Microsoft Powerpoint - #41 - Slighter: Fill & Download for Free

The first step to make a good presentation is the planning, have a structure. Write your presentation content on paper, see what are your presentation’s i. objective, ii. major points, iii. minor points, iv. arguments; that is, create a logic hierarchy. What is essential, what is supportive, and what isn’t. Get the essential, limit the supportive content to what is just enough to get your aim done and mercilessly cut the rest.Once you create a structure you can think of what is the best visual support to your specific presentation, be aware of templates, specially the ones of Powerpoint, that is just my opinion, but I don’t like of templates. They sell the terrible idea that you can make your slide decks as an undifferentiated product in a production line, but each presentation is unique. I like to think of presentations as a channel by which ideas flow from the presenter to the audience. So even a professional presenter that is delivering the same content to multiple audiences could want to change his slide deck or even structure to adequate to the specific public.Slide decks is, of course, an option, but isn’t the only one. A mathematician could use blackboard and chalk, some presenters are so proficient in this method that a presentation begins at a corner of the board and ends at the other corner. A scientist can make experiments or demonstrations to engage the public. A materials engineer can pass hand by hand his most recent creation by his audience. If you want to know the specificities of these alternatives, you could read Michael Alley’s “The Craft of Scientific Presentations”, he is a reference on this field.As an addendum know that in some presentations, bad slides can simply get in the way of the message, in such cases you will be better with just a speech. If you want get better in slide creation there a some ways:Read about it. There are excellent books on the market, as the one I just recommended;Keep it simple, people love the sensation of “wow” that some fancy animations can get at the audience, but what really matter is deliver your message, and distract your audience from the essence to the form of your presentation isn’t a good idea; how a designer friend of my used to say: “the best design is the one you don’t even notice.”Take the time needed to create a good planning, choose your presentation strategy, and choose the channel to deliver your message that best suit this strategy.Don’t be a slave of your software, the software is just a tool. To know each corner of the Powerpoint don’t make you a better presenter, learn to make choices, each choice you make in a design have some implications, so try to make your choices meaningful, and to learn this there are books your could read, and professionals like consultants and designers that could help you.Rehearse before your presentation, correct any loose ends you don’t see in the planning, fine adjust the presentation to the time frame they settle you on.There many more that a could talk about but my time is limited, so I hope this helped you.

Hey Prashant!Hope to find you in good health during these trying times.1. Use a Custom PPT Theme DesignAbove all, I consistently use custom PowerPoint themes. Microsoft has built-in themes that you can use for free, sure. But the premium themes that are on Envato Elements are a major step-up from PowerPoint's built-in themes. The reason that these themes are so useful is because they contain ideas. They're more than just a set of colors and font choices. Instead, they come loaded with ideas for slide designs. You can drop your own content in the placeholders to skip the hard work of recreating each presentation from scratch.2. Use the Built-in Slide LayoutsInside of PowerPoint themes, you'll find layouts, which are custom slide designs. Most themes will include a selection of content layouts that you can use as a starting point for your own slide designs. Layouts are like a starting point for your PowerPoint presentation slides. They contain combinations of placeholders for text boxes, images, and more. Instead of clicking and drawing individual objects onto the slide, use one of these layouts to start your slide off.3. Align Text ConsistentlyWhen you're working with text on your slide, it helps to ensure that it aligns consistently. Keeping your text aligned in the same orientation really makes a slide look clean. In the example below, I've basically got three text boxes: a headline, a paragraph, and a list of bulleted points. Notice that all of this text is aligned left consistently. Aligning text was an "aha" moment that I learned when I started studying slide design. It's one of those steps that makes a slide look much neater and professional, so keep it in mind when designing.4. Make Your Exports User-FriendlyNo matter how great your PowerPoint presentation slides look, you need to think about how your user will use the presentation file.Any of these are likely scenarios if you're regularly sending presentations to other users:The viewer may not have PowerPoint installed on their computer.The recipient may be using a totally different version of PowerPoint that renders the presentation differently.Maybe you don't want the user to be able to make any edits or see your notes in the presentation file.In this case, my favorite tip is to export the presentation as a PDF. To do that, go to File > Export > Create PDF, and then save your presentation as a PDF. This is sure to help most of your users see the presentation just the way you intended.5. Try a Different Color SchemeMany PowerPoint themes have more than one color scheme that you can apply to your presentation. On the Design tab, click on the drop-down next to Themes to try out a different color scheme.6. Edit Slide Masters for ConsistencyThe slide master controls the design for your PowerPoint slide. Instead of making the same change to each and every slide, you can apply a change to a slide master, and it'll affect all of the PowerPoint presentation slides that use the same master. It's ideal to apply a logo to the slide master itself, for example. This will keep the logo the same size and in the same position on each and every slide. To do that, go to View > Slide Master. On the right side, you're likely to see a variety of slide masters that control designs for multiple slides. Drop the elements that you want to remain consistent onto one of the slide masters.7. Use the Alignment FeaturePowerPoint presentation slides look better when the objects on them are in line with one another. There's a certain visual rhythm that occurs when objects line up in the center or along certain boundary lines. When you start dragging objects on your slide, you'll see guiding lines that pop up. These are very intuitive, and you'll likely notice that they help you line up your objects. You might seem them pop up when you've got a box that's equidistant between two other objects on the slide, for example. This is one of the best tricks for improving the look of your PowerPoint slide. Spend some time making sure that your key elements line up cohesively.8. Reduce Your ContentThere's nothing that makes an audience tune out faster than being overloaded with slide content. Sometimes we try to make so many points that the audience misses all of them due to information overload. Less is truly more. When you eliminate the weaker points of your presentation, the audience's attention will follow your key points accordingly. It seems like cheating, but one of the best steps that you can take for your slide is to simply reduce the number of items that are on it. Convert some of your typed points to things you'll speak verbally. Remember: a PowerPoint slide deck is an aid, not the presentation itself.9. Rethink Your Slide OrderSometimes, I find that my presentations are out of order. I might spend too much time explaining my decision before I get to the conclusion. In these cases, I like to use Slide Sorter View to re-sequence the slides in my presentation. To access this view, go to View > Slide Sorter on PowerPoint's ribbon. From Slide Sorter view, you've got a top-down view of all the slides in your presentation deck. It sometimes becomes obvious that the slides can be reordered into a better sequence from this view.10. Use PowerPoint AnimationsOne of my favorite PowerPoint presentation tips is to complement your major points with a bit of animation. Using animation can bring a key point onto your slide with style!11. Use Impactful Closing TechniquesI've sat through many presentations in my life. I can only remember a few that really stick out, thanks to techniques that highlighted key points. You need PowerPoint tips and tricks that help leave your audience with an impact. To do that, just drag and drop the thumbnails into the order you want. When you return to Normal view, the PowerPoint presentation slides will be in the resequenced order you set here.12. Alternate Between Solid Color and White SlidesAlternating between solid color and slides with a white background can produce an interesting visual effect and engage your audience. You can use the solid-colored slides to signify a new section in your presentation. Not to mention, solid colored slides are the perfect way to re-enforce your brand colors and build your brand recognition.13. Keep the Design Best Practices in MindThe design of your presentation matters just as much as the content of your presentation. That’s why you need to devote an equal amount of time to making sure the design of your presentation is on point as you do to the actual content. Familiarize yourself with best design practices and keep them in mind as you go about customizing your template.14. Practice Makes PerfectLastly, don’t forget to practice your presentation and go through your slide deck a few times to make sure you know it like the back of your hand when the big day arrives. Doing so will help you feel more confident and it'll reduce any anxiety and nervousness you might feel as the presentation day approaches.These quick PowerPoint Presentation tips are some of my favorite ways to rapidly improve a presentation. Keeping them in mind while you build a presentation can help you build a deck you'll be confident about presentingHope this answers your question!Best Regards,Samreena Qaiser.

At the heart of any motivating and inspiring presentation is having a set of stunning slides and visuals to work with. As any presenter knows, it’s important to provide your audience high-quality content to educate them, inform on key facts, and demonstrate new products. However, you can make your point heard much clearer and with much more force if you back your key points up with a PowerPoint business template.There are literally 1000s of business templates for PowerPoint to choose from. To help make your task easier in picking the perfect presentation package, we have put together a list of the best MS PP Templates that are currently on the market. All of these have been handpicked to give you editable slides, animations, and stunning visuals.On each of the presentations below, feel free to click on the pictures to see examples of slides from PowerPoint business template pack.