20 Great Examples of PowerPoint Presentation Design [+ Templates]

Carly Williams

Published: August 06, 2024

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

PowerPoint presentation examples graphic with computer monitor, person holding a megaphone, and a plant to signify growth.

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.

Table of Contents

What makes a good PowerPoint presentation?

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

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

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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.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

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.

Interesting PowerPoint

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.

Powerpoint 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.

PowerPoint Illustration

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.

PoiwerPoint Capital Letters

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

PowerPoint alternate slides

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.

PowerPoint 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.

powerpoint chart

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.

PowerPoint 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. 

powerpoint contrast

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.

PowerPoint 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.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. “The GaryVee Content Model,” Gary Vaynerchuk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. “How Google Works,” Eric Schmidt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PowerPoint Presentation Examples for the Best Slide Presentation

Mastering a PowerPoint presentation begins with the design itself.

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

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

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7 Unique Presentation Examples That Will Inspire You

Carla Albinagorta

After a while, all PowerPoint presentations look exactly the same, don’t they? Wrong! The way a PowerPoint is designed can really change the feel of the whole presentation. The world is filled with bad PowerPoint presentations. But precisely because of that, a good PowerPoint will stand out even more. Check out these amazingly good presentation examples to get some design ideas for your next PowerPoint.

Presentation inspiration

Why presentations are important

Before we go through the presentation examples, it’s important to talk a little about what makes a PowerPoint presentation really good. It’s a common mistake to think that the design of your PowerPoint is a secondary factor in a presentation. Content and information are definitely vital, but the design also affects the overall way people react to your presentation. Sometimes even more that you could imagine.

Think about it this way: you probably won’t go to an important presentation dressed as if you just got out of bed. If it’s a really important one, you’ll probably even worry about looking your best. You probably won’t think twice about spending a little more time grooming yourself and making sure you look good. And this is because appearances do matter. Whether we like it or not, people unconsciously read many things from the way we present ourselves visually. And these ideas can stick for a long, long time in people’s minds. And, even more, they are built incredibly fast. According to Forbes, first impressions are made in the first 7 seconds of a meeting .

Business presentations are exactly the same. There are many things your audience can read from your presentation design alone. For once, the way your presentation looks will probably give them an impression of how professional you and your business are. A plain, all-white presentation can give the impression that you’re lazy or that you did it last minute. The way a presentation looks can certainly influence how trustworthy you look, or how committed to a project, or how relatable you are.

Characteristics of a good presentation deck

People can read many things from a presentation, and it’s your duty to work on the image you want to project. A bad presentation can make you look unprofessional, yes. But a presentation is also a great opportunity to establish your brand visually and to make sure it stays on your audience’s minds. It’s up to you to take advantage of the possibilities presentations offer you.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

It’s definitely easier said than done, though. Making a unique PowerPoint design demands creativity and imagination. So before you check out the presentation examples, look at this short list of design ideas. Hopefully, you could use these as inspiration for your next PowerPoint. They’ll surely take any plain presentation to the next level.

Title slides

PowerPoint title slides

You probably have experienced this: You get distracted from a presentation for 5 seconds, and suddenly you have no idea of what the speaker is talking about. You’ve gotten yourself lost, and it’s pretty difficult to get back on track when you don’t even know what new topic you’re talking about. Title slides are a great way to show your audience in what section of your presentation you’re on.

Even if you don’t have title slides for each section, you should certainly have a presentation starter Title slide. This slide is vital because it’ll set the feel for all the rest of the presentation. Just as with yourself, people tend to judge a presentation right from the start. It’s incredibly important that you showcase what you want to showcase (professionalism, relatability, etc.) on your title slide.

You want your audience looking forward for the rest of the presentation, not to feel dread and boredom. Make it eye-catching without going over the top, and make sure the topic is clear. You can check out some of our other presentation examples to see how a high impact first slide is done.

Cohesive color palette

There is no easier way to make your presentation look unprofessional than to go overboard with colors. Even if the speaker isn’t necessarily the one that has designed the PowerPoint presentation, he or she will be automatically connected to it. That is why a “Rainbow” presentation will give the feel that the speaker doesn’t really know what they are doing. Even if the speaker is doing a good job, the picture that will remain in the audience’s minds will be of the PowerPoint presentation. And if this one looks improvised or unprofessional, that will also reflect on their idea of the presenter.

PowerPoint color palette

Finding good colors for your presentation can be a tricky task. The overall general rule is to pick colors that complement each other, and that have good contrast. This way, the presentation will not be eye-straining while still being easy to read. The easiest way to apply this is to pick one of the premade color schemes from Microsoft Office.

However, you probably have some extra requirements, like for example to use your brand’s colors. Things like this can make it harder to find a good color palette. There is no easy way to handle colors in a presentation. But the easiest tip is: when in doubt, keep it simple.

If you want to know more about colors and how to use them, you can check out how to pick the right colors for your next presentation .

Data representation

PowerPoint presentations are, above all, a visual aid. That’s why you should take advantage of the visual potential they have. Many business presentations include some kind of data to illustrate a certain point or prove something. For example, growth or sales rates, or consumers per country, and so on. Many presentations’ main sin is that they try to showcase all this data in a written way like it’s a report. It’s one of the easiest ways to bore your audience and make them lose focus.

PowerPoint charts graphs

If you’re saying exactly the same that is written in the PowerPoint, why should they listen to you? You should aim to show something in a different way that will make them understand the things you’re saying easier. For example, if you want to share some percentages concerning some specific aspect of your business, the list of numbers will probably bore pretty quickly your audience. But if you show it visually, in a pie chart for example, your audience will be able to understand it easily.

Captivating visuals

“Captivating visuals” do not mean only photos and pictures. Sure, customized illustrations are great, as you will see in some of our presentation examples. But you don’t need them to create a great presentation. Many people think that it means adding at least one stock picture or something similar to every slide. Truth is, what presentations really need is visuals that complement smartly the information display.

This can be done by many different ways. Illustrations and pictures are a great option for this. They exemplify one or more points, but most important, they break the “all-text” image that is so frustrating for the audience. And to achieve this, illustrations and pictures are not the only way to do so. As has been said before, graphs and charts are a great way to represent data. And these elements also help to break the “all-text” effect. Other great options to do this are to use icons and geometrical. These can help to highlight your points, while still being sober and not very intrusive.

But the most vital thing to consider visually is the layout . The way you organize the information inside a slide can make all the difference between a plain slide and a professional looking one. The more your presentation looks like a textbook, the more difficult it’ll be for your audience to focus in it. Break down your information in smaller parts and see how they can fit into the slide. It’s a difficult thing to learn, but once you see the presentations examples, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

What not to do when designing a presentation

You can also check these bad PowerPoint examples , to know what to avoid. Some times, it can be just as useful to know what not to do! But right now, let’s go through some of the things that can really make a difference in turning your presentation from plain to spectacular.

Presentation Examples

Here you’ll find some amazing presentation examples done by our designers here at 24Slides. Hopefully, these will give you the inspiration you need to make a more unique, eye-catching presentation. Even the plainest, most boring presentation has a solution. It’s just a matter of knowing how to make it really stand out.

In 24Slides, our designers divide their styles into three categories: Corporate, Creative and Playful. This way, customers can pick the style that they feel they fit best with their brand and their presentation. To know more about these 3 styles and to see how they differentiate from each other, you can look out other of our professionally redesigned PowerPoint examples . You will find the original presentation and how it was remade in all 3 of these styles. This way, you can really see the difference between them, and pick the one that fits better your needs!

But for now, let’s go straight to the presentation examples! Here you’ll find some of the best Before-and-After transformations. This way you can really see how much of a difference a well-designed PowerPoint can really make.

This presentation was redesigned in a Creative style. This style is in some way the perfect middle between the other two. It’s more serious and business-like than the Playful style, but more flexible and casual than the Corporate one. This Adidas presentation is the perfect example of the Creative style. It showcases all the information in a professional way, but still keeping it visually attractive.

Adidas PowerPoint presentation example

Adidas has a difficult color scheme to work with since it’s a brand that works mainly with blacks, greys, and white. It’s easy to make a boring presentation with that palette, as you can see with the all-grey background of the original presentation. Our designers change it for a more visually striking photo-background. But they kept the background photos at a high transparency percentage to make sure they didn’t hinder the text. They also added the brand logo with the back lines. This slide really shows how a slide layout can really change the feel of a presentation.

Adidas PowerPoint presentation example

This slide is a perfect example of improving data visualization. Why put everything in written sentences, when you can show it in a much more effective way as a graph?

b) Linkedin

The Playful style is my personal favorite. Playful PowerPoint designs are proof that presentations don’t have to be boring or dull. This style is great for catching your audience’s attention. It includes a lot of personalized illustrations that will really make a presentation pop. This style is certainly less serious, but no less professional. You can see the effort that has been put into these slides, and how carefully crafted they are.

Linkedin PowerPoint presentation example

Check out the difference between these two slides. While the original one is certainly more serious, it’s the redesigned one that looks like a professional presentation. Dark backgrounds are great start to give a presentation a professional look, but it’s not enough. Anyone can change the background color. This PowerPoint example, despite not having a dark background, looks way more professional. It looks customized and detailed. Our designers took Linkedin colors to make a slide that really represented the brand. The effort put into it it’s what makes it a really unique-looking presentation.

This slide is also a good example of the importance of title slides. If you see the original one, you’ll probably brace yourself for a long and boring presentation. With the fixed one, you give the presentation a whole new feel. The customized illustration reflect perfectly the presentation topic and intrigues you enough to make want to hear more about it.

Linkedin PowerPoint presentation example

Finally, we have the Corporate Presentation style. This one is certainly the most serious of all three of them. This is the kind of presentation you want to show your boss to prove how reliable and rigorous you are with your job. It’s a great style for presenting data and cold hard facts.

IBM PowerPoint presentation example

The original presentation had a theme, with the blue lines in the upper and lower sides of the slide. But the use of different colors made it look a little improvised and overall just dated. The new design, on the other hand, looks clean and stylish. Something as simple as adding a visual element, like the central photo, can do a huge difference. Instead of highlighting text with different colors, the designers focused on separating the information in sections and using a monochromatic color scheme. This way, the audience can distinguish easily each part of the slide, while still keeping the design sharp.

IBM PowerPoint presentation example

Even something as simple as bullet points change completely when you use a more professional layout!

d) McDonald’s

This MacDonalds’ presentation is an amazing example of what a Playful presentation is all about. Vibrant colors, unique illustrations, and a distinctive layout. If you look at the original SWOT Analysis of this presentation example, it is completely plain and forgettable. But the fixed slide is truly unique. It conveys the information in a way that could not have been done for any other company in the world. It’s original and entertaining while still showcasing all the information needed.

McDonald's PowerPoint presentation example

This PowerPoint is also a good example of and amazing use of color. The original presentation was clearly trying to follow the brand’s official color scheme of red and yellow. But in practice, it made the presentation look pretty amateur. Our designers, on the other hand, made a customized color palette that made the presentation look not only professional but unique. They kept the red and yellow tones, but didn’t use them as the main colors. Instead, they created a whole scheme of colors that complimented them, and that allow them to add so much more detail into the presentation.

McDonald's PowerPoint presentation example

The customized icons are one of those things that really can make a difference. In the new presentation, you can be sure that the data being shown is from a fast food company. Making sure your presentation reflects your company is more than just pasting a logo in every slide. This presentation is a great example of how to do it right. Every single slide reflects its product in a playful, innovative way.

Oracle’s PowerPoint is another great presentation of example of the creative style. This presentation takes a plan, boring PowerPoint and transforms it into a unique one.

Oracle PowerPoint presentation example

Check out how much a professional layout can change a slide. In the original one, all the element are crammed together. It’s even a little bit uncomfortable to read. There are too many things happening at once. The fixed slide conveys the exact same information, but in a way more organized, professional way. This is a great example of how to showcase data smartly. The designer used all their tools (shapes and colors to make divisions, icons, etc.) to convey the information in a visually attractive way.

Oracle PowerPoint presentation example

Creative style is all about thinking out of the box, so this slide transformation is a perfect presentation example. While the original slide is not that bad, it’s a little dull. But if you change the layout and add a more interesting color scheme, the slide will look much better!

Here is another great presentation example of the creative style. Creative is actually the style more in demand by our customers, since it looks both sharp and fun. And this Amazon’s presentation really shows that.

Amazon PowerPoint presentation example

Details do matter. While in the original slide there were graphs, the colors clashes, and it looks pretty cramped. Our designers changed the color palette to reflect the brand, the bar graphs for pie charts and adding a soft-edged caption box. Just with this, the slide looks more cohesive and with an intended design.

Amazon PowerPoint presentation example

This slide is another example that visuals and layout matter. Having slide after slide filled with bullet points becomes boring very quickly. Think about in which other ways you could represent the information, and build your layout accordingly.

Finally, here’s another presentation example of a corporate style PowerPoint. This serious, straightforward style is ideal when you want a more sober, business-like presentation.

Cisco PowerPoint presentation example

As much as a good minimalist style , less is not always more. The original slide with just a quote looks kind of empty, rather than minimalist. As has been said before, a basic gradient background will not fool anyone into thinking that there was time put into that presentation design. Adding “stunning visuals” don’t necessarily mean having custom icons or vector illustrations. Sometimes something as simple as a complementary picture and some geometrical detail, as in this slide, can really make the message stand out.

Make better presentations

Hopefully this presentation examples will inspire you when you have to do your next PowerPoint. Presentation design takes time and effort, but practice makes perfect. Do not expect a PowerPoint that looks from a professional designer’s portfolio at first try. Design is not something you can learn overnight.

However, if you don’t have the time to spend in learning how to design your own PowerPoints, or you want a really professional finish, you should definitely contact put team of designers here at 24 Slides. Your presentation will be as unique as anyone of these examples, and will reflect perfectly your brand and what you want to convey.

And depending how much time you invest a week in doing PowerPoints, it’ll probably even be more cost-efficient to hire presentation designers. This way you get better presentations that you could have done on your own, and at the same time, save time for your other tasks. So ask yourself: do you really need to learn how to design presentations? Or is it just another task taking time and energy from other more important things to do?

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If it’s just taking time away from you, why not let the professionals so what they’ve been trained to do? Here at 24Slides we have incredible designers that will make sure that your presentations is everything you want it to be. You can focus on your tasks at hand, and receive your presentation ready within 24 hours, and more professional-looking than ever.

Create professional presentations online

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Tips, tricks, and insider advice from our business and design experts

A quick way to create beautiful, powerful PowerPoint presentations

Create captivating, informative content for PowerPoint in just a few minutes—no graphic design experience needed. Here's how:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

1. Find the perfect PowerPoint template

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

2. Customize your creation

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3. Show it off

Let's create a powerpoint design, frequently asked questions, where can i find slide templates and themes that i can customize.

To find customizable slide templates and themes, you can explore the business presentations templates or search by PowerPoint templates . Once you find a template that resonates with you, customize it by changing its color scheme, add in your own photos, and swap out the font.

How do I use pre-made PowerPoint templates?

After you've chosen a PowerPoint template to use, customize it. Explore [design tips] on how to customize a deck that resonates with your brand while putting emphasis on the topic at hand. Play with other design elements, like photo shapes, to make each slide unique.

How can I make or edit my own custom PowerPoint templates?

Start from scratch by creating your own PowerPoint template . Follow tips for designs and business presentations so that your unique template is cohesive and relevant to your brand. Incorporate your brand's color scheme and graphics so that all your slides aren't text only.

What kinds templates can I get online for PowerPoint?

You can get PowerPoint templates that have modern designs, animated ones, or even hand-drawn art in each slide. The color schemes range from bold to subtle. Each template's slides are also organized based on what you may want to include in your presentation . You can use the template as a starting point and customize its specific details from theme.

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Blog Graphic Design Top 31 PowerPoint Design Ideas, Examples & Tips

Top 31 PowerPoint Design Ideas, Examples & Tips

Written by: Sara McGuire May 03, 2023

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

What’s worse than sitting through a boring presentation? Being the one to deliver a boring presentation. Presentation templates to the rescue!

Say goodbye to typical, boring PowerPoint slides, too. Instead,  create a presentation that will make a lasting impression with presentation templates like this one to engage your audience. You can also use them for inspiration for PowerPoint layout ideas:

Just so you know, some of our templates are free and some require a small monthly fee to use. Signing up to Venngage is always free.

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a presentation that will not only grab the attention of your audience but hold onto it as well.

This post will offer tips for creating different types of presentations , including:

  • Pitch decks
  • E-learning slides
  • Class presentations
  • Webinar presentations
  • Marketing presentations

I’ll also give you design tips to customize our presentation templates and share ppt design ideas.

Click to jump ahead:

  • Start with presentation templates
  • Pick a visual motif to use consistently
  • Highlight important information using text
  • Dedicate each slide to only one topic
  • Don’t overburden your slides with text
  • Establish a visual hierarchy on your slides
  • Visualize data using charts and infographics
  • Create custom illustrations using icons
  • Change slide layouts to keep your audience engaged
  • Add a progress tracker to your presentation slides
  • Download your presentation as a PDF

Design a presentation that engages your audience

Think about the last boring presentation you sat through:

  • What did the slides look like?
  • Did they have a bland color scheme?
  • Were there too many points (or worse, paragraphs) crammed onto one slide?
  • Were the charts and diagrams clunky and hard to understand?

When people see the same old boring PowerPoint layouts and themes, there’s a good chance they’re going to lose focus.

Rich media, like video, matters more than ever and there’s no better way to stand out than by creating creative and engaging visual content . If you want to really capture your audience’s attention, you need to design creative presentations , like this one:

Airbnb Pitch Deck

That means incorporating eye-catching images, effective data visualizations, and bold typography into your slide decks.

Iconics Pitch Deck

This onboarding presentation, for example, strategically uses bright icons and illustrations to make the material more engaging. This is especially important when presenting to new hires, who are likely dealing with information overload on their first day. 

HR Presentation Template

In this particular case, a more visual approach is not necessarily a matter of aesthetic preference, but a decision that can make your presentations more likely to stick. Pro Tip: Venngage has over 40,000 icons and illustrations you can use to spice up your presentations!

Need something more geared towards speaking? Our keynote presentation templates are all the rage.

Tips to hold your audience’s attention

Many Venngage users have mentioned that they’re always looking for ways to make presentations more engaging. But most of them don’t have any formal design experience.

If you’re in the same boat, don’t worry–this guide is for you. You can also check out this video for all the highlights:

Here are my top tips for designing a presentation with impact:

1. Start with presentation templates

Before jumping into the other tips, let’s set the foundation.

You’ve decided to create something a little more interesting than a standard PowerPoint theme–good on you! But that doesn’t mean you have to start completely from scratch.

Instead, you can give yourself a head start by using creative presentation templates, like this one:

Geometric Creative Presentation

Or this one:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

EDIT THIS PRESENTATION TEMPLATE

While most PowerPoint themes are fairly limited in how much you can customize them, freeform presentation templates will give you the freedom to alter the design as much as you want.

For example, let’s take this template:

Uber Presentation Template

I used Venngage’s My Brand Kit tool to efficiently apply our brand color palette to the Uber template in one click:

There are a ton of creative presentation templates. You can take a look at them in our presentations templates library .

Cool? Now let’s talk presentation design.

2. Pick a visual motif to use consistently in your presentation

You can use visuals to pull your presentation design together and make it cohesive. Picking a visual motif will allow you to use consistent visuals throughout your presentation.

A visual motif is a repeated pattern, design, or image. In your presentation design, a motif can take many forms.

When it comes to infographic color selection , one of the simplest approaches is to use a consistent color motif (or color scheme). That could mean using one or two colors for all of your headers, background and borders.

For example, this presentation template uses two shades of purple for a modern design:

Product Pitch Deck

But combining different colors and patterns can also make for a more interesting design. For example, this presentation template uses a blue stripe motif to link the slides together visually:

Monthly Sales Report Template

You could also use a recurring shape or image, like the circle image frames in this presentation template:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Or you could use a motif that reflects the theme of your presentation. For this presentation, the template uses a recurring cloud motif throughout the presentation to reflect the “dream” theme of the brand. This presentation example demonstrates the power of maintaining a consistent theme to reinforce brand image.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

This is a case where starting with a presentation template can really come in handy, because the template will already have a motif. Look for presentation templates with a motif that fits your topic and brand.

3. Highlight important information using text

Returning to the idea or focal points on your slide: emphasize a key number or phrase when creating a persuasive presentation using big, bold text in a contrasting color.

This will communicate to your audience that if they take away one thing from your slide, it should be that piece of information.

For example, this presentation template uses bright colored font in several sizes larger than the rest of the text to emphasize important numbers on each slide:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

But you could also pick one color to emphasize key information with. That way, your audience will catch on to the pattern and look for that color in upcoming slides.

Take a look at how this presentation uses teal to contrast with the other text and emphasize information:

Email Marketing Business Presentation

4. Dedicate each slide to only one topic

Franchise Pitch Deck

Just as it’s important for your slides to not be cluttered, it’s also important for your slides to be cohesive.

Keep each slide focused on just one topic. The topic of each slide should be clearly stated in the slide title.

For example, this presentation example, shows a template which covers different ways to be creative. Each individual slide covers one approach:

Creative Presentation

This simple, straightforward slide pattern will help the audience follow along without any confusion.

Or take this presentation template that introduces some of this year’s biggest business trends. Rather than listing multiple trends on one slide, each trend is fleshed out in its own slide:

Business Trends Presentation

As a presenter, keeping your slide topics organized will help you organize your thoughts as well. Each new slide will signal a new topic.

5. Don’t overburden your slides with text

Client Pitch Deck

Even if you decide to ignore most of the other tips in this guide, don’t skip over this one. This is presentation design 101.

When you flip to a slide covered wall-to-wall with text, there’s a good chance your audience is going to think:

  • I don’t want to read all of that.
  • This presenter isn’t well-prepared.

In fact, a study published in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly found that anxious presenters tended to use more text on their slides, usually because they used their slides as speaking notes.

Instead of using a bunch of text, look for ways to present information visually charts and infographics .

For example, this slide template uses brief text and some simple icons to summarize the presentation :

Weekly Update Business Presentation

This startup pitch deck makes use of evocative images, icons and big text to help present its ideas:

Yellow Startup Pitch Deck

6. Establish a visual hierarchy on your slides

When you flip to a new slide, your audience will be seeing it for the first time. Their eyes are going to naturally be drawn whatever the focal point on the page is.

The focal point is the most dominant area on your slide–the point that draws the most attention.

You can create a hierarchy of information on your slide by making the most important information the focal point of your slide. In most cases, the focal point will be the slide title, or a particular visual, or an important phrase or number.

There are a few ways you can create a visual hierarchy on your slides.

You can bold important phrases, like the word “Facebook” in this slide:

Quarterly Digital Marketing Report Business Presentation

Icons also help to establish a reading order. They draw your eye from point to point. Placing icons beside headers and important points will make them stand out from the other information on the slide.

Mint Pitch Deck

Icons can also be used to indicate where a new point begins:

Sherbert Business Presentation

Color selection can also be used to establish a visual hierarchy. Take a look at how the colorful blocks in this slide help to make the slide titles pop:

Subscriber Sales Business Presentation

Your eyes are drawn first to the title text, then to the supporting information beside it.

7. Visualize data using charts and infographics

Replacing text with visuals is one of the best ways to prevent your slide design from becoming cluttered. Charts and infographics present information in an engaging, digestible way.

I won’t go into too much detail here about what types of charts you should use for what data. We’ve got an in-depth guide to picking charts for that.

But I’ll give you a few ideas for some types of charts and infographics that work well in presentations.

Related : How to Make Better Infographics for PowerPoint

If you want to visualize steps in a process, the history of something, or a roadmap, use a timeline.

This slide template uses a simple timeline with complementary icons to emphasize each date:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

To compare amounts or sizes, a bubble chart can help drive the point home:

Airbnb Pitch Deck

Learn how to customize this template:

To create an infographic for geographic and demographic information , a map can make a big impact on your audience:

Orange Business Presentation - Map

A classic pie chart or bar graph should be easily understood by your audience, provided you’re following  chart best practices .

This presentation template uses a bar graph, a pie chart and a line graph to show different metrics:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If you can, mix up the types of data visualizations you use. This will help prevent your audience from getting bored.

Those are just a few different ways you can use charts to visualize. For more ideas, check out our guide to picking the best charts for your data .

8. Create custom illustrations using icons

Custom illustrations are one of this year’s  biggest graphic design trends . They’re fun, quirky, and more exciting than a boring old stock photo.

Creating your own illustrations for social media graphics might seem like a costly and time-consuming undertaking. And it can be. But I’m going to offer you a hack:

Use icons to create illustrations.

Venngage Dashboard

You can arrange icons together to create a scene–like the pieces of a puzzle. (Venngage offers over 40,000 icons, so finding an image shouldn’t be too hard!) 

For example, this real estate presentation template uses icons to illustrate each real estate hack:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

When picking ico ns or symbols for your illustrations , make sure that the icon style you use is consistent. For example, this presentation template uses line art icons for a scribbly youthful look:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

For more ideas, read our guide to creating icon illustrations .

9.  Change slide layouts to keep your audience engaged

You may be tempted to use the same slide layout throughout your entire presentation–either for consistency or because you’re not sure how else to design your slide.

The problem is, using the same slide layout over and over again won’t do much to excite your audience.

There are other ways you can create consistency throughout your presentation, while also using different slide layouts–like through a visual motif.

For example, this presentation template uses five different slide layouts. The consistent color scheme, image style and font style pull the presentation together.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

To come up with different slide layouts, try dividing your slide into columns. This can make it easier to arrange the elements in your slide.

column layout

This can make it easier to arrange the elements in your slide.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

10. Add a progress tracker to your presentation slides

Creating a sense of forward movement will help keep your audience engaged.

Similar to how you would put the chapter title at the top of the pages in a book, you can track the progress of your presentations in your slides. This will let your audience know what stage you’re at in your presentation. Your audience will also be able to refer to the sections in your presentation more easily afterward.

That said, pacing your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides also adds brownie points to your presentation. Check out the top qualities of awesome presentations and learn all about how to make a good presentation to help you nail that captivating delivery.

A simple progress bar at the bottom of your slide shouldn’t distract too much from the rest of your information.

11. Download your presentation as a PDF

It’s common for audience members to request a copy of your presentation for their reference. Make sharing your presentation easy by exporting it as a PDF or zipped file.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Now that you’re equipped with some fundamentals of presentation design, the best way to learn is by doing. It’s also the perfect time to upgrade your presentation skills  while you’re thinking about it too!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

More presentation templates and design guides:

  • 120+ Best Presentation Ideas, Design Tips & Examples  (+ Presentation Templates!)
  • 12 Business Pitch Deck Templates and Design Best Practices to Impress Investors
  • 5 Foolproof Presentation Layout Ideas  (+ Presentation Templates!)
  • How to Get Featured on the Front Page of SlideShare [Infographic]

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20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation

By Sandra Boicheva

3 years ago

You may also like Show related articles Hide

PowerPoint's Design Ideas

You might have the most amazing idea that you wish to share with the world, but you might not get the results you want if the delivery isn’t good. Although as a tool, PowerPoint is pretty easy to use and intuitive, creating a good PowerPoint presentation is not a simple task. There is a lot of things to consider when designing your slides from the words you use, to the copy structure, data visualization, and overall design. This is why today we gathered 20 really good PowerPoint examples of presentations that flawlessly deliver their messages. These creative ideas will surely inspire you to make your next presentation your best one, as they all share good design and engaging storytelling.

“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond

1. Idea to Identify: The Design of Brand

This is a long one. Here we have a 242 slides presentation that exposes the myriad facets of design and how they impact the brand identity. The presentation has a lot of data to show and spreads it throughout more than 200 slides to make it easy to read and follow. In all, this is the best way to present a lot of information: instead of overwhelming the viewers with text walls, the presenter simply adds more slides.

  • Author:   Sudio Sudarsan

2. Jeunesse Opportunity Presentation 2021

This is a great example of brand presentation with company profile, product system, plan, and reward. It gives a similar experience to browsing a website.

  • Author:   DASH2 – Jeunesse Global

3. Accenture Tech Vision 2020

A short and sweet presentation about how companies prepare for data regulation and how this impacts the customer experience. 

  • Author:   Accenture

4. APIs as Digital Factories’ New Machines

A comparison presentation of how companies capture most of the market value. It explains well how to view the economy from a different perspective and adopt customer-centric thinking. The presentation has a lot of value, it’s well structured and it’s a good read in only 28 slides.

  • Author:  Apidays

5. 24 Books You’ve Never Heard Of – But Will Change Your Life

This is a great example of how repeating slides design for the same type of content isn’t a synonym for being unimaginative. It’s pretty straightforward: it promises 24 titles, an inspirational introduction, and a slide for each book that will change your life.

  • Author:   Ryan Holiday

6. 10 Memorable David Bowie Quotes

Not always presentations must have a specific educational or conventional goal. Sometimes, it could be a cool personal project meant to inspire your audience. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love David Bowie? A presentation with 10 memorable quotes by him is worth watching. 

  • Author: Stinson

7. Creative Mornings San Diego 

  • Author:   Anne McColl

8. Digital 2020 Global Digital Overview

A report heavy-data presentation about everything you need to know about mobile, internet, social media, and e-commerce use around the world in 2020. It’s a long read but comprehensive and well-illustrated with data visualization.

  • Author:   DataReportal

9. Blitzscaling: Book Trailer

One of the most well-made presentations about informative topics such as startup’s life-cycle and where the most value is created. It’s designed as a book, consistent, with lesser text as possible, and imitates animation by adding new content on copies of the same slide. 

  • Author:  Reid Hoffman

10. Poor Self-Esteem: Just Beat It!

A very valuable presentation that takes on the reasons for low self-esteem and how to overcome it. The design is very simple and comprehensive and even suitable for social media carousel posts.

  • Author:   SlideShop.com

11. You Suck At PowerPoint!

This presentation is more than a decade old and still checks out. After all, you could expect great presentation design from someone who talks about design mistakes and how to overcome them.  61 slides of a fun experience and a great read.

  • Author:  Jesse Desjardins

12. Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling

Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling, originally tweeted by Emma Coats, in a 24-slides presentation with a custom design. 

  • Author:   Gavin McMahon

13. A Complete Guide To The Best Times To Post On Social Media

A fun little presentation with great value. It takes on the most effective times to post on social media, send an email, or publish a blog.

  • Author:   TrackMaven

14. Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint

The next presentation honors Seth Godin and his wisdom. It uses his book’s insights to visualize all the tips in 45 engaging slides.

  • Author:   HighSpark

15. 10 Lessons from the World’s Most Captivating Presenters

This presentation is for presenters who wish to become better. And what better way than getting inspired by the world’s greatest presenters and accessing some of their secrets. 

  • Author:   HubSpot

16. Crap. The Content Marketing Deluge

For starters, this presentation has a very captivating title and opening. Winning the attention from the very start, it continues with consistent clean design and great content. It delivers exactly what it promised. 

  • Author: Velocity Partners

17. Displaying Data

More insightful advice and tips from professional presenters that check out to this very day. It’s a great presentation about visualizing your data in the best way possible and it also delivers it with design.

  • Author:   Bipul Deb Nath

18. 5 Storytelling Lessons From Superhero Stories

Custom-made presentation with illustrations made specifically for the occasion, and brilliant execution. It shows it’s definitely worth it to spend time making your presentation more personal and from scratch. 

19. 10 Things your Audience Hates About your Presentation

Another custom presentation with icons-style illustrations about how to avoid cringe when making presentations. 

  • Author:   Stinson

20. The Designer’s Guide to Startup Weekend

You will work hard all weekend long but you will also find new friends, mentors, and the chance to promote yourself. A pretty wholesome presentation with a custom design where the presenter shares her own experience in the world of startups.

  • Author:  Iryna Nezhynska

That’s It!

These 20 presentations prove that PowerPoint is never out of date and it’s a great tool to deliver your message across. We hope you got inspired for your next presentation and make your audience fall in love with your concepts.

In the meantime, why not take a look at the related articles to get some more inspiration or grab a couple of freebies:

  • [Freebies] 17 Really Good Sources For Free Vector Images For Commercial Use
  • [Inspiration] 85 Really Good T-Shirt Design Ideas to Inspire You for Your Next Project
  • [Insights] The 5 Top Online Tools for Custom YouTube Banners (and YouTube Thumbnails)

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How to Make a Beautiful PowerPoint Presentation: A Simple Guide

How to Make a Beautiful PowerPoint Presentation: A Simple Guide

Ready to craft a beautiful and attention-grabbing powerpoint presentation we’ll walk you through slideshow design tips, show you some tricks to maximize your powerpoint skills, and give you everything you need to look really good next time you’re up in front of a crowd..

In this post, we’ll cover:

Key Elements of Winning PowerPoints

Illustrative, not generic, supportive, not distracting, inspiring and engaging, other considerations when creating a slideshow.

How many times have you sat through a poorly designed business presentation that was dull, cluttered, and distracting? Probably way too many. Even though we all loathe a boring presentation, when it comes time to make our own, do we really do any better?

The good news is you don’t have to be a professional designer to make professional presentations. We’ve put together a few simple guidelines you can follow to create a beautifully assembled deck.

We’ll walk you through some slide design tips, show you tricks to maximize your PowerPoint skills, and give you everything you need to look really good next time you’re up in front of a crowd.

And, while PowerPoint remains one of the biggest names in presentation software, many of these design elements and principles work in Google Slides, as well.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Use Layout to Your Advantage

Layout is one of the most powerful visual elements in design, and it’s a simple, effective way to control the flow and visual hierarchy of information. It’s also one of the most important elements to consider when thinking about how to make your PowerPoint look better.

For example, most Western languages read left to right, top to bottom. Knowing this natural reading order, you can direct people’s eyes in a deliberate way to certain key parts of a slide that you want to emphasize.

You can also guide your audience with simple tweaks to the layout. Use text size and alternating fonts or colors to distinguish headlines from body text.

Placement also matters. There are many unorthodox ways to structure a slide, but most audience members will have to take a few beats to organize the information in their head—that’s precious time better spent listening to your delivery and retaining information.

Try to structure your slides more like this:

Presentation slide with headline template and beach images on the right

And not like this:

Presentation slide with headline template and beach images on the left

Layout is one of the trickier PowerPoint design concepts to master, which is why we have these free PowerPoint templates already laid out for you. Use them as a jumping off point for your own presentation, or use them wholesale!

Presentation templates can give you a huge leg up as you start working on your design.

2. No Sentences

This is one of the most critical slide design tips. Slides are simplified, visual notecards that capture and reinforce main ideas, not complete thoughts.

As the speaker, you should be delivering most of the content and information, not putting it all on the slides for everyone to read (and probably ignore). If your audience is reading your presentation instead of listening to you deliver it, your message has lost its effectiveness.

Pare down your core message and use keywords to convey it. Try to avoid complete sentences unless you’re quoting someone or something.

Stick with this:

Presentation template with bullet points

And avoid this:

Presentation template with paragraphs

3. Follow the 6×6 Rule

One of the cardinal sins of a bad PowerPoint is cramming too many details and ideas on one slide, which makes it difficult for people to retain information. Leaving lots of “white space” on a slide helps people focus on your key points.

Try using the 6×6 rule to keep your content concise and clean looking. The 6×6 rule means a maximum of six bullet points per slide and six words per bullet. In fact, some people even say you should never have more than six words per slide!

Just watch out for “orphans” (when the last word of a sentence/phrase spills over to the next line). This looks cluttered. Either fit it onto one line or add another word to the second line.

Red presentation slide with white text stating less is more

Slides should never have this much information:

Presentation slide with paragraphs and images

4. Keep the Colors Simple

Stick to simple light and dark colors and a defined color palette for visual consistency. Exceptionally bright text can cause eye fatigue, so use those colors sparingly. Dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background will work well. Also avoid intense gradients, which can make text hard to read.

If you’re presenting on behalf of your brand, check what your company’s brand guidelines are. Companies often have a primary brand color and a secondary brand color , and it’s a good idea to use them in your presentation to align with your company’s brand identity and style.

If you’re looking for color inspiration for your next presentation, check out our 101 Color Combinations , where you can browse tons of eye-catching color palettes curated by a pro. When you find the one you like, just type the corresponding color code into your presentation formatting tools.

Here are more of our favorite free color palettes for presentations:

  • 10 Color Palettes to Nail Your Next Presentation
  • 10 Energizing Sports Color Palettes for Branding and Marketing
  • 10 Vintage Color Palettes Inspired by the Decades

No matter what color palette or combination you choose, you want to keep the colors of your PowerPoint presentation simple and easy to read, like this:

Red presentation slide with white text stating keep the colors simple

Stay away from color combinations like this:

Gray presentation slide with black and neon green text examples

5. Use Sans-Serif Fonts

Traditionally, serif fonts (Times New Roman, Garamond, Bookman) are best for printed pages, and sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana) are easier to read on screens.

These are always safe choices, but if you’d like to add some more typographic personality , try exploring our roundup of the internet’s best free fonts . You’ll find everything from classic serifs and sans serifs to sophisticated modern fonts and splashy display fonts. Just keep legibility top of mind when you’re making your pick.

Try to stick with one font, or choose two at the most. Fonts have very different personalities and emotional impacts, so make sure your font matches the tone, purpose, and content of your presentation.

Presentation slide with various examples of fonts

6. Stick to 30pt Font or Larger

Many experts agree that your font size for a PowerPoint presentation should be at least 30pt. Sticking to this guideline ensures your text is readable. It also forces you, due to space limitations, to explain your message efficiently and include only the most important points. .

Red presentation slide with 30 point white text

7. Avoid Overstyling the Text

Three of the easiest and most effective ways to draw attention to text are:

  • A change in color

Our eyes are naturally drawn to things that stand out, but use these changes sparingly. Overstyling can make the slide look busy and distracting.

White presentation slide with black text and aerial view of a pool

8. Choose the Right Images

The images you choose for your presentation are perhaps as important as the message. You want images that not only support the message, but also elevate it—a rare accomplishment in the often dry world of PowerPoint.

But, what is the right image? We’ll be honest. There’s no direct answer to this conceptual, almost mystical subject, but we can break down some strategies for approaching image selection that will help you curate your next presentation.

The ideal presentation images are:

  • Inspirational

Ground view of palm trees and airplane flying over

These may seem like vague qualities, but the general idea is to go beyond the literal. Think about the symbols in an image and the story they tell. Think about the colors and composition in an image and the distinct mood they set for your presentation.

With this approach, you can get creative in your hunt for relatable, authentic, and inspirational images. Here are some more handy guidelines for choosing great images.

Tips on Making Beautiful PowerPoint Presentations

So, the slide in question is about collaborating as a team. Naturally, you look for images of people meeting in a boardroom, right?

While it’s perfectly fine to go super literal, sometimes these images fall flat—what’s literal doesn’t necessarily connect to your audience emotionally. Will they really respond to generic images of people who aren’t them meeting in a boardroom?

In the absence of a photo of your actual team—or any other image that directly illustrates the subject at hand—look for images of convincing realism and humanity that capture the idea of your message.

Doing so connects with viewers, allowing them to connect with your message. This is one way to learn how to make your PowerPoint stand out and ensure a dynamic presentation PowerPoint.

Silhouettes of five men standing on a bridge on a foggy day

The image above can be interpreted in many ways. But, when we apply it to slide layout ideas about collaboration, the meaning is clear.

It doesn’t hurt that there’s a nice setting and good photography, to boot.

Now that we’ve told you to get creative with your image selection, the next lesson is to rein that in. While there are infinite choices of imagery out there, there’s a limit to what makes sense in your presentation.

Let’s say you’re giving an IT presentation to new employees. You might think that image of two dogs snuggling by a fire is relatable, authentic, and inspirational, but does it really say “data management” to your audience?

To find the best supporting images, try searching terms on the periphery of your actual message. You’ll find images that complement your message rather than distract from it.

In the IT presentation example, instead of “data connections” or another literal term, try the closely related “traffic” or “connectivity.” This will bring up images outside of tech, but relative to the idea of how things move.

Aerial view of a busy highway

There’s a widespread misconception that business presentations are just about delivering information. Well, they’re not. In fact, a great presentation is inspirational. We don’t mean that your audience should be itching to paint a masterpiece when they’re done. In this case, inspiration is about engagement.

Is your audience asking themselves questions? Are they coming up with new ideas? Are they remembering key information to tap into later? You’ll drive a lot of this engagement with your actual delivery, but unexpected images can play a role, as well.

When you use more abstract or aspirational images, your audience will have room to make their own connections. This not only means they’re paying attention, but they’re also engaging with and retaining your message.

To find the right abstract or unconventional imagery, search terms related to the tone of the presentation. This may include images with different perspectives like overhead shots and aerials, long exposures taken over a period of time, nature photos , colorful markets , and so on.

Amsterdam canal at sunset

The big idea here is akin to including an image of your adorable dog making a goofy face at the end of an earnings meeting. It leaves an audience with a good, human feeling after you just packed their brains with data.

Use that concept of pleasant surprise when you’re selecting images for your presentation.

Silly Great Dane looking down trying to catch yellow ball on hind legs

Setting Appropriate Image Resolution in PowerPoint

Want to learn how to make a PowerPoint look good? Though you can drag-and-drop images into PowerPoint, you can control the resolution displayed within the file.

All of your PowerPoint slide layout ideas should get the same treatment to be equal in size.

Simply click File > Compress Pictures in the main application menu.

Screenshot of how to compress a picture

If your presentation file is big and will only be viewed online, you can take it down to On-screen , then check the Apply to: All pictures in this file , and rest assured the quality will be uniform.

Screenshot of how to compress an image

This resolution is probably fine for proofing over email, but too low for your presentation layout ideas. For higher res in printed form, try the Print setting, which at 220 PPI is extremely good quality.

For large-screens such as projection, use the HD setting, since enlarging to that scale will show any deficiencies in resolution. Low resolution can not only distract from the message, but it looks low-quality and that reflects on the presenter.

If size is no issue for you, use High Fidelity (maximum PPI), and only reduce if the file size gives your computer problems.

Screenshot of compression options for your image

The image quality really begins when you add the images to the presentation file. Use the highest quality images you can, then let PowerPoint scale the resolution down for you, reducing the excess when set to HD or lower.

Resizing, Editing, and Adding Effects to Images in PowerPoint

PowerPoint comes with an arsenal of tools to work with your images. When a picture is selected, the confusingly named Picture Format menu is activated in the top menu bar, and Format Picture is opened on the right side of the app window.

Editing a PowerPoint slide with an image of a businessman walking up stairs

In the Format Picture menu (on the right) are four sections, and each of these sections expand to show their options by clicking the arrows by the name:

  • Fill & Line (paint bucket icon): Contains options for the box’s colors, patterns, gradients, and background fills, along with options for its outline.
  • Effects (pentagon icon): Contains Shadow, Reflection, Glow, Soft Edges, 3-D Format and Rotation, and Artistic Effects.
  • Size & Properties (dimensional icon): Size, Position, and Text Box allow you to control the physical size and placement of the picture or text boxes.
  • Picture (mountain icon): Picture Corrections, Colors, and Transparency give you control over how the image looks. Under Crop, you can change the size of the box containing the picture, instead of the entire picture itself as in Size & Properties above.

The menu at the top is more expansive, containing menu presets for Corrections, Color, Effects, Animation, and a lot more. This section is where you can crop more precisely than just choosing the dimensions from the Picture pane on the right.

Cropping Images in PowerPoint

The simple way to crop an image is to use the Picture pane under the Format Picture menu on the right side of the window. Use the Picture Position controls to move the picture inside its box, or use the Crop position controls to manipulate the box’s dimensions.

Screenshot of picture format options

To exert more advanced control, or use special shapes, select the picture you want to crop, then click the Picture Format in the top menu to activate it.

Screenshot of how to crop an image

Hit the Crop button, then use the controls on the picture’s box to size by eye. Or, click the arrow to show more options, including changing the shape of the box (for more creative looks) and using preset aspect ratios for a more uniform presentation of images.

Screenshot of how to change the shape of an image

The next time you design a PowerPoint presentation, remember that simplicity is key and less is more. By adopting these simple slide design tips, you’ll deliver a clear, powerful visual message to your audience.

If you want to go with a PowerPoint alternative instead, you can use Shutterstock Create to easily craft convincing, engaging, and informative presentations.

With many presentation template designs, you’ll be sure to find something that is a perfect fit for your next corporate presentation. You can download your designs as a .pdf file and import them into both PowerPoint and Google Slides presentation decks.

PowerPoint Presentations FAQs

What is the 5 5 5 rule in powerpoint.

The 5 5 5 rule in PowerPoint is fairly simple: 5 lines per slide, each line with no more than 5 words, and make sure your presentation is no longer than 5 minutes.

How long should your PowerPoint be?

A PowerPoint can be as long as it needs to be, but some people—and the 5 5 5 rule—advise you to keep five minutes or shorter.

What is the easiest way to make a PowerPoint prettier?

Beyond using eye-catching imagery and colors, a pretty PowerPoint should also follow good design principles. You want the information to be organized, balanced, and easy to digest. It doesn’t matter how many appealing images you include are if the information is hard to internalize. Use appropriate fonts and shorts sentences to make sure the words are legible and don’t crowd the slides with too many elements.

License this cover image via F8 studio and Ryan DeBerardinis .

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25+ Inspirational PowerPoint PPT Presentation Designs Examples (2024)

Laura Spencer

Are you creating a PowerPoint presentation in 2024? Looking at good presentation design examples can serve as presentation inspiration.

Adventurous PPT Design Inspiration

Use a PowerPoint or presentation example as a starting place for P owerPoint inspo . A  professionally designed presentation template gives you a head start on your presentation. Find the right motivational slides inspiration at Envato Elements or GraphicRiver. The best P owerPoint slide inspiration in one place.

Grab a Premium PowerPoint Template to Make the Best Presentation Design in 2024

Downloading a free PowerPoint presentation template or designing your own is tempting. But your best option is to start with professional designs for slideshow template . Look at the templates available on Envato Elements and GraphicRiver.

Are you building a PowerPoint inspiration presentation now? 

Explore Inspirational PowerPoint Templates

PowerPoint-templates-Envato-Elements

Starting with professional PPT design inspiration saves you time and even money. If you hire a designer to create a presentation template from scratch, it will cost much more. Plus, our premium templates are easy to customize. With all this PPT design inspiration, make a unique presentation. 

If you use lots of design assets in your business, we've got an offer for you. Download unlimited presentation templates, WordPress themes, photos, fonts , and more with Envato Elements . Download an unlimited number of assets for one monthly fee.  

Do you need a single template for one-time use? GraphicRiver offers hundreds of PowerPoint presentation templates .

Now, let's look at some of these template designs. A good source of P owerPoint inspiration in one place. You'll see how they can help you to create a great PowerPoint presentation.

5 Inspiring PowerPoint Presentation Design Examples (From Envato Elements 2024)

Great design plays an important role in making motivational PowerPoints. The best inspirational PowerPoint presentations are the ones that engage their audience.

You don't have to be a professional designer to achieve an inspirational effect. Don't waste too much time looking for good PowerPoint design examples. You only need the right template.

Here are some inspirational PPT designs available through Envato Elements in 2024:

1. Contact PowerPoint Template

Contact Elements Motivational Slide Template

2. In Power PowerPoint Template

In Power Inspiring PowerPoint templates

3. Everlux PowerPoint Presentation Template 

Everlux Powerpoint Presentation Template

Looking for inspirational presentation examples? To design a PPT that'll engage an audience, start by looking for good slide inspiration. Everlux is a one of the best inspirational PowerPoint templates.

This slide deck template works as a perfect motivational PPT PowerPoint. This is one of the good PowerPoint design examples you can find online. 

4. Pastel Shades PowerPoint Template

Pastel motivational presentation PPT

5. Idea Splash PowerPoint Theme

Idea splash motivational slide

This template is all about PowerPoint presentation inspiration. It is one of the best inspirational presentation examples you'll find online. Customize the Idea Splash PowerPoint Theme with your own text and pictures. Then, share your own unique message with your audience.

This template gives you 32 slide masters of P owerPoint inspiration design . Choose the slide designs that fit your presentation needs. 

Envato Elements (Design Without Limits)

Envato Elements design without limits unlimited

Envato Elements has a single compelling (all-inclusive) offer:

Sign up for Envato Elements. You'll get access to thousands of unlimited use graphics and templates. Get great web themes, inspiring PowerPoint templates , and more— all for one low price.

Envato Elements unlimited creative files

That’s right! Get all the slide design inspiration PPT you need. Download as many professional templates and graphics as you want. Then customize them to fit any of your project needs.

Envato Elements is a powerful option. But do you prefer to buy the best unique and inspiring PowerPoint templates one at a time? check out the selection from our GraphicRiver marketplace below. It's a great choice if you only need one motivational presentation PPT design.

10 More Inspirational PowerPoint Presentation Slide Designs (From GraphicRiver 2024)

Looking for P owerPoint design inspiration? Envato Elements isn't the only online home for PowerPoint presentation inspiration. Here are some motivational PowerPoint presentation designs available on GraphicRiver in 2024:

1. Motagua Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Montagua Multipurpose PowerPoint Slides Inspiration Template

You'll find that this PowerPoint template has a great cover slide design. This is a good PowerPoint design examples to use as a base for your design PPT. Add your own image for the most impact. You'll also love the infographic elements included with this PowerPoint presentation template. There's over 600 unique motivational slides. You'll have no trouble making many motivational PowerPoints. 

2. Verzus Minimal PowerPoint Template

Verzus Minimal PowerPoint Presentation Inspiration Template

Build a powerful presentation with this minimal design PowerPoint template. You'll find all the slide designs you need. They include great-looking title pages, timeline slides, and electronic product mockups. Verzus's minimal look complements your inspirational topics for a PowerPoint presentation well.

3. Startup X – Perfect Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Startup X - Perfect Pitch Deck PowerPoint Inspiration Template

Try Startup X if you need PowerPoint presentation design inspiration. With its large number of color variations and slides with professional design. Use all the P owerPoint design inspiration you need. This way your presentation will be off to a good start. 

4. Simplicity 2.0 Premium Template

Simplicity Premium Presentation Design Inspiration Template

5. i9 Template System

i9 Template System Slides Inspiration

Here's another popular slideshow design. It includes elements like infographics, maps, and device mockups. Choose between light and dark versions of 11 color themes. Create one of the best inspirational PowerPoint presentations.

Put all your P owerPoint inspiration design research to practice. You can get the presentation to look exactly right for your business. The i9 theme is versatile and fits inspirational topics for a PowerPoint presentation.

6.  MassiveX Presentation Template v2.1

Massive X PowerPoint Presentation Inspiration Template

If you like choices, you'll like the Massive X Presentations Template for PowerPoint. You'll start off with a great inspirational presentation PPT template. It gives you plenty of options for creating a good PowerPoint presentation.

There are over 710 unique slides and over 15 color themes (with light and dark variations). You'll never have a shortage of PPT presentation design inspiration for motivational PowerPoints.

7. ThePress - Animated PowerPoint Template

ThePress inspiring PowerPoint templates

Stop looking for PPT design examples. This template has all you need. You'll have over 800 unique slides. Never at risk of repeating yourself while building motivational slides. Get all the PowerPoint presentation design inspiration PPT you need in one template.

This is a stunning and professional design motivational presentation PPT. It'll impress viewers from any background. You're going to love the extra attention to animations. These create the motion to excite an audience.

8. Space PowerPoint Template

Space PowerPoint Design Inspiration Template

Create an interesting-looking presentation with the Space PowerPoint template. These clean and simple slide templates will add a modern feel to any slideshow. Plus, there are tons of pre-built features to customize. It's an easy choice for a motivational presentation PPT. 

9. Investor Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Investor Pitch Deck PowerPoint Design Inspiration Template

Looking for presentation inspiration design? These professional slide designs will help your PowerPoint presentation stand out.

You'll get more than 67,000 slides. This template has enough elements to give you PowerPoint (PPT) design inspiration. The minimalistic design will help your listeners focus on your message.

10. iTrue PowerPoint Presentation Template

iTrue Motivational PowerPoint Presentation

The iTrue PowerPoint Presentation Template boasts more than 90 color themes. Customize it to match your business branding. These motivational slide templates with professional design include a huge choice of infographics.

How to Quickly Customize Inspiring PowerPoint PPT Presentation Designs (2024)

Motivational slides help inspire your audience. A good presentation inspiration design can generate great results. But before designing, get all the PPT design inspiration you can get.

Get some help from pre-built templates from Envato Elements. Build inspirational PowerPoint presentations quickly! Read on to learn how in just five easy steps.

For this tutorial I'll be using the Inspired motivational presentation PPT . Subscribe to Envato Elements and download to follow along.

In Power Motivational slide

Let's get started:

1. Add a Motivational Quote

Motivational slides deserve inspiring quotes to engage your audience. To add one, highlight any block of text. 

add quote motivational slide

Then, start typing. You could also paste in text to your motivational slide from another source. Only right-click in it and choose Paste .

2. Change Object Colors

Object and shape colors help bring new life to your motivational presentation PPT. It’s a great way to add contrast. Start by clicking on the shape. Then, on the ribbon, choose  Shape Format  on your motivational slide.

Changed shape fill color motivational slide

On the left side, click  Shape Fill . You’ll see a color chooser that you can use to add custom colors. Click on one to apply it.

3. Customize Fonts

It’s easy to forget, but fonts are a key part of your motivational slides. Thanks to PowerPoint, they’re easy to customize. 

Bold text motivational presentation PPT

Highlight a block of text, then find the  Font  group on the  Home tab. There, you can change font style, size, color, and more.

4. Add an Inspiring Photo

Text-only slides aren’t going to motivate anyone. Pre-built inspiring PowerPoint templates come with image placeholders built-in. The In Power inspiring PowerPoint template comes with stock photos. It's up to us to replace them.

Change picture menu

Right-click on a built-in image and choose  Change Picture > From a File  to replace the image. Browse to a photo file on your computer and PowerPoint will replace the image. It's the easiest way to update a motivational slide.

5. Build Drama With Animation

Animations help you add drama and inspire audiences with your motivational sides. Animate photos, text, and more. Click on any object, then go to the  Animations  tab.

Add animation motivational presentation PPT

There are many windows with a variety of animated effects. Click on any of them to apply and watch the animation preview on your slide.

What Makes a Great PowerPoint Presentation?

Wondering what makes a great PowerPoint presentation? Worried you'll end up with a presentation that's so-so? Stop looking for PPT design examples and learn from the experts. 

Great presentations have some common characteristics. Add them to your own presentations to create a more interesting slideshow. Here are some of the factors that most great presentations share:

  • great cover image
  • interesting topic
  • compelling story
  • clear and interesting slide design
  • targeted to the intended audience
  • meets marketing goal

For more info and tips, review this article:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Another good way to learn about great presentations is by example. Excellent PowerPoint slideshows and their slide design gives you the necessary slides inspiration.

10+ SlideShare Examples of Great PowerPoint Presentation Design

Need examples of successful PowerPoint presentations? SlideShare is a good place to look. You can get all your PPT inspiration in one search.

SlideShare allows users to share slide presentations online. To learn more about SlideShare, study this tutorial:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Here are some of the best SlideShare presentations. They all use the principles of good presentation design. Each of these successful slideshows has over 100,000 page views.

Here's the list:

1. How Google Works

Unique imagery and creative slide design make this informative slideshow stand out. Created by Eric Schmidt, the former Executive Chairman at Google . Notice how the uncluttered slide design complements the clever illustrations.

2. Social Media and Marketing Evolution or Revolution

I can't stop staring at the cover slide of this presentation from digital marketer, Alex Wong . And that's the intent, of course. An arresting cover design will make a reader stop and wonder what's inside.

3. Experts Reveal Their Presentation Design Secrets

Created by presentation designer and entrepreneur, Eugene Cheng . This PPT inspiration shares the voice of experts on an engaging PowerPoint presentation. The presentation lists some basic principles. It illustrates each one with creative and eye-catching images.

4. 10 Best Practices of a Best Company to Work For

O.C. Tanner designs employee recognition programs. This slideshow PPT on what makes a company good to work for fits well with their corporate mission. It doesn't hurt that they use a simple design here.

5. Dispatches From The New Economy: The Five Faces Of The On-Demand Economy

The cover slide of this PowerPoint presentation from Intuit is what catches the eye. It's got a simple, yet creative design that draws the viewer in. Simple design carries across the entire presentation and helps convey the message.

6.  Mobile Ate The World

Benedict Evans created this compelling presentation for venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz . It's the story here that grabs the audience. A simple phrase: "Mobile Ate The World". That captures the attention of the intended audience.

7. Productivity Facts Every Employee Should Know

A clean and consistent slide design ties this short presentation together. The staffing firm Robert Half created the presentation. Each slide contains an image and a phrase. The productivity facts described in the title explained. This will make your PPT inspiration even more audience friendly.

8. IQ Work Hacks Productivity

What business doesn't want more productive workers? The answer: all businesses want more productive workers. That focus helps this presentation target its audience. The human resource specialist from the  Interquest Group  created this presentation.

9. 2020 Social Media Trends Report 

The consistent use of color in the slide design helps this slideshow to stand out. The international agency Ogilvy Consulting uses red and white.  The simple, data-focused slides create a professional look that works.

10. How to Embrace Those Inevitable Awkward Moments

This funny, relatable SlideShare shows how to get past life's awkward moments. The  University of Southern Queensland targets first-year university students and young professionals. This helpful guide uses images and a  "degree of awkwardness" meter to make it engaging.

11. How to Become a Thought Leader in Your Niche

Here's another example of tailoring a presentation for your target audience. Blogger Leslie Samuel is the creative force behind BecomeABlogger . That audience already interested in thought leadership.

5 Quick Tips for More Inspiring PowerPoint Slide Designs in 2024

Inspiring PowerPoint templates help you build motivational decks fast. But to inspire your audience every time, you should embrace these five quick tips. Complement these with all the PPT inspiration you can find. They're sure to help you impress.

1. Focus on Memorable Messages

Motivational slides won’t work without a memorable message. That means focusing on big, compelling ideas. 

Memorable motivational slides

Part of this means realizing less can be more. Cluttered motivational slides won’t inspire your audience. Keep things clear, concise, and easy to understand.

2. Build in Background Music

Music adds interest and keeps your audience focused. Inspiring tunes are also memorable, helping ensure your content is memorable. PowerPoint makes it easy to add background music. If you need music, Envato Elements has a huge library for your motivational slides.

Learn to add music to your motivational presentation PPT in only 60 seconds here:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

3. Use Plenty of Illustrations

Images add style to motivational slides. When you use inspiring PowerPoint templates, you’ll find many image layouts built-in. 

Illustrated inspiring PowerPoint templates

These help you deliver new inspiration with little effort. Audiences will thank you.

4. Illustrate With Inspiring Infographics

Infographics help illustrate your ideas. Build inspiration with creative infographics on your slides. By making complex ideas simple, they’ll inspire your audience to succeed. Plus, they're very easy to make.

Get started creating infographics of your own with our full tutorial:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

5. End With a Strong Closing Slide

First impressions are key—but so are final impressions. Always close on a high note to motivate an audience. You might want to recap what you’ve talked about in your motivational presentation PPT. 

Inspiring motivational slides

Or you want to add a quote or anecdote, to make people smile. Either way, beautiful motivational slides ensure your message stays.

5 Inspirational PowerPoint Design Trends for 2024

Nail PowerPoint design for PPT inspiration in 2024. Learn from the latest trends. They improve the look of your presentation and engage your audience more.

Here are five trends for a motivational PowerPoint presentation you should use:

1. Images Over Text

You may have many inspirational topics for your PowerPoint presentation. You shouldn't use only text for every slide. Show, don't tell your audience. Add photos, embed videos, and create infographics for your presentation about inspiration.

Adventurous Presentation Design Inspiration

2. Interactive Design

This is a design and writing trend you should follow. The best way to hook your audience is by making them feel involved. The best slides for inspiration let viewers ask questions.

3. Bold Typography

Large, bold typography is a trend that's picked up a lot of steam in 2024. Don't settle for default font options. Find custom typefaces that add to the mood of your inspirational PPT. Here are some resources that can help you find a font you can use: 

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

4. Vibrant, Trendy Colors

Pastels are still a popular choice for PowerPoint presentations. But if you want to inspire and motivate, follow this trend of using vibrant colors. They're a great complement for your motivational PowerPoint presentation. They can make your audience feel empowered.  

Apaya PowerPoint Design Inspiration

5. Cool Animations and Transitions

Great motivational PowerPoints tell a story for their audience. Make your presentation design and writing flow better by using transitions. For example, you can use the new Morph transition, as explained by Microsoft Office . With it, you can connect presentation topics through movement.

Learn more about PowerPoint animations and transitions from Envato Tuts+:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Top Inspirational Topics for PowerPoint Presentations

You've seen top options for inspiring PowerPoint templates. But you might still be asking: what topic should I use for my motivational slides? It's time to choose the right inspirational topics for PowerPoint presentation.

Have no fear. We've got ideas for inspirational topics for PowerPoint presentation. These will fill out your motivational presentation PPT. Here are some formulas for inspiring PowerPoint template content:

  • Personal stories of success . When people hear inspiring personal stories, they see themselves in the mirror. Use personal stories of hardship, trials and tribulations and success. This will inspire your audience.
  • A complete pivot . My favorite success stories are those of companies that changed their business model. Netflix was first a DVD company. When you tell the story of a pivot in a business model, you show others that change is possible.
  • Failure to phenomenon . Everyone loves a good back comeback story. When you begin with a story that's a failure and take the audience to success, you build hope and optimism.

With a bit of thought, I'm sure that you'll find stories that fit the bill. Take examples of these stories and pair them with PowerPoint for motivational slides.

More Options for Inspiring PowerPoint Templates

So far, you've seen some of our favorite motivational presentation PPT designs. We love to keep our readers up to date on the latest and greatest motivational slides.

Our selection of the most inspiring PowerPoint templates is up-to-date in our guide. Check out Microsoft PowerPoint Templates (Ultimate Guide to the Best PPT.)

Want even more options for motivational presentation PPT designs? Check out our articles below. You're sure to see options for motivational slides in other templates:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Where to Find the Best Inspiring PowerPoint Templates in 2024 (Envato Elements vs GraphicRiver)

Both Envato Elements and GraphicRiver offer high-quality, premium inspiring PowerPoint templates. But which marketplace is the best choice for you? And what are the benefits of each?

1. Key Benefits of Envato Elements

Envato Elements is a subscription-based service. It's got a pretty compelling offer. You get access to unlimited designs for a low monthly price. 

Download as many PowerPoint templates as you need. Also find stock photos, fonts, web templates, and more. Here are the best PowerPoint templates on Envato Market :

Best Selling PowerPoint templates on Envato Elements

2. Key Benefits Of GraphicRiver

GraphicRiver is the leading digital marketplace if you want to buy single-use templates . It’s part of Envato Market, a suite of marketplaces that cater to various creative needs. 

When you need a PowerPoint template to use right now, GraphicRiver is your best choice. Here are the best inspiring PowerPoint templates that are currently trending

Inspirational PowerPoint templates on GraphicRiver

Your Choice: What’s Right For You?

If you’re a digital marketer or a designer with many clients, Envato Elements gives you the most bang for your buck. Sign up for Envato Elements now . 

Envato Elements Design Without Limits

Need a single PowerPoint presentation template ? Head on over to GraphicRiver to download what you need. 

Common PowerPoint Questions Answered (FAQ)

No matter how experienced you are with PowerPoint, there’s always more to learn. Here are five common PowerPoint questions and their answers to help you learn more about it:

1. How Can I Make My PowerPoint Attractive?

Avoid the "death by PowerPoint" effect. Inspiring PowerPoint presentations must be attractive for the audience. To do this keep in mind three basic tips:

  • stick to one message per slide
  • involve your audience
  • use contrast in your slide design

Learn more with this article:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

2. How Do You Personalize a PowerPoint?

You don't need to be an expert to do this. You'll only need to learn some quick PowerPoint tricks and tools. Turn templates into a unique inspirational PowerPoint. It can be faster than you think. 

Learn how to edit a premium PowerPoint template here:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

3. Can I Convert My PowerPoint to MP4?

Yes, you can. It’s quite easy to do and we've got a tutorial that walks you through the process step-by-step.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

4. How Do I Print PowerPoint Presentations?

Printing your PowerPoint presentation allows you to hand out motivational slides to your audience. But, before you go printing it out, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Check this article . It'll walk you through the process of preparing your presentation and printing it out:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

5. How Do I Add Voice Over to PowerPoint Presentations?

Adding narration is great if your audience isn't in the same room as you. Luckily, PowerPoint has built-in tools for recording narration. In this tutorial , we’ll walk you through the process:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Learn More About PowerPoint Design

Learn more about how to use PowerPoint. Create your presentation in our PowerPoint tutorials . Find even more design inspiration in our guide featuring the best PPT templates.

Also, make sure to check out these articles to create inspiring PowerPoint templates:

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Download Our Free PDF eBook on Making Great Presentations

Don't forget to download our free eBook. The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It'll help you write, design, and deliver the perfect presentation.  (It's available for FREE with the Tuts+ Business Newsletter.)

perfect presentation

Use These PowerPoint Design Examples to Create Your Own Presentation

If you need to create a PowerPoint presentation, we've got you covered. Get slide inspiration from PowerPoint presentation examples. You already know what makes a good PowerPoint presentation. 

We've also examined over 25 P owerPoint design examples  for your inspiration. Why not download a PowerPoint template from Envato Elements or GraphicRiver? It helps you start your motivational PowerPoint presentation today?

Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Nathan Umoh , Brenda Barron , Andrew Childress and Janila Castañeda . Nathan and Janila are staff writers with Envato Tuts+. Brenda and Andrew are freelance instructors for Envato Tuts+.

Laura Spencer

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Creative presentation templates, use these free creative google slides themes and ppt templates to give a new twist to conventional slide designs while following the latest trends. your presentation will definetely impress your audience, related collections.

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Funny Daycare Center presentation template

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Funny daycare center.

Download the Funny Daycare Center presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and create big learning experiences for the littlest students! Dynamic and adorable, this template provides the visual stimuli that Pre-K students thrive on and makes your lessons more playful and exciting — after all, Pre-K education is all about...

Cosmetic Surgery Fellowship presentation template

Cosmetic Surgery Fellowship

Download the Cosmetic Surgery Fellowship presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. As university curricula increasingly incorporate digital tools and platforms, this template has been designed to integrate with presentation software, online learning management systems, or referencing software, enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of student work. Edit this Google Slides...

My Creative Resume presentation template

My Creative Resume

A good CV is the key to unlock the doors to the best job interviews. For this reason, here at Slidesgo we go beyond the limits of the conventional design, offering you a modern colorful template whose main focus is no one else but you!

Colorful Theme presentation template

Create your presentation Create personalized presentation content

Writing tone, number of slides, colorful theme.

Download the Colorful Theme presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources. You...

Cursive Handwriting Practice Handout presentation template

Cursive Handwriting Practice Handout

Download the Cursive Handwriting Practice Handout template for PowerPoint or Google Slides and discover the perfect solution for your study needs with this versatile handout template. Seeking PowerPoint or Google Slides handout templates that seamlessly transition from digital to print? Look no further. This meticulously crafted design ensure compatibility for...

Spring Season presentation template

Spring Season

Download the "Spring Season" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources. You...

Leafy Green Color Palette Company Profile presentation template

Leafy Green Color Palette Company Profile

Download the "Leafy Green Color Palette Company Profile" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Presenting a comprehensive company profile can be a game-changer for your business. A well-crafted profile connects with potential clients and vendors on another level, giving them a deep understanding of your organization. This company profile template...

Spring Party presentation template

Spring Party

Download the "Spring Party" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources. You...

Stress at Workplace presentation template

Stress at Workplace

Download the Stress at Workplace presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources....

Happy Drawing Day presentation template

Happy Drawing Day

Download the "Happy Drawing Day" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The education sector constantly demands dynamic and effective ways to present information. This template is created with that very purpose in mind. Offering the best resources, it allows educators or students to efficiently manage their presentations and engage audiences....

Steps for Studying a Text presentation template

Steps for Studying a Text

Download the Steps for Studying a Text presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different...

Dual-Language School presentation template

Dual-Language School

Download the Dual-Language School presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Are you looking for a way to make your school academy stand out among the competition? This template is designed to showcase all the fantastic aspects of your center. With perfect slides that allow you to easily add information about...

Floatie Presentation Template presentation template

Floatie Presentation Template

Download the Floatie Presentation Template presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources....

Pastel Portfolio presentation template

Pastel Portfolio

Having a very creative portfolio opens a lot of doors, more than you think. We've created this template for those who want to showcase their work and skills. As always, the Memphis graphic style will help you grab attention, and the pastel colors too! Mention your studies, add images of...

Meet Our Professors presentation template

Meet Our Professors

The beginning of the school year is always synonymous with nerves for teachers and students. To break the ice, why not introduce your professors in a different way? We propose you this original template with a dark background and abstract and colorful shapes. It features doodle-style illustrations related to teaching,...

Notebook Lesson presentation template

Notebook Lesson

These are the last days before the Summer break! We know that there are some pending lessons that you need to prepare for your students. As they may be thinking about their friends and their holidays, catch their attention with this cool template!

Team Building Class for Elementary presentation template

Team Building Class for Elementary

Your students spend most of their days at school, so building a good atmosphere in the class is vital for their happiness. Why don’t you dedicate a day to team building activities? This will help new students make friends and older students create deeper relationships with their classmates. It that...

Lettering Grid MK Plan presentation template

Lettering Grid MK Plan

Do you know what lettering is? It’s the art of turning writing into a masterpiece. Use this beautiful template to explain how to master this beautiful art or to present your marketing plan in an original way. We have included infographics, maps, charts, and lots of letterings to decorate the...

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Creating Magic with PowerPoint Storytelling and Design

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

The OLC Blog

Inspiring the online learning community through new ideas, innovative perspectives, global lessons, and personal stories from OLC members and leaders in the field.

Sean Nufer, Senior Director of Teaching and Learning, TCS Education System

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18+ Presentation Design Trends for 2024: Create PowerPoint PPTs With Impact

Looking to knock your next presentation out of the park? Start with one of these design trends that will help you create a PowerPoint presentation with a lot of impact.

Here are some trending examples of current trends and techniques for delivering a modern presentation. From big, bold colors, to photo stories and big backgrounds. There’s no excuse for picking a standard design and delivering a stale, tired presentation anymore. Your audience expects more!

The best thing? If you like any of the examples here, you can download each one from Envato Elements!

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1. Big, Bold Typography

Big, Bold Typography

Nothing grabs attention like a big title with bold letters. That’s exactly what this presentation design trend is all about. To try this design trend, all you have to do is make your titles and headings look bigger on each slide and arrange the content around those big text elements.

The main goal of this approach is to quickly capture your audience’s attention with a big, splashy title. Once you have their attention, persuading them to read the rest of the content on the slide is much easier.

Remember to use a sans-serif font with a clean letter design. A slightly condensed font with all-caps letters would be the perfect choice for this.

2. Aesthetic Vibes

Aesthetic Vibes

Beautiful aesthetic slide designs have been a common choice among specific presentations. Especially when it comes to creating slideshows related to fashion, lifestyle, beauty, and luxury brands, a classy and elegant look does a perfect job of creating a charming vibe across the presentation.

Soft browns, light creamy colors, elegant botanical greens, and pastel colors are common in these aesthetic-style presentation designs. Of course, the slide layouts play an important role too. Make sure to keep a consistent and clean look across the slideshow.

3. Gradient Color Schemes

Gradient Color Schemes

Marketers and designers are slowly moving away from the usual, traditional, and boring corporate-style slide designs and adopting more colorful and vibrant color schemes when designing presentations.

It’s quite a welcome change that makes slideshows look much more attractive and stand out from the crowd. One of the most popular looks in this new trend is using gradient colors for backgrounds and shapes. They do wonders for highlighting the text elements as well as for conveying creativity, inclusivity, and overall an energetic and fun vibe.

4. Retro and Groovy

Retro and Groovy

Being able to create informative presentations combined with a sense of nostalgia and fun is the main reason why this trend has been popular over the past few months. Designers who use this trend often go for various styles of retro-themed looks. Cool 90s vibes, 80s neon color palettes, and 70s groovy psychedelic-style designs are among just a few.

A retro and groovy presentation design is not just about making slideshows look fun but they can also be a tool for storytelling and evoking emotions. This makes this an effective trend to be used in presentations related to marketing and promoting brands.

5. Asymmetrical Layouts

Asymmetrical Layouts

This design trend encourages designers to break away from the usual grid and column-based presentation slide designs and experiment with new layout styles.

Creating asymmetrical slide layouts allows you to use your creativity and imagination to create experimental content designs by placing text, images, and shapes on the slides in an unconventional way. This approach often creates more stimulating presentations and a unique experience for the audience with each slide.

6. Full-bleed Images

Full-bleed Images

Using full-bleed images that expand across the entire slide is a design strategy that allows you to create more impactful and emotional presentations that convey a strong message.

This design trend involves using large images as backgrounds to create more visual-centric slides. While it’s quite effective in photography, studio, and portfolio presentations, the key to creating a balanced slideshow is to only include a few full-bleed image slides among other normal slides.

7. Overlapping Elements

Overlapping Elements

Creating slides with overlapping elements, also known as slide layering, is an innovative trend that offers a more dynamic look for modern presentations.

It involves creating slides with objects that overlap with one another. Like text and shapes that overlap with images. Or content blocks that seem out of place. These slides look much more unique and stimulating than most other styles of presentation designs.

8. Flowing Shapes

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

One way to make your PowerPoint presentation design stand out is to use flowing shapes. Too often, templates focus on all blocks and rectangles. With a set of flowing shapes, your presentation design will have an immediate impact.

When thinking about this style use a couple of different shapes and build on them. Ovals and circles are rather nice and partial shapes that extend off the screen and provide another option for these shapes with flow and movement.

Use shapes with a bright color or consider tints with a more subtle impact.

The trick to flowing shapes is to use them in such a way that they create visual flow toward text and other important messaging elements in the design. Plan accordingly!

9. Colorful Text Blocks

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If you are working on a presentation design and don’t have a lot of great images, colorful text blocks can be a fun way to show information without feeling too bland.

There are a couple of ways to make this presentation design trend your own:

  • Use color for text blocks that’s part of your brand palette.
  • Use colors that are unique to a specific theme or project.
  • Include limited imagery with color blocks for additional interest.
  • Make sure the color block and text element has high contrast and is easy to read.
  • Use your brand font palette for an even more custom look and feel.

10. Dark Mode

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

Dark mode isn’t just for website design. It’s one of those design trends that has crept into almost every facet of design, including presentations.

While this style looks very trendy and modern, it can present some challenges.

Reverse type can be difficult to read in some situations or lighting. Consider bumping up font sizes larger than you normally would. Don’t feel like dark has to mean black. Experiment with other dark color palettes for the base, such as purple or navy.

As long as the overall design has plenty of contrast and is readable, dark mode can be a fun and striking presentation design option.

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If dark mode is a little too dramatic for your PowerPoint presentations, consider an all-gray aesthetic. Gray has a calming feel, is visually pleasing, and is generally easy to read.

You can pair gray with colorful images or accents or go for a full-mode look, such as the example above, with black and white images and just a small hint of color.

This design scheme is trendy and quite elegant for presentations.

12. Image Overlays

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

There are generally mixed feelings about how to use images in presentation design. Some people love full-screen large image slides, while others argue that images can get in the way of messaging.

In the middle is this trend – use images with a color overlay. This allows plenty of room for images and text elements with a softer, more subtle feel.

Image overlays can also create a nice element of design and color consistency to help carry a presentation visually from start to finish.

13. High Color

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

High-color designs have been popular for a while in other design arenas, and are bleeding over into presentation design now. This style has a very distinct feel with bold, bright, or even more pastel palettes with a lot of color.

It’s not for everyone or every type of presentation message.

But if you are looking for a lighter, more fun style, this presentation design trend can be a good place to start. Use your brand colors for maximum impact here.

14. Minimal Monotone

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

On the other end of the high-color spectrum is choosing a monotone color palette for your presentation design. Monotone does not have to mean low color, but you are working with one predominant hue.

The teal choice in the example above is elegant and modern. It has a fresh feel that works nicely with the minimal outline of the rest of the design. Minimal aesthetics with monotone color palettes are the perfect compliments.

15. Muted Images

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If you are looking to make an impact with the presentation design and want to try something totally different, consider muting the images so that they almost fade into the background.

This design style can be a great way to use imagery so that the words on each presentation slide are the true focus. Go a step further and use interesting shapes to direct the eye through slides using this trending style.

16. Blocky Design

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

If you want to go for a modern and trendy look and love the feel of geometric shapes, consider a blocky design. Using colored blocks, squares, or rectangles, you can create interesting shapes and configurations that make your PowerPoint presentation dazzle.

This is a true high-design style that can take a lot of effort and is best for smaller slide decks. It might also be easier to design if you start with a template, such as in the example above.

The blocky design style also works well with another trend already featured here – monotone color palettes. A single-color design helps hold all the pieces together for a unified presentation design.

17. Photo Stories

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

A presentation design that uses photos to tell stories is a highly engaging and trendy way to share information. To make the most of this presentation design style, create a template with big image areas that pair with simple text elements.

Keep it interesting with photos of different shapes, sizes, and placements in the design. By pairing text elements with image shapes and sizes, you can create a lot of visual interest with a unified style that does not look repetitious.

A photo story presentation design often doesn’t need a lot of other design elements to work beautifully. All ow images to tell your story and keep other design techniques – color, typography, graphics, and icons – to a minimum.

18. Big Backgrounds

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

It’s not something we are used to seeing regularly in PowerPoint presentation design – big, bold backgrounds that carry throughout. When done well, an interesting background can make up for a lack of other visual content to help propel a presentation design.

In the example above, the background is made from a simple color palette with blurred shapes. It’s bold and interesting but doesn’t overpower the overall design. That’s the trick to using a style such as this – create interest without overwhelming it.

19. Clean and Simple

powerpoint presentation design inspiration

It seems a little weird to call this a trend because clean and simple are the most classic of design styles. But it’s trending because it always works. When in doubt, a simple design for a presentation can be just the ticket.

When creating a clean and simple design, think about developing reusable pieces that you can carry throughout the presentation, such as the shape of a photo or the color of a box. Stick to typefaces that further push this theme with a simple sans serif.

From Satire To Satire: How Gen Z Is Revamping The Legacy Of “Death By PowerPoint”

Young Cheerful Handsome Business Manager Wearing a Suit and Tie is Dancing like Crazy in the Office. ... [+] Diverse and Motivated Business People Work on Computers in Modern Open Office.

Fourteen years ago, Don McMillan, a Silicon Valley electrical engineer, recorded a YouTube video called “Life after Death by PowerPoint,” in which—as the title clearly states—he satirized the excesses and abuses of business presentation slides. In a key scene, McMillan says, “Here are the common PowerPoint® mistakes. Number One: People tend to put every word they are going to say on their PowerPoint® slides. Although this eliminates the need to memorize your talk, ultimately this makes your slide crowded, wordy, and boring. You will lose your audience’s attention before you even reach the bottom of your uh—first slide.”

What makes the scene funny is that every word McMillan speaks is on his slide, and that he reads them verbatim with his eyes glued to the screen and his back turned to his audience.

The video has amassed more than four million views and launched McMillan into a successful career as a professional comedian performing at corporate events.

Over the years, McMillan’s satirical campaign against the abuses and excesses of PowerPoint was picked up by New Yorker Magazine cartoons. One of the best, by Alex Gregory , shows the Devil interviewing an assistant and saying, “I need someone well-versed in the art of torture—do you know PowerPoint?”

Flash forward to last week when the Wall Street Journal ran a front page story titled, “Nothing Says ‘Party!’ to Gen Z Quite Like a 50-Deck PowerPoint and a Remote Clicker,” that describes a new trend in which the young generation uses the software to create presentations about frivolous—and therefore humorous—subjects. The authors of the story, WSJ Reporting Interns Sanvi Bangalore and Milla Surjadi, Gen Zers themselves, report that many of their peers “are amused by the irony of using professional technology to present NSFW content.” Bangalore and Surjadi call the trend “comedic ammo” because it used parody as criticism, just as McMillan did.

The reason that these abuses and excesses have persisted for so long can be traced back to the days before PowerPoint (as well as Google Slides and Keynote) and even before 35mm slides when presentations were done on flip charts. Those large cumbersome sheets mounted on rickety easels became the center of attention as a large surface that all the participants could see and share; but it also served to document the ideas that could later be copied and distributed to others who did not attend the session. In their earliest incarnation then, the flip chart served two purposes: as a display during the meeting and as a record capable of duplication and distribution after the meeting.

Thus, was born the “Twofer”—a mismatched conflation of a display and a document— composed of overloaded slides and inadequate documents. The dysfunctional practice persists despite years of “Death by PowerPoint” jokes and satire. Old habits die hard. Clearly the solution is to separate the functions by creating two entities: a simple headline for display in PowerPoint (or other slide software) and separate documents to record and distribute done with Word (or other word processing software).

The Gen Zers, who became fluent with PowerPoint during their childhoods, are now entering the workforce and creating slides for more senior people to present. Let’s hope that their skills, their satire, and their parties can break the mold.

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COMMENTS

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    Idea #21: Make It Colorful. Use vibrant colors when designing your presentation or choosing your presentation template. Colors give your presentation life and create unique psychological reactions in people. For example, use more red in your slides to evoke intense and excited emotions in your audience.

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    Talaran - Amazing PowerPoint Template. The next option in our roundup of the most creative PowerPoint templates is Talaran, a ppt design that is perfect for pitch decks, business presentations, and much more. It offers a unique aesthetic, a range of slides, and three pre-made multicolor schemes. A gold standard when it comes to beautiful ...

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    DSGN - Free Lookbook Presentation Template. This free PowerPoint template comes with 90 unique slide layouts you can use to make slideshows for creative portfolios, photography, and fashion related presentations. The template is also available in 5 color schemes and it's free to use with your personal projects.

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    Download the Design Inspiration for Elementary presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and easily edit it to fit your own lesson plan! Designed specifically for elementary school education, this eye-catching design features engaging graphics and age-appropriate fonts; elements that capture the students' attention and make the learning ...

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    Download the Writing presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic resources.

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    Hopefully, these will give you the inspiration you need to make a more unique, eye-catching presentation. Even the plainest, most boring presentation has a solution. ... Hopefully this presentation examples will inspire you when you have to do your next PowerPoint. Presentation design takes time and effort, but practice makes perfect. ...

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    Inspirational Powerpoint Templates and Google Slides Themes. Students, teachers, course creators, freelancers, founders, small business owners, and other creative professionals can light up the masses with these free inspirational presentation templates from our impressive slide templates library. Artistic Motivation Elegant Creative Futuristic ...

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    Express - Freestyle PowerPoint Template. Express is a unique PowerPoint template with a modern and a creative design that will certainly make your presentations stand out. It includes 30 slides featuring attractive brush-strokes, vectors, icons, and graphics. The template is also available in 3 different color schemes.

  15. 20 Really Good PowerPoint Examples to Inspire Your Next Presentation

    Author: Sudio Sudarsan. 2. Jeunesse Opportunity Presentation 2021. This is a great example of brand presentation with company profile, product system, plan, and reward. It gives a similar experience to browsing a website. Author: DASH2 - Jeunesse Global. 3. Accenture Tech Vision 2020.

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    Overstyling can make the slide look busy and distracting. 8. Choose the Right Images. The images you choose for your presentation are perhaps as important as the message. You want images that not only support the message, but also elevate it—a rare accomplishment in the often dry world of PowerPoint.

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    Motivational slides help inspire your audience. A good presentation inspiration design can generate great results. But before designing, get all the PPT design inspiration you can get. Get some help from pre-built templates from Envato Elements. Build inspirational PowerPoint presentations quickly! Read on to learn how in just five easy steps.

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    Download the Abstract Conference Style Presentation presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides and start impressing your audience with a creative and original design. Slidesgo templates like this one here offer the possibility to convey a concept, idea or topic in a clear, concise and visual way, by using different graphic... Multi-purpose.

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    Presentation & Product Design. 5 50. Upgrade to Behance Pro today: Get advanced analytics, a custom portfolio website, and more features to grow your creative career. Start your 7 day free trial. Jump to Main Content. Behance is the world's largest creative network for showcasing and discovering creative powerpoint presentations work.

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    PowerPoint Canva Figma. Presentation Template. Free Infographics! PowerPoint Canva Figma. Presentation Template. View The Pop! Project - Campaign Pitch Deck Exploration. Discover 17,000+ Powerpoint designs on Dribbble. Your resource to discover and connect with designers worldwide.

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    Hexana - Trendy PowerPoint Presentation. Hexana is a stylish PowerPoint template that includes a set of slides unlike any other template in our list. It features a unique style of content design that will surely attract anyone's attention. This template comes with 40 unique slide designs with master slide layouts.

  22. Creating Magic with PowerPoint Storytelling and Design

    We understand the challenges educators face when it comes to creating presentations that are both educational and engaging. We've all sat through presentations that seemed to stretch on forever, leaving us more fatigued than inspired. But with the right skills in storytelling, design, and advanced techniques, you can change that narrative.

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    Join designers and developers at Webflow Conf to explore the future of the web. Explore thousands of high-quality ppt images on Dribbble. Your resource to get inspired, discover and connect with designers worldwide.

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    Dark Innovation - Creative Multipurpose PowerPoint Template is your solution to run any business and project successfully. With design element trends, you can enhance your brand's visuals and experience to mesmerize the audience's eyes. #powerpoint #presentation #template #design #slides #layout #googleslides #free #data #chart #infographic #elements #vector #ppt

  25. 18+ Presentation Design Trends for 2024: Create PowerPoint PPTs With

    6. Full-bleed Images. Using full-bleed images that expand across the entire slide is a design strategy that allows you to create more impactful and emotional presentations that convey a strong message. This design trend involves using large images as backgrounds to create more visual-centric slides.

  26. From Satire To Satire: How Gen Z Is Revamping The Legacy Of ...

    Presentation slide design has resisted change despite years of satirical derision. ... recorded a YouTube video called "Life after Death by PowerPoint," in which—as the title clearly states ...