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No matter what kind of presentation you’re working on, make sure it's engaging and also well designed. Otherwise, you run the risk of dealing with death by PowerPoint and nobody wants to see their presentation flop.
To make sure your presentation is effective , there are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines you need to follow. In this post, we’ll share those guidelines. We’ll also show you examples of engaging presentation designs so you can save time and make sure your presentation looks polished and professional.
Do you want to get started with the best PowerPoint design guidelines quickly? Review the quickstart video:
For evern more PowerPoint design guidelines, study the complete tutorial below.
Before you start with the design part of your presentation, plan your presentation. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation design guidelines to follow when it comes to planning:
First, decide on the presentation goal. Are you sharing an annual report or creating a pitch deck? Is the goal to increase sales or get the higher-ups onboard with a new marketing tactic?
Whatever the case may be, the presentation goal helps you decide what to include in your presentation and how that information should be presented. It'll also help you with all the other steps involved in creating an effective and engaging presentation.
With your presentation goal in mind, create an outline for your presentation. You'll save time in the long run. Plus, you'll be sure that your presentation covers everything you need to cover for your idea or data to be understood.
The next step is to think about the slides you need to include in your presentation. For example, if you’re creating a pitch deck for potential investors, sharing information about your company on an About or Team slide is a must.
But if you’re creating an internal presentation to share your sales report, including those slides would be a waste of time. Instead, your presentation should focus on numbers and data as well as individual product or product line performance.
Your planning stage should account for visuals that'll help back up your story. This can include photos, icons, charts, infographic elements, graphs, tables, and anything else you need to make your data more visually appealing. Envato Elements is a great source for a wide variety of design assets .
Once you’ve decided on the visuals you want, gather them all in one place so you can easily locate them. Don’t forget that you can create charts and graphs from your Excel data if needed. Be sure to gather those spreadsheets as well.
Finally, decide what’s the next step your audience should take once you’re done delivering your presentation. Should they email you or call you to set up an appointment? Do they need to send over information?
Make sure your last slide includes your call to action along with specific instructions on what to do.
Once you've get your presentation planned out, it’s time to tackle the design part of creating a presentation . When designing your presentation, keep the following guidelines in mind:
When it comes to your presentation, PowerPoint should assist you in delivering the presentation. It shouldn't be the main source of information. Less is more, so keep the text to a minimum.
Stick to one main idea per slide and limit yourself to using no more than three bullet points per slide. This will help keep your audience engaged and not zoned out.
Another thing to keep in mind is that not everybody in your audience will be close to the slides. Make sure to use larger font sizes. Consider using 40 pts for headings and going no smaller than 28 pts for the content text.
While we’re on the topic of fonts, avoid using script or decorative fonts. They're hard to read. Stick to sans-serif fonts for body text. To emphasize your headings, use a readable serif font.
Color can make your presentation more visually appealing. But that doesn’t mean you've got to color every slide differently or use different colors for your fonts. If you’re presenting in a dark room, consider using a dark background for the slide paired with a light color for the text. It'll make it easier for your audience to follow along.
Avoid using light text on light background or clashing colors. They'll distract your audience.
We mentioned earlier you need to decide on the visuals you'll use in your presentation. Using charts and graphs is a great way to make abstract data easier to understand. So, don’t shy away from using them.
Keep in mind that most projector screens are optimized for widescreen 16:9 ratio. As such, design your presentation following those PowerPoint presentation guidelines. If you design your presentation in 4:3 ratio, your presentation will still work. But some parts of your slides might get cut off or not display properly.
Another important bit of PowerPoint design guidelines is to keep your design style consistent across all slides. This will reinforce your brand image as well as ensure that the entire presentation is visually appealing.
There's nothing wrong with using subtle animations or slide transitions to keep things interesting. But, avoid animating every single word or slide as this will make your presentation look amateurish and unprofessional.
Be sure to proofread each slide to make sure there are no embarrassing typos. If you’re mentioning other associates or colleagues in your presentation, make sure their names are spelled correctly to avoid any awkward moments. Ask another person to go through your presentation and make sure it’s error-free.
Our last guideline for making an effective PowerPoint presentation is to consider using a premade PowerPoint template . A premade template will have a professional design. It'll also have all the slides you'll need: from section break slides, company and team slides to charts, galleries, and more. This will save you a lot of time in the design stage and ensure that your presentation looks polished.
Now that your presentation is designed, the last thing you need to do is deliver it. Here are a few PowerPoint presentation guidelines to follow for delivering your PowerPoint presentation :
Before the actual presentation day, do a practice run. This will help you memorize the contents of your presentation, not to mention it'll help you build up the necessary confidence.
Show up early before the presentation and test the equipment. The last thing you want is tech difficulties or malfunctions that'll delay the start of your presentation.
Throughout your presentation, maintain eye contact with your audience. This will make them feel like you’re talking to them. Plus, it'll help keep them engaged and interested instead of losing interest.
Ask your audience questions during the presentation. Get them involved or ask if they've got any questions that need to be clarified. Getting your audience involved is a great tactic for making your entire presentation feel more engaging. It also allows your audience to feel like they're active participants instead of being bombarded with data.
The last bit of PowerPoint guidance we've got for you is to avoid reading the slides. If you read the slides you’ll not only bore your audience, but you’ll also come off as disinterested in your own presentation. This will make your audience disengage and forget your presentation as soon as it’s over.
Following the basic PowerPoint guidelines outlined above is a great way to ensure your presentation has an engaging design and is easy to follow. But there's no doubt that designing an entire presentation from scratch is a time-consuming task. That’s why using a premade PowerPoint presentation template is a great alternative.
You can find thousands of beautifully designed PowerPoint templates over on Envato Elements. If you buy design templates on a regular basis, Envato Elements is a logical choice. You get access to unlimited PowerPoint and other design templates for one low monthly price.
Look at some of our top presentation templates from Envato Elements:
The Galaxi PowerPoint template has a clean and modern design. It’s versatile enough to use for all kinds of presentations and comes with five premade color schemes. The template comes with 30 premade slides based on master slides, image placeholders, and editable shapes.
The Buizi is another minimal presentation template for PowerPoint with a versatile design. This template is a great choice for portfolio presentations and comes with 30 total slides, all based on master slides. You’ll also find custom vector icons and fully editable shapes.
If you’re looking for a more creative solution, the Aiony template is a great choice. It’s very photo heavy. This is perfect for any presentation that relies heavily on images and photos. You’ll get a total of 50 slides and drag and drop image placeholders for easy editing.
The Agio template is best suited for corporate presentations. It's got an elegant look and feel. Customize colors and fonts to your liking.
Easily add photos using the image placeholders. You’ll get a total of 630 presentation slides designed in full HD resolution.
The Over PowerPoint presentation template is a multipurpose PowerPoint template. Use it for corporate presentations as well as for pitch decks and webinars. The template comes with 32 slides designed in both standard and HD resolution.
Envato Elements is a great choice if you need design templates on a regular basis.
And if you want to see more beautiful PowerPoint templates from both Envato Elements, check out the following articles:
Envato Elements has a compelling offer. For a low monthly price, you get access to thousands of unlimited use PowerPoint templates, web templates, stock photos, fonts, and more.
What’s more, you can download as many templates as you want and customize them to your needs. Sign up for Envato Elements and start downloading PowerPoint templates today.
Designing a stellar presentation might seem daunting. But once you’re familiar with and follow the basic PowerPoint guidelines for creating effective PowerPoint presentations, the task becomes easier.
To save time while you’re designing your presentation, use one of our top PowerPoint presentation templates from Envato Elements. Why not get started today?
Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Brenda Barron . A video has been added by Nathan Umoh . Brenda and Nathan are freelance instructors for Envato Tuts+.
Have you ever given a PowerPoint presentation and noticed that something about it just seemed a little … off?
If you’re unfamiliar with basic PowerPoint design principles, it can be difficult to create a slide show that presents your information in the best light.
Poorly designed presentations can leave an audience feeling confused, bored, and even irritated.
Review these tips on making your next PowerPoint presentation more engaging:
Follow the 5/5/5 rule, don’t forget your audience, choose readable colors and fonts, don’t overload your presentation with animations, use animations sparingly to enhance your presentation.
Keep these tips in mind the next time you create a PowerPoint presentation— your audience will thank you.
If your audience can both read and hear, it’s a waste of time for you to simply read your slides aloud.
Your audience will zone out and stop listening to what you’re saying, which means they won’t hear any extra information you include.
Instead of typing out your entire presentation, include only main ideas, keywords, and talking points in your slide show text.
Engage your audience by sharing the details out loud.
To keep your audience from feeling overwhelmed, you should keep the text on each slide short and to the point.
Some experts suggest using the 5/5/5 rule :
Who will be watching your PowerPoint presentation?
The same goofy effects and funny clip art
Humor can lighten up a presentation, but
Know your audience, and tailor your presentation to their tastes and expectations.
Your text should be easy to read and pleasant to look at.
Large, simple fonts and theme colors are always your best bet.
The best fonts and colors can vary depending on your PowerPoint presentation setting.
Presenting in a large room?
Presenting with the lights on?
As anyone who’s sat through a presentation while every letter of every paragraph zoomed across the screen can tell you, being inundated with complicated animations and exciting slide transitions can become irritating.
Before including effects like this in your PowerPoint presentation, ask yourself:
If the answer to either question is yes—or even maybe—leave out the effect.
Don’t take the last tip to mean you should avoid animations and other effects entirely.
When used sparingly, subtle effects and animations can add to your PowerPoint presentation.
For example, having bullet points appear as you address them rather than before can help keep your audience’s attention.
By GCFGlobal
Are you struggling with PowerPoint? You need a quick design in PowerPoint but don't know where to start? Don't worry, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
In this article, we're going to refresh the most important PowerPoint basics so you can take advantage of this Microsoft software and create high-impact presentations at any time!
Millions of users worldwide use Microsoft 365 services , making PowerPoint the presentation design software with the highest market share. And with good reason! PowerPoint's features stand out for its usability and originality . We can tell you that PowerPoint is pretty intuitive software, and it's a great option to choose when working with presentations on a daily basis. So, are you ready for a quick PowerPoint 101 class?
Let ' s see what you ' re going to learn today with this PowerPoint Guide :
What are the best uses of powerpoint, powerpoint basics: what are the components of powerpoint workspace, mastering powerpoint: what are the main features of powerpoint, what are powerpoint templates and where to find them, time to practice how to make a presentation in powerpoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365 . This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way.
Over time, PowerPoint has evolved and improved its accessibility to users. For this reason, it has been adapted to the main operating systems and modalities:
Additionally, you can use Word and Excel in this online version. That way, you'll be able to make real-time changes in the cloud without fearing losing your files. Sounds great, right?
PowerPoint has a versatile range of uses. Here's a list of the different tasks you can complete with this presentation design software:
These are just a few examples of the multiple possibilities this Microsoft software offers. Your imagination is the only limit!
Stay tuned as we continue with this PowerPoint 101 Guide...
In order to deeply understand this presentation design software, you need to recognize its main components. Now it's time to learn about the PowerPoint basics!
A quick note before going any further: when opening PowerPoint, some of the commands in the ribbons will look grayish and won't be highlighted when you hover the mouse over them.
This happens since some commands need to be selected in order to function. For example, if you want to change the color of a text, you first need to select it.
That being said, let's start with this Guide for PowerPoint beginners:
The first aspect to learn is PowerPoint Main Window. To facilitate the explanation, we've organized its main elements with numbers from 1 to 10:
Based on that, the main components of PowerPoint window are the following:
1. Quick Access Toolbar: allows you to customize commands to have them at hand. You only have to select it and go to "More commands."
2. Title Bar: shows you the name of your file and other "Suggested options" like Slide Master View . These options will vary depending on the use you give to the commands.
3. File Tab: you will see the Home Menu (PowerPoint backstage) by selecting it. There, you can create a new presentation, save it, print it, export it, and many other options.
4. The Ribbon: it's where PowerPoint tabs and tools are. These tools can also be called "commands" or “features.”
5. More Button or Down Arrow: these arrows allow you to view more tools or layout options in PowerPoint.
6. Slides Pane: shows your slides in thumbnail size. By right-clicking, you can access additional options for customizing each slide. Perfect for PowerPoint beginners!
7. Slide: PowerPoint's blank canvas and the frame to be seen when presenting the file.
8. Placeholders: they are dotted boxes that will store your content.
9. Status Bar: allows you to view the slide number, grammatical errors, speaker notes, and the comments on your file.
10. Zoom: allows you to enlarge or minimize your PowerPoint workspace. The range goes from 10 to 400%.
The PowerPoint tabs are the control desk of your presentation . Since PowerPoint's features are too many, they're organized in tabs.
You can come and go between tabs as you need. Once you click on a tab, it will open its ribbon, and there, you'll be able to see all the tools related to that particular category.
This PowerPoint tutorial for beginners will give you an overview of all PowerPoint tabs . Pay attention to the following list:
The Home tab is the most common tab of PowerPoint. This is the tab you'll probably use the most if you're designing a presentation deck from scratch.
It allows you to add new slides and change the text characteristics : font, size, boldness, underlining, alignment, etc. If you've ever used Microsoft Word, these features will be familiar to you.
Also, you will find commands to edit the characteristics of the geometric shapes you insert. This includes: fill color, line color, sharpe effects, among others.
The Insert tab is exactly what its name says it is. In this ribbon, you'll find all the options concerning adding a new element to your PowerPoint presentation .
You can insert a picture, some geometric shapes, icons, WordArt graphics, among others. We can tell you that this tab is really helpful for PowerPoint beginners!
For example, if you have a lot of data in PowerPoint , you could add a chart or diagram to show your information in a more visual way. Also, you can embed videos or music into PowerPoint really easily.
If you are one of those people who enjoy choosing the design of a PowerPoint presentation, this tab will be your favorite.
The Design tab offers a wide range of premade designs , allowing you to get more polished slides. Even better, if you explore its ribbon, you can adjust the color palette and change the overall style of your PowerPoint deck.
The PowerPoint interface, as this basic PowerPoint Tutorial, is really intuitive. We believe that you won't have any problem with this tab!
Using transitions in PowerPoint is a dynamic way to move from one slide to the next during a presentation. This feature is PowerPoint's stamp, so don ' t miss it!
Some PowerPoint transitions are really classic, like wiping the old slide to present the new one. Others are somewhat over the top, like the “Vortex” or the “Airplane” effect.
If you click on each kind of transition, you'll see a preview on how it would look when presenting. Really cool, right?
In case you want to add special effects for certain elements in your slides , the Animations tab in PowerPoint will interest you.
Like the Transitions tab, you will find various animation effects in this ribbon. It's a matter of trying and choosing the best one according to your needs!
As its name says, the Slide Show tab is about presenting your slides . We really like that it gives you several options to show up your presentation!
Considering that you're a PowerPoint beginner, you're not likely to use the Slide Show tab very much.
But if you're curious about this command, you must read our article: How to Make a PowerPoint Slideshow that Runs Automatically?
The Review tab is not often used by PowerPoint beginners either.
However, if your job is related to writing or if you work at an international company, this tool can be extremely useful!
With this tab, you can check the slide's spelling, translate the text in real-time, and add comments to your slides . This last function can be helpful to give feedback to a colleague.
This View tab allows you to change the view of your PowerPoint slides and make handouts from them, among other things.
As you can see, the majority of its commands are really specific. So you won't have any issues while designing, test and see!
In this section, our favorite command for PowerPoint beginners is Slide Master . Explore more about this tool in our guide!
In the last versions of this design presentation software, PowerPoint added the Recording tab. As its name says, it allows you to record all your presentation slides .
This ribbon has advanced commands, so the most common action for a PowerPoint beginner is to take a screenshot or record the screen sequentially .
Finally, there is the Help tab. If you have any problem or question concerning how to use PowerPoint, you may go here to look for a solution.
In the latest versions, Windows has added a “Show Training” option. You can click this command to practice the PowerPoint basics since it will download training templates.
As a beginner in PowerPoint, you must recognize the objective of each PowerPoint tab to be able to master the software . But, in order to conduct an outstanding presentation deck, you also need to dominate its most important features. Let's see some of them in the next section!
If you feel ready to delve deeper into PowerPoint's tools, this section is for you.
As you may know , 24Slides specializes in creating outstanding presentations for any Design Project . So, we asked one of our experts about her favorite PowerPoint features, and we want to share them all with you!
Carmen Navarrete , Graphic Designer at 24Slides, highlighted the following features that will make your presentations stand out from the crowd:
This first PowerPoint feature is simple but effective!
Let's see how to use it:
If you don't like any figure enough, you can create one from scratch!
This is possible thanks to the "Merge Shapes" option. Follow these steps to unleash your creativity:
This PowerPoint feature is quite easy to follow for PowerPoint beginners!
Just follow these steps:
PowerPoint's SmartArt is one of the most popular and accessible tools to dominate while learning about PowerPoint basics.
To use it in your slide deck, you must:
We want to give you some ideas to master this SmartArt tool in PowerPoint: you can make timelines , flowcharts , and even a Venn diagram in just a few seconds. Try and see!
If you don't know how to use Photoshop and want to remove the background from an image, in this PowerPoint 101 Guide, we show you how:
The latest PowerPoint feature is a command you can use to prepare your speech before presenting to an audience.
Learning how to add speaker notes in PowerPoint is simple:
If you've ever wondered how to translate your PowerPoint Slides, we'll explain the step by step here:
The process of recording your screen in PowerPoint is straightforward and intuitive. Let's see:
As you may have noticed, this software has endless PowerPoint design options for beginners. We encourage you to try and test each functionality!
However, we're clear that PowerPoint has different features, so it can be hard to know where to start. That's why understanding PowerPoint basics is crucial if you truly want to master this software!
Our PowerPoint 101 Guide continues; stay tuned to discover more great stuff about this Microsoft software. Keep reading!
A PowerPoint template is a pre-made design that you can use for your own means, and that will save you a lot of time!
Templates in PowerPoint are a great resource for designing since all the structure is already done, and you only have to update the content . We can tell you they're the perfect resource for PowerPoint beginners!
They can be incredibly specific. For example, there are templates for a SWOT analysis or a complete Marketing report. Otherwise, templates can also be very general, with several slides with a similar design.
If you struggle with the artistic part of designing presentations, downloading PowerPoint templates will be a life changer!
If you didn't know, 24Slides has an extensive repository of PowerPoint templates. But how to obtain them? It's really simple:
24Slides Designers specialize in business and corporate PowerPoints, but you'll also find other types of templates on our website: Data templates, Timelines, Roadmaps, Matrixes, Diagrams, and more.
Keep in mind that a well-designed PowerPoint deck helps you communicate stronger messages to your audience . Don't waste this opportunity to make your presentation shine!
If you want to learn more about how to master PowerPoint, do not miss the last section. We'll show you some PowerPoint basics from the software itself!
A PowerPoint 101 Guide wouldn't be that useful with no examples. So, if you enjoy the step-by-step guides, this section is for you.
Below, we'll show you how to make a simple PowerPoint presentation. But first, here are some tips to be more efficient in the process:
As we said before, writing a draft or script of your content will be vital to start on the right foot as a PowerPoint beginner.
This advice is so important that we choose it as the first step to learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation. Remember: Planning is key!
Regarding the process of planning, we share some good practices:
Once you check that all the functions are working fine with the software, please open it and go to the File tab. If you've ever used Word or Excel, you'll probably find this Home Menu familiar.
In short, this is the main page of PowerPoint, where you can create a new presentation or open an older one. Let's see:
In order to follow this part of our PowerPoint Tutorial correctly, take into consideration the following points:
With your information ready in a draft, it's time to choose the design of your PowerPoint slide deck. You must imagine that the available design options are endless!
For practical reasons, you have three options regarding the design:
Don't worry if you don't know how to continue! In this PowerPoint 101 class, we're going to explain step by step the second option:
If you want to explore more PowerPoint designs, there is a way to research online. For that, you only need to:
In this PowerPoint 101 Guide, you will also learn how to configure the layout of each slide.
Keep in mind that to have a high-impact presentation, you must adapt your slides' design to the type of content you'll add. And using layouts is perfect for this purpose.
To change the layout type in PowerPoint, follow these steps:
The design process in this PowerPoint 101 Guide doesn't stop there.
You also can customize your presentation's color palette , font style, background format , and graphics effects .
Just go to:
Now, it's time to add all your information to your slides. If your script is long, take your time to copy each part of it.
In this PowerPoint Tutorial, we're going to show how our design is going so far. We design at your side!
The stamp of PowerPoint is its transitions and animations! Naturally, our PowerPoint 101 has considered these essential commands.
If you want to add them to your presentation and make your speech more fluid, follow these steps:
When choosing one Animation, you can eliminate it if you aren't 100% convinced. You only need to:
This “PowerPoint for dummies” is full of tips and tricks! So here is one more: Don't overuse transitions or animations in PowerPoint ; they can make your presentation slower and unprofessional . Use this tool in a subtle way!
As always, every final product must be reviewed. Especially if you're learning the PowerPoint fundamentals with us.
We recommend reviewing each slide of your PowerPoint presentation one final time. In this process, you will be able to:
When your presentation is finished, it's essential to know how to make a PowerPoint slideshow. This way, you can see your slides from the exact same perspective your audience will see them.
To slideshow your presentation in PowerPoint, follow these simple steps for PowerPoint beginners:
Now you can present your slides like an expert!
When you master this presentation design software, you'll be able to create amazing things in PowerPoint : infographics, diagrams, charts, pitch decks, business cards, calendars, you name it!
This was our PowerPoint Guide for beginners. We hope that our compilation today will be useful for conducting more professional presentations in the future and, why not, achieve all your goals!
Don't forget to share this PowerPoint 101 Guide with your co-workers or whoever you want!
Want to boost your beginner PowerPoint skills? Check out this content:
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Home Blog Presentation Ideas Understanding the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations
Imagine sitting through a seemingly never-ending presentation. The speaker rambled on, reading from text-heavy slides, using a tiny font that strained your eyes, and failing to connect with the audience. As the minutes ticked by, you found yourself daydreaming and eagerly awaiting the end of the ordeal.
If you have been in this situation, then you know what to do if you were in the presenter’s shoes – make your presentations concise. But how do you even start?
You can follow several techniques when preparing your deck and your presentation as a whole. One of them is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint , a presentation rule championed by Guy Kawasaki – a former Apple employee and a marketing specialist.
Table of Contents
Applying guy kawasaki’s 10 slide template in any presentation, the 20 minutes rule, the 30-point font rule, the benefits of using the 10/20/30 rule, tips for applying the 10/20/30 rule to your presentation.
The idea of the 10/20/30 rule is easy to understand, which is summed up in three points.
Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rule for slideshows emphasizes brevity, focus, and visual appeal to keep your audience engaged and deliver your message effectively.
Let’s examine each rule and explore how to apply it to your presentations.
Kawasaki argues that a typical person can only take 10 concepts in one sitting. Therefore, according to him, a presentation should only consist of 10 slides, each serving a specific purpose and conveying a distinct concept.
This insight underscores the importance of concise, focused presentations that prioritize key messages and avoid overwhelming the audience with too much information.
If you are a business presenter struggling to develop a pitch deck , Kawasaki suggests a 10-slide PowerPoint template that includes what venture capitalists like him care about.
The 10 rule slide was specifically designed for startup and business presentations , focusing on pitching a business idea or concept to potential investors . However, it can also be a useful framework for other types of presentations that don’t deal with selling a service or product.
For example, if you are a lecturer, you can emulate Kawasaki’s PowerPoint template layout and reduce your presentation to 10 slides. Some slides might not be relevant to the nature of your topic, so replace them with one that works for your presentation. Using PPT templates helps you focus on the graphical aspect so you can articulate the content to fit into exactly 10 slides (while preserving the same aesthetic).
Let’s say you are a mindfulness expert talking about the benefits of meditation. The first three slides of Kawazaki’s workflow may be applied as you’ll need to establish your audience’s pain points and your solution.
However, you may need to modify the remaining slides as you’re not seeking to make a sale or raise funding. You may use them instead to discuss the main content of your presentation – in this case, the benefits of meditation. The last two slides may contain your conclusions and call to action, respectively.
Now, off to the second part of the 10/20/30 presentation rule.
According to Kawasaki, you only have 20 minutes to present your 10 slides – the time needed before your audience’s attention starts declining. He believes it is long enough to convey a meaningful message but short enough to maintain the audience’s attention span.
This is exactly why most TED Talks or The Big Bang Theory episodes would only last for approximately 18 minutes.
While giving longer presentations is possible, longer presentations may be more difficult to maintain audience engagement and attention.
Kawasaki’s final rule pertains to the font size that presenters can use. This rule suggests that presenters should use a font size of at least 30 points for all text in their slides , including titles, headings, and body text.
When creating presentations, it is common to jam each slide with text and information. This poses two possible problems:
Using a larger font size, you must include only the key points of your presentation slides. This prevents your audience from getting ahead of you and keeps them listening to you speak. By applying this rule, you are also ensuring your content is understandable for people with visual impairments. We highly recommend you check concepts from W3C.org on how to make events accessible, as some of these rules can benefit your audience.
Presenters often ask themselves whether is worth applying a new framework for their presentation design and delivery. The reality is that the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint Presentations is one of the most effective methods to build your presentation skills . In the list below, we expose the main benefits of this framework for presenters.
With a limited number of slides and a strict time limit, the 10/20/30 encourages you to choose the most relevant content and eliminate unnecessary information carefully. This avoids overwhelming your audience with too much information and ensures your key message is clear and memorable.
This rule encourages presenters to focus on delivering a clear message rather than overwhelming the audience with flashy visuals. With fewer slides and a shorter duration, you are likelier to hold your audience’s attention throughout the presentation. This also allows you to address questions from the audience, leading to better interaction and a productive meeting.
Whether pitching to investors or selling a product, a concise and focused presentation can significantly increase your chances of success. The 10/20/30 rule helps you effectively communicate your value proposition and address potential concerns. This makes your presentation more persuasive and memorable, increasing the likelihood of securing funding or closing a sale.
The more senior the person you present to, the lesser time you got to make your case and convey your message. Following the 10/20/30 encourages you to be mindful of the time and deliver your presentation within the allocated timeframe. It also allows you to show respect for your audience’s time.
Following Kawasaki’s rule on creating your PowerPoint presentation, identify the key points you want to convey to your audience and allocate one slide for each.
Presenting one idea per slide can help your audience stay focused on the topic at hand. It makes it easier for them to understand and remember your message, as it reduces the amount of information they have to process at once. When there’s too much information on a slide, it can be overwhelming and distracting, making it difficult for your audience to stay engaged and attentive.
Presenting one idea per slide can also help you control the flow of information and ensure that you cover all of your main points.
As mentioned earlier, the 10/20/30 rule emphasizes simplicity. Keep your slides simple and avoid flashy design elements that may distract your audience.
Use a consistent color scheme , font style, and layout throughout your presentation. This will help your audience follow along and focus on your message.
Visuals like images, charts, graphs, videos, and diagrams can help break up text-heavy slides and make your presentation more interesting and memorable. However, relying solely on images can also be ineffective and lead to confusion or disengagement.
When using visuals in your slides, it’s important to balance text and images. Text can provide important context and details, while images can help illustrate key points and make your presentation visually appealing.
Let’s say you want to inform your audience of your company’s marketing plan . Using a rising spiral template is an excellent choice since it can represent multiple plan stages with increasing intensity.
Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule only gives you 20 minutes to wrap up the whole presentation, but what if you need more than that?
It’s not uncommon to give presentations that last 45 minutes to an hour – for instance, if you are giving a lecture or facilitating a training workshop for employees. The longer your presentation, however, the harder it will be to hold your audience’s attention.
One great way to keep them engaged is to divide your presentation into smaller units and pause in between.
So, before the guy from the third row starts yawning, plan in-between activities to reenergize your audience and reacquire their attention. It can be a simple Q&A session, interactive exercises, or team-building activities.
Don’t forget to time your activities so they won’t disrupt the flow of your presentation.
The opening of your presentation is critical in capturing your audience’s attention and setting the tone for the rest of the presentation. Start with a compelling hook, such as a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or an engaging story, to grab your audience’s attention. Clearly state the purpose and objectives of your presentation to establish the context and provide a roadmap for what’s to come.
Your outro is as important as your introduction. So, instead of ending your presentation with a flat Thank you slide , use the opportunity to nudge your audience to action.
Using a summary slide is one of the ways you can end your presentation if your goal is to reinforce your key points. It can be a useful reference for the audience, helping them remember the most important information.
You can also encourage your audience to take action based on what they’ve learned in your presentation. This can be a great way to motivate them to apply the concepts you’ve covered.
The 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint is a useful framework to emulate in creating your presentation.
There are questions about the practicality of its application outside the business context. However, we can agree that it teaches us valuable insight – keeping presentations concise as possible. Limiting the number of slides, adhering to a strict time limit, and using a larger font size can create a concise presentation that effectively communicates your message.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to presenting; you don’t have to strictly follow Kawasaki’s rule. Depending on the audience and the topic, modify the template and adapt your presentation to suit the situation.
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Do you want your slides to go beyond the average result from a template? If so, learn how to create custom themes for presentations with this guide.
There are innumerable ways to structure PowerPoint presentations based on the context and the requirements. However, presentations, not unlike other forms of communication, do have some ground rules that are often considered cardinal regardless of what is being presented. Savvy presenters understand that they cannot take the audience’s attention span for granted and work smartly to get the most out of the time the audience gives them.
A lot of research has been done on the methods of presentation delivery. SlideUpLift has compiled a list of these rules for you to create an impact when you adopt these practices.
In this blog, you will learn
Importance Of Organizing For Attention Capture
10-20-30 Rule
Single Big Idea
The 15-75-10 Narrative
Many forms of media and communication take the idea of attention capture very seriously- think about the last time you saw a TV ad the ad was likely a few seconds long and the creators worked very hard to get the message across in those few seconds- every aspect was optimized knowing fully well that precious attention from the audience is likely to wander off if anything goes off tangent in the advertisement. There is more: think of posters, of banner ads on websites- all of these are designed around constraints of space or time- limiting how much time and attention the audience could really give.
Now think of PowerPoint presentations: the audience behavior is likely to not deviate much: In fact, studies have indicated that the average duration of focused attention span is 8 seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2020; there are enough distractions in today’s digital world that drive these trends.
Bottom line is, presenters need to actively think about the topic of holding the attention of their audience. The ease of editing slides in tools like PowerPoint is a proverbial double-edged sword -since it is so easy to add slides, text, graphics, etc that the presenters often can do too much without seeing the slippery slope they are on when that occurs.
Presentation Rules To Maximize Attention Span
Each of the following rules presents powerful ideas towards capturing and holding the audience’s attention. These can be used in isolation or combined to cater to your specific requirements and objectives for a presentation.
Guy Kawasaki , a venture capitalist well versed in making and assessing presentations, came up with the 10-20-30 Rule. He created this rule in response to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to him using dense 60+ slides PowerPoint presentations to explain something that could have been explained in 10. While he made the rule in the realm of venture capitalism and start-up pitches , the 10-20-30 Rule can be applied pretty much unanimously for every business need.
The rule states that each presentation should have no more than 10 slides each. The total time taken for the presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. And the font size for all the text in the presentation should not be less than 30 px.
10 Slides – This is in reference to people’s attention spans and the power of retention. For the average human, the information given concisely and carefully is more effective, rather than long-winded explanations and detailed descriptions. Thus, 10 slides are the optimum number of slides to put relevant information that can actually be retained.
20 Minutes – This is the maximum time an audience is willing to give you after experiencing several bouts of attention loss. So, wrap up your presentation within 20 minutes to keep the audience interested and focused.
30 px font size – The dilemma of putting in more information at the expense of font size is a struggle every presenter’s faces. However, having the bottom line read 30 px for the font size constrains a presenter into making their information short and effective, rather than relying on long-winded explanations crammed onto a page in 10px font size.
Business Pitch Deck
Source: Business Pitch Deck by SlideUpLift
The 5-5-5 Rule follows the principles of the 10-20-30 Rule, in the sense that it seeks to quantify the structure of a presentation. However, it delves deeper into the details of PowerPoint presentations through the number 5 and talks about structuring information within a single slide.
The three 5s stand for
5 words – There should be no more than 5 words in one sentence (in a slide). This keeps the sentence focused only on the objectives, rather than creating a whole story around it.
5 sentences – There should be no more than 5 sentences or lines of text on a single slide. This makes each slide that much more approachable and readable for the audience.
5 slides – There should not be 5 text-heavy slides within a presentation in a row. Space them out as much as possible. Having text-heavy slides back to back can cause information overload and fatigue in the audience.
One of our guiding principles is the notion of a “Single Big Idea”. The premise of this idea is two-fold. The overall presentation should be focused on the main vision and goal of the presentation. For instance, if the goal is customer acquisition, the whole presentation, tonality, graphics, story flow, messaging should be focused on customer acquisition.
Moreover, each slide should also follow the concept of a “single big idea”. Treat each slide with the reverence given to the overall presentation, ensuring that each element, be it visual or textual, aligns with and reinforces the larger idea being presented on that slide.
One of the best tools in a presenter’s toolbox for making presentations is storytelling . We as human beings love stories and absorb messages without even realizing it.
One of the ways to structure your PowerPoint presentations is to narrativize them. The 15-75-10 rule is one way to do it
The 15% Introduction : This should be about 15% of the whole presentation, wherein you introduce yourself if needed, and the larger idea that you intend to convey within the presentation. You can also establish your touchpoints and objectives right at the beginning.
The 75% Body : Consisting of about 75% of the presentation, the body is where each of your touchpoints is elaborated on using anecdotes, examples, statistics, and information related to them. The body should answer the questions of what, why, and how for the topic.
The 10% Conclusion : The last 10% of your presentation should be the conclusion. A good conclusion is not just a conclusion slide with a thank you note on it. A solid conclusion summarises the presentation, talks about key points of focus, provides contact information, has a call-to-action, and prompts audience engagement to recall and revise everything said during the presentation. Conclusions are brief but powerful parts of a presentation.
Also learn a few tips on effective public speaking .
SlideUpLift Templates for PowerPoint Presentations
SlideUpLift consists of a team of visual design and business experts that are well-versed in both presentation structures, and business foundations for communication. As such, each presentation is made keeping in mind their impact and effectiveness for each topic.
All SlideUpLift presentations work with the rules of structuring that best fit that particular topic. From project reviews to SWOT analysis , each template is guided by the golden rules of presentation structuring to create a unified and cohesive template that fits all business requirements. Creating impactful, engaging, and effective PowerPoint presentations has never been easier.
Value Proposition PowerPoint
Source: Value Proposition powerPoint by SlideUpLift
Customer Journey Executive Summary
Source: Customer Journey Executive Summary by SlideUpLift
Ladder Diagram
Source: Ladder Diagram by SlideUpLift
Puzzle PowerPoint Template
Source: Puzzle PowerPoint Template by SlideUpLift
Project Kickoff
Source: Project KickOff Presentation by SlideUpLift
It’s a given that a good presentation needs a great structure. But understanding the rules that govern human psychology is extremely important to make an impact when presenting, whether to a group of people or an individual. Using presentation templates that pre-bake such insights and are created specifically to capture the audience’s attention is a smart thing to do.
Now you don’t have to scour the web to find out the right templates. Download our PowerPoint Templates from within PowerPoint. See how ?
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PowerPoint presentations work like slide shows. To convey a message or a story, you break it down into slides. Think of each slide as a blank canvas for the pictures and words that help you tell your story.
When you open PowerPoint, you’ll see some built-in themes and templates . A theme is a slide design that contains matching colors, fonts, and special effects like shadows, reflections, and more.
On the File tab of the Ribbon, select New , and then choose a theme.
PowerPoint shows you a preview of the theme, with four color variations to choose from on the right side.
Click Create , or pick a color variation and then click Create .
Read more: Use or create themes in PowerPoint
On the Home tab, click the bottom half of New Slide , and pick a slide layout.
Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides .
On the File tab, choose Save .
Pick or browse to a folder.
In the File name box, type a name for your presentation, and then choose Save .
Note: If you frequently save files to a certain folder, you can ‘pin’ the path so that it is always available (as shown below).
Tip: Save your work as you go. Press Ctrl+S often or save the file to OneDrive and let AutoSave take care of it for you.
Read more: Save your presentation file
Select a text placeholder, and begin typing.
Select the text.
Under Drawing Tools , choose Format .
Do one of the following:
To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill , and then choose a color.
To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline , and then choose a color.
To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects , and then choose the effect you want.
Change the fonts
Change the color of text on a slide
Add bullets or numbers to text
Format text as superscript or subscript
On the Insert tab, select Pictures , then do one of the following:
To insert a picture that is saved on your local drive or an internal server, choose This Device , browse for the picture, and then choose Insert .
(For Microsoft 365 subscribers) To insert a picture from our library, choose Stock Images , browse for a picture, select it and choose Insert .
To insert a picture from the web, choose Online Pictures , and use the search box to find a picture. Choose a picture, and then click Insert .
You can add shapes to illustrate your slide.
On the Insert tab, select Shapes , and then select a shape from the menu that appears.
In the slide area, click and drag to draw the shape.
Select the Format or Shape Format tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.
Slides are best when you don’t cram in too much information. You can put helpful facts and notes in the speaker notes, and refer to them as you present.
Click inside the Notes pane below the slide, and begin typing your notes.
Add speaker notes to your slides
Print slides with or without speaker notes
On the Slide Show tab, do one of the following:
To start the presentation at the first slide, in the Start Slide Show group, click From Beginning .
If you’re not at the first slide and want to start from where you are, click From Current Slide .
If you need to present to people who are not where you are, click Present Online to set up a presentation on the web, and then choose one of the following options:
Broadcast your PowerPoint presentation online to a remote audience
View your speaker notes as you deliver your slide show.
To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc .
You can quickly apply a theme when you're starting a new presentation:
On the File tab, click New .
Select a theme.
Read more: Apply a design theme to your presentation
In the slide thumbnail pane on the left, select the slide that you want your new slide to follow.
On the Home tab, select the lower half of New Slide .
From the menu, select the layout that you want for your new slide.
Your new slide is inserted, and you can click inside a placeholder to begin adding content.
Learn more about slide layouts
Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides
PowerPoint for the web automatically saves your work to your OneDrive, in the cloud.
To change the name of the automatically saved file:
In the title bar, click the file name.
In the File Name box, enter the name you want to apply to the file.
If you want to change the cloud storage location, at the right end of the Location box, click the arrow symbol, then navigate to the folder you want, then select Move here .
On the Home tab, use the Font options:
Select from other formatting options such as Bold , Italic , Underline , Strikethrough , Subscript , and Superscript .
On the Insert tab, select Pictures .
From the menu, select where you want to insert the picture from:
Browse to the image you want, select it, then select Insert .
After the image is inserted on the slide, you can select it and drag to reposition it, and you can select and drag a corner handle to resize the image.
On the slide canvas, click and drag to draw the shape.
Select the Shape tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.
A horizontal Notes pane appears at the bottom of the window, below the slide.
Click in the pane, then enter text.
On the Slide Show tab, select Play From Beginning .
To navigate through the slides, simply click the mouse or press the spacebar.
Tip: You can also use the forward and back arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the slide show.
Read more: Present your slide show
To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc.
The full-screen slide show will close, and you will be returned to the editing view of the file.
Consider the following tips to keep your audience interested.
To maintain a clear message and to keep your audience attentive and interested, keep the number of slides in your presentation to a minimum.
The audience must be able to read your slides from a distance. Generally speaking, a font size smaller than 30 might be too difficult for the audience to see.
You want your audience to listen to you present your information, instead of reading the screen. Use bullets or short sentences, and try to keep each item to one line.
Some projectors crop slides at the edges, so that long sentences might be cropped.
Pictures, charts, graphs, and SmartArt graphics provide visual cues for your audience to remember. Add meaningful art to complement the text and messaging on your slides.
As with text, however, avoid including too many visual aids on your slide.
Use only enough text to make label elements in a chart or graph comprehensible.
Choose an appealing, consistent template or theme that is not too eye-catching. You don't want the background or design to detract from your message.
However, you also want to provide a contrast between the background color and text color. The built-in themes in PowerPoint set the contrast between a light background with dark colored text or dark background with light colored text.
For more information about how to use themes, see Apply a theme to add color and style to your presentation .
To earn and maintain the respect of your audience, always check the spelling and grammar in your presentation .
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Blog / Presentation Design / The six rules of impactful PowerPoint design.
You don’t need to be a professional designer to enhance the look of your PowerPoint presentations. Find out how to design professional, visually-striking slides with our six PowerPoint design rules. Given the fact that PowerPoint presentations are the most ubiquitous communication tool in business and education, it’s crazy how many bad ones are out there. You’d think that because of how important presentations are to business strategy , most organisations would have at least a vague idea of PowerPoint design best practice. But we’ve seen enough presentations to make the call that most organisations follow the old school design rubric with a bit too much fervour for today’s competitive climate. There’s no more room for excuses. Your audience isn’t going to forgive you for making them sit through slides overstuffed with bullet points and blinding colour choices. You’ve got to find a way of standing out in a crowded landscape of presentations. As a PowerPoint design agency , we’re huge advocates of clean, slick, minimalist design, and we’re going to share five PowerPoint rules to help you design slides to be proud of.
Before you think about designing anything, you’ve got to finalise the content you want to display on each slide. The words you write will dictate how the slides are visualised, so outlining the messages you want to communicate is the first step on your journey to designing a good-looking slide. Once you have your content hashed out in written form, decide what goes on which slide by putting your ideas onto post-it notes and organising them into your desired flow. Storyboarding is a great way of doing this. This way, you can gauge the scope of your presentation in a visual way and avoid time-consuming edits of your final designs later in the process.
If you’re planning on splitting a slide into a group of bullet points and an infographic, you’re brewing the recipe for a congested presentation. By this point, you should have cut away the excess fat of your messaging, leaving only the most impactful soundbites that’ll actually matter to your audience. You don’t want to put your messages in a position where they have to compete for audience attention. Breaking your points up will give your listeners room to digest each of your ideas, one at a time. You, as the presenter, will act as a guide, leading them smoothly from point to point with a relevant, tailored visual to enhance your delivery.
There are a handful of core PowerPoint design principles you should keep at the forefront of your mind whenever you’re putting presentation layouts together. In true one point at a time fashion, let’s address them individually:
If the point you’re making on a slide has different elements to it that form a whole, make sure their distinct from one another is stark. Graphics, text and background images should contrast and stand out among each other. An easy way to do this is through varying colour palettes , but make sure you select colours that complement each other.
Using repetition to link ideas together is a great way of creating visual uniformity. Curate a look and feel of the kind of design direction you want to go down, implement this style in a PowerPoint template , lock it down and you’ll have formed the groundwork of your presentation design.
Alignment is what gives design a sense of balance. How you arrange the information on a slide and where each component is situated will direct how the content is interpreted by the audience. When things are properly aligned, every component appears as though it’s in the right place and cohabiting equally instead of fighting for space.
Elements that are related to each other should be placed close together. This will make it easier for your audience to detect the cohesion of your ideas and understand the connection between them, while eliminating ambiguity.
Each visual element in your PowerPoint presentation should serve a purpose: your slides aren’t just there to house your content, they should act as powerful visual assets that deliver your story in a more impactful and compelling way. There are four aspects to designing presentation visuals that you should be mindful of:
Every image you select has to be relevant and high-quality. Stay away from tacky stock photos of professionals shaking hands, fake business meetings and groups of people high-fiving. Start communicating with visuals that match the personality of your brand. With a bit of digging and the right keyword searches, you can find some really cool images from subscription stock libraries, some of which are free like Unsplash and Death to the Stock Photo .
Ever wondered why most bank logos are blue and those of fast food outlets usually include red? It’s no coincidence – it’s because blue is culturally associated with trust and responsibility, while red evokes feelings of energy and immediacy. Colour plays a big part in how we digest and process information. The cultural and psychological meanings behind colours are definitely something you should take into account in your PowerPoint design. Think about how you want your message to be perceived and pick a colour scheme that reflects that. You can use Adobe Colour to find popular palettes if you’re stuck.
Choosing the best presentation fonts depends on the tone of your presentation, your audience and the overall vibe of the environment you’re speaking in. Serifs are more prevalent in print, whereas sans-serifs are more common in web design, which might be why serifs are considered more ‘classic’ and sans-serifs ‘modern’. Consider the different characteristics and connotations of a font when selecting typefaces for your presentation, and how these associations align with your subject. Legibility is the most important thing for presentation – so keep it simple by sticking to between 45-90 characters (including spaces) per line, and pay special attention to spacing. If you use decorative fonts and scripts, make sure they’re just in the headings. As a general rule to follow, try to limit yourself to 2-3 typefaces per presentation to ensure visual consistency.
PowerPoint animations and transitions are often approached with caution – which perhaps isn’t surprising considering we’ve all endured a few ill-advised fly-ins in our time. The trick to effective animations and transitions is making sure that they’re in service of the story you’re telling: use them in a minimalist way to reduce disruption between slides, help your information flow along naturally, and build up multiple layers of messaging.
If data or financial insight forms an important part of your presentation, you’re going to want to deliver it in an exciting and interesting way. When dealing with large numbers, it’s a good idea to use scale to your advantage – providing a visual size contrast between two data points makes it much easier to comprehend the difference. You could also communicate the data using visuals of the subject you are talking about to establish a context for your audience.
If you reflect on your data, they’ll probably only be a handful of figures that actually matter and support your message. So alternatively, why not pick these out and display them in a large, visually-impactful way on their own slides? They’ll focus your audience’s attention and you can then talk around them, adding relevant supplementary information. Overall, the key to PowerPoint design is to keep things simple. Tell a visual story by introducing one piece of information at a time and keep your design clean and focused. Stick to these five commandments and you’ll ensure your presentation is easy for your audience to follow and absorb.
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We live in a fantastic time. The world is changing rapidly and the digital universe will have changed significantly. To cope with such a rapid information flow, you must learn how to structure and present data to your potential audience properly. While you address the audience, it’s vital to not only convey the necessary information but also create a fascinating and inspiring presentation. Such ones will remain in people’s memories for long. To make your audience react to your PowerPoint presentation instead of seeing indifferent yawning faces during your speech, see the following PowerPoint presentation rules .
What is the number 1 secret of any successful presentation? You will not believe how transparent it sounds. The secret is to deliver compelling, well-structured and well-presented content.
You know, that kind of content when all the listeners would take out the phones for only one purpose - snapping the presentation slides, and not checking their Facebook or Instagram feed.
They say, “Content is King!”
You want to see the fire in people’s eyes, which shows their desire to create.
But how can you understand if the audience is ready or whether your content is interesting? How would see if the audience is involved enough?
First, keep in mind one truth of life - people are not willing to think and put efforts to do something. And, most likely, they don’t care about your presentation . However, your content and the way of presenting one can change their opinion.
Take advantage of professional design with attractive layouts for images and graphics to help the audience perceive your content more effectively. Have a look at PowerPoint templates from TemplateMonster.
Here is one of many examples - Minimal PowerPoint Template .
The more actively your audience participates in the process, the more effectively you’ll be able to deliver the necessary message.
Add as many interactions as possible - games, tests, tricky questions . When people interact with the content (at least somehow), there grows an involvement level. For a perfect ending, ask the audience a question so that they have something to consider about. It doesn’t matter if they respond immediately or leave it for later. They’ll reflect on the topic in any case.
The human brain reacts automatically to stories. Somehow, this is a part of our survival mechanism ( Stay in the cave! Huge mammoths are out! ). Also, stories are a great way to entertain yourself ( the reason why kids love fairy tales and why people watch movies ). Storytelling made narration to be one of the most critical communication means between people.
We pay more attention when we hear stories rather than when someone lists facts. Storytelling during your PowerPoint presentation helps the audience to understand and memorize the information for a longer time, even after the story’s end.
Instead of concluding a chain of facts (figures, breakdown), which can drive even the most positively-minded person crazy, make a story out of those facts.
I guess, the recently-added Marakesh PowerPoint Template will be perfect as a storytelling base for your PowerPoint.
So, 69% of respondents answered that they couldn’t stand a speaker reading text from the presentation slides. You must convey the information in your own words without even looking at the slide.
Yes, I mean you have to memorize it. Otherwise, you risk having your audience fall asleep.
48% of people hate when the font size is too small. Like who cares about your genius text in each slide when people are not able to read a single thing? Goodbye to all your creative text, useful statistics, meaningful remarks, etc.
Even during the most serious TED talks, Will Stephen does not forget to laugh at himself. He knows - humor rules the world . Even in the business world.
If you are getting ready for a serious presentation in front of your client or investor, don’t think that using humor for the presentation will be inappropriate. You do not need to joke around all the time. This instead means staying cheerful and appealing. The audience will appreciate your ease of communication and simplicity of speech.
Although it might be tough to find the right humor vibe, I still recommend you take a risk. The effect is amazing! People get more open to the ideas you want to share during your presentation.
In 2012, The New York Times had an experiment called " Are you an optimist or a pessimist? ". The participants had to read a piece from a book and answer " yes " or " no " to several questions. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether different fonts can influence the reader's confidence in that text.
40K of participated ones were shown the same paragraph typed in different fonts: Comic Sans, Computer Modern, Georgia, Trebuchet, Baskerville, Helvetica.
The results state: text written in Comic Sans and Helvetica are least “trustworthy” among readers, while Baskerville font, on the contrary, gained the most of trust . According to psychologists, it has to do with the more formal outer look of the font.
People perceive information differently. So, you tell somebody: make a beautiful presentation. In your head, you are drawing a particular picture of how a beautiful presentation should look. But you don’t even think that the other person’s thoughts about a beautiful presentation are far more different from yours.
Thus, it is better to show five images than to explain everything in words. You need more visuals. Graphics, charts and visual metaphors - everything that supports and demonstrates your argument. Speaking of visual metaphors, it’s the way of using images to illustrate your ideas or separate important statements. Such visual metaphors are likely to stay in people’s minds longer.
And don’t stop on traditional visuals because 1998 has gone for 20 years already. Stylish and modern PowerPoint presentation ideas look far different from what we used to see 10 or 15 years ago. Make sure you keep up with the latest trends, including moving graphics, videos, emojis and gif animations.
For example, Inertia Template has an incredible set of layouts with modern-looking infographics and charts. I haven’t seen anything better so far!
Once PowerPoint let us experiment with colors and slide designs, people started to believe that leaving plain white background is dull and unprofessional. It’s like if you change the background color, some magic will make your client accept the order.
Who still believes in this kind of a delusion? Why do we keep embellishing slides with many objects when you can explain your thought in 1 word or picture?
Unnecessarily details, elaborate design, and unreadable fonts only distract the audience from the idea you intend to convey. Using illustrations and a minimum of text is enough to deliver your thoughts to listeners and grab their attention.
Remember that less is not boring . Look at this minimal PowerPoint template, and you’ll make sure!
One more way to reach your audience is giving examples and reflect the issue of the listeners . It doesn’t necessarily mean providing examples from your own life. Once you know your target audience, whether it’s a speech at a conference or in front of your potential investor, think of how your topics can relate to them directly.
Use examples to help support your solutions to the presented issue. People might not care how your solution can be useful to someone else, but once you show how it might affect them, people will start listening attentively. Psychology is so basic.
Remember those listing facts out loud is not a presentation. If you want to make an impression, convince the audience and urge them to act. You got to work on your presentation structure and add some enthusiasm.
All the above-described rules work. Use and implement them in your presentation.
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How to Insert a YouTube Video into a PowerPoint Presentation (Using Different PowerPoint Versions)
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With help from the 10-20-30 rule, you can make a PowerPoint presentation that's engaging and efficient. The guidelines for this rule are as follows: No more than 10 slides. No longer than 20 minutes. No larger than 30-point font. Let's look deeper at the 10-20-30 PowerPoint rule, why it's a good rule to follow and things to do to follow ...
Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide. When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged.
Use animations sparingly to enhance your presentation. Don't take the last tip to mean you should avoid animations and other effects entirely. When used sparingly, subtle effects and animations can add to your presentation. For example, having bullet points appear as you address them rather than before can help keep your audience's attention.
Be mindful of colors and fonts. 4. Use animation sparingly. See more. Wondering how to design the perfect PowerPoint presentation? It's easier than you think-just follow five simple rules to get started: 1. Consider using templates. When building a slide deck, it's important to maintain consistency throughout.
Tips for delivering an effective presentation. Tip. Details. Show up early and verify that your equipment works properly. Make sure that all equipment is connected and running. Don't assume that your presentation will work fine on another computer. Disk failures, software version mismatches, lack of disk space, low memory, and many other ...
Use a Custom Font. A PowerPoint presentation tip that'll make your slideshow more interesting and more engaging is to use a custom font. Fonts set the tone for your presentation. So, when you use a premium font, you're opting for a high-quality font while also adding a personal or creative touch.
7. Share With a Friend. If the stakes are high for your presentation, it's never too early to get feedback from those that you trust. Here's an article that helps you collaborate as a team on a PowerPoint presentation. Get PowerPoint design tips from those that you trust when you collaborate.
A simple rule of thumb here is that contrast is your friend. Dark colors work well on light backgrounds, and light colors work best on dark backgrounds. Take a Look From the Top Down Spend some time in the Slide Sorter before you finish your presentation. By clicking the four squares at the bottom left of the presentation, you can take a look ...
Rule 1: Keep It Simple. One of the cardinal sins in PowerPoint presentations is overcrowding your slides with text, bullet points, and too many visuals. The first rule is to keep it simple. Each slide should have a single, clear message. Use concise language, bullet points, and minimal text to convey your points.
The Golden Rule is that all PowerPoint presentation rules, principles, and guidelines are secondary to doing what is right for your audience. In other words, no matter what PowerPoint rules or presentation guidelines you choose to follow, you will encounter situations which demand exceptions to those rules. What worked for one audience type ...
1. Galaxi PowerPoint Presentation Template. The Galaxi PowerPoint template has a clean and modern design. It's versatile enough to use for all kinds of presentations and comes with five premade color schemes. The template comes with 30 premade slides based on master slides, image placeholders, and editable shapes. 2.
Follow the 5/5/5 rule. Don't forget your audience. Choose readable colors and fonts. Don't overload your presentation with animations. Use animations sparingly to enhance your presentation. Keep these tips in mind the next time you create a PowerPoint presentation— your audience will thank you. Your audience will thank you.
Keep the background consistent and subtle. Use only enough text when using charts or graphs to explain the concept. Clearly label the graphic. Keep the design clean and uncluttered. Leave empty space around the text and graphics. Use quality clipart and use it sparingly. The graphic should relate to and enhance the topic of the slide.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation design software that is part of Microsoft 365. This software allows you to design presentations by combining text, images, graphics, video, and animation on slides in a simple and intuitive way. Over time, PowerPoint has evolved and improved its accessibility to users.
To avoid tiring (and boring) your audience, stick to the 5/5/5 rule. That means allowing no more than five words per text line, having no more than five lines of text per slide, and never having more than five text-heavy slides in a row. Contrast Your Colors. More than anything, you want your slides to be as readable as possible.
The idea of the 10/20/30 rule is easy to understand, which is summed up in three points. Your presentation should consist of no more than 10 slides. Your presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes. The text on each slide should be no lower than 30 points in size. Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule for slideshows emphasizes brevity, focus ...
5-5-5 Rule. The 5-5-5 Rule follows the principles of the 10-20-30 Rule, in the sense that it seeks to quantify the structure of a presentation. However, it delves deeper into the details of PowerPoint presentations through the number 5 and talks about structuring information within a single slide. The three 5s stand for
PowerPoint Presentation Guidelines • Highlight key points or reinforce what the facilitator is saying • Should be short and to the point, include only key words and phases for visual, reinforcement • In order for your presentation to fit on most screens,
Top Eight Rules for Creating a PowerPoint Presentation 1. Remember that you are the presenter, not PowerPoint. Use your slides to emphasize a point, keep yourself on track, and illustrate a point with a graphic or photo. Don't read the slides. 2. Don't make your audience read the slides either. Keep text to a minimum (6-8 lines per slide,
To keep your colors consistent and easy to access, save a color palette in PowerPoint. Click the Design tab and under Variants, click the down arrow (1). On the dropdown menu click Colors (2) and Customize Colors (3). In the Create New Theme colors dialogue click one of the color slots (4).
Select the text. Under Drawing Tools, choose Format. Do one of the following: To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill, and then choose a color. To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline, and then choose a color. To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects, and then ...
As a PowerPoint design agency, we're huge advocates of clean, slick, minimalist design, and we're going to share five PowerPoint rules to help you design slides to be proud of. PowerPoint rule #1. Content first, design second. Before you think about designing anything, you've got to finalise the content you want to display on each slide.
Rule #4. Stop Reading Text from Slides. So, 69% of respondents answered that they couldn't stand a speaker reading text from the presentation slides. You must convey the information in your own words without even looking at the slide. Yes, I mean you have to memorize it.