scheme that aligns with your content and brand and select fonts that are readable and appropriate for the message you want to convey.
How can I measure the effectiveness of my visual presentation?
Measure the effectiveness of your visual presentation by collecting feedback from the audience, tracking engagement metrics (e.g., click-through rates for online presentations) and evaluating whether the presentation achieved its intended objectives.
Follow the 5 simple steps below to make your entire presentation visually appealing and impactful:
1. Sign up and log In: Log in to your Venngage account or sign up for free and gain access to Venngage’s templates and design tools.
2. Choose a template: Browse through Venngage’s presentation template library and select one that best suits your presentation’s purpose and style. Venngage offers a variety of pre-designed templates for different types of visual presentations, including infographics, reports, posters and more.
3. Edit and customize your template: Replace the placeholder text, image and graphics with your own content and customize the colors, fonts and visual elements to align with your presentation’s theme or your organization’s branding.
4. Add visual elements: Venngage offers a wide range of visual elements, such as icons, illustrations, charts, graphs and images, that you can easily add to your presentation with the user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.
5. Save and export your presentation: Export your presentation in a format that suits your needs and then share it with your audience via email, social media or by embedding it on your website or blog .
So, as you gear up for your next presentation, whether it’s for business, education or pure creative expression, don’t forget to keep these visual presentation ideas in your back pocket.
Feel free to experiment and fine-tune your approach and let your passion and expertise shine through in your presentation. With practice, you’ll not only build presentations but also leave a lasting impact on your audience – one slide at a time.
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14.2 Incorporating Effective Visuals into a Presentation
Learning objectives.
- Recognize the characteristics of effective visual aids.
- Analyze different types of visual aids and appropriate ways to use them.
- Determine how to create original visual aids and how to locate visual aids created by others.
Good communication is a multisensory experience. Children first learning how to read often gravitate toward books with engaging pictures. As adults, we graduate to denser books without pictures, yet we still visualize ideas to help us understand the text. Advertisers favor visual media—television, magazines, and billboards—because they are the best way to hook an audience. Websites rely on color, graphics, icons, and a clear system of visual organization to engage Internet surfers.
Bringing visuals into a presentation adds color, literally and figuratively. There is an art to doing it well. This section covers how to use different kinds of visual aids effectively.
Using Visual Aids: The Basics
Good writers make conscious choices. They understand their purpose and audience. Every decision they make on the page, from organizing an essay to choosing a word with just the right connotations, is made with their purpose and audience in mind.
The same principle applies to visual communication. As a presenter, you choose the following:
- When to show images or video for maximum impact
- Which images will best produce the effect you want
- When to present information using a table, chart, or other graphic
- How much text to include in slides or informational graphics
- How to organize graphics so they present information clearly
Your goal is to use visual media to support and enhance your presentation. At the same time, you must make sure these media do not distract your audience or interfere with getting your point across. Your ideas, not your visuals, should be the focus.
As you develop the visual side of your presentation, you will follow a process much like the process you follow when you write. You will brainstorm ideas, form an organizational plan, develop drafts, and then refine and edit your work. The following sections provide guidelines to help you make good decisions throughout the process.
What Makes Visual Aids Effective?
To help you get a sense of what makes visual media work, think about what does not work. Try to recall occasions when you have witnessed the following visual media failures:
- Websites crammed with so many images, flashing phrases, and clashing colors that they are almost unreadable
- Assembly instructions with illustrations or diagrams that are impossible to follow
- Photographs that are obviously (and badly) altered with photo-editing software
- Distracting typos or other errors in signs, advertisements, or headlines
- Tables, charts, or graphs with tiny, dense text or missing labels
In each case, the problem is that the media creator did not think carefully enough about the purpose and audience. The purpose of images, color, or flashing text on a website is to attract attention. Overusing these elements defeats the purpose because the viewer may become overwhelmed or distracted. Tables, charts, and graphs are intended to simplify complex information, but without clear labels and legible text, they will confuse the audience.
In contrast, effective visual elements are chosen or created with the purpose and audience in mind. Although a photo shoot for a magazine article might result in dozens of images, editors choose those few that work best with the article. Web designers and video game creators have an audience test their products before they are released, to ensure that people will understand how to use them. Understanding the function of different visual aids will help you use them with purpose.
Types of Visual Aids
Visual aids fall into two main categories—images and informational graphics. Images include photographs, illustrations and clip art, and video footage. Informational graphics include tables, charts, bar graphs, and line graphs.
These visual aids serve two purposes: to add emotional impact to your presentation and to organize information more clearly. With that in mind, read to find out how specific types of visual aids achieve those purposes.
Photographs
A striking photograph can capture your audience’s attention far more successfully than words can. Consider including photographs at the beginning or end of your presentation to emphasize your main ideas or to accompany a particularly important point in the body of your presentation. Remember that, as with other types of graphics, less is often more. Two or three well-chosen photographs are more effective than a dozen mediocre ones.
When you choose photographs, ask yourself these questions:
- What purpose does this image serve? Will it surprise the audience? Will it provoke a strong emotional response? Does it support an important point?
- Will this photograph be more effective if shown with only a caption, or does it need additional text?
- Will the audience understand what is happening in the photograph? Is the meaning immediately evident, or does the photo need some context?
- Would editing the image make it more effective? Consider using image-editing software to crop the photo, change the brightness, or make other cosmetic changes. (Do not go overboard, though. A slightly imperfect but authentic image is preferable to one that has been obviously altered.)
To illustrate the sense of helplessness people felt in the midst of tragedy, a student could use a photograph that shows fear, weariness, or defeat on the face of the photograph’s subject.
Figure 14.3
Neil Moralee – On The Scrap Heap . – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Illustrations
Illustrations, such as editorial or political cartoons, serve much the same purpose as photographs. Because an illustration does not capture a moment in time the way a photo does, it may have less impact. However, depending on your topic and the effect you want to achieve, illustrations can still be very useful. Use the same criteria for choosing photographs to help you choose illustrations.
Figure 14.4
Humor Blog – Political Cartoon about Budget Cuts – CC BY 2.0.
The style of an illustration or photograph affects viewers just as the content does. Keep this in mind if you are working with the stock images available in office software programs. Many of these images have a comical tone. This may be fine for some topics—for instance, a presentation on television shows for children. However, if you need to project a more serious tone, make sure you choose images to suit that purpose. Many free (or reasonably priced) image banks are available online.
Video Footage
Even more than photographs, video footage can create a sense of immediacy, especially if your video includes sound. Showing a brief video clip can help your audience feel as if they are present at an important event, connect with a person being interviewed, or better understand a process. Again, ask yourself the following questions to ensure you are using the footage well:
- What purpose does this video serve? (Never rely on video clips just to fill time.)
- How much footage should be shown to achieve your purpose?
- What will need to be explained, before or after showing the video, to ensure that your audience understands its significance?
- Will it be necessary to edit the video to stay within time requirements or to focus on the most important parts?
Informational graphics, such as tables, charts, and graphs, do not provoke the same response that images do. Nevertheless, these graphics can have a powerful impact. Their primary purpose is to organize and simplify information.
Tables are effective when you must classify information and organize it in categories. Tables are an especially good choice when you are presenting qualitative data that are not strictly numerical. Table 14.1 “Example of Qualitative Data Table” was created for a presentation discussing the subprime mortgage crisis. It presents information about people who have held powerful positions both in the government and at one of the investment banking firms involved in the subprime mortgage market.
Table 14.1 Example of Qualitative Data Table
Sources: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/%3Bkw=%5B3351,11459%5D ; http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/business/19gold.html ; http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/henry_m_jr_paulson/index.html?inline=nyt-per ; http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/robert_e_rubin/index.html?inline=nyt-per , http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/us/man-in-the-news-economic-adviser-from-other-side-of-the-deficit-stephen-friedman.html ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/342086.stm .
If you are working with numerical information, consider whether a pie chart, bar graph, or line graph might be an effective way to present the content. A table can help you organize numerical information, but it is not the most effective way to emphasize contrasting data or to show changes over time.
Pie charts are useful for showing numerical information in percentages. For example, you can use a pie chart to represent presidential election results by showing what percentage of voters voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, the Republican candidate, and candidates from other political parties.
Figure 14.5
Source: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2008/2008presgeresults.pdf
Bar graphs work well when you want to show similarities and differences in numerical data. Horizontal or vertical bars help viewers compare data from different groups, different time periods, and so forth. For instance, the bar graph in Figure 14.6 allows the viewer to compare data on the five countries that have won the most Olympic medals since the modern games began in 1924: Norway, the United States, the former Soviet Union, Germany, and Austria. Bar graphs can effectively show trends or patterns in data as well.
Figure 14.6
Source: http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/all-time-standings/index.html
Line Graphs
Like bar graphs, line graphs show trends in data. Line graphs are usually used to show trends in data over time. For example, the line graph in Figure 14.7 shows changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average—an economic index based on trading information about thirty large, US-based public companies. This graph shows where the Dow closed at the end of each business day over a period of five days.
Figure 14.7
Source: http://www.google.com/finance/historical?cid=983582&startdate=May+17%2C+2010&enddate=May+21%2C+2010
In this exercise, you will begin to refine your ideas for incorporating media into your presentation. Complete the following steps on your own sheet of paper.
- Revisit the list you brainstormed for Note 14.12 “Exercise 3” in Chapter 14 “Creating Presentations: Sharing Your Ideas” , Section 14.1 “Organizing a Visual Presentation” and the annotated outline you developed for Note 14.17 “Exercise 4” .
- Analyze the two different types of visual aids: images and informational graphics. Identify at least two places in your presentation where you might incorporate visual aids.
- Evaluate the purpose of the visual aid. Does it create emotional impact, or does it organize information? Is the visual effective?
- Determine whether you will be able to create the visual aid yourself or will need to find it.
Creating Original Visual Aids
You will include original visual aids in your presentation to add interest, present complex information or data more clearly, or appeal to your audience’s emotions. You may wish to create some visual aids by hand—for instance, by mounting photographs on poster board for display. More likely, however, you will use computer-generated graphics.
Computer-generated visual aids are easy to create once you learn how to use certain office software. They also offer greater versatility. You can print hard copies and display them large or include them in a handout for your audience. Or, if you are working with presentation software, you can simply insert the graphics in your slides.
Regardless of how you proceed, keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Create visual aids with purpose. Think carefully about how they will enhance your message, and choose a form that is appropriate for your content.
- Strive for quality. You do not need the skills of a professional photographer or designer, but do take time to make sure your visual aids are neat, attractive, and legible. Proofread for errors, too.
Using Software to Create Visual Aids
You can use standard office software to create simple graphics easily. The following guidelines describe how to work with word-processing software and presentation software.
Working with Photographs
Most personal computers come equipped with some basic image-editing software, and many people choose to purchase more advanced programs as well. You can upload photographs from a digital camera (or in some cases, a cell phone) or scan and upload printed photographs. The images can then be edited and incorporated into your presentation. Be sure to save all of your images in one folder for easy access.
Creating Tables
To create a table within a word-processing document consult your software program’s help feature or an online tutorial. Once you have created the table, you can edit and make any additional changes. Be sure that the table has no more than six to seven rows or columns because you do not want to compromise the size of the text or the readability. Aligning with precision will help your table look less crowded. Also, the row and column titles should spell out their contents.
Creating Graphs
Figure 14.8
Pie charts and bar and line graphs can also be created using standard office software. Although you can create these graphics within a document, you will need to work with both your word-processing application and your spreadsheet application to do so. The graph should visually explain the data using colors, titles, and labels. The use of color will help the audience distinguish information; however, avoid colors that are hard on the eyes, such as lime green or hot pink. The title should clearly state what the graph explains. Lastly, avoid using acronyms in the titles and other labels.
Creating Graphics in an Electronic Presentation
If you plan to work only with hard copy graphics during your presentation, you may choose to create them as word-processing documents. However, if you are using presentation software, you will need to choose one of the following options:
- Create your graphics using the presentation software program.
- Create your graphics within another program and import them.
Standard office presentation software allows you to create informational graphics in much the same way you would create them within a word-processing application. Keep the formatting palette, a menu option that allows you to customize the graphic, open while you use the software. The formatting menu provides options for inserting other types of graphics, such as pictures and video. You may insert pictures from an image bank available within the program, or insert images or video from your own desktop files. Shape your use of multimedia in accordance with the message your presentation is trying to convey, the purpose, and your audience.
Creating Visual Aids by Hand
Most of the time, using computer-generated graphics is more efficient than creating them by hand. Using office software programs helps give your graphics a polished appearance while also teaching you skills that are useful in a variety of jobs. However, it may make sense to use hand-created visual aids in some cases—for instance, when showing a 3-D model would be effective. If you follow this route, be sure to devote extra time to making sure your visual aids are neat, legible, and professional.
Flip charts are inexpensive and quick visual aids used during face-to-face presentations. The flip chart can be prepared before, as well as during, the presentation. Each sheet of paper should contain one theme, idea, or sketch and must be penned in large letters to be seen by audience members farthest away from the speaker.
Writing Captions
Any media you incorporate should include a caption or other explanatory text. A caption is a brief, one- to two-sentence description or explanation of a visual image. Make sure your captions are clear, accurate, and to the point. Use full sentences when you write them.
Captions should always be used with photographs, and in some cases, they can be useful for clarifying informational graphics, which represent qualitative data visually. However, informational graphics may not require a caption if the title and labels are sufficiently clear. For other visual media, such as video footage, providing explanatory text before or after the footage will suffice. The important thing is to make sure you always include some explanation of the media.
In this exercise, you will begin to develop visual aids for your presentation. Complete the steps in this exercise—and enjoy the chance to be creative. Working with visuals can be a pleasant way to take a break from the demands of writing.
- Revisit the ideas you developed in Note 14.24 “Exercise 1” . Choose at least two ideas that you can create. ( Note: If you are using software to develop a slideshow presentation, count this as one of your self-created visual aids. Include at least one other self-created visual aid, such as an original photograph, within your slideshow.)
- Get creative! Take your photographs, construct a 3-D model, create informational graphics, or work on your presentation slides. Develop good working drafts.
- After you have completed drafts of your visual aids, set them aside for a while. Then revisit them with a critical eye. First, check any text included with the graphic. Make sure your facts are correct, your words are clear and concise, and your language is free of errors.
- Next, evaluate how well your aids work visually. Are they large enough to be seen and read from a distance? Are captions and labels easy to find? Are photographs of reasonably high quality? Ask someone else for feedback, too.
- Begin making any needed changes. As you proceed through the rest of this section, continue to revisit your work to improve it as needed.
Collaboration
Please share the first version of your visual aids with a classmate. Examine what they have produced. On a separate piece of paper, note both the elements that catch your attention and those that would benefit from clarification. Return and compare notes.
Testing and Evaluating Visual Aids
Regardless of how you create your visual aids, be sure to test-drive them before you deliver your presentation. Edit and proofread them, and if possible, show them to someone who can give you objective feedback. Use the following checklist.
Checklist 14.1
Visual Aid Evaluation Checklist
- Visual aids are clearly integrated with the content of the presentation
- Photographs and illustrations suit the overall tone of the presentation
- Images and text are large and clear enough for the viewer to see or read
- Images are shown with explanatory text or a caption
- Informational graphics include clear, easy-to-read labels and headings
- Text within informational graphics is easy to read (Watch out for wordiness and crowded text or a font that is too small and hard to read.)
- Formatting choices (color, different fonts, etc.) organize information effectively
- Any text within graphics is free of errors
- Hyperlinks within slides function properly
- Display text for hyperlinks is concise and informative (Never paste a link into a slide without modifying the display text.)
Writing at Work
Office software includes many options for personalizing a presentation. For instance, you can choose or create a theme and color scheme, modify how one slide transitions to the next, or even include sound effects. With so many options, students and employees sometimes get carried away. The result can seem amateurish and detract from, rather than enhance, your presentation.
Remember, you are delivering a presentation, not producing a movie. Use the customization options to help give your presentations a consistent, polished, appearance. However, do not let these special effects detract from the substance of your slides.
Using Existing Visual Media
Depending on your topic, you may be able to find images and other graphics you can use instead of creating your own. For instance, you might use photographs from a reputable news source or informational graphics created by a government agency. If you plan to use visual aids created by others, keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Set a purpose before you begin your search. You will search more efficiently if you start with a general idea of what you are looking for—a line graph of unemployment rates for the past twelve months, for example, or a video clip of the most recent State of the Union address.
- Filter out visual aids that are not relevant. You may come across eye-catching graphics and be tempted to use them even if they are only loosely related to your topic, simply because they are attention getting. Resist the temptation. If the graphic is not clearly connected to your point, it does not belong in your presentation.
- Read carefully. In addition to reading labels, headings, and captions, read any text that accompanies the visual. Make sure you understand the visual in its original context. For informational graphics, make sure you understand exactly what information is being represented. (This may seem obvious, but it is easy to misread graphic information. Take the time to examine it carefully.)
- Evaluate sources carefully and record source information. When you look for visual media to complement your presentation, you are conducting research. Apply the same standards you used for your research paper. Choose reliable sources, such as reputable news organizations, government and nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions. Verify data in additional sources. Finally, be sure to document all source information as you proceed.
Searching Efficiently for Visual Media
You will probably find it most efficient to use the Internet to search for visual aids. Many students begin by typing keywords into a search engine to locate related images. However, this search technique is not necessarily efficient, for several reasons:
- It often pulls up hundreds or even thousands of images, which may be only loosely related to your search terms.
- It can sometimes be difficult to understand the image in its original context.
- It can be hard to find copyright information about how you may use the image.
A more efficient strategy is to identify a few sources that are likely to have what you are looking for, and then search within those sites. For instance, if you need a table showing average life expectancy in different countries, you might begin with the website of the World Health Organization. If you hope to find images related to current events, news publications are an obvious choice. The Library of Congress website includes many media related to American history, culture, and politics.
Searching this way has the following advantages:
- You will often find what you are looking for faster because you are not wasting time scrolling through many irrelevant results.
- If you have chosen your sources well, you can be reasonably certain that you are getting accurate, up-to-date information.
- Images and informational graphics produced by reputable sources are likely to be high quality—easy to read and well designed.
If you do choose to use a search engine to help you locate visual media, make sure you use it wisely. Begin with a clear idea of what you are looking for. Use the advanced search settings to narrow your search. When you locate a relevant image, do not download it immediately. Read the page or site to make sure you understand the image in context. Finally, read the site’s copyright or terms of use policy—usually found at the bottom of the home page—to make sure you may use the material.
If you are unable to find what you are looking for on the Internet consider using print sources of visual media. You may choose to mount these for display or scan them and incorporate the files into an electronic presentation. (Scanning printed pages may lower the quality of the image. However, if you are skilled at using photo-editing software, you may be able to improve the quality of the scanned image.)
Inserting Hyperlinks in an Electronic Presentation
If you are working with images, audio, or video footage available online, you may wish to insert a link within your presentation. Then, during your presentation, you can simply click the link to open the website in a separate window and toggle between windows to return to your presentation slides.
To insert a hyperlink within your presentation, click on insert in the toolbar and then select hyperlink from the menu. Doing so will open a dialogue box where you can paste your link and modify the accompanying display text shown on your slide.
Copyright and Fair Use
Before you download (or scan) any visual media, make sure you have the right to use it. Most websites state their copyright and terms of use policy on their home page. In general, you may not use other people’s visual media for any commercial purpose without contacting the copyright holder to obtain permission and pay any specified fees.
Copyright restrictions are somewhat more ambiguous when you wish to download visual media for educational uses. Some educational uses of copyrighted materials are generally considered fair use —meaning that it is legally and ethically acceptable to use the material in your work. However, do not assume that because you are using the media for an educational purpose, you are automatically in the clear. Make sure your work meets the guidelines in the following checklist. If it does, you can be reasonably confident that it would be considered fair use in a court of law and always give credit to the source.
Checklist 14.2
Media Fair Use Checklist
- You are using the media for educational purposes only.
- You will make the work available only for a short period and to a limited audience. For instance, showing a copyrighted image in a classroom presentation is acceptable. Posting a presentation with copyrighted images online is problematic. In addition, avoid any uses that would allow other people to easily access and reproduce the work.
- You have used only as much of the work as needed for your purposes. For video and audio footage, limit your use to no more than 10 percent of the media—five minutes of an hour-long television show, for example. Image use is harder to quantify, but you should avoid using many images from the same source.
- You are using the media to support your own ideas, not replace them. Your use should include some commentary or place the media in context. It should be a supporting player in your presentation—not the star of the show.
- You have obtained the material legally. Purchase the media if necessary rather than using illegally pirated material.
- Your use of the media will not affect the copyright holder or benefit you financially.
By following these guidelines, you are respecting the copyright holder’s right to control the distribution of the work and to profit from it.
In some fields, such as teaching, job applicants often submit a professional portfolio to a prospective employer. Recent college graduates may include relevant course work in their portfolios or in applications to graduate school. What should you do if your course work uses copyrighted visual media?
This use of media is acceptable according to fair use guidelines. Even though you are using the work for your personal professional advancement, it is not considered an infringement on copyright as long as you follow the additional guidelines listed in the previous checklist.
Crediting Sources
As you conduct your research, make sure you document sources as you proceed. Follow the guidelines when you download images, video, or other media from the Internet or capture media from other sources. Keep track of where you accessed the media and where you can find additional information about it. You may also provide a references page at the end of the presentation to cite not only media and images but also the information in the text of your presentation. See Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” for more information on creating a reference page.
Write captions or other explanatory text for visual media created by others, just as you would for media you created. Doing so helps keep your audience informed. It also helps ensure that you are following fair use guidelines by presenting the media with your commentary, interpretation, or analysis. In your caption or elsewhere in your presentation, note the source of any media you did not create yourself. You do not need to provide a full bibliographical citation, but do give credit where it is due.
In this exercise, you will locate visual aids created by others and continue developing the work you began earlier. Complete these steps.
1. Revisit the ideas you developed in Note 14.24 “Exercise 1” . Choose at least two ideas for which it would make more sense to find the visual aid than to create it yourself. 2. Use the search tips provided in this section to locate at least two visual aids from reputable sources that you can use. Prepare them for your presentation by adding clarifying text as needed. Be sure to credit your source. 3. Incorporate the visual aids you created in Note 14.26 “Exercise 2” and Note 14.32 “Exercise 3” into your presentation. This may involve preparing physical copies for display or inserting graphic files into an electronic presentation.
4. Take some time now to review how you will integrate the visual and verbal components of your presentation.
- If you are working with presentation software, refine your slides. Make sure the visual approach is consistent and suits your topic. Give your text a final proofread.
- If you are not using presentation software, review the annotated outline you created in Note 14.24 “Exercise 1” . Update it as needed to reflect your current plan. Also, determine how you will physically set up your visual aids.
Key Takeaways
- Visual aids are most effective when they are chosen with the purpose and audience in mind. They serve to add emotional impact to a presentation and to organize information more clearly.
- Visual aids should always be clearly related to the presenter’s ideas. Captions, labels, and other explanatory text help make the connection clear for the audience.
- Like writing, developing the visual components of a presentation is a process. It involves generating ideas, working with them in a draft format, and then revising and editing one’s work.
- Visual aids can be divided into two broad categories—image-based media and informational graphics.
- Widely available software programs make it relatively easy to create visual aids electronically, such as photo images, charts, and graphs.
- When using visual aids created by others, it is important to apply good research skills, follow guidelines for fair use, and credit sources appropriately.
Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
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What are Presentation Graphics?
Pre-requisites: Introduction to Computer Graphics
Graphics are defined as any sketch or a drawing or a special network that pictorially represents some meaningful information. Computer Graphics is used where a set of images needs to be manipulated or the creation of the image in the form of pixels and is drawn on the computer. Computer Graphics can be used in digital photography, film, entertainment, electronic gadgets, and all other core technologies which are required. It is a vast subject and area in the field of computer science. Computer Graphics can be used in UI design, rendering, geometric objects, animation, and many more.
Presentation graphics provides predefined backgrounds and simple page layouts to help in the creation of slides. These slides can be moved automatically within seconds.
Slides:
Slides mean we have text, graphics, audio clips, video clips, animations, and other effects Presentation graphics is also known as Presentation Software. The best example of presentation graphics is Microsoft PowerPoint.
In recent days we have a new presentation tool that is: our Web browser and that is for creating Web pages, like Microsoft’s FrontPage and Adobe’s PageMill.
Rules to Design Presentation:
- Keep it simple: Make it simple to understand. It only contains information regarding your topic.
- Correct Spelling: We have to be careful with the spelling that we have written.
- Consistency: There is need to be continuous flow from one slide to another.
- Don’t put too much on a Slide: Don’t write too much. just give a brief description and important points.
- Use Fonts Properly: Only you can use two font styles in the presentation.
- Find Your Equipment: First, you have to be confident with your topic and details about it.
Uses:
Presentation graphics programs are mainly concerned with the display of graphs and charts but now allow users to attach anything from text to animations. When Compared to other programs like Excel, PowerPoint follows a slideshow format.
Applications:
In the following areas we can use presentation software:
- Google Slides
- Microsoft Office
- WPS Office
- Photo Slideshow with Music
Advantages:
- Less Cost: The cost is low to use presentation software
- Logical Ideas: Tables and graphs are used to represent information then a logical order is created to give a clear idea for viewers.
- Acceptability: By using this busy person can easily get an idea about the topic.
Disadvantages:
- Time-taking process. It needs more time to prepare.
- Data can sometimes be lost.
- Errors and Mistakes can occur during design.
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Presentation design guide: tips, examples, and templates
Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.
Anete Ezera January 09, 2023
Presentation design defines how your content will be received and remembered. It’s responsible for that crucial first impression and sets the tone for your presentation before you’ve even introduced the topic . It’s also what holds your presentation together and guides the viewer through it. That’s why visually appealing, easily understandable, and memorable presentation design is what you should be striving for. But how can you create a visually striking presentation without an eye for design? Creating a visually appealing presentation can be challenging without prior knowledge of design or helpful tools.
With this presentation design guide accompanied by Prezi presentation examples , templates , and AI functionalities , you’ll have no problem creating stunning and impactful presentations that’ll wow your audience.
In this guide, we’ll start by looking at the basics of presentation design. We’ll provide a simple guide on creating a presentation from scratch and offer helpful tips for different presentation types . In addition, you’ll discover how to organize information into a logical order and present it in a way that resonates with listeners. Finally, we’ll share tips and tricks to create an eye-catching presentation, and showcase some great presentation examples and templates you can get inspired by!
With our comprehensive guide to the best presentation design techniques, you’ll be able to develop an engaging and professional presentation that gets results!
What is presentation design?
Presentation design encompasses a variety of elements that make up the overall feel and look of the presentation. It’s a combination of certain elements, like text, font, color, background, imagery, and animations.
Presentation design focuses on finding ways to make the presentation more visually appealing and easy to process, as it is often an important tool for communicating a message. It involves using design principles like color, hierarchy, white space, contrast, and visual flow to create an effective communication piece.
Creating an effective presentation design is important for delivering your message efficiently and leaving a memorable impact on your audience. Most of all, you want your presentation design to support your topic and make it easier to understand and digest. A great presentation design guides the viewer through your presentation and highlights its essential aspects.
If you’re interested in learning more about presentation design and its best practices , watch the following video and get practical insights on designing your next presentation:
Types of presentations
When creating a presentation design, you have to keep in mind several types of presentations that shape the initial design you want to have. Depending on your presentation type, you’ll want to match it with a fitting presentation design.
1. Informative
An informative presentation provides the audience with facts and data to educate them on a certain subject matter. This could be done through visual aids such as graphs, diagrams, and charts. In an informative presentation, you want to highlight data visualizations and make them more engaging with interactive features or animations. On Prezi Design, you can create different engaging data visualizations from line charts to interactive maps to showcase your data.
2. Instructive
Instructive presentations teach the audience something new. Whether it’s about science, business strategies, or culture, this type of presentation is meant to help people gain knowledge and understand a topic better.
With a focus on transmitting knowledge, your presentation design should incorporate a variety of visuals and easy-to-understand data visualizations. Most people are visual learners, so you’ll benefit from swapping text-based slides for more visually rich content.
3. Motivational
Motivational presentations try to inspire the audience by giving examples of successful projects, stories, or experiences. This type of presentation is often used in marketing or promotional events because it seeks to get the audience inspired and engaged with a product or service. That’s why the presentation design needs to capture and hold the attention of your audience using a variety of animations and visuals. Go beyond plain images – include videos for a more immersive experience.
4. Persuasive
Persuasive presentations are designed to sway an audience with arguments that lead to an actionable decision (i.e., buy the product). Audiences learn facts and figures relevant to the point being made and explore possible solutions based on evidence provided during the speech or presentation.
In a persuasive presentation design, you need to capture your audience’s attention right away with compelling statistics wrapped up in interactive and engaging data visualizations. Also, the design needs to look and feel dynamic with smooth transitions and fitting visuals, like images, stickers, and GIFs.
To learn more about different types of presentations and how to structure them accordingly, read our article on presentation types .
How to design a presentation
When you first open a blank presentation page, you might need some inspiration to start creating your design. For this reason, we created a simple guide that’ll help you make your own presentation from scratch without headaches.
1. Opt for a motion-based presentation
You can make an outstanding presentation using Prezi Present, a software program that lets you create interactive presentations that capture your viewer’s attention. Prezi’s zooming feature allows you to add movement to your presentation and create smooth transitions. Prezi’s non-linear format allows you to jump between topics instead of flipping through slides, so your presentation feels more like a conversation than a speech. A motion-based presentation will elevate your content and ideas, and make it a much more engaging viewing experience for your audience.
Watch this video to learn how to make a Prezi presentation:
2. Create a structure & start writing content
Confidence is key in presenting. You can feel more confident going into your presentation if you structure your thoughts and plan what you will say. To do that, first, choose the purpose of your presentation before you structure it. There are four main types of presentations: informative, instructive, motivational, and persuasive. Think about the end goal of your presentation – what do you want your audience to do when you finish your presentation – and structure it accordingly.
Next, start writing the content of your presentation (script). We recommend using a storytelling framework, which will enable you to present a conflict and show what could be possible. In addition to creating compelling narratives for persuasive presentations, this framework is also effective for other types of presentations.
Tip: Keep your audience in mind. If you’re presenting a data-driven report to someone new to the field or from a different department, don’t use a lot of technical jargon if you don’t know their knowledge base and/or point of view.
3. Research & analyze
Knowing your topic inside and out will make you feel more confident going into your presentation. That’s why it’s important to take the time to understand your topic fully. In return, you’ll be able to answer questions on the fly and get yourself back on track even if you forget what you were going to say when presenting. In case you have extra time at the end of your presentation, you can also provide more information for your audience and really showcase your expertise. For comprehensive research, turn to the internet, and library, and reach out to experts if possible.
4. Get to design
Keeping your audience engaged and interested in your topic depends on the design of your presentation.
Now that you’ve done your research and have a proper presentation structure in place, it’s time to visualize it.
4.1. Presentation design layout
What you want to do is use your presentation structure as a presentation design layout. Apply the structure to how you want to tell your story and think about how each point will lead to the next one. Now you can either choose to use one of Prezi’s pre-designed templates that resemble your presentation structure the most or start to add topics on your canvas as you go.
Tip: When adding content, visualize the relation between topics by using visual hierarchy – hide smaller topics within larger themes or use the zooming feature to zoom in and out of supplementary topics or details that connect to the larger story you’re telling.
4.2. Color scheme
Now it’s time to choose your color scheme to give a certain look and feel to your presentation. Make sure to use contrasting colors to clearly separate text from the background, and use a maximum of 2 to 3 dominating colors to avoid an overwhelming presentation design.
4.2. Content (visuals + text)
Add content that you want to highlight in your presentation. Select from a wide range of images, stickers, GIFs, videos, data visualizations, and more from the content library, or upload your own. To provide more context, add short-format text, like bullet points or headlines that spotlight the major themes, topics, and ideas in your presentation.
Also, here you’ll want to make a final decision on your font choice. Select a font that’s easy to read and goes well with your brand and topic.
Tip: Be careful not to turn your presentation into a script. Only display text that holds significant value – expand on the ideas when presenting.
4.3. Transitions
Last but not least, bring your presentation design to life by adding smooth, attractive, and engaging transitions that take the viewer from one topic to another without disrupting the narrative.
On Prezi, you can choose from a range of transitions that take you into the story world and provide an immersive presentation experience for your audience.
5. Practice your delivery
Even with a great presentation design, how you deliver it is crucial in leaving an impression. Practice your presentation’s timing to become familiar with the rhythm and pace. It might help to record yourself to pinpoint areas for enhancement. Practicing in front of a friend or family member can also offer insights. Keep in mind the more you rehearse, the more self-assured and at ease you’ll be when giving the presentation.
6. Engage your audience
Engaging with your audience can enhance the impact of your presentation. You could prompt discussions, invite participation, or incorporate features such as surveys or puzzles. For instance, when introducing a marketing plan you could kick off with a survey to assess how well the audience grasps the subject. This boosts interactivity in your presentation and also fosters a connection with your listeners and sustains their interest throughout.
7. Use storytelling techniques
Using stories can be a way to captivate your audience and ensure that your message sticks with them. When creating a presentation, consider incorporating a narrative structure that incorporates a beginning, middle, and end. For example, when outlining a business strategy, kick off with a story that highlights a challenge in need of resolution. Then delve into your proposed solution before illustrating the results that can be achieved. This storytelling approach can foster a connection with your audience and enhance their grasp of the main ideas you’re conveying.
8. Prepare for technical difficulties
It’s common to encounter glitches, so being ready is key. Make sure you have a strategy in place if things go south during your presentation. For instance, store your presentation on devices like a USB drive and online storage, and keep hard copies of important slides handy. Also, get acquainted with the equipment and software you’ll use for the presentation. Planning ahead for any issues can help you navigate them smoothly and maintain the flow of your presentation.
9. Include high-quality visuals
Good visuals play a role in the success of your presentation. Incorporate top-notch pictures, graphics,3 and videos to ensure your slides are visually captivating and interesting. Steer clear of using low-quality images that may come off as pixelated and amateurish. When presenting data, think about using charts or infographics to present the information clearly. Prezi provides access to a selection of high-quality visuals that can elevate the design impact of your presentation.
10. Be unique
It’s crucial to make sure your design is original to set yourself apart from the crowd. If you’re a student, aim to craft a presentation that showcases your flair and avoid imitating others. This approach helps you differentiate yourself and ensures that your work is more memorable. In the business field, make sure that your design elements, such as colors, fonts, and overall aesthetics are different from those used by similar companies. Steer clear of templates that might give your presentation a generic feel. By developing a unique design, you establish your identity and leave a lasting impact on your audience.
For more practical tips read our article on how to make a presentation .
Presentation design tips
When it comes to presentations, design is key. A well-designed presentation can communicate your ideas clearly and engage your audience, while a poorly designed one can do the opposite.
To ensure your presentation is designed for success, note the following presentation design tips that’ll help you design better presentations that wow your audience.
1. Keep it simple
Too many elements on a slide can be overwhelming and distract from your message. While you want your content to be visually compelling, don’t let the design of the presentation get in the way of communicating your ideas. Presentation design elements need to elevate your message instead of overshadowing it.
2. Use contrasting text colors
Draw attention to important points with contrasted text colors. Instead of using bold or italics, use a contrasting color in your chosen palette to emphasize the text.
3. Be clear and concise
Avoid writing long paragraphs that are difficult to read. Limit paragraphs and sections of text for optimum readability.
4. Make sure your slide deck is visually appealing
Use high-quality images and graphics, and limit the use of text to only the most important information. For engaging and diverse visuals, go to Prezi’s content library and discover a wide range of stock images, GIFs, stickers, and more.
5. Pay attention to detail
Small details like font choice and alignments can make a big difference in how professional and polished your presentation looks. Make sure to pay attention to image and text size, image alignment with text, font choice, background color, and more details that create the overall look of your presentation.
6. Use templates sparingly
While templates can help create a consistent look for your slides, overusing them can make your presentation look generic and boring. Use them for inspiration but don’t be afraid to mix things up with some custom designs as well.
7. Design for clarity
Create a presentation layout that is easy to use and navigate, with clear labels and instructions. This is important for ensuring people can find the information they need quickly and easily if you end up sharing your presentation with others.
8. Opt for a conversational presentation design
Conversational presenting allows you to adjust your presentation on the fly to make it more relevant and engaging. Create a map-like arrangement that’ll encourage you to move through your presentation at your own pace. With a map-like design, each presentation will be customized to match different audiences’ needs. This can be helpful for people who have different levels of expertise or knowledge about the subject matter.
9. Be consistent
Design consistency holds your presentation together and makes it easy to read and navigate. Create consistency by repeating colors, fonts, and design elements that clearly distinguish your presentation from others.
10. Have context in mind
A great presentation design is always dependent on the context. Your audience and objective influence everything from color scheme to fonts and use of imagery. Make sure to always have your audience in mind when designing your presentations.
11. Use white space effectively
In slide design, whitespace, also known as negative space, refers to the areas surrounding elements. It plays a role in decluttering your slides, enhancing readability, and directing focus towards content. Utilizing whitespace results in a sophisticated appearance for your slides. Remember, simplicity is key – avoid overwhelming your audience with information on each slide.
12. Incorporate visual hierarchy
When it comes to visuals, the key is to organize elements in a manner that naturally directs the viewer’s attention towards the crucial parts of the presentation. Utilize variations in size, color, and positioning to establish a flow for the viewer to navigate through. For instance, opt for fonts to highlight headings, colors for significant points, and position essential elements at the top of the slide. These tactics aid in ensuring that your audience grasps the ideas promptly and effortlessly.
For more presentation tips, read the Q&A with presentation design experts and get valuable insights on visual storytelling.
Make the presentation design process easier by pairing up with Prezi AI
Presentation design may not come naturally to everyone, and time constraints often limit our ability to dedicate hours to perfecting our designs. Enter Prezi AI , a tool that streamlines the presentation design process enabling users to prioritize content over appeal. Let’s explore some ways in which Prezi AI can elevate your presentation design.
- Template suggestions: Prezi AI provides a range of crafted templates that are customized to match your presentation’s theme, guaranteeing that your slides have a unified appearance with minimal hassle.
- Smart formatting: When using Prezi AI , your text and images will be formatted automatically, eliminating the need for layout adjustments. This results in a professional appearance without the hassle.
- Design consistency: Prezi AI ensures that your presentation maintains a design by keeping color schemes and fonts consistent, eliminating the need to fret over discrepancies.
- Image and media integration: Enhance the appeal and engagement of your slides by adding relevant images, videos, and graphics with the help of Prezi AI smart media recommendations.
- Customizable animations: Enhance your slides with custom animations using Prezi AI to create transitions and captivate your audience. These dynamic animations can emphasize points and ensure a smooth flow throughout your presentation.
Using Prezi AI allows you to simplify the design process and craft appealing presentations, even if you lack time or design skills.
Presentation templates
Creating a presentation from scratch isn’t easy. Sometimes, it’s better to start with a template and dedicate your time to the presentation’s content. To make your life easier, here are 10 useful and stunning presentation templates that score in design and engagement. If you want to start creating with any of the following templates, simply go to our Prezi presentation template gallery , select your template, and start creating! Also, you can get inspired by the top Prezi presentations , curated by our editors. There you can discover presentation examples for a wide range of topics, and get motivated to create your own.
Business meeting presentation
The work desk presentation templates have a simple and clean design, perfectly made for a team or business meeting. With all the topics visible from the start, everyone will be on the same page about what you’re going to cover in the presentation. If you want, you can add or remove topics as well as edit the visuals and color scheme to match your needs.
Small business presentation
This template is great for an introductory meeting or pitch, where you have to summarize what you or your business does in a few, highly engaging slides. The interactive layout allows you to choose what topic bubble you’re going to select next, so instead of a one-way interaction, you can have a conversation and ask your audience what exactly they’re interested in knowing about your company.
Mindfulness at work presentation
How can you capture employees’ attention to explain important company values or practices? This engaging presentation template will help you do just that. With a wide range of impactful visuals, this presentation design helps you communicate your ideas more effectively.
Business review template
Make your next quarterly business review memorable with this vibrant business presentation template. With eye-capturing visuals and an engaging layout, you’ll communicate important stats and hold everyone’s attention until the end.
History timeline template
With black-and-white sketches of the Colosseum in the background, this timeline template makes history come alive. The displayed time periods provide an overview that’ll help your audience to grasp the bigger picture. After, you can go into detail about each time frame and event.
Storytelling presentation template
Share stories about your business that make a lasting impact with this stunning, customizable presentation template. To showcase each story, use the zooming feature and choose to tell your stories in whatever order you want.
Design concept exploration template
Not all meetings happen in person nowadays. To keep that face-to-face interaction even when presenting online, choose from a variety of Prezi Video templates or simply import your already-existing Prezi template into Prezi Video for remote meetings. This professional-looking Prezi Video template helps you set the tone for your meeting, making your designs stand out.
Employee perks and benefits video template
You can use the employee benefits video template to pitch potential job candidates the perks of working in your company. The Prezi Video template allows you to keep a face-to-face connection with potential job candidates while interviewing them remotely.
Sales plan presentation template
Using a clear metaphor that everyone can relate to, this football-inspired sales plan presentation template communicates a sense of team unity and strategy. You can customize this Prezi business presentation template with your brand colors and content.
Flashcard template
How can you engage students in an online classroom? This and many other Prezi Video templates will help you create interactive and highly engaging lessons. Using the flashcard template, you can quiz your students, review vocabulary, and gamify learning.
Great presentation design examples
If you’re still looking for presentation design ideas, check out the following Prezi presentations made by our creative users.
Social media presentation
This presentation is a great example of visual storytelling. The use of visual hierarchy and spatial relationships creates a unique viewing experience and makes it easier to understand how one topic or point is related to another. Also, images provide an engaging and visually appealing experience.
Leadership books presentation
Do you want to share your learnings? This interactive presentation offers great insights in an entertaining and visually compelling way. Instead of compiling leadership books in a slide-based presentation, the creator has illustrated each book and added a zooming feature that allows you to peek inside of each book’s content.
Remote workforce presentation
This is a visually rich and engaging presentation example that offers an interactive experience for the viewer. A noteworthy aspect of this presentation design is its color consistency and matching visual elements.
A presentation about the teenage brain
Another great presentation design example that stands out is an engaging viewing experience. The zooming feature allows the user to dive into each topic and choose what subject to view first. It’s a great example of an educational presentation that holds the students’ attention with impactful visuals and compelling transitions.
Remote work policy presentation
This presentation design stands out with its visually rich content. It depicts exactly what the presentation is about and uses the illustrated window frames in the background image as topic placements. This type of presentation design simplifies complex concepts and makes it easier for the viewer to understand and digest the information.
Everyone can create visually appealing presentations with the right tools and knowledge. With the presentation design tips, templates, and examples, you’re equipped to make your next presentation a success. If you’re new to Prezi, we encourage you to discover everything it has to offer. With this presentation design guide and Prezi, we hope you’ll get inspired to create meaningful, engaging, and memorable content for your audience!
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1000+ Really Good Powerpoint Graphics for Every Project (Free and Premium)
By Sandra Boicheva
3 years ago
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Design plays a great role in creating amazing PowerPoint presentations. No matter how amazing the content and your presenting skills, the way you visualize your concept is equally important when it comes to winning the audience’s attention. Depending on the topic, you will need appropriate high-quality visuals and the good news is, these often come for free. With this in mind, we did a lot of digging and collected a huge variety of PowerPoint graphics (most of them free for personal and commercial use) that you can download and add to your library.
In this article, you will find everything you need in order to visualize your concepts and design a presentation worthy of your topics. Below we added a quick overview of the types of PowerPoint graphics you will find.
1000+ Free and Premium PowerPoint Graphics from all over the web:
- Editable Templates
- Backgrounds
- Icons and Badges
Data Visualization Graphics
- Elements (Pointers, Arrows, Bullets)
- Speech Bubbles
PowerPoint Templates
Instead of starting designing your presentation from scratch, you can work with a pre-made template and customize it to suit your concept and topic. Usually, pre-made templates are editable, come with text and image placeholders, and additional icons you can use. For this section, we collected pre-made templates with different themes, suitable for multi-purpose presentations, business, marketing, branding, analysis, technologies, and more specific topics like educations, food and restaurants, and software. Most templates are free for personal and commercial use, there are some premium ones with animations as well.
We listed the numbers of slides, price and license below each template.
Free Educational Presentation Template
- Theme: Education, online teaching, lessons
- Pricing: Free
- License: Free for Personal and Commercial Use│Do Not Sell or Redistribute
Free Hand-Drawn Presentation
- Theme: Multi-purpose, branding, marketing
Free Corporate Presentation Template
- Theme: Multi-purpose, branding, business
Futuristic Free Template
- Theme: Technology, Science, Hardware, Future technologies
Spaceship Free Powerpoint Template
- Theme: Technology, Science, Business, Marketing
5G Technology Free Template
- Theme: 5G, Technology, Science, Business, Marketing
App Startup Free Template
- Theme: Multi-purpose, Startup, Business, Marketing
Startup Corporation Free Template
Smart City Free Template
- Theme: 5G, Technology, Business, Software, Future technologies
Food Taste Free Template
- Theme: Food and restaurants
- License: Free for Personal Use│Do Not Sell or Redistribute
Free Business PowerPoint Template
- Theme: Multi-purpose, business, marketing, startup
Free Minimalist Presentation Template
Special Burger Free Presentation
- Theme: Food and restaurants, fast food, marketing
Opened Book Cute Free Template
- Theme: Multi-purpose, business, education, marketing
Technology and Design Template
- Slides: 110
- Pricing: $29 full presentation, 0$ 6 sample slides
- License: Standard
Smash Animated Presentation
- Slides: 100+
- Theme: Multi-purpose, business, marketing
- Pricing: $17 full presentation, 0$ 20 sample slides
Blanc Free Minimalistic Presentation
- Theme: Multi-purpose, business, marketing, fashion
Ultimate 3D PowerPoint Presentation Template
- Theme: Multi-purpose, business, marketing, branding
- Pricing: $31.84
- License: Standard│Royalty-Free
Ultimate Black and White Presentation
- License: Standard│Royalty Free
Natuna Business Template
- Pricing: $16
- License: Regular│For one product
Massive X Fully-Animated Template
- Slides: 1500+
- Pricing: $15
Backgrounds PowerPoint Graphics
With templates out of the way, let’s go to the smaller PowerPoint graphics and elements. In some cases, you might want to customize your existing templates further by adding your own background. This is also a great hack when you’re building a short presentation with just a few slides of topic titles. You can easily do this in PowerPoint by selecting your slide and hitting Design> Format Background . For this section, we selected quite a lot of modern and trendy high-quality background PowerPoint graphics from over the web, all suitable for PowerPoint presentations.
Abstract Wave Gradient Liquid Background
- Files : PNG, SVG, AI
- Price: Free
- License: Free for Personal and Commercial Use with Attribution │Do Not Sell or Redistribute
Halftone Background with Circles
- Files : PNG, EPS
Wavy Abstract Background
- Files : JPG, AI, EPS
Grunge Paint Background
- Files : JPG
Flat Geometric Background
- Files : JPG, EPS
Neon Fluid Background with Geometric Shapes Free Vector
Hand-Drawn Minimal Background
Gradient Abstract Background
Half-Tone Lined Background
Isometric High tech Background
Abstract Technological Background
Black and Gold Luxurious Background
Set of Vector Liquid Shapes for Presentation Design
Neon Fluid Abstract Background
Liquid Gradient Color Background
Abstract Creative Background with Multicolored Flow
Glowing Particles Dynamic Background
Abstract Colorful Background
Modern Gold Background Free Vector
Geometric Black and Gold Background
- Price: Subscription
Abstract Shapes Gradient Background
Pink Luxury Rose Gold Gradient Background
Abstract Wave Colourful Background
Abstract Backgrounds – Mega Bundle
- Files : PNG, AI, EPS, PDF
- Graphics: 66
- Price: $31.84
- License: Standard │ Royalty- Free
Holographic 3D Background
- License: Standard
Abstract Holo Shapes Background
Hi-Tech Futuristic Background
Neon Frame Sign Background
Icons for PowerPoint
One of the best ways to direct attention to certain parts of your presentation is through icons. They not only look great but also represent entire concepts and can replace a lot of text. We found a lot of sets in various styles that you can use in your own presentations to give them the homebrew personal touch.
Huge Hand-Drawn Doodle Free Icon Set
Web and Tech Development Themed Icon Free Set
Web and Tech Development Themed Icon Free Set v.2
Multimedia Icon Set for Presentations
Business and Finances Themed Icon Set
Set of School Stationery Icons
School and Education Icons Set
Cartoon Icons of Designer Work Process
Business Icons Free Set for Presentations
Modern Business Free Icon Set for Presentations
Set of Business People Icons for Presentations
Set of Business People Icons v.2
Free Business Scheduling Icon Set
Digital Marketing Thin Line Icons Set
A huge part of standard presentations covers a lot of data. In order to visualize it in a comprehensive and intuitive way, you will need editable charts, bars, graphs, and other infographics. This is why this section includes free and premium packs of data visualization PowerPoint graphics that you can edit and add to your presentation.
Steps/ Timeline Free Infographic
- Graphics: 1
Ultimate Infographic Template Collection – Mega Bundle
- Files : AI, EPS, PDF, PNG, PSD, PPT
- Graphics: 539
- License: Standard │Royalty-Free
16 Free Infographic Templates for Presentations
- Files : EPS, PDF
- Graphics: 16
- License: Free for Personal and Commercial Use │Do Not Sell or Redistribute
Data Visualization Elements Set
- Graphics: 40+
Data Visualization Elements Set v.2
Creative Modern Business Infographic
- Files : EPS, JPG
Bundle Infographic Tools
- Graphics: 15+
Free 6 Steps Startup Infographics
Internet Trading Vector Infographic Template
Marketing Diagram Infographic Template
Step by step From Research to Goal Infographic
Free Vector Infographics Elements
- Graphics: 6
Free 6-Steps Infographic Design
Essential PowerPoint Graphics and Elements (Pointers, Arrows, Bullets)
Using icons will help you replace a lot of text with visuals. However, you will still have a lot of text to organize and structure on your slides. Bullet points and arrows are a standard type of PowerPoint graphics to present your plan, list parts of your concepts, or indicate processes. As the original bullet points might be too simple, here we have custom, more colorful, and interesting-looking elements that will do the job in style.
Free Colorful Geometric Bullet Points
Colorful Arrow Bullet Points Collection
Arrow Aign Icon Set for Presentations
Green Arrows Set for Presentations
Arrow Neon Icon Collection
Colorful Arrows with Different Shapes
Vector Flechas Arrows Set
Circular Bullet Points Collection
Map Legend Vector Icons
Square Bullets with Labels
Marker Location You Are Here
Cutout Number Bulletpoints
Colorful Pin Bulletpoints
Infographic Bullet Points
Colorful Pencils Bulletpoints
Gradient Pin Bullet Points
Traditional Bullet Points Collection
Bullet Paragraphs Set
Bullet Point Labels
Crystal Bullet Points
Vector Paper Progress
Speech PowerPoint Graphics
Speech bubble PowerPoint graphics and stylish testimonial boxes can make your design pop. This is a fun addition to have and it’s always worth taking the extra mile to use them in some of your slides.
Hand-Drawn Doodle Speech Bubble Set
Comic Bubble Speech Set
Collection of Colorful Speech Bubbles
Silhouette Speech Bubbles
Cartoon Speech Bubbles
Paper Cutout Speech Bubbles
Testimonial Speech Bubble
Infographic Speech Bubbles
Abstract Gradient Speech Bubbles
Quote Boxes
Testimonial Quote Boxes
Futuristic Sci Fi Style Labels
Artistic Blue and Purple Speech Bubbles
Colorful Origami Speech Bubbles
That’s it
In conclusion, PowerPoint presentations don’t have to be plain, simple, and predictable. You can always make them special by putting an extra effort to customize them. It is much simpler to accomplish if you already have a library with valuable PowerPoint graphics and assets that will help you quickly build a presentation that will inspire interest and communication. We hope you found the right graphics for your projects and feel inspired to deliver your best presentation.
In the meantime, why not take a look at the related articles to get some more inspiration or grab a couple of freebies:
- 60+ Free Images of Cartoon People for Your Future Projects
- 70 Free Arrow PNG Objects, Illustrations and Vectors to Download Now
- 20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation
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Presentation Training Institute
A division of bold new directions training, the use of graphics and images in presentations.
Visual tools and techniques are a great way to create interest and enhance the effectiveness of a presentation. When used strategically, graphics and images can help engage the audience, clarify concepts, emphasize key points, and create a more memorable presentation. Here we will discuss some of the ways graphics and images can be used effectively in a presentation.
Why Use Graphics in Your Presentations
Graphics and images are a great way to capture the attention of your audience and make your presentation more visually appealing. Rather than bombard your audience with text heavy slides, graphics and images are more visually stimulating and will grab the attention of the audience, keeping them engaged. Furthermore, graphics and images can be useful for communicating complex ideas and information in a clear and digestible manner. Visual representations such as charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams can help simplify and illustrate complex information so that it is easier for the audience to understand. Visual aids are also a great way to highlight important points and reinforce your message. Finally, visual aids can evoke emotion and create a sense of connection with your audience. Compelling images that resonate with your audience will help them connect with your message on a deeper level.
Tips for Using Graphics and Images Effectively
1. choose relevant and high-quality images.
It is important to choose high-quality images and graphics that are relevant to your message and support your content. Avoid low-resolution images that are blurry or distorted, as this will distract your audience and detract from your message.
2. Balance Text and Visuals
While visuals can be a great way to communicate your message, don’t overload your slides with too many images. Images and graphics are meant to support and complement your text, not replace it altogether. Use graphics and images to show, not tell, your audience what you mean. A good rule of thumb is a 60:40 ratio of text/images in your presentation.
3. Avoid Generic Images
Images and graphics should be used sparingly, so choose authentic and meaningful images that will resonate with your audience. Avoid generic or cliche images, as these will not add value to your presentation.
In conclusion, the use of graphics and images can be a powerful tool in presentations as a means for connecting with your audience and explaining complex concepts. When used effectively, images and graphics can create a more meaningful and memorable experience for the audience.
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Not all presentations need graphics. Lots of presentations work wonderfully with just one person standing on a stage telling a story, as demonstrated by many TED Talks. You should only use slides if they serve a purpose: conveying scientific information, art, and things that are hard to explain without pictures. Once you have decided on using ...
9. "10 Things Your Audience Hates About Your Presentation," Stinson. 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.
A visual presentation is a communication method that utilizes visual elements such as images, graphics, charts, slides and other visual aids to convey information, ideas or messages to an audience. Visual presentations aim to enhance comprehension engagement and the overall impact of the message through the strategic use of visuals.
Prepare them for your presentation by adding clarifying text as needed. Be sure to credit your source. 3. Incorporate the visual aids you created in Note 14.26 "Exercise 2" and Note 14.32 "Exercise 3" into your presentation. This may involve preparing physical copies for display or inserting graphic files into an electronic presentation. 4.
The best example of presentation graphics is Microsoft PowerPoint. In recent days we have a new presentation tool that is: our Web browser and that is for creating Web pages, like Microsoft's FrontPage and Adobe's PageMill. ... Don't write too much. just give a brief description and important points. Use Fonts Properly: Only you can use ...
The best PPT graphics templates have a range of infographics, shapes, and more. This PowerPoint presentation graphics-focused template's got all the above. Plus, it's easy to edit these cool presentation graphics thanks to smartly constructed slides. These three templates are just the start of graphics for presentations included on Elements.
This presentation design stands out with its visually rich content. It depicts exactly what the presentation is about and uses the illustrated window frames in the background image as topic placements. This type of presentation design simplifies complex concepts and makes it easier for the viewer to understand and digest the information. Conclusion
In this article, you will find everything you need in order to visualize your concepts and design a presentation worthy of your topics. Below we added a quick overview of the types of PowerPoint graphics you will find. 1000+ Free and Premium PowerPoint Graphics from all over the web: Editable Templates; Backgrounds; Icons and Badges
Why Use Graphics in Your Presentations. Graphics and images are a great way to capture the attention of your audience and make your presentation more visually appealing. Rather than bombard your audience with text heavy slides, graphics and images are more visually stimulating and will grab the attention of the audience, keeping them engaged.
Presentation Example #21: Focus on Graphics. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also have a presentation that puts a huge focus on visuals. While this presentation still includes text to help tell the full story, no one in the audience is going to be looking at the text. Check out the graphics in this presentation example.