How to Make a PowerPoint Template (Tutorial with Pictures!)
PowerPoint templates are the hidden gem of top designers worldwide. That's why incorporating templates within your team is a wise choice!
They not only save you a lot of time but also help convey your brand identity across internal departments and stakeholders .
In this guide, you will learn how to make a PowerPoint template from scratch, which will also help you know how to edit an existing one.
In summary, you'll learn about:
- What exactly is a PowerPoint Template , and what is its difference from a PowerPoint Theme ?
- Is there a Quick Method for creating a PowerPoint Template?
- How to create a Custom PowerPoint Template from scratch?
- How to get a Branded PowerPoint Template with a fast turnaround?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about PowerPoint Templates
Let's begin with the basics – or jump to your favorite section using the list above.
What are PowerPoint Templates?
PowerPoint templates are a group of slides with predefined layouts, colors, fonts, and themes that will optimize your creative process when designing presentation decks.
A good PowerPoint template contains nice layouts, great background styles, and unique color combinations. It also has strategically positioned placeholders, allowing for seamless insertion of text, images, videos, charts, or tables.
Without a doubt, PowerPoint templates are an excellent tool for quickly creating professional slides!
PowerPoint Template vs. PowerPoint Theme
You may have heard the terms "theme" and "template" being used interchangeably, but they don't have the same meaning in this software.
Let's learn about the real difference between a PowerPoint template and a PowerPoint theme:
- A PowerPoint template is a set of ready-made PowerPoint slides that contain layouts, themes, graphs, charts, and even content. Its extension is .potx.
- A PowerPoint theme is a pre-set of fonts, colors, and visual effects you apply to your slides. Its extension is .thmx .
So, in summary, a template provides a pre-set structure where you only need to insert your content. Meanwhile, a theme allows you to change the overall visual appearance of your presentation with just a click.
Naturally, you can apply any theme to an existing PowerPoint template or presentation. When it comes to design, your imagination is the only limit!
The Quick Method: Using an Existing PowerPoint Template
In a rush? You don't have enough time to build a PowerPoint template?
If so, you should use an existing PowerPoint template from the software itself or download a free PowerPoint template from Templates by 24Slides.
We can tell you that both are high-quality resources and easy to customize.
Regarding the PowerPoint templates by 24Slides, we have elaborate two types of templates:
Presentation Deck Templates
They have a standard presentation structure .
It starts with a cover slide and a table of contents. Then, it gives you space to introduce yourself or your team with an "About Us" slide.
Also, you'll find slides with some diagrams and charts to organize your information. Check out this example:
Individual Slides Templates
These templates do not follow a step-by-step structure. So feel free to use each slide independently .
Most of the time, they're about the same topic and differ primarily in the layout design. Here is an example:
One of the greatest pros about templates is that you don't need expert knowledge to customize them , as PowerPoint is very intuitive software.
Keep in mind that you have the freedom to adapt our PowerPoint templates for personal or commercial projects!
Step-by-Step Guide: How to create a Custom PowerPoint Template from scratch?
Now, if you need an impactful template fully customized to your needs , you should create a PowerPoint template from scratch.
With a custom template in PowerPoint, you have complete control over the final design of your slides.
That being said, let's explore together how to make a PowerPoint template in six simple steps!
- Important : We recommend learning how to use Slide Master in PowerPoint . The key idea is that any element added to the Slide Master will be reflected across all subsequent slides.
Step 1: Set your Slides Size
Adjusting slide sizes is really easy on a blank PowerPoint presentation –just three clicks, and you're done!
To set or change your slide size in PowerPoint, you only need to:
- Go to the Design tab .
- Click on the Slide Size button .
- Select the size you need for your presentation deck. If you choose "Standard (4:3)" or "Widescreen (16:9)," your slides will automatically change.
How do you Resize a Slide with Custom Measurements?
By default, the slides are sized for a widescreen presentation. This happens because most desktop screens have a 16:9 aspect ratio .
Good news! If you require it, you can customize the size of your slides in PowerPoint . You only need to:
- Press "Custom Slide Size," and a pop-up will appear.
- To change the size of your slides, type the new measurement in the boxes or use the arrows from the "Width" and "Height" sections.
- If you are unsure about the specific Width and Height your slides require , click "Slides sized for" and select the most appropriate measurement for your PowerPoint template.
Step 2: Open the Slide Master View
Here's where a special PowerPoint feature comes in: Slide Master .
You wouldn't be able to learn how to make a PowerPoint template without this feature, so pay close attention!
- Go to the View tab .
- Press the button "Slide Master" (see image).
- The Slide Master tab will appear, and you will be able to access new features in PowerPoint.
The first slide is called the " Slide Master ," and any changes you make there will be reflected in the following slides ( Layout Slides ).
Let's delve into a concrete example! The next image shows the effectiveness of using Slide Master for creating templates or presentations in PowerPoint.
Step 3: Customize your Slide Master
Now that you opened the Slide Master view, it's time to learn how to customize this tool.
Here are some important changes you can apply to your Slide Master in PowerPoint:
Edit the Placeholders on your Slide Master
Let's start with the easiest part: the placeholders of your Slide Master.
- Go to the Slide Master tab .
- Click on the " Master Layout " button.
- A dialog box will appear with the different types of placeholders available in the software. There, you can check the placeholders you need to create a PowerPoint template.
Apply a PowerPoint Theme to your Slide Master
You are free to choose any default PowerPoint theme or a custom theme you already have for your project.
- If you like PowerPoint aesthetics , you'll see these options when clicking the Themes button.
- If you have a custom theme saved on your computer , you only need to click "Browse for Themes."
Set Up a Custom Color Palette on your Slide Master
By default, PowerPoint offers some built-in color palettes, but you can also use your own set of colors.
This approach is especially useful when your template is designed for a project with its own brand identity.
- Go to "Colors" in the Slide Master tab.
- Click "Customize Colors" to set your own color palette in Slide Master.
- A new pop-up will appear with 12 sections to fill out.
- Remember to name and save your final color palette in PowerPoint .
Choose a Custom Font Set for your Slide Master
In this process of creating your own PowerPoint template, you also need to know how to set up a font pack in this software.
Let's check how to do it:
- Go to "Fonts" in the Slide Master tab.
- Click on " Customize Fonts " to open a dialog box. There, you can set up your new Heading and Body fonts.
- Create a name for this font set and click on "Save."
Here you can see how the Layout Slides change when employing the Slide Master functionality in PowerPoint:
- PRO TIP: If you want a more eye-catching result, install your own fonts in PowerPoint . Follow all the steps in our blog!
Customize the Background of your Slide Master
If you don't like PowerPoint themes or feel like "something is missing," you can customize your background style.
Let's learn how to do it:
- Make sure you're on the Slide Master tab .
- Stay on the first slide (Slide Master slide).
- Select "Background Styles" > " Format Background ."
- A panel will open on the right side of the screen. There, you can customize your background with a solid color, a gradient, or even add a picture.
Add your Company Logo to your Slide Master
If you want to enhance brand consistency and improve brand awareness among your audience, it is advisable to incorporate your logo into the PowerPoint template.
It's very easy to do it – simply follow these instructions:
- Go to the Insert tab > Pictures > This device.
- Select your company logo image with a transparent background (PNG is the most common format).
- Place the logo on your Master Slides, and voilá!
Step 4: Design your Layout Slides
When you finish designing your Slide Master, you should know a little more about the following slides, known as "Layout Slides."
Designing layouts in PowerPoint facilitates the task of adding information to your presentation deck. Without a doubt, having different pre-set layouts saves a lot of your time!
Also, in case you share this master resource with different teams, you'll be able to adapt it to their needs. That way, your PowerPoint template will be more user-friendly!
Customize the Placeholders on your Layout Slides
Here are all the types of placeholders you can incorporate into your Layout Slides:
- Online Image
To edit these placeholders, you only need to:
- Click on the placeholder you want to edit.
- A new Format tab will appear. Depending on each type of placeholder, the PowerPoint settings would be different.
- Finally, change the aesthetics of each placeholder as you want!
We recommend adding placeholders in strategic areas on your Layout Slides. Try and see which setting fits better for your project!
Hide Background Graphics on a Layout Slide
Remember how we added a logo in the Master Slide throughout the entire presentation deck?
Well, if you want to remove the logo or any other background graphics from specific Layout Slides , here's what you need to do:
- Click on the Layout Slide you want to edit.
- Go to the Slide Master ribbon.
- Check the box that says "Hide Background Graphics" (see image).
- If you want to apply this to multiple slides, hold down the "Ctrl" key and select the slides you want to replicate this change.
Hide Title or Footers on a Layout Slide
Beyond hiding background graphics in the Layout Slides, you can also opt to hide the title or any footers.
Let's check how to do it:
- Go to the Slide Master tab.
- Uncheck the options "Title" and "Footers," as required (see image).
- Unlike the previous functionality, these changes are made manually on each slide.
Create a New Layout Slide
What if you want different settings for only one Layout Slide? Well, you can break the rules a bit.
Let's say you desire to incorporate a different background color from your Master Slide, and you'd rather use a white Stencil font for the headings –but just for a particular Layout Slide.
Luckily for us, PowerPoint is flexible enough to make this happen . Here's what you need to do:
- Click on the layout you want to edit. In this example, we will change the Title Slide Layout (the layout immediately below the Master Slide).
- To change the color of the background , right-click on the slide and select "Format Background."
- To edit the font style and color , highlight the text and the Shape Format tab will appear. There, you can customize it with the tools Text Fill, Text Outline, and Text Effects.
Here's how the final Layout Slide looks like:
Step 5: Apply the Layout Slides to your PowerPoint Template
We are nearing the end of this guide on how to make a PowerPoint Template.
Now, it's time to apply the layout designs previously created to your template . Remember that you have the freedom to choose the order!
- Close the Master View by going to Slide Master > Close Master View.
- Right-click on the slide you want to edit (you can either create a new slide or edit an existing one).
- Select the "Layout" option, and a new list of layouts will appear (here you will see all the layouts created in the previous step!).
- Choose the layout that best suits your needs!
Step 6: Save your Custom PowerPoint Template
Once you're happy with the aesthetics of your slides, it's time to save your PowerPoint template:
- Go to the File tab .
- Click on "Save As" > "Browse."
- Then, select "Save as Type."
- Choose "PowerPoint Template" (see image).
- Change the name of the file if needed.
- Click on "Save," and that's it!
There you go! You have created a custom PowerPoint template ready to be used for any project.
We hope you like this tutorial on how to make a PowerPoint template from scratch. You're free to share it with everyone you want!
Get a Branded PowerPoint Template with a fast turnaround
What if I tell you there's a quicker option to have your PowerPoint template on-brand ? And it has nothing to do with fiddling with PowerPoint's shapes and graphics yourself.
Nowadays, more and more big companies worldwide outsource their design tasks and get professional slides that significantly impact their audience.
If you're looking for a custom PowerPoint template, or want to elevate your business presentations, book a call with us !
Customer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about PowerPoint Templates
1. how to delete a layout slide from slide master.
To delete a Layout Slide from Slide Master, simply:
- Right-click on the Layout Slide you want to delete.
- Select the "Delete Layout" option, and that's it!
As you can see in the image below, you can insert, duplicate, delete, and rename a layout in this PowerPoint feature.
2. How to apply a PowerPoint Template to an existing Presentation?
To apply a template to a new presentation deck, you must know how to save the file as a theme:
- Choose the template you prefer (with the design and color palette you like the most!).
- Go to View tab > Slide Master > Themes .
- Press "Save Current Theme."
- Name it and save it on your device (see image).
- Open the PowerPoint presentation you want to edit.
- Go to Design tab > Themes > Browse for Themes.
- Choose the PowerPoint theme you just saved, and that's it!
- Note: Remember that theme and template do not mean the same in PowerPoint.
3. How to make your own PowerPoint Template with a Picture?
Thanks to the latest PowerPoint updates, you can create a template from scratch with any image.
To achieve this, follow these steps:
- Choose and save some images to add to your PowerPoint template.
- Create a new PowerPoint presentation and place yourself on the first slide.
- Go to Insert tab > Picture > This device (you can also try images from Office or Bing).
- Find the image you saved in the first step and insert it into your presentation.
- Go to the Design tab and press the PowerPoint Designer tool . The software will give you many design ideas for your template.
- Add the number of slides your PowerPoint template needs by pressing the "Enter" key on the first slide.
- Choose the layouts that best suit each slide, and voila, you finally have a unique PowerPoint template!
Found this guide helpful? Check out more content like this:
- PowerPoint 101: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
- How to Make a PowerPoint Slideshow that Runs Automatically?
- How to Make a Picture Transparent in PowerPoint?
- How to Rebrand a PowerPoint Template after a Brand Refresh
- How to Refresh Your Brand? Discover Our Strategic Approach
Create professional presentations online
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Blog > How to create a PowerPoint Template
How to create a PowerPoint Template
08.27.21 • #powerpointtips.
Today, we are getting into a powerful PowerPoint feature that can save you and your co-workers lots of time. Maybe you are already using them, but since almost 70% of PowerPoint users do not, and if you are one of them you are about to learn some important things. Whether you already know about templates or you’ve never heard of them – we are going to teach you everything you need to know and show you the steps to create your own one.
What is a template and why should I use it?
- A PowerPoint template is a kind of pattern that is predefined for a presentation. It gives a frame for the content and the design of your slides.
- Elements like background, colours, titles, etc. are set beforehand.
- You can save the template separately and reuse it for as many presentations as you need.
- As all the designs and slides have already been defined, you only need to add your custom text and pictures. That saves a lot of time.
- Templates are especially perfect for companies. Make one template that fits the corporate design and any employee can use them from now on, saving time and giving your business a consistent and professional appearance.
Now, learn how to create a template by watching our video or reading the steps below.
The slide master
The Slide Master is the most important tool for creating templates. You can find it by clicking View in the PowerPoint menu (and then clicking on Slide Master ).
In the window on the left you will find a couple of slides that do not (yet) have a design. Also, you will see one slide on top that is slightly larger and connected to the other slides with dashed lines. That one is your Slide Master, your “main slide”. Everything you change there will directly affect all the other slides. You can try it out by setting a different background colour for the Slide Master. The other slides will immediately change colours, too.
Edit slide masters more precisely
We use the main slide to pre-set all our important elements. Once we like how it looks, we can go ahead and adjust each individual slide-template. Here’s a list of things you can/should change:
- Colours: Go to Colours and choose either one of PowerPoint’s predefined palettes or create your own one.
- Fonts: Click Fonts and then Customise Fonts and choose styles for your titles and regular text.
- Background: Go as crazy-creative or minimalistic as you want. Change the background colour, maybe add some shapes, or look for a nice image online that works behind your text. (To do so, right click on your main slide and go to “Format Background”)
- Title: Change the size, style and placement of the title, simply by editing it as you would usually do.
- Text Style: Do the same for your regular text boxes. Define what the bullet points should look like.
- Footer: You can switch the footer elements around, replace them and change them like any regular text.
Using themes
While themes in PowerPoint are similar to templates, they are not the same thing. A theme in PowerPoint is a predefined selection of colors, fonts, effects and backgrounds. So if you are creating a template for your company we recommend you to add a custom theme with the company's brand colors and fonts. Now, if you want to know in more detail what a theme design is in PowerPoint and how to create one, you can read about it in more detail in our blog post, Theme Designs .
Use the right fonts
A very important point with PowerPoint presentations is to choose the right font, because it must be easy to read, but it should also not be boring. In our blog post on the best fonts for your presentations , we have picked some good fonts for you to use.
Advance image design in templates
Rename master slides
Individual Templates for each slide layout
Once you are finished with your main slide, you can go ahead and adjust the other slide layouts. You may find that some look perfect already – you can leave them as they are. For those who don’t, or if you would just like some different slide designs in your template, here are some useful tips on what you can change:
- Background: You may not want the same background on each slide layout. To turn off the background that has been given to the slide (by setting it in the main slide), just tick off the box Hide background graphics in the top Slide Master menu. You are then free to design the background from scratch.
- Footers: On some slides you might not want the footer to show. Disable the Footers checkbox in the task line to make it disappear.
- Title: The same thing works with the title (the checkbox is right there with the Footers )
- Placeholder: Click on Insert Placeholder . You can choose from a variety of placeholders. They can be very helpful because they predefine where a certain element (e.g. image, video,...) should be placed in the presentation.
- Other elements: Of course, you can move, remove and add any other element or object you might need.
TIP: You might need another predefined layout (e.g. for slides that give an overview, for “Contact us” slides, …) You can easily create a template for that as well by right clicking in the grey box on the left with all your layouts and then clicking Insert Layout . By right clicking on that new layout you can go to Rename Layout and call it some name that makes sense. You can treat it like the rest of the layouts and simply adjust it to your needs.
Save your masterpiece and use it for a presentation
When you are satisfied with the look of all your layouts, you can save the template by clicking File and then Save As . You can now choose any folder or use the folder provided by PowerPoint and then save it as a PowerPoint template (*.potx). Close and open PowerPoint again, click on New in the left orange sidebar and then change from Office to Personal or Custom . Your template should now be visible here. Click on it and you can create a new presentation with your predefined layouts. You can also set your template as the default option. To do this, you need to click on the pin at the bottom right of the template and pin it to your list . If for some reason your template was not shown in the start menu OR if you have already created a template-less presentation that should get the template, go to Design at the top of the open presentation, click on the small arrow by the designs and then select Search for designs . There, click on your created template (in the folder where you saved it) and open it. The presentation should now take on your template design.
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About the author.
Pia Lehner-Mittermaier
Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.
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How to create a custom PowerPoint template to use or share with others
- You can create your own PowerPoint templates, which you can then open later and use.
- To create a PowerPoint template, create a new presentation and edit it however you like, and then save it as a "Powerpoint Template."
- Making a PowerPoint template can save you time if you make many similar slideshows.
- Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories .
If you use PowerPoint often, and there isn't an available template for the type of presentation you normally make, you probably wish that there were.
As it turns out, though, that's an option — you can actually make your own PowerPoint template at any time, so that when you want to make a similar presentation again, all you have to do is open the template.
Once you make your PowerPoint template, you can even share it with colleagues, and make everyone's life a little easier.
Here's how to create your own template in Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac or PC.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
Apple macbook pro (from $1,299.00 at apple), acer chromebook 15 (from $179.99 at walmart), how to create a powerpoint template.
First, you have to create the template that you want. Here's some tips on how to meaningfully set up a template.
1. Open PowerPoint on your Mac or PC and open a new, blank presentation.
2. Click "Design" at the top of the window, and choose a slide size and a theme. If you'd like, you can customize your theme using the Format Background button on the right.
3. Next, go to the "View" tab and select "Slide Master." Doing this will allow you to view your master slide at all times, and use it to create other slides.
4. From here, you can edit any number of things about your PowerPoint. Play around with the different buttons and settings until you find a look that you like for your presentation.
One important thing to know how to do, though, is add a placeholder for an image, chart, or other piece of media you may need.
To add a placeholder, go to the Slide Master tab and click the button labeled "Insert Placeholder." Select a type from the dropdown menu, then use your cursor to click and drag the placeholder to the spot you want it.
Once you've finished creating your template and are satisfied with its design and functionality, it's time to save it.
To save your template on a PC:
1. Go to "File" and click "Save As" (or, if you're using Office 365, "Save A Copy"), and click "Browse" to pick a place to save it.
2. Click the dropdown menu next to "File Type" in the pop-up, and from the list, select "Powerpoint Template." When you do this, PowerPoint will automatically change the save location to the appropriate folder for you.
3. Give it whatever name you like, then click "Save."
To save your template on a Mac:
1. Click "File" at the top of the screen, and then click "Save as Template..."
2. In the pop-up that appears, choose a name for the template and set where you'd like it to be saved. By default, it'll be saved in a folder reserved for PowerPoint files.
3. Next to "File Format," click "PowerPoint Template (.potx)." If your presentation contains macros (if you don't know what this means, chances are you don't have any), select "PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Template (.potm)" instead.
4. Click "Save."
To use your template the next time you open PowerPoint, just open the template file, or select your template from the list when you open PowerPoint. You may need to click a tab labeled "Personal."
Related coverage from Tech Reference :
How to download and access microsoft powerpoint on your mac computer, how to embed a youtube video into your microsoft powerpoint presentations using a mac or pc, how to convert google slides to a powerpoint presentation in 4 easy steps, how to convert a powerpoint to google slides in 2 different ways, how to copy or duplicate a powerpoint slide and put it anywhere in your slideshow.
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How to set a custom template as the default in powerpoint.
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Microsoft PowerPoint allows users to set a custom template as the default theme when creating a new presentation. This provides a way for users to immediately start building a slideshow using a template specially designed for them.
Creating a custom template in PowerPoint is quite easy. To get started, go ahead and open a blank PowerPoint presentation. You can do so by opening PowerPoint, selecting “New” in the left pane, and then selecting “Blank Presentation” from the template library.
Now, with your blank presentation ready, go ahead and select the slide orientation and size, which you can do by choosing the “Slide Size” option in the “Customize” group of the “Design” tab.
Once you’re finished with that, it’s time to open PowerPoint’s Slide Master, which is where the rest of the customization will take place. To access the slide master, click on the “View” tab and select “Slide Master” in the “Master Views” group.
The Slide Master will appear in the left pane. Here, you can customize the fonts, headings, colors, text and image box placement, and more.
Related: How to Create a Custom Template in PowerPoint
Once you’re happy with your setup, save your template and exit out of PowerPoint. After that, it’s time to set it as the default template that PowerPoint opens with.
To set your custom theme as the default, open PowerPoint, select “New” in the left pane, and then click the “Custom” tab.
Next, select the “Custom Office Templates” option.
Your custom templates will appear. Select the one you want to make the default template.
A new window will appear, giving you a preview of the template and some basic information (if you input any). Click the “Create" button.
Next, head over to the “Design” tab and select the “More” arrow in the “Themes” group.
A list of themes will appear. Right-click your custom theme and then select “Set as Default Theme” from the drop-down menu.
Now, the next time you open PowerPoint, it will automatically begin with this theme.
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Simple Steps to Make a PowerPoint Presentation
Last Updated: April 28, 2024 Fact Checked
Creating a New PowerPoint
Creating the title slide, adding a new slide, adding content to slides, adding transitions, testing and saving your presentation.
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 4,332,728 times. Learn more...
Do you want to have your data in a slide show? If you have Microsoft 365, you can use PowerPoint! PowerPoint is a program that's part of the Microsoft Office suite (which you have to pay for) and is available for both Windows and Mac computers. This wikiHow teaches you how to create your own Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a computer.
How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation
- Open the PowerPoint app, select a template and theme, then like “Create.”
- Click the text box to add your title and subtitle to create your title slide.
- Click the “Insert” tab, then “New Slide” to add another slide.
- Choose the type of slide you want to add, then add text and pictures.
- Rearrange slides by dragging them up or down in the preview box.
Things You Should Know
- Templates make it easy to create vibrant presentations no matter your skill level.
- When adding photos, you can adjust their sizes by clicking and dragging in or out from their corners.
- You can add animated transitions between slides or to individual elements like bullet points and blocks of text.
- If you don't have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can use the website instead of the desktop app. Go to https://powerpoint.office.com/ to use the website version.
- You can also use the mobile app to make presentations, though it's easier to do this on a computer, which has a larger screen, a mouse, and a keyboard.
- If you don't want to use a template, just click the Blank option in the upper-left side of the page and skip to the next part.
- Skip this step if your selected template has no themes available.
- If you're creating a PowerPoint presentation for which an elaborate title slide has been requested, ignore this step.
- You can change the font and size of text used from the Home tab that's in the orange ribbon at the top of the window.
- You can also just leave this box blank if you like.
- You can also click and drag in or out one of a text box's corners to shrink or enlarge the text box.
- On a Mac, you'll click the Home tab instead. [1] X Research source
- Clicking the white slide-shaped box above this option will result in a new text slide being inserted.
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Content with Caption
- Picture with Caption
- Naturally, the title slide should be the first slide in your presentation, meaning that it should be the top slide in the left-hand column.
- Skip this step and the next two steps if your selected slide uses a template that doesn't have text boxes in it.
- Text boxes in PowerPoint will automatically format the bulk of your text for you (e.g., adding bullet points) based on the context of the content itself.
- You can add notes that the Presentation will not include (but you'll still be able to see them on your screen) by clicking Notes at the bottom of the slide.
- You can change the font of the selected text by clicking the current font's name and then clicking your preferred font.
- If you want to change the size of the text, click the numbered drop-down box and then click a larger or smaller number based on whether you want to enlarge or shrink the text.
- You can also change the color, bolding, italicization, underlining, and so on from here.
- Photos in particular can be enlarged or shrunk by clicking and dragging out or in one of their corners.
- Remember to keep slides uncluttered and relatively free of distractions. It's best to keep the amount of text per slide to around 33 words or less. [2] X Research source
- Slide content will animate in the order in which you assign transitions. For example, if you animate a photo on the slide and then animate the title, the photo will appear before the title.
- Make your slideshow progress automatically by setting the speed of every transition to align with your speech as well as setting each slide to Advance . [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
- If you need to exit the presentation, press Esc .
- Windows - Click File , click Save , double-click This PC , select a save location, enter a name for your presentation, and click Save .
- Mac - Click File , click Save As... , enter the presentation's name in the "Save As" field, select a save location by clicking the "Where" box and clicking a folder, and click Save .
Community Q&A
- If you save your PowerPoint presentation in .pps format instead of the default .ppt format, double-clicking your PowerPoint presentation file will prompt the presentation to open directly into the slideshow view. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
- If you don't have Microsoft Office, you can still use Apple's Keynote program or Google Slides to create a PowerPoint presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Your PowerPoint presentation (or some features in it) may not open in significantly older versions of PowerPoint. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 2
- Great PowerPoint presentations avoid placing too much text on one slide. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=DBDCE00C929AA5D8!252&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AH4O9NxcbehqzIg
- ↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/powerpoint.htm
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/set-the-timing-and-speed-of-a-transition-c3c3c66f-4cca-4821-b8b9-7de0f3f6ead1#:~:text=To%20make%20the%20slide%20advance,effect%20on%20the%20slide%20finishes .
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- Presentations
How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation From a PPT Template
- Bahasa Indonesia
Creating a presentation from scratch can be time-consuming and complicated. Even when you try your best, the presentation design may not turn out how you want. This is why using a premium template is beneficial.
This article covers how to create a PowerPoint presentation from a quality PPT template. In addition, we’ll also look at some top premium PowerPoint presentation templates.
Download Our Free PDF eBook on Making Great Presentations
We also have the perfect complement to use alongside a professional presentation template. Download our Free eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations , which will help you write, design, and deliver the perfect presentation.
What Is a PowerPoint Template?
PowerPoint is a popular presentation software by Microsoft. You can use PowerPoint for business and personal purposes. Presentations are a great way to use words to create an impact. For example, if you show the benefits of a product or service or present data, a presentation can make it more memorable.
A PowerPoint template is like a blueprint for your presentation. Templates typically contain slide layouts, colors, fonts, effects, and background styles. In addition, some templates come with illustrations and infographics. These tools make your presentation more visually interesting and can help you explain an important topic.
Your Preparation
Most of the work while creating a business presentation occurs before you fire up PowerPoint.
When creating a presentation, you want to achieve an objective. For example, you might need to present the results of your department for the last quarter in the form of a presentation to your colleagues. Or, you could be seeking funding and looking to impress potential investors with your business pitch presentation . Know what your presentation is aiming to communicate and accomplish.
Getting the Content Right
Everything begins with the content you'll put in the presentation to achieve your objective. Ideally, it's brief and crystal-clear. Typically, the less content (by sticking to key facts and figures), the more digestible your presentation is.
To save time, revising content while you're still preparing it (such as in Word or any other text processor) is much smarter than making content changes while designing.
Once you feel confident about your content preparation, it's time to design your presentation in PowerPoint.
Designing Your Presentation
For our tutorial, we'll be using the Business PPT template . Then, we'll show you how to use the template to customize slides for your business presentation.
Before starting any template you download, look at the initial requirements in an accompanying text file or their online description. For example, not having the correct font installed might mess up the layout of the template slides.
Getting Started
First, let's duplicate the theme. You can achieve this by right-clicking on the .pptx file and clicking Copy in the menu. You can copy and paste the file and rename the new document.
Instead of directly editing the template, we'll be copying slides that we'll use in our new document from the original theme file. This way, we're not editing the template source in which you would need to delete or hide slides you don't use.
Now let's review how to edit this PowerPoint template for your presentation:
How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation from a PPT Template
Are you ready to start creating your presentation?
Let's get started:
1. Choose a Template
The first step in how to create a PowerPoint presentation is to choose a template. The template featured in this section is the Business PowerPoint Presentation . This template comes with 50 unique PowerPoint slides. Easily add an image to the template by dragging and dropping an image of your choice into the picture placeholder.
2. Create an Outline
Creating an outline before working on your presentation is a great way to organize your thoughts. When creating a presentation, you want the audience to be clear, consistent, and organized.
Also, when you create an outline, it can help you make sure that you've got the best message. You can also use an outline to choose where you want your images or other multimedia. Also, they can help you see if you missed a topic or point.
3. The Basics
To learn the basics, let's start with slide seven. As you can see, there are a few components on the slide that we can change according to our needs. At first sight, we notice the following components available to us:
- footer text
I'd advise you to always look at the available components in a slide design as you're glancing over the different slides within a theme. This has a few benefits:
- You can identify how your content can fit the deck's structure.
- You can decide on the components you like (or dislike).
- You'll notice a pattern in the slide designs.
Now that we understand the components we can change to suit our needs, let's move ahead and start designing.
4. Removing Slide Components
For this example, I'll be making a simple slide to introduce the topic of this presentation. I've decided I don't need a footer or paragraph text underneath the title.
To remove the text, simply click on each Text Box and use the Delete key to remove the components from the slide.
To delete multiple words, highlight the words and then press Delete on your keyboard. If you want to add them again, you can use the top toolbar to insert text boxes, images, and other assets such as shapes and graphs.
5. Use the Slide Master
But wait! You might notice that you can't click on certain components within the slide. For example, you can't change the footer. This is because it's set in a Master Slide .
The easiest way to explain a Master Slide is to think of a boilerplate which forms the foundation for your slide designs.
The slide master tool lets you edit the layout from a single slide. This makes it easy to edit the layout of multiple slides at once. To access the slide master tool, click on the View tab.
Next, click on the Slide Master icon. This opens up the tool. The large slide is the slide that you make edits to. The small slides under the large slide is the group that'll be edited when you edit the large slide.
This is normal, as a master slide can have a Master Layout . Master slides use a master layout used in a group of master slides.
Let's access the master layout by looking at our master slide overview in the left panel and scrolling all the way up until we see the slide on top of the group. This is the slide that contains the master layout.
In this slide, you can change the footer. You'll also notice the child master slides updating as you change this. Click the Close Master button in the top toolbar to save your changes.
You'll notice that the elements you couldn't edit have been updated and changed in the deck design.
For more information about the Slide Master tool, read this in-depth article:
6. How to Add Animation
If you want to add something fun to your presentation, you can add animation. First, however, you need to know how to edit PowerPoint templates to add animation. For this illustration, we'll switch to slide two.
First, click on the Animations tab above the toolbar. When you click on this tab, you’ll see the different effects, such as:
- the green Entrance Effects
- the yellow Emphasis Effects
- the red Exit Effects
Next, click on the object that you want to animate. Then, choose the animations from the effects options that you want to use.
For more information about PowerPoint animation, read these articles:
7. Add an Image
You can use two methods to add an image to a presentation template.
The first method is using picture placeholders. A good premium template has picture placeholders in the template.
For example, slide one of the Business PowerPoint Presentation templates has a picture placeholder in the middle of the slide.
For example, you can find unlimited stock photos on Envato Elements. Download them to your device quickly and easily.
Download a photo you'd like to use and drag the image into the slide. Of course, essential to notice is that the picture is high enough in resolution (as a general rule, never aim for an image that's got less than 1600 pixels in width, or the quality might be poor).
You may need to adjust the image size and position.
The second method is to click on the Insert tab above the toolbar.
Next, click on the Pictures button in the toolbar. When you click on this button, a menu appears. Choose the correct option depending on where your image file is located. Your image appears on your slide. Adjust the image as needed.
8. Image Transparency
First, click on the image. Next, click on the Picture Format tab above the toolbar. You'll see a Transparency button in the toolbar. When you click on this button, a Transparency menu appears. Choose the option that you want.
You can easily change the transparency of an image to increase the legibility of the text on top of the picture.
Let's add some finishing touches. Click on the title to change its text, remove the placeholder logo using backspace, and drag in your company's logo. Should you have any issues with the formatting, double-click on the image.
9. Fitting Images
In the top toolbar under the Picture Format tab, there's a Crop button with a dropdown next to it. When you click on the dropdown menu, there's a Fit option and a Fill option. The fit option helps you fit an image within a constrained box. The Fill option is useful to cover a constrained box (for example, when using a background image).
10. Images Within Shapes
The final tricky part is updating images within a shape. Let's look at slide 23.
When you click on the graphic on the right, you'll notice it's a shape that's got multiple areas. You can double-click on the image placeholders within the shape to open a menu to select the image you'd like to add to the shape.
With that, we're all set to complete this slide!
11. Final Tips
As you notice, navigating through a theme design is very easy.
It would be best if you remembered that there's a distinction between your slide design, which uses placeholders, and recurring components , which you can't edit directly in the slide but can change in the corresponding Master Slide . If you can't access an item in the original master slide, a parent Master Slide uses a Master Layout . Multiple slides use the master layout. This allows for a consistent design across multiple presentation files.
As a quick overview, the ideal process to edit a template is the following:
- Copy and the original template into a new working document you'll save separately.
- Make edits to each slide you work with. Start with placeholders, then change the corresponding Master Slide if needed. Of course, you can add and remove text, images, and charts.
- You might notice that your changes to the Master Slide affects your other slides, which is good as you only need to update the placeholders, saving time.
- Do a final check if everything looks solid, and you're all set!
The Top Source for Premium PowerPoint Templates (With Unlimited Use)
Envato Elements is a great place to find the top premium PowerPoint templates. To gain access to premium templates, you must pay a low monthly fee to become a subscriber. Once you become a subscriber, you’ll gain access to more than just premium PowerPoint templates . You’ll have access to images, fonts, audio, and more.
Explore Premium Presentation Templates
Using a premium PowerPoint template saves you time because you aren’t creating a presentation from scratch when you use a premium template. In addition, if you use a premium template, you start with a great base. This means that all you need to do is add images and text.
Every template is made by a professional to look impressive and stylish. As a result, you’ll stand out among your peers who created their own or used a free template.
If you’re creative and like to customize your presentation with a premium template, you can still make as many customizations as much as you want. A good premium template is entirely editable.
Best Five PowerPoint Presentation Templates from Envato Elements
Here are some of the top PowerPoint templates from Envato Elements:
1. Creature PowerPoint
Creature is a multipurpose presentation with a versatile design. There are over fifty unique slides that you can use to create a PowerPoint for any topic you have.
This template also comes with charts, graphs, and icons. These elements add visual interest to your presentation.
2. Everlux PowerPoint Presentation
This presentation template is a professional presentation with a portfolio to showcase your work if you’re a creator. For example, you’ll have over 40 unique total slides when you create a PowerPoint with this template.
Easily add an image to this template by dragging and dropping an image of your choice by dragging and dropping it into the picture placeholder.
3. Kanal PowerPoint Template
This template has a minimal design that can work for any presentation topic. With this template, you’ll have 68 custom slides to use when creating a PowerPoint presentation. Plus, it's got animation and transitions, adding some interest to your presentation.
4. VERA PowerPoint Template
When creating a PowerPoint, you must consider what kind of presentation you want. This template is excellent for Creatives. This template comes with 55 creatives slides. It also comes with 50 premade color schemes.
5. Style Multipurpose PowerPoint Template
Style Multipurpose PowerPoint Template is a multipurpose presentation template. It comes with 4000 total slides making it easy to create a PowerPoint presentation. Easily add an image of your choice to this template by dragging and dropping the image into a picture placeholder.
Grab This eBook on Making Great Presentations (Free Download)
We've got just the right complement to a professional PowerPoint template that'll help you learn the complete process of how to write, design, and deliver great presentations.
Download The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations now for FREE with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. Get your ideas formed into a powerful presentation that'll move your audience.
More Top PowerPoint Templates
Haven’t found a template that suits your needs? Check these articles out for more templates.
Download a Premium PowerPoint Template Today!
You've just learned how to edit a PowerPoint template and how to create a PowerPoint presentation using a template.
Once you start with a premium template , it isn’t hard to create a presentation. Next time you need to create a presentation, try using a premium template. Gain access to thousands of premium PowerPoint templates and digital assets by signing up for Envato Elements today!
Editor's Note: This tutorial was originally published in 2016 by Sven Lenaerts . It's been completely redone to make it accurate and up to date.
Presentation templates
Captivate your audience with customizable business presentation templates. whether you're pitching clients, wooing investors, or showing off your latest wins, there are presentation templates that'll suit your next meeting..
Free slide templates for presentations
Presentation decks can make or break your speech—don't risk boring or unprofessional slides distracting from your message. Set yourself up for success with free, eye-catching presentation templates that don't require graphic design skills to use. Whether you're pitching to investors or sharing a class project, using presentation templates allows you to focus on the content of your work without worrying about the design. Explore presentation templates for pitch decks, annual reviews, and conference slides, and get ready to wow your audience. Choose a presentation template and customize it with your business's branding and logo. If you work in a creative field, don't shy away from bold designs and vivid colors . Presentation templates offer versatile options for personalizing—get creative by customizing your template or opt for adding your own text to existing designs. When you use a template at your next meeting, you'll turn a simple presentation into an opportunity to impress. To make presenting even easier, you can download your template in a variety of formats, like PowerPoint and PDF, or share it digitally with your colleagues.
Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Claim Your FREE Training Module and Get Your Time Back!
How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)
- PowerPoint Tutorials
- Presentation Design
- January 22, 2024
In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.
While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.
Table of Contents
Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:
- Change the slide order
- Reset your layout
- Change the slide dimensions
- Use PowerPoint Designer
- Format text
- Format objects
- Play a presentation (slide show)
With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.
Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?
Take your PPT skills to the next level
Start with a blank presentation.
Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.
For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation here .
The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.
This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).
For now, go ahead and click on the Blank Presentation (1) thumbnail.
Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint interface
Here is how the program is laid out:
- The Application Header
- The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
- The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
- The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)
The Slide Area
The notes pane.
- The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)
Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.
Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint Ribbon
The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.
For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).
Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:
- Online Pictures
- Screenshots
- Screen Recording
The Slides Pane
This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.
Right-clicking on a slide in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as Duplicate Slide , Delete Slide , and Hide Slide .
In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by right-clicking anywhere in this Pane and selecting Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.
The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.
Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.
The Notes Pane is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.
To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .
Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .
You can resize the Notes Pane by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).
Note: Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .
Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.
Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation
Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called Placeholders and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .
To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .
As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.
Note: For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.
If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the Autofit Options icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .
Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the Paragraph area of the Home tab of the Ribbon.
The Reset Command: If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .
Insert More Slides into Your Presentation
Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the Home tab and click on New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.
You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .
Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.
If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.
After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.
If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Picture with Caption
Adding Content to Your Slides
Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.
On slide 2 we have a Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:
- A SmartArt graphic,
- A 3D object,
- A picture from the web,
- Or an icon.
To insert text, simply type it in or hit Ctrl+C to Copy and Ctrl+V to Paste from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.
For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.
Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.
On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:
- A picture from the web
To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:
- Click on the Picture icon
- Find a picture on your computer and select it
- Click on Insert
Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.
If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .
Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.
You can use either the Title Only or the Blank slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.
In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.
The Reset Command: Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the Reset button up in the Home tab won’t do anything.
That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.
For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:
- Using graphics in PowerPoint
- Inserting icons onto slides
- Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
- How to embed a video in PowerPoint
- How to add music to your presentation
Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas
If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.
To use Designer , simply navigate to the Design tab in your Ribbon, and click on Design Ideas .
NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .
Change the Overall Design (optional)
When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.
For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation, read my guide here .
A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size
If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.
However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.
For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).
You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).
To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation, read my guide here .
B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme
The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it, read my article here .
In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.
That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.
If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.
Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.
To select a different theme, go to the Design tab in the Ribbon, and click on the dropdown arrow in the Themes section .
For this tutorial, let’s select the Frame theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.
Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .
C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint
The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the Variants area, you can see four background options.
For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:
- The background color automatically changes across all slides
- The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
- The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)
Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .
After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.
Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:
- Gradient fill
- Picture or texture fill
- Pattern fill
- Hide background
You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.
D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint
Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).
The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- In the Variants area, click on the dropdown arrow and select Colors
- Select the color palette (or theme colors) you want
You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.
E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint
Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.
The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow in the Variants area
- Select Fonts
- Select the font pairing you want
You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .
If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .
Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)
The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.
A. Adding PowerPoint animations
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.
Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.
To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:
- Select the element
- Go to the Animations tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the animation you want
You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.
B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation
There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:
- Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
- Click on the little star next to the slide
- Play the slide in Slide Show Mode
To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .
To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the Effect Options , Advanced Animation and the Timing areas of the Animation tab .
Note: To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button, read our guide here .
C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint
The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:
- Navigate to the Animations tab
- Select the Animation Pane
Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.
Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .
D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.
In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.
To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:
- Select the slide
- Go to the Transitions tab in the Ribbon
- In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the transition you want
To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the Timing area of the Transitions tab.
You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the Slides Pane and apply the transition.
E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint
There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):
- Click on the Preview button in the Transitions tab
- Click on the little star beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view
Note: In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition, see our step-by-step article here .
Save Your PowerPoint Presentation
After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.
To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:
- Navigate to the File tab
- Select Save As on the left
- Choose where you want to save your presentation
- Name your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
- Click Save
You can alternatively use the Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.
This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.
To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .
How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template
Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.
But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.
If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .
Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation
After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.
To open the Print dialog box, you can either:
- Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
- Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print
Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:
- Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
- Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
- Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
- Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
- Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white
There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:
- How to print multiple slides per page
- How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
- How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation
So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.
When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.
If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by visiting us here .
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Using a PowerPoint timeline template is crucial when it comes to showcasing important project plans, schedules or workflows to clients or stakeholders. The benefits of a PowerPoint template when creating timelines are clear and concise:
- Speeds up the presentation-building process as you work right inside PowerPoint.
- Simplifies the efforts to create a clear, crisp timeline by providing an already professionally-designed format to your data.
Including timeline graphics that allow you to represent different activities and milestones within a specified time period, a PowerPoint timeline template may prove useful for a range of cases:
- Giving an overview of major tasks;
- Tracking the status of a project;
- Visualizing how long specific activities/phases are going to take;
- Highlighting important achievements.
In other words, a PowerPoint timeline template is a very effective way to ensure visibility and communicate a project’s story to those who need to stay in the loop.
Effectively visualize your next project plan with the help of our professional, crisp PowerPoint timeline template that you can download and use for free. As an additional resource, we also offer you the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about this type of project visuals.
Using the PowerPoint timeline template
This free PowerPoint timeline template has been designed for professionals who need to quickly make high-level timeline presentations to important audiences. Clients and executives expect to see clear, intuitive, easy-to-follow visuals when reviewing any project plans, programs, or business summaries. They also expect to see these communications in a way that is familiar to them and in a tool that they are comfortable using. A tool like Microsoft PowerPoint.
Complex Gantt charts or other visuals created by project management software or stand-alone planning applications are complicated, challenging to follow, and hard to work with. The Microsoft PowerPoint timeline can be easily shared and edited by teams, customers and management who use PowerPoint. It will showcase your work in a way that will be easy for them to understand and pay attention to.
The PowerPoint timeline template will be a refreshing alternative for anyone who has been presented typical Gantt charts and project schedules in the past. Once updated with your own information, it will turn into a high-level visual that is clear enough even to those who aren’t involved in the daily detail of your project plan. You can edit the template right inside PowerPoint either by manually adding your project data or automatically, using the free timeline creator from Office Timeline.
This timeline template has been built to work with Office Timeline’s free timeline creator app for Microsoft PowerPoint . The tool is a plug-in, which means you can edit our timeline sample or create other similar ones directly in PowerPoint. Simply add your milestones and tasks to its automated layout engine and see the changes applied instantly. Thus, you will be able to repeatedly update your timeline PPT slide as fast as clients and executives expect you to, without having to rebuild the visual from scratch each time.
Office Timeline Pro also integrates with project management applications such as Microsoft Project. It enables you to import all of your existing project data and create a timeline slide in PowerPoint automatically.
FAQs about PowerPoint timeline templates
Find here the answers to the most frequently asked questions about making project timelines in PowerPoint.
How do I create a timeline in PowerPoint?
You can create a timeline in PowerPoint in two ways:
Manually – by using one of the PowerPoint’s in-built Smart Art graphics and formatting it as a basic timeline.
Automatically – by installing the free PowerPoint timeline maker add-in called Office Timeline, choosing one of its timeline templates and customizing it to fit your needs.
To learn more about what each of the methods above entails, check out our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a timeline in PowerPoint .
How do you insert a timeline in PowerPoint?
To insert a timeline in PowerPoint, follow the simple steps described below:
Open a new presentation in PowerPoint.
From the PowerPoint ribbon, go to Insert > SmartArt > Illustrations .
Within the dialog box that pops up, click on the Process category.
Select the Basic timeline option.
PowerPoint will automatically add to your slide a default graphic with placeholder text and three milestones that you need to manually edit in order to turn it into a proper timeline. Double-click on the placeholder text to type in yours and add more milestones using the Text Pane of your basic timeline graphic.
Alternatively, you can skip all the formatting struggle and easily customize our pre-formatted PowerPoint timeline template that was designed as a native PPT slide. If you want to explore more examples of such ready-to-use visuals, check out our gallery of PowerPoint timeline templates .
Is there a timeline option in PowerPoint?
Yes, there is – actually Microsoft PowerPoint offers you two timeline options that you can use to create such a graphic. These are:
Inserting a default Basic Timeline in your slide from Insert > SmartArt (Illustrations) > Process .
Using one of the in-built timeline templates that you can find by typing “timeline” in the search box at the top of the New section on PowerPoint’s Home screen.
Is there a timeline template in PowerPoint?
Yes, PowerPoint does have a series of native timeline templates that users can manually format and adjust to create a simple timeline. You can access them from the New section of PowerPoint’s Home screen, after you type in “timeline” in the search box at the top.
However, these in-built PowerPoint timeline charts can prove limited or unsuitable for visually representing more complex plans that need to be regularly updated.
To offer you more flexible and diverse options, we’ve created this customizable PowerPoint timeline slide along with an entire collection of other professionally designed timeline templates .
You can alter any of these PowerPoint timeline samples manually or automatically by using the free timeline maker add-in for PowerPoint called Office Timeline . Automating the entire process of creating, updating, and customizing a timeline chart, the tool helps you save time and effort. It also provides you with additional pre-built timeline examples right inside the presentation platform.
Does Microsoft Office have a timeline template?
Microsoft Office does feature a few simple timeline templates within its suite of programs (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint). However, these graphics need further manual editing and formatting in order to create a basic timeline, which often proves time-consuming.
To get started faster with using these pre-formatted samples, check out our series of free tutorials on how to make a timeline using Microsoft Office tools.
How do I create a timeline from Excel to PowerPoint?
You can create a timeline from Excel to PowerPoint using the free timeline maker add-in from Office Timeline. With its help, you will be able to copy-paste your Excel data straight into PowerPoint and automatically generate a stylish timeline based on the input.
To get a detailed walk-through of the process, check out our tutorial on how to make a timeline in Excel . It demonstrates the easiness of the Excel-to-PowerPoint option as compared to building a timeline from scratch directly in the spreadsheet platform.
How do I make a timeline slide in PowerPoint?
The easiest way in which you can make a timeline slide in PowerPoint is to use one of the platform’s in-built timeline templates. Here is what you need to do:
Open a new PowerPoint presentation.
From the Home screen, go to New .
Enter “timeline” in the search box at the top and choose your preferred model from the returned results.
Double-click to open your preferred model and replace the placeholder text with your own specific details.
If you want more timeline examples and more professional layouts to choose from, simply customize our PowerPoint timeline template or browse our gallery of free project timeline templates . All these are designed as presentation-ready PPT slides that can be customized with just a few clicks.
Another method of creating a timeline slide in PowerPoint is to manually format a Basic Timeline default chart from PowerPoint’s SmartArt Process illustrations (under the Insert tab). Our tutorial on how to make a timeline in PowerPoint documents all the steps of the process, along with a more automated alternative.
What is the best Microsoft program to create a timeline?
Out of Microsoft’s suite of standard office programs, PowerPoint is the best one to use in order to create a timeline . Microsoft Project, Excel, and Word can also be used to produce such a graphic, however the final output may not be that professional looking, easy-to-follow, and suited for an executive presentation.
Given that timelines serve as an efficient tool to clearly visualize and showcase a sequence of events in chronological order, the presentation software gives you the means and format to do so.
Check out our comprehensive tutorials and easily learn how to make a timeline with each of Microsoft’s office platforms and other tools as well.
How do I create a project plan in PowerPoint?
Before you create a project plan in PowerPoint, make sure you have the following elements well defined:
Project scope, goals, deliverables, and critical tasks required to achieve your set objectives.
Requirements and resources (that is, the supplies you will need to finish your project on time).
A designated team to carry out your project’s tasks.
A clear project schedule that illustrates the desired course of action once the project is initiated.
Once this information is ready, you can simply download our free PowerPoint project plan template and customize it with your own data. Built as a native PowerPoint slide, our pre-designed project plan sample can be easily shared and updated by anyone who has the popular presentation tool.
How do I make a project timeline for free?
Here are the main ways in which you can create a project timeline for free:
By using standard office tools like Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, or Word.
Our step-by-step tutorials on how to make a timeline with various productivity tools will help you get started faster.
By simply customizing any of our pre-formatted project timeline templates .
Just download your favorite sample, open it in PowerPoint, and automatically update it according to your own data and style preferences using the free 14-day trial of the Office Timeline add-in .
Marketing Plan
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Updating your template is simple and fast.
Use the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in to quickly update any of these timeline templates or create your own project visuals. Easily change the texts, dates, colors, shapes and styles of your timeline, right from inside PowerPoint.
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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > How many slides does your presentation need?
How many slides does your presentation need?
When you’re creating a presentation, it’s important to consider the amount of information you’re sharing with your audience. You don’t want to overwhelm them, but you also want to be comprehensive and ensure that you’re covering all your bases. Whether you’re giving a 10, 15, or 30-minute presentation, see how many slides your presentation needs to get your point across.
Rules and guidance for PowerPoint presentations
PowerPoint is a powerful visual aid for introducing data, statistics, and new concepts to any audience. In PowerPoint, you can create as many slides as you want—which might sound tempting at first. But length doesn’t always guarantee a successful presentation . Most presentations last around 10-15 minutes, and anything longer than that (such as a 30-minute presentation) may have additional visual aids or speakers to enhance your message.
A handy rule to keep in mind is to spend about 1-2 minutes on each slide. This will give you ample time to convey your message, let data sink in, and allow you to memorize your presentation . When you limit each slide to this length of time, you also need to be selective about how much information you put on each slide and avoid overloading your audience.
For 10-minute presentations
Ten minutes is usually considered the shortest amount of time you need for a successful presentation. For a shorter 10-minute presentation, you’ll need to be selective with your content. Limit your slide count to approximately 7 to 10 slides.
For 15-minute presentations
When preparing for a 15-minute presentation, concise and focused content is key. Aim for around 10 to 15 slides to maintain a good pace, which will fit with the 1-2 minute per slide rule.
For 30-minute presentations
A longer presentation gives you more room to delve deeper into your topic. But to maintain audience engagement, you’ll need to add interactivity , audience participation, and elements like animations . Aim for around 20 to 30 slides, allowing for a balanced distribution of content without overwhelming your audience.
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Using the 10-20-30 rule
The 10-20-30 rule is an effective way to structure your presentation. It calls for no more than 10 slides and no longer than 20 minutes (as well as a 30-point font).
Tips for crafting an effective presentation
No matter how long a presentation is, there are guidelines for crafting one to enhance understanding and retention. Keep these tips in mind when creating your PowerPoint masterpiece:
- Avoid overload: Ensure that each slide communicates a single idea clearly, avoiding cluttered layouts or excessive text.
- Pay attention to structure: Think of slides as bullet points with introductions, endings, and deep dives within each subject.
- Add visual appeal: Incorporate images, charts, and graphics to convey information without using too many words to make your audience read.
- Engage with your audience: Encourage interaction through questions, polls, or storytelling techniques to keep your audience actively involved.
- Put in the practice: Familiarize yourself with your slides and practice your delivery to refine your timing and confidence.
Ultimately, the ideal number of slides for your presentation depends on the allocated time frame and how detailed your content is. By striking a balance between informative content and engaging delivery, you can create a compelling presentation that can teach your audience something new.
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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”
- Guy Kawasaki
Remember: Less is more.
A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.
- Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
- Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
- Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
- Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.
As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.
- Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.
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How to Quickly Add Good Animations to Your PowerPoint PPT Presentations
Few apps make it as easy as PowerPoint to add animations to your slides. Learn how to bring stylish sizzle to your PowerPoint presentation with animations.
Tired of building the same old, boring slide decks? As a creative, PowerPoint animation is a surefire way to grab the audience! PPT animation brings dry slides to life.
Animation transforms every presentation that you build. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to add animations in Microsoft PowerPoint. You’ll see that animation PowerPoint templates are the best way to kickstart your next presentation design.
How to Add Animations to PowerPoint (Quick Videos)
Knowing how to insert animation on PowerPoint is an essential skill, and it’s easy to learn. If you like to learn by watching, we’ve got you covered. Here are two helpful videos to learn PPT animation.
How to Quickly Add Animation in PowerPoint
In this short video, you’ll watch me add animations to a PowerPoint presentation. I’ll cover basic animations and sequencing them so that items appear in the order you want. Check out the video below to watch and learn how to get animation in PowerPoint:
Find the Best Animated PowerPoint Templates (Presentation Animation for 2024)
Animated templates are the best way to animate in PPT. Use PPT how to add animation templates to build amazing slides of your own in seconds.
Trying to find the perfect template? This comprehensive video lists some of the very best PowerPoint animation templates that you can download today.
Need Help? Download Our eBook on Making Great Presentations (Free)
We also have a useful compliment to this tutorial. Quickly grab it before you read on. Download our FREE eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It’ll help you write, design, and deliver the perfect presentation.
What Is an Animation in Microsoft PowerPoint (Definition)?
PowerPoint animations are visual effects for the objects in your PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint animations bring objects like text, images, or charts on or off your slide.
Microsoft calls these entrances and exits. An entrance is an animation that brings something onto the slide. An exit moves an object off the slide. Use an animation to make an object enter or exit your slide (or even move it between spots on a slide.)
My recommendation is to completely build out your presentation first and add animations later. Focus on content and the ideas you want to convey. Add the sizzle later in the form of well-timed animations.
PPT animations are the visual effects for objects on your slides. Transitions are the animations that occur when you change slides. This tutorial covers only PPT animations.
How to Make Your First Animation
Read on to learn more about how to customize PowerPoint animations and work quickly with templates.
The tips in this section were written using macOS and Microsoft 365. If you’ve got a different operating system or a different version of PowerPoint, your steps may be slightly different.
Let’s learn PowerPoint animation using a template. This is the Orange Animated PowerPoint Template . You can download it today from Envato to follow along as we learn how to add animation in PowerPoint! It’s the perfect tool to learn PowerPoint animations.
It’s easy to add an animation to your PowerPoint presentation. After you’ve finished inputting all your content into a PowerPoint file, begin adding your animations:
- Click on an object to select it on any slide. This could be an image, chart, or block of text.
- Now, find the Animations tab on the ribbon. This is the control center for PPT animation.
- Find the Animation menu, which has star icons on it. Each one represents an animation effect.
- Click on one of the animation effects to add it to the selected object. In this example, I’m going to click on Fade so that the text fades in.
You’ll know that a slide contains animation when a small orange box with a number appears on the slide. Preview your animations by clicking on the Preview button on the far-left side of the PPT Animation tab.
Your animation will play when you switch to Slide Show mode. Each time you click the mouse button or press a button on a presentation “clicker,” the slide will advance. This could mean going on to the next slide or animating in the next slide object.
That’s it! You’ve added your first animation to PowerPoint. Practice how to add animation in PowerPoint with another element, such as a chart or image. Let’s look at other PPT animations.
Explore PowerPoint Animation Styles
PowerPoint has a great variety of styles with which to animate objects on your slides. With the animation presets you can quickly bring an object on or off a slide with one click.
On the Animations tab of the ribbon, there are many one-click styles to apply to an image. Scroll down in this menu to view them. See the screenshot below for the full list of animations:
When you think of how to add animation in PowerPoint, be creative. And don’t hesitate to try out different ideas. You have countless options. As you design one presentation after another, you’ll want to explore your options. This panel lets you do exactly that. It’s how to insert animation on PowerPoint fast.
The names of the slides are also good clues for understanding what the animations will do. “Fly out” causes an object to exit the PowerPoint slide, while “Float In” is indicative of an object coming onto the slide.
Spend time trying out the various PowerPoint animation effects. Click on each one and PowerPoint will play a short preview, right on the slide.
How to Add Your Second PowerPoint Animation
So far, we’ve animated a single object onto our PowerPoint slide. You know how to get a single animation in PowerPoint. Now, let’s learn how to add animation in PowerPoint with a second object.
To add a second PPT animation to a slide, simply select another object. Then, click on one of the animations from the menu again.
Once you add a second animation to a slide, you’ll notice that each animated object has a small number in a box next to it. That number indicates the order the objects will animate in. A box with a “ 1 ” will be animated first, and a “ 2 ” will be animated after it.
What if you want to change the order of our animations? In PPT, how to add animation also includes sequencing steps. Read on to find out about sequencing the animation in PPT options.
How to Sequence Your PowerPoint Animations
You’ve just learned how to animate slides in PowerPoint. With an array of effects added, you’ve built an animated slide that’s ready to share!
But first, you may want to change the sequence of the animations. In other words, you want to adjust the order in which they appear.
In this example, I want the text box reading “Global Growth” to fly in first. Then, I want it to be followed by the image of the factory on the right. Fortunately, this is easy to do with Microsoft PowerPoint. To start, be sure you’re working on the Animations tab on the ribbon. Then, click on the button labeled Animation Pane.
You’ll see a sidebar menu open on the right side of your PowerPoint window. This is the Animation Pane. Think of it as the control center for animations in PowerPoint. It’s ready to help you re-sequence animations fast.
Right now, the photo shows a “1” beside it. This indicates that it comes onto the slide first. The “Global Growth” text comes in second, noted by the number “2” next to it.
On the Animation Pane , all that we need to do is drag and drop to re-sequence the animations. If I want the text to come in first, I’ll move it up in the list of my animations. Simply click and drag on its title in the Animation Pane to move it into a new position.
Notice that the number beside the text box animation changes from a “2” to a “1”. This indicates that it is now the first animated object on the slide.
When you’re managing many objects on a single slide, the Animation Pane is helpful. It can help you visualize the order in which objects are entering or leaving your PowerPoint slide. Plus, you can quickly reorder them by dragging and dropping them.
Control How to Animate Slides in PowerPoint
It’s key to learn how to get animation in PowerPoint that fits your needs. For example, it’s a great idea to alter the duration and triggers for animations. Add animation to PowerPoint in these cases for an attention-getter.
By default, PowerPoint assigns standard values to various types of animation. Often, this is the perfect timing. But in other cases, you might want to make adjustments.
Similarly, you can change what triggers an animation. By default, animations start On Click. This means that your cursor or clicker causes each animation to start.
Again, it’s useful, but it also means that you have to start each animation manually. If you’ve sequenced animations, you may want them to automatically start one after the other.
To make these changes, select an animated object and return to the Animations tab. On the right side, you’ll see the Timing section. Here, you can change the starting trigger by opening the Start dropdown. Duration and delay settings can be adjusted using the menus below.
When to Use Animations in Your PowerPoint Presentations
Here’s the thing: presentations aren’t about animations or how fancy your slides are. They’re all about holding your audience’s attention.
This quote from one of my favorite movies is a great way to think about using animations:
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could , they didn’t stop to think if they should. ” – Jurassic Park
Just because you can add animations doesn’t mean you should. Are they improving your presentation or distracting your audience from your message?
Using too many animations is distracting. When you’ve got objects flying in and out of the slide, you’ll lose the attention of your audience. Less is more while you learn how to insert animation on PowerPoint.
Here are four key principles for applying animations in PowerPoint tastefully:
- Keep objects off-screen until you’re ready to talk about them.
- If you put everything on the slide at once, your audience will stop paying attention to what you’re saying and focus on the text.
- Use simple transitions such as Appear or Fade to keep your slides simple and clean.
- Limit your animations to one or two per slide to maintain simplicity.
What is the definition of animation in Microsoft PowerPoint that goes too far? Anytime the animation supersedes the content, it’s time to rethink things.
So, when should you use presentation animation in PowerPoint? I find it most useful when:
- I’m kicking off my slides. When you think of how to put animation in PowerPoint, start at the beginning. An opening animation is a great way to grab audience focus right away.
- I’m moving from idea to idea. Animations add a clear visual transition. They’re a good tool when you’re changing topics or moving from point to point.
- I need to add emphasis. Animations are best used to emphasize ideas. They add motion, which captures the viewer’s attention. When used sparingly, they’re a powerful way to highlight what matters.
Play the presentation to yourself before presenting it. If you feel like you’ve got too many animations on your slide, consider removing some of them.
5 Quick PowerPoint Presentation Animation Tips
If you’re learning how to animate slides in PowerPoint, it helps to have a few top tips. Let’s walk through five of our favorite fast facts that show you how to get animation in PowerPoint.
1. Animate Your Data
More than ever, PowerPoint presentations are full of data visuals that tell stories. Audiences love charts that help them understand your message visually.
Why not add animations to your data? With the help of our quick screencast , you can learn to do just that.
2. Survey Your PowerPoint Animations Before Starting
Many of the recommended templates include more than one PowerPoint animation. Survey your slides by reviewing all the active animations before you start.
Click on Animations on PowerPoint’s ribbon. Instantly, you’ll see numbered icons on each object that features an animation. As you learn how to insert animation on PowerPoint, review what’s already included in the template. This helps you avoid deleting any key objects.
3. Create an Animated Photo Slideshow
One of the most popular formats for a presentation is a slideshow. And every slideshow is better with animations that smoothly shift from one slide to the next.
4. Use Slide Transitions
This tutorial doesn’t cover transitions, a form of animation that helps shift between two slides. Use those transitions as an animation to bring the focus back to the slide.
Learn how to add animation in PowerPoint for slide changes with transitions. Check out our quick screencast that teaches you how to add transitions in just 60 seconds.
5. Use Fewer Animations
We’ve already mentioned this tip above, but its importance bears repeating. To learn how to get animation in PowerPoint to work effectively, consider that you might be overdoing it.
Everything we do as presenters should consider the audience. Too many animations take away from the content and are more harmful than helpful. Always challenge yourself to delete half the animations you initially included to bring tight focus.
The Best Source for Templates to Add Animation in PowerPoint (With Unlimited Downloads)
There’s a big mistake that rookie presenters make. When they’re learning how to animate slides in PowerPoint, they assume they’ve got to do it all on their own. Beginners ask, “ What is animation in PowerPoint ?” and wind up deep down the rabbit hole of learning the entire app.
Instead of learning how to animate slides from scratch, a better way is to start by using a template. Templates already have most of the work done for you. And thanks to a site called Envato, you’ll unlock unlimited templates with animations for PowerPoint .
For a flat monthly rate, you unlock unlimited downloads of animated PowerPoint templates. Plus, Envato includes millions of other digital assets. These include stock photos, music, fonts, and more. These pair perfectly with your animated slides.
Envato now also includes an AI-powered search feature ! This new tool allows you to input a description of your project to effortlessly locate the finest human-crafted resources.
Start experimenting with this enhanced search tool! Discover the ideal animated PowerPoint templates for your presentations in 2024.
Join now and start downloading!
5 Top Animation PowerPoint Templates From Envato
Now, let’s explore five of the very best templates that help you add animation to PowerPoint. PowerPoint animations are so much easier with top templates. These are available today on Envato:
1. The Fashion PowerPoint
Fashionable templates include the most modern and minimal design elements. Those principles help draw the viewer’s eyes to images that cover the slide. Plus, it includes the best PowerPoint animations already built in!
2. Infographics PowerPoint Animated Slides
Infographics help you illustrate data and ideas. Animating them controls the flow of your narrative. Use this template to your advantage with an array of slide layouts. This one is easy to customize and will impress even the toughest audiences.
3. The Sound: Clean Presentation Template
The Sound is another impressive template that shows you how to get animation in PowerPoint right. It uses the “just enough” animation mindset that helps audiences enjoy your slides to the max. Use 30 unique slides and six color schemes to create an animated presentation.
4. Square Animated PowerPoint Template
Searching for remarkable flexibility for your animated PPT? Square is the template for you. Inside, you’ll find 128 custom-animated slide designs. And with fully editable graphics, make changes to fit your style in a flash.
5. Business Animate PowerPoint Presentation
Businesses need engaging presentations to stand out from the crowd. Use this animation PowerPoint template to create an interesting and wonderfully animated presentation. Add your business concept to the placeholder slides and watch your story come to life.
You Just Learned How to Put Animation in PowerPoint
In this tutorial, you learned to use PowerPoint animations to tastefully animate elements on your slide. Bringing those key bullet points or images on the slide at the right time will make for a great presentation.
When you think of how to add animation in PowerPoint, always use premium templates. They help you create PowerPoint animations. The vast Envato library has thousands of stunning options for animated designs. It’s the best way to learn how to insert animations in PowerPoint!
Related Articles
- Create a template from a presentation Video
- Customize the design and layouts Video
- Create slide content Video
Create a template from a presentation
Create a reusable template by saving a PowerPoint file as a PowerPoint template (.potx) .
Provide instructions for users of your template
If you create templates for others to use, you can overwrite the text in the default placeholders by adding ‘custom placeholder text’, which describes or specifies the types of information that you want the users of your template to enter.
Click View > Slide Master .
In the pane that contains the slide master and layouts, click the layout that you want to add a text placeholder to.
Click Slide Master > Insert Placeholder > Text .
Use the mouse pointer to drag and draw the size of your text placeholder.
Highlight the default text in the placeholder and replace it with your own instructional text. If an unwanted bullet appears before your instructional text, click the Home tab, and in the Paragraph group, click the down arrow next to Bullets , and then click None .
Click Slide Master > Close Master View . If you edit a layout in Slide Master View, for example by adding instructional text, or some other layout-altering action, you must reapply the layout to the slides in your presentation when you return to Normal view. This ensures that the slides in your presentation will contain your most recent updates to the layout.
Save your presentation as a PowerPoint template (.potx)
To save your template, click File > Save As .
Under Save , click Browse . Save your templates to the Templates folder at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\ to make them easier to locate.
In the Save As dialog box, in the File name box, type a file name, or do nothing to accept the suggested file name.
In the Save as type list, click PowerPoint Template (.potx) , and click Save .
Create and save a template
Use slide masters to customize a presentation
Apply and change a theme
Coho Winery has a presentation that showcases its premium wines, and every year they need to update it.
In the presentation updates, the wine details always change.
But certain other things in the presentation stay the same, such as these section headers, used for the wine categories.
For the wine descriptions, the subheadings don’t change, and neither does the basic layout.
To update the slides, it would be tempting to click File , Save As , save the presentation as a new one, and type over the old content.
But having to delete old content adds an extra step to the work.
Also, over time, inconsistencies creep in as various authors work in the file and incorrect formatting gets introduced.
A better solution for the Coho staff would be to turn this presentation into a template and use that as a master for presentation updates.
For the content in the template, you’d keep the formatting and text you always want in the presentation.
Where new content needs to be added, you could leave the area blank or use placeholder text as a guideline for authors.
You could include formatting, too, such as the frame style on a picture placeholder, to save an author time and help ensure consistency.
For the template, you’d want global design elements in place, such as a theme from the Themes gallery, or a background design.
And you’d open Slide Master view (click View , Slide Master ) to make style changes to the master and to customize master layouts so they’re right for your content.
With all the design details and content in place, you would click File , Save As , and choose PowerPoint Template (*.potx) as the file type. Then click Save .
And here’s the beauty of a template: When you click to open the template file, it opens a fresh presentation that is based on the template.
So, to update the Coho Premium Selections presentation, you’d be starting in a new presentation file, not the template itself.
Yet, you’d have everything that’s in the template—and benefit from all the work that’s been done.
If you put the template on a shared site, your team can always find a current copy there and download it for their use, too.
Up next: To prepare the template, customize a presentation’s design and layouts.
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How to Create a Content Calendar Using PowerPoint
Creating a social media calendar is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It helps you plan, organize, and schedule your social media posts effectively, ensuring that your content is consistent and engaging. Using PowerPoint to create your social media calendar can be an excellent choice due to its versatility and ease of use. In this article I will guide you through the process of creating a social media calendar in PowerPoint and introduce you to two fantastic templates that can streamline your efforts.
Why Use PowerPoint for Your Social Media Calendar?
PowerPoint is a powerful tool for creating visual content. And you can use it for creating a social media calendar easily. Here are some reasons why it is suitable for creating a social media calendar:
- Ease of Use : PowerPoint’s user-friendly interface makes it accessible to everyone, even those with limited design skills. Plus you can easily get templates that you can customize easily.
- Customizability : You can easily customize slides to fit your branding and style.
- Visual Appeal : PowerPoint allows you to create visually appealing calendars with images, graphics, and animations.
- Integration : PowerPoint integrates well with other Microsoft Office tools, making it easy to import data from Excel or Word. Plus it is easy to share as well.
Steps to Create a Social Media Calendar in PowerPoint
Step 1: define your goals and content strategy.
Before you start creating your calendar, first things first. It’s essential to define your goals and content strategy. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your social media goals?
- Who is your target audience?
- What type of content will you post (e.g., promotional, informational, entertaining)?
- How often will you post?
Having a clear strategy will help you plan your content more effectively. Write your strategy down on a document before you start creating your social media calendar.
Step 2: Choose a Template
Using a PowerPoint template can save you time and effort. Here are two excellent templates from SlideBazaar that you can use:
1. Social Media Calendar Template
This template is specifically designed for social media planning. It includes pre-designed slides for weekly and monthly planning, along with sections for content ideas, goals, and analytics. The template’s clean and modern design makes it easy to customize and use.
2. Interactive Calendar Template
This interactive calendar template is perfect for more comprehensive planning. It features interactive elements that allow you to navigate between months and weeks easily. The template also includes space for notes, goals, and important dates, making it a versatile tool for your social media planning needs.
Step 3: Customize Your Template
Once you’ve chosen a template, it’s time to customize it to fit your needs. Here are some tips:
- Add Your Branding : Include your logo, brand colors, and fonts to ensure consistency with your other marketing materials.
- Set Up Your Schedule : Decide on the frequency of your posts and fill in the calendar with your planned content. Be sure to include post dates, times, and platforms.
- Include Content Details : For each post, add details such as the content type (e.g., image, video, blog link), captions, hashtags, and any other relevant information.
- Plan Ahead : Use the calendar to plan your content weeks or months in advance. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you always have content ready to post.
Step 4: Incorporate Visuals
Visuals are crucial for engaging your audience on social media. Use PowerPoint’s design tools to add images, icons, and graphics to your calendar. This will make your calendar more visually appealing and easier to understand at a glance. You can add icons of your social media channels instead of mentioning them using text, to give your calendar a clean, polished look!
Step 5: Review and Adjust
After creating your social media calendar, review it to ensure everything is in place. Check for any gaps or overlaps in your content schedule and make adjustments as needed. It’s also a good idea to revisit your calendar regularly to update it with new content ideas and changes in your strategy.
Step 6: Share and Collaborate
PowerPoint also makes it easy to share your calendar with your team. You can save your presentation as a link, PDF or share it via OneDrive for collaborative editing. This allows your team to stay on the same page and contribute to the planning process.
If you’re new to creating a social media calendar, it is completely natural to have questions and doubts. I highly suggest you to check out our PowerPoint templates for social media calendar, and customize it. It is the easiest way to create a social media calendar! I hope this article was helpful. Until next time!
At SlideBazaar, we help you create engaging and memorable presentations. Choose from our collection of professional templates or opt for our custom design services for a personalized touch. Your presentations deserve to be elevated to new heights, and we’re here to help you achieve just that!
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When you create a presentation and then save it as a PowerPoint template (.potx) file, you can share it with your colleagues and reuse it again. To create a template, you'll need to modify a slide master and a set of slide layouts. Choose from thousands of free templates to download at Microsoft templates. Windows Web.
Learn how to design your own PowerPoint template with color, font, and slide background choices. Follow the tutorial with video and screenshots to create a professional and consistent template for your presentations.
Create a Custom PowerPoint Template. To create a custom PowerPoint template, you'll first need to open a blank presentation. You can do so by clicking the "File" tab and then selecting "New" in the left pane. A large library of templates will appear, but since that's not what we're looking for, go ahead and select the "Blank ...
Watch over my shoulder and learn how to create a PowerPoint template from scratch - starting with your slide master and creating your own slide backgrounds. ...
Create a new PowerPoint presentation and place yourself on the first slide. Go to Insert tab > Picture > This device (you can also try images from Office or Bing). Find the image you saved in the first step and insert it into your presentation. Go to the Design tab and press the PowerPoint Designer tool.
9. Drag and drop a placeholder to a slide. Once you've decided which placeholder you want, like a picture box, drag it from the drop-down to a slide. Continue to adjust where it is on the slide by dragging and dropping it as much as needed; to resize the placeholder, you can drag the corner of one of its borders.
Learn how to create and use a custom template for PowerPoint slides with a cohesive theme. Follow the steps to save a slide design as a template (.potx file) and apply it to a new presentation.
Check out our blog article "How To Create a PP Template": https://slidelizard.com/blog/how-to-create-a-powerpoint-template Take your presentations to the nex...
Select File > New. Choose a template or type a key word or phrase into the Search for online templates and themes field, and press Enter. When you find the template that you want, select it to see the details, and then select Create. Note: If you created templates, they may be under the Personal tab. Business customers may see a Company tab ...
To achieve this, first insert an image placeholder in the slide master (go to Insert placeholder and click on Picture). Next, you need to insert the desired shape on top of the image. You can either insert your own SVG image or use one of the default PowerPoint shapes. Then you have to select both (image placeholder and shape) and click Convert ...
1. Open PowerPoint on your Mac or PC and open a new, blank presentation. 2. Click "Design" at the top of the window, and choose a slide size and a theme. If you'd like, you can customize your ...
Find your template file and double-click it to open it in PowerPoint. A new blank presentation will start, based on that template. By default, it will be named "Presentation 1" (unless you already have a presentation open with that name, in which case it will be named "Presentation 2" and so on).
Click the "Create" button. Next, head over to the "Design" tab and select the "More" arrow in the "Themes" group. A list of themes will appear. Right-click your custom theme and then select "Set as Default Theme" from the drop-down menu. Now, the next time you open PowerPoint, it will automatically begin with this theme.
Create captivating, informative content for PowerPoint in just a few minutes—no graphic design experience needed. Here's how: 1. Find the perfect PowerPoint template. Search for anything—type of template, image, color, —or take a look around by browsing the catalog. Select the template that fits you best, from pitch decks to data ...
Open the PowerPoint app, select a template and theme, then like "Create.". Click the text box to add your title and subtitle to create your title slide. Click the "Insert" tab, then "New Slide" to add another slide. Choose the type of slide you want to add, then add text and pictures. Rearrange slides by dragging them up or down in ...
Find Free Slide Show Templates that Suit your Needs. Captivate your audience with our collection of professionally-designed PowerPoint and Google Slides templates. Boost your presentations and make a lasting impression!
Aluminium Foil Minitheme. Download the Aluminium Foil Minitheme 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 ...
Click View > Slide Master. In the pane that contains the slide master and layouts, click the layout that you want to add a text placeholder to. Click Slide Master > Insert Placeholder > Text. Use the mouse pointer to drag and draw the size of your text placeholder. Highlight the default text in the placeholder and replace it with your own ...
Best Five PowerPoint Presentation Templates from Envato Elements. Here are some of the top PowerPoint templates from Envato Elements: 1. Creature PowerPoint. Creature is a multipurpose presentation with a versatile design. There are over fifty unique slides that you can use to create a PowerPoint for any topic you have.
To make presenting even easier, you can download your template in a variety of formats, like PowerPoint and PDF, or share it digitally with your colleagues. Craft engaging presentations for school, business, extracurriculars, and more. Start with eye-catching PowerPoint slide designs and customize easily with AI tools.
To do that, simply go up to the Home tab and click on New Slide. This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on. You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint.
Download the Synergy 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.
To insert a timeline in PowerPoint, follow the simple steps described below:. Open a new presentation in PowerPoint. From the PowerPoint ribbon, go to Insert > SmartArt > Illustrations.. Within the dialog box that pops up, click on the Process category.. Select the Basic timeline option.. PowerPoint will automatically add to your slide a default graphic with placeholder text and three ...
Rules and guidance for PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint is a powerful visual aid for introducing data, statistics, and new concepts to any audience. In PowerPoint, you can create as many slides as you want—which might sound tempting at first. But length doesn't always guarantee a successful presentation.
Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide's text. Layout: Don't overcrowd your slides with too much information.
"Fly out" causes an object to exit the PowerPoint slide, while "Float In" is indicative of an object coming onto the slide. Spend time trying out the various PowerPoint animation effects. Click on each one and PowerPoint will play a short preview, right on the slide.
Create a presentation. Open PowerPoint. In the left pane, select New. Select an option: To create a presentation from scratch, select Blank Presentation. To use a prepared design, select one of the templates. To see tips for using PowerPoint, select Take a Tour, and then select Create, . Add a slide.
Asking Copilot to Add a Slide . After Copilot creates the presentation, you can ask it to add more slides. The syntax is: Add a slide about [Topic]. In a presentation about the steps to mindful ...
Click View > Slide Master. In the pane that contains the slide master and layouts, click the layout that you want to add a text placeholder to. Click Slide Master > Insert Placeholder > Text. Use the mouse pointer to drag and draw the size of your text placeholder. Highlight the default text in the placeholder and replace it with your own ...
Using a PowerPoint template can save you time and effort. Here are two excellent templates from SlideBazaar that you can use: 1. Social Media Calendar Template. This template is specifically designed for social media planning. It includes pre-designed slides for weekly and monthly planning, along with sections for content ideas, goals, and ...