Presentation Design Tips - Design and Layout

Structure
Color—the Magic Ingredient
Type
Graphics

DO

Keep your design simple

Select pleasing, clean backgrounds that don't distract your audience. Choose design elements that support your message. Often the simplest designs are the most elegant and make the presentation easier to read. You can read more about this in our guide on design spacing.

Consider your audience

Think about what you want to achieve and who you are talking to.

For example, a vivid, flowery template is distracting if you are selling a serious business proposal to executives. Instead, choose a clean, professional template with a straightforward style.

Do keep the flowery background for a more fun, informal presentation, perhaps to the local garden club.

Begin with an introduction slide

Include your name, title, and affiliation, the company name and logo, and the date. It's also smart to include an agenda slide, which helps the audience focus on your upcoming message.

Use titles, section markers, and review slides

People can get lost in a presentation, lose focus, or simply come late.

To orient your audience, consider breaking content into sections and then inserting consistent visual clues for context.

For example, be sure to number each slide and use titles, headers, footers, and other pointers that let the audience know where you are. If you have a company logo, include it on every slide. Most corporations include the logo in the templates provided to employees, but if yours doesn't, consider adding it.

Use tables where necessary

It is best to keep detailed data in handouts rather than on a slide, but sometimes you can't avoid it. Simply organize the information into a table. You can create tables from spreadsheet cells, or copy tables from MS Word and paste them into PowerPoint. Be sure to differentiate headings from the body of the table for better readability.

DON'T

Clutter slides with unnecessary layout elements.

Avoid fancy borders, clip art, distracting fonts and background graphics that aren't specifically illustrating or clarifying your message. While photographs can make a presentation seem more personal and friendly, consider that they will add to the file size (and print time). They may also take up slide space better kept for your message.

Download one of our pre-designed PowerPoint templates or experiment with the PowerPoint Design Wizard (PC platform only). This tool includes a variety of professionally designed templates with carefully chosen color combinations and backgrounds to compliment your message.