presentation conference ideas

120 Presentation Topic Ideas Help You Hook Your Audience

Updated: January 15, 2024

Published: August 09, 2023

Cooking is easy. The puzzle is figuring out what to eat. As soon as you know that, you can get started. The same holds for presentations. The sooner you can whip up a good, informative, and catchy topic, the easier the rest of the process becomes.

Pick a good topic that resonates with you and your audience to set a strong foundation. But select the wrong topic, and it becomes difficult to connect with your audience, find mutual interests, or hold their attention.

So, let’s learn how to develop thought-provoking and relevant topics for your presentations. You’ll also find some best practices to make your presentation memorable.

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Table of Contents

How to Choose a Great Presentation Topic in 5 Steps

120 presentation topic ideas, 5 presentation tips.

4. Choose an appropriate presentation style.

There are many ways to present a topic. Your personality, the topic at hand, and your audience’s personas will help you determine which style would best fit you and your audience.

Select a presentation style that will communicate the main idea clearly and have a lasting impact on your audience.

For instance, explore a freeform style presenter by Sir Ken Robinson.

5. Engage with your audience.

Work on your presentation skills to make a strong connection with your audience, get through to them and leave a mark.

Think of the presenter as the link between the topic and the audience. A strong or a weak presenter can make a difference between a presentation being a thriving success or a boring failure.

Hone your skills by engaging and interacting with your audience. Make them feel like a part of the presentation and not just spectators. 70% of marketers have found presentations with interactive content to be more effective than those without.

Here are a few ways you can make your presentation interactive:

• Start your speech with uncommon questions to your audience. Involve them from the get-go, like ask to raise their hands if X.
• Make eye contact to build credibility and show confidence. Don’t stare at your slides or notes. Smile occasionally and talk to the audience directly.
• Have an active and confident body language. Don’t stand in the same place the entire time. Move around the stage.
• Don’t be monotonous. Speak as you would to a colleague — with enthusiasm.
• Ask close-ended questions in between to keep the audience engaged without losing time. Address them using their names to keep things interesting.
• Share personal experiences and stories that your audience will find fascinating and relatable.
• Practice thoroughly before you present so you’re fluent with the material and delivery.
• Energy and excitement can be quite contagious. Make sure you exude enough to spread some to your audience.

Feeling Inspired Yet?

Now you have all the right ingredients for choosing amazing topics and a hundred ideas to drive inspiration from. So, go ahead and start cooking presentations that will blow your audience away.

Don’t forget to choose a super-relevant topic and add meaty information. Do it with excitement to make it enjoyable for you and your audience. Best of luck!

Don't forget to share this post!

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18 Conference Energizers That Will Get Your Audience Amped

These days, attracting an audience to your conference is only half the battle. You still have to engage and excite guests during your conference, which is no easy feat. You hear people complain all the time about events being boring, primarily because the content at conferences is boring.

"Is it events that are boring or those who facilitate them? I've seen people captivate audiences with a piece of written text … I've also seen a lot of technological gizmos that are utterly tedious. Most conferences fail because the gist of the content that underpins them is weak, uninteresting, and uninspiring." - Yann Gourvennec, CEO at Visionary Marketing, Quoted in 2 Million Professionals Polled On How To Make Virtual Conferences Better— Here Are Their Top 10 Hacks

We don't always have control over the information and content we're sharing — but we have ultimate control over *how* we share it. So how do we present the content we need to share, in ways that delight and excite? The single most surefire way to energize any group is to enable interactivity and let our audience be a part of our content.

This is easier to do than you might think! It can be as simple as playing a silly group icebreaker in advance that warms up your attendees to be receptive to your content. Or it can be as in-depth as creating an entirely interactive presentation that keeps your audience energized by letting them play along with your talk step by step. No matter which end of the spectrum you land on, using interactive energizers is a winning strategy.

Here are a ton of conference energizers — using both tech tools that are great, and good old fashioned tech-free interactive methods you can use for in-person, virtual, and hybrid gatherings!

1. Play a Conference Energizer

Get your conference going! This game is an interactive word cloud pump up session — ask your audience feel-good questions and lead them into excited, positive thinking about your event or talk, without much work on your end.

This is an interactive slide deck that you can present to your attendees on a projector or TV screen (if you're in person), or you can use it for a remote or hybrid conference by sharing your screen (eg. through Zoom, Hopin, Webex, MS Teams, etc). Your audience can join in on their phones to submit answers and interact as a group. It's free for up to 10 participants.

2. Run a Simple Q&A Session

A simple but effective conference energizer is a Question & Answer session. This is a tech-optional way to interact: folks are generally quite comfortable with both in person and remote Q&As that aren't fancy in their implementation.

In person format tips:  Depending on the size of your conference, best practices are the "we're going to pass the mic around, raise your hand if you have a question" format, or the "we've set up a mic stand in the aisle, get in line to ask your question" format.

Remote/hybrid format tips: Using tech tools to help enable your group to share their questions might be beneficial here. Whether it's simply having folks send in questions in the Zoom chat , or using specific interactive conference Q&A tools There are lots of options like Slides With Friends , Slido, Hopin, and more that will let you let your audience ask questions and send in responses.

This activity is especially great if you have a well-known keynote speaker or are covering an interesting topic that'll lead to questions. Providing the opportunity for attendees to ask what's on their minds is an excellent way to increase interaction and engagement. 

3. Use Live Polls

Run a simple "show of hands" type poll where you ask fun questions like "Who here is already an expert in this topic?" or "who's actually wearing pants?" (If you're remote, that is ;) Here's a giant list of great poll and icebreaker questions you can choose from.

If you have a really big group or are remote/hybrid and can't really see your audience, you can use tools to get a live poll of everyone, and ensure everyone in your audience has a voice. This pre-made and ready-to-play Conference Icebreaker poll game is a fantastic way to get attendees warmed up, excited, and ready to hear your discussion! This conference poll deck does the work (of coming up with questions and displaying your group's answers live in real time) for you, and is also totally editable (eg. you can change any of the poll questions, add your own brand, etc).

It works a lot like a powerpoint slide deck presentation, except your participants can join in using their phones or computers, and send in answers to your poll questions live as you ask them. Then it displays graphs of the answers people selected.

4. Have a "Birds of a Feather" Session

Help your guests network by doing a Birds of a Feather Breakout Session. This works best in-person, and requires no tech!

Start by setting up stations in the conference center and have a 'host' at each station. Then announce the options, and which location people should go to, for each. For example, if you're running a conference for tech startups, you could have 4 tables: VC Funded, Angel Funding, totally bootstrapped, and side projects. If you're running an event that has Social Media tie-ins, you could grouppeople at 3-6 tables, based on Instagram or Twitter follower numbers.

Have the host facilitate smaller group discussions and let people mingle & network. This activity will allow guests to meet and talk about specific topics of interest. You can also include guest speakers to help guide conversations and ensure interactions continue to flow.

7. Offer Swag Bags  

To energize and excite your audience, provide swag bags at your conference. You can offer anything, including pens, notebooks, canteens, or T-shirts. You can also use these bags to provide any materials, books, or branding items you and your other hosts want attendees to have.

Make sure you hand out items purposefully. For example, give gifts to guests who attend multiple sessions, win a game, or ask great questions during Q&As. With an incentive, attendees will remain engaged and eager to participate. 

8. Play a Trivia Competition

Instill some friendly competition in your group by seeing who knows the most! You can use some of these ready-to-play trivia games through our interactive tool, or you can put together your own questions and do show-of-hands.

For example, if you're running a travel-themed conference, try testing your attendee's exotic location knowledge with the Travel Trivia Mini Game . This pre-made activity will allow attendees to see who's been where and who recognizes famous destinations best. It's a great, ready-to-play mini-competitive game for a fun way to get your conference going.

Check out tons of other themed trivia games , that you can grab and just play out of the box. Or if you want something totally specific to your group, you can create your own! Here's a template that you can start from that works great for you to just add in your own trivia questions (like you would add new slides to a slide deck).

These customizable activities are free for up to ten players. Also, the only thing guests need to participate is their mobile devices. 

‍ 9. Take a Meditation Break  

Help your guests unwind while staying connected with a guided meditation break. This idea is perfect for guests who want to de-stress and slow down between sessions. Also, it brings like-minded people together to help foster connections. 

One of our favorite ways to meditate in large groups is through Guided Meditation . You can hire a local narrator or use a script to lead the group through steady, purposeful breathing. Add a few long stretches to get the most out of your meditation break.

‍ 10. Run a Scavenger Hunt

There's nothing like a little friendly competition to engage and energize your audience! And the competition doesn't have to be challenging to work. You can host something as simple as an in-person or virtual scavenger hunt .

You can use our pre-made Scavenger Hunt deck as a starting point for leading out a large group scavenger hunt. With larger groups, we do recommend doing a photo scavenger hunt, so participants don't actually have to run around to find items.

11. Play a Group Team Building Game

Encourage connection at your conference with Team Shenanigans , one of Slides With Friends' most popular decks. 

This fun customizable game has pre-made questions and unique features, including image-sharing slides, word clouds, polls, and ratings. There are multiple rounds in this activity, and players can participate by submitting responses on their phones. 

Team Shenanigans is free for up to ten players, but you can add participants by getting a paid plan. Once you know who's participating, share your screen so that attendees can access the game. 

12. Do Speed Networking

Speed networking is always a great conference energizer because it's fast-paced and centered around interacting with others. For this activity, give guests the opportunity to meet for a limited amount of time. You can either provide prompts and questions to get the conversation flowing, or let the group go with the flow.

If you're hosting a remote conference, the meetups can happen in virtual rooms and rotate so that everyone can make as many connections as possible. With an in-person conference, set up tables in a room and have guests move from one to the other to meet people. To help foster conversation, offer fun topics for attendees to discuss. 

13. Have a Conference Movie Night 

Do you want to help your guests kick back while cultivating bonds? Then, host a conference movie night. This idea is great if your attendees have had a long day of sessions. Allowing them to hang out and watch a good movie will be the perfect way to process their day with others. Also, if your event is in-person, you can have popcorn, pizza, drinks, and candy available to provide a movie theater feel. 

14. Play "Never Have I Ever" (conference friendly)

Boost the mood of your conference with this office-appropriate game of Never Have I Ever by Slides With Friends. 

This pre-made, ready-to-play activity is perfect for a breakout or networking session because it fosters conversations and helps people get to know one another . It only takes 5-10 minutes to play and is free for up to ten players. 

Once you're ready to launch the game, share your screen with audience members. Then, have participants answer questions using their mobile devices. 

15. Gamify Connections 

You can motivate even the shyest person to open up with this conference energizer. Gamified Connections incentivizes people to interact with others during your conference. For example, with this activity, you can award points to people who make a certain number of connections at a networking session.

The audience member with the most points can get a prize. 

16. Give 1:1 Sessions with Experts

Another great conference energizer is 1:1 sessions with experts. Guests will love the opportunity to discuss their challenges privately with people specializing in specific areas. The sessions also don't have to be long. To ensure as many people as possible have a chance to speak with an expert, make each session 10 minutes. Also, have attendees submit their questions before their time slot. That way, the expert can prepare a thoughtful response.  

17. Play a Super-Quick Team Building Game 

Foster deeper connections with the popular Team Building Game by Slides With Friends. This pre-made, ready-to-play deck is full of fun features like polls, image sharing, ratings, and word clouds. All the interactive prompts in this activity are geared to help your attendees come together and feel good. 

It's free to play for up to ten players unless you have a paid plan . When you're ready to launch the game, share your screen with guests, and tell them to submit answers using their mobile devices.  

18. Give a Cooking Lesson 

Give your attendees a fun way to bond with each other by hosting a cooking lesson! You can set up a mobile kitchen on stage and bring in a local chef to walk your attendees through making the meal. Then, of course, serve some of that yummy food! This conference energizer provides a unique opportunity to network and hang out . You can host this activity during a lunch break or at the end of the day.

But for this idea to work for remote conferences, send attendees the recipe before the lesson starts, and consider sending a gift card to help them buy ingredients. 

19. Play a Controversial Questions Game 

Unique and full of fun office-appropriate questions, the Controversial Questions Game by Slides With Friends is the perfect conference energizer to kickstart your event!

This ready-to-play icebreaker has tons of interesting and easily debatable questions like "Should you tell someone if food is stuck in their teeth?" With this customizable game, you'll get people talking and energized in no time. 

20. Play Harry Potter Trivia 

Few things get everyone amped, but Harry Potter is definitely one of them. So let your guests kick back and have fun with this exciting, pre-made Harry Potter Trivia Game by Slides With Friends. 

This wickedly fun game will spark friendly competition as attendees compete to see who's the best wizard. It's great for a happy hour or networking session. Also, it comes with multiple rounds and displays the top scores after each round to show who's the most knowledgeable wizard at your conference. 

21. Have a DJ or Live Band 

Want to end your event on a high note? Then, hire a live band or DJ to help wrap up your conference. You can schedule a daytime or nighttime gathering for attendees to hear the music. If you want to make things even more fun, have drinks, food, and games available. 

And dancing. Always dancing.

Enhance Your Event With Conference Energizers

Creating the best experience possible is crucial to having a great event. So, if you want to ensure your gathering is successful, use the conference energizers in this article to get guests amped and excited to be there.

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The 7 Most Interactive Sessions We’ve Seen at Innovative Events

As event organizers, we are constantly searching for new creative meeting formats that will wow our audience. We all want to move beyond the one-size-fits-all, been-there-done-that sessions. We want to bring our participants a powerful and engaging learning experience.

Having worked on more than 160,000 events, we’ve had the chance to visit hundreds of conferences and attend thousands of different sessions. From what we’ve seen at these events, we hand-picked seven sessions that stood out for their creativity, bursting interaction and skillful use of Slido.

In each of these cases, the result was an immersive session that made an impact on participants, their engagement with presenters and their overall learning.

Google Demo Day: Connecting the audience with startups

For startups and VC investors, pitching events are an indispensable part of life. Startups attend them to get feedback and secure investment. Investors and participants fancy them as they can get exposure to a lot of new ideas in a relatively short time.

However, to make the pitching events meaningful for both sides, it’s necessary to set up an effective backchannel that will connect the founders and the audience. During Google Demo Day 2016, the organizers decided to use Slido to help them achieve the following interaction goals.

Collecting audience questions in real-time

As we all know, pitching competitions run on a tight schedule and the audience is usually left out of the conversation. The Google Demo Days organizers, therefore, used Slido to let the onsite, as well as online audience, ask questions and send comments while the teams were pitching onstage.

Being equipped with tablets, the judges were able to view and ask top questions on behalf of the audience and thus maximize the effectiveness of the 5-minute Q&A time. Knowing that their questions might be addressed, participants were eagerly interacting, asking more than 160 questions throughout the event.

Gaining feedback on the problems the startups are trying to solve

In addition to collecting questions from the audience, the organizers also used live polls to help startups gain feedback on the specific problems that their companies were trying to solve. The poll questions were activated during the pitch adding another layer of engagement with the presented ideas.

For example, the organizers asked poll questions such as:

Who has the final decision on when a student is ready to play after an injury? (62% Doctor)

In which grade should schools introduce tablets and technology in the classrooms?  (47% Elementary)

What types of ads do you find the most influential in your purchasing decision? (57% Sales and discounts)

Audience prize voting on the best startup

A good pitching event isn’t complete without appointing a winner. In addition to the official winner selected by the judges, the event organizers empowered the attendees to appoint their people’s choice. To do that, the organizers created a poll with a list of pitching startups.

Once all the pitches were over, the organizers activated the poll and let people vote for their favorite team. By sending in over 650 votes, participants appointed a winner of the Game Changer Award.

Inspiration for #EventProfs:

When organizing a pitching competition at your event, crowdsource questions from the audience to give startups a chance to address what the participants are interested in learning about their projects. Use live polls to engage people while also generating valuable feedback for the pitching teams.

Finally, let people appoint their favorite idea with the final vote to keep them on the edge of their seats throughout the whole event.

Eventex: Giving delegates space to prepare for Q&A

At many traditional conferences, Q&A sessions are often the only time dedicated to audience interaction. And even then, they are rarely handled to their fullest potential – people don’t have questions, many say. But they do. You just need to give them space and time to formulate them.

At the Eventex conference, moderator Jan-Jaap got the audience to come up with questions before the talk. Before the speaker opened her presentation, he encouraged the participants to write down three questions on a piece of paper. During the presentation, they were to tick off the topics that the presenter addressed.

Once she was through with her talk, Jan-Jaap prompted participants to submit the unanswered questions via Slido. After 1-2 minutes, the questions started pouring in and people automatically upvoted the ones they found most relevant. Then Jan-Jaap asked the speaker the three questions with the highest number of votes. This way, he ensured that the most burning topics were addressed during the 10-minute Q&A session.

Include a few moments for reflection so your audience can prepare its questions. By doing this, you will ensure that there are plenty of them when the Q&A time comes. No awkward silence guaranteed. Also, encouraging people to upvote the submitted questions will help you maximize the effectiveness of the Q&A time by addressing the most burning topics.

Exclusively Corporate @IMEX: Replacing slides with live polls

A growing number of speakers are using live polling to energize presentations and gauge the participants’ stances on the given topics. In many cases, live polls still only complement a slide deck. But there are also experienced presenters who completely replace their slide decks with live polls to create truly immersive experiences.

At the IMEX Exclusively Corporate session, presenters Padraic Gilligan and Patrick Delaney from SoolNua ditched the presentation tools in favor of live polls that they used to deliver their message and make everyone in the room feel involved.

They began their talk with two icebreaking polls to make people feel comfortable with the tool as well as the session format. As the votes came in, they commented on the results, providing extra context to the topic and loosening up the atmosphere.

Next, they moved on to more industry-specific polls such as, How long have you been in the meetings industry and what is your role in the organization? This allowed Padraic and Patrick to highlight how much knowledge was present in the room and encouraged the participants to use this opportunity and learn from one another.

After that, Padraic and Patrick used Slido to crowdsource the greatest challenges that the participants wanted to hear addressed during the session. Participants brainstormed in groups, then submitted and collectively upvoted the key areas.

During the World Cafe session at the end of the day, groups were created based on the crowdsourced topics. Participants could then choose three different topics and discuss them in a small group for 15 minutes.

When integrated well, live polls can be much more than a tech gimmick. Use them to open your event, introduce speakers, or if you have an innovative facilitator, suggest ditching slides in favor of polls. For more inspiration and real examples of polls, make sure to check out this article.

Dell’s #Social360 UnConference @SXSW: Interactive quiz to introduce speakers

If you organize an event with multiple tracks, your attendees will sooner rather than later face the dilemma of which session to attend. In most cases, they make the decision solely on their gut feeling and a brief description in the agenda.

So how can you help them? It’s hard without introducing the speakers properly.

The organizers of Dell’s #Social360 UnConference at SXSW came up with a brilliant idea to help the audience get to know the speakers and their topics. Not only was the introduction super-engaging, it also helped people get their bearings.

The event started with a survey game that people are familiar with from popular TV trivia games. The presenters were divided into two teams and the host asked a series of questions based on the pre-event survey and let teams guess the right answers.

As on TV, the team which hit the buzzer fastest was allowed to answer first. If it guessed one of the top three answers from the survey results, it gained points. To make the game more informative, the moderator asked a large number of follow-up questions to enable presenters to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise.

The other advantage of posing questions openly is that it got people to think about the topic and take a guess themselves. It effectively uncovered knowledge gaps that needed to be filled in later during the day. And finally, this session also offered delegates a great overview of the topics and allowed them to select the speaker from whom they wanted to hear more.

Inspiration from #EventProfs:

If possible, introduce your presenters to the audience right at the beginning. Take inspiration from the use case above and make it similarly fun and engaging. Not only will this help your delegates compose their schedule, you will also generate more exposure for your presenters. Since many presenters often agree to speak about the promise of building new contacts, they will appreciate it immensely.

Interactive theater: Making participants part of the story

According to meeting designers Mike van der Vijver and Eric de Groot, meetings are like theater plays. With the presence of a stage, lighting and speakers who closely resemble actors, participants are temporarily involved in a different reality, in a story.

Whether you can identify with this analogy or not, there’s a lot that people can learn from the drama. We were thrilled when interactive theater, Arcola Theatre, used Slido in a play to involve audience members and make them a part of the story.

The play’s title was ‘Technically Speaking’ and it revolved around stories of men suffering from mental health illness. The goal was to raise awareness of mental health issues and get audience members to come away with their version of the story, depending on how much, or how little, they wanted to involve themselves.

To help participants get the most out of the show, the actors used live polls to help each attendee to take a moment and contemplate questions related to mental illness, which was the overarching theme of the play.

There were many poll questions that ranged from:  ‘ Under what conditions should the parenting skills of a father with a mental disability be assessed? ’ to  ‘How should we respond to jokes about mental illness?’

The results of each poll were then displayed on a screen so the participants could clearly see where the majority of the audience shared the same viewpoints and where the opinion was divided. Also, how their individual opinion stood in the context of the general opinion.

People crave for inclusion. Live polls allow you to include tens, hundreds or thousands of participants at the same time, hear out their opinion and show individual stances in the context of the general opinion in the room. Making live polling contextual is key, try to come up with polls that correlate with the theme of your event to make people want to participate.

MIMS Clinical Update: Using quiz to benchmark doctors’ learning

Generating participation at medical conferences is tough. Presentations are content-heavy. And presenters feel obliged to elaborate on details, which often results in one-way information delivery. So how do you transform this traditional format in a way that would involve participants and help them learn better?

Live polling for improving doctors’ learning

Haymarket Media, t he organizers of the MIMS Clinical Update Conference came up with a genius idea.

Instead of letting their presenters —general practitioners—just broadcast their learnings, they used live polls to allow participants to actively engage with the presented information. The medical experts presented a series of pictures with patient conditions and introduced potential remedies.

After this introduction, the experts showed audience members photos of medical cases and asked people to choose the best treatment via live polls. Not to bias people’s responses, the presenters let people cast their votes first. And only when the votes were in, they displayed the results.

The speakers then analyzed results and provided further advice on how to treat the illnesses. The participation rate was impressive with over 1800 votes in 70 polls.

Anonymity for sensitive topics

In addition to live polling, the MIMS organizers also used Slido to allow people to ask questions anonymously during their Q&A sessions with speakers. Health is always a sensitive topic and even doctors might refrain from asking questions about health conditions openly.

Thanks to the anonymous feature, general practitioners in the audience asked almost 250 relevant questions without feeling uncomfortable. Knowing specific questions that worried the audience helped significantly improve the quality of the discussion time.

Inspiration for #EventProfs

In order to fully internalize new knowledge, give your delegates some time and space for reflection. Polling delegates, as described in the MIMS Clinical Update example above, allowed event organizers to involve their participants in the learning process, got them to actively think about their responses and as a result helped them to better process the newly-acquired knowledge.

Adobe Summit: Energizing the introduction of new product features

Making the introduction of new features interactive can be a real challenge. The director of one of the leading Analytics tools masterfully combined feature demonstrations, live polls and onstage interviews with participants to turn his product update session into one of the event highlights.

There were two goals that the speaker wanted to accomplish:

First, he intended to show the new features which the Analytics developers had sweated over. Second, he hoped to gain real-time feedback from about 400 participants present in the room.  

After introducing the outline and objectives of the session, the director gave the stage to two of his colleagues who introduced individual features. While the features were being presented, the audience provided its feedback through the open poll submissions. Each input included the person’s name, feature, and the comments so they could be identified later.

One of the directors’ colleagues monitored the incoming inputs and copied them to a separate sheet where he sorted them out.

As soon as the feature demos were over, the director let the audience members vote for the feature they found most useful via an open poll. Based on the results, the colleague who had been sitting in the audience to this point stepped out and called out two participants with the best comments endorsing the two winning features.

Incentivized by some prize money, they elaborated on their comments while the director was bringing in more input from the audience. To conclude the session, the director ran the final poll to give the audience a chance to select the top feature.

With survey response rates progressively dropping, running a live poll is a unique opportunity to effectively collect feedback from 50, 100 or 500 experts attending your session. Having an open poll allows you to collect longer, more elaborate feedback that can be used for further analysis. Not only can you collect valuable ideas with polls, but you can turn otherwise mundane introduction sessions into an engaging experience.

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105+ Creative Presentation Ideas to Engage Your Audience

Written by: Orana Velarde

With most people tuning out of a PowerPoint presentation within the first 10 minutes , developing engaging slide show presentation ideas that keep your audience hooked till the end can be a challenge.

This is why we've created this post with 105+ creative presentation ideas to help you put together exciting presentations that don't put your audience to sleep. You can use these presentation ideas for business meetings, webinars, classrooms, online courses, pitch decks and more.

Here are some of the ideas we’re covering:

• Use neon colors and duotones
• Unify transitions horizontally
• Use a monochrome palette
• Tell a personal story
• Use isometric illustrations

In this article, you'll find unique slide examples, templates, designs and more. Put these slide show presentation ideas to practice using our presentation maker and create your own presentation in minutes.

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit Presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more below:

• Add bright and bold colors to make your presentation stand out and grab your audience's attention. Create a vibrant and dynamic look by using neon colors and duotones.
• Instead of using different transitions for each slide, use the same transition horizontally throughout your presentation. This creates a cohesive and visually pleasing flow.
• To create a sophisticated, minimalist look, limit your color choices to shades of a single color.
• Connect with your audience and make your message more relatable by incorporating personal anecdotes or stories into your presentation.
• Add depth and dimension to your presentation with isometric illustrations, which can be a fun and engaging way to present complex information.
• Sign up for Visme’s presentation software to start applying these creative presentation ideas.

105+ Creative Presentation Ideas

The ideas we've shared cut across various design concepts, industries and use cases. We've also sprinkled presentation design ideas from Visme's template library.  If you're running out of creative steam, you can use these templates to jumpstart your designs.

And if you're running out of time, consider using Visme's AI presentation maker to bring these 100 creative presentation ideas to life. It's a user-friendly tool that effortlessly transforms your ideas into visually stunning presentations.

Now, let's jump into the creative presentation design ideas.

1 Use Neon Colors

Neon colors will give your presentation enough color kick to keep the viewer’s attention. Use neon colors either as the background, as specific elements or as details inside the slides. The trick with neon is to not go overboard with the contrasts. Instead of using a neon rainbow, think more along the lines of neon accents.

2 Be Minimal

Using a minimal design composition is one of the unique presentation ideas. The trick is to have just enough information and visual details for the viewer to feel comfortable seeing the slides. A minimal design can instill calm and awe in your audience when done right. The trick with minimalism is to know when enough is enough, you wouldn’t want to be boring instead of minimal.

RELATED:  20+ Examples of Minimalist Design to Inspire Your Own Creations

3 Use all caps

Another creative presentation idea is using all caps when you feel like the topic of your presentation can be delivered with few words. Using all capitals in your slides will give the message importance. This design might not be suited for a text-heavy presentation but maybe one with an audio narrative that goes along with it or bullet points.

Also, this kind of presentation design is suitable for captivating introduction slide ideas.

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4 Go vertical

Rectangular presentations are definitely the norm, but with the rise of Instagram Stories, this might be starting to change. This shift introduces a unique opportunity for those looking for ideas for presentation styles that stand out. Now that we can put archived stories into Highlights, why not publish vertical presentations there? Going vertical is just one idea. Along with that, you can add any other design technique.

5  Use duotones

Duotone doesn’t exactly mean “two colors,” it actually means “two tones.” The idea behind this design angle is to use two contrasting tonalities which can have different shades. The difference between duotone and two colors is that it has a more edgy look. Depending on what two tonalities you choose, it can be subtle or very powerful. The photos used in the design also need to be customized to the duotone color you chose.

6 Add a video in different shapes or snippets

Videos can be a powerful tool in your arsenal for engaging your audience during a presentation. Not only do they help to break up the monotony of a lecture-style presentation, but they can also help to explain complex concepts, add visual interest, and evoke emotions.

One way to make your videos stand out is by using different shapes or snippets. Rather than presenting a standard rectangular video, consider incorporating shapes such as circles, triangles or diamonds. These shapes can add a unique and visually appealing element to your presentation.

Another way to incorporate video snippets is by breaking up a longer video into smaller, bite-sized pieces. This can be particularly useful if you have a lengthy video that you want to show but don't want to lose your audience's attention. By breaking it up into smaller segments, you can keep your audience engaged and prevent them from losing interest.

Don’t worry about the design complexity. If you create your presentation in Visme, you can resize your videos instantly and turn them into any shape you want.

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7  Unify transitions horizontally

Unifying the transitions between slides is always a great idea, but doing it horizontally is especially effective. By keeping all the movements going in one direction, it's both easy to follow and will look great. You don’t need to just apply horizontal transitions to the switch between slides, you can also apply animation to the titles and images. As long as they all go in the same direction, you are gold.

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8  Black and white + spot of bright color

This presentation design idea is highly effective if you're looking for a creative way to present information.

Adding a bright color to a black and white scheme can add just the right amount of attention-grabbing detail to your presentation. Try choosing a powerful color so that it’s really noticeable and pops visually. You can use the color in small amounts or in large sections. Up to you, just remember to maintain a balance throughout.

9 Use a color theme

A cohesive color theme throughout your presentation can engage your audience and create a more visually appealing experience.

To start, consider the overall tone of your presentation and what emotions you want to evoke in your audience. Are you presenting on a serious topic, such as healthcare or finance, where a more subdued color palette may be appropriate?

Or are you presenting on a more lighthearted topic, such as creativity or innovation, where bright and bold colors can help to capture your audience's attention?

Once you have a general idea of your color palette, try to use it consistently throughout your slides. This means using the same background, font and accent colors for headings and graphics– like the presentation template below.

Visme's presentation templates offer a wide range of professionally designed themes with 300+ slides in 20+ different categories, making it the best choice for exploring creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint. You can create visually stunning slides with our carefully curated color schemes and stylish designs.

Read this article about 25 free presentation themes in Visme and find the perfect one.

Visme's presentation maker and branded presentation templates have been helping businesses create impactful presentations while saving them time and money. That's why many businesses choose Visme over other tools.

But don't just take it for word. Here's what one of our satisfied customers has to say about Visme.

"Previously we were using PowerPoint, which is fine, but the interactivity you can get with Visme is so much more robust that we've all steered away from PowerPoint."

"PowerPoint templates are plain and boring, and we want to create more fun and engaging content. Visme has multiple slide templates to choose from, which makes this so much easier."

"I just made a deck recently and it took me about 15-20 minutes. I found a template I really liked and tweaked it and put it in our brand colors. In PowerPoint, it would take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half."

- Kendra Bradley, Graphic Content Developer at WOW!

10  Add full-screen videos

The use of full-screen video in your slides can have a big impact on your storytelling. There’s a catch though. The wrong video will be detrimental to your message, be mindful of the videos you chose to grace the background of your slides. The video should either tell your story without words or be a complement that won’t interfere. The wrong video will confuse your viewers and it will be hard to get their undivided attention back.

If you’re looking for quick idea inspiration, check out our YouTube video where Mike shares 30 of our favorite presentation ideas at a glance.

11  Use an 80’s visual style

If looking for a unique design style, why not try an 80’s style for a change. Neon graffiti writing, disco balls, and brightly colored shapes might go well with your presentation’s topic. You can use 80’s visuals as small complementary elements or as the entirety of the presentation style. Nevertheless, if your presentation is about something quite serious then maybe you should try another style.

All you have to do is provide a text prompt, choose your preferred template style and the tool will generate text, images and icons and prepare a ready-to-use presentation within seconds. 

The flexibility to customize these presentations in the Visme editor adds the perfect finishing touches to your visual storytelling journey.

12  Go vintage

Another creative presentation idea is the vintage look. This could work really well with a history-themed presentation or anything to do with recuperating old traditions. When we say “vintage” we mean sepia-toned photos, intricate picture frames, bold fonts which look like they came out of old posters.

A vintage color palette is usually pastel turquoise green, ochre yellow and washed out blue and orange. You could consider using vintage mockup sets to create scenes for your slides, or use vintage style fonts, and old photographs as backgrounds.

13  Use a monochrome palette

A monochrome palette is one that maintains a single tonality in different strengths. For example, you can create a presentation in shades of blue, or in shades of orange. Use the palest shade for the background and a stronger shade for the titles and decorative shapes. Try doing it the opposite way as well. You can even use photos with a bit of a filter effect in the chosen color by adding a color filter.

14  Tell a personal story

Telling stories from your own life—whether those stories are deeply moving, humorous tales, or just little snippets that allow someone to look into your history—can be a great way to make a presentation more meaningful.

Colin Stokes uses this to his advantage in his TED talk. He begins by talking about the movies he watches with his daughter and what she likes, and then moving into watching a movie with his son, and wondering how it has affected him, allowing him to move seamlessly into his actual points.

Watch the video below to learn how Colin Stokes did it

Choose a relevant story from your past, and tell it with all the honesty that you can. Your audience will feel that, sympathize, and therefore connect more with your message.

15  Creative photo crops

The photos in your presentations can be cropped hundreds of different ways. From simple circles or rectangles to more elaborate triangles, polygons, letter shapes or even a brushstroke. Analyze the message of your presentation to know which shape to use for the cropping of your photos. You can also create a collage with the shapes as long as they don’t distract from the information being presented.

16 Add fun illustrations

Adding fun illustrations is a great idea to engage your audience during a presentation. They can help break up text-heavy slides, make your presentation more visually attractive and reinforce your message, making it one of the best fun presentation ideas.

Hand-drawn doodles, icons and graphics and animated GIFs are all illustrations you can use. To maximize the visual impact of your illustrations, you can use them in 3D.

With Visme, you can enhance your presentation by adding 3D objects that allow you to customize their colors, size and alignment. Additionally, you can add 3D animated graphics to take things to the next level.

When using illustrations, it's important to remember to use them sparingly to avoid overwhelming your audience. Less is more when it comes to adding graphics to your slides. Remember to match the illustrations with your theme and color scheme to keep things consistent.

17  Thick and bold fonts

Huge chunky fonts are a great way to call attention to titles on slides. You could even try making the letters bleed over the edges or place the words vertical along the side. The best thick and bold fonts are the ones with minimal decorations. Try using fonts that have strong corners or the opposite, extreme rounded terminals. It will also work best if the title is short and sweet.

18 Go with nature

Freshen up your presentation with some natural elements around the edges or as a background. You could use full-screen background photos of leaves or palm fronds coming in from the sides of the slides.

Another presentation idea would be to use nature-related photography along with other design ideas like interesting photo crops. This technique could be used for presentations that relate to nature or natural topics, but also for a home decor proposal or creative direction pitch for a TV ad.

Integrating nature into your slides is a beautiful presentation example of how to connect with your audience on a different level. This technique could be used for presentations about environmental topics or even about home decoration.

19 Use circles

Circles represent wholeness and a natural sense of completion. They can signify eternity and constant movement. They can also make your presentation more friendly and emotionally accessible. You can try using circles as decorative elements or as the shape for cropping images and as backgrounds for illustrations.

20 Add some sparkle (glitter backgrounds)

Give your presentations a little bit of a festive feel with some glittery details. This PowerPoint idea can work great if you are presenting a creative proposal for a fashion label or clothing catalog. It can even work really well for holiday-themed pitches or products. There are different types of glittery graphics you can use, like a glitter texture, a glittering rain or even just a dash of glitter. You can find some great glitter backgrounds and textures over at Freepik .

21 Get crafty (ripped paper details)

Sometimes to tell a story, visual details can really help get a mood across. Ripped paper shapes and edges can give a presentation a special feel, almost as if it was done by hand. This visual technique works for any type of presentation except maybe in a corporate setting. Ripped paper can be found on creative graphics resource sites or you can do it yourself and take a photo.

22 Cut-out paper illustrations

Another crafty idea to design your slides is by using cut paper illustrations. This technique could look really crafty or quite elegant if done well. Cut paper can be used as an elaborate background, as the letters in titles or as decorative elements. There are some great cut paper bundles online to use as PNG files which can be uploaded to the Visme editor.

23  Pathway transitions

Create interesting transitions by designing scenes or pathways instead of just sliding them in one unified direction. By doing this, you can use a storytelling technique that will keep the audience’s attention throughout the presentation and information relay. You can find out how to do it in our free guide to creating captivating presentations .

Create an automatically animated presentation in minutes.

24  use isometric illustrations.

If you are looking for a different way to illustrate your slides, why not consider using isometric illustrations? This style of illustration is great for explaining things that can be separated into parts. The parts can be animated as well. An isometric illustration can work for any kind of presentation, from technology to corporate. It will give your presentation a modern edge and a professional look.

25  Use motion graphics

Motion graphics are a great way to illustrate an idea with animated objects . They don’t tell stories on their own, they support the context and illustrate the content.

For example, if your presentation is about travel, you could have flying airplanes across the slides or bags on a luggage conveyor belt. For something more abstract, you can use moving shapes and add effects to the titles. Your Visme editor has a variety of design tools to help you create all sorts of content with motion graphics.

Here’s what one of Visme’s satisfied customers Jessica L. | Small-Business Owner, has to say about Visme’s presentation tool:

"No need to go back to PowerPoint. Visme makes project presentations easy and fast. Lots of useful templates and excellent graphics. I enjoy the features they continue to add and update often. They make project work easy".

26  Add GIFs to your slides

GIFs can be fun, entertaining and humorous. They can also be informational. GIFs be sourced from sites like Giphy , where you can also create your own! Choosing to include a GIF in your presentation slide or a few different GIFs will depend on what message you want to send with your story. The theme and topic of your presentation will help you decide if you need a clip from a blockbuster movie or a quick representation of the process of your systems.

RELATED:  Everything You Need to Know About Using Cool GIFs in Your Marketing

27  Use quotes between slides

Quotes can be good breathers between a bunch of informative slides. You can either use them to separate ideas inside your presentation or to start new sections of information. It’s important that your quotes represent the topic of your presentation so that they make sense and not confuse the viewer.

28  Start with “once upon a time”

One of the most effective and engaging ways to present a presentation is by incorporating creative storytelling techniques.

If a presentation can be created as a story, then why not go all the way and start the presentation with a classic story opening? Using the “once upon a time” phrase will instantly grab the viewer’s attention because it will be out of the ordinary. Make a slide especially for it with a visual that matches the topic of your presentation.

29  Turn the slides into a scrolling infographic instead of a presentation

To showcase your content in a unique and engaging way, consider using creative slide ideas that break away from the traditional slide-by-slide approach. For instance, you can arrange your slides vertically to create a scrolling infographic instead of a classic slide-by-slide transition presentation.

This innovative format expands the types of presentations you can create, offering a fresh perspective on information delivery.

An added bonus to this presentation style is to add parallax scrolling or interaction animation. As the viewer scrolls down, the information fills each slide progressively. It doesn’t continue until the viewer scrolls again. This technique is best for displaying online slide show presentation ideas.

Create a scrolling presentation in minutes.

30  engage your audience.

What’s one of the best ways to make your presentations more interesting? Make the audience a part of them.

Regardless if you’re presenting in person to a room full of people or via Zoom to viewers around the world, there are a number of techniques to engage your audience with both your content and yourself. The trick is to make them feel connected somehow, like they can relate. You can achieve this with humor, storytelling, asking questions and inviting them to leave comments in the webinar chat window.

Take this speech by Donovan Livingston. He delivers a commencement speech in spoken word poetry, and specifically encourages the audience to take part, saying they should clap, throw their hands in the air, or otherwise participate if they feel so moved. While not seen, several people are heard cheering and clapping throughout the video.

Participation can also be accomplished through things such as games, posing questions or something as simple as asking participants to raise their hands.

31 Use a scrunched paper background

Give your presentation a laid-back and grunge feel by designing it with a scrunched paper background. It can be any kind of paper really, depending on your topic. It could be notebook paper, or printer paper, it could even be recycled paper. Try a few different types of paper until you find the one that suits your story.

32 Add interactive pop-ups

Adding interactive pop-ups is a game-changer when it comes to creative ways of presenting. These pop-ups allow you to go beyond the traditional approach, giving your audience a more dynamic and engaging experience.

Interactive pop-ups can take many forms, from quizzes and polls to clickable infographics and interactive timelines. With Visme, you can access various interactive features that can help you create engaging and effective presentations.

For example, you can create clickable icons or buttons that allow your audience to explore additional information or resources. You can also create interactive timelines that enable your audience to explore different events or milestones.

One of the most powerful interactive features of Visme is the ability to create quizzes and polls. You can make interactive questions and answer options that allow your audience to engage with your presentation on a deeper level.

You can also use this feature to gather feedback from your audience, allowing you to tailor your presentation to their needs and interests.

Watch the video below or read this article to learn how to create an interactive presentation .

33  Use a back-to-school theme

A back-to-school theme can make your presentation look like a lot of fun. This is a great technique for teachers and educators welcoming their students back to a new school year. The background can be a sheet of notebook paper, an open notebook, or a blackboard. The edges could be decorated with pencils and paperclips, maybe an eraser or sharpener. The back-to-school theme has lots of possibilities.

34  Use a billboard-inspired theme

Use billboard mockups to create slides which look like billboards. This could look interesting and quite unique.  You could use the same billboard for all the slides, or different ones for a more varied approach. This technique would work great with a pitch for an election or a local spot in a government office.  

35  Use black-and-white photography

Black and white photography is a classic design technique. They import elegance and sophistication to any design by providing a minimalistic approach to the visuals. The photos can either be desaturated from color photos or given an artistic flair with extra contrast and fewer grey tones.

36  Explain your reasons

What people really want to know is why you’re giving the presentation you’re giving. This is especially true if you’re pitching to investors or potential new clients. When you share your why with the audience using storytelling and body language, you make meaningful connections and lasting relationships

Simon Sinek explains quite well why this is so important—the greatest leaders, the ones who inspire the most people, understand why they do the things they do, rather than just what or how.

When it comes to explaining your reasons, one tool that can significantly improve your presentations is Visme's AI writer . This advanced feature helps you write your presentation copy, break down complex ideas and edit or improve your existing words. With Visme's AI writer, you can make sure your "why" is clear and easy to understand alongside your visuals.

37  Add an audio narrative

Your presentation doesn’t need to be silent, especially if you won’t be standing by it to tell the story yourself. Adding an audio narrative can turn a viewable presentation into an experience. You can either set it up as a video that runs on its own and the viewer looks and listens, or it can be triggered by arrows that are clicked on.

RELATED:  How to Create a Narrated Presentation With Voice Over Using Visme

38 Follow a space theme with photography

Most of the photos from Nasa are labeled as public domain. Meaning that you can give your presentation a space theme quite easily. Choose images of astronauts in space or more abstract and colorful images like distant galaxies and nebulas. The latter can make great backgrounds behind content without the topic necessarily being about space.

39 Do a space theme with illustration

An illustrated space theme can be either colorful and whimsical or sober and elegant. By choosing the style of illustration you use, you can either use this technique for presentations related to children or scientists. Cartoon astronauts can be lots of fun, line illustration planets can be educational and data-driven drawings can be informational.

40  Include music

Sometimes, when listening to someone talk for long periods of time, it helps to have something else to draw your attention. While images are great, including music can really help stimulate an audience and set the mood.

Dean Burnett talks about why this happens: “[Music] provides non-invasive noise and pleasurable feelings, to effectively neutralize the unconscious attention system’s ability to distract us.” Essentially, music is entertaining enough that, when in the background, can keep us focused on otherwise un-entertaining things.

Take, for example, this valedictorian’s speech. While peppered with humor and stories of his time through high school, he uses background music to help keep people’s attention—in fact, this is specifically stated to be his reason for including music, humorously quipping about giving the audience something to listen to while they “zone out” of his speech.

Whether incorporated into individual slides, in a video, done live, or with a music-playing device nearby, this creative presentation idea can be a great way to enhance the quality of your speech or talk.

41  Graffiti photography backgrounds and details

Using colorful backgrounds like photos of urban graffiti can give your presentation a bit of an edge. There are lots of free photographs of graffiti on sites like Unsplash which you can use straight away. Apart from graffiti murals, you can also incorporate graffiti letterings in your titles and quotes. You can find graffiti style fonts online quite easily.

42  Stop-motion

The stop-motion technique can take time but it can also make your presentation unforgettable. There are lots of ways to use stop-motion, either with characters doing actions or objects that move around and create a scene. Stop-motion can also be used to create titles that move into place. What the title is written with can be anything, from toys to plants. The theme and topic of your presentation will ultimately be the driving point to what kind of stop-motion can be used. But be sure that it works from educational to promotional to corporate.

43  Claymation

Very similar to stop-motion, claymation is the animation of things created with clay or play-doh. Anything can be created with clay, so the possibilities really are endless about what can be achieved. This technique really does take a lot of time, you can source it out to a professional or buy some already created footage. The claymation can be just a decorative element in the background or it could also be the center of the presentation.

44  Color blocking

The color blocking technique is another creative presentation idea that entails using color in large sections and in contrasting tones. The idea is that the color blocks will be strong and colorful. The color blocks can either be the shapes that determine where the information goes or just a way to separate the slides in specific sections.

Any type of presentation can benefit from color blocking. Just make sure you use colors that go together and don’t clash. Explore this technique for different presentation slide ideas, especially when aiming for a bold and visually striking effect.

45  Get surreal

Surrealism is an avant-garde movement from the 20th century which was meant to tap into subconscious creativity. This might not be the kind of design technique for any sort of presentation but it can work for one that is about art, or literature or other creative outlets. There are plenty of surrealist artworks in the public domain sector or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These can be used as subtle backgrounds or visual complements to the text.

Designing a presentation for an organization requires input from different stakeholders. However, when collaborating with others on a presentation design, keeping track of all the moving parts can be difficult.

That's where Visme's workflow management feature comes in. It helps organize roles, tasks, progress, deadlines and corrections all in one place to make your presentation design process efficient and smooth.

46  Polaroids

Polaroids, often a photography favorite, can inspire creative photography presentation ideas. The original Polaroids from the 70’s could be used as vintage polaroids that have been kept in a box for years. The newest Instamatic photographs, which are the new kind of polaroids, can be used for a fun way to show photos and visuals in presentation slides. You could either use one polaroid per slide or a collection of polaroids on a table or corkboard.

There are many topics that can work with Polaroid photography backgrounds and details in your slide show presentation ideas.

47  Use a Handwriting Font

Fonts come in all shapes and sizes, including lots of handwriting fonts. Handwritten fonts can be used for any type of presentation as long as the style matches the topic of the information. There are kid-style handwriting, calligraphy style handwriting, hand lettering, and novelty fonts as well. The options are wide and varied for this design technique. Creative Bloq has a great collection of handwritten fonts.

48  Use a geometric background

A geometric background can look really nice on any presentation. Geometric backgrounds can be tiled polygons or more abstract compositions of different size polygons. The decision to choose between tiled shapes and more creative compositions will depend on your creative angle and disposition. You can use these types of designs with any colors, so you can match the theme or your brand.

49 Coffee style design

Using a coffee-style design can work for any PowerPoint presentation idea, from office-related topics to digital nomads to anything or anyone who loves coffee. If the background is subtle, it can fit a more serious topic or data report. It can make a boring presentation just a bit more visually entertaining than the rest. Of course, it can also be perfect for a small coffee brewer pitching their company to investors.

50  Include memes

You’ve seen them everywhere by this point. You might be pretty sick of them. However, that doesn’t mean memes can’t be useful—in fact, using a couple strategically can surprise the audience and make them laugh.

The presentation " Memes, Memes Everywhere" focuses on, unsurprisingly, memes, and explains their purpose while using examples on every slide, which help support their points and add some humor to a very text-heavy presentation.

Choosing relevant memes and using them sparingly can really help add some personality to your presentation, without distracting from the work.

RELATED: 85+ Best Free Presentation Templates

51  Polka dots

Using a polka-dot background is suitable for various types of presentations. It can give your presentation a whimsical look or simply give it a subtle texture. The polka dots could be small and soft or big and punchy. A strong polka-dot background can work great in a creative setting or even boring data analysis. The style of polka dots will depend on the general topic of your presentation. You can use the polka-dot design as a full background or as a decorative section on the slide.

52  Metaphors

Visual metaphors can be useful in a similar manner; they can spice up your presentation, illustrate your point, and make your work far more entertaining. James Geary speaks about just how important metaphors are.

His presentation provides several examples of metaphors--such as the phrase “some jobs are jails”--and explains just how hard it is to ignore the lasting power of a well-used metaphor. Because of the connotations a metaphor can bring to the table, their use is an excellent way to imbue added meaning to your words.

53  Use timelines in your slides

Timelines can be used in lots of different ways inside a PowerPoint presentation, and the ideas are limitless. A timeline can either be inside one slide, or it can be connected between various slides. You can make a timeline with icons, connected shapes, or an inclined line. The timeline can be a visual way of explaining a chronological event or a plan of action that needs to be taken care of. Make sure the timeline fits the rest of the theme.

54  Use a comic book style

Comic books are a source of inspiration for many people. The visual aspect of a comic style composition can really make your presentation shine. There are a few ways you can use this technique. You could set up the slides as if they were snippets of a comic book, place the text in speech and thought bubbles and apply a background with a pointillist texture. If using characters, make sure the characters fit the theme of your presentation. For a perfect fit, hire a designer to create a comic book presentation just for your company.

55  Use a manga style

Looking for creative PowerPoint slide ideas that stand out? Consider taking inspiration from the Japanese art of Manga. Manga can give your presentation a distinct and eye-catching look, much like comic books.

It isn’t as versatile as a comic book because it has a more specific look, so it might not work for all topics. It can work for more creative outlets like fashion, art, and photography. Manga has a specific style for the atmosphere around the unique characters as well. They are more common in black and white and look very photographic.

56  Use psychedelic visuals

Psychedelia was a big part of the design world in the 60’s and 70’s. Music and creative event posters were so intricate and colorful that they took an important place in the design history books. This design style can be used for a unique visual approach in your presentations. Just like many other techniques we have mentioned, they can be used as a background in slides or as decorative elements. The swirly shapes and contrasting colors can call attention to the viewer in a positive way.

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57  Use neon lights

Neon lights are a great way to give your presentation some life when it’s otherwise visually bland. There are plenty of neon light fonts available online to choose from, from classic style neon tubing on a wall to a neon style given to a font to make it look like neon. Presentations of any topic can be given an additional visual with a bit of neon brightness.

58  Cinemagraph backgrounds

A cinemagraph is like a GIF loaded with elegance. The idea behind a cinemagraph is a photo with a moving section which makes it look cinematic. This kind of background can keep your viewers happily hypnotized while listening to your audio narrative or keep them on the slide longer to truly grasp the information being given. There are cinemagraphs available for all sorts of themes and topics. You can definitely find one that suits your needs.

59  Full-screen video backgrounds

A full-screen background can be really appealing. But just like other design ideas, the video you choose needs to match the theme and topic of your presentation. Your best bet is to have a video which is directly related to what your presentation is about. Videos can be created especially for your purpose, sourced with permission from YouTube or bought from a stock video site.

60  Visualize data

Staring at a large amount of numbers on screen can be overwhelming for most people, even if the realities of those numbers enforce your point. What’s the best way to avoid scaring your crowd? Put the data into easily understandable visualizations.

If you want to take this a step further, you can use illustrations or create infographics to make these data visualizations even more engaging.

61  Use a wild west theme

The wild west is not a very versatile theme but can work for a history project or a proposal for a wild west themed party or event. What entails a wild west theme? Brown sandy tones, horses, cowboys, and tumbleweeds. If the full-on wild west theme is too much, you can also take a cue from the era and be inspired by the color scheme. Another approach would be to use photography from the actual west of the United States, mountains and deserts and so on.

62 Use mind maps

Mind maps are great visual tools for explaining concepts easily. By including mind maps in your slides, you can relay complicated information visually and creatively. There are eight types of mind maps, the most common being bubble maps, the tree map, and flow map. Each one has a different purpose and you can learn all about this in our guide about mind maps in the Visual Learning Center.

63  Use interactive geographic maps

The difference between a static map and an interactive map will define how much attention your slides get. Regions can switch colors according to a change in data over time, making the map more into a chart. With Visme, you can make your maps interactive with live data . All you need to do is sync your data from a Google Sheets file and when your presentation is published online, your map will always be synchronized to that data.

Want to create your own interactive map?

• Create a color-coded map to visualize geographical data
• Choose either the entire world map, a continent or a country
• Enable feature to have data values appear on hover

64  Color contrasts

Using contrasting colors in your slides will make the information pop out of the screen in a positive way. The trick to using contrasting colors is to know how colors match together. Contrasting doesn’t mean they need to clash. Try using a color palette generator like Adobe Color to find great palettes that will make this technique your new best friend. You can learn more about how color works in our guide about color perception in the Visme Learning Center.

65  Live data graphs

Adding live data to a presentation can turn your slides into evergreen content in a flash. You can use any type of chart and populate it with live data such as bar graphs, line graphs, pie graphs, and more. You can add live data graphs to one or two slides in your presentation or have a series of them. Creating a live data graph is easy with the Visme editor.

66  Color fade transitions

Transitions come in lots of different styles. We have mentioned horizontal transitions, animated transitions, and pathway transitions. This particular technique involves color as the ruling factor.

A color-fade transition makes each slide connected to each other through color. This can be achieved with gradients, color blocks, or colored photo filters. Make your PowerPoint presentation ideas stand out with color fade transitions.

67  “Grow” your presentation so it looks like one animated slide

This creative PowerPoint idea is quite interesting as it really only uses one slide that grows upon itself. The practical way to do this is to create the final slide with all the parts and information set up like a finished puzzle. Once you have the completed slide, duplicate it as many times as you need and systematically take off a bit of information until you’ve reached the first title slide. Once you have all the slides, make sure they are in order before downloading the entire thing.

RELATED:  A Non-Designer’s Guide to Creating Memorable Visual Presentations [Free E-Book]

68  Use humor

Want a great way to connect with your audience and make a memorable, more engaging presentation? Be funny. When used strategically, this is a great way to capture attention. In fact, infusing humor into your talk is one of the most effective fun presentation ideas you can use.

Morgan Spurlock makes wonderful use of this in his TED talk. For example, in one of his earliest statements, he offered individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humor in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

69  Tree diagram transitions

A tree diagram is one of the eight thinking maps which help visualize idea and concepts. The purpose of a tree diagram is to classify and organize information. This map can help build a presentation by making sure each slide is a continuation of the one before. They might need to be grouped into sections so that all the information is relayed easily.

Want to create your own tree diagram?

• Get a head start with pre-made flowchart blocks
• Easily snap lines and objects together
• Dozens of shapes and lines styles to choose from

70  Journal style (with hand-drawn illustrations on the margins)

One creative presentation idea is to make your talk just a little bit different than the rest is to use a journal style. The general visual idea for this technique is to make your slides look like the pages of a journal. The style of the journal will depend on what your presentation topic is. It can be a whimsical bullet journal or an intricate botany journal. You could even consider handwriting on paper as a background.

71  Ink splatters

Use ink splatters to decorate your slides any way you like. They can be big and impressive behind the content, or they can be small and subtle like drops from a pen. An ink splatter can give your presentation a bit of an artistic flair and if done right, can make your slides look elegant and clean. Any style of presentation can benefit from some ink splatters as a decorative element.

If you're looking for fresh presentation slide ideas, why not experiment with ink splatters and see how they can enhance your next presentation?

72  Passport with stamps

Using travel stamps as a decorative element can work for a presentation with a travel-theme or a creative design proposal for a department store or airport mall. The stamps can be used as a background on a passport page or on their own around the content. A photo of a real passport page can be used for this technique but there are plenty of graphics available in this style on sites like Freepik .

73  Express your emotions

We can sometimes be afraid of expressing how we feel, even to those we’re close to, much less in front of a crowd. However, showing them makes your words more authentic and can generate compassion or excitement in your audience.

Take this TED talk by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger , for example. While the two talk about their experiences, their voices break and crack. The emotional turmoil they went through is clearly heard, and viewers can clearly understand their pain.

This can take some getting used to, and some courage. However, the results are well worth the effort.

74  Use a video game theme

Video games come in all shapes and sizes. From kids' games to arcade games to car games. Each one has their own style, just like presentations do. If you think a video game visual style is good for your project, consider all the different kinds until you find the one that fits best. You can use game screenshots as backgrounds or infuse the entire design of the presentation with the video game style you chose.

75  Use postcards

One of the least-used creative presentation ideas is to turn your content inside slides into postcards which have been sent from around the world. They can be new postcards which could be used from either front or back sides. The back part would make a great text block for the content you need to display, the photo side can be on the sides or as a background. This design technique can work for presentations about literature, family connections, history or travel. There are postcard templates available on sites like Creative Market .

76  Incorporate robots in the design

Using robots in your slides can be a creative approach to visually elevate your presentation. There are different styles of robots you can add to your presentation design; realistic photography of anamorphic robots, cute illustrated robots, or robotic parts from factories. These visuals might only apply for technology-themed presentations or about robots themselves. Cute illustrations of robots can be great backgrounds for whimsical topics or other styles of storytelling presentations.

77  Chalk on blackboard

Looking for creative slides presentation ideas? Consider using a chalkboard design to add a unique and nostalgic touch to your presentation.

Writing on a chalkboard is not limited to a school setting or a bar menu. These two might be the most common yet they are not the only possibilities for using chalk on a blackboard. A good handwriting font is the best companion to a chalkboard design. Some of these fonts are already available with a chalky texture and others might need some professional tweaking to get the right texture.

78  Get inspired by a specific location

Even if the PowerPoint presentation ideas you are designing are not about a specific place in the world, you can be inspired by one to set up the color scheme and feel of the slides. For example, if you get inspired by Greece, you can use white and light blue hues or even photos of Greek islands. If you get inspired by Brazil, you can use photos of the beach, the texture of the boardwalk tiles or green, blue, and yellow color schemes.

79  Use props

Using props can quickly turn a run-of-the-mill presentation into a unique, interactive experience. Kenny Nguyen demonstrates this well. In his talk he often refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Choosing similar props can help you really illustrate your points—and make it that much more entertaining, too.

80  Use hashtags as titles

In the age of social media, hashtags are used every day. They appear regularly on social media, in spoken and written conversations, and of course in content marketing. Why not include some hashtags as titles? This technique will work great in a presentation for a social media content management pitch, or an in an influencer marketing strategy. On another note, hashtag titles can even be used for any type of presentation geared at the digital generation.

81  Black background, white letters, and color accents

When you use a black background, the colors that you place on top will usually look brighter than if they were on a white background. When creating this kind of color palette, make sure the colors you use don’t clash with each other or with the black. Along with the bright colors, make sure you use white to make the composition pop! Neon colors or pastel tones are what will work best.

82  Vintage film edges

Even though we are used to taking photos with our phones, the classic nostalgia of film is still prevalent in the world of visuals and design. The graphic representation of a film negative is as recognizable as an envelope representing an email. Use a vintage film edge along the horizontal edges of your slides to give your visuals a cinematic feel. Even better if you make the edges animated so that it looks like it’s rolling along on a projector.

83 Adult coloring book inspired design

Using a coloring book design can be really creative. Practically anything can be turned into a coloring book style illustration. A great way to use this technique is to have the first slide with the un-colored illustration and then progressively color in the illustration as the slides progress. Furthermore, if the illustration is depictive of the information, the visuals can be even more engaging.

84  Stripes

A stripes design is as classic as it gets. From pinstripes to artistic colorful lines, you can use them as a subtle background or a powerful striped theme intertwined with text boxes. Stripes are the kind of design technique that can work for any type of presentation, from corporate to educational.

85  Make each slide look like a social media post

Just like postcards and polaroids, you could try a creative approach and use social media templates to put the content in. The most notorious social media visual channel is Instagram. It has been known to inspire offline events as well. Make your slides look like social media posts or social media pages. For this technique, you can either use screenshots or templates.

86  Ink in water

Dropping ink in water creates beautiful colorful bubbly designs which can be photographed at high speed. These images can be used as backgrounds for any type of creative theme presentations. Choose the color and thickness of the ink design to match the theme of your presentation. There are also animated versions of this effect which can be bought like video stock.

87  Lego bricks

Use lego bricks as inspiration to fill your presentation slides with color and fun. Use the bricks to create slide frames, letters or even charts. The best approach to a lego inspired presentation is to be creative. There are lots of things you can do with lego, you could go as far as using the legos to write the titles of the slides. Don’t use the Lego logo though unless you are specifically designing a presentation about lego.

88  Use classic storytelling techniques

A presentation is, in a way, like a story—you’re talking about your chosen subject and leading viewers on a journey to discover what that subject means. Moreover, stories hold an intrinsic interest for us. Therefore, you can easily use several storytelling techniques to help improve your presentation.

Alex Blinkoff  goes into this in great detail, examining things such as “The Hero’s Journey” and provides several examples of ways to use storytelling techniques in your presentations. Check them out, and decide what might work best for your subject.

Click on image to view interactive slide show created with Visme

89  Jigsaw puzzles

Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle can be used to make charts, infographic diagrams, or interlocking frames. The idea behind puzzle pieces is that things come together to form a whole and this concept can be used for any slide and any kind of presentation. Make sure to use a suitable color palette that matches your theme and the rest of the presentation.

90  Headlines coming in animated on boats/trains/airplane

Headlines or titles can be given a life of their own inside the slides. One interesting and creative approach would be to make the titles enter the slide on top of some kind of vehicle. The vehicle could be anything, from a train to a boat, to an airplane. Depending on the type of vehicle, this animated technique can be used for child-themed topics, transportation themes, travel ideas, or even about a corporate sales report.

91  Use a camouflage design

Camo doesn’t necessarily need to convey a sense of military, although it does carry a strong connection. Thankfully, camouflage comes in different styles, from jungle greens to desert browns. Other out of the box camouflage styles are the ones where the colors are completely off the charts, like pinks and blues. Camouflage designs are better used as backgrounds or small subtle sections.

92  Use unique novelty fonts for headers

There are so many novelty fonts to choose from out there these days! Using a unique novelty font for the titles and headers is a great way to add some visual pizzazz to your slides. Try looking for some really special fonts that carry personality. Once you have selected the font, add some color and texture to make it look even better.

93  Use a city skyline

Using a background of a city skyline can work great for a presentation related to business or corporate topics. It can also be perfect for an urban travel related theme or educational presentation. You can choose to use photography as a background or with the buildings cut out from the sky. Another choice is to find an illustrated city skyline and use it as a border on the slides.

94  Use a connected dots background

One of the design trends of the last few years is the connected dots visual. It’s used on websites and on printed flyers. It’s so versatile that it can be added to any kind of presentation in a heartbeat. The lines can be short or long between the dots and the composition can be tight or spread out. You can find connected dot visuals easily on sites like Freepik, in lots of different colors. If you can manage vector graphics , you can also change the composition of the dots quite easily yourself.

95  Use a bokeh background

Bokeh is a photography and light technique which turns dots of light into bright shiny spheres. With a bit of creativity, the lights can be turned into shapes, like hearts or stars. This design style is great for backgrounds since it’s mostly abstract. It works best as a complement to the content instead of an important visual aspect. You can find bokeh backgrounds in stock photo sites or make it yourself.

96  Use watercolor designs

The use of watercolor designs is an easy way of infusing some lively color into a presentation. Watercolors can be a splash on the background, shapes around the content, or colorful strokes intertwined with text boxes. Depending on the color of the paint used, the watercolor technique can be used for any type of presentation. A soft watercolor brushed background can work for a feminine theme and a deep intense splash can add visual creativity to an otherwise boring corporate presentation.

Just like watercolor graphics, paint can add a dose of creativity to any presentation. Different to watercolors though, paint is more intense. Paint based graphics come in all shapes and sizes, from thick brush strokes to paint drips. Digital paint compositions can also make great backgrounds for colorful and creative presentations.

98  Use bright fun colors

Why create a bland presentation when you can make it fun and colorful instead? Creative color palettes can include up to six different colors which look great together. Use shapes, cut-outs, color blocks, swashes, anything your heart desires. This technique is for letting go and being creatively free with color. Just make sure the colors go together by trying out some palettes first.

99  Use arrow graphics

Arrows symbolize direction. They can be a great addition to your charts, infographic visuals and slide sections. You could even do the entire presentation using arrows. According to their size, color, and thickness, they have different temperaments. Look for different styles of arrows and see if they fit your topic and theme. Freepik has some great arrow visuals and the Visme editor also has arrow icons and infographic visuals.

100  Use electronic visuals

Another great idea for a background visual is the inside of a computer system. The intricate details of a motherboard or a close up of a memory chip can make a great visual impact. Apart from using an electronic background image, little pieces of electronic devices can be placed around the slide as decoration. This technique is generally limited to electronic or computer theme topics.

101  Metaphors

Visual metaphors can be useful in a similar manner. They can spice up your presentation, illustrate your point, and make your work far more entertaining. James Geary speaks about just how important metaphors are.

102  Keep it feminine

A feminine style design can work for your presentation if your company makes products for women or if your targeted audience is women. By feminine design, we mean light and soft colors, subtle shapes and a general airy feeling to the composition. Feminine design can be minimal but it can also be decadent and full of style. Whichever you chose, make sure it fits with your audience.

103  Go futuristic

A futuristic style can fit any theme as long as the concept of the future depicted, fits the topic of the presentation. Futuristic design can be of many different styles; from spaceship driving controls to cosmos related atmospheres, to flying cars, and artificial intelligence. Even color palettes can look futuristic if you add some metallic tones.

104  Add a music background

A music soundtrack can be added to any presentation that doesn’t have any other sort of audio already. The best music for a presentation is one without lyrics, in other words, an instrumental track. A good track will accompany the content in a positive way and not interfere with the message. You can find audio tracks easily online.

105  Communicate with images

A picture can speak a thousand words. Naturally, they can be used to communicate concepts that, for the sake of space or time, you might not be able to include in the presentation itself. This slide deck  uses this strategy to its advantage.

The presentation includes many images as backgrounds and minimal text. The images used always either enhance what’s being said or, in some cases, provide the answer for viewers. For example, the second slide states “The Landscape Today,” and includes a bleak background with a broken, tilted picture frame, emphasizing the idea that the following slides (which describe the landscape) offer some pretty disheartening information.

Using images in a related fashion can help express your views and emphasize your message.

Harness the power of Visme's AI image edit tools in your toolkit. These advanced yet easy-to-use tools let you effortlessly edit, touch up, unblur and upscale your images using simple prompts. It's an incredibly convenient way to add extra polish and clarity to your pictures to make your presentations more impactful.

106  Include artsy data visualization

Data visualization is a way of showing data and information in a way that is visually expressive. Creative data analysts can make some really beautiful creations and you can hire them to make them for you. If you haven’t seen any creative data visualizations, take a look at our collection of the best of 2018 and get inspired. You can either make the whole presentation into a data viz or add them to some of the slides.

By Beyond Words Studio

RELATED:  The 25 Best Data Visualizations of 2018

107  Stay branded

This creative tip is a simple yet effective way to spark good presentation ideas. When creating your presentation, do your best to stay on brand. This, of course, will work only if you are creating a presentation for your own brand. If creating one for a client, then you should stay on brand with their own brand style guide. This means only use the brand colors and fonts, use photos, textures, and shapes that match the brand.

Use Visme's brand design tool to ensure your presentations perfectly reflect your brand personality. Just copy and paste your website URL, and the tool will automatically extract your branding assets, such as brand colors, brand fonts and company logo.

108 Ask questions

A great tip to make your PowerPoint presentations ideas more interactive is to ask questions from your audience.  Like the example below, you can display only your question on the slide. Once the audience has pitched in their opinions and answers, you can click to reveal the actual answer. You can enable this type of interactivity on click when making a presentation in Visme .

109 Replace boring bullet points with visuals

While adding bullet points in your slides might be better than adding walls of text, they're still not the most effective way to get your message across and engage your audience. Take things up a notch and replace boring bullets with visuals, such as photos and even icons. Here's an example of how you can use icons to add a creative twist to the plain ol' bullet points.

110 Share your slide deck

Downloading your slide deck and presenting in front of an audience is not the only way to use your presentation. Make the most of your slides by sharing your presentation online.

Add interactive elements, such as clickable buttons, links, hover effects, popups, embedded videos and more so your audience can view and engage with your slides on their own.

If you've created your presentation in Visme, you can share your presentation publicly or privately using a link, or embed it anywhere you like.

Start Using These Creative Presentation Ideas

Ready to start creating your own presentation after over 100 pieces of inspiration? Choose your favorite creative presentation ideas and incorporate them into your own presentation.

You can add interactivity, animation, visuals and all kinds of creative elements to your presentations when you design them in Visme's online presentation maker. With our Dynamic Field feature , you can automatically update key information in real-time across all your slides or multiple projects. Customize existing dynamic fields or create new ones and format them to maintain design consistency.

Create a free account with Visme to start building a presentation your audience will love.

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

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Blog Data Visualization 120+ Presentation Ideas, Topics & Example

120+ Presentation Ideas, Topics & Example

Written by: Ryan McCready May 08, 2023

Did you know that 46% of people can’t sit through a presentation without losing focus? 

That’s why I wanted to learn how to make a presentation that will captivate an audience. After looking at hundreds of different authors, topics and designs, I’ve assembled over 100 presentation ideas and tips on how to design a compelling presentation for:

• Social media
• Online courses
• Pitch decks
• Lead generation

In this blog, you’ll find 120+ presentation ideas, design tips and examples to help you create an awesome presentations slide deck for your next presentation.

To start off, here’s a video on the 10 essential presentation design tips to make sure that your presentations don’t fall under the YAWN category.

1. Use a minimalist presentation theme

CREATE THIS PRESENTATION TEMPLATE

The best designs can also be some of the simplest you see. In the Airbnb pitch deck below, they use a minimalist color scheme and font selection.

A minimalist design is sleek, organized and places the most important thing in focus: your information. There are no distracting stock images, icons, or content. Everything on this unique presentation feels like it belongs and works together perfectly. 

Learn how to customize this template:

2. Use a consistent design motif throughout your presentation

Here’s a go-to tip to for a cohesive presentation design: use a design motif. The motif could be a recurring shape (like circles, lines or arrows) or symbol (like a leaf for “growth” or a mountain for “goals”). For more ideas, check out our guide to common symbols and meanings used in design .

For example, this  presentation template uses circles as a design motif. The same circle icon is used in three different colors to add a bubbly touch to the design. The team photos are also incorporated using circle frames:

3. Use an eye-catching presentation background image

Like with any type of design work, you should want to catch the eye of your audience. In a presentation, this should be done from the beginning with a  compelling background image or a color gradient.

In this presentation template, the creators were able to do just that with a landscape photo. When a presentation like this is seen on social media, during a webinar or in person, your audience will definitely listen up.

4. Visualize your points with icons

Icons are the perfect visuals to include in presentations. They’re compact and can convey a concept to your audience at a glance. You can even combine multiple icons to create custom illustrations for your slides. 

Use the Icon Search in Venngage to find illustrated and flat icons:

5. Use a black & white color scheme for a corporate presentation design

In the presentation below there are only two colors used: black and white. Now, you might be worried that only using two colors is boring, but it all comes down to balance.

Playing off the ideas of classic minimalism, the designer made this presentation look sleek and professional. And now your content can be the main attraction of your presentation as well!

6. Repurpose your slide deck into an infographic 

Different types of presentations serve different purposes and sometimes it helps to work smarter, not harder when you are creating a unique presentation. In fact, the spacing, layout, and style used in this presentation makes it easy to repurpose the same images into an infographic.

This allows you to create two unique pieces of content from one idea!  Which is exactly what  Officevibe did .

Join Venngage’s CEO, Eugene Woo, to learn how you can design impactful infographics that will help maintain trust, increase productivity and inspire action in your team.

SIGN UP NOW

7. Break your genre mold for a fun presentation idea

When I first clicked on this creative presentation from SEMrush, I was not expecting to be transported into a comic book. I’m glad I clicked because it may be the most unique slide deck I have ever seen. Going this extreme with your presentation ideas may seem a bit risky, but to be able to break the mold in this age of cookie-cutter presentations is worth it.

To leave a lasting impression on your audience, consider transforming your slides into an interactive presentation. Here are 15  interactive presentation ideas  to enhance interactivity and engagement.

8. Make your presentation cover slide count

As I was scrolling through all of the presentations, this one made me stop in my tracks. It could be that I have a life-long love of Star Wars, or it could be that their presentation cover slide was designed to do just that: grab your attention. That’s why you should not stick with a boring, text-only title slide. Don’t be afraid to use icons and illustrations to make a statement.

9.  Alternate slide layouts to keep your presentation engaging

Keeping your audience engaged throughout an entire presentation is hard, even if you have been working on your presentation skills . No one wants to look at slides that look exactly the same for an hour. But on the other hand, you can’t create a unique masterpiece for each slide.

That’s why I’m very impressed with what the designers did in the presentation example above. They use a consistent visual theme on each slide, but alternate between vertical and horizontal orientations.

The swapping of orientations will show people that the presentation is progressing nicely. It can help you make a strong, almost physical, distinction between ideas, sections or topics.  

10. Make your audience laugh, or at least chuckle

Sometimes you need to not take your business presentations too seriously. Not sure what I mean? Go check out slide number 10 on this slide deck below.

If you did not actually laugh out loud, then I don’t know what to tell you. Small illustrated embellishments can be very powerful because they evoke an emotional response and to gain your audience’s trust.

Did you know 70% of employees think that giving a good presentation is an essential workplace skill? Check out the top qualities of awesome presentations and learn all about how to make a good presentation to help you nail that captivating delivery.

11. Supplement your presentation with printed materials

Printed takeaways (such as brochures and business cards ) give audience members a chance to take home the most important elements of your presentation in a format they can easily access without using a computer. Make sure you brand these materials in a way that’s visually consistent with your slide deck, with the same color scheme, icons, and other iconic features; otherwise, your recipients will just end up scratching their heads.

If you’re giving people multiple materials, try packaging them all into one convenient presentation folder. There are over 100 styles with a wide range of custom options, so feel free to get creative and make your folder stand out. Sometimes a unique die cut or an unusual stock is all you need to make something truly memorable. Here are some brochure templates to get you started.

12. Only use one chart or graphic per slide 

Having too much information on a slide is the easiest way to lose the focus of your audience. This is especially common when people are using graphs, charts or tables .

In this creative slide deck, the author made sure to only include one focal point per slide, and I applaud them for it. I know this may sound like a simple presentation tip, but I have seen many people lose their audience because the slides are too complex.

13. Keep your employee engagement presentations light   

Sometimes you need to get away from stuffy, professional presentation ideas to capture your audience’s attention. In this case, Officevibe used some very colorful and playful illustrations to stand out from the crowd.

I mean, who could not love the plant with a face on slide number 9? And if you want to see some more icons and illustrations like this, be sure to check out our article on how to tell a story with icons.

14.  Feature a map when talking about locations

Including a map in your creative presentations is a fantastic idea! Not only do they make an interesting focal point for your slide layout, they also make location-based information easier to understand.

This cool presentation example by our pro designers at Venngage uses maps to visualize information. This map both dominates the screen, and also displays all the locations being covered.

15. Use a font that is large and in charge 

If you are presenting to a small group or a packed stadium, make sure your audience can see your text! Use a large and in charge font that can be read from even the nosebleed seats. 

Honestly, you really never know where your unique presentation will be seen. It could be seen in a conference room or conference hall, and everything in between. Be ready to present almost anywhere with a bold and easy to read font.

16. Use pop culture references to build a fun presentation 

Using a meme or pop culture reference is another way that you can jive with your audience. It can be used to quickly get a point across without saying a word or create a moment that you can connect with the room. For example in this presentation, they used Napoleon Dynamite to give the audience feelings of nostalgia.

17. Use more than one font weight on your presentation cover slide

Just like you would never use one font on an infographic, you should never use just one font on your presentation (for more tips, read our guide on how to choose fonts ). In this presentation example from HubSpot, they use a bunch of different font weights to add emphasis to key words and ideas.

As you can see, they use a bold font on the presentation cover to bring attention to Steve Jobs name. This makes it easy for the audience to know what your presentation is going to be about from the beginning as well. 

18. Use a color theme for each idea 

Color is another extremely powerful nonverbal tool that you can use to guide your audience. By using a different color for each section of your creative presentation, Dell is able to clearly indicate when they are switching points or ideas.  Going from green to orange, and even red almost effortlessly.

This is a great way to design a list, guide, or a  how-to presentation as well. And each color can be assigned to a different step or number with ease. 

Need help picking the perfect color palette? Start here !

19. Use illustrations instead of pictures 

An easy way to keep your design consistent throughout your unique presentation is to use illustrations like in this slide deck by Domo.

They used illustrations instead of pictures to show off their subject on slide numbers 4-10 and it looks fantastic. This will ensure that the audience focuses on the content, instead of just the photo they could have used.

It also helps that illustrations are a top design trend for 2020 .

20. Use contrasting colors to compare two perspectives or sides of an argument 

Contrasting colors can be used to quickly show each side of topic or an argument. For example in this presentation, they use this trick to show the difference between their company and the competition.

They use color very effectively in this example to show their company is better, in a nonverbal way. With a lighter color and illustrated icons, the company is able to position them as the better choice. All without saying a word.  

Now if they would have used similar colors, or a single color the effect wouldn’t have been as strong or noticeable.

21. Include your own personal interests

This example is one of the most interesting and cool presentations I have seen in awhile, so I suggest checking out the entire thing. The creator inserts a bunch of his personal interests into the slide to make his presentation about education fun and relatable. And they even use a Super Mario Bros inspired presentation cover, so you know it has to be fantastic! 

22. Try to stick to groups of three 

How many major ideas should be present on your presentation aid? Never break your  presentation layout down into anything more than thirds. This means there should be at most three columns, three icons, three ideas and so on.  A great example of this idea starts on slide number 9 in this slide deck and continues throughout the rest of the presentation.

 Here is a great three columned slide template to get started with.

23. Add a timeline to help visualize ideas 

One of the best ways to visualize a complex process or historical event is to use a timeline presentation. A list of all the steps or events is just not going to cut it in a professional setting. You need to find an engaging way to visualize the information.

Take the presentation example above, where they outline the rise and fall of Athens in a visually stimulating way.

24. Label your graphs & charts 

If the people at Pollen VC had not added those annotations to the graphs on slide number 5, I would have definitely not known what to make of that graph.

But when you combine the visuals on a graph with descriptive text, the graph is able to paint a picture for your audience. So make your graphs easy to understand by annotating them (this is a chart design best practice ).

Create a free graph right here, right now!

25. White font over pictures just works 

There is a reason that you see so many quotes or sayings in a white font that are then overlaid on an image. That it is because it just works in so many situations and the text is very easy to read on any image.

If you do not believe me, look at the slide deck example above where they use a white font with a few different fonts and about 100 images. Plus the presentation template is chocked full of other tips on how to create a winning slideshow.

26. Color code your points across the whole presentation 

Here is another example of a presentation that uses color to keep their points organized. In this case, they use 10 different pastel colors to match the 10 different tips for employee engagement.

Check out our guide for how to pick the best colors for your visuals .

27.  Use a simple flow chart to break down a process

If you’re a fan of the movie Step Brothers , you may have heard of Prestige Worldwide before. In this fun presentation example they are back to sell you on their business model and growth plans.

This time, the presentation will be effective because it actually talks about what the business does.

Instead of making a music video, they use a helpful flowchart template to explain their business model. I would recommend following their lead and creating a dynamic flow chart to visually break down any process.  Try making your own flowchart  with Venngage.

28. Make your slide deck mobile friendly 

As more people move to mobile as their main device each year, making your presentations mobile-friendly is becoming increasingly important. This means that the text is large and there aren’t too many small details, so everything can scale down. Just like in this presentation example from the creators at Globoforce.

29. Don’t be afraid to include too many examples 

If you are presenting a complex idea to a group, especially a large audience, I would recommend having a ton of good examples. Now, I would try not to overdo it, but having too many it is better than having too few.

In this creative presentation, the people at With Company spend about 20 slides just giving great examples of prototyping. It doesn’t feel too repetitive because they all are useful and informative examples.

30.  Use consistent visual styles for an elegant presentation design

I have already written extensively about using icons in all of your design projects . I haven’t talked as much about matching icons to your presentation template.

But that’s just as important, especially if you want to create a professional presentation for your audience.

As you can see in the example above, the designer used minimalist icons that fit the slide designs. All of the other graphics, charts and visual elements fit together nicely as well.

Plus the icons don’t distract from the content, which could ruin a stellar presentation.

31. Use a consistent presentation layout 

In this example from Bannersnack, they use a consistent layout on each of their slides to help with the flow by using the same margins and text layout.

It’s a solid presentation example because they help the user know where to look immediately. It may seem like they are playing it safe, but anything that can speed up the time it takes for a user to read the content of the slides, the better.

32. Use loud colors as much as possible 

This is one of my favorite presentations because of the highlighter yellow they chose to use as their main color. It is actually very similar to one that I saw presented live a few years ago and I have used this same approach in a few presentations ideas of my own.

33. Pull your design motif from your content 

If you are talking about an interesting topic, why not use the topic as the main design motif in your creative slide deck? For example, in this presentation about sketchbooks, the creator uses a sketchy, handwritten motif. It is something simple that helps the audience connect with the topic. Plus, it allows you to include a ton of great examples.

34. Utilize a call & answer cadence

In this SlideShare about how to create a presentation, Peter Zvirinsky uses a two-step process to present a point. First, he presents the header presentation tip in a speech bubble. Then he shows a supporting point in a responding speech bubble. This gives the presentation a conversational flow.

35. Repurpose ebook content into a creative presentation

This slide deck was adapted perfectly from a Seth Godin ebook into the presentation example you see above. In the slide deck, they take a piece of content that would usually take a while to read and cut it down to a few minutes. Just remember to include only the most important ideas, and try to present them in a fresh way.

36. Add a timed outline to your presentation

We have already covered how important it is to have a table of contents in your slides but this takes it a bit further. On the second slide of the presentation below, the creator added how long each of the slides should take.

This is great because it helps your audience know the pace the presentation will take and will help keep them engaged. It also will help them identify the most important and in-depth parts of the presentation from the beginning.

37. Use a “next steps” slide to direct your audience

One of the worst things you can do as a presenter is to leave your audience without any idea of what to do next. A presentation should never just end because you ran out of slides.

Instead, use a conclusion or “next steps” slide like in the example above to finish your presentation. Sum up some of your main points, tell your audience where they can get more information, and push them to take action.

38. Go a bit crazy with the design 

Sometimes you need to throw convention to the wind to create something unforgettable. This presentation from Velocity Partners does just that, and I think it is one of my favorite ones from this entire roundup.

They use unconventional typography, quirky icons, and unusual presentation layout to make each slide surprising.

39. Make your slide deck easy to share 

If you are looking to get a lot of eyes on your presentation I would make sure people will want to share it on social media. How do you do that? By presenting new and interesting value. This means your content needs to answer a common question and your design needs to be clutter-free. For example, look at this very social media-friendly. The slides are simple and answer questions directly.

40.  Use shapes to integrate your photos into the slides

Want to include a bunch of images in your presentation? I say do it!

Now most of the time you would add a raw image directly to your slide. However, if you want to present images in a professional way I would recommend using an image frame .

Like in the example above, you can use these frame to create a collage of images almost instantly. Or provide a similar visual theme to all of your slides.  

Overall, I believe it’s a great way to add a new visual component to your presentation.

41. Hijack someone’s influence in your marketing slides

If you are stuck in the brainstorming phase of your presentation, focusing on a brand or influencer is a great place to start. It could be a case study, a collection of ideas or just some quotes from the influencer. But what makes it effective is that the audience knows the influencer and trusts them. And you are able to hijack their awareness or influence.

42. Put y our logo on every slide 

Whether you have a brand as powerful as Moz, or you are just getting started, you should always have your logo on each slide. You really never know where a presentation is going to end up–or what parts of it will! In this presentation template, Moz does a good job of including their branding and such to get others interested in Moz Local. Don’t have a logo yet? Our logo design tips will help you create a logo that’s iconic and will stand the test of time.

43. Lead your audience to it 

In this example, the creator uses something very similar to the call and answer approach I mentioned above, but with a little twist. Instead of just throwing all the info up at once, they use three slides to build to a particular point and include a subtle call to action in the third slide.

44. Make visuals the focal point of your presentation slides

If you haven’t noticed, illustrated icons are having a revival in 2020 and beyond. This is likely because minimalist icons dominated the design world for the past decade. And now people want something new.

Brands also like using illustrated icons because they are seen as genuine and fun.

And because they are so eye-catching you can use them as focal points in your presentation slides. Just like they did in the creative presentation example above.

Picking the perfect icon is tough, learn how you can use infographic icons like a pro.

45. Use a quirky presentation theme 

In this slide deck, the authors show you how to become an Animation Ninja…and they use ninja graphics and icons extensively. This caught my eye immediately because of the amount of work that I knew was behind this. It takes a lot of time and effort to line all of the content and graphic up to create a cohesive theme, but the payoff can be massively worth it.

46. Use a consistent background image 

I am a big fan of the way that Aleyda Solís uses only a single presentation background image throughout her presentation.

By using this tactic the audience is able to focus on what is happening in the foreground. Plus it gives the whole presentation a different feel than all the other ones I have looked at.

47. Summarize your points at the end

It’s a good idea to summarize your points before you end your presentation , especially if you’ve covered a lot of information. In this presentation example, Deanta summarizes exactly what they do on slide numbers 16-18. They also provide their contact information in case their audience has any more questions. I think that every presentation should use this same approach, especially the ones you are presenting outside of your company.

48. Use a minimalist presentation template

This slide deck from QuickBooks uses a minimalist theme to help the audience focus on what is important, the content.

There were only five colors used in the entire presentation and the graphics were simple line drawings. This made it easy to read and very pleasing to the eyes.

49. Split your slides length-wise 

Here is a simple template you can use to separate your headers, or main points, from your body text in a presentation.

Instead of using a solid presentation background, split the slide in half like Sequoia did in their slide deck. They used their brand color for the title portion and a neutral white for the supporting content.

Use this company report template to create a very similar slide right now!

50.  Embrace a bold color scheme throughout your presentation

My favorite part of the creative presentation example above is the use of complementary colors in each slide. As you can see, not one of the slides use the same color scheme but they all feel related connected.

This approach can be used to make your presentation visually unique, without abandoning a cohesive theme or idea.

51. Put text in the top left corner 

English speakers will instinctively try to read text from a top to bottom, left to right orientation. I would recommend using a left alignment for your text and adding additional things from top to bottom, just like Aaron Irizarry did in this presentation layout.

52. Break up your tables 

A plain table with a white background with black or gray lines are difficult to read on a computer screen, so why would you create one for viewing on a large presentation screen? You shouldn’t!

Instead, follow Intuit’s lead and break up the rows with a bit of color. This applies to data visualization in general , but think it is even more important when it comes to presentations.

53.  Present connected information in a visually similar way

In this startup pitch presentation example, they have a ton of information to get through. But they present their most important slides, the problem and solution, in a visually similar way.

By using a similar layout on each slide, the audience will be able to quickly make a connection. If you want to present two connected pieces of information, use this tactic.

From the font to the layout, it’s all basically the same. The main message they’re trying to impart is a lot more impactful to the reader.

If they would have used two wildly different presentation layouts, the message may have been lost.

54. Roundup expert tips into one presentation 

If you are looking for useful insights into the topic of your presentation, talk to some influencers in your niche. These are called “expert roundups” in the content marketing world and they are incredibly shareable.

Plus, they are pretty easy to create and have a great shelf life. In the example above, we talked to a gaggle of marketing experts about what makes a SlideShare great.

55. Use bold & brash colors throughout 

B old colors usually make your presentation template a lot easier to read and remember. Like at this slide deck made by our talented designers, which doesn’t shy away from bright, bold colors.

Want to pick a perfect color palette for your presentation? Read this blog on the do’s and don’ts of infographic color selection .

56. Make your graphs easy to read & interpret 

It should not require a Master’s degree in statistics to understand the graphs that someone uses in a presentation. Instead, the axis should be easy to read, the colors should enforce the point, and the data should be clearly plotted.

For example, in this presentation on slide numbers 14 and 25, the graphs nail all of those tips perfectly.

57. Condense your presentation into a memorable line 

If you can, try condensing your information into a simple one-liner to help the message stick with your audience. In slide number 36 of this presentation, Mika Aldaba does just that and shows that “Facts + Feelings = Data Storytelling.”

He does this again a few times throughout the presentation with other memorable one-liners.

58.  Bring attention to important figures with colorful icons

If you’re including a figure or number on your slides, I’m guessing you want the audience to actually see it.

That’s why I would recommend using an icon or graphic to highlight that figure. Maybe use a color or icon that isn’t used anywhere else in the presentation to make sure it really jumps off the screen.

In the presentation example above, all that’s used is a simple circle to make each figure a focal point. It’s really that easy, but many people leave it out of their presentations.

59. Anchor Your Text With Icons 

Having your text or content floating out in the white space of your presentation is not a good look.

Instead, you should use anchor icons to give the text something to hold onto and draw the audience’s eye. If you need some examples of good anchor icons, check out slide numbers 4, 7 and 9 in this presentation example.

60. Add semi-opaque lettering as a presentation background 

A neat way to keep your slide deck organized is to number your slides or points using semi-opaque lettering in the background.

Then, place your slide content on top of the opaque lettering. This helps your audience know that you are on the same point or idea, plus it just looks really good when done right.

61. Use simple or minimalist borders

An easy way to class up your slides is to put a border around your text. Take this presentation from Venngage that uses a couple of different types of borders to make their slides look professional.

Plus it helps keep all of your content contained on the slide!

62. Feature one idea per slide

Nothing is worse than a confusing, cluttered slide. Instead of trying to pack a bunch of ideas into one slide, focus on one core idea on each slide. If you need to flesh the idea out, just make another slide. 

Having trouble condensing your slides? Our presentation design guide can help you summarize your presentations and convey a singular idea with a clear focus.

63. Keep your style consistent with your brand 

You might be tempted to switch up the style of your creative presentations each time, but think again. If your brand is known for fun and lighthearted content, like Officevibe, let that be your style throughout all of the presentations you publish under that brand. This will make your slide decks recognizable and will enforce your brand’s message .

64. Use accent fonts to emphasize important numbers

Some people hate pie charts with a passion, but I think they are perfect for presentations. Especially if you want to bring attention to a figure or percentage point .

In this simple example, the pie charts are used to visualize each figure in an interesting way. Plus the pie charts fit the circular and fun theme of the rest of the presentation very well.

65. Use patterned and textured presentation backgrounds

Source  

Adding some subtle textures, icons or shapes to the presentation background can help make your slides more interesting. This is especially effective when you are only showing one point per slide, because it makes the slide design less sparse.

You can even switch up the colors on your shapes or textures to match the theme of the slide like DesignMantic did in this presentation.

66. Illustrate complex or confusing concepts with icons 

Ideally, you don’t want every slide in your deck to just be text. Instead, switch things up every few slides by using just pictures.

This slide deck by Gluwa uses icons to create little diagrams to illustrate their presentation ideas. Their slides still communicate concepts to the audience, but in a new way.

67. Overlay stock photos with color 

One problem many people encounter when creating a presentation or slide decks are finding photos with a consistent style. An easy way to edit photos to make them consistent is to add a transparent color overlay. In this example, Change Sciences uses a blue overlay on all of their photos. Plus, the color you choose can also help convey a particular mood.

68. Use black and white blocks 

An easy way to make your text pop, particularly on a photo background, is to use white font on a black blog background (and vise-versa). Check out this slide deck by Abhishek Shah, which uses this trick in an effective way.  

Now if you want to become a better leader this year, check out some of our favorite leadership infographics .

69. Use photos with similar filters 

Using a bunch of photos with wildly different filters can be jarring in a business presentation. To maintain a consistent flow, use photos with a similar filter and color saturation.

Take a look at this example from HubSpot across slide numbers 1-6 and you can see what I mean.

70. Visualize your points with diagrams 

Sometimes the best way to get your point across is to throw some diagrams into the presentation mix. But be sure to make is something that the audience can pick up on in three to five seconds tops.

For example, Jan Rezab uses a diagram to illustrate what takes up time in our lives on slide numbers 4, 5, 7 and 9!

71. Get experts to share tips

If you want to provide even more value to your audience than you can offer yourself, why not call in some expert reinforcement? See what experts in your field have to say on the topic of your presentation and include their tips and insights. Plus you can hijack their influence and expand your audience fairly quickly. 

72. Mimic a popular presentation style 

Uber’s pitch deck helped them raise millions of dollars in venture capital eventually leading to the glorious moment when they IPOed this year.

Aside from our sleek design upgrade (hey, we love good design!), this pitch deck template is the exact same one that Uber used to go from Idea to IPO.

And who knows? Maybe you might start the next Uber. But to raise money, you will need to create flawless business pitch decks to impress investors and raise those dollars.

73. Plan your presentation idea ahead of time

I know that minimalist designs are all the rage this year, but there is a big difference between a well-thought-out minimalist design and a lazy design without the finish touches. The same goes for a cluttered design with too many things going on at once.

That’s why it’s worth it to take the time to really plan out your presentation ideas and design concepts. Take this slide deck about storytelling by HighSpark. A quick glance will tell you that they put a lot of thought into designing their slides.

74.  Use tables to compare your brand to the competition in sales presentations/pitch decks

There are a lot of ways to visually compare similar things in this day and age. You could use a comparison infographic , or even a venn diagram!

However, when it comes to presentations I think that the simple table is best. Especially if you are comparing more than two things, like in this presentation example.

With a table, you can clearly lay out all the pros and cons of each idea, brand or topic without it being overwhelming to the audience. Plus, virtually everyone knows how to follow a table, so your information will be easy to consume.  

See more examples of the best pitch decks .

75. Blend icons & content effortlessly

Usually, icons are used as eye-catching objects detectors or anchors for text in a slideshow. But they can be used for so much more than that!

Like in this marketing presentation from Constant Contact they are very large but do not distract from the content.

76. Make your audience want more 

This tactic has been used by everyone since the idea of marketing was invented (or close to that). In this presentation example called “100 Growth Hacks, 100 Days” the creator only shows the audience the first 10 days of it and then uses a call to action at the end of the presentation to encourage them to seek out the rest.

The only risk with these kinds of presentation ideas is if your initial content is not great, you can’t expect your audience to seek out more information.

77. Use memes (for real, though) 

Usually, memes do not have a place in a serious business setting, so maybe don’t use them for formal presentations. But if you’re covering a lighter topic, or if you’re going for a fun presentation that will connect with your audience, don’t be afraid to throw a meme or two into the mix.

The audience immediately knows what you are trying to say when you use a popular meme in your presentation. For example, on slide number 7, the creator uses a meme to show that it will be hard to create great content

78.  Include a slide that introduces your team in pitch decks

In this presentation example, the creators decided to include their team on a slide. I think it’s a great gesture.

Showing your team can help the audience put a face to your brand and make the whole company feel more genuine. So if there is a team that has helped you get where you are today, give them some recognition!

79. Feature a complementary color palette

Even though I am not a formally trained designer, I still understand that proper color usage is the base of any good design. Although not all of the tenets of color theory work great for presentations, complementary colors are always a great pick.

Take a look at the color usage in this business presentation from Gary Vaynerchuk below . The purple and Snapchat yellow, which are complementary colors, look fantastic and the content jumps off the screen.

80. Use a heavy or bold font 

The very back of the room should be able to read your content if you are giving a group presentation. To ensure that your entire audience can read the slides I would not only use a large font, but also use a heavy font.  If you are confused by what I mean by a heavy font take a look at this unique presentation example by Slides That Rock.

81. Do the math for your audience

If you are going to use a graph in your presentation to compare data you should do the match for your audience. Do not make them do the calculations in their head because you will quickly lose their attention. For example, on slide number 5 the people at Sickweather lay out exactly what figures they want the audience to take from the slide.  

82. Use unique colors for different sections

The example below has 145 slides but it does not feel overwhelming or confusing.

That’s because each section has a different corresponding color, which makes it easier to flip through the slide deck and find a particular part.

83.  Give your presentation a catchy title that anyone can remember

What I really love about the presentation example above is that it features a catchy tagline on the second slide–“The 3S Framework.” It’s simple but it works!

This motto helps outline the structure of the presentation, and each slide referring back to it. Plus, the tagline will give the audience something to latch onto and remember from the presentation.

84. White backgrounds are not always bad 

A lot of people think that plain white background is a boring presentation faux pas. So the first thing they do is add color or image, which is not a bad thing at all.

But I also think that when used correctly, like in this example, plain white backgrounds can lead to beautiful presentations.

85. Split the header text from the body text

This idea is very similar to the one-two punch tactic that I talked about above, but it spreads the content over two slides as opposed to a single slide.

Use this design choice when you have fairly easy to follow presentations, like the one below from Steve Young. I know that this is effective because it allows the audience to focus on the main point before he drives it home with the supporting details.

86. Feature circle image frames 

I am a big fan of the design choices that Frank Delmelle uses in this slide deck about content strategy. He uses circles as his main design motif and frames his images in circles as well.

87. Talk directly to your audience 

This slideshow tops out at 70 slides but it’s a breeze to flip through. That’s because the creator, Ian Lurie, decided to present it in the form of a conversation instead of a classic slide deck.

While each slide only has one or two sentences, it flows just like a friendly chat. He also includes the necessary pauses, breaks and other conversational tics that helps make it even more convincing.

88. Illustrated icons are key this year 

Icons add a fun and functional element to your designs. In this presentation by Iryna Nezhynska, they use illustrated icons to make a potentially intimidating topic seem manageable.

89. Highlight key numbers and percentages 

Surprising percentages have the ability to excite and shock an audience. To make the percentages on your slides even more impactful, present them in a different color or font than the rest of the text.

In the presentation example above, Contently uses that exact tactic to bring more attention to key numbers.

90. Use a gradient as your presentation background 

Just like bold color schemes, gradients are a current social media graphic design trend . They may feel retro to some, but I believe they will be around well into the future.  

Gradients are perfect for presentation backgrounds because they are so versatile and eye-catching. I mean, you can literally create a gradient with any colors you can think of! And they look a lot more interesting than a simple flat background.

So embrace the future and use a gradient in your next presentation!

91. Track the steps in a process 

In this example, the creators from O.C. Tanner add a very interesting feature to their slides, starting on slide number 6. If you take a look at this business presentation template, you will see that they number the steps in a process and track which step they’re on at the bottom of the slides.

92. Use mind blowing font pairings 

The creator of this slide deck uses at least 10 different types of fonts. And it looks fantastic because they know that one font choice is boring. But this does not mean that you should use a bunch of random fonts–pick font pairs that play well together and keep your font choices for different types of information consistent throughout the presentation.

93. Make your ideas as obvious as possible 

Your audience shouldn’t be guessing at what you mean. That is why I think that this presentation example from In a Rocket is so powerful because they make the information easy to digest.

Learning to code can be challenging, but they break the information down with simple diagrams and clear examples. Heck, I have not touched CSS in a few years and I could still follow what they were instructing.

94. Use images that will actually scale 

A large mistake that you can make in your slide deck is using low-quality images. They may look great on your computer, but as soon as the slides are put up on a screen, the low quality will show. In this example by ThoughtWorks, all of their presentation background images look great and will scale well to a bigger screen. And that is even after the image compression that LinkedIn most likely does!

95. Take risks with your presentation layout

I honestly was blown away the first time I saw this presentation because it capitalized on such a risky design idea. The creators from Weekdone literally turned their presentation into an 8-Bit video game. A nd if you are looking for something that will stick with your audience, I would take a few creative cues from them!

96. Seriously, you better use memes 

In this day and age memes are mainstream, so why wouldn’t you use them in a creative presentation? These do not have to be the coolest meme that all the hip kids are sharing, they can be some of the classics. Like the one that Dana DiTomaso uses on slide 16 to emphasize that it’s a trap!

97. Follow a clear design rhythm

I really like how this presentation introduced each new point in three or four steps, using the same design. It gave the presentation a rhythm that flowed almost like a song!

I would recommend using this approach if you have to introduce multiple points per slide.

98. Use LOTS of icons

If you have made it this far in the list you have already probably seen how effective icons are in presentations. They are the perfect way to support your ideas and make your presentation more pleasing to the eyes.

For example, take a look at all the icons SlideShop uses in this presentation. Almost every slide has at least one icon and a few have more than ten!

99. Give each slide its own spark

I know this goes against earlier points I had about creating a cohesive theme in your presentation layout, but everyone knows that rules are made to be broken (if you can do it better)!

In this slide deck, the team at Officevibe literally created different designs for all 27 of their slides. And to top it off, each of the designs fit the quotes they used extremely well.

100. Use LARGE header cards 

An easy way to stick to that “one piece of content on each slide rule” is to use header cards. They are basically the header that you would normally use in a blog post or article, but it gets is own slide before the content. Here is an example of that idea in the real world in this presentation from Brian Downard.

101. Ask your audience questions 

I think one of the most common elements I saw in all the slide decks was that they asked the audience questions. You can use questions to engage with your audience and get them thinking a bit harder about the topic. The Site By Norex team did an exceptional job of this when they explored what the topic of what makes up a brand.

Need some more info about creating a memorable brand? Check out some of the best branding stats for 2020 and beyond!

102. Introduce yourself and your brand 

I would say that a majority of presentations that I looked at in this list just jumped right into the content without an introduction to the author or brand in the actual slide deck.

This introduction is very important because it establishes your credentials from the beginning, especially if someone is just reading the slide deck. In this example from Losant, they do just that by spending the first few slides telling the audience who they are.

103. Mix up your mediums 

Finally, this slide deck effectively marries two very distinct content forms together: digital images and hand-drawn illustrations. In this example, Freshdesk uses the timeless classic of a comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, in something so modern to inform the audience in a fun way.

104. Show off your credentials 

Just like with any piece of content, people are more likely to believe what you are saying if they know what your company does. That is why I really like when people insert their qualifications right into the presentation slides. Just like Andreas von der Heydt, from Amazon, did at the beginning of this presentation about thinking big.  

105. Highlight key data points 

If you are presenting a chart or graph on a dry topic, I would recommend using a single color to highlight the most important data point. For example, the investment firm a16z uses orange to highlight the data points they want their audience to focus on in each of their charts.

Check out some examples of how to highlight your key information in bar charts .

106. Show your audience where to find more information 

A lot of people end their presentations by literally just running out of slides, and that is the wrong way to do it. Instead, CBInsights consistently pushes their readers towards another piece of content at the end. This is also where you can insert a call to action!

107. Tell your origin story

  Source

This idea is kinda similar to showing off your company qualifications at the beginning of your presentation. But with this approach, you are trying to make an emotional connection with your audience instead of just showing off accolades.

And Rand from Moz does this extremely well in the presentation example above.

108. Use one focused visual 

This presentation uses a central visual of a structure, with each slide moving down the levels of the structure. This is incredibly powerful because the entire presentation is about sinking your company, and the visual they designed mirrors that idea perfectly. Using one focus visual also makes your slide deck design cohesive.

109. Don’t take presentation design too seriously

Sometimes we get caught up trying to make the perfect presentation and it ends up making us crazy!

But in this presentation example, Jesse Desjardins uses a mix of wit and hilarious retro images to create a memorable and light-hearted presentation.

110. Use size to your advantage 

I am a big fan of using bubble charts and other charts that use size to compare two pieces of data. That is why I like this pitch deck from the ShearShare team that utilizes a size-based chart on slide number 9. The chart is used to illustrate the massive growth potential in their industry.

111. Split section headers from the main content with different background colors 

In this presentation, Seth Familian uses alternating colors in a very interesting way. For each of the title slides, he uses a black color background, but for the content slides he uses a white background.

This helped the readers follow along and comprehend what was on the page even faster. And when you are presenting to hundreds of different types of people, this can make or break your presentation.  

112.  Have a conversation with your audience 

Take a conversational tone in your presentation is a great way to encourage your audience to participate.

In this slide deck example, we presented a simple storyline and use questions to engage with the audience throughout. And it helped create a flow throughout the  presentation template  that is easy to follow.

113.  Include your branding throughout your presentation ideas

Another thing that people seem to forget when they are working on a presentation is to include their business’s branding. You honestly never know where your work is going to be shared, so it is important to make sure people know it’s yours. HubSpot does an outstanding job of this on all their presentations, as you can see in the bottom left corner of each slide.

Plus you have spent a ton of time creating your  brand guidelines , might as well use them.

114.  Include multiple slides to build to your main point

Try using multiple slides to build to your main point. This helps you walk through the components of one overarching point while also building suspense. In this slide deck, the creator uses 6 slides to build up to one main point, adding a new illustration to the diagram on each slide.

115.  Split the difference 

Use either the left or right side of the slide to hold your text and the opposite to display an image. If you are using a photo or graphic as the main background in your slides, this is a great way to keep things organized. 

116. There are millions of fonts out there…use them

Hey, I love simple fonts just as much as the next guy, but sometimes you need to step up your font game to stand out. For example, WebVisions uses a very gritty, probably custom font in their unique presentation that fits the topic extremely well. Take a look!

117.  Build your presentation content around icons 

Try using icons as the focal points of your presentation layout. This example from Omer Hameed  uses icons to draw the audience’s eyes  right to the middle of the presentation, where the main points and headers are located.  

118.  Mix up font style to emphasize important points

If you would like to draw some extra attention to a certain word or idea,  switch up the font  to one that is bolder. For example, in this oldie but goodie presentation from HubSpot they use a heavy sans-serif font to highlight ideas, as opposed to the serif font for the other text.

119.  Add personal touches to your presentation

If you want to create a truly unique presentation, add personal touches. In the slide numbers 6-13 from this presentation, the creator adds something to their design that no one else could ever have: they use original drawings they did themselves.

120.  Harness the power of your own brand colors

Sometimes people forget that they already have a battle-tested color palette that they can use in their  brand colors . I try to incorporate one of our brand colors in most of my designs and it makes so much easier to choose colors.

In this simple presentation example, Spitfire Creative used a palette that had both of their brand colors throughout the slideshow.

121.  Used dark-colored blocks to highlight words

I have seen this trick used in a lot of presentations and it works well. Highlight certain words or phrases by laying them overtop a colored rectangle. Take slide number 7 in this presentation example as a great guide. Use it to bring attention to a saying or idea you really want your audience to remember.

122.  Show the audience your mug 

This presentation example comes from the same presentation as a previous one, but it was too good not to share. Throughout the slides, you will see Rand from Moz pop up to add a human element to the design. Using an image of your team or yourself can put the audience at ease and make it easier to connect with the presenter.

123.  Include a helpful table of contents 

I only saw this presentation idea used a few times throughout my research, but I believe it should be used a lot more. A table of contents will help the audience know what to expect and keep their focus throughout. Especially if you are creating a presentation that is a bit longer than normal.

124.  Do not post just screenshots, do more

Screenshots of a program or app are very common in any blog post, but I think you can do a little better when it comes to presentations.

So instead of just posting a boring screenshot, add a little more to the slide by using illustrations and product shots. If you are not sure what I am talking about, just check out how great the screenshots look at slide numbers 7 and 8 in this presentation.

125. Highlight keywords using BOLD color 

Here’s another slide deck that uses different colors and blocks to highlight keywords. If you are going to use text-heavy slides, then make sure the key points are easy to pick out. Take this slide deck: starting in slide number 4, they highlight exactly what they want you to take away from the text on each slide!

Enough presentation ideas for you?

You made it! I applaud you for making it through all those presentations. Hopefully, now you have a few nifty presentation ideas ready for when you need them.

The next step is to create a presentation that will captivate a meeting room, an amphitheater, and even the world (hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream big).

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1) structure your presentation like a story, 2) make it minimalist, never design a presentation again, 3) color theory is your friend, 4) black and white with pops of color, 5) add music to your presentation, 6) ask your audience questions, 7) visualize your data with engaging graphics, 8) pop culture can be your friend, 9) pair fonts to keep your presentation dynamic, 10) make the right impression with visual metaphors, 11) place your images into unique frames, 12) juice up your presentation transitions, 13) turn your presentation into one moving slide, 14) make room for quotes, 15) get your presentation ideas from history, 16) engage your audience with activities, 17) give your presentation a seasonal theme, 18) be forward thinking with a futuristic design, 19) keep it fresh with a modern presentation, 20) enter a new dimension with 3d graphics, 21) come up with a motif inspired by your content, 22) include your logo in every slide, 23) color code your themes, 24) make it fun with gifs, 25) shoot for the moon with an outer space theme, 26) keep it lighthearted with humor and memes, 27) format each slide like a social media post, 28) bring your presentation to life with motion graphics, 29) get everyone involved with interactive elements, 30) make it cohesive with photo overlays, 31) alternate your slide formats, bonus: give your presentation a pro polish with penji, 31 creative presentation ideas to captivate your audience.

Presentations are about sharing important info with the right folks – bosses, coworkers, or future clients. Making a good impression matters, and a creative presentation can push you ahead.

Stuck on how to begin? Check out these 31 awesome presentation ideas to spark your next successful pitch.

A fantastic presentation carries its audience through a journey. Consider your key message as the driving force that propels the audience through the storyline of your presentation. You can deconstruct it as follows:

• The current situation : Where are we now?
• The transition : What’s changing?
• The future : What’s on the horizon?
• The conclusion : Where will we ultimately land?

Especially in a business setting, you want your PowerPoint design to be simple, stylish, and inviting. Minimalism can be a great way to give your presentation slides a professional look without sacrificing style. A simple backdrop also helps important facts and figures stand out.

Get unlimited presentations + any designs you need with Penji

As you’re designing your presentation, remember to use colors that complement each other. Is your company’s color pale green? Combine it with an equally pale pink. To get more in-depth, there are plenty of tools online like Coolors that help you make full color palettes.

On the other end of the spectrum (no pun intended), sometimes one color is all you need. For a more minimal presentation, a black and white aesthetic with a single accent color can really stand out. You can use that color to emphasize key facts and figures, because the audience is already drawn to it.

Want to take your presentation up a notch from mere static slides? Harness the power of musical cues – a swift and engaging strategy. While incorporating music into slideshows can sometimes lead to technical hitches, mastering the technique can yield remarkable audience engagement.

“How do I engage my audience?” Have you tried talking to them? Question and answer sections can be a great tool for team-building presentations, and they can turn potential buyers into engaged participants.

Try creating questions that will feed into your point. Rather than saying “You need ___,” ask your audience what they need and bring it back around to your product or service.

Data visualization is a key part of any presentation (okay, most presentations). Looking for presentation ideas to make your data pop? Don’t settle for basic charts.

Highlight key figures with bold fonts and colors. Use imagery that conveys what your data means. It’s easy to zone out in a meeting—it’s up to you to visualize data in a way people can’t ignore.

Whether you’re guiding a team meeting or captivating customers, pop culture references can pique interest and bridge gaps. Even in formal presentations, a quick pop culture nod can foster connection. But always consider your audience—avoid references that might leave them puzzled.

A common error among novices in presentation design is sticking to a single font. To maintain visual interest, embrace diversity. Experiment with eye-catching fonts for titles, complemented by polished sans-serif fonts for body text. Further enhance variety with distinct weights, styles, and colors for various text elements.

Ideally, everyone would pay attention to you. But since you can’t account for that, you want your audience to understand the ideas behind your presentation no matter how much attention they’re paying. On top of emphasizing key data and words, visual metaphors are a great way to ensure that even the least attentive listeners are getting the gist of it.

Is your presentation appearing outdated, confined, and lacking in dynamism? The reason might be your fixation on squares and rectangles.

Incorporating distinctive image frames isn’t just visually appealing; they also expand your slide’s spatial dimension. By steering clear of rigid squares and borders and opting for circles, hexagons, and other shapes, you create a sensation of suspended freedom.

One of the classic marks of a middle schooler’s first PowerPoint: every transition under the sun. Using different transitions for each slide will make your presentation feel amateur. Instead, stick to one style of transition, or make your use of transitions thematically consistent (e.g. moving in the same direction).

This is an advanced transition technique for all you presentation design pros out there. Elevate your slideshow by giving it the sense of a literal living document. You can create a flipbook or folder motif (as in the example above) or create a scrolling graphic format. If nothing else, you can mesh transitions and design to make each slide seamlessly morph into the next.

Whether you’re getting a point across or just trying to inspire your audience, a quote is a great addition to any presentation. Quotes by experts can help lend your point some authority. Meaningful quotes can open up the floor to discussions. Funny or inspirational quotes can provide some levity without sacrificing professionalism.

Much like references to pop culture, integrating historical elements into your presentation provides a shared language with your audience. Like the alien species from the Star Trek episode “Darmok,” incorporating historical moments can resonate deeply with your audience. For instance, if you’re aiming to evoke a sense of romance, a backdrop inspired by Shakespearean times could be remarkably effective.

First of all, yes, a presentation is a great idea for facilitating a group game in a classroom or office setting. But believe it or not, any presentation can benefit from capturing the audience’s attention through activities.

For team-building presentations, build trust and relationships through simple games. For pitches, create space to “test out” your product or service. The possibilities are endless.

Pop culture references can ensure your presentation is current, but depending on your audience, you may have to avoid being too current. Seasonal themes, on the other hand, keep you timely no matter who you’re presenting to. You can go all in on a theme, like the Halloween example above, or incorporate subtle elements for a more corporate presentation.

In the business world, particularly in the tech sector, projecting a cutting-edge image is paramount. When presenting a novel product, service, or strategy, it’s crucial that your audience perceives you as a forward-thinking entity.

That’s where a futuristic design can help. Implement sleek shapes, dark colors, and interactive elements to make your presentation futuristic. Sometimes, it’s as simple as adding images of modern tech products.

Futurism has its place, but if you want to convey a cutting-edge feel in a more subtle way, a modern, artistic presentation design is the way to go. Unique shapes and color combinations—as well as bold, sans serif fonts—can help your slides look effortful and fresh. You can work with an expert designer or design service to really make your presentation unique.

3D illustrations are relatively novel, and even freely available models are underused in presentations. Even in 2022, they still convey a sense of novelty, whether they’re playful, artistic, or scientific. On top of lending flair to your slides, they can also be great for visualizing data in informative presentations.

Elevate your presentation to a masterpiece with a well-chosen motif. Delve into your key presentation points and the emotions you aim to stir.

For instance, a lighthouse motif can symbolize navigating challenges or pioneering innovative solutions. Meanwhile, a whimsical animal theme can evoke a sense of coziness and tranquility. Embrace creativity, while ensuring meaningful content takes the lead.

A presentation can be a great way to propose a new logo design , but your logo is a great fit for any type of presentation. For pitches, they make your brand look professional. For internal meetings, they help make it feel official, boosting engagement from your audience. Design your slides to make room for your logo and try to balance colors and fonts to fit your brand.

While we’ve emphasized the importance of a central theme in your presentation, it’s also true that many presentations encompass various topics or subcategories within the overarching theme. Employing diverse colors to mirror distinct subjects or slide types can infuse your presentation with nuanced depth.

GIFs have become a crucial part of the online ecosystem. However you pronounce it (team “jif,” for the record), a GIF is a casual, effective way to evoke emotion, humor, or otherwise build a relationship with your audience. There’s a reason Twitter is overrun with these things; there’s a GIF for every occasion.

Space is one of the most versatile themes to use in a presentation design . Where a futuristic slideshow places you on the cutting edge, space creates the impression that your ambitions go even bigger. Whether you’re trying to pump up your coworkers or attract new clients, placing your presentation in the final frontier is bound to inspire them.

While certain presentations are all business, remember that public speaking often centers around forging a connection with your audience. A surefire approach to achieve this is by strategically incorporating a meme or a clever punchline.

Yes, it’s true that meme culture travels fast, and it can be hard to tell what will still be fresh when you’re presenting. But if there’s one place where you can get away with an old-school, impact-font -over-JPEG meme in 2022, it’s in a business presentation.

Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: what design layout are people most familiar with today? Chances are, a format inspired by social media is one of the best ways to make your audience feel at home. This is best for a presentation where social media is relevant, but it can also serve a similar function to memes, creating a fun dynamic with your audience. Your slide text shouldn’t be longer than a tweet, anyway.

We’ve already gone over transitions, the animations taking you from one slide to the next. But that doesn’t have to be the only animated thing about your presentation. Motion graphics can help each slide come alive, as well as emphasizing key facts and helping visualize data. Just try not to make the graphics too distracting.

Ever sat through dull vacation photos? Well, a lackluster presentation can feel the same. To truly involve your audience, interactive elements are a must.

Think animations and clickable transitions or even a lighthearted quiz. It’s all about sparking engagement.

Maybe you’re showcasing your photography work. Maybe you’re presenting a product with a series of photos. You might just be using stock photos to illustrate your point.

Either way, most presentations will involve at least a few photos. If you want a slick, artistic look, you can use color overlays and filters to make these photos part of your slides’ aesthetic. Use complementary colors and keep them consistent for each photo you put in, or go black and white for a luxury look.

Here’s a common rookie blunder, and it’s easy to overlook. Even with a striking design and captivating content, if you sense something’s amiss, your presentation could be too monotonous.

To infuse dynamism, mix up slide formats, particularly for text-heavy ones. Just shifting text from left to right can work wonders. It’s a vital trick to keep your audience engrossed.

These presentation ideas are all about shaping a presentation that delivers real results. But if you’re aiming to craft a truly impactful PowerPoint, you might not want to go the DIY route. Opting for a presentation crafted by a certified pro is the ultimate method to impress your audience. And if you want consistently professional designs every time, then you want Penji.

Our unlimited design service works with the world’s top design talent to provide you with stunning presentations, logos, websites, packaging, and everything else you need.

Still have questions? You can request a design today from our marketplace with no strings attached, or sign up for a demo to see how Penji can work for you.

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Home Blog Business Conference Presentation Slides: A Guide for Success

Conference Presentation Slides: A Guide for Success

In our experience, a common error when preparing a conference presentation is using designs that heavily rely on bullet points and massive chunks of text. A potential reason behind this slide design mistake is aiming to include as much information as possible in just one slide. In the end, slides become a sort of teleprompter for the speaker, and the audience recalls boredom instead of an informative experience.

As part of our mission to help presenters deliver their message effectively, we have summarized what makes a good conference presentation slide, as well as tips on how to design a successful conference slide.

Table of Contents

What is a conference presentation

Common mistakes presenters make when creating conference presentation slides, how can a well-crafted conference presentation help your professional life, how to start a conference presentation, how to end a conference presentation, tailoring your message to different audiences, visualizing data effectively, engaging with your audience, designing for impact, mastering slide transitions and animation, handling time constraints, incorporating multimedia elements, post-presentation engagement, crisis management during presentations, sustainability and green presentations, measuring presentation success, 13 tips to create stellar conference presentations, final thoughts.

The Britannica Dictionary defines conferences as 

A formal meeting in which many people gather in order to talk about ideas or problems related to a particular topic (such as medicine or business), usually for several days.

We can then define conference presentations as the combination of a speaker, a slide deck , and the required hardware to introduce an idea or topic in a conference setting. Some characteristics differentiate conference presentations from other formats.

Time-restricted

Conference presentations are bounded by a 15-30 minute time limit, which the event’s moderators establish. These restrictions are applied to allow a crowded agenda to be met on time, and it is common to count with over 10 speakers on the same day.

To that time limit, we have to add the time required for switching between speakers, which implies loading a new slide deck to the streaming platform, microphone testing, lighting effects, etc. Say it is around 10-15 minutes extra, so depending on the number of speakers per day during the event, the time available to deliver a presentation, plus the questions & answers time.

Delivery format

Conferences can be delivered in live event format or via webinars. Since this article is mainly intended to live event conferences, we will only mention that the requirements for webinars are as follows:

• Voice-over or, best, speaker layover the presentation slides so the speaker interacts with the audience.
• Quality graphics.
• Not abusing the amount of information to introduce per slide.

On the other hand, live event conferences will differ depending on the category under which they fall. Academic conferences have a structure in which there’s a previous poster session; then speakers start delivering their talks, then after 4-5 speakers, we have a coffee break. Those pauses help the AV crew to check the equipment, and they also become an opportunity for researchers to expand their network contacts. 

Business conferences are usually more dynamic. Some presenters opt not to use slide decks, giving a powerful speech instead, as they feel much more comfortable that way. Other speakers at business conferences adopt videos to summarize their ideas and then proceed to speak.

Overall, the format guidelines are sent to speakers before the event. Adapt your presentation style to meet the requirements of moderators so you can maximize the effect of your message.

The audience

Unlike other presentation settings, conferences gather a knowledgeable audience on the discussed topics. It is imperative to consider this, as tone, delivery format, information to include, and more depend on this sole factor. Moreover, the audience will participate in your presentation at the last minute, as it is a common practice to hold a Q&A session. 

Mistake #1 – Massive chunks of text

Do you intend your audience to read your slides instead of being seduced by your presentation? Presenters often add large amounts of text to each slide since they need help deciding which data to exclude. Another excuse for this practice is so the audience remembers the content exposed.

Research indicates images are much better retained than words, a phenomenon known as the Picture Superiority Effect ; therefore, opt to avoid this tendency and work into creating compelling graphics.

Mistake #2 – Not creating contrast between data and graphics

Have you tried to read a slide from 4 rows behind the presenter and not get a single number? This can happen if the presenter is not careful to work with the appropriate contrast between the color of the typeface and the background. Particularly if serif fonts are used.

Use online tools such as WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to make your slides legible for your audience. Creating an overlay with a white or black transparent tint can also help when you place text above images.

Mistake #3 – Not rehearsing the presentation

This is a sin in conference presentations, as when you don’t practice the content you intend to deliver, you don’t have a measure of how much time it is actually going to take. 

PowerPoint’s rehearse timing feature can help a great deal, as you can record yourself practising the presentation and observe areas for improvement. Remember, conference presentations are time-limited , don’t disrespect fellow speakers by overlapping their scheduled slot or, worse, have moderators trim your presentation after several warnings.

Mistake #4 – Lacking hierarchy for the presented content

Looking at a slide and not knowing where the main point is discouraging for the audience, especially if you introduce several pieces of content under the same slide. Instead, opt to create a hierarchy that comprehends both text and images. It helps to arrange the content according to your narrative, and we’ll see more on this later on.

Consider your conference presentation as your introduction card in the professional world. Maybe you have a broad network of colleagues, but be certain there are plenty of people out there that have yet to learn about who you are and the work you produce.

Conferences help businesspeople and academics alike to introduce the results of months of research on a specific topic in front of a knowledgeable audience. It is different from a product launch as you don’t need to present a “completed product” but rather your views or advances, in other words, your contribution with valuable insights to the field.

Putting dedication into your conference presentation, from the slide deck design to presentation skills , is definitely worth the effort. The audience can get valuable references from the quality of work you are able to produce, often leading to potential partnerships. In business conferences, securing an investor deal can happen after a powerful presentation that drives the audience to perceive your work as the very best thing that’s about to be launched. It is all about how your body language reflects your intent, how well-explained the concepts are, and the emotional impact you can drive from it.

There are multiple ways on how to start a presentation for a conference, but overall, we can recap a good approach as follows.

Present a fact

Nothing grabs the interest of an audience quicker than introducing an interesting fact during the first 30 seconds of your presentation. The said fact has to be pivotal to the content your conference presentation will discuss later on, but as an ice-breaker, it is a strategy worth applying from time to time.

Ask a question

The main point when starting a conference presentation is to make an impact on the audience. We cannot think of a better way to engage with the audience than to ask them a question relevant to your work or research. It grabs the viewer’s interest for the potential feedback you shall give to those answers received.

Use powerful graphics

The value of visual presentations cannot be neglected in conferences. Sometimes an image makes a bigger impact than a lengthy speech, hence why you should consider starting your conference presentation with a photo or visual element that speaks for itself.

For more tips and insights on how to start a presentation , we invite you to check this article.

Just as important as starting the presentation, the closure you give to your conference presentation matters a lot. This is the opportunity in which you can add your personal experience on the topic and reflect upon it with the audience or smoothly transition between the presentation and your Q&A session.

Below are some quick tips on how to end a presentation for a conference event.

End the presentation with a quote

Give your audience something to ruminate about with the help of a quote tailored to the topic you were discussing. There are plenty of resources for finding suitable quotes, and a great method for this is to design your penultimate slide with an image or black background plus a quote. Follow this with a final “thank you” slide.

Consider a video

If we say a video whose length is shorter than 1 minute, this is a fantastic resource to summarize the intent of your conference presentation. 

If you get the two-minute warning and you feel far off from finishing your presentation, first, don’t fret. Try to give a good closure when presenting in a conference without rushing information, as the audience wouldn’t get any concept clear that way. Mention that the information you presented will be available for further reading at the event’s platform site or your company’s digital business card , and proceed to your closure phase for the presentation.

It is better to miss some of the components of the conference than to get kicked out after several warnings for exceeding the allotted time.

Tailoring your conference presentation to suit your audience is crucial to delivering an impactful talk. Different audiences have varying levels of expertise, interests, and expectations. By customizing your content, tone, and examples, you can enhance the relevance and engagement of your presentation.

Understanding Audience Backgrounds and Expectations

Before crafting your presentation, research your audience’s backgrounds and interests. Are they professionals in your field, students, or a mix of both? Are they familiar with the topic, or must you provide more context? Understanding these factors will help you pitch your content correctly and avoid overwhelming or boring your audience.

Adapting Language and Tone for Relevance

Use language that resonates with your audience. Avoid jargon or technical terms that might confuse those unfamiliar with your field. Conversely, don’t oversimplify if your audience consists of experts. Adjust your tone to match the event’s formality and your listeners’ preferences.

Customizing Examples and Case Studies

Incorporate case studies, examples, and anecdotes that your audience can relate to. If you’re speaking to professionals, use real-world scenarios from their industry. For a more general audience, choose examples that are universally relatable. This personal touch makes your content relatable and memorable.

Effectively presenting data is essential for conveying complex information to your audience. Visualizations can help simplify intricate concepts and make your points more digestible.

Choosing the Right Data Representation

Select the appropriate type of graph or chart to illustrate your data. Bar graphs, pie charts, line charts, and scatter plots each serve specific purposes. Choose the one that best supports your message and ensures clarity.

Designing Graphs and Charts for Clarity

Ensure your graphs and charts are easily read. Use clear labels, appropriate color contrasts, and consistent scales. Avoid clutter and simplify the design to highlight the most important data points.

Incorporating Annotations and Explanations

Add annotations or callouts to your graphs to emphasize key findings. Explain the significance of each data point to guide your audience’s understanding. Utilize visual cues, such as arrows and labels, to direct attention.

Engaging your audience is a fundamental skill for a successful presentation for conference. Captivate their attention, encourage participation, and foster a positive connection.

Establishing Eye Contact and Body Language

Maintain eye contact with different audience parts to create a sense of connection. Effective body language, such as confident posture and expressive gestures, enhances your presence on stage.

Encouraging Participation and Interaction

Involve your audience through questions, polls, or interactive activities. Encourage them to share their thoughts or experiences related to your topic. This engagement fosters a more dynamic and memorable presentation.

Using Humor and Engaging Stories

Incorporate humor and relatable anecdotes to make your presentation more enjoyable. Well-timed jokes or personal stories can create a rapport with your audience and make your content more memorable.

The design of your conference presentation slides plays a crucial role in capturing and retaining your audience’s attention. Thoughtful design can amplify your message and reinforce key points. Take a look at these suggestions to boost the performance of your conference presentation slides, or create an entire slide deck in minutes by using SlideModel’s AI Presentation Maker from text .

Creating Memorable Opening Slides

Craft an opening slide that piques the audience’s curiosity and sets the tone for your presentation. Use an engaging visual, thought-provoking quote, or intriguing question to grab their attention from the start.

Using Visual Hierarchy for Emphasis

Employ visual hierarchy to guide your audience’s focus. Highlight key points with larger fonts, bold colors, or strategic placement. Organize information logically to enhance comprehension.

Designing a Powerful Closing Slide

End your presentation with a compelling closing slide that reinforces your main message. Summarize your key points, offer a memorable takeaway, or invite the audience to take action. Use visuals that resonate and leave a lasting impression.

Slide transitions and animations can enhance the flow of your presentation and emphasize important content. However, their use requires careful consideration to avoid distractions or confusion.

Enhancing Flow with Transitions

Select slide transitions that smoothly guide the audience from one point to the next. Avoid overly flashy transitions that detract from your content. Choose options that enhance, rather than disrupt, the presentation’s rhythm.

Using Animation to Highlight Points

Animate elements on your slides to draw attention to specific information. Animate text, images, or graphs to appear as you discuss them, helping the audience follow your narrative more effectively.

Avoiding Overuse of Effects

While animation can be engaging, avoid excessive use that might overwhelm or distract the audience. Maintain a balance between animated elements and static content for a polished presentation.

Effective time management is crucial for delivering a concise and impactful conference presentation within the allocated time frame.

Structuring for Short vs. Long Presentations

Adapt your content and pacing based on the duration of your presentation. Clearly outline the main points for shorter talks, and delve into more depth for longer sessions. Ensure your message aligns with the time available.

Prioritizing Key Information

Identify the core information you want your audience to take away. Focus on conveying these essential points, and be prepared to trim or elaborate on supporting details based on the available time.

Practicing Time Management

Rehearse your presentation while timing yourself to ensure you stay within the allocated time. Adjust your delivery speed to match your time limit, allowing for smooth transitions and adequate Q&A time.

Multimedia elements, such as videos, audio clips, and live demonstrations, can enrich your presentation and provide a dynamic experience for your audience.

Integrating Videos and Audio Clips

Use videos and audio clips strategically to reinforce your points or provide real-world examples. Ensure that the multimedia content is of high quality and directly supports your narrative.

Showcasing Live Demonstrations

Live demonstrations can engage the audience by showcasing practical applications of your topic. Practice the demonstration beforehand to ensure it runs smoothly and aligns with your message.

Using Hyperlinks for Additional Resources

Incorporate hyperlinks into your presentation to direct the audience to additional resources, references, or related content. This allows interested attendees to explore the topic further after the presentation.

Engaging with your audience after your presentation can extend the impact of your talk and foster valuable connections.

Leveraging Post-Presentation Materials

Make your presentation slides and related materials available to attendees after the event. Share them through email, a website, or a conference platform, allowing interested individuals to review the content.

Sharing Slides and Handouts

Provide downloadable versions of your slides and any handouts you used during the presentation. This helps attendees revisit key points and share the information with colleagues.

Networking and Following Up

Utilize networking opportunities during and after the conference to connect with attendees who are interested in your topic. Exchange contact information and follow up with personalized messages to continue the conversation.

Preparing for unexpected challenges during your presenting at a conference can help you maintain professionalism and composure, ensuring a seamless delivery.

Dealing with Technical Glitches

Technical issues can occur, from projector malfunctions to software crashes. Stay calm and have a backup plan, such as having your slides available on multiple devices or using printed handouts.

Handling Unexpected Interruptions

Interruptions, such as questions from the audience or unforeseen disruptions, are a normal part of live presentations. Address them politely, stay adaptable, and seamlessly return to your prepared content.

Staying Calm and Professional

Maintain a composed demeanor regardless of unexpected situations. Your ability to handle challenges gracefully reflects your professionalism and dedication to delivering a successful presentation.

Creating environmentally friendly presentations demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and responsible practices.

Designing Eco-Friendly Slides

Minimize the use of resources by designing slides with efficient layouts, avoiding unnecessary graphics or animations, and using eco-friendly color schemes.

Reducing Paper and Material Waste

Promote a paperless approach by encouraging attendees to access digital materials rather than printing handouts. If print materials are necessary, consider using recycled paper.

Promoting Sustainable Practices

Advocate for sustainability during your presentation by discussing relevant initiatives, practices, or innovations that align with environmentally conscious values.

Measuring the success of your conference presentation goes beyond the applause and immediate feedback. It involves assessing the impact of your presentation on your audience, goals, and growth as a presenter.

Collecting Audience Feedback

After presenting at a conference, gather feedback from attendees. Provide feedback forms or online surveys to capture their thoughts on the content, delivery, and visuals. Analyzing their feedback can reveal areas for improvement and give insights into audience preferences.

Evaluating Key Performance Metrics

Consider objective metrics such as audience engagement, participation, and post-presentation interactions. Did attendees ask questions? Did your content spark discussions? Tracking these metrics can help you gauge the effectiveness of your presentation in conveying your message.

Continuous Improvement Strategies

Use the feedback and insights gathered to enhance your future presentations. Identify strengths to build upon and weaknesses to address. Continuously refine your presentation skills , design choices, and content to create even more impactful presentations in the future.

Tip #1 – Exhibit a single idea per slide

Just one slide per concept, avoiding large text blocks. If you can compile the idea with an image, it’s better that way.

Research shows that people’s attention span is limited ; therefore, redirect your efforts in what concerns presentation slides so your ideas become crystal clear for the spectators.

Tip #2 – Avoid jargon whenever possible

Using complex terms does not directly imply you fully understand the concept you are about to discuss. In spite of your work being presented to a knowledgeable audience, avoid jargon as much as possible because you run the risk of people not understanding what you are saying.

Instead, opt to rehearse your presentation in front of a not-knowledgeable audience to measure the jargon volume you are adding to it. Technical terms are obviously expected in a conference situation, but archaic terms or purely jargon can be easily trimmed this way.

Tip #3 – Replace bulleted listings with structured layouts or diagrams

Bullet points are attention grabbers for the audience. People tend to instantly check what’s written in them, in contrast to waiting for you to introduce the point itself. 

Using bullet points as a way to expose elements of your presentation should be restricted. Opt for limiting the bullet points to non-avoidable facts to list or crucial information. 

Tip #4 – Customize presentation templates

Using presentation templates is a great idea to save time in design decisions. These pre-made slide decks are entirely customizable; however, many users fall into using them as they come, exposing themselves to design inconsistencies (especially with images) or that another presenter had the same idea (it is extremely rare, but it can happen).

Learning how to properly change color themes in PowerPoint is an advantageous asset. We also recommend you use your own images or royalty-free images selected by you rather than sticking to the ones included in a template.

Tip #5 – Displaying charts

Graphs and charts comprise around 80% of the information in most business and academic conferences. Since data visualization is important, avoid common pitfalls such as using 3D effects in bar charts. Depending on the audience’s point of view, those 3D effects can make the data hard to read or get an accurate interpretation of what it represents.

Tip #6 – Using images in the background

Use some of the images you were planning to expose as background for the slides – again, not all of them but relevant slides.

Be careful when placing text above the slides if they have a background image, as accessibility problems may arise due to contrast. Instead, apply an extra color layer above the image with reduced opacity – black or white, depending on the image and text requirements. This makes the text more legible for the audience, and you can use your images without any inconvenience.

Tip #7 – Embrace negative space

Negative space is a concept seen in design situations. If we consider positive space as the designed area, meaning the objects, shapes, etc., that are “your design,” negative space can be defined as the surrounding area. If we work on a white canvas, negative space is the remaining white area surrounding your design.

The main advantage of using negative space appropriately is to let your designs breathe. Stuffing charts, images and text makes it hard to get a proper understanding of what’s going on in the slide. Apply the “less is more” motto to your conference presentation slides, and embrace negative space as your new design asset.

Tip #8 – Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation

You would be surprised to see how many typos can be seen in slides at professional gatherings. Whereas typos can often pass by as a humor-relief moment, grammatical or awful spelling mistakes make you look unprofessional. 

Take 5 extra minutes before submitting your slide deck to proofread the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If in doubt, browse dictionaries for complex technical words.

Tip #10 – Use an appropriate presentation style

The format of the conference will undoubtedly require its own presentation style. By this we mean that it is different from delivering a conference presentation in front of a live audience as a webinar conference. The interaction with the audience is different, the demands for the Q&A session will be different, and also during webinars the audience is closely looking at your slides.

Tip #11 – Control your speaking tone

Another huge mistake when delivering a conference presentation is to speak with a monotonous tone. The message you transmit to your attendees is that you simply do not care about your work. If you believe you fall into this category, get feedback from others: try pitching to them, and afterward, consider how you talk. 

Practicing breathing exercises can help to articulate your speech skills, especially if anxiety hinders your presentation performance.

Tip #12 – On eye contact and note reading

In order to connect with your audience, it is imperative to make eye contact. Not stare, but look at your spectators from time to time as the talk is directed at them.

If you struggle on this point, a good tip we can provide is to act like you’re looking at your viewers. Pick a good point a few centimeters above your viewer and direct your speech there. They will believe you are communicating directly with them. Shift your head slightly on the upcoming slide or bullet and choose a new location.

Regarding note reading, while it is an acceptable practice to check your notes, do not make the entire talk a lecture in which you simply read your notes to the audience. This goes hand-by-hand with the speaking tone in terms of demonstrating interest in the work you do. Practice as often as you need before the event to avoid constantly reading your notes. Reading a paragraph or two is okay, but not the entire presentation.

Tip #13 – Be ready for the Q&A session

Despite it being a requirement in most conference events, not all presenters get ready for the Q&A session. It is a part of the conference presentation itself, so you should pace your speech to give enough time for the audience to ask 1-3 questions and get a proper answer.

Don’t be lengthy or overbearing in replying to each question, as you may run out of time. It is preferable to give a general opinion and then reach the interested person with your contact information to discuss the topic in detail.

Observing what others do at conference events is good practice for learning a tip or two for improving your own work. As we have seen throughout this article, conference presentation slides have specific requirements to become a tool in your presentation rather than a mixture of information without order.

Employ these tips and suggestions to craft your upcoming conference presentation without any hurdles. Best of luck!

1. Conference PowerPoint Template

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

Practice Presentation Skills

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• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

2023 Corporate Conference Ideas & Themes That Increase Engagement

Conferences are powerful platforms that bring together professionals from different fields, fostering collaboration, learning, and networking. 

But traditional conferences can sometimes be… well, a bit stale. 

It’s time we breathe some life into these gatherings, making them both productive and fun. 

Ready to learn how? Let’s dive right in!

Understanding the Demand Behind Unique Conference Ideas

Over the years, conferences have transformed from dry, one-way presentations to rich, interactive, and engaging experiences. 

Today’s savvy attendees look for innovative ideas and enjoyable activities to engage with the content and each other. 

That’s where themes and team-building activities come into play, making modern conferences a blend of learning and enjoyment.

10 Unique Conference Themes for 2023

Selecting a theme for your conference can elevate it from a simple series of talks to a cohesive, immersive experience. 

The right theme ties together your presentations and activities, generates excitement, provides direction, and captures the essence of your conference message.

Here are ten conference theme ideas for 2023 and beyond.

• Technological Advancements: Embrace the digital age with a conference on emerging technologies. Delve into topics like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, data science, and more.
• Environmental Sustainability: Highlight the importance of sustainable practices, renewable energy, and waste reduction in various industries. Encourage discussions about green solutions and innovations.
• Inclusive and Diverse Leadership: Foster a conversation around the need for diverse representation in leadership roles. Discuss strategies for promoting inclusion and equality in the workplace.
• Mental Health and Wellness: With increasing awareness about the importance of mental health, a conference themed around wellness can be a powerful platform to share strategies for maintaining mental health, promoting workplace wellness, and supporting employee wellbeing.
• The Future of Work: The shift towards remote teams and hybrid working models has changed the work landscape. This theme can invite discussions about navigating these changes, from building a remote company culture to managing distributed teams.
• Social Impact and Corporate Responsibility: Highlight the role of businesses in promoting social justice, community development, and corporate philanthropy. Discuss successful examples and strategies for incorporating social responsibility into business models.
• Creativity and Innovation: Focus on the importance of innovation in business growth. Discuss how to foster a creative culture, handle disruptive innovation, and keep pace with changing industry trends.
• The Role of AI in Society: AI is not just for tech companies anymore. Explore the implications of AI in various fields, from healthcare and education to finance and entertainment.
• Digital Transformation: Digital transformation continues to be a driving force across all sectors. Discuss how to successfully implement digital transformation strategies, overcome challenges, and stay ahead in the digital age.
• Globalization and Cross-Cultural Communication: In an increasingly interconnected world, effective cross-cultural communication is crucial. This theme can provide insight into understanding cultural differences, promoting effective communication, and fostering a global mindset.

14 Conference Team Building Ideas

Each of these conference team-building activities fosters collaboration, creativity, and a sense of camaraderie among attendees, enhancing the overall experience.

• Escape Room Challenges: These promote critical thinking and collaboration. Whether in a physical or virtual escape room, teams must work together to solve puzzles and escape within a given time.
• Charity Challenges: Participating in charity-related activities promotes teamwork and enhances your organization’s corporate social responsibility. These challenges could include assembling care packages, building bikes for kids, or participating in a charity race.
• Themed Activities: Align your team-building activities with your conference theme. For example, if your theme is innovation, consider an ‘invent-a-thon’ where teams develop an inventive solution to a problem.
• Scavenger Hunt: This classic game can be customized to your conference venue or digitally. It encourages communication, strategic thinking, and fun competition among teams.
• Team Cooking Challenge: Organize a cooking competition where teams must work together to prepare a dish. This can also be paired with a cooking class led by a professional chef.
• Drone Challenge: Technology-based activities like drone flying can be a unique way to promote team building exercises. Participants can learn drone flying basics and then complete a drone obstacle course.
• Improv Workshop: An improvisation workshop can help attendees enhance their communication skills, think on their feet, and promote creativity and laughter.
• Bridge Building: Teams are provided with limited materials (like spaghetti and marshmallows or LEGO blocks) and tasked with building a strong, stand-alone bridge. This activity encourages problem-solving, strategic thinking, and cooperation.
• Outdoor Adventure Activities: If your conference location allows, consider activities like a guided hike, rafting, or a team relay race. Outdoor activities can provide a refreshing break and promote team bonding.
• Storytelling Workshop: A storytelling workshop can help foster creativity and enhance presentation skills. Teams can create a story around a given theme, presenting it to others using their newly learned skills.
• Virtual Reality Challenge: If your conference is tech-focused, a virtual reality challenge could be a hit. From virtual escape rooms to multiplayer games, VR can offer unique team-building experiences.
• Mural Painting: Collaborating on a large art project like a mural can be a fun, relaxing, and creative team-building activity. Plus, you’ll have a unique piece of artwork as a memory of the conference.
• Mindfulness Session: Hosting a guided mindfulness or meditation session can promote relaxation and focus among attendees. It’s a unique ‘team building’ activity emphasizing individual wellbeing and collective calm.
• Role-Play Scenario: Using role-play scenarios related to your industry can be an engaging way to foster team building. They can help attendees understand different perspectives and learn to navigate conflicts or challenges.

Conference Meeting Ideas For Breakout Sessions

With these creative conference event ideas and meeting formats, you can break away from traditional, often monotonous, meeting structures. 

These ideas will engage attendees more effectively, creating a lively, interactive atmosphere that fosters learning, collaboration, and networking.

• Roundtable Discussions: Create a more intimate, interactive environment by organizing roundtable discussions. These small team sessions encourage more active participation and deeper conversations.
• Workshops: Hands-on workshops that provide practical knowledge and skills can be valuable to your conference. These range from technical skills in your industry to universal skills like leadership or effective communication.
• Expert Q&As: Bring in industry experts for Q&A sessions. Attendees can prepare questions in advance or ask them in real-time, gaining direct insights from professionals in the field.
• Brainstorming Sessions: Encourage innovation and creativity by organizing brainstorming sessions on industry challenges. Participants can collaborate, fostering a sense of teamwork and co-creation.
• Fishbowl Conversations: In this format, a small group sits in a circle (the fishbowl) discussing a topic while a larger group sits around them observing. After a set time, the groups switch. This promotes active listening and diverse perspectives compared to traditional group discussions.
• Open Space Technology: This participant-driven process allows attendees to create their own agenda and self-organize breakout groups. It’s a great way to empower participants and promote active involvement.
• Pecha Kucha Presentations: This format allows presenters to show 20 slides for 20 seconds each, encouraging concise, engaging presentations. It’s an effective way to present many ideas or projects quickly.
• Panel Discussions: A group of experts discussing a topic in front of an audience can offer multiple perspectives and deeper insights. Ensure to include Q&A time to engage the audience.
• World Café: In this format, attendees move between tables where discussions occur. It’s a dynamic way to gather diverse input and promote networking.
• Ignite Sessions: Similar to Pecha Kucha, presenters get five minutes to share their ideas, accompanied by 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. It creates a fast-paced, engaging presentation environment.
• Speed Networking: Like speed dating, attendees rotate and have brief, timed conversations with each other. It’s an efficient and structured way to promote networking.
• Interactive Polling or Quizzes: Use real-time polling or quizzes during presentations to engage the audience, gather opinions, or reinforce key points.
• Unconferences: Also known as a ‘user-generated conference’, the attendees create the agenda at the start of the meeting, fostering a participant-driven environment.
• Fireside Chats: Informal yet focused conversations between a moderator and a guest encourage a relaxed, intimate discussion, often resembling a storytelling session.
• Demo Stations: If your conference involves tangible products or technologies, set up demo stations where attendees can experience these elements firsthand.

12 Fun Things To Do At a Conference

As the expectations of conference attendees evolve, so must the conference experiences we offer. 

That’s where fun conference activities come into play.

It’s no longer enough to present information and expect attendees to retain it. 

Instead, the best conferences today offer interactive, engaging, and fun experiences that energize attendees and create memorable moments.

• Tastings: Whether it’s local delicacies, craft beers, or fine wines, a tasting event can introduce attendees to the local flavors and create a relaxed atmosphere for networking.
• Local Tours: Take advantage of your conference’s location by organizing tours to local attractions, historical sites, or even renowned businesses. It’s an excellent opportunity for attendees to explore and connect outside the conference setting.
• Sports Events: Casual sports competitions, such as a mini-golf tournament or a table tennis challenge, can encourage networking in a fun, relaxed setting.
• Cultural Experiences: If your conference is in a place known for its cultural heritage, arrange for performances by local musicians, dancers, or artists. This not only entertains but also broadens attendees’ cultural horizons.
• Yoga or Fitness Classes: Kick-start the conference day with a group yoga or fitness class. It’s a fun way to energize attendees and promote health and wellness.
• DIY Workshops: A do-it-yourself workshop, such as a painting class or jewelry making, can provide a creative break from the usual conference activities.
• Interactive Photo Booths: Set up a photo booth with fun props where attendees can take photos or gifs. It adds a fun element and gives attendees a memento to take home.
• Themed Parties: Organize a themed party, such as a 80s retro night or a costume party. It’s a chance for attendees to let loose and show their creativity.
• Networking Games: Light-hearted networking games can help break the ice and foster connections among attendees. This could include ‘speed-networking’ sessions or a ‘people bingo’ where attendees find people who meet specific criteria.
• Live Music: Whether it’s a solo performer during lunch or a band for the evening party, live music can create a lively and enjoyable atmosphere.
• Magic or Comedy Show: A professional magician or comedian can provide entertainment and laughter, making the conference experience more memorable.
• Wellness Corners: Set up a wellness corner where attendees can get a quick massage, try aromatherapy, or learn stress management techniques. It’s a unique way to promote wellness and provide a relaxation space during the busy conference.

Graphic Recording: The #1 Solution for Increasing Audience Engagement

When it comes to fun conference ideas, there is no better way to memorialize event experiences than graphic recording . 

Graphic recording is a powerful tool that brings conference content to life.

By translating complex information into compelling, easy-to-understand visuals in real time, sketch artists enhance attendee engagement and comprehension.

Graphic recording can be applied effectively in both in-person and virtual events , offering a variety of benefits:

• Improved Engagement: Attendees are naturally drawn to visually stimulating, colorful graphics. This visual engagement can boost their attention levels and participation during sessions.
• Enhanced Retention: Visual representations help attendees remember information better than text or speech alone. Graphic recording fosters a deeper understanding and long-term content retention by connecting ideas visually.
• Real-time Summary: A graphic recorder creates a visual summary of discussions and presentations as they happen. This quick visual recap can be an excellent tool for reflection and review during or after the conference.
• Complex Ideas Simplified: Graphic recording breaks down complex concepts into understandable visuals. This makes it an effective tool for presenting challenging ideas or information digestibly.
• Encourages Dialogue: The visual canvas can stimulate discussion among attendees, encouraging them to interact and share ideas based on the graphic record.

In an in-person conference , a graphic recorder typically works on large sheets of paper or a whiteboard at the front of the room. This allows for immediate sharing and discussion of the visual content and creates a dynamic and engaging visual performance. 

The final graphic record can be displayed throughout the conference as a continuous display of the ideas and discussions.

In a virtual conference , graphic recording can be done digitally, with the illustrator sharing their screen as they create the visuals in real time. 

The final digital graphic record can be easily shared with attendees via email or social media, providing them with a permanent, accessible conference record. 

It can also be used in post-conference communications, reinforcing the key takeaways and keeping the dialogue going.

By leveraging the power of graphic recording, conference organizers can amplify engagement, comprehension, and retention of content, making their event more impactful and memorable for attendees, whether they are in-person or joining virtually.

So, as you plan your next conference, don’t forget to make room for some fun! 

We hope these creative conference ideas have given you the inspiration you need to plan something great. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the impact of graphic recording on conference experiences, contact our team to discuss your event!

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11 Tips To Make Your Conference Presentation Outstanding

Table of contents.

The world of conferences are great opportunities for like-minded individuals to come together and share their common denominator interest with one another.

Conferences provide attendees with an opportunity to learn and share with others who share similar experiences or interests all under one roof. Conferences are usually large in nature bringing people from across the country, or even across the world, together.

If you find yourself presenting at an upcoming conference, the honest truth is the stakes are high. Oftentimes, conferences have a lot of people in attendance. When you have your moment to shine to share your presentation with a large crowd of audience members, you want it to go flawlessly.

Truthfully, so do we.

That’s why we’ve put together this in-depth blog post to help you navigate the world of conferences and how to master your conference presentation with 11 actionable tips.

Are You Presenting At An Upcoming Conference? We Should Talk

What are conference presentations.

First, let’s get an understanding of what a conference presentation is.

A conference presentation is an opportunity for people to communicate with a large audience of like-minded individuals typically congregating around a common interest or topic.

A conference can vary in length from a one, full day event, all the way up to a week-long program. Conferences are usually a great opportunity for these like-minded individuals to network and learn from one another on new topics, research or major events.

Now that we know what a conference is, there are several common types of conferences you might encounter during your professional career.

Let’s take a look at the common types of conferences below.

Common Types Of Conferences

Although these are some of the common types of conferences you’ll encounter, this isn’t a fully finalized list. There are more types of conferences than simply what’s mentioned below.

However, you’re more than likely to encounter one of the following whether you’re just entering the industry, a student who’s networking or even if you’re passionate on a certain topic and like to be involved in the community.

Academic Conferences

Academic conferences are opportunities for researchers to present their work with fellow peers and colleagues. They’re important because they provide an opportunity for academics from multiple institutions to connect at a single location and network.

Academic conferences can be divided further into professional conferences . Professional academic conferences are geared more towards professors and academics who have spent more time in their field of study such as social sciences or medicine.

On the other hand, undergraduate programs may still hold conferences for academia but these are more geared towards undergraduate students who might just be sharing their semester research presentation.

You might be thinking to yourself, “This just sounds like a research presentation .”

Although you’re not wrong, you’re only partly right.

Research presentations are only one part of the overall academic conference. An academic conference is a combination of multiple research presentations combined into one event. You might have multiple academics speaking at a conference sharing their research presentations, but one does not equal the other.

Annual General Meetings

Shifting gears to the more business side of things, another form of conferences are annual general meetings.

Annual general meetings, or AGM for short, are typically mandatory, yearly gatherings of a company’s interested shareholders which might consist of investors and employees.

At an AGM, directors of a company share with the shareholders the annual report which covers key topics of interest to the shareholders. These key points might include the company’s financial performance, quarterly reports, upcoming yearly vision, plans for expansion, the company’s performance and strategy.

Shareholders who have voting rights often vote on current issues facing the company and which direction the company should pursue. Some of these decisions might include who is to be appointed onto the board of directors, what executive compensation will be, dividend payments and the selection of auditors.

Conventions

Like most conferences, conventions are large meetings consisting of people with a share ideology or profession. You often hear of conventions in terms of entertainment or politics.

On the entertainment side of things, conventions are gatherings where people of the same interest come together to network and immerse themselves in the unifying experience of enjoying the same things as those around you. Some notable conventions you might’ve heard of are Comic Con, Fan Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Here, you’ll find people sharing a mutual enjoyment of entertainment indulgences.

Political conventions or Party Conferences are the other form of conventions you’ll often hear about.

These are often held by the respective political party where members of said political party come together to network and most importantly, vote on a party leader or delegate.

Press Conferences

The smallest form of a conference you’ll encounter is a press conference.

A press conference is an organized event to officially distribute information from a specified spokesperson. Unlike other public relation tactics such as a press release which is still a tool to disseminate information to the public, a press conference is an alternate public relation tactic where media is selectively invited to attend the event to get the information.

Press conferences are often smaller in size due to the shrinking landscape of media outlets. Additionally, press conferences are usually high-stake events usually having highly notable individuals in attendance or presenting. To limit the risk and maximize the safety of these VIPs, press conferences are usually more exclusive.

This is why press conferences are often reserved for bigger news stories and why journalists who are new to the industry try very hard to get on the good side of these conference organizers. Due to the sheer exclusivity of the event, the opportunity to get a unique news story is greater.

Product Launches

The last conference we’ll go over is a product launch.

A product launch, much like a press conference, is another great public relations tactic used to build anticipation and gain the buy-in of the public. They are a coordinated effort to demonstrate new products soon to be released to the general public.

Famous product launches can be seen executed by the world’s top companies such as Apple, Tesla and Disney.

These companies often use product launches to garner attention for an upcoming line of products that will soon be available to the public. The main goal of product launches in recent years is to drive pre-order sales which help raise capital to bring the product development over the finish line without needing to expend any further owned-capital of the company.

Conference Presentation Tips

No matter the conference you find yourself attending and more than likely presenting at, conference presentation tips remain the same. You can apply the following 11 important points to any conference.

With some slight adjustments to each, you’ll soon be a master of conference talk, being able to command any large room of people and retain the audience’s attention with ease.

1 - Do Your Homework

Before you begin putting together your conference presentation slide deck, you need to first do your homework. With any good finalized product, it got that way thanks to the preparation which went into it ahead of time and your presentation is no exception.

What you might want to consider doing before you begin putting together your slide deck is answering the following questions and drafting an outline.

What key message do you want the audience to take away after the presentation?

What do you want them to feel?

How do you want them to act?

Can I achieve these results with the information I already have?

By asking yourself these questions and acting appropriately based on the answer, you’ll be setting yourself up for a good presentation.

2 - Understand Your Audience

Knowing your audience isn’t just about who they are, it’s about understanding what they’re interested in, how they retain information and what motivates them.

Understanding your audience is the first step of mastering presentation psychology and without it, you won’t have a strong foundation for your presentation. You could have the most visually appealing presentation but if it doesn’t resonate with the audience, it won’t matter.

So before you go ahead and start building a presentation based on what you think your audience is interested in, you should really come to a solidified conclusion and know what your audience is interested in.

3 - Know Your Timing

Presentations range in different lengths. You’ll encounter presentations as short as one minute to others that last over an hour. Start preparing your presentation by knowing what your time limit is.

You can typically find this information out by contacting an organizer of the conference.

4 - Use Visual Aids

Visual aids are tools to help you communicate visually.

Some presentation visual aids you might want to consider using are graphs, tables, pictures and videos. If you really want to be seen as an expert presenter, you should even be focusing on the colors you use for your slides.

Now, it might seem like you need a creative degree to master all this, but the reality is you don’t. Luckily, you can outsource your presentation design to a presentation design agency like Presentation Geeks who not only create top-tier presentation slide decks used by Fortune 500 companies, they also can provide presentation consulting services .

Don’t forget, you yourself are a visual communication tool as well. Be sure to dress appropriately for your upcoming conference presentations because you want to make a good impression. Let’s take a political convention as an example. If you’re running as a candidate to be the leader of a major political party, you want to make sure you peak the audience’s interest and gain their trust by dressing appropriately as superficial as that sounds.

5 - Keep It Simple

Don’t overcomplicate your presentation, especially the slide deck.

It’s crucial to keep your presentation, especially the visual aids portion as simple as possible because too much information will confuse the audience and they will likely forget what you’ve said.

Focus on the key details in your slides and use them as supplementary tools. Many presenters will think they need to have a grand conference presentation with fancy technology, transitional devices and other outlandish tactics. The reality is, you want your information to be easily understood by keeping it simple.

6 - Practice, Practice, Practice

The way to become a better presenter is through practice.

You want to ensure you command the room with your confidence. You won’t be doing that if you’re reading from a paper aloud.

You need to ensure you’re confident. Practice your conference presentation multiple times and consider recording yourself as you do. You’ll pick up on your body language and analyze how well you’re using your body language to communicate what you’re saying. Scan the audience and share your eye contact with everyone. Don’t forget to speak clearly and slowly

7 - Prepare For The Worst

Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong, will go wrong. You should keep this theory in the back of your mind and expect the worst to happen.

Just because the worst can and probably will happen, doesn’t mean there isn’t a solution. That is why you need to prepare for the worst.

You should be able to present all your conference presentations if the venue changes at the last minute, if you don’t have the technology you were expecting to use, if you forgot your handouts like a conference paper. You should be prepared for the worst but have a solution.

8 - Know Your Space

Let’s say your fortunate, which you probably will be, and the venue doesn’t change last minute. That’s great! Use this to your advantage and get familiar with your space.

Ahead of your conference presentations, you should go and scope out the area you will be presenting to get an idea of how you can walk around, what technology will be present, what the lighting will be light, etc.

There are so many areas of concerns and unknowns that can be addressed by doing a little bit of field assignment homework ahead of time.

9 - Go Beyond The Slides - Engage Your Audience

An audience will more likely remember what you have to say and feel connected by being engaged.

You can engage your audience by targeting more senses of the human body. If you only target their auditory and visual senses, you’ll eventually lose them. Walk through the crowd if you can. Have the audience move their necks, stretch and move!

10 - Get The Audience To Participate By Encouraging Questions

Good presenting is one-way communication.

Excellent presenting is two-way communication.

Another way to go beyond the slides and your one-way presentation speech by giving an opportunity for the audience to ask further questions.

This is not only beneficial to the audience to help them get a better understanding of your topic, but it will also help you to answer questions.

It gets you to reflect on your presentation from an angle you might not have thought of before. Out of all the questions audience members will ask, there is usually one or two awe-inspiring questions that get even the presenter to take a moment to reflect.

Use these moments to better your presentation for the future.

11 - Evaluate & Refine

Speaking of making your presentation better for the future, remember to evaluate and refine your presentation and presentation skills.

A true master of any profession or skill knows they truly aren’t a master because learning never stops. You should take the same ideology and apply it to your own presentation skills.

Whether it’s self-reflection or a survey of the audience after your conference presentation, try and evaluate how well you presented and refine your future presentation based on the presentation feedback you received.

The summary of everything mentioned above if applied correctly will result in your being a master of conference presentations. The great thing about these techniques is they can be applied to any type of conference presentation.

Not only that, but if you understand the basic fundamentals of presenting, you can begin exploring other realms of presentations. To really take your presentation skills to the next level, enlisting the help of a presentation design agency such as Presentation Geeks will help you surpass the competition.

Author:  Content Team

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36 Conference Breakout Session Ideas & Examples

What do you remember most about your last conference? Was it the brilliant keynote speaker, or perhaps the take-home swag? How about the breakout sessions that connected you with fellow attendees or helped you learn a new skill? 

Breakout sessions are key to facilitating important conversations, networking, and skill-building. They break up the pace of the conference day and diversify the attendee experience. 

Read on for 37 creative conference breakout session ideas to add to your next conference program!

What Are Conference Breakout Sessions?

Conference Breakout Sessions are a key opportunity to break larger groups (E.G. panels, workshops) into smaller groups, to facilitate networking, conversation, and exercises.

Breakout sessions can be implemented into a session agenda for all kinds of reasons, like: 

• Discussing a specific topic in greater detail
• Networking or breaking the ice between attendees
• Problem-solving or ideas generation
• Changing up the pace of the conference

And more! Regardless of the reason, breakout sessions are great ways for attendees to connect.

How Do You Make a Breakout Session Interesting & Productive? 

When you plan your breakout session with your goals in mind, opportunities for creative implementation may jump out of the woodwork and surprise even you!

Here are our tips for crafting a dynamic session that offers even higher value to participants.

Get feedback before the event

You don’t have to plan in a vacuum! You never know where other people’s feedback might take you.

Some people to ask for feedback could include:

• Experienced facilitators. Do you know someone who’s organized a great breakout group or two in their time? Ask what helped make their experience great—and what to avoid.
• Experts in the field. Running an educational breakout session? Ask seasoned experts in the field what they wished they’d learned earlier in their career.
• Your conference attendees. If you can poll attendees before they arrive, ask them what experience they’re hoping for! Questions could include what skills they hope to build and what their ideal conference structure looks like.

Select the best format for your session

The right format for your breakout conference session depends on what your session aims to achieve!

For example:

• Skill-building. These sessions might allow attendees to practice the skill in mind. For research, sales, or pitching, a three-minute thesis format might fit the bill!
• Leadership. A leadership session could involve role-playing exercises or a roundtable discussion with prompts.
• Teambuilding. Strengthening bonds takes time—and it can be fun! Your session could focus on skill-sharing and collaboration. An escape room is a great example.
• Networking. Attendees need an interactive format to connect with each other. Consider small groups with conversation prompts, speed networking, or experience sharing.
• Relaxation. Sometimes attendees just need a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the conference environment. Consider guided meditation, a breathing exercise, or a quiet collaborative activity.

There are also ways to vary how attendees participate in sessions. For example, interactive conference session ideas could include gamifying your session to encourage greater participant engagement.

Set clear expectations

When you set goals for your breakout session, you not only provide yourself with planning guidelines—you also have built-in attendee participation guidelines.

Be sure to convey your goals to your breakout groups before they begin.

Keep the breakout on topic

With so much happening at conferences, it can be easy to wander off-topic! Appointing facilitators within each small group is a great way to make sure the session moves in the right direction. 

Give your facilitators a hand by providing an outline or other facilitation tips. Even a few sample segue phrases could help keep the group on task. 

Designate the right amount of time

How much time do you have available for a breakout session? Make sure that participants have enough time to warm up to their group, get into it, and figure out—if relevant—what they’ll share on the other side.

Too short, and the breakout sessions won’t be productive. Too long, and breakout session participants might complete the task and disengage.

Calculating the right amount of time may require some trial and error. “Three-minute thesis” events make it quite easy to estimate timelines, but a more collaborative and constructive event might need more flexibility.

Everybody deserves a chance to speak, so don’t forget to factor in the number of participants in each breakout group!

Use the right space or event tech

From the in person setting to the virtual space, your environment and tools set the tone for your breakouts.

For in person, is the room big enough, or too big? Does each breakout group have their own space? Does everyone have the tools they need (whiteboard, pens, paper, fidget toys, seating), and, if relevant, privacy?

For virtual, do you have event tech that lets you easily set up and run virtual breakout rooms? Do your facilitators know how to use it, and is there troubleshooting available for your participants?

Figuring out your needs before the event gives the session itself more time to flourish.

Mix introverts and extroverts

The trick to any well constructed group is balance. Group strong talkers with strong listeners for a dynamic conversation full of insights and different ways of processing information.

Create an inclusive event

An important question to consider when planning your breakout session is: how easy is it to alter or accommodate the setup depending on participants’ abilities and needs? For example:

• If there’s a strong visual component to the session, is there an alternative way for people with low vision to participate?
• If there’s a strong physical component, how can mobility needs be accommodated?
• If there is a strong verbal component, is there a visual accommodation (like captions) for people with audio processing disorders?

After all, the last thing you want is for someone to be unable to enjoy the event you’ve so thoughtfully put together!

Create safety measures

Attendees come from a variety of backgrounds and each may have varying levels of comfort at events.

Safety measures help all participants feel empowered to participate in breakout sessions, where event staff might not be present to help moderate uncomfortable situations.

These can include:

• Providing facilitators with de-escalation or segue skills. If tensions rise in a breakout group or if someone says they aren’t comfortable, facilitators should feel empowered to quickly address the tension and/or move the conversation along.
• Code of Conduct. A comprehensive code of conduct that attendees are required to agree to beforehand holds everybody to the same standard and protects you from any attendee misbehavior.
• Security. Invest in hired security so that you can focus on running your event and supporting your facilitators. That way, any in person disruptions can be professionally addressed. 
• Moderation. In a virtual setting, it’s important to task one or more people with moderating the digital space and managing breakout room assignments. With EventMobi’s GoLive! Production Services Team , you can even find expert support for your breakout sessions. 
• Incorporating illness-prevention protocols. Recommending and providing masks or ensuring your venue implements air filtration helps you create an inclusive event. Disabled and immunocompromised people may feel more comfortable coming to your conference and breakout sessions! Plus: no one likes con crud.

What Are Some Good Conference Breakout Session Topics?

Hosting the best conference breakout session will depend on what kind of conference you’re hosting!

To start brainstorming ideas, focus on your goals for the session.

Not sure of your goals? Ask yourself:

• What are people learning? Are they building skills, or gaining knowledge? Another way of framing this is what conference-goers want from the breakout session—whether that be industry info or professional skills.
• What are people sharing? Again—will they share skills, or knowledge? Another way of framing this is what conference-goers have to offer the breakout session.
• How do you enrich the existing programming? Will you provide attendees with new skills, new knowledge, new connections? Will you build on or deviate from existing conference programming?
• What tools will facilitators use to drive discussion? This could include technology like slideshow presentations or facilitation tools like brainstorms and mediation skills.

With your goals clearly established, it’ll be easy to align your conference breakout session ideas with your attendees’ interests! 

Looking for breakout session examples? Attendees at a leadership conference might benefit from a breakout session that allows them to share leadership experiences and problem-solve. Or, at an academic conference, a three-minute thesis competition could encourage academic inspiration and learning.

How To Structure a Breakout Session

Breakout sessions are more than just the main event! Here’s one structure to help make your sessions feel social and natural—and to build connections between your participants.

• Provide a framework or outline. This helps you share your goals for the session with attendees. Make sure participants know what’s expected of them—and how to time the components of the session.
• Appoint breakout leaders/facilitators. Identify leaders before breaking into groups, or ask the groups to elect one amongst themselves. Ideally, your leaders will volunteer!
• Facilitate introductions. This is a great time for an icebreaker question, or even an activity if time permits! Have participants offer one fun fact about themselves, or ask what made them smile in the last week.
• Dive into the activity. The reason everyone’s here!
• Wind the session down. Provide some light guidance on how groups should wrap the session amongst themselves before returning to the main room.
• Reunite and share findings. Everyone will be eager to share what they learned! Have a plan for how best to discuss the conference breakout session once everyone’s come back together.
• Ask for feedback on structure. Find a way to collect feedback efficiently, such as through live polling , then implement those suggestions in the next session you host!

Now you know what should be included in a conference breakout! If you’ve set goals for your sessions and planned around them, odds are that your breakout session’s structure has already started taking shape. 

Now, let’s explore 37 interactive conference session ideas to help guide your next event.

Recommended Resource:  Great breakout sessions are only one part of creating a memorable event. Check out our full guide on event Experience Design!🎨 Download Now

5 Collaborative Discussion Conference Breakout Session Ideas

A conference breakout session that focuses on discussion can be a great way for attendees to connect, problem-solve, or brainstorm.

If you’re hoping for attendees to come away with some bright ideas, try one of these breakout session ideas:

Roundtable 

Roundtables are a classic breakout session. A roundtable discussion allocates time for small groups to discuss a specific topic or prompt. Generally non-hierarchical, these sessions can be a great chance to give quieter attendees dedicated space to share their thoughts. 

Case study discussions

Looking to solve a problem? Assigning a case study to your breakout sessions allows your attendees to put their heads together and focus on the solution. When you reunite as a room, you’ll have many new ideas to consider. Many hands make light work, after all!

Brainstorming and ideation

Big dreams need space to breathe! Your attendees have a lot to offer, but the conference setting doesn’t always enable collaborative ideation. Creating breakout sessions where participants can use their creativity will result in fresh suggestions and help everybody feel heard. 

Goal setting

First comes the brainstorm, then comes the plan! Whether it be to set individual, team, or organizational goals, your attendees can take a hands-on approach to the future of your event topic by participating in a breakout meeting centered on goal-setting.

Book discussion

Running an event where a key text or book is central to the attendees’ interests? It’s easy to skip over the individual reading experience when in a large group, so this is where the breakout session shines. Provide prompting questions so that each group has a place to start chatting. 

5 Presentation Conference Breakout Session Examples

At a busy conference, not every attendee will get the chance to speak at length to a large audience. But that’s no reason to assume your attendees can’t share knowledge in other ways! 

Here are 5 ways to offer presentation opportunities through breakout session examples:

Three minute thesis

A staple of academic conferences, three minute thesis sessions allow presenters to share their thesis in a short, concise manner. Your participants can either register and prepare their pitch beforehand, or even sign up on the day-of and deliver a quick talk. 

Demo or showcase

Sometimes the best way to understand a product or new idea is to see it in action. If you’re looking to give attendees a closer look at a product, tech solution, or another tangible item, holding breakout sessions can give better access to individual attendees and a chance to ask and answer key questions. Ultimately, this can be the difference that makes a sale! 

Common conference session formats don’t allow for much back and forth between presenters. Through breakout sessions, your presenters can have more freedom to converse on their topic of choice. Or, you can create a team-building exercise and separate attendees into groups to strategize around preset topics. Return from the breakout sessions and let the debate begin!

Lightning talks

Even the most interesting conference presentations can feel monotonous after a long day. To break up the rhythm of lengthy conference sessions, use a series of lightning talks. Invite attendees to share their expertise for 5-10 minutes each and you’ll be surprised what you learn!

Engaged attendees will always have questions that don’t get answered in a main conference session. The solution? An AMA—or Ask Me Anything—where attendees get direct access to conference speakers or other experts in a field. Relatively unstructured, these Q&A sessions allow your presenters to speak in greater detail based on the interests of attendees in the room. 

7 Skill Development Conference Breakout Session Ideas

Many attendees hope to develop professional skills when they attend a conference.

Whether they’re looking to learn something new or to brush up on old skills, here are 7 breakout session ideas to give attendees a way to improve their skills at your conference:

Most workshops consist of facilitator(s) and attendees focused on a specific topic. With one or several experts leading, workshops can include interactive as well as presentational components. The best workshops give attendees key takeaways to apply after the session!

For many, the best way to remember information is to write it down ! Give participants worksheets to fill out in response to prompts during the conference breakout session, or have registrants fill them out beforehand to prepare for discussion. You can pair this idea with others on this list!

Training session

Training is crucial to the operations of any organization, no matter the size. And attendees from across different organizations can benefit from learning similar skills to bring back to their teams! A group setting can provide training where attendees have time to ask questions, while also efficiently working through material. 

Practice makes perfect, and what better setting to practice in than during a breakout session? Get creative by presenting attendees with a hypothetical scenario they might encounter professionally. Then, invite attendees to play out those conversations! Afterwards, your attendees will feel better equipped to tackle the real thing. 

Mentorship session

There are many ways to learn, but nothing is quite like having a mentor in the field take time to speak to your specific concerns. Keep the headcount in these breakout sessions low so attendees get individual attention. You could even consider using an event app that makes booking 1-on-1 meetings easy for attendees and mentors alike! 

Skill sharing

Every attendee of your conference brings something new to the table. Create a breakout session where each participant has a chance to share their skills, perhaps around a theme or organizational need, and your attendees will empower each other with knowledge. 

Peer learning

Similar to skill sharing, some attendees will have skills that other attendees are seeking! Rather than bringing in outside experts, tap into the knowledgeable people in the room and encourage them to lead a peer learning session. This can also enhance team cohesion and help peer leaders keep their skills sharp.  

3 Networking Breakout Session Ideas

Did you know 80% of professionals consider networking to be crucial to their career success? 

Conferences are a great place to form new and lasting career connections, so breakout meetings created for networking helps make that process even easier. 

Speed networking

A bit like speed dating, speed networking sets up participants in small groups of two or three to chat and connect. After about 3-5 minutes of conversation, participants will rotate to new groups. You can provide prompts to guide conversation, or leave things open for attendees. 

Drop-in networking café

A long conference day means hungry, thirsty attendees. Why not combine refreshments with networking? Set up a seating arrangement that encourages new connections, or take an extra step and include prompts at your café tables! 

Icebreaker games

Who says networking can’t be fun? Whether during a dedicated session or at the start of each breakout group, you can introduce games that facilitate connection between participants. From two truths and a lie, to a participant bingo, there are many games that encourage conversation.

6 Casual Breakout Conference Session Ideas

Sometimes what your attendees need after information-packed conference sessions is to unwind.

As a bonus, casual sessions passively tick a lot of boxes that other kinds of breakout sessions explicitly develop!

Help your attendees recharge with these 6 conference breakout session ideas: 

Nowadays, employee wellness is more important than ever. In a quiet space, set up your attendees with a meditation instructor to take them through a 15-minute guided meditation between sessions. The peace and quiet will refresh your attendees and they’ll emerge ready to focus on the rest of the day!

Always a hit with a crowd, hosting a trivia game is an easy way to lighten up your breakout sessions. If you want to make things fun and educational, you could break attendees into small breakout groups to answer trivia themed around a talk they just attended. 

Set up a leisure space at your conference venue with small areas for different games, and you’ll have an easy way for attendees to relax. You can include board games like Charades or Werewolf at different stations to encourage participants to collaborate on teams.  

Creative activity

Regardless of your field, creativity is a valuable skill to cultivate. Give your attendees a way to use their creative energy by providing arts and crafts materials or a canvas and paints. Participants will have a tangible reminder of their time at your conference and get to see the creative side of their fellow attendees! 

Scavenger hunt

Send teams on a scavenger hunt throughout your event venue to get attendees moving. You can even use event tech to help gamify your conference breakout session and encourage attendee engagement! Just make sure to think up a valuable prize for your winners. 

Independent work time 

Do your attendees have work to finish even as they attend your conference? Create a space and time for coworking so that they can focus on work, then let everyone check in or share for social accountability throughout the session. Working alongside others can be very motivating !

9 Virtual Breakout Session Ideas

At your next virtual or hybrid event, try using these 10 virtual breakout session ideas to keep your breakout session attendees engaged: 

Virtual lunch & learn

Give your attendees the option to break into small groups that learn as they snack on their lunch! Introverts might spend some time to themselves, but this is a great way to let your high-energy con attendees keep engagement up through rest time.

Virtual Ask Me Anything

Honestly, a lot of the breakout session ideas we listed above can be repurposed for virtual! But expert sessions like an Ask Me Anything can sometimes be MORE valuable online…because your experts aren’t limited by geographic location.

Show & tell

Screen sharing makes showing off projects, experiences, or past events way easier than in person. Make use of the fact that your attendees have all their work at their fingertips, and create show & tell breakout rooms where they can explore real experiences together.

Interactive brainstorming

One of the best ways to drive a new strategy home is letting people put it into practice. Give your breakout rooms some time to brainstorm how they’d put their new skills to work in a sample scenario, or work towards an actual project they have on hand. Then they can present their new findings using a virtual whiteboard or similar tech!

Virtual games

Heard of scribblr? Letting attendees have a moment to break out into smaller groups focused on ridiculousness and fun can help them bond and connect, when virtual events can feel less engaging on an attendee-to-attendee level.

Script-based roleplay

Want to challenge some new skills? Give your attendees a script to walk through a scenario, and put them in breakout rooms of 2-4 individuals. One person will be on-script, one person will respond, and the others can provide feedback. Then they can swap roles!

Questions & discussion

A tried and true standby, send breakout groups off with a list of questions for them to discuss. Want to keep things moving? Make sure you get the group to assign a group leader as soon as they start, to shorten those awkward silences.

Poll-based topics

Are some participants feeling quiet? Live polls are a wonderful way to democratize session decisions and collect attendee feedback in a virtual setting. Then, once you’ve let them choose their breakout session topics, send them off to discuss and return!

Put groups together and let them chat for 2-5 minutes, before swapping who they’re chatting with. This works best if attendees can also book time with one another on the event platform you’re using (psst: EventMobi does this!).

Whether your conference is academic or professional, in-person or virtual, your breakout sessions are sure to impress attendees when you plan around your goals and structure the sessions according to their needs. 

Running virtual breakout sessions? It’s so much easier with the right technology partner. With EventMobi , you can:

• Create interactive breakout rooms
• Enable video group chat and screen sharing
• Trust your rooms are being managed by EventMobi staff
• Live stream your sessions for attendees
• Record sessions for future viewing 

Interested in learning more about EventMobi? Book your personalized demo of EventMobi’s Event Management Software platform today! Book a Demo

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19 Creative Conference Breakout Session Ideas

By: Grace He | Updated: August 03, 2023

Here is our list of the best conference breakout session ideas .

Conference breakout session ideas are topics and activities that create a fun and interactive conference environment. For example, hosting lightning talks, playing the spectrogram game, or running a group meditation. The purpose of these activities is to encourage discussion and learning among attendees.

These concepts are similar to team breakout sessions and are standard features on conference agendas . These sessions can also double as team meeting ideas .

This list includes:

• leadership breakout session ideas
• breakout session examples
• women’s conference breakout session ideas
• fun activities for breakout sessions
• conference breakout session topics

Let’s get to it!

List of conference breakout session ideas

Original conference breakout session ideas can be difficult to imagine. Conferences are a longstanding event in the corporate world. Many employees and leaders flock to these developmental meetings at least once a year and are likely familiar and perhaps weary with the normal routine and common session topics. Here are some unexpected and fun activities for breakout sessions and creative ideas to make your next conference a hit.

1. The Great Guac Off™️ (Top Choice)

The Great Guac Off is an exciting head-to-head competition where teams make their best guacamole recipes! This unique avocado-based team building experience will help your team build strong relationships.

Here is what you can expect:

• 90 minutes with a seasoned facilitator
• premium guacamole ingredients and chips for dipping
• an optional secret ingredient to add an element of surprise
• fascinating avocado facts, trivia, and mini-games
• a fast-paced guacamole-making showdown followed by a judging round

To make the experience even more convenient, we will bring all the necessary ingredients right to your chosen venue. The Great Guac Off is the perfect way to boost teamwork, making it an unforgettable team building activity!

Learn more about The Great Guac Off .

2. Host Lightning Talks

If you are looking for a way to change up the pace of a conference, then lightning talks are a great tool. These short, interesting presentations can be on a variety of topics. Generally, lightning talks are not directly related to the conference topic. Instead, you can invite attendees to host a discussion or give a short presentation about a subject of choice. These topics should be an area of expertise and passion and do not need to be directly-work related. Be sure to give the audience the chance to get involved.

For example:

• How to Best Utilize Vacation Days
• Preparing Healthy Meals on a Budget
• How to Ask for a Raise
• Work-Life Balance Tips

These interactive and informative sessions are among the best leadership breakout session ideas. These sessions nurture essential soft skills in presenters.

Get our free team building toolbox

• icebreaker games
• bingo cards

3. Organize a “Three Minute Thesis” Event

Any PhDs on staff have likely participated in one of these events. The goal of the “Three Minute Thesis” is to present the presenter’s research in an engaging way the general public can understand. However, presenters only have three minutes. You can think of this exercise as a more academic version of an elevator pitch.

Incorporating this event in a breakout session is simple. You can have participants sign-up before the conference and then practice and perfect their three-minute presentation. Or, offer a sign-up on the first day of the event. Be sure to consider how much time you have to accommodate speakers. During the session, attendees will dynamically learn new facts and concepts.

A “Three Minute Thesis” event is a great way to present various topics concisely.

4. Ultimate Trivia Showdown (Popular)

Trivia is one of the best conference breakout session ideas because it encourages participants to interact with new acquaintances. This activity also develops essential skills like communication and reasoning. You can offer your team a fresh take on this activity with Ultimate Trivia Showdown!

Ultimate Trivia Showdown includes the following:

• a 90-minute experience led by a talented host
• games like The Champion Challenge and Smarty Pants Ultimate Trivia
• high-energy question rounds, games, and puzzles
• trivia questions covering a wide range of categories

For added convenience, we can host this experience at any venue of your choice and will bring all the needed supplies.  Trivia is a great way to encourage discussion while attendees have fun with each other. To help your team sharpen their problem-solving skills in a fun environment, be sure to consider Ultimate Trivia Showdown!

Learn more about Ultimate Trivia Showdown .

5. Set Up a “Meet the…” Event

If there is a well-known publication in your field, then hosting a “Meet the Publisher/Writers/Editors” event is a fantastic way for participants to learn more about the minds behind the magazine. It is a good idea to focus this event on the younger attendees at the conference since the activity encourages up-in-comers to ask questions about skills needed in their future. Keeping this event smaller is essential to encouraging discussion. Allowing time for experts in the field to interact and speak about the future of the field is also beneficial for the industry.

You can run this activity in a panel format or make it more like a casual cocktail hour where folks can mingle and chat organically.

6. Host a “Snowball Fight”

No, we are not telling you to trek outside in the cold and have attendees throw snowballs at each other. In this fun and interactive session, participants will be able to share a thought or feeling that might be hard for them to say out loud. You can encourage those in attendance to think about something they are normally hesitant to share. For example, a struggle, fear, or complaint. Each participant should write down their confession on a piece of white paper. Then, writers should crumble up their slips and throw them at the front of the room. Finally, each attendee should pick up one piece of paper and read it aloud.

Hosting a “snowball fight” is an excellent way for participants to see that other people struggle with similar issues and teach empathy.

7. Set Up a Game Room

Playing games can develop communication skills, encourage strategy development, and promote problem-solving skills. As attendees play, they must work with others to complete the game.

To set up a game breakout session, set up a room with several tables. Then, choose games that promote teamwork and communication. For example, Pictionary, Charades, or Werewolf. There are many interactive and board games that would be fantastic to use in a breakout session.

Hosting a game session develops essential skills required in the workplace and is also fun and interactive for attendees.

8. Host a Speed Networking Event

One of the most important takeaways from a conference is the participants’ new connections. These new relationships are essential in the business world. Hosting a speed networking event is a great way to allow attendees to make these connections. Speed networking is similar to speed dating. However, instead of a date, the participants create new professional relationships.

To plan this event, set up your room in a way that encourages small group discussions. You can place small two- or three-seater tables throughout the room. Then, set a timer for five to seven minutes to allow introductions and discussion. Then, participants move on to another table. To ensure good conversation, you can provide open-ended conversation starters and topics.

Speed networking develops essential skills among participants. This event also initiates relationships that can benefit both parties moving forward.

Here are more fun ideas for networking events .

9. Set Up an Industry Marketplace

It is often impossible to cover all relevant information and topics in a single conference. To rectify this issue, set up an industry marketplace where all attendees have a chance to set up a display about a topic of expertise. You can use a large room or a hallway to facilitate this event. Then, participants can browse the information throughout the conference. Be sure to encourage interested participants to sign up for a space before the meeting so planners know how many tables to set up.

An industry marketplace is a fantastic way to cover various topics without dedicating entire breakout sessions to each concept.

10. Go for a Walk

Allowing a chance for attendees to get outside provides many benefits. First, fresh air and exercise are great for physical health. Planning an outside walk is also helpful if space is an issue at the conference venue. This idea is perfect for locations with unique and exciting places within walking distance. For example, consider historical sites or monuments. Taking participants on a walk to expose them to unique facts and beautiful sights is a nice break from typical conference talk.

Here are more outdoor group activities .

11. Host a Survivor-style Panel

Survivor is a reality show where participants vote each other out of the competition each week until only one player remains. Utilizing this concept in a panel setting during a breakout session is a fun and dynamic way to liven up the atmosphere. During the panel, attendees can ask a group of experts questions. Then, the experts must use all the information and skills they have gained through their careers to answer the questions engagingly. Throughout the session, attendees will vote experts off the panel. Ultimately, there will only be one expert left standing.

A Survivor-style panel is a fun twist on the traditional panel Q&A setup.

12. Plan an “Ask Me Anything” Session

Frequently, important topics get left out at conferences because there is not enough time or space to cover everything. To combat this problem, plan a breakout session to include these extra topics. During this event, assemble a panel of experts in the field. Then, have a moderator organize a question and answer time for attendees. This session is a chance for participants to ask highly specific or off-base questions, especially relating to topics not covered in other breakout sessions.

This event is a wonderful opportunity to ensure attendees leave the conference with all the information needed to be successful in the future.

13. Play the Spectrogram Game

A spectrogram is a visual representation of varying degrees of opinions. Using the idea of a spectrogram is a fantastic way for teams to learn more about each other. Mainly, utilize this activity in small to medium-sized groups.

This activity does not require much planning and encourages movement, which can be needed after sitting through conference sessions. To implement this exercise, ask a general question. This question can be about work or personal preferences. For example, “How do you feel about utilizing productivity apps like Slack?” or “How much do you love chocolate ice cream?” Then, all attendees line up based on how strongly they feel about the question. Or, you could ask participants to line up according to birthdays or height.

Using the idea of a spectrogram allows team members to see how they line up against each other and learn more about how others think and feel.

14. Host an Offers and Needs Meeting

Many skills are forgotten about or not considered in the hiring process or on the job. By hosting an offers and needs meeting, you encourage attendees to think about their “soft skills” or things they are good at that often get overlooked. For example, an attendee might be an expert at setting up many social media accounts, while another is good at writing internal emails. Meanwhile, participants should also consider a task they need to be completed or a problem to be solved. Attendees should write both offers and needs down and display the papers for all to see. Then, allow the needs to find the offers and let the discussion flow.

An Offers and Needs Meeting is a great way for participants to practice promoting themselves and their skills and learn to ask for help.

15. Plan a Silent Disco

One of the most fun activities for breakout sessions is a silent disco. This unique and interactive event is a much-needed energy boost during a conference. A bonus to this activity is that you do not need a live band. To host a silent disco, each attendee will have a pair of wireless headphones. Then, the listener can choose their channel or type of music to enjoy. Silent discos are enjoyable for everyone involved as each dancer has their rhythm and melody.

A silent disco is a great option to break up the monotony of traditional conferences and give participants a boost of energy.

Here is a list of upbeat songs for conferences that work well for the event.

16. Plan an Escape Room

Escape rooms are a classic event where participants must solve problems and puzzles to win. The catch is that teams have to successfully answer a problem to get to the next step. This process encourages discussion and problem-solving skills for all involved. To set up an escape room session, have participants sign up ahead of time to ensure the correct number of players in each room.

An escape room is a fantastic way to develop essential skills and have fun.

Check out this guide to creating a DIY escape room .

17. Host a Meditative Session

If you are looking for breakout session examples, then consider hosting a meditative session. Sometimes participants get overwhelmed at conferences with the constant shuffling between sessions, extra noise, and increased interaction. Offering a chance for attendees to decompress and relax could be incredibly beneficial and much appreciated by all in attendance. You can set up a room with dimmed lighting, soothing music, and comfortable seating.

Mental health is incredibly important. Giving attendees a chance to focus on themselves and their mental state is a great use of a breakout session.

For more mindfulness activities, check out this list of Mental Health Awareness Month ideas .

18. Plan a Women in Business Seminar

One of the best women’s conference breakout session ideas is planning a “women in business” seminar. In this event, focus on the influential role women have in the workplace. This session does not need to be solely for women. Encouraging both men and women to attend will increase women’s success in advancing in their field. At this session, attendees can learn about the difficulties women face and how to overcome these trials. It would be helpful to hear from women who have successfully navigated a career and home.

Encouraging discussion about women in the workplace can be inspiring for young professional women and eye-opening for men.

Check out this list of leadership books for women .

19. Set Up a Photo Booth

If you are looking for one of the most fun activities for breakout sessions, then consider setting up a photo booth. This feature encourages interaction and creativity among participants. The photo booth setup can be as simple as a background with handheld props allowing participants to use their cameras. Or make the photo booth more dynamic by providing costumes and hiring a professional photographer to capture the memories.

A photo booth allows participants to have a little fun with new friends and take home a special memory from the conference.

List of conference breakout session topics

The following is a list of sample subjects for conference breakout sessions. You can use these ideas to plan dynamic and interactive breakaway sessions that encourage and develop attendees.

• Combating Mental Fatigue in the Workplace
• How to Plan a Successful Company Picnic
• Encouraging Physical Fitness Among Employees
• How to Focus on Health in the Workplace
• Hosting Virtual Team Building Games
• How to Encourage Women in the Workplace
• How to Develop a Work-Life Balance
• The Importance of Communication
• Team Building Ideas
• How to Develop Leaders
• How to Host a Virtual Escape Room
• How to Talk about Racial Equality
• How to Plan a Mental Health Month
• How to Boost Confidence in New Employees
• How to Successfully Onboard New Clients

These topics are some ideas to get you started, but the possibilities are endless.

Finding appropriate and interactive conference breakout session ideas is essential to creating a dynamic event. Attendees learn at these sessions and also have fun and grow professionally. Then participants take these new skills back to their workplace. As companies find ways to develop their employees, everyone at the office benefits.

For more large-scale event planning tips, check out conference event entertainment , conference swag , and conference menu ideas .

We also have a list of conference quotes , a list of the best jokes for conferences , and a list of leadership conferences to attend.

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FAQ: Conference breakout session ideas

Here are the frequently asked questions about conference breakout sessions.

What are conference breakout sessions?

Conference breakout sessions are events or activities that participants attend in small groups. After an opening session for all attendees, breakout sessions allow a chance for them to interact in small groups and learn about focused topics.

What are the best ideas for conference breakout sessions?

The best ideas for conference breakout sessions encourage participation and discussion and develop essential skills in participants. You can achieve these goals with engaging activities like Silent Discos and ask me anything sessions or with specific panel topics like Women in Business.

What are some good conference breakout session topics?

Some good conference breakout session topics are Team Building Ideas, How to Focus on Health in the Workplace, and the Importance of Communication.

Author: Grace He

People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com. Grace is the Director of People & Culture at teambuilding.com. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com.

Grace is the Director of People & Culture at teambuilding.com. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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10 Interactive Conference Ideas to Boost Audience Engagement

The success of any conference, virtual or in-person, depends on audience engagement, allowing attendees to interact with one another and connect with your brand. And for this, you need to implement interactive conference ideas. After all, events or conferences aim to foster networking, questions, and learning.

The first step in making conferences more interactive is starting with a robust online event platform that connects attendees and speakers with fun and useful features.

LEARN ABOUT: Audience Engagement Tools

We have created 10 engaging conference ideas to help you engage your audience from anywhere.

What are interactive conference ideas?

Interactive conference ideas refer to a variety of strategies and activities that can be used to engage and involve participants in a conference or event. 

These ideas can make the conference more interactive, lively, and memorable for attendees and enable networking, learning, and collaboration. The key to successful interactive conference ideas is providing opportunities for attendees to interact with one another and with the content in interesting and memorable ways to generate audience engagement .

10 Interactive conference ideas to boost audience engagement

Continuous engagement should be your main priority while conducting an online conference. The goal is to give attendees a unique, interactive brand experience that gets their attention and gets them involved throughout.

Here, we will discuss 10 interactive ideas to boost your audience engagement:

• Use icebreaker idea

Engaging the audience from the beginning of your conference meeting is one of the most interactive conference ideas. To do this, you can use a few of the icebreakers. To make each new attendee to the meeting feel welcome, you can provide a question, employ a puzzle, or administer a quiz. To improve team bonding, you can also ask some personal questions.

QuestionPro has an excellent live opinion poll feature that can help you to engage your audience at conferences. Additionally, You can use quizzes at the end of conferences.

• Offer a virtual tour

You can add a virtual tour to your conference with the best virtual conference platform. You can bring in a lot of people with virtual tours. Also, you can get the attention of the attendees or learners in a big way. 

It uses the most up-to-date virtual technology to give people real-time, in-person experiences. As a result, 360-degree and 3D effects will give attendees the impression that they are physically present at the location.

• Hold attention with quizzes

Quizzes, puzzles, and other similar activities always sound interesting and appealing. The attendees will never refuse to participate in such games. As a result, you can include a variety of questions in the form of a quiz. 

You can also award a score to the user who completes the quizzes quickly. As a result, quizzes can be a fun way to manage and engage participants during virtual conferences.

If you are thinking of conducting a quiz game to make your audience interactive, you can surely go for the QuestionPro Quiz feature. You can easily create your Questions online and get your audience’s response in real-time. Utilizing QuestionPro is one of the best interactive conference ideas for business.

• Interactive sessions

Attendees may find listening to and watching a speaker boring. To make it interesting, allow your audience to ask questions and respond to the speaker’s presentations. It would help if you had interactive tools. 

You can look for the following features to make your conference interesting:

Keeping the users busy and interested in your session can be helpful. They can vote for the options they like best, and you can show them the results right away.

QuestionPro Live poll can be the best option to make your conference interactive. It is a free, user-friendly online engagement and polling tool that allows you to perform fast online polls, quizzes, and trivia, gather feedback and display results in real time. Also, during a conference, you can immediately get open-ended feedback with QuestionPro live polls .

• Real time question

Live Q&A is a real-time web application for your website that allows you to promote your brand in a highly engaging, interactive, and effective manner through live Q&A events. You can create audience polls by selecting engaging questions from the session.

You can use QuestionPro live polls to engage your audience with a live Q&A. You can create your trivia in seconds by adding all of the questions you need! Trivia allows you to create the questions, and the audience plays for points.

• Opinion poll

Opinion polls are similar to surveys or inquiries in that they are intended to measure public opinion on a specific issue or a series of issues in a scientific and unbiased manner. The most common type of opinion poll question is one that requires respondents to respond in either a yes or a no format. For example,

Do you think opinion polls are an interactive survey method for engaging an audience?

QuestionPro opinion polls offer you to collect the opinion of your audience easily. They also assure the accuracy of your opinion polls. The best thing is you can use  QuestionPro opinion polls for free.

• Real-time push notifications

You must keep the participants informed of all activities during the virtual conference events. Engaging interested users in various activities, such as games or the conference’s updated leaderboard score, will be beneficial. Furthermore, they will arrive and attend every session on time. You can also inform people about all of the gamification and leaderboard opportunities.

• Add games and leaderboard

Gamification is another technique for keeping your audience engaged during virtual conference events. Additionally, attendees can give themselves a chance to improve their scores by visiting every location that will be featured on the virtual online conference leaderboard. 

You can assign several points to each attendee for completing a portion of the event. It has been the most popular method of efficiently engaging audiences.

You can try out QuestionPro gamification features, which can help you engage your audience simply. They have a gamification point and reward system to encourage and engage the audience.

• Rewards and gift vouchers

Rewards and gift vouchers are another one of the best interactive conference ideas that you should know. Nobody in the world dislikes freebies. With rewards and gift cards, you can tempt attendees. Offer some enticing incentives in exchange for referral registrations, logins, and leaderboard winners. As a result, you can hold a light competition to keep your audience engaged in your virtual online conference.

QuestionPro has an all-in-one rewards system. QuestionPro allows community members to respond to incentives, whether you want them to receive gift cards, badges, or have a gamification experience.

• Include some entertainment sources

Live performances can increase engagement. It could be a dance show, a comedy show, a music show, or any other type of entertaining program. Furthermore, you can keep these conference activities in between sessions to break up the monotony.

You can also make the attendees participate in fun and unique activities to reveal their hidden talents. You can include dancing, singing, or other conference activities as hidden talents.

• Include interactive features

You can improve communication by using live chat, audio, and video calls. These built-in communication tools will allow attendees, sponsors, hosts, and speakers to interact with one another. You can also provide them with external plugins such as WhatsApp, Zoom meetings, BlueJeans, and so on. As a result, they can use these integrations to connect with whomever they want.

• Maintain frequent conference breaks

It’s important to give the attendees some time and space. It is considered one of the best interactive conference ideas. Allow them time to recover from the first session and prepare their minds for the next one. You can schedule frequent breaks between each session. Furthermore, you can use gamification or other methods to engage users on your platform.

So, these are a variety of interactive conference ideas for boosting audience engagement. You can use these conference engagement ideas to achieve the highest success. The audience will be unable to resist an event with such features.

We hope that this blog’s 10 interactive conference ideas will help you. And you can get help from QuestionPro if you need it.

QuestionPro is a survey software with many excellent features, including live polls. Live polls can engage your audiences in interactive meetings and conferences. Sign up for free to utilize the best value of QuestionPro live polls for boosting audience engagement.

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Switch up your conference location and venue:

There’s a reason conference centers and large hotels host the lion’s share of conferences”they have event space, food, and overnight accommodations to spare. Avoid that ˜here we go again’ feeling among conference attendees by thinking a little outside the box.

12. Move to a different location .

It’s difficult to imagine SXSW anywhere besides Austin. But smaller conferences not tied to a specific site can benefit from a new locale. The location shift gives people an incentive to attend so they can explore regional attractions and enjoy the local cuisine. 

13. Head out of the big city.

People are busy and conferences typically add to their hectic schedules. Take people out of the hustle and bustle with a meeting in a small or mid-sized city, such as Rochester, Minnesota or Highlands Ranch, Colorado. The key is choosing a location that is within an hour’s drive of an airport and that provides adequate convention space. 

14. Pick a unique venue.

Explore venue platforms, such as the Cvent supplier network , search a city”and scroll past the top returns to look for something different. You can also select filters that focus your search to unusual event sites, including aquariums, bars, and educational facilities. 

• Most museums have large auditoriums and seminar rooms to accommodate different elements of a conference while offering attendees a unique experience. 
• A large theater opens up a world of possibilities, complete with comfy seating and a stage or screen for presentations and clear sightlines for all.
• Transform a warehouse into a cool and unique event space, or choose a venue with an open floor plan, exposed beams, and a retro-industrial feel.  

Mix and match conference room layouts:

This is particularly important for large-scale conferences occurring over several days. Room after room with the same seating design is uninspiring and can contribute to a wasn’t I just here? feeling, even in new spaces. Below are some standard event layout options; simply choose between them for different events throughout the conference.

15. Auditorium style.

Works best for addressing a large group of people who don’t need to take notes or interact with each other. Perfect for sessions where speakers present their topics and take questions at the end. 

16. Banquet tables.

You’ll typically use this setup for meals and refreshment breaks. But this is a good setup for networking sessions, allowing people to mingle among the tables.  

17. Classroom style.

The table in front of participants allows note-taking and project creation. A great conference room setup idea for speakers who rely on audience participation and interaction between participants.

18. U-shape.

Great for intimate sessions where presenters take turns in the center section to speak to attendees on a personal level. This set up allows participants to take notes and interact with each other and the speaker as needed.

19. Custom design.

Use event planning layout tools to create a unique floor plan based on your needs and the parameters of each room you are designing. 

Creative conference F&B makes a big impact with little effort:

Food and beverage play an essential role in events by creating a welcoming environment from start to finish. Here are some F&B offerings that won’t feel like an afterthought: 

20. Gourmet coffee bars.

Regular and decaf with powdered creamer aren’t good enough anymore. Offer a variety of teas and hot cocoa for those who don’t like coffee. Include regular and sugar-free options for sweetener. Provide creamer, flavored creamer, and almond milk for the dairy-free crowd. And make sure the coffee bar is stocked and fresh throughout the entire event. 

21. Hydration stations.

Don’t make your attendees hunt for the vending machines. Provide plenty of water options placed around the venue for convenient self-service. Large water dispensers filled with mint leaves, cucumber slices, or fresh fruit are a refreshing option. You can also provide branded water bottles during check-in and water-filling stations for refills.  

22. Theme-based F&B.

Customize menus to match the industry you’re serving. Whip up an assortment of healthy smoothies at a nursing conference. Offer apple-themed desserts at a teacher’s conference. Serve apps and drinks in Petri dishes and beakers at a science conference.

23. Local favorites.

Of course, you’ll consider regional favorites like Philly cheesesteak, Chicago deep-dish, or Carolina BBQ. But if there’s a dynamic bakery, artisan ice cream shop, or local pizza joint serving world-class fare nearby, bring them in for a taste of the unexpected. 

24. Instagram-worthy F&B.

Excite social sharing about your conference with outstanding F&B that adds a fun element or makes attendees feel pampered. Some ideas to get you started:

• Offer international fare if the business has an affiliate office in another market. For example, France (quiche) Japan (such) or Canada (Poutine).   
• Book a food truck for your event (or two), offering a chance to get outside and enjoy the fresh air among classic dishes like tacos, burgers, or even Thai.
• Go retro with throw-back, comfort food dishes like mac & cheese cups, fried chicken, or wedge salads with blue cheese dressing and bacon.
• Check out even more conference event catering ideas here .

Incorporate the trends that matter to people into your conference:

Stay on top of current trends to get attendees on board with your mission, and to give them something unique to remember. 

25. Create a mobile app for your event.

Attendees enjoy access to event agendas right on their smartphones, and you can make announcements and send alerts with ease. 

26. Reduce your carbon footprint.

Promote green values and bring people together over an important topic. It’s easy to go paperless with apps, email, and digital agendas. Choose biodegradable table products. And engage with sustainable venues and suppliers who support your green mission.

27. Use tech badges .

Reduce lines and confusion by producing tech badges for all attendees. Whether you choose tags, wearables, NFC or RFID technologies, or standard plastic badges, event badges create a personal experience. 

28. Offer a way to give back.

Donate a portion of your proceeds to a local charity, build a sponsorship with one, or encourage people to donate with a matching program. Everyone will leave the conference feeling like they made a difference in the world. 

29. Get social.

Social media is a great way to build buzz and get people excited about the conference. Create an event in a Facebook group to build connections and reiterate important information after the conference is over.

Now you’re ready to put these ideas in motion and reinvent your conference!

Put a twist on the tried-and-true and stay ahead of the conference trends with these ideas. They’ll steer you clear of planning ruts and ensure your events stand out from the crowd. 

Need more help in keeping up with the demands of conference planning? Here are foolproof conference planning tips to level up your events.

Need more conference ideas?

An unrelenting focus on the audience is the best approach to making a conference interesting. Enable them to get involved by asking questions, interacting in small groups, networking freely, and having fun!

Choose a compelling theme and a team of experts to bring it to life. Submit RFPs to a few different types of venues (conference centers, universities, hotels, etc), and book the one that fits your needs. Arrange your vendors, get some speakers, build out a schedule full of interesting sessions, and start gathering attendees!

Conferences can be academic, athletic, literary, hobby/interest-based, trade-based, hosted by a single company to promote their products, and more. A conference is a gathering of people related to a singular topic.

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• Inspiration

17 fun presentation ideas (with video!) to wow your audience

• 30 Mar 2023

So you want to be the next Steve Jobs. Or Martin Luther King. Or any other dazzling orator you look up to. But you need a little something to add to your presentation ideas – you don’t want to bore people to death with Powerpoint.

Whether you’re creating a sales presentation, an event presentation, or just showing your travel video to Uncle Ron, we’ve compiled some of the best ways to get your audience seriously hyped up about your message.

Biteable offers online video presentation software, so we know a thing or two about making engaging presentation videos. In this guide, we share some of our favorite video presentation inspiration and show you some of the different types of presentations you might consider.

When you’re ready to make your own video presentation, head over to  Biteable  for hundreds of brandable templates, video scenes, and workplace-ready animations. With Biteable, making a video presentation is as easy as making a PowerPoint – only a whole lot more fun.

Create videos that drive action

Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.

Types of video presentations

If you’re looking to win over your audience with a presentation, videos are the best way to do it. According to Insivia, viewers retain  95% of a message  when they see it in a video, but only 10% if they have to read on-screen text.

When you’re making your presentation, you could either make your video the whole presentation, or just a part of the whole. Did you know, for example, that you can  embed a video in a Powerpoint document?  Either is possible with our video templates and it can be interesting to mix things up once in a while.

There are four main types of presentations:

• Informative
• Demonstrative
• Inspirational

Picking the right one will ensure you’re onto a winner with your video presentation. For example, if you’re onboarding some new employees, you might choose a video template that’s an informative presentation like this one:

Or, if you want to show off how something works, a demonstration presentation might be what you want to create:

A persuasive presentation would involve creating a video more like this charity infographic example:

And if you want something a little more inspirational, try something like this positive quote video template.

But that’s not all, folks! If you’d like to check out more awesome Biteable video templates, visit our  templates page here .

Creative (and fun!) video presentation ideas

You’ve now picked the type of presentation you need. But how do you get creative with your video?

First of all, it’s important your video is top-notch. Without high-quality graphics and production value, your message may fall by the wayside. Choose online  video presentation software  that’s easy to use and makes great-looking videos. That’s where Biteable comes in.

Whatever the topic of your presentation, your video format and design need to match the overall tone and message.

Delivering a corporate presentation on climate change? A fast-paced, wildly colorful template with upbeat music is going to feel a little off-message.

To identify how to design your presentation, think about the feelings you want to evoke in your audience. Want them to be crying with laughter? Moved to tears? Motivated into taking action? Pinpointing the emotions behind your presentation will help you choose the right template and make the best video possible.

17 great video presentation ideas

Now you’ve nailed down the type of video presentation you want to make, it’s time to master the finer details. Here’s just some of the ways you can make your message sing.

1. Start with a bold statement

A bold statement can capture your audience’s attention right from the get-go. Your statement should offer something slightly unusual and maybe even a little controversial. Something to make people sit up and take notice.

2. Tell a story

One of the best ways to get your audience’s attention is to tell a story – it’ll hit them right in the feels.

A personal, human story works because it the audience can relate to it on a personal level. Think about some stand-out examples of human stories that relate to your business or idea, and tell that story so people will connect with the central character. The bigger the emotion the better: love, longing, overcoming obstacles, things we’ve all had to deal with at some point in our lives.

Think about the  ‘story arc’  – how will you frame your message so the audience immediately empathizes?

If you’re selling trainers, perhaps you’ll talk about someone who’s training for a marathon. If you’re lobbying for women’s rights, perhaps you’ll tell a story of when a passing comment affected you deeply. Maybe you should think back to the decision that started your business, and start your presentation with that.

Here’s a great example of storytelling from one of the world’s top brands:

3. Use music

Music has great power to support and enhance the emotion in a video presentation, and has been proven to sustain an audience’s attention and aid in information retention. Music is used in movies to suggest an emotional state to the viewer, so why not in a video presentation?

Modern, up-tempo music will snap people to attention at the right moment, while slow, minor-key sounds relax the brain, which is useful for reviewing content so it can slip more easily into long-term memory.

It can be a struggle to find good quality  royalty free music , but here at Biteable we have a selection of great royalty free tracks (or you can upload your own if you’re that way inclined).

Music is one of the most critical (and often overlooked) aspects of any presentation. Here’s a good example of a Biteable template where the music does a great job of supporting the message.

4. Visual metaphor

Research has shown that combining pictures and text is one of the best ways to help people engage with and retain information. There’s something about how our brain works that makes text by itself far less memorable, so if you can combine something visual with your message, you’ll keep people’s attention longer and they’ll remember more of your presentation.

Talking to a group of people about taking action on something that scares them? A picture of someone diving or bungee jumping could work. Telling your boss how important that company retreat is next year? Show them an image of happy, relaxed people with their toes in the sand.

It doesn’t have to be obvious and clichéd, either. Closed doors, wide open roads, and lighting a candle all have subconscious messages that you don’t really need to explain. (Whatever you do, just don’t use the ultimate cliche: the overused  ‘water ripple’ .)

5. Use questions

Questions can be a great way to open a presentation, because they encourage the audience to think for themselves. It opens them up to a realm of critical thinking, which is perfect when you’re gonna sock it to them with your impactful message.

‘Did you know 15 billion trees are cut down each year?’

‘Have you ever considered what life would be like if you didn’t have to save money?’

The art of asking questions in a presentation means you can incorporate them into your video as a great lead-in. Combined with some appropriate music, it can really get your audience thinking about the issue, and then you’ll go on to explain exactly what your solution is.

Having a laugh can really do a lot to win over an audience. There’s no need to be too serious, and even if you’re dealing with a heavy topic, lightening the mood can work wonders.

Whether you’re looking to create a funny sales video, an event presentation, or a presentation for an interview — one thing’s for sure, you can’t go wrong by including humor.

7. Repetition

Simple. Effective. Powerful.

Repetition can be used in several ways: by offering several one-word sentences in a row (the repetition is in the rhythm), or by repeating a word or a key phrase several time throughout your presentation.

In his famous Stanford speech in 2005, for example, Steve Jobs concluded by saying  “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

Repetition is powerful. It drives home your key message and strengthens your position.

8. Motion Graphics

Motion graphics  are basically animation with text as a major component, and is a staple of what we do at Biteable.

When you use moving graphics in a presentation, it instantly captures attention. If your audience is just taking their seats, or are halfway through hearing your story, there’s no doubt they’ll sit up and take notice if you introduce some cool motion graphics, like this Meeting Tips example.

Although they can sometimes feel clichéd, quotes are a great way to impart a message in a presentation. Want your audience to understand something complex? A quote from Einstein should do it. Or would you like to say something meaningful and poetic? A couple of lines of Shakespeare should convey some wisdom.

10. Audio narration

Narration can give a different mood to your presentation, especially if the voice is powerful and the words are heartfelt. Use it to change the tone or pace of your presentation and it will certainly keep your audience hooked if there’s a danger of them losing interest.

11. Go bright with color

Color can have a huge effect on how your video comes across. Don’t be afraid to experiment. The contrasts of black and white can be extremely effective, but you can also grab people’s attention with some carefully-chosen primary and secondary colors, like in our Motion Graphics template.

12. Use illustrations

Illustrations are a great way to communicate information, especially if you’ve got lots to say. Whether you want to create a crowd of people or a cool depiction of some new fancy gadget, illustrations can draw the eye and make your presentation more interesting.

13. Infographics

When you utilize infographics, you can pack in a huge amount of data and information without confusing your audience. Think pie charts, digital numbers, and ascending animated graphs. These can show your audience boring data in an exciting way.

14. Create interesting transitions

The one advantage of video over a standard presentation is that you can do all types of funky things with transitions, like a whip pan transition, when the camera quickly pans between scenes. It’s a bit like a wipe, but much faster. Check out our full article on transitions  here .

15. Make it look cinematic

Adding a cinematic touch can help your audience feel receptive to your message because subconsciously, they will associate these elements with being at the cinema, eating popcorn, and generally having a good time.

16. Go retro

A cool, retro look for your presentation will make it hard to ignore. By going retro, you add a little bit of cheeky style to your message. You don’t need to go  quite as retro as the template below, but taking a step back in time is a sure way to add a little bit of zing to things.

17. End on a meaningful note

Your presentation will only give your audience a lasting impression if you end it right.

It’s important to let the audience know what you want them to do next: to visit a website for more information, to ponder an idea or new direction, or to take action toward a particular goal.

An attention-grabbing visual will work really well here, along with a meaningful end to the music – a change of pace, volume, or pitch.

What’s the takeaway message? A strong CTA (call to action) will ensure your presentation is memorable and much more likely to be talked about.

Video brings your presentation alive

Of course, we’re a little biased here at Biteable, but we’ve also sat through enough mind-numbingly dull presentations to know that video offers a delightful treat for your audience. It brings your message to life in a way no other medium can.

Ready to start crafting your presentation? Check out our range of templates  here .

Make stunning videos with ease.

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Conference Engagement Ideas: 12 Tips for Increasing Engagement at Your Next Conference

• By Maximilian Peters
• -   June 29, 2020
• -   1:48 pm

Attendee engagement at conferences is everything.

After all, today’s world moves fast. It’s filled with distractions. Many of your conference attendees will struggle to stay focused on your event.

If you don’t pull out all the stops to keep your attendees engaged, many of them will tune out . They will walk away with neutral memories of your event, and think twice about attending your upcoming events.

So ask yourself…

“What can I do to keep my attendees deeply engaged in every hour of my conference?”

To answer that question, here are 12 of our favorite conference engagement ideas.

1. Allow Your Attendees to Participate by Submitting Session Proposals

Engagement starts before your event.

It begins when you plan your event and pull together a set of speaker topics that your attendees will find fascinating.

And if you want to know what your attendees really find fascinating , all you have to do is ask them during your planning phase.

Ask your attendees to submit their own speaker proposals, research topics, abstracts, and presentations. As you collect your attendees’ own submissions, you’ll start to see what ideas really excite them. Even if you do not accept any of these submissions, each of your attendee’s ideas gives you topics to shape the sessions you do build, and content to publish through your event page, social media, and online communities.

Basically, you’re crowdsourcing to uncover interesting industry content.

You can do this easily with Slayte. Our Submissions App gives you an end-to-end solution for collecting content ahead of your next event or academic conference. We designed our Submissions App to give you seamless, effortless access to a complex, multi-stage review process, all through a simple form that casts a wide net and collects massive amounts of new topic ideas.

Just set it up, let our workflow management tools automate the idea collection process, and focus on your other event management tasks while your attendees tell you exactly what ideas will keep them engaged during your event.

2. Diversify Your Topics, and Leverage Your Top Keynote Speakers

Follow our first suggestion, and you will be sitting on a stack of ideas that will keep your attendees deeply engaged with your event.

Now, you want to make sure you and your attendees haven’t left out any great ideas that people will expect to explore at your event.

Take the topics list you generated from your attendees. Pull together a list of common research themes and discussion ideas related to your topic. Then combine the two lists into a comprehensive collection of topics that cover everything your attendees could hope, and expect, to see at your event.

Finally, assign your best speakers to each of your topics to make sure every idea gets brilliant representation. Slayte makes this easy . Each user—including each of your speakers— can have their own account. Run a custom report, and create a custom dashboard, to see all of your highest-rated speakers, and slot them into the times and topics where they will really shine, and really draw your attendees in.

3. Encourage Visual Content

Even the most fascinating topics will fall flat when they are presented poorly…

And if academic conferences are known for one thing, it’s for sub-optimal presentations.

Most often, an academic conference session is little more than a speaker stepping on stage, loading their presentation, and then scrolling through what feels like an infinite number of slides.

Now, it’s 100% normal and expected that academic speakers are going to share their latest findings in their area of research. But we can also raise our expectations a little , and ask them to present their exciting content through exciting, visual content.

Videos. Infographics. Charts. All of these forms of visual content let your speakers captivate their audience, instead of drowning them in a sea of words copy-and-pasted into PowerPoint.

Ask your speakers to step up their presentation game. Encourage them to prepare visual representations of their findings ahead of time. Even ask for these visual documents as part of their submission. Just use Slayte to collect proposals , and make whatever form of visual file you desire from your speakers a mandatory attachment in their submission.

4. Create an Enticing Agenda

You’ve pulled together a complete list of session topics that you know your attendees find fascinating and can’t wait to discuss.

You’ve assigned those topics to an exciting and diverse set of speakers who you know will keep your attendees glued to their seats.

Now you just need to organize those sessions in a compelling manner:

• Mix it up. Alternate hot new ideas with more common—but still critical—industry ideas.
• Make every track compelling. Give your attendees on different tracks exciting new ideas to discuss and debate during breaks.
• Build to your keynote. Start with smaller topics, and increase the size of each session’s ideas until you build to a groundbreaking end-of-day keynote.
• Publish your agenda early. Give your attendees a taste of what to expect, and get them talking ahead of time.

With Slayte’s Sessions app , you can easily craft your exciting, diverse agenda for your entire event. See which sessions were rated highest and schedule them appropriately. Carefully arrange your tracks, sessions, and rooms to optimize flow. Highlight and disarm conflicts. And do so through a simple, intuitive user interface.

5. Pay Attention to Session Durations

By the way, here’s a quick tip: number one when creating your enticing agenda— don’t let any one session last too long.

Remember: You want your attendees always wanting more, not waiting for it all to end. And even the world’s most fascinating ideas and speakers will drag on, and on, and on if you don’t set limits on their time-on-stage.

Keep your sessions relatively short. Keep your breaks coming. Give your attendees dynamic bursts of interesting content for as long as their attention span can hold up, and then give them a proper break to digest everything they have heard.

Schedule each block of sessions for 45 minutes to 1 hour (regardless of whether you schedule one person to talk the whole time, or if you break that block up between multiple sessions) then layer in a nice long break before you launch your next block of sessions.  

Give your attendees a chance to regularly disengage, and they will maintain the energy and focus they need to stay gripped throughout the whole day.

6. Alternate Solo Speaking Sessions with Interactive Q&A’s and Panels

And here’s one more quick tip to creating a captivating agenda— if you do schedule long speaker sessions, stop the speaker at regularly-scheduled intervals, and invite your audience to ask questions about everything they’ve just heard .

You don’t want to derail your speaker’s momentum. But you do want to bring your attendees out of their state of passive listening, and to bring them back into a state of active engagement with the ideas at play . Note these Q&A opportunities in your published pre-event agenda (we’ll get to this in just a minute). This gives your attendees the chance to prepare their questions ahead of time, and keeps them at the edge of their seats, ready to jump at the chance to engage.

On a related note, you should also include a few sessions where a panel of speakers voice a range of opinions on one of your hottest topics. Lectures can be powerful. But diverse speakers debating each other shakes things up and gives your event an even more dynamic rhythm of engagement styles.

7. Release Your Event Agenda Early

The best time to build engagement is before your event even starts.

Give potential attendees a taste of what to expect , and get them talking ahead of time, by publishing your exciting agenda ahead of time.

And then, once you have your potential attendees’ attention, make it as easy as possible for them to sign up for your event and lock in their place. Use Slayte’s Events app to publish all of your conference’s information in a clear, clean, and easily-accessible manner using generated exports. 

8. Help Your Attendees Connect Between Sessions

You’ve crafted and published an exciting agenda. You’ve pulled in a host of excited attendees. The day has arrived, your event is about to launch. How can you continue to keep your attendees engaged throughout the event itself?

Here are a few of our favorite tricks.

One of the first, and most valuable, things you can do is encourage your attendees to connect deeply with each other during break sessions .

Get a little creative here. Don’t just default to laying out tea and coffee with the hopes your attendees will mix and mingle on their own. Host ‘Meet the Speaker’ sessions. Design light, interactive workshops. Open up pre-organized networking sessions around specific industries, topics, and communities your attendees identify with.

And if you want to give your attendees every opportunity to conect deeply with each other, use Slayte’s Reach app. This simple app will automate most of your attendees’ networking activities— matching them according to their priorities, automatically scheduling high-priority meetings during their down-time, and opening up pre-event platforms and networking opportunities.

9. Keep Your Event Interactive with Live Polls and Competitions

Here’s one of our favorite things to do at a conference.

Hold live polls during your event. You can base your polls around the exact ideas that your speakers have discussed during the event. Or you can pull out new, ancillary ideas that came up during your submissions process that didn’t quite make it into the main programming. Actively encourage group-level discussions, calculate and show results in real-time, and even host dedicated sessions towards the end of each day that discuss that day’s poll.

People come to an academic conference to discuss major new ideas. But too often these events are structured in a manner that just leads to passive consumption of ideas. A live poll offers a structured way to break through that malaise. It provides an anonymous approach to discussion that lets attendees answer tough questions honestly. And by aggregating and presenting the poll’s results, attendees develop a clear understanding of what they truly feel as a group, and gives them the opportunity to debate what the poll’s findings truly mean.

10. Shine a Light on Your Member’s Achievements

And here’s one last quick tip to maintain engagement during the conference itself.

Is your upcoming conference open to the public, or are you hosting it for a closed, members-only society?

If it’s the latter, then your event gives you a great opportunity to highlight and honor some of the top developments and achievements your community has brought to life since the last time you all got together. 

Just set up a few sessions to:

• Inform all of your members of recent developments within your group
• Give members a chance to share their own recent accomplishments
• Present awards to your members who have achieved truly outstanding things

Remember: Everyone wants to belong to a group doing great things, and everyone wants to be noticed for the great work they have achieved on their own.

In Slayte we created a full suite of features around presenting awards. Our Awards app streamlines the whole process of creating awards criteria, accepting nominations, selecting winners, and hosting awards-driven sessions— making it easy to remind your attendees of the important accomplishments their membership contributes to.  

11. Gather Feedback After the Conference

Ultimately, your conference itself is just the tip of the iceberg . So much of your engagement efforts occur before the event takes place. And you have so much work to do after your conference to ensure your attendees maintain a positive attachment to your organization, and that they feel excited to sign up for your next event.

With that in mind, there is one thing you should do as soon as you end your event that will immediately elicit positive feelings in your attendees… just ask them how it went.

Everyone wants to be heard. And your attendees want to know that you really care about their experience, and that you didn’t just collect their fees and forget about them.

Send them a short message that thanks them for attending, that lets them know you care about how the event engaged them, and include a link to a short form that will collect their feedback.

Collecting and analyzing this feedback will go a long way towards giving you the information you need to create an even more engaging event next time. But simply asking is also a great way to once again engage your attendees in a manner they find meaningful.

(And by the way— Slayte’s Submissions app also lets you collect feedback from your conference attendees without the hassle of manually sending out feedback surveys, manually collecting the responses, and manually deriving insights from the data.)

12. Offer Key Take Away Notes by Email

Finally, here’s one of our favorite conference engagement ideas, and perhaps the simplest way to continue to engage your attendees with your conference’s ideas after your event ends— share as much of the event’s content as possible.

Remember: Nobody got the chance to attend every session. Most of your attendees would love to see what they missed. And many of your attendees would love to revisit the ideas of the sessions they did attend, to derive fresh new insights from the material presented.

To help them out, publish videos of each speaker session and provide written summaries of the key take-away points from each talk.

Post the content publicly on your organization website . Or send the content out to a private email list of your paying attendees. Or release it as promotional material ahead of your next event.

No matter what method you choose, just be sure to l everage the material you have already worked so hard to put together to re-spark your attendee’s engagement after the event has passed .

What are Your Best Conference Engagement Ideas?

You’ve heard from us. Now we’re going to follow our own advice, and ask for your thoughts. Which of these tips have you used effectively? Which didn’t work for you? What did you do to maintain sharp engagement at your past events?

Shoot us a message, and let us know how to make a conference fun.

And if you’d like to give Slayte a try, and to see first-hand how our simple app can dramatically increase engagement at your next event, schedule a free demo by clicking here .

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > 10 Ideas for Your Next PowerPoint Night

10 Ideas for Your Next PowerPoint Night

Picture this: a gathering where each slide is a portal to endless fun, evoking emotions you didn’t know a presentation could. Make your next gathering memorable with innovative PowerPoint ideas that captivate, entertain, and engage everyone in the room. Try these ten ideas for your next PowerPoint night:

Fun PowerPoint Night Ideas

Voice, a verb form, indicates the relationship between the subject and the action. In active voice, the subject performs the action on an object directly. This clarity makes active voice preferable for most writing, as exemplified in the sentence from the novel Parable of the Sower:

Tell your story with captivating presentations

Powerpoint empowers you to develop well-designed content across all your devices

1. Friends As Characters From Your Favorite TV Show

Poke fun at your family and friends and see how they compare to your favorite TV show characters. Take note of shared characteristics, or how each person would be best suited to play a particular role.

2. Worst Fashion Trends

Some fashion trends are best left in the past unless you want to unearth them for a fun PowerPoint night. Compile pictures of fashion disasters of the past and present with a presentation showcasing the most cringe-worthy trends. Your guests will be in stitches as they reminisce about their own fashion disasters.

3. Friends’ Worst Pictures on Instagram

Dig deep into the archives of your friends’ Instagram accounts to find their most embarrassing photos. Create a slideshow of their funniest, most awkward, and cringe worthy images for a night of laughter and nostalgia.

4. Celebrity Lookalikes

Find lookalikes for famous celebrities among your friends and family. Compile photos side by side and let the audience guess which celebrity each person resembles.

5. Reality TV Shows People Should Participate In

Imagine your friends and family as contestants on popular reality TV shows. Create mock profiles, challenges, and dramatic twists for each participant, and let the audience vote on who would thrive and who would falter in the reality TV spotlight.

6. Dating App Contenders

Screenshot accounts from a dating app and create a PowerPoint where friends “swipe” the profiles they like. Let the audience vote on the accounts they like and see how your friends’ dating tastes differ.

7. Most Hated Things

You and your friends each make a presentation about something you irrationally cannot stand. Go into detail about how it rubs you the wrong way, whether it’s something silly like the name of a store or song lyrics that simply don’t make sense. Make your case and let your friends have the change to try and change your mind.

8. Office Shenanigans

Compile workplace anecdotes and office memes for a presentation that resonates with anyone who’s ever had a job. It’s easy to bond with friends and family over the absurdities and frustrations in the workplace.

9. Friends’ Toxic Traits

Take a humorous yet insightful look at the less-than-perfect aspects of your friends’ personalities. Create slides highlighting their quirks, idiosyncrasies, and sometimes infuriating habits. From being chronically late to always monopolizing the conversation, explore the traits that make your friends uniquely flawed and lovable.

10. Travel Fails

Share travel mishaps, from lost luggage to language barriers, accompanied by amusing anecdotes and photos. Even when your trips are disastrous, they can make for great stories.

PowerPoint nights are a fun way to bond with your friends and family. Share toxic traits, fashion disasters, celebrity look alike and more to share laughs and embarrassment with your loved ones. For more help with structuring , practicing and delivering your PowerPoint, learn more presentation tips .

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How to make your presentation sound more like a conversation.

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The main difference between strong, confident speakers and speakers who seem nervous in front of the room is in how relaxed and conversational they appear. Here are some basic pointers that will help you create a conversational tone when speaking, regardless of the size of your audience.

1. Avoid using the word, “presentation.” Every time you say, “I’m here to give you a presentation on X,” or, “In this presentation, you’ll see…,” you are emphasizing the formal, structured, sometimes artificial nature of the interaction. No one wants to be “presented” to. Instead, use language that emphasizes a natural, conversational exchange. “We’re here today to talk about X,” or “Today I’ll be sharing some ideas regarding Y.” You can even go so far as to say, “I’m glad we have time together today to discuss Z.” Even if your talk is not going to truly be a dialogue, you can use language that suggests engagement with the audience.

2. If you are using PowerPoint, avoid using the word “slide.” Instead of talking about the medium, talk about the concepts. Swap out, “This slide shows you…,” for, “Here we see….” Instead of saying, “On that slide I showed you a moment ago,” say, “A moment ago we were discussing X. Here’s how that issue will impact Y and Z.” Casual conversations don’t usually involve slide decks. Just because your complicated presentation on tax exposure, supply chain issues, or new health care regulations requires you to use slides, doesn’t mean you have to draw attention to that fact that the setting is formal and structured.

3. For many large-group events, speakers are provided with what’s called a “confidence monitor,” a computer screen that sits on the floor at the speaker’s feet showing the slide that appears on the large screen above the speaker’s head. Avoid using confidence monitors. Our natural inclination when using a confidence monitor is to gesture at the bullet point we’re discussing at the moment. However, we are pointing to a bullet point on the screen at our feet, which the audience can’t see, so it creates a disconnect between us and the audience. Instead, stand to the side of the large screen and gesture at the bullet point you’re talking about so that the audience knows which point you are discussing at the moment.

4. Don’t tell your audience, “I want this to be interactive.” It’s your job to make it interactive. If you are delivering the type of presentation where your audience size allows you to create true engagement with your listeners, create that connecting in stages to “warm up” the audience. Stage One engagement is to ask the audience a question relevant to your topic that you know most of the audience members can respond to affirmatively. “Who here has ever bought a new car?” or, “How many of you have ever waited more than 5 minutes on hold on a customer service line?” Raise your hand as you ask the question to indicate to the audience how to respond. Whoever has raised their hand has now participated in the discussion. They have indicated a willingness to engage. Stage Two engagement is calling on one of the people who raised their hand and asking a specific, perfunctory question. Again, it needs to be a question they can answer easily. If your first questions is, “Who here has bought a new car?” you can then call on someone and ask, “How long ago,” or “What kind of car did you buy most recently?” If your first question was, “Have you ever waited on hold for more than 5 minutes,” you can’t ask, “What company were you calling at the time?” The people who raised their hands weren’t thinking of a specific instance; they were just thinking broadly about that type of experience. You could, however, call on someone and ask, “Do you prefer when they play music or ads for the company’s products?” Anyone can answer that question. At that point, you are in an actual dialogue with that person. Stage Three engagement is asking them a question where they need to reveal something more personal. “How does that make you feel when you hear those ads?” You’ve warmed up your audience and drawn them in with baby steps. Now you have actual, meaningful audience participation.

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5. Use gestures. When we’re speaking in an informal setting, we all use hand gestures; some people use more than others, but we all use them. When we try to rein in our gestures, two things happen that diminish our speaking style. First, we look stiff and unnatural. We look like we are presenting a guarded or cautious version of ourselves; we look less genuine. Second, hand gestures burn up the nervous energy we all have when speaking in front of a large group. That’s good. When we try to minimize our hand gestures, we tie up that nervous energy and it starts to leak out on odd ways, where we start to tap our foot, fidget with our notes or microphone, or tilt our head side to side to emphasize key points. Just let the gestures fly. It’s unlikely they will be too large or distracting. I have coached people on their presentation skills for 26 years. In that time, I have met three people who gestured too much. Everyone else would benefit from using their gestures more freely.

The impact we have as communicators is based on the cumulative effect of many different elements of our delivery. These suggestions alone won’t make you a terrific presenter. They will, however, add to the overall package your present of yourself when speaking to large audiences.

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2024 Anti-Trafficking Conference - Human trafficking: It stops with me!

Virtual | On demand | Livestream opportunities | 2-month participation window | Early bird and student discounts 

This annual event provides you with the tools to keep you and your loved ones safe from exploitation. Look forward to 17 pre-recorded presentations by survivor leaders and human trafficking experts available for you to view at your leisure for two solid months, plus two interactive livestream speaker sessions that will be recorded and available to view later on! 

Registration is open, with tickets ranging $10-$25. Early bird prices are available through June 30 and includes student discount options. 

Purchase of a ticket includes: 

• A link to access all the conference sessions via the conference website . 
• Two interactive, livestream presentations with human trafficking experts that will be recorded.
• Seventeen pre-recorded presentations by survivor leaders and human trafficking experts.
• Recordings that are closed captioned for accessibility and convenience.
• The flexibility to watch the presentation recordings as many times as you want through November 9! 

This annual conference is made possible thanks to the many human trafficking experts and survivor leaders who contributed their expertise and stories via their presentations. For the full line-up of presentations, organized by safety, studies, support, and stories, see the 2024 conference program .

The host organization, U.S.-based nonprofit Anti-Trafficking International (ATI), believes in diversity of thought: opinions and recommendations expressed at the conference are those of the presenters and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of Anti-Trafficking International.

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Submit proposals for 2024 Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Conference

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This year's conference will be a hybrid event, with programming streaming live Nov. 1 at The Missouri Bar Center in Jefferson City. Sessions will center on lawyer well-being and mindfulness. If you would like to be considered for a presentation, please submit your proposal here by Monday, July 29, with the following information:

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Selected speakers will receive complimentary registration. All session materials must be submitted by Oct. 13, and selected speakers will need to be in person at the event. More information will be provided after sessions have been selected.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL 25 Rankings Week Showcase

Who are the best teams in ea sports™ college football 25.

Hey College Football Fans,

Welcome back to the Campus Huddle! This week, we have a special “living” edition of the Campus Huddle, centered around Rankings Week.

So what is Rankings Week? 

It’s a time to celebrate various EA SPORTS™ College Football 25 rankings, from the Toughest Places to Play, to the Top Offenses and Defenses, to our final Team Power Rankings before the worldwide launch on July 19. Plus, we’ll have our Sights and Sounds Deep Dive coming Wednesday, showcasing the incredible and unique presentation features coming to EA SPORTS™ College Football 25.

The full Rankings Week schedule can be seen here:

TOUGHEST PLACES TO PLAY

We laid out the significant impact that Homefield Advantage can have on the outcome of games in EA SPORTS™ College Football 25 during our Gameplay Deep Dive Campus Huddle . Audio and in-game modifiers such as blurred routes, incorrect play art, confidence and composure affects, and screen shaking are some of the immersive impacts away teams and players will be forced to contend with. 

But not all Homefield Advantages are created equal. The Development Team worked to compile a list of the Top 25 Toughest Places to Play, factoring in historical stats such as home winning %, home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige, and more.

Rankings are subject to change in future updates.

• Kyle Field - Texas A&M
• Bryant-Denny Stadium - Alabama
• Tiger Stadium - LSU
• Ohio Stadium - Ohio State
• Sanford Stadium - Georgia
• Beaver Stadium - Penn State
• Camp Randall Stadium - Wisconsin
• Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Oklahoma
• Doak S. Campbell Stadium - Florida State
• Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Florida
• Autzen Stadium - Oregon
• Memorial Stadium - Clemson
• Neyland Stadium - Tennessee
• Jordan-Hare Stadium - Auburn
• Williams-Brice Stadium - South Carolina
• Michigan Stadium - Michigan
• Lane Stadium - Virginia Tech
• Rice-Eccles Stadium - Utah
• Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium - Texas
• Kinnick Stadium - Iowa
• Notre Dame Stadium - Notre Dame
• Spartan Stadium - Michigan State
• Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium - Arkansas
• Albertsons Stadium - Boise State
• Davis Wade Stadium - Mississippi State

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS DEEP DIVE

In case you missed it, Kirk Herbstreit is back with our next Deep Dive, taking a look at the sights and sounds featured in EA SPORTS™ College Football 25. The Development Team spent years capturing countless traditions, mascots, fight songs, and more to the game, ensuring all 134 schools and fan bases were represented with pride. These elements make College Football special and unique, bringing the unmatched feeling of game day to your fingertips.  

For even more on the presentation elements and how they come to life, check out the latest Campus Huddle hosted by Senior Game Designer Christian Brandt.

OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE POWER RANKINGS

The Development Team meticulously examined hundreds of thousands of data points to arrive at our team power rankings. With help from our friends at Pro Football Focus (PFF), the team analyzed all 134 rosters, thousands of players, years worth of game film, and mountains of stats, ultimately arriving at our Team Power Rankings.

Here are the Top 25 offenses in EA SPORTS™ College Football 25: 

• Georgia - 94 OVR
• Oregon - 94 OVR
• Alabama - 91 OVR
• Texas - 91 OVR
• Ohio State - 89 OVR
• LSU - 89 OVR
• Miami - 89 OVR
• Colorado - 89 OVR
• Missouri - 89 OVR
• Clemson - 87 OVR
• Utah - 87 OVR
• Penn State - 87 OVR
• Ole Miss - 87 OVR
• Kansas - 87 OVR
• Arizona - 87 OVR
• NC State - 87 OVR
• Notre Dame - 85 OVR
• Texas A&M - 85 OVR
• Memphis - 85 OVR
• SMU - 85 OVR
• UCF - 85 OVR
• Florida State - 83 OVR
• Oklahoma - 83 OVR
• Virginia Tech - 83 OVR
• USC - 83 OVR

As the old saying goes, “Defense wins championships.” Here are the Top 25 defenses in EA SPORTS™ College Football 25:

• Ohio State - 96 OVR
• Oregon - 90 OVR
• Alabama - 90 OVR
• Clemson - 90 OVR
• Notre Dame - 90 OVR
• Michigan - 90 OVR
• Texas - 88 OVR
• Penn State - 88 OVR
• Utah - 88 OVR
• Florida State - 88 OVR
• Oklahoma - 88 OVR
• Iowa - 88 OVR
• Virginia Tech - 86 OVR
• Wisconsin - 86 OVR
• USC - 86 OVR
• Auburn - 86 OVR
• LSU - 84 OVR
• Texas A&M - 84 OVR
• Colorado - 84 OVR
• Oklahoma State - 84 OVR
• Louisville - 84 OVR
• North Carolina - 84 OVR
• Kansas State - 84 OVR
• Florida - 84 OVR

TEAM POWER RANKINGS

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Here are the Top Teams in EA SPORTS™ College Football 25.

• Georgia - 95 OVR
• Ohio State - 93 OVR
• Oregon - 93 OVR
• Alabama - 92 OVR
• Texas - 92 OVR
• LSU - 90 OVR
• Michigan - 88 OVR
• Miami - 88 OVR
• Texas A&M - 88 OVR
• Ole Miss - 88 OVR
• Colorado - 87 OVR
• Oklahoma - 87 OVR
• Wisconsin - 87 OVR
• USC - 87 OVR
• Virginia Tech - 87 OVR
• Oklahoma State - 87 OVR
• Iowa - 87 OVR

Let us know what you think! Join the conversation today by following EA SPORTS™ College Football 25 on social media and rep your school. Next week, we’ll have even more information to share including our Dynasty Deep Dive where we explore the ins and outs of the mode, recruiting, and more! 

College Football 25 launches worldwide on July 19th, 2024. Pre-order the Deluxe Edition* or the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle** and play 3 days early. Conditions and restrictions apply. See disclaimers for details. Stay in the conversation by following us on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , and Answers HQ .

Pre-order the MVP Bundle*** to make game day every day, and get both Madden NFL 25 and College Football 25 with exclusive content.

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College football 25 pre-order details, college football 25 sights and sounds deep dive, college football 25 gameplay deep dive.

Q2 2024 CBRE Group, Inc. Earnings Conference Call

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