How to create powerful PowerPoint presentation templates
When you’re in the audience, it’s easy to spot the difference between a professional, well put together PowerPoint template presentation and a total eyesore. But when it comes to creating your own — with so many details and pieces to get right — it can be challenging to pick out precisely what it is that creates that ‘wow’ factor.
Slide Simplicity
Keeping each slide clean and simple is one of the most important aspects of a good PowerPoint template design. The less cluttered each page is, the more influential the visual presentation will be.
Too much information on one slide causes confusion. Your audience is likely to be distracted by their eyes jumping around the page instead of calmly taking in the information they hear and see. Keep it to the basics, with only the most essential information visible on each slide, and you'll ensure your audience is paying close attention.
Reduce Your Words
As a tie-in to our mantra of slide simplicity, one fundamental way to reduce visual noise on each slide is by reducing your word count.
When giving a presentation, aim to present the majority of your factual information verbally. Your beautifully designed PowerPoint template slides are there to enhance and support your presentation, highlight key messages and provide a visual reference.
Pick only the most essential words to visually display in your PowerPoint presentation.
High-quality Imagery
Low-quality images are one of the quickest ways to ruin the hard work that goes into your PowerPoint template slides. It's crucial for all images, including logos, background images, and main feature images, to use vector or high-resolution files that look their best. Using high-quality images ensures that, at a glance, your presentation looks attractive and highly effective.
Fonts and Typography
Consistent and well thought out font use can make the difference between a professional presentation and a high school project. The solution is to only use Font Themes. These are preset pairs of fonts; one for Body text and the other for Headings, although you can apply them to any text you like.
Correct use of Font Themes means you won’t use more than two fonts, and if you change your mind, you can make a global font change in an instant. That still leaves choosing the right font set for your presentation. Fortunately, PowerPoint comes with its own suggested ‘Office’ font themes.
But should you use fonts that ship with PowerPoint, or your own custom fonts? If you’ve had some help from a graphic designer they might suggest some excellent font solutions. But, remember that custom fonts will only work if they’re installed on your computer, whereas fonts that come with PowerPoint are automatically available to everyone. And, even if they are installed, not all custom fonts behave as they are meant to.
If you’re curious to see some of Timplates’ font themes in action, check out our work.
Engaging Colour Palettes Cohesive colour selection is part of the magic of good graphic design — and, in turn, good PowerPoint template presentation design.
Each colour palette causes a subconscious reaction for viewers. Designers and marketers have been studying colour theory for decades: think fast food outlets highlighting the colour red to encourage feelings of hunger.
Likewise, good colour choice matters a lot in PowerPoint template design. Choose a modern, engaging colour palette that isn’t too busy and represents your brand and topic. It is also important to make sure this colour palette is cohesive throughout the entire presentation.
Proper colour choice is a vital factor in effective PowerPoint design. Consider enlisting a graphic designer, or PowerPoint design template business such as Timplates, to manage this colour design process.
Perfect Alignment
Uneven alignment between text boxes, images, and background elements can create an overall messy look that distracts viewers and takes away from your presentation.
Like many presentation creation tools, PowerPoint has easy alignment guides to make sure all elements are in the right place. When you’re creating your PowerPoint template design, make sure to keep an eye on the tiniest details, such as the perfect alignment of each item.